For car makers, it's suddenly all about electric

At the Frankfurt Auto Show, executives and engineers are burbling that it's the dawn of a new era: The electric car is here.

By Eric Reguly

A visitor to the Frankfurt Auto Show, the biggest event of its kind, might think all is well in the car world.

Outside the vast exhibition halls, auto makers may be firing tens of thousands of workers and losing billions. But inside, the cars gleam like polished gemstones, exhibitors swill champagne and executives and engineers burble enthusiastically about the dawn of a new era: The electric car is here.

Electric mobility – e-mobility to use the new buzzword – is the auto show's theme. Dozens of electric cars were rolled out at the start of the Frankfurt show last week. Many manufacturers, big and small, announced plans for electric car production or development.

Some were ambitious. France's Renault and Japanese partner Nissan plan mass production of a family of e-cars, among them the Nissan Leaf, starting in 2011. …

For car makers, it's suddenly all about electric

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