electric car

BMW's new experimental vehicle may get 63 miles on a gallon of diesel and can travel 31 miles in all-electric mode, but it also scores in the performance realm -- with a zero-to-60-mph time in the de rigueur modern sports-car range of under five seconds.

Fans of progressive auto design will likely cock an eye at its posturing curves and layered surfaces, but the big story is the Vision's plug-in hybrid drive system, which pairs two electric motors with a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder turbodiesel engine, together producing 356 horsepower.

It resembles an early '70s Citroen sedan, recast for Blade Runner-era Los Angeles. But this Japanese-built electric oddity, dubbed Ellica by its developers at Keio University, will reportedly spawn something with a bit less techie-sex appeal -- a bus. The university announced a deal last week with Isuzu Motors Ltd, the Kanagawa prefectural government, among others, to develop a full-sized electric bus for Japan based on the eight-wheeled, 230-mph research project.

Media outlets are reporting today that German automaker and Mercedes parent Daimler AG has acquired a stake in Silicon Valley electric-car builder Tesla Motors. Word is, Daimler's nearly 10 percent buy is the latest component in the company's plan to expand production of cars that rely on the power grid, not dead dinosaurs, for motivation.

Not to be outdone by GM's Chevy Volt hoopla last week, Chrysler today revealed three prototypes from its own electric-car program earlier today on CNBC. Who knew Chrysler had an electric-car program? Practically no one. But the company calls it ENVI, pronounced "envy," and the first consumer product from the program could appear as early as 2010.

Today, after a nearly two-year tease, General Motors unveiled the final design for the car that it hopes will save the company: the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, the world's first production plug-in hybrid. The Volt is designed to drive 40 miles on a single charge of its giant lithium-ion battery; after that, an onboard 1.4-liter four-cylinder flex-fuel engine kicks in to power the electric motors that drive the car. GM will most likely make 10,000 of the cars in the first year of production; it's expected to go on sale in November 2010.

A Norwegian electric-vehicle manufacturer best known for a Y2K-era commuter-car venture with Ford is plotting a solo return to the states. Flush with cash from Silicon Valley angel investors RockPort Capital Partners and Kleiner Perkins, Caulfield and Byers, THiNK North America plans to start selling a version of its 95-percent-recyclable City car to US buyers starting in 2009. The company also plans to introduce the larger Ox (pictured) by 2010/2011.

Steven Schneider has been selling cars-everything from tiny European imports to boat-like Lincolns-nearly his entire life. Now, as CEO of ZAP (for Zero Air Pollution) in Santa Rosa, California, he specializes in the distribution of small, fuel-efficient automobiles. It´s a job, he says, that makes him feel less like the stereotype car salesman with plaid pants and a white belt.