quimica - chemistry New movements in company to make electric cars

Wayne Cherry, the former General Motors design chief, is back in the car business. He showed off a street rod concept at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association show in Las Vegas last week. Cherry told the Motor Trend blog that the plans for his VSR "sorta got out of hand" and involved 25 companies to make it. He promised it will be street legal.

Renault's electric idea

Renault's ambitious plan to launch several electric vehicles moves a step closer to reality with news that the company will build a car based on its egg-shaped Twizy ZE concept car at a plant in Valladolid, Spain, in 2011. Renault also plans to produce an electric car based on the Zoe ZE concept in 2012 at its plant in Flins, not far from Paris. The letters ZE stand for zero emission and are to be part of the names of all Renault's battery-powered models.

The Valladolid plant already builds compact cars and minivans. Twizy production is an addition to those models. Flins currently builds subcompact cars. Renault expects the Zoe Flins will build to account for 2/3 of its electric vehicle sales.

Aston's swanky debut

Aston Martin's $200,000 Rapide sedan makes its U.S. debut at a Beverly Hills cocktail party Wednesday. The car should go on sale in the spring. Aston Martin plans to show the Rapide to potential customers in seven American cities this winter. Aston revealed the Rapide as a concept car at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but Detroit is not on the list of cities the production model will visit before it goes on sale.