Pretty, but maybe not the way forward: The 2010 Camaro Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

Yesterday morning, Texas lawmakers got to check out the 2010 Camaro: There was one parked out back of the Capitol, on the North drive. It was silver and it was sleek and it was pretty and it was exactly the kind of gas-hungry toy that the American auto-industry shouldn’t be showing off at a time when it’s trying to re-establish itself.

By contrast, last week on the Capitol South Steps the option was plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Robert Kanode, CEO of Valence Technology Inc., was showing off an array of the vehicles that run on his company’s lithium iron batteries. Currently, the Austin-based firm produces its batteries in Suzhou, China, but they’ve just put in for a $608 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program: The plan, he said, is to move manufacturing to Central Texas.

There are some bills in the offing to benefit electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Take Senate Bill 129, which would allow neighborhood electric vehicles to travel at 35mph (bizarrely, even if they can manage that speed, they’re currently only allowed to do 25mph in a 35mph zone. Go figure.) That’s managed to get as far as the House Transportation Committee.

It’s no Vincent Black Shadow, but it will do: Robert Kanode shows off the Enertia electric bike, powered by lithium iron batteries. Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

Then there’s SB 16, which builds up last session’s reforms to the Texas Emissions Reduction Program and the Low Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program. Both programs are intended to get smoky old vehicles off the road, and these new reforms add a rebate program for plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles (great if the car really needs replacing, not so great if it’s just a yuppie subsidy.)

HB 629 has similar aims but for state agencies (since the state runs one of the biggest vehicle fleets, going electric would be a huge plus for the industry.) Potentially even more important is SB1821, instructing the Public Utility Commission to undertake a study into the long-term adoption of PHEVs and its impact on the grid.

Kanode said that he wasn’t actively lobbying for any of these bills, but just wanted legislators to be aware that the technology worked. He was most disappointed, he said, that he wasn’t allowed to bring AISD’s plug-in hybrid electric bus on to the capitol grounds. It had to sit out on Colorado, where the driver happily explained that it’s a dream to drive (more fun than a Hummer, she claimed), and the kids like it because it’s so quiet they don’t have to yell to talk to each other.

This article appears in May 1 • 2009.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.