We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

Tesla's Model S, the BMW i3, the Cadillac ELR, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-Cell and the Ford C-MAX Energi are the finalists for Green Car Journal's 2012 Green Car Vision awards. The winner of the award, which is given to the most innovative "green vehicle" that's either in its demonstration phase or nearing its public launch, will be named at the Washington Auto Show on January 26.

Of the finalists, two – the Tesla and the BMW – are pure battery electric vehicles that are scheduled to be available for the 2013 and 2014 model years, respectively. The C-MAX is a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle slated for the 2013 model year, while the Cadillac – expected as a 2014 model year – uses an extended-range plug-in hybrid powertrain similar to that of the Chevrolet Volt. The F-Cell hydrogen fuel-cell electric, which has been available in limited numbers for lease in Southern California, is slated for a 2014 model year debut.

"It's no surprise that electric drive continues to dominate the thoughts of automakers as they look to the future," writes Green Car Journal, which hands out the award. "While all five finalists integrate electric drive, they power their motors in distinctly different ways."

Last year's Green Car Vision award was won by the Ford Focus Electric, while the Nissan Leaf won in 2010. The Chevy Volt won in 2009. Who should win this year? Take our poll after the jump.

Autolib, the Parisian electric car sharing service, is not having the kind of start it had hoped for. Though the program officially kicked off in October, the rubber really hit the road in December and, since that time, 30 to 40 of the 250 Bolloré-built Bluecars in the fleet have had to be taken out of service. The problem stems from a combination of vandalism – something the city's bicycle-sharing program also experiences a lot of – and ordinary breakdowns of one sort or another.

The situation means that grabbing a car from one of the 300 stations is not a sure bet. The graphic to the right is a snapshot of availability taken recently, with the number of available electrics shown in the blue flag. As you can see, there are an awful lot of zeros.

The news is not all bad though. The service has had 6,000 people sign up, which is about double what organizers expected. Now, if they can get some more cars out there and keep them running, they might just experience some of the success car-sharing programs like Car2go and Zipcar are enjoying Stateside.

Hit the jump for a (French-language) news report of the problem as well as a bonus video (also in French) featuring an Autolib car getting a thorough review.

The big draw at the official launch of the Via Motors plug-in hybrid work vehicles – truck, SUV and van – during the Detroit Auto Show was, unsurprisingly, Bob Lutz. Sadly, Maximum Bob didn't unleash any instantly classic line about global warming but he did say that Via Motors is part of the upcoming "eREVolution" and that, "once you electrify, you will never go back."

Lutz and the rest of the Via crew are offering three converted GM models. The Extended-Range Electric VTrux – a converted Chevrolet Silverado – is going to be available first (pre-orders accepted now) and the SUV and van will be coming to fleets in the fourth quarter of 2012. Via says it's capable of making 2,700 units this year and could make around 20,000 in 2013. The cost will not be cheap. Nothing's set in stone yet, but the SUV (Suburban) may cost around $70,000 while the truck could be a bit more expensive: $79,000. The cost may come down a bit by the time private customers get a chance to buy any of these work vehicles in 2013.

And work is the main message here. Via's press conference highlighted the ability to plug in your tools at the work site (or something more fun if you're going tailgating). The power will come from a 24-kWh, liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack that connects to a 300-kW electric motor to move the wheels. When the battery runs dry – which should be after a "solid" 40 miles – a 150-kW generator driven by the gasoline engine will charge it back up. There is no physical connection between the engine and the wheels.

Currently, PG&E has a test fleet of two vehicles (both alpha builds) and will be getting beta models soon. The utility has ordered "hundreds," a Via representative told AutoblogGreen. Since Via expects to sell a lot of vehicles to the government, it needs these be considered an official OEM, and therefore the start-up is making sure the vehicles get both FMVSS and CARB certification.

Via Motors grew out of Raser Technologies, which gained attention by putting a plug-in hybrid into a Hummer H3. In other words, the connection between Via and GM runs deep. See a Via promotional video after the jump.

When Tesla Motors revealed its pricing and specifications for its 2012 Model S, we couldn't help but notice an interesting peculiarity. The 0-to-60 times and top speeds varied according to pack size and, not only that, the variants with the larger, and presumably heavier, batteries were both quicker and faster. More oddness? The 40-kWh pack won't be able to take advantage of Tesla's yet-to-be-unveiled high-speed Supercharger network.

