Some of the world’s most famous and prolific car manufacturers are going head-to-head in the race to bring a fully electric car to the global marketplace and market it based on its environmental credentials.

At the recent NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) four of the biggest - Honda, Toyota, Ford and General Motors - all spoke of their wish to present the car-buying public with a 100 per cent electric vehicle by the early/ mid 20-teens.

Chevrolet Volt

One of these, General Electric, had already showcased its Chevrolet Volt at the previous year’s event and, presenting it again this time around, said it would be on the market by December 2010. The Volt, according to its manufacturer, will be capable of travelling forty miles after a single battery charge.

The Volt’s 2010 launch, said Bob Lutz – the vice chairman of General Motors – was “very much” on schedule and, in an effort to encourage its purchase, “incentives” could be introduced.

Ford, meanwhile, hopes to have its debut electric car on the marketplace in 2011 and this vehicle, it says, will have a range of 100 miles per charge. A commercial van based on the same principle is scheduled for 2010. Inner-city markets would be the prime area for marketing, officials representing Ford said.

Toyota Hybrid

Moving on to Toyota – whose Prius design has put it in prime position in terms of environmental car designs –it, too, was at NAIAS, and was showing its FT-EV concept car to the world. By 2012, it said, it would also have an urban electric car available to US drivers.

“Last summer's $4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly”, the vice president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, Irv Miller, stated, adding: “It was a brief glimpse of our future.”

Petrol/ electric hybrids, though, remain at the forefront of Toyota’s future vision, and, in coming months, it should be unveiling a hybrid Lexus (its high-end, executive brand). The range of electric cars, according to Toyota, is limited at present by the batteries that can power them, rendering short-travel trips the only viable journeys.

Honda Insight

Finally Honda, Japanese sales of whose hybrid Insight model are set to start next month. US and European launches are slated for April and March respectively.

According to some figures, the Honda miles-per-gallon performance is 40 in urban areas, and 43 on the open road. However, according to Honda, it could achieve almost twice this.

Image copyright of and provided by Honda UK