Tesla became the first American automaker to go public since 1956 today as shares began trading under the ticker TSLA on the Nasdaq. With its most expensive car selling for more than $100k, Tesla is looking to strike a chord with wealthy yet environmentally conscious car buyers. Later this year, Chevrolet hopes its Volt (a price tag about half the size of the Tesla Roadster) will become the first electric car for the masses.
Building this industry from the ground up isn’t an easy task. There were more than 260 million registered vehicles in the United States last year and only a small percentage of those are fueled by alternative energies.
The transportation sector consumed 27.92 quadrillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy in 2008, roughly 28 percent of all energy consumed in the U.S. Of that, petroleum products accounted for nearly 95 percent. Electricity and natural gas combined accounted for less than 3 percent. (more)
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