HDNet's 'Dan Rather Reports' Kicks the Tires on the Electric Car

Once a dream of the future, these cars are suddenly very real, but are they
viable? Tuesday, September 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET

DALLAS, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Tonight's "Dan Rather Reports" examines the
coming revolution in transportation--the electric car. While hybrids like the
Toyota Prius have sold well, electric car makers - many of them Silicon Valley
startups - are rolling out cars with zero emissions, and six- figure sticker
prices. The first all-electric to be introduced was the Tesla Roadster.

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In tonight's episode, Rather test-drives the new 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport on
the busy streets of Manhattan. This two-seater accelerates from 0-60 in 3.9
seconds and retails for around $125,000.

Tesla, has just received a 465 million dollar loan from the U.S. Government
and plans to use the money to build a larger, seven-person Tesla "S" sedan,
which will have a 300 mile range, go from 0-60 in 5.6 seconds and will retail
at around $50,000.

Diarmuid O'Connell, vice president for Tesla Motors sees a future in which you
no longer stop to "gas up," but to "plug in and charge up." He is already in
discussions with many different interested parties. "Convenience stores,
7-Eleven's," O'Connell tells Rather. "Any place where people would reasonably
stop to take a break or to grab a meal or to overnight."

One writer who thinks electric cars are coming fast is Dan Neil, Pulitzer
Prize winning automotive writer for the Los Angeles Times. "Really, the
transformation and the American rolling stock will be breathtaking, I
predict," says Neil. "We're going to see millions of electric vehicles on the
road very, very soon."

The report concludes with a round table discussion on the future viability of
these fascinating electric vehicles and how soon they may actually become the
car of choice for American drivers.

Joining Rather in the discussion are Jim Motavalli and Matt DeBord. Motavalli
is an environmental writer, speaker and author. He is also a regular
contributor to the New York Times Automobile section and Wheels blog, among
numerous other publications. Matt DeBord also writes about automobiles and
sustainability for national newspapers such as the Washington Post and the Los
Angeles Times. And, he's a regular contributor to Slates: The Big Money,
where he writes the Shifting Gears blog.

"Dan Rather Reports: Electric Cars" premieres on HDNet on Tuesday, September 8
at 8:00 p.m. ET with an encore presentation at 11:00 p.m. ET to accommodate
west coast prime time.

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