Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, the Toyota COMS electric vehicle is becoming the Smart INSECT. Unrelated to Daimler's Smart brand, the INSECT (yes, it's an acronym, one that stands for "Information Network Social Electric City Transporter") is a one-seat electric vehicle that is designed to be connected to its driver and the world. The gullwinged INSECT uses "motion sensors, voice recognition and behavior prediction" to make the driver feel tied to the wheels, as well as to his or her home via the online Toyota Smart Center. The doors can open based on "the movement of the driver's hand." The car can also identify faces and "authenticate a driver registered with the vehicle when he or she approaches." This thing should have antennae.

Toyota will first display the INSECT at CEATEC JAPAN 2012 next week (think: Japan's version of our Consumer Electronics Show). Earlier reports hinted that Toyota's then-unnamed small EV would cost around $12,300 CAD ($12,500 USD), but Toyota did not talk about an MSRP in the teaser release issued today. You can find it below.

Vince Megna certainly has a way with words. In one five-and-a-half minute video, he calls the Fisker Karma a "modern-day electric Ford Pinto." He also says, "This is a beautiful car. It's just too bad it catches on fire." Would we expect anything less florid from the man who calls himself the King of Lemon Laws?

Megna was referring to two cases of the Karma being involved in fires, one in California and one in Texas. The reason Megna is concerned is because he was bringing a Karma to a dealership for his unnamed client in Wisconsin, who apparently needed to keep his vehicle in the shop for 120 days during his first seven months of ownership. That's well above the 30-day threshold set by Wisconsin's lemon law. Megna says Fisker refunded his client the US$103,000 that the car cost, even though he wouldn't agree to Fisker's request to keep his complaints quiet. It was the first lemon law buy-back for a Karma, Megna says, adding that he doesn't think it will be the last. We've contacted Fisker about Megna's claims, but have yet to hear back.

But what's Justin Bieber – or a cardboard cutout of His Bieberness – doing in the video clip? Well, Megna has a bit of Michael Moore in him, and he went to a Fisker dealer to ask if the Karma is safe for celebrities like Bieber to drive (the teenage phenom has – had? – a custom chrome Karma in his garage). Thoughtfully, Megna brought along his video camera to record his visit. And a Bieber t-shirt-wearing paralegal with her mouth taped shut.

Click here to watch the comedic results on video.

2012 was supposed to be the year the all-electric version of the Toyota/Scion iQ made a splash. Instead, it appears that while it remains technically true that the iQ EV will launch this year, it will be a much, much smaller splash than previously anticipated. According to Reuters, the iQ will have an "extremely limited release."

That's a kind way to say that the 100 iQ EVs that Reuters says Toyota will now sell in North America and Japan is a much smaller figure than was anticipated. The writing has been on the wall for a while. All the way back in 2009, Toyota hinted that the EV, which can only go 80 km (50 miles) on a charge, might be destined for car-sharing services, and in 2011, a Toyota spokesperson confirmed the iQ EV would be a "low-volume vehicle."

Now, the official Toyota line (see below) is that:

Toyota has seen that many customers are not yet willing to compromise on range, and they don't like the time needed to re-charge the batteries. Moreover, the infrastructure for recharging has not become as widespread as originally anticipated.

So, even though Toyota is ready with the iQ EV, we believe a plug-in hybrid solution offers a better way than pure electric for most customer needs in the short- to medium-term, and that is where we will concentrate our commercial activities.

Toyota vice chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada tells Reuters, "The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge."

Compare this attitude to the one displayed by Daimler, which today has hundreds of Smart Electric Drive vehicles functioning as car-sharing rides through its Car2go program in places like San Diego, CA and Austin, TX. Toyota will still move forward with the launch of the RAV4 EV, and expects to sell around 2,600 of them in the next three years.

News Source: Toyota via Reuters

Tip: Thanks, Winc06

Popes know how to travel in style, as the long list of iconic Popemobiles can attest to. In recent years, His Holiness Benedict XVI – aka the "Green Pope" – has been trying to clean up those bubbly vehicles with alternative powertrains. He wanted a plug-in hybrid from Mercedes-Benz or a solar-powered car, but those have yet to come to fruition. In July, the Vatican did get an all-electric vehicle from NWG Zero.

The latest holy roller is a new all-electric vehicle from Renault. Modified with help from Gruau, the Kangoo Maxi Z.E. was donated to the Vatican by Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn at the Holy Father's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Pope's bodyguards can ride in EV style, too, since Renault donated a second EV, that one decked out in blue and white, to the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City.

