Tesla Motors, maker of full-EV sports car filled a lawsuit against Henrik Fiskers and Bernhard Koehler, the designer and the ceo of California based low series car maker Fisker Automotive. The reason for lawsuit is fraud and stealing of business secrets, connected with cooperation between companies, that lead to birth of Tesla's next-generation sedan EV concept WhiteStar in 2007. Tesla Motors paid Fiskers $800.000 during development of first electric car, but now Tesla claims that Fiskers is responsible for more than half a year of delay with production of Tesla's roadster. Tesla Motors is also annoyed by the fact, that Fiskers introduced its own hybrid-EV concept of sports car named Karma, and basically used Tesla to create competition. Tesla Motors is currently under pressure from buyers and investors, all waiting that Tesla finally drives on the roads…

We checked the 150 MPG Toyota Prius at the Clean Vehicle Technology Expo in Ontario California. There were a lot of pure electric cars and hybrid cars there, some in early concept stages, other (pre)production. But Hymotion's new lithium-ion battery pack for the Toyota Prius really got our attention. While it may not lower gas prices, it does promise to make trips to the gas station a lot less frequent.

The 175-pound battery pack, which is sold as aftermarket kit, converts the car into a plug-in hybrid and allows it to run on electric power for the first forty miles of a trip. It installs in the spare tire well of the trunk, leaving the entire trunk space for cargo, so you can still drive your spare tire in there, and have plenty room left. In average Prius, the gasoline engine still does the majority of the work and the batteries merely take over at low speeds.

Aftermarket kit from Hymotion however changes much. Owners charge up their vehicles with a regular 110 or 220 volt extension cord and afterwards the car will drive dozens of miles solely on electrical power. As you can expect, total gas mileage goes through the roof and company executives claim drivers can easily exceed 150 miles-per-gallon in the city and 100 MPG on the highways.

We have extended list of electric car manufacturers with two more European manufacturers (Germany), namely TWIKE and City EL (thanks Franko - i'd love to hear from your experience with Twike - let me know at editorATdomain). We bet that only few of you heard about Twike, but truth is, that this is one of the more unique approaches (exterior of the vehicle included) to personal transporter - to 100% clean, electric car, a plug-in. Twike electric cars can already be seen on European roads, and company just announced the Li-Ion version of the vehicle (Twike LION). The Twike LION has a reach of over 150 km (95 miles) and same top speed as original Twike - 85 km/h (50 mph). Li Ion managed pack enables fast charge (1 km every minute), and there is no memory effect, meaning we can charge it even after a short ride. New batteery also features low self discharge, so LION TWIKE can stand idle for a few days and the maximum range is still nearly the same. Besides battery pack, not much has changed in Twike - meaning, engine is still 3 or 5 kW electric motor, with option to pedal the vehicle (yes, you read correctly)!

Nice offer for everybody thinking about getting plug-in electric car. This Xebra Sedan looks funny, but it is a pure electric car, with 25 miles range (per charge), and top speed is 40 mph (60 kmh) … 

For all orders until february 14th (Valentine's day), the $11,200.00 Zap's Xebra Sedan pure Electric car will also come with 1 year of free electricy.  Electric car pioneer ZAP (OTC BB:ZAAP.OB) announced today that it is offering free electricity to charge your electric car for one year but only if you reserve your Xebra electric sedan or pickup online at http://www.zapworld.com.

All customers will receive a free Kill-A-Watt Smart Power Meter and free electricity for one year. "We know that our Xebras can save consumers money on fuel costs, so we wanted to prove it," said ZAP Chairman Gary Starr.

Toyota will probably offer plug-in electric car technology as an option on the Prius, at least in the short term, rather than switch all of its hybrids to plug-in models. The reason that Toyota is stating are – consumers, who prefer the convenience of hybrids that did not have to be recharged.

But the automaker is nevertheless testing plug-in hybrids on public roads in Japan and also in France. Even before test results are in, Toyota has offered plug-in hybrid test drives to journalists in Japan, California and Detroit, where a small fleet bearing the words “Toyota Plug-In Hybrid” traveled city streets in mid January.

