Hasta La Gadget!

Electric cars highlighted the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit with a half-dozen introductions, including the Cadillac Converj concept car, an upscale version of the Chevrolet Volt. For automakers, electric cars are a roll of the dice: They cost a lot more, even more than the $2,000-$3,000 a hybrid commands over a non-hybrid. A hybrid mostly runs on gasoline or diesel; the electrics being shown have much larger battery packs so they can go 30 to 40 miles. Where a laptop battery ($100-$200) has six to nine cells, an electric car might have the equivalent of 5,000. Some of the introductions at NAIAS: