If only there was a vaccine.

Joe Biden is well-known for his goofball status of saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time in, what we have to assume, is a genetic predisposition to unwittedness.

Take, for instance, yesterday’s announcement that Fisker Automotive would be purchasing a shuttered Delaware GM plant for the future production of Fisker’s upcoming Project Nina plug-in hybrid—the more reasonably priced sister car of Fisker’s flagship $80,000 Karma.

During that announcement Biden—who’s home state is Delaware—waxed on about how the plant will bring jobs back to the area and is exactly what we need to get our manufacturing sector back on line. But he just couldn’t hold himself back at the end of his speech, saying “imagine when this factory, when the floor we’re standing on right now is making 100,000 plug-in hybrid sedans, coupes and crossovers every single year.”

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Last week, Fisker Automotive co-founder and CEO, Henrik Fisker, said that his company would very shortly be announcing where project Nina—the company’s upcoming $48,000 plug-in hybrid—would be built. The statement led to all sorts of rumors, but speculation had been growing that the chosen manufacturing spot was a closed GM plant in Delaware.

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One deft criticism of electric cars is that they lack ambient noise to warn others of their impending approach. This is especially worrisome for the blind or elderly, and even early hybrids like the Prius are criticized for being too quiet in a world weened on engine noises. Then there are those of us who demand a growling engine as part of the automotive experience.

But that may all change in the not too distant future, as hybrid or electric cars may come equipped with artificial engine noises. You may even be able to customize the tunes coming out of your automobile.

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If this statement is being represented accurately, it would not only put Chu directly at odds with Obama administration policy, it would mean that he doesn’t really believe in how his department is distributing their $36.7 billion dollar slice of stimulus funds. The statement would also contradict Chu’s previous stances on biofuels development. Comment from DOE was not immediately available, but I’ve got a request in to confirm or deny the statement as accurate. I’ll update as soon as I hear word.

Update 8:00 PM Pacific Time 10/13/2009: DOE’s Director of Public Affairs, Dan Leistikow, responded to my request from earlier today in an email, saying “I can’t verify the quote the blogger is using from an undisclosed source at an undisclosed meeting, which is at best wildly out of context.” He also added, “Anyone who has spent five minutes listening to Secretary Chu also knows he is one of the country’s staunchest advocates for pursuing a broad portfolio of clean energy research, and has warned against investing all our resources in a single technology to the exclusion of all others.”

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The world may have just gotten one very big step closer to viable, affordable electric cars. Fisker Automotive and the U.S. Department of Energy have agreed to loan terms for $528.7 million to bring an affordable electric car to the mass market.

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In what is sure to go down as a deft marketing move to garner some publicity (and virtually nothing more), Bank of America and Tesla have teamed up and announced that the megabank will start financing purchases of the Tesla Roadster to make them “much more affordable.”

I call BS.

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Over the holiday weekend, Japanese news daily Nikkei reported that Toyota will start mass producing plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012.

The plug-in Prius will have a reported all-electric range of 12.4-18.6 miles after a full charge, and will cost $48,000—roughly twice the price of the regular gasoline-hybrid Prius.

Considering that a used Prius can be converted into a plug-in hybrid today for less than $15,000—giving the car the same or better statistics and driving range—I’d have to ask: what the hell is Toyota thinking?

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest contribution by Richard Lowenthal, CEO of electric vehicle ChargePoint manufacturer Coulomb Technologies. See his last post here: Being Smart About Your Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. This is part of our ongoing series on EV Charging Infrastructure, which was initiated by Mayors Gavin Newsom and Sam Adams.

Today at Santana Row, in the heart of Silicon Valley, The City of San Jose, Coulomb Technologies, Fisker Automotive and Fisker Silicon Valley have partnered on the Silicon Valley debut of Fisker vehicles. Come see these incredible vehicles, unveiled here today.

Early last year, on a tour of automakers, we met with Fisker Automotive, the developer of the Fisker Karma. The Karma is an Extended Range Electric Vehicle capable of traveling 50 miles purely on electricity before switching to gasoline for those times when you need the extended range. Since the average person drives less than 30 miles a day, you won’t need to use gasoline for the most part. But that’s not the whole story of Fisker’s vehicles. These cars are stunning in their beauty, performance, and comfort.

AUDIO FROM THIS EVENT:

• Richard Lowenthal:  This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.
• Henrik Fisker:            This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post.

