Up to now, it’s been a two-way PHEV cat fight. Within the last 24 hours, Toyota said GM’s lithium-ion approach sucks eggs and took on GM’s Volt-only $7500 federal tax rebate. GM Car Czar Bob Lutz retaliated with “Eat My Dust” comments on his FastLane Blog. And now it’s a three way, with Honda telling the world that it just isn’t feeling the whole EV thing. “For battery-powered vehicles to become more widespread, more popular in the market, we feel battery technology needs to advance further,” Masaaki Kato, president of Honda Motor Co.’s research unit, told Bloomberg in an interview [quoted in The Financial Post]. BANG! “We just don’t see it providing the type of driving performance you get with a gasoline-powered vehicle.” BIFF! “The key is in the end we need to conserve the world’s energy resources and protect the environment for future generations,” said Jerry Chenkin, executive vice-president of Honda Canada Inc. OOOPH! “Honda is concerned that these other plug-in hybrid technologies are not really conserving anything.” ZAP! “Lithium-ion powered cars would not satisfy most consumers, since such batteries are costly and still hold less than half the energy of gasoline by weight, Mr. Kato said in the interview.” ZOWIE!

Londoners know (because a fleet of almost 100 is already running): the electric Smart fortwo is an big improvement on the original. It’s economical and smooth, without the wheezy engine and the miserable, jerky transmission of the gas-powered (or God forbid, Diesel) version. Greeny Berliners think: electric cars would be the zero-emission way to go, if you could just charge them somewhere (who has a garage in the city?) Bringing both factors together and hoping that they gel, the German government has started a project with the generic-sounding name “e-mobility Berlin”. It will be the world’s biggest e-car pilot project, involving Daimler and RWE, a utility, which will install 500 public charging stations. The charging stations will have token solar cells, but are basically about coal-derived electricity (take that, global-warming activists!) Daimler’s main motivation is to field-test its e-Smarts, scheduled for massive roll-out in the magic year (guess!) On TV, I saw Angela Merkel, Germany’s often dour, physicist-by-training head of government talk about the project with bright eyes: “It only takes two hours to re-charge the batteries? Just the time you need to go shopping!” As they say, some ways of thinking die hard.

You might remember Henrik Fisker as the man whose SoCal coachbuilding company was trying to rebody BMW 6-Series and Mercedes SLs for ungodly price premiums (they sold about 15 total). Or perhaps you’ll think of Fisker Automotive, a would-be electric car company, which was sued by Tesla back in April. Today, Fisker Automotive has announced that they have raised $65 million in venture capital funds for the development of their Karma electric performance sedan. While some more “standard” Silicon Valley investors had been on board with the Karma project, the final investor that put the fundraising over the top is the Qatar Investment Authority, the investment arm of Qatar’s government, with $60 billion in assets. According to the same press release, initial deliveries of the Karma sedan are expected to begin in the 4th quarter of 2009, with eventual sales of 15,000 a year. Uh, whatever you say fellas.

The LA Times blog reports that Aptera Motors, makers of press releases and $500 deposit waiting lists, have hired a new CEO. With its $30k EV still in development, Aptera has tipped to former Ford, Chrysler and Saleen man Paul Wilbur for the top spot. In a move that echoes Martin Eberhard’s ouster from Tesla, Aptera founder Steve Fambro has been pushed down from the CEO job to “chief technology officer.” This hiring of a new executive and exiling the founder to technical pursuits is fast becoming a rite of passage for up-and-coming EV companies. While Eberhart’s downgrade allowed him to “focus on…the advancement of our core technologies,” and Fambro’s demotion is being spun as allowing him “to concentrate on vehicle development,” the trendsetter was actually Phoenix Motors. Way back in 2006, Phoenix bumped its founder Daniel Riegert from CEO to (wait for it) chief technology officer. The LA Times sees a trend here, and unsurprisingly it has to do with money. Eberhart was demoted just as Tesla embarked on a $250m investment round, Riegert left Phoenix when a Dubai-based investor dropped $40m on the company, and Aptera just closed on $24m worth of venture capital. As these companies grow, their new investors do not always see eye to eye with their contrarian founders. Eberhard and Riegert both left their companies entirely after stints as technology gurus, and it would not be surprising to hear of Fambro following suit. Maybe the three former founders could start an EV supergroup?

