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ECTunes founders Jesper Rasmussen and Thomas Gadegaard (in car): a business opportunity. (Credit: ECTunes)

Isn't it great that electric cars are virtually silent? You won't even hear them coming! Isn't it terrible that electric cars are virtually silent? You won't even hear them coming!

Your perspective on this may vary. The quietness of EVs has been one of their biggest virtues since the 1910 Detroit Electric was a going concern. But the possibility that they'll sneak up on -- and hit -- pedestrians or blind people has activated some special interest groups and will likely lead to legislation (enshrined in the Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010) requiring EVs to actually make sounds.

The public loves the idea of personalizing those sounds, which leads inevitably to the idea of ringtones for EVs. But the sounds would actually work best if they were uniform, like the beep-beep backup noise trucks use.

Some coming EVs, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma, will have sounds generated in house (though often using consultants), and they tend to have vaguely techno overtones. Here's a video about the Leaf sound:

The very first Tesla/Mercedes Benz electric A-Class, at Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (Jim Motavalli photo)

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA--I got an unexpected treat during a recent visit to Tesla Motors' headquarters near San Francisco: They let me be the first journalist, ever, to drive the electric version of the Mercedes A-Class.

Let me say up front, I was totally captivated by this car, a product of the growing collaboration between Tesla and Daimler. Some 500 will be built, likely for delivery to "hand raisers," probably mostly in Europe. From behind the wheel, it seemed like an ideal mix of functionality and fun in a battery-powered vehicle. Unlike many of the EVs coming out later this year and early next, it's a four-seater, and approximately the size and utility of one of my favorite cars, the Honda Fit. (I own a 2007 Fit.) If you've never heard of the long-running Mercedes A-Class, it's because it has never been imported into the U.S. But I think America is ready for it. Here's what the car looks like on video:

Texting while driving: Just the beginning of the distractions. (Flickr/Jason Weaver)

What high-tech feature would you want to see in your car (that's not there now)? Autobytel.com asked that question as part of its "What's Hot Now?" report, and the results indicate that people must get lost a lot-30 percent, by far the largest number, would like to have an in-dash GPS navigation device. Me, I can live without one.

In fact, just as cars are connecting big time, we're electrifying them, and many of the early EVs will be kind of skimpy on personal tech, trying to increase battery life and increase range.

In the old days, the advertised list price of an entry-level car got you a really bare-bones vehicle with a "blanking plate" where the radio would have been. In England, even the heater was optional, which makes no sense in a country with perpetual "pissing down rain." But now everybody wants cars loaded (try to find one without air conditioning) and CD players and iPod Connectivity are nearly standard. And that's why it's interesting that the second-most popular choice in the survey (24 percent) was "I can live without technology..."

Hawaii's Bio Beetles offer more than 35 mpg. (Jim Motavalli photo)

Hawaii is green, or so its boosters tell you incessantly. Of course, you have to ignore the thick smoke from the sugarcane-field-burning operations and the runoff chemicals used to control roadside plants, mountains of tourism-generated waste, plus a huge complement of invasive species.

An encouraging sign is the 30-megawatt wind farm visible from most parts of Maui, providing 10% of the island's electricity. Unfortunately, most of the rest is from diesel oil. But during a recent stay, I saw some evidence that the islands are starting to really go green, especially when it comes to transportation.

There's not much public transit in Hawaii (a light rail system is still stuck in the planning stage) but there is the Bio Beetle company, which rents a fleet of 20 biodiesel VWs and other cars in Maui. Also on Hawaii's second biggest island, the rapidly growing Maui EVs converts trucks and cars to batteries -- and has a backlog of orders.

The Korean EV company CT&T recently met with Governor Linda Lingle about opening a battery car assembly plant in Hawaii that could put 10,000 cars on the road annually, for local use and export. It's not clear where that plant would be located.

Since August 1, Hawaiian residents have been able to tap into a $4 million state-administered pot of stimulus funds for buying EVs ($4,500 maximum) or installing an EV charging station ($500). Bio Beetle is one of the applicants, hoping to add cars such as the Nissan Leaf to its fleet as soon as that car is available (expected to be at the end of this year).

