On Saturday, I spent four hours in the blistering August heat of Palo Alto, California exploring the world of electric cars at the 37th Annual Electric Car Rally and Show. Sponsored by the Electric Automobile Association, Silicon Valley Chapter, the event offered a wide variety of vehicles, people and philosophies. I also enjoyed a remarkably tasty spicy chicken taco and two enormous icees.

With all the excitement over the $109,000 Tesla sports car and news of the upcoming Nissan Leaf, a four-door sedan for more regular folks, you might wonder what you can do today, without breaking the bank. The answer is, folks have been thinking about electric cars for a long time and converting them to 100 percent battery power.

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Like a rock from a slingshot, the MINI E electric car shoots up the onramp and into the traffic flow. Press the accelerator (don’t call it the gas) and the 150 KW motor delivers its 204 horsepower in a burst.

You’ll hardly need the brakes. The regenerative braking system kicks in like the flaps on a landing 727. It’s like someone dropped the anchor or popped the ‘chutes. It takes some getting used to. Just lift your right foot as you approach a red light and cruise to a stop.

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LA County Sheriffs stuck driving Crown Vics are about to be left feeling tragically un-hip. Their Board of Sups just approved a deal with BMW to lease 17 fully electric MINI Coopers.

Approved on Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will lease the MINI Es for only $10 a month. With a market lease rate of $850, automaker BMW offered up the bargain price in exchange for deputy’s feedback.

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I’m only slightly miffed that I wasn’t selected to test-drive the car for a year but I’ll get over it. In the meantime, the rest of us can follow Peter through his blog “Plugged-In With Peter’s MINI E,” which can be viewed at http://www.petersminie.blogspot.com/. Yes, his blog is a marketing tool but I can’t resist and I will be following him. Maybe we’ll even be able to get him to write a special piece for us at Gas 2.0.

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With one of Nissan’s senior EV project engineers sitting next to me, it felt like I was being expectantly doted on by a protective parent as I drove Nissan’s EV-02 electric test car around a closed course Monday. Given that the EV-02 is only one of two such cars in the world, the reaction was perhaps understandably warranted.

Earlier in the day Nissan had held a joint press conference with Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and representatives from Portland General Electric, to further affirm Oregon’s burgeoning relationship with Nissan to be one of the first and premier locations for the company’s late 2010 electric car launch.

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As with every electric vehicle, battery issues—type, range, weight, and charging time, not to mention cost—are slowing down development, but enthusiasts and entrepreneurial companies are working to come up with the best solution. Perhaps it’s a three-wheeled vehicle, such as the Triac from Green Vehicles. Looking a little like a wingless helicopter, with two wheels up front and one in the back, it is much more like a car than a motorcycle, and at $25,000, is priced like one. The folks at Green Vehicles offer a cute little minivan called the Moose and a little three-wheeled trucklet called the Buckshot as well.

Some manufacturers have electric cars out now, in the testing stages. Two MINI E’s were represented, although they’re not for sale (yet). The shockingly narrow Tango looked like you could push it over (you can’t). Two lovely Teslas were in evidence while I was there.

A few Toyota RAV4 small SUVs were on display. These cars were available 10 years ago, until Toyota stopped selling them. However, unlike in GM’s EV1 program, the cars belonged to the owners and were not crushed.

They’re still humming along.

One of the most unusual vehicles was a replica of the 1904 curved dash Oldsmobile, this one electrically powered and steered with its tiller by Bill Palmer. Bill is one of the founders of the Electric Automobile Association, which formed in 1967. He claims that his replica Olds is based on a six-inch plastic model. The 1904 original was not an electric vehicle. Bill enjoyed taking children—and some adults—on short rides around the grounds.

You can pay experts to convert your car for you or do it yourself. Electro Automotive of Felton California had a booth featuring friendly folks and plenty of information to take along. One handout announced an event to follow the next day. One sheet showed that Electro Automotive’s kits range from $6,425 to $12,545, depending on the donor vehicle. Another handout gave lists of books to read to learn more.

Or, you can do it as a family project. Steve and Eric Schmidt stood proudly next to their bright orange MG Midget. Much of the conversion was done by this father and son team. Both admitted that they had no experience when they started. As they pulled away in their silent cruiser, you know they had learned a lot in the process.

A pair of Toyota Priuses joined the party. These were plug-in conversions, which operate in full electric mode but can run on gasoline when the batteries become discharged. This method eases concerns about becoming stranded. The world is waiting for batteries to become more efficient—along with quick charging and widespread availability to it—so that electricity can take over.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin.

MINI E is the first product from BMW’s Project i program. Project i takes aim at vehicle and transportation strategies for the world’s mega-cities. The cars will be loaned to both customers and the cities for a full year.

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With the onslaught of electric concepts and announcements coming out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, you’d think that the entire world is about to junk their old jalopies and rush out and buy electric cars tomorrow.

But, alas, as much as millions of Americans would love to pay 3 cents a mile on their daily commutes, our choices for electric cars are, at the moment, severely lacking.

Although the promise of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show reeks of desperation, it’s not all smoke and mirrors. Believe it or not, there are a bunch of noteworthy electric cars, both all-battery and extended range plug-ins, reaching US production sometime in the next two years.

So, if you’ve got the time to wait and you find yourself longing for the cheapest, quietest, and most earth-friendly commute you could imagine, take a gander at this list… electric bliss is closer than you probably thought.

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From a green perspective, even though the Mini E is getting the most hype, the Mitsubishi i MiEV is one hell of a fun car to drive, and the Honda FCX Clarity is cutting edge, those are just cars. The true measure of a car company lies in its strategies, and, after Nissan’s recent media blitz, the company has shown that there is not a single other auto manufacturer out there who “just gets it” like they do.

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Mitsubishi is currently testing the i MiEV in California in collaboration with Southern California Edison. Additionally, according to Mitsubishi executive, David Patterson, the company is in negotiations to partner with Oregon after Nissan announced its new electric car partnership with the state on Wednesday. I guess everybody wants to get in on the Oregon action.

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The new-for-2009 Mini E electric car is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated cars being released next year. Initially the car will only be offered to a select group of 500 people in the Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey metro areas who will be chosen by Mini to provide the exact set of testing conditions Mini engineers want to evaluate.

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Much of the attention surrounding the upcoming 2008 LA Auto Show (Nov. 21-30) has been directed at cars like the 2010 Ford Mustang and the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Yet, while glitzy, fast, and heart-poundingly desirable, these types of cars already seem like relics of a different era — a weird and surreal window on the past. To celebrate them feels mostly cheap and material, and does a disservice to the reality of our current world.

Given announcements last Friday that the American auto industry is on the brink of extinction, it seems to me that the more important cars at the show are the ones that, if they’re smart, the American auto industry will quickly turn to as the future of transportation. In honor of these sentiments, it’s only fitting for Gas 2.0 to do a preview of the cars and technologies you care about, and leave the relics to the pros.

I’ll be covering the LA Auto Show during press days on November 19-20, so stay tuned to Gas 2.0 for live coverage. Until then, check out the small taste of what’s to come below.

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The Mini E will have a range of about 150 miles and will initially be offered to select private and corporate customers in California, New York and New Jersey, but will first be given its world premiere at the LA Auto Show on November 19th and 20th, 2008.

As for its speed, BMW claims that it will offer acceleration to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds with a top speed that is electronically limited to 95 mph.

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