In recent years, GM stuck the SS badge on more cars than it didn’t. For a long time the Super Sport moniker meant something, but sticking it on a turbocharged HHR delivery wagon did nothing to improve the General’s image. In a bit of an acknowledgment that maybe they went too far with the SS badge, GM has dumped many of these mistakes recently; currently the only vehicle with an SS badge is the Camaro.

So what does any of this have to do with Gas 2.0? GM’s vice-chairman, Bob Lutz, did not rule out the possibility of a Volt SS. Furthermore, the rumor mill is reporting that GM has given the green light to the Volt-based Cadillac Converj, a concept car that debuted earlier this year.

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Canadian province Ontario is to introduce green-coloured licence plates, available only to drivers of plug-in hybrids and battery-powered electric vehicles.

Sounds like another gimmick? Well, here’s the deal - vehicles sporting the new green plates will be able to drive in the province’s dedicated carpool lanes until 2015, even if only one person is in the vehicle.

Speaking about the initiative, Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said, “The McGuinty government’s plan is to have one out of every 20 passenger vehicles on Ontario’s roads an electric vehicle by 2020.”

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If you live in Colorado and own a Prius, here’s a New Year’s Day gift for you: $6,000 off a plug-in hybrid conversion.

Earlier this year, Colorado passed House Bill 1331, “Incentives for Efficient Motor Vehicles,” which creates new tax credits of up to $6,000 for the purchase of, or conversion to, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

Background: plug-in hybrid and electric car retrofits.

The new credit will be a substantial discount off the average price of a plug-in conversion, which generally run around $10-14,000. On top of the Federal Tax Credit of 10% (up to $4,000), plug-in retrofits could start to make a lot of sense for some car owners.

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Scanning the week’s news of the leading fleet magazine, more than half the headlines are focused on automotive manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Nissan and their commitment to greening of their fleets by moving to electric vehicle technologies.

For example, Nissan plans to use a $1.6 billion U.S. loan to rework a Tennessee factory so that battery-powered cars can be manufactured there. Ford Motor Company said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that “talks” with the nation’s electric grid.

Indeed it is exciting to read on a daily basis how much closer we are to the reality of EV’s for consumers and fleets.  Fleets will be the first mass adopters of EVs and PHEVs. We are already seeing businesses, government agencies, cities and countries across the world that are making significant and meaningful steps to reducing their fuel costs, our nation’s dependence on imported fuel, and our carbon footprint by converting their gas guzzling and polluting fleets to eco friendly EV’s…but what about the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles?  Is there different technology needed to support EV fleets vs. consumer EVs?  Just what are the needs of fleet managers when it comes to EV fleets?

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“Take a used 2004-2009 Prius—maybe your own—and add the [Plug-in Conversions] kit,” says Carolyn. “For less than $30,000 you’ll have a car that’s better than the new 2010 Prius.”

Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in converting your own car or a buying a plug-in conversion through group discounts, you can join this email list for electric cars.

Luscious Garage works exclusively on hybrids. Founded in 2007, it sits amidst early-20th-century storefronts in a quiet, tree-lined section of downtown San Francisco. Outside, a tire hangs high with a plant inside it—just a hint of what’s within.

The ground-level work area is unlike any you’ve seen before. The left wall is filled with colorful artwork. Then, you notice there’s no smell of oil or gas—and no pounding of compressors.

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More: Toyota to Launch Overpriced Plug-in Prius in 2012: $48,000 for a Minor Upgrade

Cartoon by Jerry King.

Why specialize in hybrids?

“We are living unsustainably,” says Carolyn. “On one hand, we need to drive, but driving is bad for the environment. We need to make wise choices.”

Although the Prius is highly efficient, it is still gas-dependent. Luscious Garage can install a kit from Plug-In Conversions Corporation that gives your Prius a 25-mile electric-only range at up to 70 miles per hour.

“Eighty percent of daily trips are less than 40 miles, so you could end up running on only electricity,” says Carolyn. “If you run out, the car switches over to gasoline and functions just like it did before the conversion,” she adds. A recharge at 110 volts takes about six hours, or two hours at 220.

The $13,500 conversion price may seem expensive, but it can pay off in significantly lower fuel costs, not to mention peace of mind.

“Take a used 2004-2009 Prius—maybe your own—and add the kit,” says Carolyn. “For less than $30,000 you’ll have a car that’s better than the new 2010 Prius.”

She has successfully converted about 30 Priuses to PHEVs so far.

“Priuses are extremely safe and reliable and require little regular maintenance,” says Carolyn.

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Hybrid owners tend to be aware of what their cars do and how they impact the environment. They expect and appreciate the kind of personal, informative, environmentally sensitive service they get at Luscious Garage.

“It’s really about being mindful,” says Carolyn. “We see ourselves not as a green business, but as one that’s ‘less brown.’ If all auto shops did what we do it would have a huge impact.”

For more information on converting your own car or a buying a plug-in conversion through group discounts, you can join this email list for electric cars.

