The goggle-eyed hood and snug hatchback are reminiscent of a Volkswagen Beetle. But the Th!nk City battery-electric car is a lot quieter, smoother and greener.

Members of the Monterey Bay Electric Vehicle Alliance test-drove the Th!nk during their July meeting at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Castroville office. The Finland-made EV, coming soon to the U.S. market, gets more than 100 miles per charge and cruises at up to 70 miles per hour.

Those stats may not impress racecar fans or road-trippers, but they’re enough to meet the daily needs of most Americans – with fewer greenhouse gas emissions. MBEVA members hope that with the right incentives and infrastructure, the EVs rolling onto showroom floors will become a major slice of the Monterey Bay area’s transportation pie.

The 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? chronicles the hopeful unveiling and politically driven destruction of General Motors’ landmark EV1 in the mid-1990s. But the story didn’t end there. In spring 2009 Sharon Sarris, a former GM exec who helped launch the EV1, founded MBEVA, a public-private partnership that helps prime Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties for plug-in and hybrid-electric vehicles.

For now, Sarris says, MBEVA’s top priority is getting more public EV charging stations in the area. Monterey County already has at least nine, according to www.evchargernews.com.

In Monterey, there are two free charging stations in West Custom House Garage, one behind City Hall (which powers the city’s five EVs) and a new one at Dennis the Menace Park.

“When you build it, they will come,” says Hans Uslar, assistant director of Monterey Plans & Public Works. “We will be happy to expand the network if more people are using it.”

Seaside’s Victory Toyota offers another charging station, as does King City’s Ciudad del Rey Motel. In Salinas, EV drivers can juice up at Rabobank, Costco and Wild Things Animal Rentals.

The group is relying heavily on grants to expand that number. “Our goal is to get about 50,” says MBEVA co-facilitator Kristi Markey, chief of staff to County Supervisor Jane Parker.

A $50,000 award through the local air district will fund a study on potential charging station sites, public outreach and up to four installations in Monterey County, Markey says. A half million in federal stimulus dollars will put more charging stations in the Greater S.F. Bay Area; MBEVA is pushing for a dozen in Monterey County. Five other pending grants should help even more.

At the July 22 MBEVA meeting – just days before the 2010 Plug In Conference in San Jose – Jay Friedland, legislative director of Plug In America, reports the group has sent letters of support for five state bills that would provide EV perks like carpool-lane privileges, workforce training and a consumer website. Markey’s team, meanwhile, is working on a streamlined building permit for local EV charging stations.

Out in the IBEW lot, near the Th!nk car, sits a sportier spin on EV tech: a French-mustard-yellow two-seater with windows that swing skyward (inviting passengers to jump in Dukes of Hazzard style) and an acceleration of zero to 60 in 4.9 seconds.

The “tzero” didn’t take off – the 1999 prototype is one of three in existence – but its SoCal-based maker, AC Propulsion, continues to turn out EV tech. So does Palo Alto-based Tesla, which produces luxe electric sportscars; Zero Motorcycles in Scotts Valley; Campbell-based Coulomb Technologies, maker of charging stations; and Salinas’ own EV manufacturer, Green Vehicles.

The electric car may not be dead after all.