Better Place | Charging electric vehicles (EVs) Is the Future of Electric Cars in China? Like drowning men grasping the only piece of buoyant driftwood in sight, top executives from the world's beleaguered auto industry arrived in Shanghai this week for the city's 2009 auto show, unveiling their newest brands in the only car market in the world that continues to grow. Some of the show's stars are predictable, drawing crowds of reporters and photographers on Monday, media day: a stunning new Lexus convertible, the reborn Chevy Camaro from General Motors (Chinese journalists took turns lining up to be photographed in front of it) and the worldwide debut of Porsche's new luxury sedan, the Panamera.
But not all the buzz is being generated by muscle cars or luxury of the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" variety. Crowds also gathered around cars made by a company largely unknown outside of China, the Shenzhen-based firm BYD (Build Your Dreams). Why is BYD, a company with little history in the auto industry, viewed as potential leader of that shift? Electric Cars: China's Power Play. Correction and Clarification Appended: September 1, 2009 As Kevin Czinger breaks free of midtown Manhattan's heart-attack traffic and floors what would be the gas pedal in a more conventional car, the only sound is the hiss of the rain outside and something like an accelerating yawn from the electric motor.
Czinger is showing off his company's battery-powered car, the Coda Automotive sedan, which emerged in public this June. As one more car to save the planet, the Coda is nice enough. It gets around 100 miles per charge, handles well and — unlike many of... Subscribe Now Get TIME the way you want it One Week Digital Pass — $4.99 Monthly Pay-As-You-Go DIGITAL ACCESS — $2.99 One Year ALL ACCESS — Just $30! Tesla Motors - High performance electric vehicles. Available now. S Top 15 Connected Car Influencers.