1

Must carry at least a driver and an occupant and have at least enough cargo room beside the two occupants to carry 4 grocery bags

2

Must be able to plugged-in for charging at any location, at home, at work, rest stop or a roadside general car service station, from an an electric dryer power outlet - 220 VAC single phase and a 110 VAC standard outlet. This requirement implies all dual voltage charging equipment is built-in onboard the car.  This requirement is the kingpin of our evaluation - this allows the car owner to charge their car by either simply using their local power company electricity at lower off-peak rates over night and/or through a combination of their own creative sources of electricity such as solar or other means at their disposal

3

Must be able to perform on the highway and city on various road surfaces/conditions and grades with similar in performance to a SPORT COMPACT not like a golf cart or sometimes called "neighborhood electric vehicles",  ("cars" with 3 wheels may be evaluated if this requirement and all others are satisfied)

4

Must have some basic level of creature comforts, i.e. sound, air- vents, heat, a/c-option, opening windows .

5

Must be as safe as a new sport compact especially in an event of a crash from any direction - this requirement implies that the electric powertrain including the batteries are as safe as the rest fo the vehicle.

6

Must be able to fulfill a practical "average commuting driving profile" (hills, acceleration needs, passing power, fun curves, etc.)  for a real driver style not like that of your granny) and, must be able to handle road and terrain conditions which may include up to 50% mountainous terrain, (Requiring 100% operation in mountainous may limit available vehicle range far below our minimal requirement)

For a 2008 all electric car, a.k.a BEV (battery electric vehicle), with a full charge, must be capable of operating for a range of ~100 miles while driving an EPA combined drive cycle . Driving the more realistic Average Commuting Profile, ~80 miles of range should be attainable, which is double the average of 78 percent of Americans in 2007, who drove less than 27 miles total per day, plus ~20 miles of reserve.

For a 2008 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), it must be able to attain a minimum of ~50 miles of EPA combined drive cycle range in an electric only or “no fuel used mode” (also known as a PHEV-50 car). In addition this PHEV must attain ~100 mpg running in a blended mode, where both the electric motor and fuel burning engine are used, for a EPA combined drive cycle range of ~160 miles.  Driving the more realistic Average Commuting Profile, ~40 miles in electric only mode, should be attainable and in blended mode ~100 mpg for ~100 miles range should be attainable.

7

Must be warranteed and serviced by a company or companies who will be around for the lifetime of the car with an acceptable range of buyer

8

Must be capable of recovering (recharging the onboard batteries) from the action of braking - called in the techie-geek jargon “Regenerative Braking”

9

*Must be able to be charged and operate at least for a short amount of time in temperatures ranging from 32 degrees to 120 degree Fahrenheit, (we are specifically excluding the requirement of being an all-weather/clime vehicle because this requirement may at this time disqualify some outstanding vehicles available in 2008)