At the end of 2010, GM and Nissan each began selling cars that run on electricity most or all the time. The Volt and the Leaf are only the first of dozens of new elec-tric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to come: every major automaker has promised to start selling such cars over the next few years. Toyota, which has led the world in its development of gas-electric hybrid technology, plans next year to introduce a new version of its Prius that will be able to run on electricity alone for short distances. Meanwhile, startups such as Coda Automotive are trying to break into the auto industry with plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars-following the lead of Tesla Motors, whose elec-tric sports car may have helped set the new wave in motion when it was introduced in 2006.
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