You'd expect a web site named "howstuffworks.com" to be an excellent source of information on, well, how stuff works. If so, check out HSW's entry "How the Tesla Roadster Works." Author Ed Grabianowskii states the Roadster is "fast, fancy, handles like a dream and goes like a rocket." Since the only road-tested Teslas have been prototypes driven under tightly-controlled conditions, Grabianowski's description requires a distinct leap of faith. Likewise, even though Tesla has delayed production numerous times, he gushes, inaccurately enough, "Tesla's first production car is also the world's first high-performance electric car." Like most of the mainstream media, HSW is happy to parrot Tesla's official claims without question: "An electrician can install a recharging station in your garage. This 220-volt, 70-amp outlet allows for a full recharge in 3.5 hours from a completely dead battery." And here's the kicker: the reference link to safety claims leads to a Tesla web page proclaiming "We're sorry, the page you requested has been moved or is not available." Perhaps HSW should to change the website's name to howpressreleasessaythingswork.com.

Fox Business reports that a lithium-titanate-powered dragster has set a new electric vehicle speed record for the quarter mile. Dennis "Kilowatt" Berube drove the Current Eliminator V into history on Sunday. The Eliminator clocked-in with a 7.963-second quarter mile run, during which man and machine reached 160.65 mph. Berube actually broke the record twice. Earlier in the same day, he bested the current (no pun intended) EV quarter mile record. On his second run, he set the new new one. While the Eliminator thusly eliminates the electric vehicle's golf cart rep, we doubt it can go 250 miles on a single charge and then recharge in three hours. Then again, neither can any other electric car…

Going one better than Jerry Flint's Lutz-lust, Newsweek's Keith Naughton nominates GM's Car Czar for canonization. The business reporter's prose soars to celestial heights, enshrining Maximum Bob as the savior of the American auto industry. Yea, verily, Maximum Bob single-handedly "seeks to redefine the automobile with the Chevy Volt." And lo, St. Lutz' road to Damascus was full of potholes. "When Lutz first proposed creating an electric car in 2003, the idea 'bombed' inside GM, he says. 'I got beaten down a number of times.' So in 2006, Lutz formed a skunkworks team of engineers and designers to quickly cobble together the Chevy Volt concept car, which became the star of the 2007 Detroit Auto Show." Cobbled? Ye of little faith!
"And then he persuaded the brass to greenlight the Volt for production by arguing that they must try to seize the green high ground from Toyota." Uh, I thought Lutz WAS the brass. Anyway, Naughton perpetuates the myth that the Volt will hit the market in 2010 and sell below $30k– a piece of PR prognostication that Maximum Bob has recently abandoned. Still, it's nice to know St. Bob's journalistic acolytes are still willing to make that leap of faith, even if he isn't.

Automotive News [AN, sub] reports that Pininfarina is slated to build an "electric car" for the US, European and Japanese markets. The legendary Italian design house will partner with French battery maker Bolloré to build the plug-in electric. The partnership claims that the as-yet-unnamed new car will be a four-seater with a range of 155 miles of city driving. The batteries can be fully charged from "a standard home electrical outlet" in roughly five hours. (A five-minute recharge would get you enough for a 15-mile trip, according to the report.). The pack's designed to last for more than 124K total miles. Current plans call for building some 15K cars per annum, sold under the Pininfarina name. While pricing isn't mentioned, the article ends on a hopeful note: "Let’s just hope it has all the good looks that other Pinanfarina produced cars have with pricing that won’t make you mortgage your house." Amen.

GM Car Czar Bob Lutz sat down with journo Jerry Flint for a major chin wag. Forbes' finest asks Maximum Bob about his employer's two-mode hybrid system; Flint wonders if the system costs costs more than $10k per vehicle. "Well, at least," Lutz admits. "And we're not selling it for that." Oops! So will the inherently unprofitable technology help GM achieve its federally-mandated 35mpg by 2020 fuel economy targets? Nope. "Even with that, we get a full-sized Tahoe sport utility to 22 miles per gallon, which is 50% to 60% better than anyone else [?], but is still only 22. So where are we going to get the other 13 [mpg]? We don't have a clue, and throwing another 10,000 bucks at it isn't going to do it either." As for GM's next Next Big Thing, the electric – gas Chevrolet Volt, Lutz backpedals so hard he falls over. Flint bears the bad news: "On a scale of 1 to 10, he says his confidence level is a 9.5 that GM can build the Chevy Volt. The production date is another matter; Lutz's confidence drops to a 5.5. 'We're holding people's feet to the fire for the very end of 2010 into 2011. But that can slip, depending on how the development goes.'" In short, "It probably won't be a flawless launch." So, it's business as usual at GM.

