On Sunday, January 11, the Ford Motor Co. announced the introduction of a line of all-electric vehicles to be debuted for the model years from 2010 to 2012.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, in remarks at the Detroit auto show, indicated a plug-in commercial would be introduced in 2010, followed by a plug-in Ford Focus-like vehicle in 2010, a model being developed in concert with Magna International Inc.

By 2012, the next-generation of Ford's hybrid vehicles will appear alongside more plug-in models. Additionally, the automaker will manufacture an electric version of is global mid-sized car platform on which the Fusion is constructed.

"Ford is heading in the direction America and our customers want us to go, which is a green, high-tech and global future," said Ford. Currently the company is the only American automaker not operating with benefit of federal bailout money.

Ford warned that consumers should not be lulled into a state of complacency by the current low gasoline prices, which are less than half the $4 high seen in the summer of 2007. As the economy picks up, Ford said, gas prices will go back up.

Looking to the future, Ford said the Obama administration could be in a position to use money from new federal gas taxes or offer other incentives to steer the public in the direction of more fuel-efficient vehicles.