“‘The ultimate solution is the electrification of the vehicle,’ said [Ford Car Czar Derrick] Kuzak, who stressed he was speaking as an engineer and was not commenting specifically on Ford’s future product plans.” God forbid Ford should commit to a single technology, ’cause that might cause more of the old bureaucratic infighting for which The Blue Oval Boyz are famous. Anyway, The Detroit News reports that Derrick’s mate Jim Farley (of the RI Farleys) also reckons ethanol hydrogen the flux capacitor electricity is the “gas of tomorrow’s cars.” “Speaking to reporters separately [so as not to coordinate their stories], Ford’s chief marketing officer, Jim Farley, echoed Kuzak’s enthusiasm for electric vehicles. ‘All I know is that when I talk to customers about electrification they say, ‘That’s cool!’ We better be prepared as an industry.'” Yes, well, by the end of this electrifying cheerleading session, Kuzak backpedals from his “one alt power to rule them all” prognostication. “Kuzak said government intervention or consumer preference could ultimately make one of the other alternative power technologies a more viable choice and that’s why Ford is committed to developing all of them. ‘We have to, because we don’t know how it’s going to play out.'” That’s cool!

Since being ousted from Tesla, Martin Eberhard has been thorn-siding the EV-makers in his Tesla Founders blog. Eberhard’s latest opus: a breakdown of running costs for the Roadster based on Northern California’s PG&E electricity rate structure. Eberhard has assembled a spreadsheet to evaluate and compare Elise-based EV running costs. The costs vary wildly, depending on whether the Roadster’s recharged during a standard-rate plan or a “Time Of Use” (TOU) plan, and whether or not the Roadster lover uses electricity to heat and cool their McMansion. Without solar panels, Eberhard calculates a Tesla Roadster costs PG&E users between two and six cents per mile (minus $102k msrp and insurance). His real world figure: about 3.6 cents per mile. In the comments section, Eberhard admits these numbers are higher than first indicated. “My first (naive) comments while at Tesla were between 1.5 cents and 2 cents per mile, if I recall correctly. These were just based on the lowest tier, off-peak rate for the E9 schedule. I didn’t take into account the impact of domestic consumption, usage that pushes you into higher tiers, or all the taxes and meter charges – these make a big difference.” A commenter points out that the official Tesla website still lists a running cost of “roughly one cent per mile” (though Tesla qualifies this claim with the usual “off-peak” and “your electricity rates may vary” boilerplate). If you’re a qualified spreadsheet monkey, follow the link to help Mr. Eberhard modify his template to include other local utility rates.

While GM, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi are readying their electric vehicles, a new contender has emerged and is aiming to beat them all to the punch. Tata motors, in conjunction with Norway’s THINK!, plans to launch an electric car themselves. Reuters reports that the car will be based on the Tata Indica and be launched in Norway within one year. S. Ravishankar, senior general manager at Tata Motors’ engineering research centre, says that the car can run for 175 km (110 miles) to 200 km when fully charged with a “two-pack” battery, but mileage could vary according to the battery used. (Ya think?) There’s little doubt that, if successful, Tata will use the Jaguar/Land Rover global dealer network to sell these cars. “Could I interest sir in a Jaguar XJ? A Supercharged Range Rover sport? A Tata Nano? or an Electric Tata Indica?” Uh, maybe not.

