BY BRENT SNAVELY | DETROIT FREE PRESS | BUSINESS WRITER | October 20, 2009

Photo courtesy The Detroit News

During a speech today in Detroit, retired U.S. Army General and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark cast the effort to develop electric vehicles as a critical national security need that is essential to help the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

The issue “is absolutely dead center in the bull’s-eye for national security,” Clark said during a three-day conference called “The Business of Plugging In,” which is being held at Motor City Casino in Detroit.

Clark also compared the current status of electric vehicles to the early stages of development for personal computers, cellular telephones and the Internet. He said the industry could be standing at the cusp of a similar technological revolution that could create jobs and boost the U.S. economy.

“We spawned a whole new industry off of personal computing,” Clark said. “We need that next big thing for America, and it could be right here at this conference. It could be in electric vehicle technologies.”

The conference has drawn more than 600 professionals from utilities, automotive companies and suppliers to discuss how to overcome infrastructure, development cost and policy issues so that electric cars can be a viable choice for consumers.

By Sharon Silke Carty | USA TODAY | Oct 22, 2009

DETROIT — At a three-day conference on the future of plug-in hybrids, one lingering question kept coming up: Who's going to buy these things?

The answer, according to outsiders and industry leaders here: no one, if they're not fun to drive. Fun to play with. And fun to look at.

Naturally, people want safe and reliable cars, but, they said, the key to wide public acceptance of more expensive plug-in and electric cars is making them fun.

"We're asking, 'Can you give us the next big thing? Can you make a profit? And can you make it fun?' " said Wesley Clark, former presidential candidate and keynote speaker at the Business of Plugging In conference. "If you can do that, it's a whole new age for Detroit and a whole new age for America."