In my week here, I visited David Noon at Maui EVs, took a ride in his Gem neighborhood vehicle, and saw a Ford Ranger XLT he was converting to run on 23 Optima marine batteries. Another is waiting for conversion, and there's a customer backlog that includes a Hummer H2, Mini and 1950s Studebaker.

Noon also operates Internet-based TV and radio businesses, but he thinks EV conversions are likely to be more lucrative.

The ever-evolving Coda sedan in Santa Monica. (Jim Motavalli photo)

LOS ANGELES--I spent four days in California running back and forth between green car companies, including Coda, Tesla, Fisker and AC Propulsion. This state is becoming the epicenter of EV development for several reasons: environmental inclinations, weather, and governments (both state and local) increasingly willing to subsidize both EV purchases and the charging stations they'll need to plug into.

Among the charging projects targeting California are ChargePoint America, the EV Project and a new $5 million effort by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Many of the charging companies are located in California, too, including Coulomb Technologies. Given all that charging synergy, it's not surprising that Santa Monica-based Coda's early production will go to California only. I visited Coda and found a beehive of activity, as the company tries to get a car ready for the market by the end of the year.

The Ford Expedition: The big SUVs are baaaack.

Just when you think you have the trends figured out, something happens that's completely counter to your thinking. No wonder people are tying themselves in knots trying to figure out the size of the EV market next year. On the one hand, automakers are going green with a vengeance. I give special props to Korean success story Hyundai, which recently pledged – completely on its own – to achieve incredible 50 mpg fleet averages by 2025. (Hyundai, along with the rest of the U.S. market, will have to achieve 34 mpg by 2016.) But on the other hand, the Big Three are adding shifts to keep up with the renewed demand for huge SUVs. I'm talking about the very largest ones, the Tahoes, the Expeditions, the Infiniti QX56s, the Durangos.

Every automaker, including the big ones making those gas guzzlers, is wrapping itself in green. But big SUVs are still where the profit is, and their sales are up 19 percent compared to the same period a year ago (small cars are up, too, but only 14 percent). Infiniti even increased production on its massive QX56 because of off-the-charts demand....

Ben Sollee (on the bike, with cello) gets ready to hit the road. (Photo courtesy of Ben Sollee)

You could say singer-songwriter Ben Sollee likes a slower pace of life. Sollee's music on two recent albums is modern pop, but it's spare, melodic and played on acoustic instruments--with his expressive cello up front. And if the show you happened to catch started late, it's not because the band's van broke down on the highway--Sollee and his percussionist travel by bicycle. Call it the Ditching the Van tour, because they do.

"Going green" for many bands means fueling the vehicles with biodiesel and playing on solar stages. Sollee is from Kentucky, where producing energy often means the environmental disaster known as mountaintop removal mining (a theme that runs through his second album, Dear Companion). That would be reason enough to park the gas-guzzling van, but the bicycle-based tour that begins August 18 is more about thinking and acting locally than it is about reducing carbon footprints.

"‘Green' has become a verb," Sollee says. "It's a marketing and selling point that has become a byproduct of musicians' lifestyle on the road. There are a lot of expectations put on you, and it leads to this crazy pace of life-three-month periods where you're driving long distances from one venue to the next, loading and unloading the van, then staying in a cheap hotel. You don't even remember most of the shows when you're doing that."

And that's why so many songs are about motel rooms, or why the road life sucks. Sollee thinks he's found a better way. "We do regional tours, playing only at places that are within bicycle range," Sollee said. "And that means we look to play in places with bike shops (and sometimes in bike shops), strong local communities that maybe don't see a lot of touring music."

The Bright Idea: Now backed with GM cash. (Credit: Bright Automotive)

General Motors recently launched a $100 million fund named GM Ventures LLC to get the once-staid company into some innovative technologies, and its president, Jon Lauckner, had been in office barely a month when the first $5 million was handed out -- to Bright Automotive.

The most common reaction was probably "Bright what?" Despite a somewhat glamorous launch as a spinoff of Amory Lovins' fast-paced Rocky Mountain Institute (with investment from Google, Alcoa, Johnson Controls and the Turner Foundation), the company with plans to built a very green plug-in hybrid commercial van languished for want of further investment. Like many other startups, it was left hoping for the Department of Energy funding that was going mainly to established players.