The EVs use lithium-ion batteries for an estimated range of 170 km (105 miles) on the lenient European NEDC test cycle. The interiors "are fitted with two particularly comfortable separate seats at the rear," says Renault. The roof opens, too, in case His Holiness would like to stand and wave at people who don't get free electric cars.

Click here for a closer look at the Pope's newest set of wheels.

News Source: Renault

Tesla Motors Elon Musk spends about half his working life – i.e., almost all of his waking hours – in his office at SpaceX in Los Angeles. The automotive CEO is, after all, also in charge of the rocket company, which means that he's thinking about a lot more than just ramping up production of the Model S. But he is thinking about that a lot, too. More than you might expect.

AutoblogGreen recently got to sit down with Musk at SpaceX for a one-on-one, wide-ranging interview. Musk, comfortable and relaxed in an "Occupy Mars" t-shirt, was forthcoming about most things we asked – but questions about Tesla's upcoming Supercharger network of fast chargers, which can deliver so much more juice per minute than any other plug-in vehicle charger on the market, were deflected, since the company is planning a big announcement at the end of this month or early October – and we got into Tesla's financial situation, why the Model X has those falcon doors and how Daimler saved Tesla. We learned a lot, including that Musk really doesn't like the rear seat access in the Audi Q7. Not one bit.

Click here to read the whole interview.

Back in 2009, the plug-in vehicle world was surprised to learn that Daimler had invested US$50 million in Tesla Motors. What we didn't know at the time was that the money came deus ex machina style just before the EV startup reaper was about to knock. Turns out, Tesla's financial situation was much worse back then than anyone realized.

AutoblogGreen recently spent an hour interviewing Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and when we asked about the money, Musk said, "The credit for saving Tesla should go to Daimler. It was the Daimler investment that saved Tesla in early 2009. ... 2007 and 2008 were especially bad for us. ... There were a couple of near-death situations."

Those near-death situations include the time Musk needed to funnel a lot of his personal capital into Tesla – "I literally had to borrow money for rent" – in order to get through 2008 and early 2009. Having run through a lot of his own money, he appreciated Daimler was investing in Tesla even though Daimler itself was cash strapped. "When someone is hungry themselves and they give you a bit of food, you've got to be grateful for that."

Musk added that Tesla's financial situation today is "pretty good," and that the company has "a couple hundred million dollars" in reserve. As long as there aren't a "bunch of screw-ups," then the automaker should be in good financial shape, he said.

Stay tuned for more from AutoblogGreen's one-on-one interview, including the full transcript, later this week. In the meantime, click here for the full photo gallery.

We should be getting August's official sales numbers early next week, but The Detroit Free Press is already reporting that General Motors will have something to be proud of in the announcement: 2,500 Chevrolet Volt sales, the car's best month ever. Previously, the best month of sales was March 2012, when GM sold 2,289 Volts.

GM spokeswoman Michelle Malcho told the Freep that, "We're really seeing momentum continuing to build. As people see their neighbors have one and as they start to understand the technology and are able to drive it, they put it into their consideration." Malcho said California residents buy a third of all Volts, and Michigan is also a strong sales market.

We heard recently that the GM plant that builds the Volt in Hamtramck, Michigan will be idled for a month starting in the middle of September, either to retool the machines or balance out supply and demand or a little bit of both. Currently, GM is building both 2012 and 2013 model year Volts "to accelerate the transition to the new model."

Click here to watch the Chevy Volt in action.

News Source: Detroit Free Press

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Zach Bowman / AOL

Tesla has said the highest-end Model S has a range of 483 kilometres (300 miles) at 88 km/h (55 mph), but until recently, it's been tremendously difficult for anyone outside the company to verify this number. When the EPA did its testing thing, it came up with a 426-km (265-mile) range estimate for the version with the 85-kWh battery pack. Tesla is even offering a prize of some sort to anyone who drives a Model S over 640 km (400 miles) on one charge.

Now, Motor Trend writers has had the chance to spend some time in Tesla CEO Elon Musk's personal Performance Signature Model S to see just how far the electric car can be driven. The result? Your results may vary.

First, the good news. Motor Trend ran a battery of tests on the Model S, and its independent measurements discovered the following ways that their independent testing beat the manufacturer's official numbers:

• 0-60 mph (96 km/h) time: 3.9 seconds (Tesla official number is 4.4 seconds)
• Quarter mile: 12.5 seconds at 110.9 mph (12.6 seconds)
• 100.7 MPGe during a 200+ mile (320 km) drive (EPA says 89 MPGe).