This plug-in hybrid — a development version of the plug-in Prius, and not the vehicle Toyota announced it would build — differs from the Prius in four ways. It has two nickel-metal hydride batteries under the floor of its trunk, instead the conventional Prius’s single battery. Final plug-in prius will probably feature a li-ion battery pack, or Nickel Hydride Metal pack, if available (there are some legal disputes with its patent holder – a company recently acquired by Texaco - big oil company)…

Unlike the Prius, which has a single fuel-filler door on the left side of the car, the plug-in model has another door on the right hand side that opens to reveal an outlet for the electrical charger. One end of the charger looks like a small fuel nozzle; the other end is a conventional three-pronged plug (on photo is shown a previous model of plug-in prius).

On Detroit Motor Show, Toyota's president Katsuaki Watanabe publicly announced that company will release a plug-in version of its famous hybrid-electric vehicle - Prius. Plug-in Prius will be on mass market by 2010 or even up to a year earlier available for government agencies.

This announcement is a part of Toyota's aggressive environmental policy, which many see as an answer to rebuild peoples trust and image of green car manufacturer. This image was shredded to pieces in last year's fiasco when Toyota opposed the new US Bill which would limit average mileage to 34-MPG by year 2015. Many environmentalists are calling for plug-in hybrids (also named PHEVs), or other plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as this is the only way to save on gasoline and to cut increasing emissions.

Plug-in Prius will be based on modified Prius as we know it today, but will build on stronger Li-Ion battery cells. New Li-Ion batteries will be capable to achieve fuel efficiency of 99.9 miles-per-gallon in EV mode, but the final capacity (reach) is still unknown. It should be way higher than today's 7 miles in Prius 2007 hardwired to EV mode. Today Prius uses Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries. Plug-in hybrids are different from the current hybrid vehicles in that they can be charged not by internal motor or wheels with breaking, but by external power source - i.e. a regular power outlet.

We firstly heard about Norwegian car manufacturer Think Global, in 2003 when it was bought by Ford. Company already had an electric car prototype, and Ford invested over 100 million dollars to complete design and started pilot production… Think is small two-seater electric car with a lot of character. But in 2003 it lacked success in marketing and sales, and after California's CARB was lifted, Ford lost interest. Ford backed out of Think, selling it to Swiss based company. Few years later Think went into bankruptcy… During liquidation number of Norwegian investors bought the company…

Well, it was not the first bankruptcy for Norwegian company… So, as Think is reemerging these days, it is only natural to expect so. Appropriately for northerners, Think is still ecological vehicle. Newly announced car - Think City is a pure electric car with reach of 110 miles - twice that of 2003 model. Think City is manufactured northwest of Oslo, Norway. In next months first shipments to Norway, Denmark and Swiss will commence, and by the end of 2008 this electric car will be sold in markets allover Europe and USA. Management of Think is optimistic, as this time they are pretty sure, that they have caught the right timing, and they also emphasize gained new, more appropriate partners, suppliers and most importantly - car parts… 

Did you know, that at the start of the century, when first automobiles start appearing, there were electrical and internal combustion powered cars… Bue to problems with low capacity of early batteries, the internal combustion took over, and the rest is the history…

Rumors have it, that even at that time, famous innovator Nikola Tesla was driving around in an electric car but without batteries… People marked it as a black magic, and he was forced to take it off streets… Car misteriously dissapeared after Tesla's death - hinting at confiscation by the US goverment…

Whether this is true or not, we can not tell today, but basically it is not importaint anyhow. With price of the oil barrel hitting $100, and with global warming - the planet and the humanity is in pressing trouble… Isn't it time for this to change? Green electric cars are one step in the right direction.

I am sick of paying through the roof for more and more expensive gas fuel, and service charges associated with combustion engines are also rising… I want to drive green and economic car, and I want it today!

Join me on a journey of exploring electric vehicles. Ones that are already selling, the ones that are in final stages of manufacturing, and the early designs still on R&D tables and labs… In following months we will publish conversion guide, to help you convert your gasoline car to pure electric! And with all that we will keep an eye open to other, alternative engines and propulsion…