GM's investment "validates" Bright, said Chairman and CEO Reuben Munger. "We're delighted to be in a partnership with Reuben and the Bright team," said Lauckner. It was a mutual admiration society.

And it makes strategic sense. "This is a great first pick for Jon Lauckner and GM Ventures," said EV strategist and consultant Chelsea Sexton (one of the stars of Who Killed the Electric Car?). "The Bright team has a crucial mix of deep automotive and EV experience and innovative spirit, but is refreshingly lacking in arrogance. I've long thought that partnerships between large and small automakers hold great potential for both sides, and it was only a matter of time for a major OEM to see the potential in Bright."

The once-crowded field at the Auto X Prize is narrowing. (Credit: Auto X Prize)

I have to say that the $10 million Progressive Insurance Auto X Prize is a bit of a soap opera. What a movie it would make. The Alternative Class came down to a photo finish for $2.5 million, with frontrunner Edison2 and its Very Light Car disqualified at the very last minute because of a software glitch.

According to David Brown, Edison2's spokesman, "This is a high-stakes competition. It was potentially a $2.5 million software problem." Ouch! But Edison2 has consolations. The field is now much narrowed, and it's two remaining Very Light Cars are the only contenders left in the Mainstream class. And that's worth $5 million.

The point of the Auto X Prize is to stimulate development of cars with the equivalent of 100 mpg that you or I can buy. When Auto X was announced, those cars were nowhere to be seen, but now the field is crowded: We have the $41,000 Chevrolet Volt "range extender," the $32,000 Nissan Leaf battery car, and many others from Coda, Wheego, Think and Smart. It seems the market took off on its own.

The Edison2 Very Light Car: a sure winner. (Credit: Auto X Prize)

Still, the Auto X fascinates, because the contenders are a quirky lot. The battery electric X-Tracer is now sure to win the Alternative tandem class (an oddity, these are cars with the passenger behind the driver). X-Tracer will win because it's fielding the only two entries. The car is from a Swiss team, and it's essentially an enclosed motorcycle with auxiliary wheels that extend at lower speeds. It has an extra-tough (and expensive) Kevlar body, which may explain the estimated price of $106,000.

Shades of the Tesla Roadster (which it nearly matches in price), the X-Tracer reaches 60 in less than three seconds, and soars to an unrestricted 180 mph. Why not? It's a motorcycle! There's solid Swiss craftsmanship here, though, and the X-Tracer deserved to win.

The X-Tracer: Swiss entry still standing. (Credit: Auto X Prize)

Hoboken's Ian Sacs (right) and Juan Melli with a Corner Car. (Jim Motavalli photo)

HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY--Fresh off the $1.75 PATH tubes from Manhattan, I am standing on a pleasant residential street lined with brownstones in downtown Hoboken, New Jersey with the boyish Ian Sacs, head of the city's transportation and parking bureau. In front of me is a Toyota Prius, just like any other except for the fact that it is parked in a green-lined space...and just about anyone in Hoboken could drive it.

Welcome to Corner Cars, Hoboken's municipal car-sharing program, undertaken in conjunction with the mainstream player Hertz Connect. Residents pay $25 to join, but they get a $75 credit which can be applied to reserving cars on a per-hour basis. The program, just a few weeks old, has 200 members and 42 cars (two-seater Smarts are the cheapest at $5 an hour) in the first wave. Corner Cars claims that three families so far have given up their cars (and four more have made inquiries about it), but as many as 750 could take that step soon, the program estimates.

With a light rain falling, Sacs swiped his smart card across the Prius' windshield and it unlocked. They let me drive, so we cruised the dense downtown (45,000 people in 1.3 square miles) and saw Corner Cars (Toyota Yarises, Priuses, Smart cars) all over the place. We drove past Carlos' Bakery, across from City Hall, and saw a line two blocks long. For cupcakes? It all became clear, when I learned that the bakery is the setting for the Cake Boss food reality show.

