Word: plugging
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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There are probably fewer than 1,500 plug-in electric vehicles on the road today, most in carefully controlled experimental fleets. But over the next 18 months, the number will grow exponentially as automakers like General Motors, Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen and Toyota roll out models that use electricity for all or part of the car's energy. President Obama has suggested that the U.S. could have as many as 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. (See the 50 worst cars of all time...
...scrambling to prepare for the swarm of electric and hybrid vehicles, and several are market-testing on-site charging stations. The auto industry is doing its part, not only producing a burst of innovative vehicles, but also attacking some of the nitty-gritty issues, like the size of the plug...
...Thankfully, the plug challenge is nearly resolved. While no two cell phones can use the same charger, carmakers have agreed on the basic design of a common five-prong plug for use across the industry. The plug will fit into a car's socket, with the other end fitting into a standard 110-volt or 220-volt outlet. It will become the industry standard by 2011. "There aren't going to be any Beta vs. VHS issues to confuse the introduction of electric cars," says Gery Kissel, a General Motors Corp. engineer who served as chairman of the Society...
...retail car owner, it's likely to be an evolutionary change. Fred Standish, a spokesman for Nissan, which is preparing to launch the all-electric Leaf next year in the U.S., says the Japanese automaker expects the first EV drivers to be people who have garages where they can plug in at night. Owing to the lack of charging stations, he says they will also likely limit their EVs to short trips. "There is going to have to be a lot of education, because this a major change," he says...
...very limited opening; this week it took in $6.1 million at just 174 theaters for a wowie-zowie $35,000 per screen. That's how Paranormal Activity started out. Fervently promoted by Tyler Perry (who brought the movie to his distributor, Lionsgate) and Oprah Winfrey, with a plug from George H.W. Bush, Precious has a chance to be a crossover hit, appealing to African-American audiences, the art-house crowd and Oscar voters...