The Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010, introduced in Congress this week, has a simple goal to electrify half of all cars and trucks on U.S. roads by 2030, and a basic strategy: focus the might of the federal government on a small number of pilot communities around the country, subsidizing the buildout of charging infrastructure and purchase of electric vehicles.

But when it comes to implementing that strategy, the legislation (which is now up for debate in two slightly different versions proposed in the House and the Senate, H.R. 5442 and?S. 3442, respectively) gets somewhat more complicated. Here are 10 things you should know about a pair of proposals that could play a big role in how the nascent electric vehicle market takes shape over the next 20 years:

Tesla Motors is partnering with Toyota to make electric cars at a defunct auto plant in California in a deal that is expected to create thousands of jobs, the two companies announced Thursday.

Part of the deal will involve Toyota purchasing $50 million of Tesla´s common stock, the companies said in a joint statement.

Manhattan Beach, Calif.

TO many people, the notion of living without oil − at least the various forms of oil sloshing around in their cars and S.U.V.´s − is a scratchy−shirt, nuts−and−twigs kind of idea. But with electric vehicles of various degrees − pure battery, hybrids and plug−in hybrids − on the way from major automakers, more drivers will be finding out how scratchy that shirt might be.

As the wide variety of designs poised for delivery indicates, there is no general agreement bouncing through the drivosphere over which technology will be the one to deliver us onto a squeaky−clean, chirping−bird Electric Avenue. For many, myself included, the answer seems simple. Plug−in hybrids are here − well, almost − now.

In the never ending search for substitutes for oil in cars and trucks, a Nevada company has found an unusual partial replacement: natural gas.

Natural gas, of course, is already used in thousands of buses, in compressed form. But building a compression station for fueling, and converting the buses, is expensive. The Nevada company, Advanced Refining Concepts, of Reno, has developed a fuel that runs through conventional fuel pumps, truck fuel tanks and diesel engines.

WASHINGTON − The Obama administration is setting tough gas mileage standards for new cars and trucks, spurring the next generation of fuel−sipping gas−electric hybrids, efficient engines and electric cars.

The heads of the Transportation Department and the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday were signing final rules requiring 2016 model−year vehicles to meet fuel efficiency targets of 35.5 miles per gallon combined for cars and trucks, an increase of nearly 10 mpg over current standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

GENEVA &emdash; Electric vehicles will not only reduce emissions, but they may also help solve another big problem facing Europe´s car industry: too many factories. At least that was the assertion of Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and Nissan, in a discussion with journalists at the Geneva auto show on Wednesday.

Mr. Ghosn said that Renault and Nissan would be ahead of the rest of the industry in mass-producing battery−powered vehicles next year and that the new vehicles could help keep the company´s European factories busy. Nissan is planning to produce the battery−powered Leaf at its factory in Smyrna, Tenn.

INTENT on turning green into gold, automakers staking claims on "sustainable mobility solutions" have turned the 80th International Motor Show into a high−tech gold rush.

Several large exhibit halls at the auto show here, the grandest in Europe, offer tantalizing glimpses into what could be a radically different future for the automobile. This year, alternative energy sources and new fuel−saving technologies moved from the fringe into the spotlights — and even into the displays of companies specializing in exotic sports cars.

TIANJIN, China (AFP) − Chinese commuters in their millions are turning to electric bicycles −− hailed as the environmentally−friendly future of personal transport in the country's teeming cities.

Up to 120 million e−bikes are estimated to be on the roads in China, making them already the top alternative to cars and public transport, according to recent figures published by local media.

SAN DIEGO, California (AFP) − US researchers unveiled a vehicle Thursday that earns money for its driver instead of guzzling it up in gasoline and maintenance costs.

The converted Toyota Scion xB, shown at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science here, is the first electric car to be linked to a power grid and serve as a cash cow.

SAN FRANCISCO − If electric cars have any future in the United States, this may be the city where they arrive first.

The San Francisco building code will soon be revised to require that new structures be wired for car chargers. Across the street from City Hall, some drivers are already plugging converted hybrids into a row of charging stations.

Yokohama, Japan − Fill ´er up −− with hydrogen.

It may still sound like science fiction to some. But Japan is taking a lead in making zero−emissions hydrogen−fueled cars a reality.

It´s part of the country´s aspiration to cut its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050; nearly a quarter of those emissions come from transportation. And it´s a more urgent task in a country that imports all of its oil.

SHANGHAI − Jiang Ruming, a marketing manager, owns a van, but for many errands, he hops on a futuristic−looking contraption that lets him weave rapidly through Shanghai´s messy traffic. He rides an electric bicycle.

Half a world away, in San Francisco, the president of that city´s board of supervisors, David Chiu, uses an electric bike to get to meetings without sweating through his suit.

By mandating that automakers build cars capable of traveling 35 miles per gallon by 2020 and that 36 billion gallons of the United States´ transportation fuel come from renewable sources by 2022, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was intended to reduce the country´s dependence on imported petroleum.

The recession "may buy us a couple more years," but rising fuel demand will soon wipe out any reductions arising from the legislation, says Kenneth Berlin, the author of several reports on energy security and global warming published by the Center for American Progress, a Washington—based think tank...(more)