The recession nearly killed the old Detroit, but it had been in decline for decades. Now a bunch of new Californian carmakers, technology companies and investors that think they can do things better: that they can build cars in America that are not only environmentally acceptable but desirable too.<\/p>\n
America hasn\u2019t made many of those in recent years.<\/p>\n
Fisker \u2013 founded by former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker<\/a>, whose new Karma extended-range electric vehicle we\u2019ve just driven \u2013 is based in LA with AC Propulsion, which pioneered the electric drivetrains that underpin the Tesla <\/a>and the Mini E<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tesla is based in San Francisco, along with Better Place, which is building electric-car infrastructures around the world and pioneering new ways of paying for your motoring. The Silicon Valley venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins<\/a> and Draper Fisher Jurvetson <\/a>that made their money with start-ups like Google are now putting their billions behind these new, clean-tech car companies, and some of the guys who founded those firms have put their own money in too.<\/p>\n\n\t\t