nissan_ev_2010In addition to Tesla Motors‘ potential IPO, there’s two more big pieces of news coming out of the electric vehicle world. Nissan is opening talks about electric cars in China, and the Electrification Coalition has started lobbying for tax credits and loan guarantees to get battery-powered cars on the roads soon.

Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn seems to have switched course. His line used to be that he wouldn’t be selling EVs in China until the country developed incentive programs — something that is still a ways away. But this was never carved into stone, and now it’s moving forward. Nissan, its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Co. and the Chinese government have announced, in tandem, a new electric car program.

This is huge — China has over a billion people itching to industrialize and build modern infrastructure. As the largest growing market in the world, the country is poised to make Nissan very rich if the automaker can capitalize on it. If nothing else, the fact that China’s government is building an incentives program is a sign that we don’t have to worry about a muscle car craze on the streets of Beijing.

In addition to Nissan getting its foot in China’s door, the Electrification Coalition — an industry group that is lobbying the U.S. government for tax incentives and other subsidies for EVs and hybrids — is working to make 75 percent of cars battery-powered by 2040.

If this ambitious goal is achieved, it would amost eliminate foreign oil imports, clean up transport-related pollution and generate a lot of new jobs in the U.S. That said, it might end up costing average taxpayers a fair amount — a projected $130 billion by 2040. In the shorter term, president Barack Obama is only counting on a million EVs by 2015 to reach his stated goals — but the money will almost certainly be a sticking point going forward.

Taken collectively, this green automotive news shows that EVs are gaining traction. If Tesla plays into expectations and files for an IPO, it could prove that startups in the business could change the game. Opening up China’s market to electric and hybrid cars could open up channels of revenue needed to ensure wide adoption. And if the Electrification Coalition has its way, the subsidies will be in place to allow U.S. consumers to take advantage of the industry’s momentum.