Nissan plans electric car to challenge Chevrolet Volt

Nissan says it could beat General Motors’ highly publicized Chevrolet Volt to market, selling an electric car as soon as fall 2010 with an eye-popping fuel-economy rating equivalent to 367 miles per gallon and a range of 100 miles on a charge.

The electric car does not use petroleum fuel directly. The mpg equivalent is calculated using a federal formula that takes into account the fuel an electric utility would use to charge the car.

Ford said Wednesday that it will begin producing a battery-power version of the next-generation Focus compact sedan at a converted Michigan truck factory in 2011. An early prototype gets 357 mpg, using the federal math.

Chrysler continues to insist that it will field an electric in 2010, though it’s currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and is mostly shut down.

Showing how competitive the once-exotic and obscure electric-car segment has become, Mitsubishi and Smart also plan electrics in 2010. Tesla, a small independent, has sold a few.

USA Today