Renewable Energy & Electric Cars — Key To Economic Rebound?

President Obama wants one million electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. Automakers are pushing more electric models like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf.

The Toyota Prius has been wildly popular and now a new “plug-in” hybrid will come out next spring. A couple of demos were on display in the Coachella Valley Friday.

Gail Gugino has been driving one around for three weeks.

“I absolutely love it,” she said.

Gugino’s with Potere Solar, a Rancho Mirage company approached by Toyota to try out the new plug-in hybrid and give a critique.

“I plug it into a 120 volt standard outlet. It takes about two and a half hours to charge. When you drive, it uses that charge first. When you’ve depleted that charge, then it switches to the regular hybrid — operates just like the existing hybrid,” said Gugino.

Local dealers say more people are getting interested in electric cars, but serious buyers are still a niche crowd.

“They’re definitely going green. They want to make a statement. They want to be the first ones on the block to have it,” said Paul Connolly with Palm Springs Nissan.

But can the cars gain mass appeal?

The Nissan Leaf costs around $35,000. It’s 100 percent electric, but may only go around 75 miles on a full charge.

And if you need to make a stop during your trip — good luck in finding a charging station.

Assemblyman Manuel Perez (D-Coachella) stopped by to check out the new hybrids and admitted more needs to be done when it comes to cost and convenience.

“Folks are not used to pulling over somewhere and plugging in a vehicle. We do not have enough of those infrastructure outlets throughout the state. So that needs to really be thought through.”