Ten years after it was founded in 2003, US manufacturer of premium electric cars Tesla Motors Inc recently said that it expects to turn its first-ever profit in the first quarter this year as sales of its Model S in the period proved to be stronger than expected and exceeded 4,750 units.

But some analysts said it is still too early to call that a success.

"In the next three to five years, electric cars are not likely to make big breakthroughs in the mass market," said Alfred Tian, an independent auto analyst.

Bottlenecks

The reliability of batteries, the short range compared with conventional vehicles and high prices remain big bottlenecks to commercialization of electric vehicles, he said.

According to market data, last year about 58,500 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold in the US, while in China only about 13,000 were delivered in the same time.

Despite the limited sales and some failed efforts, manufacturers are still active in their pursuit of tapping the potential of the fledgling sector.

Last month in Shanghai, domestic carmaker Jianghuai Automobile Co and US company Green Tech Automotive signed an agreement to export 2,000 JAC's Tongyue sedans to the US, where they will be equipped with GTA's electric powertrains and sold in the last half of this year.

Their approach is similar to Coda, with the Chinese partner making the car shell while the US company provides the battery pack and management technologies.