PARIS — Either Renault Executive Vice Chairman Patrick Pelata had too much champagne, or he knows something we don't.
At the Paris Motor Show on Thursday, Pelata announced that the French carmaker would build a pure electric version of the Fluence, a mid-size sedan, and sell as many as 40,000 in 2011. "But we could double that" in the following year, Pelata said.
Such sales volumes could make Renault the world's largest producer of electric road vehicles -- far outpacing, for instance, the production numbers proposed for General Motors Corp.'s much-vaunted Volt, due out in 2010. GM is planning to make 10,000 a year to start.
Against a backdrop of generally gloomy sales forecasts and belt-tightening, a chorus of optimism rose from automakers at the Paris show as the technical hurdles of hybrids, plug-ins and electric vehicle development -- primarily involving the cost and capacity of advanced-chemistry batteries -- are gradually being overcome.
"Two years ago nobody said an electric vehicle was even possible," said Pitt Moos, marketing manager for Smart USA. "Today everybody is saying, 'We're going to make one.' "
At the show, Smart -- the maker of those tiny two-seat city cars -- announced plans to build all-electric vehicles for Europe by the end of the decade. But it hasn't said what its intentions are for the U.S. market.
"The challenge has always been the battery," Moos said. Compact, energy-dense lithium chemistry batteries for automotive applications are expensive and can be hazardous.
"We have just in the past couple of months become comfortable about a method of making lithium batteries for cars," Moos said. "Now some people are starting to quote Obama: Yes, we can."
Both Mercedes-Benz and BMW unveiled full-size luxury hybrid production models with lithium batteries: the S400 BlueHybrid and the 7-Series hybrid, respectively. Mercedes-Benz Chairman Dieter Zetsche said the S400 -- powered by a 275-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 and a 15-kilowatt electric motor and a lithium-battery pack -- will be the world's most economical luxury car with a gasoline engine. The car will be able to accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 7.2 seconds and get about 29 miles per gallon.
"This is just the beginning," Zetsche said. "With this technology, we can hybridize all of our models in rapid succession. This car proves Mercedes will be able to downsize its emissions without downsizing its products."