On hand for the Monday announcement will be world-renowned Danish-born auto designer Henrik Fisker, who was responsible for the design of the BMW Z8 roadster and the Aston Martin Vantage, and was formerly director of Ford’s Global Advanced Design Studio. Fisker is now focusing his design efforts on premium green sports cars. By showcasing their new vehicles and promoting their availability through Fisker Silicon Valley, the company is fulfilling demand for no-compromise alternative fuel transportation.  In addition, civic leaders from the City of San Jose and the new General Manager of Fisker Silicon Valley, Adam Simms, will speak.

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During press interviews on Wednesday, Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Conrad repeated that the Model S was NOT vaporware, and hinted that a teaser shot might be on the way.

So, keeping good to her word, the official teaser pic is here - and while it doesn’t give away much, I have more than enough for some wild speculation. Thoughts and comments after the jump.

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With the onslaught of electric concepts and announcements coming out of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, you’d think that the entire world is about to junk their old jalopies and rush out and buy electric cars tomorrow.

But, alas, as much as millions of Americans would love to pay 3 cents a mile on their daily commutes, our choices for electric cars are, at the moment, severely lacking.

Although the promise of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show reeks of desperation, it’s not all smoke and mirrors. Believe it or not, there are a bunch of noteworthy electric cars, both all-battery and extended range plug-ins, reaching US production sometime in the next two years.

So, if you’ve got the time to wait and you find yourself longing for the cheapest, quietest, and most earth-friendly commute you could imagine, take a gander at this list… electric bliss is closer than you probably thought.

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Henrik Fisker and his California-based Fisker Coachbuild company have been in the news a lot lately, promoting their upcoming Karma extended-range hybrid electric sports-sedan.  Recently, Fisker released a detail “teaser” shot of their upcoming Karma Sunset roadster - but freelance design firm KORS shows us what the whole thing might look like using their best guess.

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Gearing up for an offical public debut at the 2009 North American International Auto Show next month, Fisker Automotive has released photos of what they’re calling the final production version of the Fisker Karma luxury plug-in hybrid electric sedan set to start rolling of the production line at the end of next year.

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Fisker Automotive yesterday announced (PDF) the opening of a 34,000 square foot Engineering and Development Center in Pontiac, Michigan, that will house up to 200 engineers and designers in support of Fisker’s much anticipated plug-in hybrid car, the four-door Fisker Karma.

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As reported by the New York Times yesterday, the two leading manufacturers of electric cars in the US are involved in a serious quarrel over alleged theft of vehicle design and trade secrets.

Tesla Motors, who recently began production of their electric Roadster, claims that Henrik Fisker took on an $875,000 design contract with Tesla in order to access confidential design information. After producing “inferior work,” Fisker launched his own company, Fisker Automotive, and released an $80,000 competing vehicle—the Fisker Karma—less than a year later.

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Looking for a sweet ride that can get you infinity miles per gallon? Check out the Eco-Chic Fisker Karma, a luxury sports sedan capable of 50 miles of emissions free-driving on one overnight charge.

This sexy-looking sports car, which I stumbled upon at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this week, uses the same kind of technology as the lusted-after Chevy Volt. Both cars use a purely electric drive train for the first 40-50 miles of driving, then switch to a small gasoline engine that recharges the lithium ion battery pack for longer drives. This means that if you drive less than 50 miles per day, you’ll only need to refill the tank once per year.

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I’ve been away a bit the last couple of weeks which is why you haven’t heard as much from me as usual. I’ve been learning some new things about cars and automotive technology and seeing the latest models being unveiled. I had an opportunity to find out about the new ethanol process and partnership between General Motors and Coskata Inc. that may prove to be a significant milestone in energy production, and signal a reduction in the use of fossil based materials as fuels.

I also attended the North American International Auto Show (more commonly known around here as the Detroit Auto Show) to see what is new in the automotive world. Over at our sister website, Gas 2.0, I’ve written more about Coskata’s technological development in ethanol production, a next generation process for producing ethanol without using corn or other food as feedstock for the process. Even if you hate cars and never drive one, the Coskata process is interesting because, by using different microbes in the bioreactors, other useful alcohols can be produced, including some that are used in the production of plastics (which have applications in buildings and other products). The front end gasification technologies also can be used to deal with municipal waste streams, in some implementations.

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