Poetically enough, The Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins wants to know if "GM is a genius or a dolt for developing the Volt." Why would a company that's lost $4.3b in North America the last three years throw billions into developing a car they know will lose money? Jenkins notes that when gas prices dropped after the original federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regs, the standards devolved into "an elaborate scheme engineered by Washington and the UAW to keep auto workers busy manufacturing small cars in the U.S. at a loss, subsidized by the profits of big pickups and SUVs." Jenkins reckons GM– "America's biggest near-dead car company"– plans a similar tactic with the new standards. "[I]t's hard to see why a reformed GM would bother building such a car now unless it's planning to throw its lobbying clout behind a final set of CAFE rules designed to disadvantage its rivals." Then they'll "bribe consumers to drive Volts off the lot" because it'll let them "build and sell other cars bigger and more powerful than the cars its rivals can afford to build under the CAFE rules." And it's all because "GM intends to beat Toyota at its own game of selling bogus green symbolism to Washington and Hollywood." Let's hear it for the home team! 

Automotive News reports that Th!nk is about to offer their new City car for sale in the USA. The Th!nk City glides from rest to 30mph (ha!) in 6.5 seconds, tops-out at just over 60 mph and sports ABS, dual airbags and air con. Th!nk claims she'll go (slightly) more than 100 miles between charges. Obviously, not a road tripper, but for running down the street to buy orange juice, not a bad option. Especially if your bicycle has a flat. Aside from folks being put off by the City's diminutive size, we only foresee one real hurdle — the damn price. Th!nk wants you (yes you) to cough-up somewhere between $15k and $17k for the City. That's some serious cash– especially when compared to $12k for a Smart ForTwo or $15k for a "real" car like a Suzuki SX4. On top of that, Th!nkers are going to be charged an additional $100 – $200 per month for battery rental. Yeesh. And here's our favorite part — Tesla's making the batteries! That's it — I'm starting an Electric Lawsuit Watch series. 

When a typical "car guy" pictures an electric car, he thinks of GM's EV1. Odd, impractical, expensive and just plain not right. How do I know this? Cause I'm talking about me. Tesla is (in a sense) working to change all this with their hot, Elise-based Roadster. Still, the Tesla achieves its (claimed) 0-60 time of 4 seconds flat through lightness. And as we all know, nothing is more un-American than lightness. Meet the Tjaarda EVX Mustang and its companion the HST Shelby Cobra EVX, both from HST International. Now, these are electric cars for car guys. While the Tesla roadster provides 211 lb-ft of torque at 0 rpm, these HST International mills provide 1,000 lb-ft of twist at 0 rpm. Can I get a hell yeah? All that stump-humping power makes the Mustang scoot to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. The Cobra? 3.2 seconds. Which is damn fast. Downsides Well, each car takes 8 hours to charge. The Mustang will sticker for $80 and the Shelby will cost you a cool $125,000. Still, can you name another car that can hit 60 mph in 3.2 seconds for so a small (ha) price? Didn't think so. Both cars will be on display this Passover weekend, at the Toyota GP in Long Beach.

An internet website called Autoblog is reporting (through the hilarious power of Google translate) that Chinese battery firm BYD will unveil a plug-in EV minivan next week. The e6 strikes the Autoblog crew as reminiscent of a J-Market Honda Odyssey. On the whole, you have to admit the comparison reflects pretty well on a company that was building cell phone batteries not so long ago. But enough of my gushing, on to the stats: 186 mile range on full charge (220V), 0-62 in 10 seconds, and a top speed of 99 mph. Details on the recharging process are "dodgy," as Autoblog calls the translated hilarity. "The battery slowly filling civilian 220 V power supply; fast charge for the three C rechargeable battery, about 15 minutes can be a battery 80%," is the official word. But don't worry, the safety is fine. "The car carrying iron batteries at high temperatures, high pressure, impact tests testing, safety performance is very good, will not be explosions." Autoblog gives BYD the benefit of the considerable doubt, by assuming these "iron batteries" which "will not be explosions" are, in fact, lithium ion batteries. Why don't we all just wait until it gets an official launch in Beijing next week? After all, "e6 will be one or two years before the formal launch…" 

The EV game is getting nasty. We've heard about Tesla suing Fisker, now Earth2Tech reports that Tesla is being sued by Canadian supplier Magna for breach of contract. The suit alleges that Tesla failed to pay Magna for development work on its troubled transmission system. Transmission woes have long been the Achilles heel of the Tesla Roadster's development. Initial plans called for a two-speed transmission to be supplied by X-Trac, That unit was quickly proven incapable of reliably handling the EV's zero-RPM grunt. Tesla then went to Magna for a replacement two-speed– which proved equally unsuccessful. After attempting an in-house development, Tesla has given-up on the whole multiple gears thing in favor of the golf-cart elegance of a single-speed box. But wait, says Magna, we told you to try a single-speed solution in the first place. Not only did Tesla not listen, but according to the suit filed California, they didn't pay some $5.6m in development fees that Magna claims it was owed under the development contract. Oops. Better collect quickly guys, before you have to squabble for it in, dare I say it, bankruptcy court.