So, then, what's the bad news? At roughly 100 km/h with no A/C, MT "only" got 383 km (238 miles) out of the battery. That's less than advertised, but MT offers an important and reasonable take on this issue:

But the range that matters is really a psychological/perceptual one, not a specific number. Think about it: We drove from Fontana on the eastern edge of the L.A. basin to San Diego and all the way back to L.A.'s Pacific edge on one charge. Five hours of continuous driving. This is a breakthrough accomplishment that ought to knock down the range anxiety barrier that's substantially limited EV sales.

Word.

News Source: Motor Trend

Despite what some media outlets are saying, the long list of questions and answers about the Fisker Karma now floating around (and available below) is not a leaked document. Instead, it is part of Fisker's ongoing customer service operations, Roger Ormisher, Fisker's head PR director, told AutoblogGreen. The Q&A is the result of Fisker's ongoing town hall meetings it holds via telephone with customers, where "we discuss everything that's going on with the car." The questions are collected, answers written down and then the list is sent out to all Karma owners, he said. Since the powertrain technology in the Karma is so new, Ormisher said, "this openness is about us developing relationships with our customers."

To complement the Q&A, Fisker is thinking of setting up a physical owners council where they could come in and spend time with Fisker to discuss upgrades and changes. Thus far, Ormisher said, the Karma's software updates have been done free of charge and any future updates that affect integral parts of how the car works will continue to be free. There is a possibility that cosmetic upgrades could cost money, but no decision has been made on that. The Q&A says:

Specific warranty issues that require flash updates will be performed under the normal terms of the Fisker warranty. ... In the future, software upgrades which improve functionality, navigation or other features may be made available and can be installed at the request of an owner by an authorized Fisker Retailer for a fee.

What other information is in the Q&A? In short, Fisker knows there are problems. Lots of them. The Q&A says it is looking to "improv[e] the command center functionality and interface on all current Karmas." (This is why it's terrible right now.) It offers tips on how to get the command center car to respond more quickly. It says Fisker does not have any plans to mute the voice guidance when using navigation, even though customers are asking for it. It explains why the engine sometimes comes on in Stealth Mode. It says Fisker is "investigating the issues which are causing poor Bluetooth performance." Oh, and the problem with the A123 Systems battery packs will start to be fixed in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Click here to read the entire Q&A for yourself.





News Source: Fisker, Fisker Buzz

Image Credit: Copyright 2012 Damon Lavrinc / AOL / Fisker

Months ago, we heard that the North American version of the 2013 Nissan Leaf would go farther per charge in cold weather thanks to a better heater. This was about the Leaf that will be made in Smyrna, Tennessee starting later this year. A new report on Inside EVs (based on the Japanese language Sankei Biz site) says that the new Leaf, at least the version destined for sale in Japan, will have its range extended to over 250 kilometers (155 miles) in any weather.

Of course, since that is on the lenient Japanese test cycle, it doesn't mean that we will get double their range. The Leaf is rated at 117 km (73 miles) by the EPA. Instead, the new Leaf should get a range improvement of around 25 per cent, which would translate to around 146 km (91 miles) of EPA range, thanks to more efficient motors and better batteries.

More interesting – since we expect incremental improvements with each generation of vehicles, especially when EVs are concerned – is that Nissan is also considering an entry-level Leaf for release by the end of the year. If Sankei Biz is correct, this model would start at 2.5 million yen (about CAD$31,000 at today's exchange rates) compared to the current version's starting price of 3.7 million yen (about CAD$46,000). Inside EVs notes that, "A similar price reduction in North America would price this new base Nissan LEAF at US$26,600." Sankei Biz says the updates are coming a year earlier than planned in order to boost sales. A before-incentive price of US$26,600 would certainly do that, wouldn't it?

We've asked Nissan for any sort of confirmation or denial of these reports and will update once we hear something.

News Source: Inside EVs, Green Car Reports, SankeiBiz

Tip: Steve T.

After two short "we're looking into it" official statements, Fisker Automotive has announced that it has completed a "detailed investigation" into the strange, spontaneous combustion of a Karma plug-in hybrid that happened in Woodside, California last weekend. The result? A voluntary recall to fix the low-temperature cooling fan located in the left front of the Karma, in front of the wheel, that apparently has "an internal fault that caused it to fail, overheat and start a slow burning fire."

Fisker says the supplier is responsible and will work together with the unnamed company to fix the problem. Retailers will contact customers and "this recall campaign is not expected to have a material financial impact on Fisker." The fix entails a new cooling fan "that meets the required specifications" and a new, extra fuse "for added protection." Around 2,400 Karmas are affected by this recall.