We even encountered a young bike rider who'd recently moved to Hoboken, with easy mobility being a factor. He was accessing a Smart car for his friend who was late for a job interview, and loves the program--especially the $75 credit after a $25 payment. Here's the view from the street:

I have seen the future of EV charging, and it's really cool looking. ECOtality just emailed me a photo of its station, which will be unveiled at the Plug-In 2010 trade show in San Jose on the 27th. I can't show it to you until then, but it's proof that we're in a designer race with these babies. ECOtality's Jonathan Read says its' "way smarter and easier to use than any other similar product. It makes it very easy for consumers to switch over to electric driving."

Soon, we'll be buying EV chargers in big-box stores, and they'll be competing to make them visually appealing. Maybe Apple will have one, too, and Steve Jobs will be up there in his jeans introducing it. Stranger things have happened.

EVs have arrived, and they're not yesterday's super-clunky nerdmobiles. If even the chargers are getting cool, we're on to something. I was watching a video of an old-technology solar EV charger in action, and the thing was so boxy, so ugly, so poorly labeled (dozens of confusing buttons) that it's no wonder they didn't take off back then. Just look at the thing:

I can't show you the newest charger, but this was a week for innovation in the space. I got a first look at the pretty sleek Coulomb ChargePoint charger in New York this month, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced it to his city with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan in attendance. The station is one of 200 coming to New York, paid for with a $15 million Department of Energy grant.

Bloomberg plugged in a Smart car, which like most coming EVs is "smart" in more ways than one--it can interact with the grid and charge itself only at night when the rates are lower and demand is down. ECOtality's station offers "smart phone appliations for status charges and notification of completion or interruption of charge." That means you'll get a text on your phone letting you know your charge is complete.

It is possible to plug in an electric car to an ordinary wall socket and, a mere 10 or 12 hours later, is will be fully charged. Wow, that's a long time! But Britta Gross, lord and master of everything for the "range extender" Chevrolet Volt (she's the director of global energy systems and infrastructure commercialization for GM) tells me that the company's research predicts that 40 percent of the car's charging will be on 110 (Level One charging). That means just plugging into the wall and not into a 220-volt charger (which is Level Two charging, estimated to charge a car in four to six hours).

Seconding that, Pamela Fletcher, the Volt's chief engineer, told me, "You can go home and while you're sleeping you'll be filling up your tank. A lot of the time, you'll be traveling to grandma's house and want to top up the batteries, but she won't have a charger."

Never thought of that. It's also true that 110 charging will be cheaper, and incredibly simple. Do you know how to plug in a toaster? You can do the same for an EV. The main advantage is that you save in buying the 220-volt charger itself, an expense that starts at $2,000 plus the hassle of having it installed and inspected (it can take weeks). If you have an electric dryer, you're in luck (they're 220), but if you went with gas or have older wiring, you're looking at larger bills.

If you think about it, does it matter if it takes 10 or four hours to charge the car if it's just sitting in the garage? Maybe we'll just set it and forget it.

I was pondering this as two companies made EV charger news this week. General Electric rolled out its ultra-cool 220-volt WattStation (designed by Yves Behar of Fuseproject, who also gave us the $100 laptop). And a competitor, Coulomb Technologies, was in New York unveiling its first ChargePoint 220-volt public charger, part of a $37 million program (funded in part by the Department of Energy) to put 4,600 free chargers around the U.S.

Amber Roussel and Mark Austin are Team Houston, and they got the gold (two Fiestas). (Ford Motor Company)

I have seen the future of auto marketing, and it has nothing to do with the relentless TV ads (even the funny ones) that no one believes anymore. Ford had a brilliant idea: Hire 20 teams of young and attractive Internet bloggers to promote the Ford Fiesta, sponsor a contest allowing the winner to keep not one but two cars, and then just stand back. They're going to reach the kids where they live.

Ford has just completed the second round of its Fiesta Movement promotion, and gathered in 500,000 YouTube views, 70,000 Flickr views and an awesome 10.7 million Twitter impressions. I've got to believe that will be far more effective then spending kazillions on slick 60-second spots.

Ford is hardly the only automaker latching on to the benefits of social media. All the Big Three have high-placed specialists now. Nissan is proving adept, and Toyota created an entire "Darker Side of Green" themed series to promote the new Lexus CT200h hybrid (see TDG original video of the launch below), complete with live environmental debates and Dark Ride, a noir-ish movie.

brightcove.createExperiences();

Dansk

Automaker’s 13th regional sales and service center will serve Scandinavia

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- (BUSINESS WIRE) — Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors will open its newest showroom this week in Denmark’s largest city.