So, what gives? Well, it all seems to boil down to the batteries. Lithium ion batteries today suffer something of a tradeoff with energy capacity versus power – the ability to discharge (and recharge) that energy quickly. You can get cells that can either hold a large amount of energy but offer low discharge rates or you can get cells that hold lower amounts of energy but can discharge that energy quickly. Tesla uses the former type and that is how they are able to squeeze as much as 85 kWh worth of energy onto the Model S chassis.

However, the number of these cells tends to dictate performance. As Tesla tells us, "More cells, more power, quicker acceleration." While the larger 60- and 80-kWh packs have enough cells inside to collectively provide enough power to get the performance sedan up to 60 miles per hour in under six seconds, the 40-kWh pack comes up a bit short. Its 6.5 second time doesn't make it a slouch by any means but stepping up to the bigger batteries has its benefits.

Besides stop-light quickness, another advantage the larger packs offer is charging quickness. The 40 kWh Model S won't have an interface for Tesla's 90kW-Supercharger stations. While we might speculate that the reason for this decision is in part due to battery chemistry, the company will only say:

Tesla offers different battery options for different types of drivers. Roadster owners, who have logged over 18 million real-world miles, have taught us that drivers have a variety of driving habits and needs. The three battery options are designed to give future Model S owners maximum choice to match their preferences.

The shortcomings might not affect most Tesla S owners. According to an informal poll of buyers at Tesla Motors Club, more than 50 per cent plan on going whole hog with 85 kWhs while less than 16 per cent are settling for the least expensive option.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu estimates that plug-in vehicle battery costs will have dropped 70 percent between 2008 and 2015 and will fall another 58 percent between 2015 and 2020, giving hope to electric-drive vehicle advocates that the price premium for plug-ins relative to conventional vehicles will narrow during the next few years. Chu also said that the U.S. Energy Department is opening a research center dedicated to improve battery and energy-storage technologies for the transportation industry.

The advanced battery competition is a race the United States can and should win - Stephen Chu

Chu, in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club during the Detroit Auto Show (he's pictured above, right, speaking with Nissan's Mark Perry while checking out the Leaf), said that a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle battery that can provide 40 miles of all-electric range will cost $3,600 in 2015, down from $12,000 in 2008. That battery's cost will fall to just $1,500 by the end of the decade, Chu added. "The advanced battery competition is a race the United States can and should win," Chu said.

Greater adoption of electric-drive technologies will likely be necessary for the U.S. to meet proposed CAFE standards for light-duty vehicles of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, which is equivalent to about 40 miles per gallon measured by EPA standards. That would still be almost an 80 percent jump from 2010 model-year fleetwide fuel economy in the U.S.

Last year, Colorado-based Pike Research said Americans will buy about 300,000 BEVs and PHEVs in 2015, up from about 50,000 in 2011, while Michigan's Center for Automotive Research projected in early 2011 that U.S. electric-drive vehicle sales will increase to about 140,000 units in 2014 from about 30,000 last year.

This is not the first time Chu has strongly supported the idea of a plug-in vehicle, not by a long shot. As he said at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun in late 2010, battery-electric vehicles could be competitive with gas-powered cars within five years as technological advancements and greater BEV adoption helps push down battery costs and increase single-charge ranges.

There's virtually no end to the list of automakers for which Pininfarina has designed over the years. But every once in a while, the stoic Italian studio works up a project just for itself. And this is one such occasion.

So what is the occasion, you ask? The 30th anniversary of the company's Styling Centre, and the 10th anniversary of its Engineering Centre, which were founded in 1982 and 2002, respectively. The dual milestone is celebrated with the Cambiano concept car.

Named for the town in which Pininfarina is based, the Cambiano is an environmentally friendly sport sedan concept which the company will unveil at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. That's about all we have to go on at the moment, revealed on the studio's Facebook page along with the teaser image above. Watch this space for more as the Swiss expo approaches.

One nagging issue with electric vehicles is range. While today's lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are much better than yesterday's nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, they still don't offer enough energy storage to take an EV much further than 100 miles without a lengthy recharge. Even if the Li-ion batteries were up to the challenge, there is still the awkward problem of where to pack 1,000 pounds (or more) of bulky storage cells into a vehicle's chassis.

IBM thinks it has a solution with a promising new lithium-air (Li-air) battery. According to the technology giant, a typical Li-air battery cell has a theoretical energy density more than 1,000 times greater than today's industry-standard Li-ion battery cell. Even better, Li-air batteries are one-fifth the size and they offer a lifespan at least five times as long.

So, what has been holding IBM back? It appears that there was a problem with the the original Li-air automotive application, as frequent recharging cycles compromised battery life. However, the engineers have recently found alternative electrolyte compounds that look very promising. The team's goal is to have a full-scale prototype ready by 2013, with commercial batteries on sale by the end of the decade.

