Bill Clinton to test-drive electric SUVs at Lake Tahoe

Security will be crawling at Lake Tahoe on August 17 as bigwigs such as U.S. Senator Harry Reid and former president Bill Clinton along with his wife (who has some sort of government job) attend the Lake Tahoe Summit.

(Update: Arnold Schwarzenegger was listed as a possible attendee. But apparently he can't make it now, according to his press office.)

And one of the highlights, at least in my mind, will be the test-drives of the all-electric SUV from Phoenix Motorcars. Phoenix's car can go 130 miles on a single charge and hit 100 miles per hour. (Read more on Phoenix here.)

Electra glide in white

(Credit: Phoenix Motorcars)

The car is powered by the Nanosafe battery from Altair Nanotechnologies. It is a lithium-titanate battery, which means it has a different, safer chemistry than the lithium-cobalt batteries found in notebooks. Recharge time ranges from 10 minutes (with a special charger) or three to five hours from a socket.

Like some other new-fangled electric car companies, Phoenix is working through the final bits of testing and will try to crank up a consumer launch next year. Because of the range, it will mostly target them at municipalities with large fleets of cars.

There's no guarantee that the guests will test-drive the car, but, you have to figure, why wouldn't they? And where will the food-loving former commander in chief take the car? My guess is Izzy's Burger Spa or the snack bar at the Magic Carpet miniature golf course.