CRI听力:A Long Road for 'Green' Cars

Electric cars presented by the world renowned automakers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Ford highlighted the auto show's preview, with several models drawing visitors attention with their highly sophisticated technology, sleek designs, and stunning colors.

Cadillac enters the game with the new ELR. GM Global Vice President Bob Ferguson says it symbolizes the company's commitment to the plug-in vehicle.

"We believe in this technology. I think it's technology for today and tomorrow so we'll continue down this path with lots of enthusiasm."

Electric car manufacturers at the show concede that the cost of an electric car is currently substantially more than a normal gasoline car, but they also believe that the electric cars are worth the extra expense.

Kevin Layden, director of electrification engineering of Ford company, is one of them.

"The electric car is right now at a significant premium. I think we're at 39,000 US dollars for a Focus Electric here, versus I would say a similarly equipped gasoline Focus is in the 27,000 US dollar region. And what you do have to look at is the features, so when you start comparing like for like similarly equipped vehicles, its price isn't skyrocketing."

Although price may not pose a big concern to potential customers, the lack of charging stations and the long time it takes for electric cars to charge remains a big sticking point.

GM's newly developed electric car, only achieved half its estimated sales in the US market last year, while sales the Nissan LEAF, produced by the Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan Motor Company, didn't even manage half of its forecast sale volume in the US market last year.

GM's Kevin Kelly concedes that they are hoping to find solutions to help drivers power up.

"We are working with utility partners as we can to help them understand　where most of our owners are, where they're charging most of the time, where we're seeing our vehicles ending up in the population. So we're working to let them know that information so that we can get infrastructure put smartly in deployment".

Ford's Kevin Layden says many electric vehicle manufacturers have called for the government to allay customers' fears by installing more charging stations for electric cars.

"We're going to see that the customers have that option to plug in at work, plug in at the shopping areas, as well as plug in at their home".

Auto experts say that the installation of more charging facilities would not only bring a boost to the popularity of electric cars, but is in itself a huge potential market.

The auto show will be open to the public from January 19 to January 27.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao.