STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Walk a street in Beijing and you'll likely hear a whirring noise as an electric bicycle glides past. They're common in China. One auto maker wants to make them more common here. The makers of tiny Smart cars put an electric bike on display at the Detroit Auto Show. People at that show can also find bikes with pedals, like the Toyota Prius-branded bike.

We will know bikes are really catching on when some auto maker displays a bike SUV. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.