In between debuting the Smart for-us and SL on the floor of the Detroit Auto Show today, Mercedes-Benz thought it right to bring out two brown cars that are actually green: diesel and gasoline flavors of the E-Class hybrid. In fact, the E300 diesel hybrid is so efficient that Mercedes calls it the "world's most economical luxury-class model." Unsurprisingly, the diesel will launch in Europe while the gas-powered E400 hybrid will arrive first in America and will later come to Japan, China and other countries. Pricing for the E-Class hybrids has not yet been announced, but Mercedes says the "extra cost involved here is only moderate."

As we learned during the slow-burning teaser month of December, the diesel-fueled BlueTec hybrid is expected to get 56 miles per gallon (on the European scale, so around 45 mpg in the U.S.) and the gas-electric E400 Hybrid will get 27 mpg (U.S.). The numbers for the E300 are based on the sedan (saloon) versions; it will also be available in estate (station wagon) form. The E-Class hybrids use a combination of lithium-ion batteries, start-stop, regenerative brakes and the ability to "sail" to save fuel. Sailing here means that, at speeds of up to 100 mph, the combustion engine can switch off while the electric motor keeps the car moving as long as the 0.8-kWh battery has enough power.

Since this is Mercedes, the cars also perform well: the E300 BlueTec offers 204 horsepower from the four-cylinder diesel powerplant and another 27 hp from the electric motor. The gas-powered E400 gives up 306 hp, plus the 27 hp. The E300 hybrid has a top speed of 150 miles per hour and goes 0-62 in in 7.5 seconds, while the E400 hybrid can hit 130 mph and does 0-60 in 6.7 seconds. Or, as Damiler's chairman of the board, Dieter Zetsche, put it this during the press conference in Detroit: Mercedes is "making green cars cooler and cool cars greener."

The idea of electric vehicle racing isn't exactly new, whether you're talking about two-wheeled thrills in the TTXGP or attempts to start up an electric car speed league (see here and here). The idea that the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) wants to get a little less energy intensive has also been heard before: remember the ALMS Green Challenge, which put cellulosic E85-fueled race cars on the track? Nonetheless, the new announcement about a joint venture between Quimera, IMSA and ALMS to "develop the next generation of sustainable motorsport" has us excited. Specifically, the idea is to bring electric vehicle racing to tracks around the world.

When Quimera showed off a video of its EGT01 electric race car last fall, Quimera's Azhar Hussain told AutoblogGreen that his company wanted to move "beyond the race track and beyond motorcycles." The just-announced partnership sounds like that move, as it should see all-electric cars competing some time in 2013 and will be open to and "OEMs eager to showcase and develop their own green credentials in a cost-controlled environment." To prepare, the EGT01 will go on demonstration drives at some ALMS events in 2012. TTXGP racers and representatives will also be involved in the new series, which will have multiple categories, including an all-electric GT (525 kw – 700bhp) and an Open Wheel F3 type (300kw – 390bhp). Details on these can be found after the jump.

There are other ways to green up a race, as ALMS president and CEO Scott Atherton told AutoblogGreen at the DC Auto Show last year. The idea was to turn the Baltimore Grand Prix into the "greenest motorsport event in the U.S." by adding solar lighting, hybrid support vehicles and clean water runoff projects. Of course, the future of the Baltimore Grand Prix is in doubt, so let's hope that the global EV series gets off to a better start.

Nissan reached an agreement to make four-cylinder engines at its Tennessee plant for Mercedes-Benz, marking a continuation of a collaboration launched in 2010 between Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler AG and the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Nissan will start making four-cylinder powertrains for Mercedes-Benz starting in 2014 and will expand production to as many as 250,000 engines a year, Daimler said in a recent statement. The engines will be for Mercedes-Benz's North American C-Class vehicles, which will be built at Daimler's Alabama plant.

Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance began collaborating in 2010 that in a move that gave Daimler a 3.1 percent stake in Renault and Nissan and gave Renault-Nissan a 3.1 percent share of Daimler. That partnership includes combining design efforts for Daimler's Smart and Renault's Twingo two-seat vehicles. In addition, Daimler will supply batteries for the Twingo battery-electric vehicles, while Renault-Nissan is building electric motors for Smart's EVs.

Mercedes-Benz is expanding its efforts to make four-cylinder vehicles in order to meet progressively more stringent U.S. fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas emissions standards. Among the 14 largest vehicle makers in the U.S., Daimler had the second-worst fleetwide fuel economy to Chrysler for the 2010 model year, according to the U.S. environmental protection agency.