Tesla’s 13th worldwide store is at Bredgade 35, in the heart of Copenhagen, recognized internationally as one of the world’s most environmentally friendly places. Copenhagen, which hosted the most recent UN Conference on Climate Change, generates a growing percentage of its grid’s energy from the famous offshore wind farm at Middelgrunden. The city is working to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2015.

“People in Denmark believe in social responsibility, and the Tesla Roadster is the only electric vehicle that combines a world-class sports car with their values of environmental stewardship,” said Cristiano Carlutti, Tesla’s Vice President for European Sales and Operations. “We are thrilled that customers in Denmark and throughout Scandinavia have embraced not only the Roadster but the core business philosophy of Tesla Motors.”

The US Ambassador to Denmark, Laurie S. Fulton, will kick off festivities at 2 p.m. July 1. Tesla is hosting a media open house from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., including test drives, executive interviews and surprise guests. An invitation-only VIP gala will follow in the evening, and the store will be open for prospective customers to test-drive the Roadster throughout the weekend.

The zero-emission Roadster does not pay traditional vehicle taxes in Denmark. By contrast, people who buy conventional petroleum-burning cars pay up to 180 percent car tax on top of the manufacturers’ sales price. Tax waivers combined with expensive gasoline prices mean that the Tesla Roadster is a tremendous value relative to comparable cars in Denmark.

Tesla’s founding goal is to produce energy-efficient cars for mass-market, mainstream consumers. Tesla deliberately started with the Roadster, a premium sports car aimed at affluent “thought leaders,” in order to establish a proof of technology and shatter the prevailing stereotype that electric cars are underpowered an unfashionable. Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Tesla has already been delivered more than 1,000 cars in at least 25 countries, and has forged strategic alliances with Daimler and Toyota to produce zero-emission cars.

The Roadster accelerates faster than other sports car in its price class yet has zero tailpipe emissions. It consumes no petroleum and plugs into conventional sockets – at owners’ garages or offices, hotels, parking decks or at a growing number of charging stations throughout Scandinavia. It’s the only sports car that can be fully or partially recharged by renewable energy – and several regional customers charge on 100 percent solar power from their photovoltaic panels or wind power from turbines.

About Tesla

Tesla has already delivered more than 1,000 zero-emission cars in at least 25 countries. With a relentless focus on customer service, Tesla sells cars directly to clients, both online and at four showrooms in Europe: Zurich, Munich, Monaco and London, and in Copenhagen starting July 1. Tesla has eight additional showrooms in North America.

Volkswagen's dream team assembles in Chattanooga as the factory goes up behind them. (Volkswagen Group of America photo)

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE--I'm fascinated by the recent trend for auto plants--hardly our greenest manufacturing operations--to go "zero waste," which means that nothing production-related goes to the dump. In effect, it's "nil to landfill," a concept once reserved for fringe activists and New Zealanders (who made zero waste a national rallying cry).

But the under-construction Volkswagen plant in Tennessee I just visited (the company's first in the U.S. for decades) is going to be zero waste, and that milestone has already been achieved by 43% of General Motors' worldwide operation. Wow, if conservative GM can do it, every carmaker can. Subaru says that its sole U.S. plant (in Indiana) is also zero waste, and claims it was the first in the U.S. to achieve that status.

You have to make some allowances here, because nil to landfill doesn't mean that some product doesn't go up smokestacks--GM is incinerating paint sludge, for instance. And read on to see why VW has an edge in that department--its sludge gets made into cement.

There are some really interesting things going on at the VW plant. According to Tobias Schmedding, assistant environmental manager for VW's Chattanooga operations and a member of the company's U.S. site selection team, the plant (on the site of a former Army munitions factory) hopes to source some of its electricity from a landfill four miles away.

The landfill gives off methane, a powerful global warming gas that also doubles as an effective transportation fuel. "Right now they're flaring it off," Schmedding said. But the gas can be captured and burned in an engine to generate electricity that can be brought into the plant via power lines. It's a strategy that is working well for some Vermont farmers today, and if it's good enough for cow power, it's good enough for VW.