As the latest statement makes clear, and as we expected, the parking-lot fire was not caused by the lithium-ion battery. Company co-founder Henrik Fisker said, "This incident resulted from a single, faulty component, not our unique EVer powertrain or the engineering of the Karma. As this situation demonstrates, Fisker Automotive is dedicated to doing whatever is necessary to address safety and quality concerns." You can read the entire statement past the jump.

Fisker is also saying that there is no discernible connection between the Woodside fire and another fire involving a Karma that happened in Texas in May. Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told Bloomberg that, "The report for the Texas fire is not in the public domain and we do not have access to it. ... the real root cause [of the Texas fire] is unlikely to be determined."

The Karma has been recalled before, at the tail end of 2011, for problems with the battery pack, specifically the battery hose clamp. Some Karma battery packs also had some defective prismatic cells replaced by battery-maker A123 Systems.

After blasting down the Bonneville Salt Flats at 298 km/h (185 mph), the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid is now the "world's fastest hybrid," according to VW.

The modified Jetta Hybrid was driven by Motor Trend Associate Road Test Editor Carlos Lago, and the official speed was 298.363 km/h (185.394 mph). That is "the fastest speed ever achieved by a production-based hybrid car on the famed Bonneville Salt Flats." Production-based here still means that the powertrain was modified by Volkswagen engineers in Germany. We can see aerodynamic wheels, but exact changes that were implemented were not described, only that the car was "run according to SCTA rules." The production Jetta Hybrid gets 5.2L/100km (45 mpg) and has a 0-60 (96 km.h) time of 9.0 seconds. It uses a four-cylinder, 1.4-litre turbocharged, 150-horsepower, TSI gasoline engine mated to a 20-kW (27-hp) electric motor.

Sure, 298 km/h is impressive, but it's not that far ahead of the record set in May by a huge hybrid Volvo truck in the flying kilometer: 265 km/h (165 mph). May we suggest a head-to-head race for pink slips?

Click here for the full details from VW's press release.




News Source: Volkswagen

Tony Posawatz is a familiar face in the green car world, having played a prominent and public role in the development of the Chevrolet Volt as the vehicle line director for GM's plug-in hybrid. Today, we learn that Posawatz – who retired from GM last month – will be spending even more time with an extended-range-powertrain vehicle, the Fisker Karma. This is because Posawatz was just named the new CEO of Fisker, replacing Tom LaSorda, who has only been in that position since February. Apparently, the rumor that Posawatz was "stepping down to spend more time with his family," wasn't exactly true.

In a statement, LaSorda said, "Tony is the perfect CEO for Fisker. He has been at the forefront of the industry's technological revolution and one of the few people in the world to bring an EV to mass production." Henrik Fisker, the company's executive chairman and co-founder, said Posawatz, "will ensure that Fisker is well positioned to maximize the potential of not only the Karma sedan, but also bring the Fisker Atlantic smoothly to market."

Posawatz will have his hands full leading Fisker, given things like spontaneous vehicle fires, fallout from earlier battery issues and money flow. But nothing should be too difficult for the person who first came up with the term "range anxiety," right?

In other Fisker news, the company said today it has added Joseph Chao as executive vice president and CEO of China and Asia and Alberto Gonzalez as vice president of manufacturing.

Click here to read the full details.


News Source: Fisker Automotive

As we suspected yesterday, the first official word from Fisker about the Karma that caught fire in Woodside, CA this weekend is that the lithium ion batteries are apparently not to blame. Fisker has released a statement, which you can find below, which says that independent investigators from Pacific Rim Investigative Group are looking into the cause of the blaze:

Evidence revealed thus far supports the fact that the ignition source was not the Lithium-ion battery pack, new technology components or unique exhaust routing.
The area of origin for the fire was determined to be outside the engine compartment. There was no damage to the passenger compartment and there were no injuries.

More information will be released when Fisker and the investigators have something to report. To see a video of the fire and read our original report, click here.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (PDF), between 2005 and 2009, there have been 1,150 spontaneous vehicle fires, half of those in passenger vehicles. So, just under 600 vehicles burn for no known reason in an average year, out of a national fleet of around 250 million vehicles. Two Karma fires in four months is thus noteworthy, especially given the newness of the technology and general worries about the safety of li-ion batteries. According to Fisker, though, it's not something to panic about.

While we await further details of this investigation, scroll down to read Fisker's official statement.

News Source: Fisker Automotive via Engadget

Image Credit: Aaron Wood video