Automakers push electric cars

DETROIT, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. car makers are striving to boost their green credentials at the Detroit auto show, industry analysts say.

Ford Motor Corp., for instance, is expected to announce plans for an electric vehicle that it wants to start selling by 2011, The New York Times reported Sunday. Ford plans to make only 10,000 of the electric vehicles a year at first, to test the market, the newspaper said.

"I think the days of the gasoline engine are numbered, even if we don't know exactly what that number is," said Daniel Becker, head of the Safe Climate Campaign, which is part of the Center for Auto Safety consumer advocacy group in Washington.

The Times said competition in electric vehicle production is intensifying. Japanese automakers Mitsubishi and Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, are testing electric cars, while Chrysler LLC has vowed to produce its first electric car by 2010.

Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn has said the company will sell an electric car in the United States and Japan as early as next year.