After listening to TWiT (This Week in Technology) co-host John Dvorak nearly choke to death on a cashew, for two minutes, I persevered to hear Jason Calcanis (founder of Autoblog) say that he's done his part for the world by ordering a Tesla Roadster. To his eternal credit, Dvorak interrupts Calcanis mid-mantra to ask "When are you going to get delivery?" "I think ahhhhh they're going to start in the second quarter." Claiming he's got the "inside dope," Calcanis says the production delay's down to Tesla's desire to get the "best possible transmission." "They went through three possible transmissions. The first one would have been good enough; they're just being kind of obsessive about it." The Corvette-owning internet entrepreneur goes on to say the Tesla "costs nothing" to run "because you're doing it off electrical." More credibly, he's going to put some solar panels on his garage and maybe even buy a thirty grand windmill so he can be "100 percent off the grid." Calcanis was a bit late to the party– only putting down a $5k deposit– but he's told Tesla's he's ready to jump in with the full whack if and when one of the first 100 proto-customers drops out. Oh, and the free market will solve global warming in ten years, because everyone wants to drive an electric car. You can't buy publicity like that. Nor should you. [thanks to whippersnapper for the link]

The LA Times reports a growing rift between supporters of plug-in gas – electric hybrids and fuel cell fans. In fact, it looks like we're headed for pistols at dawn. "Proponents of the two most hyped technologies… are vying for publicity, manufacturer acceptance, favorable regulation and, especially, funding for research and investment in infrastructure and marketing. The battle has been simmering for several years, but with the technologies coming tantalizingly close to commercial reality, the stakes are higher than ever.' And from the Why Can't We Be Friends Department: "'It's just unfortunate that there has to be so much infighting,' said Patricia Monahan of the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which calls itself 'agnostic' on which technology holds more promise. 'Sometimes it seems almost personal.'" Seriously. Plug-in hybridistas have taken to calling their rival's technology "fool cells;" claiming the hydrogen production process makes the propulsion system inherently inefficient. Hydrogen hypers counter that batteries can't offer sufficient range, and they get their power from electricity plants that burn fossil fuel. So there, nuh.  

AutoblogGreen reports that Tesla Motors held an open town hall meeting yesterday; "open" in the sense that only customers who've plunked down a hefty deposit for the thrice delayed lithium ion-powered Roadster were invited to attend, and "meeting" as in a conference call. Semantics aside, Tesla's top brass assembled the faithful to make a momentous announcement: Roadster Number One is in production! And who gets this historic vehicle? Tesla Chairman Elon Musk! It seems that Tesla still can't source a suitably robust transmission for their vaporwaricle, and nobody else was willing to take delivery of a Roadster with a tranny that's doomed to failure after "a few thousand miles." Actually, I lie. Tesla says it "might" give some customers their very own electric-powered tranny time bombs, and swap 'em over later. (Did Tesla talk to their insurance broker about this idea?) According to unofficial meeting secretary Tony Belding, "Production will be very slow until the transmission problems are fully resolved, which means full-rate production will probably begin about summer, probably late summer. There are some uncertainties about the schedule, and they are trying not to over-promise until they have it figured out better." That would make a change. Oh, and you remember everyone giving me grief about giving Tesla grief about their unverified range claims, after they released an unverified range claim of 245 miles? Well, it seems there was a software glitch. "Latest testing now puts the range in the 220-230 mile region," AutoblogGreen credulously reports, still without verification.  

Slate's "Green Lantern" is the columnist who aspires to offer "illuminating answers to green questions." Brendan Koerner takes a quick look at the relative environmental impact of electric vs. gas-powered cars. Although you've got to wonder about Koerner's choice of the Tesla as an EV poster child– given that the Roadster remains unobtainable and the company's range claims are both vague and unverified– the man gets credit for almost shining his light on the entire environmental picture. (His calcs make mention of battery production and recycling.) Props for some fascinating energy-related links as well. And the winner is… the Tesla! In theory, the $100k plug-in go-kart requires 48.05 pounds of CO₂ per 100 miles, while the Corolla unleashes 63.11 pounds of carbon dioxide per 100 miles. [thanks to jpc0067 for the link]

If you have a brain, pulse, and/or soul, you probably missed "VH1's Fabulous Life Presents: Insane Celebrity Superspenders," which aired last night (12/10). "Celebrities are really loving the Tesla roadster," one of their hip-hack commentators said. A craptacular VH1 original show setting sail onto the sea of exaggerations? No surprise there. But it's a testament to Tesla's marketing that they effectively convinced the world that they've already launched an all-electric sports car. In fact all they've done so far is give a few celebs a ride around the block (as passengers, of course), take deposits, start construction of a showroom in LA, and put out reams of press releases. Nice job, Tesla. Bad job, VH1.

