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Digg.com co-founder Kevin Rose has a bit of a penchant for being uncannily accurate with his Apple predictions. Is it possible that he now has some sort of inside information on Tesla Motors' upcoming Model S electric sedan?

Via Twitter, Rose announced, "someone leaked me some Tesla Model S (electric car) pics, seems to have a huge touch-screen display."

Rose finishes his post with a link to his Flickr page containing photos of the interior and exterior, including the aforementioned "huge touch screen" (which I must say is a bit of an understatement; that thing … Read more

President Barack Obama on Thursday launched a $2.4 billion program to boost development of plug-in electric vehicles in the U.S., including grants to finance domestic production of auto batteries.

Obama spoke at Southern California Edison's Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona, Calif., where he said the Department of Energy has now started taking grant proposals from electric-vehicle battery makers.

The stimulus plan passed earlier this year set aside $2 billion to jump-start electric-vehicle manufacturing. Out of that total, $1.5 billion is available for U.S. battery manufacturing and $500 million for related technology, such as electric … Read more

Piaggio Group Americas, a subsidiary of the Italian manufacturer known for the Vespa, has a highway legal plug-in hybrid scooter in the works that could be available in the U.S. for early 2010.

While Paolo Timoni, the president and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas, has made mention of this plan in interviews, the company has made no formal announcement so it's been hard to gauge whether you can hold it to the timeline.

The plug-in hybrid version in the works is a modified version of Piaggio's MP3 500 (the Gilera Fuoco in Europe). The MP3 500 scooter … Read more

General Motors plans to build prototypes of its Chevy Volt electric car this summer based on successful development of its battery powertrain technology to this point.

Despite GM's grave financial problems, the Chevy Volt is still scheduled for release in November 2010, company executives said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. The four-door sedan can go 40 miles on a full charge and has an internal combustion engine to charge the battery for longer trips.

During the call, executives said GM engineers have been able to meet its battery performance goals and that the company is already … Read more

Engineers at MIT have made a breakthrough that could translate into smaller, lighter, and faster-charging lithium ion batteries, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced Wednesday.

Gerbrand Ceder, the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT; aided by Byoungwoo Kang, a graduate student in materials science and engineering, have made a small battery that can be fully charged or discharged in 10 to 20 seconds.

A detailed explanation on how they did this has been published in the March 12 issue of Nature, but here is a brief recap of what they essentially accomplished.

While lithium ion … Read more

Alternative energy company Ecotality said on Friday that it will supply charging stations in Arizona as part of the planned roll-out of plug-in electric cars from Nissan next year.

Nissan North America has committed to making its electric vehicles available to municipal or private organizations in the Tucson, Ariz., area, Ecotality said. Nissan's all-electric sedan is scheduled to be available in certain areas of the U.S. next year.

Ecotality said it will plan the installation of charging stations in the area and work with local politicians to establish policies to promote plug-in electric cars.

There are a number … Read more

A new campaign to improve automotive fuel efficiency worldwide by 50 percent by the year 2050 was announced at the Geneva Motor Show on Wednesday.

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative and its "50 by 50" campaign has the backing of leaders of four major international organizations: David Ward, director general of the FIA Foundation; Nobuo Tanaka, the executive director of the International Energy Agency; Jack Short, the secretary general of the International Transportation Forum; and Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Car companies, the "50 by 50" report (PDF) says, … Read more

Tesla Motors has begun offering its Roadster electric vehicle for the Canadian highway, the company announced Wednesday.

Tesla said in a statement that driving a Tesla Roadster in Canada can be thought of as even more kind to the environment than in other places since the bulk of the country's electricity is generated from renewable resources.

"An EV recharged from the current Canadian grid, on average, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 85 percent compared to an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle. In hydro-dominant British Columbia, Quebec, and Manitoba, the reduction would be an impressive 98 percent," said … Read more

RUF Automobile and Siemens Corporate Technology, the research arm of Siemens, debuted their all electric car concept at the Geneva Motor Show this week.

The Greenster, like its name suggests, is designed to look like a roadster vehicle of yesteryear complete with plaid seats. But the tech speaks to the 2000's interest in green technology.

Siemens is providing technology for the car's power train which includes the motor/generator, the power electronics, and the interface with the car's battery.

The Greenster concept car displayed at the Geneva Motor Show had only one motor. But the Pfaffenhausen, Germany-based … Read more