McAuliffe (left) with Radford resident Brack Stovall.

By Bill Kovarik

Terry McAuliffe is on the road tonight with a message — and a business — that could change the way America drives.

The former Democratic National Committee chair stopped by  Radford’s River City Grill Sunday as part of a statewide tour promoting his new electric car company.  The tour also has all the earmarks of a political campaign.

The message hit home with democrats, who said McAuliffe’s vision promised something that business-as-usual Republicans will have a difficult time matching.

“We’ve got to get off imported oil,” McAuliffe said. “The government won’t do it. We’ve got to lead with the private sector.”

The two seat MyCar electric sells for about $12,000 in Hong Kong. Charging costs are about the eqivalent of $1.50 to $2.00 per gallon of gasoline. The range of this generation of MyCars is about 80 miles before recharging.

Last May, McAuliffe paid $20 million for the Hong Kong-based electric car company EuAuto, which builds an electric vehicle called the MyCar. Bringing the car company to Virginia could create 5,000 new jobs in one of the state’s depressed manufacturing regions.

According to McAuliffe’s web site, the first 100,000 low-end models will sell for about  $10,000. The car  has an 80 mile radius, but a second generation electric car will have the range of a gasoline car.

“To get people to drive electric cars, they have to feel comfortable,” McAuliffe said, noting that he had no problems commuting daily through northern Virginia’s notorious traffic.

He moved just as easily through the crowd, shaking hands and talking with several dozen democrats at the Radford “meet and greet,”

While McAuliffe’s tour was ostensibly to promote green cars and green business, the underlying theme was to rally the state’s flagging democratic party.

Whether this will also involve a run for the senate seat being vacated in 2012 by fellow democrat Jim Webb depends on a variety of factors.

McAuliffe wasn’t able to overcome the image of an outsider a few years ago, despite 20 years residence in the Virginia, when democrats chose Craig Deeds to run against now-governor Robert McDonald in 2009. But as Deeds’ campaign faltered, many democrats wished they had chosen McAuliffe.

While McAuliffe didn’t say he was a candidate for Senate, it is unlikely that he would not be, many democrats said.

More information:

McAuliffe’s web site

Buying a green car company: Washington Post