GM's one two three green light campaign to leapfrog the competition with its E-Flex plug-in electric – gas (in that order) hybrid continues apace, The General has just opened a new design studio dedicated to the Chevrolet Volt and its antecedents. According to the press release, GM's new Warren, MI-based E-Flex Systems Design Studio will house 45 designers, sculptors, design engineers, scientists and administrative staff in a greener-than-thou environment. That would be a reused space kitted-out with sustainable carpet, energy efficient florescent lighting and window shades, rugs made of 100 percent wool and Cradle to Cradle-certified furniture. While we still haven't seen the new-look Volt, The Motley Fool (of all people) tell us that GM designers have already cut 30 percent from the concept's wind drag. "The easier it is to push this vehicle through the air, the less energy you use," said Nina Tortosa, the Volt's aerodynamic development engineer and [possible] future author of Aerodynamics for Dummies. Anyway, the Volt's design director is pleased with his new digs. “There’s a lot of history in this building,” said Bob Boniface, “and I feel we’re making our own history by designing a whole new generation of vehicles that don’t require gasoline." I guess someone forget to tell Bob about the gasoline part of the Volt's propulsion system…

So Tesla has a new CEO: Z'ev Drori. Drori made his money back in the '70's founding and running Monolithic Memories, a producer of bipolar PROMS (nothing to do with Steven King's Carrie). Drori sold out and acquired Clifford Electronics, maker of car alarms. That worked out pretty well, with Drori eventually flogging the built-up biz to Allstate Insurance. We hear he's a pretty good race car driver. ANYWAY… Drori's appointment completes the ouster of Tesla founder Martin Eberhard, who's none too happy that his as-yet-unborn baby has been taken away by the suits. Although Martin's banned from saying squat about his predicament thanks to a "non-disparagement agreement," ships are sinking upon his loose lips. "I am not at all happy with the way I was treated," Eberhard whines on the unaffiliated Tesla Motor Club forum. "And I do not think this was the very best way to handle a transition – not the best for Tesla Motors, not the best for Tesla's customers (to whom I still feel a strong sense of responsibility), and not for Tesla's investors." And not for Martin's bank balance, apparently. "Ze'ev is a bright and experienced guy. Unlike me, he's made a zillion dollars from his past ventures…" In an ironic echo of his work for Tesla, Eberhard promises to post his true feelings on his new blog teslafounders.com– which doesn't even have a placeholder page. Meanwhile, no word from Drori when the first Tesla customer gets theirs (so to speak). 

The "will they/won't they" question about a Prius-based plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) is gradually being replaced with "how, when, what and where." Why? Because the Japanese automaker has announced it's sending a brace of Prius PHEVs to the University of California (UC) for study. They're current gen Prii fitted with extra nickel metal hydride batteries. Electric-only mode only kicks-in at slow speeds, intermittently, for seven miles, on a full charge. One of the PHEVs is headed for the boffins at the UC's Irvine's Advanced Power and Energy Program. They'll try to figure out how to rate the mpg on the wee beastie and whether or not there are any environmental benefits to partial plug-in power. The other PHEV goes to the social (not to say socialist) scientists at the University of California Berkeley. They're looking to determine whether not anyone wants the darn fool thing and what a PHEV has to do to hit the consumer sweet spot (e.g. range, charging time, battery size and battery costs). Toyota Motor Sales' Marketing and PR Communications Manager says buyers hot for a PHEV will have to wait 'til 2010, at the earliest. 

[Interview with Toyota PR on the whole PHEV thing below.] 

The London Evening Standard reports that GoinGreen, the UK distributor of the G-Wiz battery-powered car, is recalling the machine amid fears that an overheating battery charger can cause the cars to burst into flames. "The recall was undertaken as a precautionary measure following a single incident of failure," Managing director Keith Johnston assured the press. "No one was injured."  The recalled involves 629 vehicles, about two-thirds of those sold to date. GoinGreen will replace the G-Wiz' heat-sensitive cutout switch and fit a new fire retardant cover. The recall re-focuses attention on the Indian-made machine's safety. "Government research found the G-Wiz failed the sort of crash test conventional family cars and 4x4s must pass to be allowed on the road. And in May, the motoring magazine Top Gear produced spectacular photographs of a G-Wiz disintegrating in a standard crash test." In case you're wondering how GoinGreen can sell the G-Wiz in a country where toasters must comply with safety regulations, the electric cars are officially classified as "quadricycles." In other words, they're "unconventional vehicles not intended for mainstream use." While G-Wiz' celebrity clients must be thrilled with that designation, Tesla's Elise-based Roadster and the Chevrolet Volt will presumably aim a bit higher. You know, eventually.