Recent trash-talking about all-electric range by GM’s Bob Lutz highlights a crucial benefit of the Volt’s Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV- nee “serial hybrid”) concept. Though an EREV may be less cost-effective than a plug-in parallel hybrid over the long haul (or not), its initial EV-only range is better. Which means EREV marketers can claim “zero fuel use” for many standard commutes. Autocar reports that Mazda has fallen under the  EREV spell; they’re hard at work on their own system using a rotary engine as a battery generator. According to “senior sources,” testing is “sufficiently advanced that Mazda has a working prototype in a Mazda 5 MPV bodyshell.” Unlike GM though, Mazda isn’t relying on its EREV to fly it to the moon by late 2010. Start-stop is the first step on Mazda’s voyage of eco-discovery, set to deploy in Japan next year and around the world thereafter. There are currently no plans to bring an EREV to market. Still, using a small rotary engine as an electricity generator has lots of potential upside. It eliminates the engine’s thirstiness by running constantly at lower rpms, and could actually be more efficient at battery-charging than a standard ICE. Hopefully the system won’t be entirely dependent on rotary engines though, as Mazda’s sister company Ford will doubtless be interested in appropriating the technology.

Or the concept version of it, at least. Honda says what you see here (and what they will show at the Paris auto show) is 90% of what we can expect when they roll out the production version – on sale in the US next spring. While Honda has said it will be the best priced car in the segment (what segment? It’s the Prius and nothing else), many have estimated its price will be below $20,000. Unlike the first generation Insight, which was a 2-seat bicycle, this new one very much follows the Prius layout: 5 passenger, 5 door (that means hatchback), and lots of high-tech gadgets. Making those gadgets optional should help to add high-profit margin items to the sales sheet, as well. While we have no information on engine or mileage, I’d be willing to bet that the all important MPGs will be very impressive. Honda is hoping to sell 100,000 of these in the US per year, and another 100,000 per year worldwide. Something tells me that won’t be a problem at all.

The storied Detroit Electric (DE) marque is a Dutch company nowadays, zombified to provide a palatable brand name for Zap’s spurious Alias and buses (built by China Youngman Group).  Earth2Tech reports that neither Zap nor Youngman came through with their promised $100m joint investment, nor the $5m consoloation investment they offered later. “Most of it had to do with they wanted to do buses first and we wanted to do cars first,” claims Zap CEO Steve Schneider, invoking long-cliched “creative differences.” So Owner/CEO and former CEO of Lotus Engineering Dan Lam shook off the losers and found new investors. Though none of the $300m in sum Dutch, American and Malaysian investors were named, Proton’s in. Paul Tan got to check out DE’s three new whips at the irony-free Detroit Electric launch in Kuala Lumpur, and they’re all based on Proton models. The good news: the EV Elise’s 4.3 second 0-60 time, 6.5-hour charge time and 200-mile range prove that Tesla didn’t exactly reinvent the EV Elise. (Especially considering DE have somehow managed to get a manual transmission to work in theirs.) DE wants to get cars on the road within 18 months; the Malaysian government is reportedly rolling out the pork carpet. We shall see.

Most hybrid/EV companies run on deposits. With most “game-changing” products still deep in development, firms often squeeze deposits out of prospective customers to keep cashflow coming before their cars come to market. Not so with Toyota. The LA Times blog notes that Toyota has asked its Palo Alto, CA dealer to stop taking $500 deposits on plug-in Prius models that are still several years from launch. “We asked the folks at Magnussen (Toyota of Palo Alto) to back off a little bit,” Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said. “Let us get our product to market and figure out where we’re going with it before we start putting the cart in front of the horse.” Magnussen has refunded all 25 cash deposits it received, and has created a free waiting list that has already grown to 44. But Toyota’s warning to Magnussen isn’t stopping other Toyota dealers from collecting cash deposits. “I’ve got a few people in town who wanted to come in and leave deposits” on a plug-in hybrid, says Matt Meyer, Sales director of Toyota San Louis Obispo. “I’m not going to tell them ‘No,’ because I don’t tell my customers ‘No.'” Both dealerships say the deposits are fully refundable, but Toyota could still go after San Louis Obispo with a cease-and-desist. That Toyota is trying to reign in hype rather than spur it on is telling. Not only does it show that its future products will face astronomical demand, it also proves that short-term cash is not worth even a few possibly disastisfied customers. Contrast this approach with Chrysler’s un-product EV hype for a quick lesson in how white-hot demand for next-gen powertrains should and should not be exploited.

