It's not often nowadays that you see a product that really makes you wonder about the sanity of its creators.

Meet Rinspeed Squba, an electric Lotus Elise that goes up to 75 mph on land ... up to 5mph on water and up to 2mph submerged.

This is one item where you really have to see the video to be impressed. Check out the second one where the intrepid Top Gear magazine reporter takes a drive ... and a dive.

Like the Tesla Roadster it's based on the versatile Lotus Elise. An open model. If they closed the cockpit it would have to weigh tons to offset the bouyancy of the cabin!

Practicality factor about zero, cool factor off the charts. 750,000 British pounds (about $1,250,000) buys you one.

Filed under: tesla, squba, rinspeed, electric car, and submarine

Tesla Motors has the venture funding and the chic beautiful Roadster ... but GM is trying to fight back with the Volt. We talk to both Elon Musk of Tesla and Bob Lutz of GM and get a good idea of what's going on in Silicon Valley, Detroit and elsewhere in the race for the electric car.

Filed under: tesla, volt, and electric car

Is this a solar car ... or a UFO?

Some drivers thought the latter was a sure bet ... and reported it to police!

But it was just Canadian Marcelo da Luz striking his own blow for a solar powered, carbon free future.

Filed under: electric car, ufo, and police

Today, the Lightning car company of the UK introduced a new electric supercar, in many ways similiar to the Tesla Roadster. There are two great things about the new entrant.

First, it has absolutely stunning styling - it looks like those absolutely stunning long-hooded Jaguar XK coupes you still see floating around and falling apart.

Second, you can charge it in an instant - under 10 minutes - which is a huge advantage compared to the multi-hour charge regime required by the Tesla.

But there are two little problems.

First, the price of 120,000 pounds seems in line with the Tesla's 110,000 US dollars ... until you realize a UK pound is worth about $2. So the LIghtning costs a whopping $240,000. Ouch.

Second, the ten minute charge is only if you have 480 volt three phase power, which you have in your home only if it's one of those giant compounds on ten acres in the Malibu hills. Alas, if you have a more normal 110 or 220 volt service, a charge will take about as long as a Tesla.

The company wants to offer public charging stations in Tesco stores, but given that their car is $240,000 it doesn't seem like the company wouod be interested. (Tesco is a large-scale grocery chain, a bit classier than Wal*Mart but the same basic idea.)

So this looks like a very interesting entrant into the elite electric car stakes. I wish both them and Tesla the best.

Filed under: tesla, lightning, electric car, and sports car

This is a story I've been following for what seems like years. Tesla Motors, the innovative Silicon Valley startup that promised to deliver a no-excuses electric sports car, has finally delivered Production Model 2 to founder Martin Eberhard.

Martin put his heart and soul into the car and was then tossed out by the main investor Elon Musk when they couldn't come to terms on the company's future direction. I thought Martin's management was first rate. Of course he made some mistakes, but surprisingly few for a project where nearly everything was new and original.

But like Jim Jannard of RED Digital Cinema, Martin and partners founded Tesla largely to build the car of their dreams, and now Martin drives his dream. A brilliant achievement, and I hope he can get back into the car biz soon.

Filed under: tesla, tesla motors, martin eberhard, and cars

It was done about ten years ago. Fortunately, battery technology is a lot better today, since his range was between 8 and 15 miles - barely enough to get to the market in most communities!

But I still admire his tenacity, hard work and good taste in choosing a 911 instead of something drab and dull.

The car is now for sale on eBay; hopefully a new owner will pick up the torch and improve range and power.

Filed under: 911 and electric car

So what are they like, the available electric cars? WhatCar magazine decided to do a group test, between a Fiat, a NICE Mega City, a G-Whiz and a Smart.

The Fiat wast most car-like and had the best range, but blew a fuse or two on the way and was by far the most expensive at 30,000 pounds, or almost $60,000. Top speed is a nearly civilized 75mph.

The Smart was easily the best built, garnering very good crash ratings, had the second best range (but that's only 71 miles) and reaches a top speed of 60 mph.

The other cars made those figures look good.

A video of the test is at the link. The testers clearly looked forward to the more advanced American products, the Tesla Roadster and the Chevy Volt. Either car would make those look laughable, but unfortunately the Tesla's production line seems to have stalled, and the Volt won't be ready for another two years yet.

Filed under: smart, g-wiz, nice mega city, fiat doblo, electric cars, test, and tesla

And it's not bad looking, either.

The entire car is made of carbon fiber to keep weight down, and obviously it's extremely streamlined to limit drag. Unfortunately this also makes it very expensive, but VW expected the price to come down to a level at which it makes sense to build the car by 2012. Thanks to sky high gas prices, they now think it makes sense to build starting two years from now, in 2010.

It uses an 8.5 horsepower diesel; the production model may have about twice that amount of power to satisfy consumer's desire for acceleration.

No word on what the acceleration will be but the car looks very cool and I think a lot of people will want it -- even at the anticipated prices of about $30-50k.

Filed under: cars, green, and mpg

This compressed air powered car is a cool innovation from India. You can fill the tank at filling stations with special compressed air pumps for about $2 or fill it with a home air compressor in about four hours. It doesn't say how much that is, but it sounds comparable to an electric car which is very, very cheap.

