Altcar

After the EPA says VW used software to get around federal tests, we see how it looks from a green car event in California and try to understand what happened.

The biggest problem that Wheego was having the last time we looked in on the company was getting the Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to sign off on temporary exemption to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Regulations (FMVSSR) for its two-seat, all-electric Wheego Whip LiFe car. NHTSA granted the small electric vehicle company a waiver for an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system that is good until the end of the year. Wheego is in the process of developing an ESC for the l

Aerovironment has installed 10,000 residential chargers in the US. On top of these, there are many at Nissan dealers and more at BMW dealers that offered the ActiveE (around 70). Soon, possibly, there will be some at US Fiat Studios. Aerovironment's Tom Carney, director of automotive sales and EV solutions, recently told AutoblogGreen that more news will be coming from Fiat on the deal with Aerovironment, most likely at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show where the 500E will take a bow.

Richard Serio, CEO of ZeroTruck recently told AutoblogGreen his all-electric work truck company is "on the cusp."

The all-electric Firefly ESV looks exactly like the kind of vehicle that would be used to go around and hand out parking tickets. Luckily, that's exactly what it was designed to do. Good Earth Energy (maker of the ESV, which stands for Essential Services Vehicle) itself says the vehicle has an "aggressive design" and "appealing curves" and for $29,775 it could be yours.

Anyone who's California Dreamin' about test-driving the battery-electric version of the Toyota RAV4 can now get their chance.

It's been a while since an all-electric truck has been for sale in the U.S. (RIP, Ford Ranger EV), so perhaps a zero-emission crunk is just what the market is waiting for. Electric Mobile Cars will soon find out, now that it is taking orders (fleets only) for its converted E36T (pictured).

Somewhat surprisingly given the early stage of the EV rollout we're in, there are already lots of ways to recharge empty electric vehicles along the side of the road, both official (see choices from AAA, Club Assist and Nation-E) and DIY. At the 2011 AltCar Expo in Santa Monica, CA, this weekend, another option, the EV Mobile Charger from Cross Country Automotive Services was on display and it's got something that would make Hank Hill proud: a propane tank.

How's this for an unusual business model: take a Chinese-built vehicle, convert it to electric drive in Iowa and then export it to the Caribbean. Yeah, it doesn't make all that much sense to us, either.

Brammo Enertia at AltCar 2010 – Click above for high-res image gallery from the show

Gov. Schwarzenegger learns about the Chevy Volt at AltCar 2009 – click above for high-res image gallery

On top of the test drives (Wheego Whip), test rides (Coda Sedan) and a visit to the unlimited energy booth, a highlight of the AltCar Expo last weekend was getting to hear the LA Times' premiere auto scribe Dan Neil moderate two sessions called "Some Inconvenient Questions." Neil was lucky to have on his panels some of the most knowledgeable people in the green car world who were able to discuss and promote their favored technologies (plug-in hybrids, hydrogen, etc.) without beating each other u

Triac - Click above for high-res image gallery

EF9's "unlimited clean energy" system - Click above for high-res image gallery

NuTech battery swap trailer model - Click above for high-res image gallery

Gov. Schwarzenegger learns about the Chevy Volt - click above for high-res image gallery

The annual Alt Car Expo is coming up this weekend at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and Vision Industries will be on hand to display its Tyrano semi tractor. This is no typical smoke-belching, diesel-powered semi. In fact, the only thing emitted by this hauler is water vapor.

The last in our series of reports from the discussion panels from last week's Austin Alt Car expo focuses on the panel that had the broadest possible appeal: an overview of plug-in hybrids. Taking place on the Saturday, and therefore more accessible to the working public, the free-form panel featured Ron Johnston-Rodriguez of PluginCenter.com and the Port of Chelan County in Washington State, and Chelsea Sexton of Plug-In America. Austan Librach, who works for Austin Energy and Plug-in Partners

As I said earlier, the panels at the Austin Alt Car expo were heavily focused on plug-in vehicles. The last discussion on Friday continued the trend and was called "Future Prospects for Plug-in Hybrids" and the participants acknowledged that their presentations were treading over some of the same ground that earlier panelists had covered. Still, Mark Duvall of EPRI and Susan Zielinski of CARSS did add a few new tidbits to the discussion and if you're a PHEV fanatic, you'll find something in the

Gridpoint's Steve Hauser

One of the more organized presences at the first Austin Alt Car expo this past weekend was from the Texas propane community. From propane-powered lawnmowers to a giant propane-powered school bus, you couldn't miss the vehicles. Three pro-propane groups - the Texas Propane Educational & Marketing Foundation, the Propane Education & Research Council, and the Alternative Fuels Research & Education Division of the Railroad Commission of Texas - came together to showcase ways to burn prop