It's hard to keep track of what's going on between Tesla and Fisker. But if you've got the time… First, Tesla mouthpiece Daryl Siry trash talks Fisker's range-extended vehicle, the Karma. After Fisker unveils their EV prototype at the Detroit Auto Show, Siry wonders if his rival's got what it takes to make it so. Next, Tesla's hires Henrik Fisker to design Tesla's Whitestar sedan. And now CNet News reports that Tesla is taking Fisker to court for stealing trade secrets and copying design ideas. Tesla's suit alleges that Fisker accepted the design contract "to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle." Fisker's brief had no comment on the case, other than "the firm's policy [is] not to comment on litigation." Meanwhile, Tesla says they've scrapped Fisker's design for the Whitestar in a fit of pique favor of… something else. On the positive side, this intra-vaporware legal contretemps will provide Tesla for a convenient excuse when the Whitestar doesn't appear as promised. And for us, the case could expose the reality behind Tesla's endless hype. [Props to JT for the link]

We just received this photo via email from one of TTAC's Best and Brightest: "This may be out of date, but I figured you may find it noteworthy for the Volt birthwatch series. Just under a year ago, GM had a Volt on display at the Indy 500. The car was likely a non-running example, but nonetheless it was there to showcase GM's engineering prowess so I judged it in that light. What I saw was… not good. Some of the trim on the Volt was rusting! Rust! On such a high profile vehicle at such a high profile event!" As the photo shows, it wasn't just a spot or two, either. Whatever GM's reason for showing the vehicle in this condition, let's just hope the production version – whatever it ends up looking like – will have better quality trim. And that their attention to the detail on this display model isn't indicative of their attention to detail on the engineering side.

Lithium-ion batteries are great for mobile phones and laptop computers. They charge quickly, last [kinda] long and have a good energy-storage-to-weight ratio. However, they also have a worrisome tendency to overheat and burst in flames. Car companies toying with the idea of using electric propulsion to save the world have been trying to get around the problem by walling off individual battery cells or including expensive cooling systems (the Tesla Motors approach). According to TG Daily, German researchers have succeeded in making a non-flammable Li-Ion battery, by replacing the flammable organic electrolyte with a polymer which keeps its solid form. The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research will present a prototype by the end of the month at a conference in Germany. But the inventors caution that it will take three to five years to bring the new lithium-ion technology to maturity– and a few years after that before you see them in electric or hybrid cars.

If ever two automotive companies deserved each other, it's Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive. The former is the erstwhile maker of an electric roadster that's the dictionary definition of irony (the discrepancy between expectation and reality). The latter is a failed "coach-builder" (of hideously expensive re-sculpted SL and 6-Series) turned EV tree-hugger. And now, Autoblog breathlessly reveals that Henrik Fisker designed Tesla's imaginary WhiteStar sedan. Apparently, Tesla kept the design (for its next prospectus) and told Fisker to f-off on the production front. In case you thought this means anything, here's a bit from yesterday's press release from Fisker, which I couldn't quite blog because of a sudden attack of hype-related biliousness. "Fisker Automotive, Inc., a green American premium car company, today announced Fisker Italia as its first International importer. With plans to allocate more than 50 percent of its production to overseas sales, Fisker Automotive is poised to become a leading exporter of premium U.S. automobiles. Additionally, Fisker Automotive, maker of the first of its kind plug-in hybrid premium sports sedan, further announced it has received great interest from 44 North American markets in which it hopes to have retail representation." Get ready to vote for this one during next year's Bob Lutz award. 

Those of you in Chicago, Dallas, or Boston who are anxiously awaiting your Chevy Volt can just keep waiting. In an email to the Detroit Free Press yesterday, the Volt's pater familias Bob Lutz revealed that if when it (finally) goes on sale, it'll be distributed first in California, then in Washington D.C., Florida, New York and "elsewhere on the East Coast." Apparantly the rest of the country gets whatever's left over. However, he warned "that's only current thinking, and the plans could change." Given the rate at which they've changed their minds on everything about the Volt from the styling to the release date, you can count on the final distribution plan looking nothing like he described.

