Cars are very manly…yes, even the electric ones

We decided, this being Super Bowl Eve and all, to post something manly today, so we’re talkin’ cars today. First off, China’s finance ministry is offering subsidies to companies that switch over to hybrid vehicles. Planned for 11 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, the new measure “would offset the extra fuel costs companies incur on ordinary vehicles [and] also promote production of hybrid vehicles.” Curbing pollution is also a goal, especially in a country that gains, by conservative estimates, about three bajillion new drivers a day. And, knowing China, the hybrids in question might very well run on a lead-based fuel until enough people get poisoned to force a recall.

Here in America, the electric car is poised for a comeback thanks to Tesla, a plucky young car company that promised an affordable electric car at the last Detroit auto show and is either cresting the wave of the future or bilking the gas-leery consumer in ways that even Preston Tucker would question. The press certainly seems to hope for the latter, as it would fit the current media narrative of the electric car as an impossible pipe dream. We’ve written about their still-in-development Roadster before, and can attest that it looks pretty cool.

There’s also the Fisker Karma to consider - sure, it’s a plaything for rich liberals, but it combines the gasoline and electric engines really well. “The standard engine does not drive the wheels at all,” according to CarJunky.com, “but merely functions as a generator to keep the electric motor running once the car’s battery has run out.” When the standard engine is fully engaged, it has enough pickup to separate it from the dorky economy cars it shares classification with. Plus, the electric engine can be recharged from a wall socket or from optional solar panels on the car’s roof.

Anyway, we’ll end here before this turns into Car Talk: Environmentalist Nerd Edition, but we’ll be keeping an eye on future developments with Tesla and Fisker. And Arizona, who had better damn well win tomorrow.