Continental will start selling a line of tires geared specifically for electric vehicles this year that will be designed to limit road friction and boost energy efficiency, Green Car Congress reports.

Continental's Conti.eContract tire will be sold in n sizes (125/80R13 and 145/40R13) later this year. The tire will include energy-saving design features such as smoother off-shoulder design and a flatter contour, Green Car Congress said. The tires will also have a logo that says 'BLUECO' on the sidewall to indicate the new line of tires.

Continental is launching the tire line to bank on what many expect to be a surge in battery-electric vehicles over the next few years. Globally, cumulative plug-in vehicle sales, including battery-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, are expected to surge to 5.2 million in 2017 from 114,000 in 2011, according to green-technology research firm Pike Research.

Continental joins tiremakers such as Michelin, Yokohama and Goodyear that are designing lower-resistance tires geared especially for hybrids or electric vehicles. About seven percent of an engine's power is used specifically to offset rolling resistance, and specially designed tires can cut rolling resistance by about five percent.

Tesla Motors, which last year discontinued production of its battery-electric Tesla Roadster in the U.S., will make the final versions of this model available this year in Europe, Asia and Australia before the company's Model S sedan becomes available there.

Tesla will offer the model in three new colors in those markets and will add features such as improved air conditioning, Xenon headlamps for better night visibility and improved performance in snow and ice, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Tesla has sold more than 2,100 units in 31 countries since launching the $109,000-model in 2008.

Tesla wrapped up Roadster sales in the U.S. as it prepared to start selling the Model S this year. The Model S, which will have the longest range between charges of any mass-produced electric vehicle when it goes on sale, will be offered with three range options: 160 miles, 230 miles and 300 miles. In the United States, the Tesla Model S with the 160-mile range starts at $57,400 (which drops to $49,900 after the U.S. federal tax credit). The 230-mile Model S starts about $10,000 higher and the 300-mile Model S starts at about $20,000 higher than the base.

Tesla, which is also working on a crossover vehicle now called Model X, will launch a completely redesigned Roadster in late 2014, Autocar reported in October. The company, which went public in 2010, doubled its revenue for the first nine months of last year from a year earlier to $164.9 million, though it also widened its loss by 68 percent to $172.9 million.

Let's dial back a bit on the blanket statement that the Tata eMO will never be built. Speaking with representatives of Tata Technologies at the Detroit Auto Show today, it's clear that should the stars align in just the right manner, we might see something somewhat like the eMO on the road. Someday.

Tata Technologies' Kevin Fisher, the president of vehicle programs and development, said that the eMO is basically a "giant business card" meant to show off the company's capabilities. There are 15 patent in process thanks to the eMO, for example, to say nothing of the clever use of interior space by eliminating a pillar between the doors as well as any sort of rear opening. The rear seats push up close against the rear window, a move that really does make the eMO capable of holding four adults in relative comfort. Three things to note: First, the minimalist interior saves space by doing things like including only one center armrest. Second, to open the rear doors from outside the car, you need to reach in and around to get at the handle on the inside. There is no outside handle. Three, the low, sloping roof line does present a head-bumping hazard when exiting the eMO. Trust us on this one. The unusual frame shape is strong, though, Fisher said, adding that the eMO passed North American crash standards in Tata's computerized tests.

Still, Fisher told AutoblogGreen, if an OEM or someone with Tata Motors comes to him and asks to build the eMO or to use some of the technology the engineers used to create an electric car that Tata says can get over 100 miles from its 18.4-kWh battery pack while keeping a $20,000 price tag, Tata would be more than willing to help put the car into production.

For more on the eMO, read our previous post on the car, check out the technical details and have a look at the photo gallery of this tiny and impressive bit of electric engineering.

A plethora of new diesel offerings is driving sales, according to a new report from the Diesel Technology Forum. Sales of diesels rose 27.4 percent in 2011, according to numbers from HybridCars.com and market researchers Baum and Associates.

The Diesel Technology Forum pegs the overall market growth in 2011 at 10.2 percent, putting diesels' increase considerably ahead of the curve. Interestingly enough, the group says hybrid sales were down 2.2 percent. The non-profit coalition of diesel engine and technology companies includes such auto industry heavyweights as Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda and Volkswagen.

Diesel sales are expected to grow to over six percent of the U.S. market by 2015, according to the report, and could reach as high as 7.4 percent by 2017, as more diesel models hit the market. Diesel-powered versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Cadillac ATS, Porsche Cayenne, Chevrolet Cruze and Mercedes-Benz S-Class are slated for near-term U.S. release, according to the group.

To read the entire release, click past the jump and check out this in-depth look at 2011's green car sales.