29 electric car makers ready to rule the streets

Extended-Range Hybrids

Recent years have seen the emergence of extended-range electric hybrid cars. Those models run off a battery for a shorter distance — typically between 25 and 50 miles. When the battery runs dry, the car switches to gasoline to power a motor and recharge the battery. It gives the electric cars a much larger extended range, but they are effectively electric cars if they are mostly driven short distances.

Fisker Automotive: Fisker Karma
The Karma is Fisker’s first high-end hybrid electric sedan. The car can travel around 50 miles on an electric battery before switching to an internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. The company is well-funded and delivered its first Karma to Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Ray Lane earlier this year.
Price: $97,000
Range/Top Speed: 50 miles EV/125mph
Release Date: 2012

Velozzi: VELO
Now this is a super car — the Velozzi VELO can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 3 seconds and boasts a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour. It’s a hybrid electric vehicle.
Price: “Serious inquiries only”
Range/Top Speed: TBA/200mph
Release Date: Available Today

BMW: i8
The BMW i8 is the German car manufacturer’s first luxury extended-range hybrid sedan. It looks like the car will go toe-to-toe with the Fisker Karma, a similar high-end extended-range hybrid.
Price: TBA
Range/Top Speed: 20 miles EV/120mph
Release Date: 2013

Ford: Evos
The Ford Evos is Ford’s first extended-range hybrid electric car that uses a similar powertrain to the Fisker Karma and BMW i8. The concept car features gullwing doors — like the DeLorean from Back to the Future — and looks like it will be a more direct competitor with the Chevy Volt.
Price: TBA
Range/Top Speed: 40 miles EV/TBA
Release Date: 2012

General Motors: Cadillac ELR
General Motors already has an extended-range hybrid electric car with the Chevy Volt. The Cadillac ELR is the company’s take on a luxury extended-range hybrid electric sedan. It boasts the Cadillac design, but doesn’t pack the same oomph the Karma and i8 have.
Price: TBA
Range/Top Speed: 35 miles EV/TBA
Release Date: 2013

The Deadpool

These car companies have since faded or are facing questions about whether the cars will actually move into production since we last covered them.

Modec: Electric Van
Modec made battery-powered electric vans and trucks that resemble the delivery vehicles you might see bringing vegetables to your local grocery. Following a decline in sales, Navistar bought the intellectual property rights to the company’s technology.

Zenn Motor Company: Zenn NEV
After selling 360 NEV electric cars at $16,500, the company began buying into capacitor manufacturer EEStor. It has since stopped manufacturing cars and the future of the Zenn NEV is unclear.

Think: City
Think has been in and out of bankruptcy three times over the course of the company’s history. It was recently purchased by one of its investors, Boris Zingarevich. The Think City was an all-electric sedan priced at around $34,000. The City electric car’s future is now unclear.

Porteon: Porteon
Originally unveiled in 2007, Porteon intended to make low-cost electric cars that can travel around 25 miles per hour and sell them alongside suburban homes. The price of the car would just be tacked onto the mortgage of the house. But it looks like no new information has emerged about the car, though the company’s main website is still active (albeit extremely vague).

Obvio: 828e
Obvio was acquired by Vrooom! Electric Vehicles (yes, that is the actual name), and it looks like the 828e developed by that company has since drifted off into the ether. Vrooom’s website is quite sketchy, although it appears the company owns Global Electric Vehicle Company, a Brazil-based electric car manufacturer.

If you think we’re missing a company or you have more up-to-date information, feel free to leave that information in the comments below and we’ll update our list if it merits.