Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster last week attended the Tokyo Motor Show – one of the world’s largest – as an invited guest of CT&T Motors, a South Korean electric car manufacturer with intentions of soon making its cars available in America. Foster, who drives an electric vehicle and has done so for years, spoke about the environmental benefits of electric cars and of his commitment to supporting electric automakers.

“I have driven an electric vehicle on a daily basis for almost eight years,” Foster said during a speech at the show, according to a press release. “During CT&T’s visit to the City of Long Beach in August, I had the opportunity to drive one of their electric vehicles. I saw first hand how compact, efficient and how enjoyable CT&T vehicles are to drive.”

Long Beach has been pursuing the idea of an “Electric Auto Row” that would include makers such as CT&T, Tesla, Fisker and others to build dealerships in the city.

The theme of this year’s show was “Fun Driving For Us, Eco Driving For Earth,” which pretty much echoes the enviro-friendly messages touted by most major auto shows in the past few years. Long Beach remains in the running to court Tesla Motors into building a manufacturing plant for its new electric four-door Model S sedan – slated for production in 2011 – though no news has been heard on the deal in months. Downey is the other final bidder.