The Paris Auto Show is one of the most extravagant in the world.  It features the newest, the latest and the trendiest cars available.  This year’s show, which is open right now, has blended two trends together for the good of the auto-buying public and for the sake of the environment.

The trend toward keeping the planet green and helping to do it by using small efficient cars has been combined at the Paris Auto Show, in many cases through the premiere of electric cars.  It has become apparent that the economy will be headed in the “green” direction – keeping the earth green, and by doing so by the use of electric cars; it should keep some green in both automakers and consumers’ pockets.

All of a sudden everyone is interested in electric cars – even the United States.  There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is the fuel crisis and its impact on economics.  Last month only 1 million cars were sold in the United States.  That’s a very scant number.  In fact, this is the lowest amount of cars sold in a month in the last 15 years.  Europe is worried about the same situation.  Half of the cars purchased in Europe are financed, so the number of cars sold has a huge effect on the economy.

This is why the electric car is getting so much attention.  There are 19 electric cars showing at the Paris Auto Show.  They are all similar versions of the same basic car – a small car that can be plugged into a regular outlet at home or at a charging station.  The idea is that charging stations will be made available at various easily accessible places on the street – instead of the way that filling stations are used now.  Charging would take about 6 hours for a complete charge at 110 volts in the U.S., or 3 hours at 220 volts in Europe.  The cars can run for about 100 miles when fully charged, which is great for city commuters.

The Chevy Volt is one of the cars on display at the Paris Auto Show.  The Volt is currently being tested in Denmark and Chevy plans to sell between 100,000 and 200,000 units starting in 2010.  These would switch from fuel to electricity when the fuel runs out.  It is estimated that by 2015 there will have been 2.5 million electric cars sold in Europe. 

There will still be hurdles.  If the price of fuel continues to drop the way they have been dropping, many people may choose to keep their old cars a little longer rather than spend $10,000 for a new car.  In addition, nobody really knows how strong the market for electric cars will be and there are other alternatives that could come on the market as well.

Regardless, there are now beginning to be more options, and they are all the rage these days in Paris.