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.

High drama in the electric car world: According to the New York Times, electric sports-car manufacturer Tesla is suing Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler of Fisker Coachbuild, charging that Fisker “fraudulently” signed on to design Tesla’s “White Star” sedan, sabotaged the sedan project by doing substandard work, then stole confidential information and went on to build a competing car—the Fisker Karma.

Today the Tesla Motor Company announced that they had begun regular production of the Roadster, the all-electric supercar that does zero-to-60 in less than four seconds.

If the number of plug-in hybrid electric cars and trucks grows significantly, the power grid might need to be re-vamped, depending on when people decide to re-charge their rides.

No, we're not a business magazine, but this story on Xconomy about how battery-developer A123 Systems jumped from a university lab into a potential powerhouse is pretty fascinating.