The carmaker is building an all-new car code named New Model Sedan (NMS) here, which it fought hard to land against competition in Alabama and Michigan. In the video, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey talk about hosting one of the greenest plants in the U.S.:

Clearwater has an eco-theme, and the Toyota Priuses and VW buses are out in force. (Jim Motavalli photo)

I spent part of the weekend at the Clearwater Festival alongside the Hudson River in upstate New York. The river is considerably cleaner since folk singer Pete Seeger, who lives on the Hudson in Beacon, decided to get involved in 1966 and built the sloop Clearwater (the festival's namesake) to focus attention.

The Clearwater Festival (also known as the Great Hudson River Revival) is in its 40s, and Pete Seeger (who appeared on stage this year as every year) is now in his 90s. That means a lot of graying ponytails and fraying tie dye at the annual celebration. I mention all this because as I was driving up to the festival I got behind two nearly identical Priuses festooned with bumper stickers (they both had the one saying "Coexist") so I knew I could tailgate them all the way to the entrance. And so it proved.

The Toyota Prius is everybody's favorite hybrid car, and it's the pick hit of folk singers (and their fans). There were dozens of them at Clearwater, but they were followed closely by versions of the Volkswagen Microbus (number one transport for tofu vendors). So let it be said here that although both those vehicles have the eco stamp of approval, only one is really a green car.

It turns out that the VW Beetle and its Microbus variant (same engine) are like Rush Limbaugh to the Prius' Al Gore. One auto analyst did a back-of-the-envelope calculation for me and concluded that the mid-60s Beetle produces more than 141% more hydrocarbons and 80% more nitrogen oxides (the main smog ingredients) than does the typical SUV the greens hate. Even a Hummer is far cleaner for the environment (and the Hudson, for that matter), than old VWs.

The Jetta in Times Square, right after Katy Perry danced on top of it. (Jim Motavalli photo)

NEW YORK CITY--I've never understood why automakers don't pay more attention to producing better entry-level cars. After all, to paraphrase Mark Twain, God must have loved poor people because he made so many of them. Car magazines like Road & Track and Car and Driver are full of dreams on wheels with names like Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati. But the names most of us are familiar with from the driver's seat are Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Volkswagen.

VW is making a push to be a bigger part of the collective consciousness, and partly that means producing a new $16,000 edition of the Jetta that is price-competitive with the Corolla, Civic and other top cars from Japan and Korea. It's about time, because while most people have respect for German technology they also think the cars are generally too expensive -- especially at the bottom end of the market.

The new Jetta is coming in October, but it was in New York's Times Square Wednesday for a gala debut that tried to add a hip gloss to a model with an image problem. (Everybody likes the Jetta, but nobody loves it.) The last time VW tried this with the Jetta, in 1997, it tossed a folding bicycle in the trunk and proclaimed a new model called the Trek. OK, but it's kind of like putting bell bottoms on the school principal.

To that same end, VW was trying to make the Jetta cool in Times Square by bringing in some pop icons -- specifically singer Katy Perry and Food Network chef Mario Batali. I doubt either one really knew why they were there, but their wide appeal meant standing room only in the VIP section. They got the actual VW unveiling over quickly, and U.S. CEO Stefan Jacoby said a few words about making the car "fun." He was off in 10 minutes.

Next stop for world’s only electric sports car: QuFu, the hometown of philosopher Confucius.

BEIJING – A Tesla Roadster traveling around the world has arrived at the Great Wall of China, the most iconic cultural landmark of the eight-month road trip.

During the Roadster’s stop last week at one section of the 8,852-kilometer Great Wall, one of China’s most respected actors took a spin. Chen Dao Ming is best known for his role in "Hero,” and he stars in "Aftershock," which debuts this summer.



Beijing was the eighth stop in the “Odyssey of Pioneers ,” the first round-the-world tour by a zero-emission car. The 37,000-kilometer voyage by Tesla Motors and Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer includes public and VIP events in 15 cities on three continents.

In May, the Roadster appeared for the first time in India and was hosted in Jaipur by His Royal Highness Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur, the last maharaja of Jaipur -- Rajasthan’s most significant political, cultural and religious figure. Before that, the Roadster became the first non-Russian car to get official clearance to park in Moscow’s Red Square .