No, Chrysler doesn’t have any plans to show its three reported EV prototypes to the public. After all, that might imply that these mythical vehicles have some chance of making it into production. Instead, the Auburn Hills mob will be displaying the unnamed, unhinted-at prototypes to dealers only. Because what dealers doesn’t love cars that they can’t sell? Anyway, mission accomplished for Chrysler co-president Jim Press, who leveraged the announcement to make the dubious claim that “we are making substantial progress on electrification of our vehicles.” No, seriously; Chrysler is focusing on developing hybrid electric plug-in vehicles with a range of 300 miles. Not only that, but Press claims ChryCo can “move forward with advanced products for electrification with or without partners.” With the current crop of Chrysler products making a compelling case for suicide, it seems that they’ve learned [from GM] that It doesn’t matter how bad your products are right now. If you swear you have a world-beater just around the corner, the government will bail you out. Press is right on message: “The biggest issue for the auto market today is getting adequate credit, not $4.00 a gallon gas.” Just so.

Those of you headed to the California State Fair this month can take the kiddies along for brainwashing "a new eco-friendly show" at the "Buick-Pontiac-GMC Rainforest Pavilion." What the division that produces some of GM's biggest and thirstiest vehicles has to do with the rainforest escapes me at the moment, but the "'green' fun" features a "Dr. Greenius Biofuel" as host and "will engage fair-goers with interactive fun while also educating about alternative fuels and how to be more eco-friendly in day-to-day life." The kiddos can participate in "hands-on demonstrations like learning to juggle, piecing together puzzles, and playing with an easy squeezy biofuel tool demonstrating the difference between petroleum and ethanol in a fun-filled way." And then once you're through in the Rain Forest, you can shuffle over to the "Chevy Alt Fuel Magical Biodome" to see "Harry Hybrid-dini" with "an act that incorporates alternative fuel words of wisdom." And of course, "Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac and GMC will present a variety of fuel-friendly vehicles to explore throughout the Fair." If you've managed to hold down your lunch so far, or really do believe that the children are our future, you can read the entire press release here.

Click here for the full press release

Actually, we're not sure what number Tesla Roadster is chronicled here. But a private and likely very well off citizen in California has procured one and put a video of himself driving it on Ye Olde YouTube. What we can see from the video is: (1) The carbon fiber hood is very light and (2) mother of god, it's quick. A confidential source confirms that the customer paid sticker ($120k) for his lithium-ion-powered automotive trinket. No word on recharge time or range in the video. (As this guy's stable probably includes a fleet of slick cars, I doubt it's of very much consequence.) Now, if Tesla can just amp-up production, not "fad out," keep costs under control (have you seen that showroom?), raise more money, build a more profitable product and fend off competitors, we can take them off the Death Watch. [hat tip to Jonny Lieberman]

GM may have a several thousand disappointed Voltophiles on their hands before this sad saga plays out. Automotive News [sub] reports Dennis Lyle from GM-Volt.com claims over 33k people have joined his unofficial waiting list, expressing a desire buy the electrowundercar when it's "released in 2010." Oh dear. First of all, a 2010 release date is a reality only to those who live in GM Car Czar Bob Lutz' fantasy world. Next, GM's already said they'll build fewer than 40k Volts per year for the first five years, and many of those will be exported. And you know those left stateside will go to GM execs, politicians, celebrities and celebrity politicians. Finally, Lyle's prospective buyers indicated they were willing to pay an average of $31,261 for a vehicle that GM's already said will top the $40k mark (and will lose money on, even at that price). You have to wonder how long the people on this list will put up with GM's gratuitous promises (being charitable) before they finally give up.