How cheap? At $2 to fill up and a 125 mile range, it would cost about $0.016 per mile in fuel. A Toyota Prius feels like a fuel hog - at $4 per gallon and 50mpg, it would cost $ 0.08 per mile in fuel.

And if you didn't guess already, compressed air is, well, compressed air and so there is no tailpipe and no emissions. Cost in India is about $12,700.

Unfortunately this car is made of extremely lightweight materials that would not be durable in crashes and so it's unlikely to be legal in the US.

At least not yet.

Filed under: air, car, green, energy, and electric

Don't have a car to enter in a car show?

Rent one!

This guy rented a Hummer H2 for $75 a day, detailed the heck out of it and won First Prize!

I wonder what the reaction was from the rental car company when it was returned in better condition than when it was taken out?

Filed under: car show, rental, and hummer

We race Go-Karts to have extreme fun, but they are also extreme pollutants. With their inefficient two stroke engines, they spew as much pollution into the air as ten cars.

So how can you have your fun and stop the excess pollution? An electric go-kart would seem like a promising start, but could it win on the track?

Check the article for details and results.

Filed under: go-kart, green, and electric car

This clip, from WGBH's NOVA, shows various electric car alternatives including Click and Clack's sadly brief drive in a Tesla Roadster.

For those who are not aware, the Tesla is the world's first production electric sports car, an amazing feat of derring-doo and engineering. Over a year late, Teslas are only now starting to dribble off the assembly line in agonizing slowness, but at least they are coming.

The film seems to have been back in the good old days when Martin Eberhard was in charge, since he is featured and it looks like both Martin and the Brothers were driving prototypes.

Filed under: tesla motors, sports car, click and clack, wgbh, and tesla

Well, this is certainly a radical approach to green motoring.

This peculiar looking vehicle has a horse inside, which runs a treadmill, which generates electricity, which runs an electric motor to drive the car.

In other words, it is a one horsepower animal/electric hybrid vehicle. Top speed is a surprising 50mph (80kph) but sadly this is rarely achieved. You are more likely to get a sedate 12mph (20kph) out of it.

Well, as gas prices get higher, why not?

Filed under: horsepower, naturmobil, car, and hybrid

Of course they always would - pricey batteries are what make electric cars like the Tesla Roadster expensive.

Giving away the car in return for a battery service contract is like giving away the razor and selling blades at a profit, or giving away the printer and selling ink. Both are very profitable businesses, and the customer is better off because he doesn't have to come up with a lot of up-front money.

This venture is particularly interesting because it has wired up two entire countries - Israel and Denmark - with charging stations. So whereever you go in those countries, you can easily get a charge from where you park.

A really cool idea but it seems like something that might not scale well to larger countries and cities.

Filed under: electric car, free, and batteries

Another milestone in the ever-evolving all electric car. First we had Tesla Motors, which promised to create a completely fresh, uncompromising electric vehicle. Unfortunately, although Tesla has begun its formal manufacturing process, only one production vehicle has dribbled out of the factory -- and that's gone to the company's primary financier.

Now, HST International and Tjaarda Design announces a new partnership that will bring electrified versions of two traditional muscle cars on the road. With a range of about 100 miles, these new introductions are just at the edge of practicality for many commuters.

I wish them the best because a powerful, all-electric car seems like the perfect car for me to drive ... even if I wish it was more like a Mercedes S500.

Filed under: shelby cobra, mustang, electric, and electric car

The idea behind free range kids is to give our children the freedom to be children, instead of being ultra-paranoid all the time.

I have a friend who has kids, and every time I see them locked up in their car seats, I think of the seats as little jails. It just seems like locking them up is a bad idea.

This author doesn't go that far. In fact, she specifically reaffirms the virtues of car seats. But she does make a great point in articles like "Is snow going to kill your kid?" and "Why I let my 9-year old rise the subway alone".

I remember having similar freedom during my own childhood and it didn't hurt me. Would it hurt your kids to give them more freedom and less structure? Are we infantilizing our kids by taking them everywhere and filling their days with constant structured activities?

From their manifesto: "Free Range Kids believes in safety, but we also believe that a lot of parents are going overboard, creating quivering masses of helplessness instead of independent humans."

Filed under: free range kids and child care

One of the most pleasing aspects of electric vehicles is the noise ... or rather, the lack of same. Other than a surprisingly pleasant whine coming from the motor, electric vehicles are almost entirely silent. A couple of days ago (scroll down for it), we had a video from a giant electric trash truck, which was barely audible except when trash was being dumped.

Unfortunately, pedestrians and bicyclists depend on hearing a vehicle to know it's there. The nearly-silent Tesla Roadster (see picture) might be impossible to notice on time.

There is a bill before Congress that would require the Transportation Department to establish safety standards to solve this problem.

Despite this, I would really hate to see electric cars lose their silent mojo. Perhaps we can find some other way to make them noticable, like make all of them look like the Tesla Roadster instead of a tiny box?

Filed under: electric car, noise, and tesla roadster