Throughout  India, Russia, China and other countries en route, the Roadster charges from conventional outlets using existing infrastructure. The TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster has charged from standard outlets at hotels, a solar panel array in Italy and even at a barn in rural Switzerland , demonstrating the versatility and ease of charging. Fans can follow the Odyssey online and on Facebook .

About Tesla
Tesla's goal is to produce increasingly affordable electric cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. Palo Alto, CA-based Tesla has delivered more than 1000 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components. It is currently the only automaker in the U.S. that builds and sells highway-capable EVs in serial production. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars yet produces no emissions. Tesla Service Rangers make house calls to service Roadsters.

 

The electric Smart car in New York: an iPhone app gives you a state-of-charge reading. (Smart USA photo)

One of the cool things about electric cars is that they neatly sync with the technology that we carry around in our pockets. I remember thinking it inconceivable that such a thing as a cell phone could exist, and also that we'd never have practical plug-in vehicles. Now we have both, and they complement each other.

Take the electric drive Smart car. Some 250 of them are being rolled out in the U.S., beginning in October, and in addition to a 16.5 kilowatthour battery pack from partner Tesla, they carry a very interesting iPhone app. A cradle sprouts from the dashboard, and when the phone is plugged in it can provide GPS directions or play music from its onboard collection. Take it with you, and it can provide information on your battery car's state of charge, expected completion time, and location of charging stations. Forget where your car is parked, and it can find it for you. Here's what it looks like on video:

Español

Award-winning Roadster is the only zero-emission car already on sale and will be doing test drives during Europe’s premier business innovation conference.

BARCELONA – Tesla Motors is debuting at the World Innovation Summit, and the world’s leading electric vehicle company will be offering test drives for the media and prospective customers throughout the June 15-17 conference.

The summit focuses on revolutionary ideas and great business opportunities, with up to 10,000 venture capitalists, executives and entrepreneurs expected to converge in Barcelona. Cristiano Carlutti, Tesla’s Vice President for European Sales and Operations, will keynote an opening VIP gala June 15 and participate in a June 17 panel discussion on alternative fuel and energy efficiency.

Tesla is offering test drives to local media throughout the event. Tesla is also offering test drives with qualified prospective customers – including those who reserved the Tesla Model S and those eager to “go electric” as soon as possible.

“It’s a huge honor to be part of the summit – proof that the paradigm is shifting to energy efficiency even in the traditional automotive sector,” said Carlutti, formerly a vice president at Fiat before joining Tesla.  

¡Viva la energía solar!

Tesla’s Barcelona debut comes weeks after Tesla delivered its first car to a customer in Spain. The new owner, Amsterdam native Otto Poldermans, charges his twilight blue Roadster exclusively with renewable energy and lives “off the grid” in a remote valley of the Sierra Nevada.

 

The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars yet produces no emissions. The Roadster, which consumes no oil whatsoever and plugs into conventional 220-volt sockets throughout Europe, can be recharged from renewable energy.

Spain, a leader in the development of solar energy, expects to derive 12 percent of the nation’s primary energy from renewable resources by the end of this year. That means Roadster owners in Spain get to drive world’s hottest sports car – and charge it from one of Europe’s cleanest energy grids.

The Roadster qualifies for a national rebate of at least €6,000 and a provincial rebates of €3,000 or more. Spanish owners get 75 percent off the yearly car tax. Roadsters get free metered parking and free use of the high-occupancy vehicle and bus lanes – a priceless advantage in the dense traffic of Madrid and Barcelona.

The Roadster can be recharged at millions of conventional power outlets throughout Europe. In addition, “Project Movele” is building free charging stations in Seville, Barcelona and Madrid.

About Tesla

Tesla's goal is to produce increasingly affordable electric cars to mainstream buyers – relentlessly driving down the cost of EVs. Palo Alto, CA-based Tesla has delivered more than 1000 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components. It is currently the only automaker in the U.S. that builds and sells highway-capable EVs in serial production. The Tesla Roadster accelerates faster than most sports cars yet produces no emissions. Tesla Service Rangers make house calls to service Roadsters.