Word: german
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Just a p.r. gag or does a new electro-Trabi have a chance of rising from the cold ashes of history to rule the roads in Germany? That remains to be seen. But the dream of an electric autobahn is clearly taking hold in Germany. The German government last week unveiled a "national development plan" to put a million electric cars on the road by 2020, pledging to provide $715 million from the country's economic stimulus package toward funding for research and development. Part of the plan involves developing a network of electric filling stations along German roads, with...
...goal is to make Germany the leading market for electro-mobility," Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told reporters in Berlin as he unveiled the plan. (Read "German Court Upholds Ban on Extra-Long Names...
...makers of the Trabi aren't the only German car manufacturers turned on by the dream of electric cars. Volkswagen says it will launch an electric car by 2013, while Daimler, the maker of powerful gas-guzzling Mercedes-Benz limousines, has teamed up with power utility RWE for a series of electric-car tests in Berlin...
...Many German commentators saw the government announcement as little more than an political p.r. gimmick. Still, the liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung saw the announcement as a sign of how technology once considered a pipe dream has moved firmly into the mainstream of public debate. "Electric cars are no longer a topic for madmen but for the government. A million of these cars should be zipping along German roads by 2020. The government is instigating a revolution," the paper wrote last week. (Read "Electric Cars: China's Power Play...
...million electric cars may sound like a big deal considering that there are only 1,452 such vehicles on German roads today. But Germany registers more than 3.7 million new cars every year. "Even if the government reaches its goal, it would still only affect 2% of the cars on German streets," wrote the daily Berliner Zeitung. "Electric cars will, for the foreseeable future, remain a niche product. For years, huge sums have been invested in fuel cells or hydrogen-powered cars - but no viable cars have appeared on the market." The German government may be hoping its investment...