Held just this past week in San Jose was the Plug-In 2008 conference; where automakers, utilities, battery manufacturers, and academics, along with plug-in advocates from all over, were all there with one goal in mind: how to figure out how to get these cars on the road in big numbers. They realize that this change isn’t going to be simple, whether needed in many ways or not. The automakers have to figure out a way to market the technology to consumers who for the most part know nothing about it. On the part of utilities, they have to develop the infrastructure that would enable millions of people without a garage to plug in their cars. And it’s up to all of them to figure out a way to make the vehicles affordable. Joe Consumer probably isn’t going to buy it if it costs as much as the Batmobile, even if it does save him on gas.

Some of the main issues tackled at the conference addressed just these concerns. First and foremost obviously being, that you have the advocates claiming how the electric cars will save the planet. Hurrah! While most of us by this point are kind of selfishly just wanting something that doesn’t cost so darn much every time we go to the gas station. Hey, this way we can save the earth and our stomachs. Win/win.

Those staggeringly high numbers at the gas pumps got you down? Well, then you just may be especially interested in BMW’s latest brainchild, their remake of the Mini Cooper. Over the next 18 months, BMW plans to use several hundred of their Mini’s to test electric powertrains. They haven’t leaked much detail-wise, regarding motors or batteries; although they say details will will be forthcoming by the end of the year.

However, the plans to test are just that…tests. They don’t plan to roll them out onto the assembly line for consumer purchase any time soon. Finally jumping on the environmentally-friendly bandwagon that the other Big Two German car makers, Volkswagen and Daimler, are already on, BMW is now committing to testing completely electric vehicles, but not quite ready to take the plunge to actually market them. As for hybrid cars that use a traditional gasoline engine combined with an electric motor, they should arrive “at the end of next year,” a company spokesperson for BWM was quoted as saying.