Since Bob Lutz revealed the Volt concept that made the rounds at the auto shows is more aerodynamically efficient going backwards than forwards, we've known there was much work to be done in the wind tunnel (and no, we don't mean the marketing depatment). CBS auto beat reporter Jeff Gilbert got a look inside the Volt development center, and brings us some of the first images of a camouflaged one-third scale model of what just might be the production Volt. Gilbert doesn't think the model is "all that exciting," saying it looks like little more than a Pontiac G6 or (inexplicably) a Chevy Camaro. But lack of enthusiasm for the mock-up doesn't mean Gilbert won't regurgitate GM's lies marketing playbook verbatim, incredulously spouting such obvious untruths as the long-abandoned $30k pricetag. In fact the "GM wants to sell 100k Volts at $30k by 2010" pablum comes immediately after GM's chief engineer for hybrid electric vehicle programs refuses to say that things look good for the 2010 goal. "Well, it's very clear what our target is, and leadership has asked us 'what do you need to make it happen?' and we have not been turned down once," says the sultan of sliderules. Gosh, that sounds like the development process of every $30k car, doesn't it?

Audi may be right on target with their plans to import diesels . A study by J.D Power (via the Detroit News ) shows diesels and gas-electric hybrids will have 17 percent of the U.S. market by 2015. Surprisingly, Power thinks diesels will outsell hybrids because of the higher cost of admission to the hybrid club; they predict by 2015 hybrids will increase to seven percent of the market (from the current 2.2 percent) while diesel vehicles will make up ten percent. Sales of four-cylinder gas engines are also expected to rise sharply as the automakers scramble to meet the new 35mpg CAFE standard. They don't think hydrogen fuel cells and pure electric cars will have much impact as they won't be available in any significant numbers during the years covered by the study. But what about E85? The proportion of vehicles available that can run on corn squeezin's will nearly double but few of them will be using it because it still won't be available in most places. That won't matter to the manufacturers, though, if the new CAFE standards have the ethanol loophole the current one does.

While "going green" is often little more than PR posturing, fuel-intensive businesses see alternative energy as simply a way to save money. But while electric, hybrid and other efficient drivetrain technologies proliferate in cars, commercial trucks have largely been left out of the green wave. Greentech Media reports that Electrorides, a green truck startup, is hoping to cash in on this absence by offering the first electric commercial-duty truck. The ZeroTruck is based on an Isuzu N-series platform, retrofitted with a UQM Technologies electric motor, offering 100-mile range when unladen. But commercial trucks aren't of much use when empty, and when loaded down the range falls sharply. That's why Electrorides offers a biodiesel engine which converts the vehicle to a parallel hybrid, adding another hundred miles to the truck's range. Like most new green vehicles reported in the media, the ZeroTruck is in beta testing, and is not yet available. Start watching out for the silent colossus this August (literally… this thing will sneak up on you!).

As spring blossoms in beautiful Detroit, Volt Reality Syndrome is starting to kick in with a vengeance. The latest victim is UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who tells Reuters "When GM brings out that electric car, they're going to be taking a huge loss on that for a number of years." Of course reality is kind of Gettelfinger's thing. "Everybody is racing to get there, but there are some tough issues and cost is definitely going to be an issue for the consumer," says Ron, of the brave new hybrid/alt energy future. "It's pretty clear to me that, if it's not technically feasible and economically feasible, then you're not going to get there from here." Bold words from a bold man, but where's the proverbial beef? Whither the future, Mr. Gettelfinger?  "There's nothing like the internal combustion engine," says Ron. "We've got 100 years with that baby." Although Gettelfinger comes across like your great-uncle who's convinced that they never should have done away with lead paint or child labor, he actually has a decent point. Most cars on the market could be made significantly cleaner and more efficient without resorting to complex hybrid drivetrains.

David Kiley of Business Week (via MSNBC) dives into the CAFE issue, and in the process rounded up a wild-and-woolly collection of quotables from some of the biz' top bosses. The biggest news comes from Chrysler's Jim Press, who claims that that when he was at Toyota "the Japanese government paid for 100% of the development of the battery and hybrid system that went into the Toyota Prius." Although the revelation reeks of Japan Inc. business/government collusion, let's remember that our own government funneled over a billion to U.S. automakers at around the same time through the Partnership For A New Generation of Vehicles. The fact that the American people got little more than three concept cars is hardly the fault of the Japanese government or Toyota. Still, Press' revelation does shed some light on Toyota's current dominance of the hybrid market. Meanwhile, Bob Lutz continues to symbolize America's inability to meet the new demand for efficiency. In the same piece, Lutz unveiled the next generation of "Maximum Sticker Shock" for the forthcoming Chevy Volt: a cool $48k. Get some perspective on that number here.