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Annie Rosa

An Electrifying
Second Half

February 21, 2012

Here’s what’s going on in a land far away but not so far apart from the Mitten …

Did you see good ol’ Clint Eastwood gruffly remind us that it’s halftime in America? Once again, a Chrysler-inspired pep talk was one of the Super Bowl’s best ads; a patriotic, feel-good, powerhouse piece.

The same Portland-based ad agency that put the Motor City back on the map with last year’s Eminem/Chrysler commercial came roaring back with Dirty Harry playing the role of America’s head coach/economic healer. It was another proud moment for the Mitten.

Like most people, I loved the Detroit-focused ad and agreed with the coach’s script. The California actor and former mayor certainly understands the power of a good, dramatic story: America’s struggling-to-get-back-on-its-feet economy and the auto industry’s rebound make for grand Hollywood telling. And we do seem to be at a turning point, on the brink of some major opportunity to stage a big time comeback/reinvention.

So the big, unanswered question is: What’s Next?

One recent innovation that caught my attention isn’t so much about the car as it is the road itself. Researchers at Stanford have proposed a game-changing idea: an electrical highway that will charge your electric car battery as you drive.

That’s right, no stopping or plugging in required. In other words, they’ve invented the car equivalent of a Starbucks drive-thru, but a whole lot faster and a great way to alleviate the “range anxiety” and inconvenient recharging issues that deter many people from considering an electric vehicle.

That piece of news made me wonder about the progress of the industry’s two most buzzed-about electric vehicles – the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf.

The Michigan-made (stand up and cheer!) Volt represents a beautifully pragmatic, ingenious Halftime compromise. It promises the future, a healthier planet and practical innovation while coddling us with the safety net and convenience we have grown so accustomed to (read: dependent on).

As a so-called “extended range electric vehicle,” the Volt has a gasoline generator that kicks in seamlessly when the electrical power is depleted. You can also plug it into a standard outlet. These key features silence the typical fears that the car will abruptly stop once it has exceeded the battery’s 35-40 mile range. When gasoline power is factored in, the Volt’s range shifts to an impressive 379 miles with a full charge and tank – quadruple that of the Leaf.

Translation: with the Volt, there’s no need to worry; you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go. (But it’ll cost ya, and it will take between four to 10 hours to fully recharge.)

Unfortunately, the Volt’s success to date has been hampered by sluggish sales and safety concerns (now largely unfounded, the government says) related to that nasty business of batteries supposedly catching fire following government crash tests. The Volt fell a couple thousand units short of its 10,000 2011 sales goal, yet GM officials insisted they were not dismayed and would continue with their plan to sell 45,000 units nationwide this year and export an additional 15,000.

Fortunately, the Volt is suddenly getting a big boost from the State of California.

Thanks to the Volt’s new “low-emissions package,” California announced at last November’s Los Angeles Auto Show that it would add the Volt to the select list of vehicles qualifying for “solo access” in the state’s carpool lanes. In other words, you can drive your Volt in the less-traveled, higher speed (usually) carpool lanes even if it’s just you and your headphones and sunglasses in the car. Now that’s a terrific incentive out here!

As a bonus, California Chevy dealerships are now offering a $0-down lease option.

The Nissan Leaf has performed a bit better. It committed fully to the electric car concept, a big plus out here in the land of Obsessively Early Adopters.

But its biggest drawback is the “range anxiety” that stems from the lack of a back-up system. It averages around 100 miles per 7.5-hour charge, which is fine as long as you have a back-up vehicle ready for any road trips/longer-distance drives. As a Motor Trend reviewer memorably observed, relative to the Volt and the Prius, “the Leaf is like a frisky puppy on a short leash – with a choke collar latched to it.” Once the battery is out of juice, that’s it. Tow-truck time.

If we lived in a bullet-train-connected, fully electric-vehicle-supporting metropolitan nation, the Leaf could be a practical choice for many people. But that’s not our world (yet). Regardless, its first-year sales of 9,000 in the U.S. (60 percent of which were sold in California) are encouraging; they show that awareness is growing and people are becoming more accepting of plug-in electric vehicles…at least those with a lower sticker price and a very simple design.

Despite their shortcomings, hurdles and quirks, the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf together represent a bold, critical step forward in providing commercially viable electric vehicles that an average person would purchase. They have proven themselves as credible alternatives to our gas-guzzling mainstays.

These models have officially launched the electric car into the mainstream – necessary first steps before we are able to let the Stanford gurus embed charging coils in all of our roads – just in time for the second half!

With so much innovation and enthusiasm on the rise, Clint Eastwood and Chrysler really do know the U.S. auto industry (and thus America) is going to come out of that tunnel and enjoy an amazing second half. We can believe them that we can pick ourselves back up and come back even stronger.

You might even say recharged.

Annie Rosa lives and works in San Diego and sends dispatches back to her beloved Michigan.