Detroit Auto Show 2009: Green RulesDetroit Auto Show 2009: Green Rules

At this year's North American International Auto Show, which opens to the public on Jan. 17 in Detroit, automakers pledge they'll offer even more alternatives to gas-guzzling models, with many planning electric-only vehicles (EVs) within three years.

It's a lofty goal, with lots of unanswered questions and unsolved problems. Will consumers warm up to the idea of plugging in their cars for a recharge every night? How would they recharge on a road trip? Can automakers mass-produce electric vehicles at affordable prices?

But the Detroit auto show has always been as much about what's possible as what's real, and Detroit automakers, in particular, are out to prove that they "get it" with green technologies and clean engineering.

Aside from their financial woes, they're feeling the pressure, too, from California startups, new Chinese automakers, and their traditional competitors all joining the race to the mass-produced EVs.

General Motors plans to start selling its hybrid Volt sedan in the U.S. next year, and at the auto show this week unveiled a concept luxury sedan that uses the same Volt technology, the Cadillac Converj.

Now GM wants to be at the forefront of solving the clunky issues of current hybrid and EV technology, and announced Monday its plans to open a battery research lab in Michigan. GM said it's hiring more engineers to work on battery technologies, is partnering with the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on its research efforts, and will open up a Michigan plant to assemble battery packs based on lithium-ion batteries supplied by LG Chem Ltd. of Korea.

GM, meanwhile, has tucked its latest Hummer models, like wayward and embarrassing stepchildren, into the back corner of its floor space at Detroit's Cobo Hall. Indeed, with so much focus on fuel efficiency and green technologies at this year's show, the Hummer's presence feels awkward.

By contrast, those attending the show will hear much more about the Volt, which will run purely on electricity for up to the first 40 miles following a three-hour charge on a 240-volt outlet. After that, the gas engine kicks in and recharges the battery for a few hundred additional miles.

GM has said it will spend $758 million on Volt technology by 2012 (part of its promise to Congress in exchange for recent emergency funding) and seems intent on going head-to-head with the Toyota Prius within a few years.

Prius has a big head start, though. At Monday's show press preview, Toyota debuted the 2010 model, which was redesigned for more fuel efficiency and aerodynamics, is about one inch longer and wider, and will offer 50 miles per gallon with combined city/highway use. Toyota said it hopes to sell 400,000 of the vehicles this year, putting it in the production range of the Camry and Corolla.

Ford, which has offered the hybrid Escape SUV for several years, will start selling a hybrid Fusion sedan this spring. Between the two models, it expects to sell 55,000 hybrid vehicles this year, said Praveen Cerian, Ford's Fusion hybrid program leader, in an interview at the show on Monday.

The hybrid Fusion will get about 41 mpg on the highway and 36 mpg in the city, which compares to 22/34 for a nonhybrid Fusion, he said. The price delta between the two is about $3,000, but that doesn't include savings from green-technology tax breaks. The hybrid version will offer the same deluxe features as the Fusion SEL, he said.

Ford is among the automakers at the show giving firm numbers for their first fully electric vehicles in the United States. For Ford, it's the year 2011.

Making its debut at the Detroit auto show this year is Tesla, a 5-year-old Silicon Valley company founded by Elon Musk, who founded and sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion. Among Tesla's early investors were Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who each own a Tesla Roadster.

The Roadster is the only highway-capable, all-electric vehicle on the road. This is tempered by the fact that you must be filthy rich to afford one: They start at $109,000. But thanks to green-minded Hollywood stars (Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney each own one), wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and Manhattan bankers, Tesla has sold 150 Roadsters and has 1,100 orders in the pipeline. Buyers are also emerging in Florida and Texas, and Tesla plans to open retail stores in Chicago, Miami, and Seattle this year, said senior communications manager Rachel Konrad.

The Roadster doesn't use any gas and doesn't even have a tailpipe; it's powered on 6,831 lithium-ion batteries. Tesla is developing a $57,500, four-door EV sedan for availability in late 2011, and also is planning an under-$30,000 model, Konrad said.

Green efforts weren't entirely about hybrids and EVs. GM debuted the futuristic-looking Spark, which gets 40 mpg and is the company's first "mini" vehicle, said a spokesman. It will sell first in Asia and Europe, with a U.S. debut planned in the 2010 or 2011, he said.

GM also introduced the Orlando, which it calls a "multipurpose" vehicle but would probably be classified as a crossover; it looks like a mini-mini-van. The Orlando is based on the same architecture as the Chevrolet Cruise compact car and offers five doors and seven seats, six of which can be fully folded down. GM plans to market the vehicle as a fuel-efficient, easy-handling alternative to an SUV or mini-van, with production slated for 2011, said a spokesman.

There were some newcomers, too. China's BYD (of which investor Warren Buffet owns a stake) showed off its simple and sensible vehicles -- a few hybrid models and one all-electric vehicle, the e6, which it plans to start selling in the United States in 2011, said a spokeswoman.

All of the green talk aside, the show's "Car of the Year" award, chosen by a panel of auto industry journalists, went to the Hyundai Genesis, which could help the automaker finally shed its low-end image. The luxury sedan offers 375 horsepower and gets to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. It offers eight airbags, a back-up camera, and Bluetooth, and starts at $42,100.

But with 18 mpg in the city and 27 in the highway, the Hyundai Genesis could be the last big-engine, gas-powered vehicle to walk away with the coveted annual award, given the push toward hybrids and EVs.

To see photos of the prize-winning Hyundai Genesis and other concept cars and production models at the Detroit Auto Show, click here.