Last year, when the carsplosion really started to hit the fan, GM came before congress and laid it all out bare begging for help. And months later, after some tumultuous change, we have a completely new GM about to emerge from bankruptcy — but now the question is, with its reduced size, influence and output, can GM actually deliver on many of the products that were promised when GM came begging way back when?

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This is what the electric version of a Ford Mustang looks like.

The Big Three have fallen behind in the alternative-fuels race, and with two of the three bankrupt and barely clinging to life, we shouldn’t expect too much from them anytime soon. But that hasn’t stopped independant innovators from stepping away from the herd and offering their own versions of alternatively-powered production cars.

Take for example Kurt Neutgens and Travis Winkelman; while Kurt is a former Managing Engineer for the F-150 (America’s top-selling vehicle for many, many years), Travis worked for the ROUSH NASCAR team. Together, these two men took America’s iconic pony car, the Mustang, and gave it an all-new, electric heart.

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Is 120 miles-per-gallon too much to ask from an American car company? Ford doesn’t think so.

With the addition of the Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) to its development line, Ford Motor Company is showing that it can dance with the best of them.

The Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid uses high voltage lithium-ion batteries, which can be charged using common household currents (120v). Fully charging the battery takes six to eight hours. For the first 30 miles following a full charge, the Ford Escape PHEV can drive on the batteries alone, before switching to operate as a fuel efficient, standard Ford Escape Hybrid. The transition is automatic and unnoticeable.

It was the Ford Escape PHEV that was delivered to Hydro-Québec, Canada’s largest electricity generator, on June 9th. Ford Motor Company and Hydro-Québec announced that Hydro-Québec has joined a North America-wide demonstration and research program on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

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Editor’s Note: Frank Weber is the Global Electric Vehicle Development Executive for General Motors. Here he discusses the Chevy Volt and the future of transportation. This post was written for Gas 2.0 and reposted at the GM FastLane Blog.

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak at EVS 24 in Norway about extended-range electric vehicles (E-REVs). Attendees and presenters were some of the brightest minds from around the world working to make electric vehicles an everyday reality, but frankly, I sensed many of those minds think electric vehicle development is better suited to small, entrepreneurial companies, some with little or no automotive experience.

There seems to be in the minds of many some sort of inherent conflict between being a large, traditional automaker and the ability to develop cars of the future.

I couldn’t disagree more with that sentiment, and GM is on a mission to prove it.

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A Ford Motor Company engineer has built a 3-wheel motorbike capable of getting 125 mpg. 

The fuel economy expert crafted the vehicle at his home shop in Belleville, MI. It’s a street legal, two-passenger, 3-wheel motorbike that is made from aircraft materials. Oh, and it is capable of a top speed of over 100 mph.

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This morning, Bright Automotive announced the world’s first plug-in hybrid aimed at government and commercial fleets.

Washington, D.C. - Indiana-based Bright Automotive just unveiled the IDEA, a 100 mpg plug-in hybrid cargo van intended to significantly reduce fuel consumption for the largest vehicle fleets in the US.

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This post comes to you from Popular Mechanics. Written By Seth Porges.

Across the country, a handful of car makers continue their quest to bring a market-ready mega-mileage machine to market. The prize: $7.5 million from the X Prize Foundation. Unfortunately for X Prize followers, the New York Auto Show is not shaping up to be much of a battlefield. There is one exception: On Thursday, EV Innovations will unveil the Wave, a curvacious plug-in electric two-seater that the company claims will have a range of up to 200 miles, a top speed of around 80 mph, and start just north of $30,000 when it becomes available to consumers in 2010.

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Germany has hit upon a plan that for the moment is keeping domestic sales afloat by giving away 2,500 Euros or $3,143 to new car buyers that trade in an old car. The government has said that this will not only give the German auto industry a boost in sales but will also put more fuel-efficient cars on the road while removing older more polluting cars.

Germany’s plan reflects a choice other countries face as well. As global car sales and exports plummet around the world each country has to decide on its own strategy to keep their auto manufacturers afloat. But this raises a question: is it better to support traditional car companies that produce cars based on fossil fuel sources or give support to up-and-coming electric and hydrogen powered car companies. Also, are these new incentives aimed to just keep the main German carmakers in business or will they stipulate that their main automakers BMW and Daimler begin producing electric cars to meet their goal of 1 million electric cars by 2020?

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It looks like Fisker, manufacturer of the world’s first ‘luxury plug-in hybrid’, has begun a small targeted TV ad campaign initially focusing on the LA area. The $87,900 Fisker Karma is scheduled for delivery to the first 1,000 owners by year’s end. See the commercial here:

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Motorbike manufacturer Piaggio has announced that the Piaggio MP3 Hybrid will be launched in America during the first quarter of 2010, making it the first affordable plug-in hybrid vehicle of any kind available in the US.

The news was revealed by Piaggio Group USA President and CEO Paolo Timoni, who also told reporters that the MP3 trike will be capable of achieving a hyper-efficient 141 mpg, all for a price as low as $8 or $9,000 (video).

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It seems like new plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) are being announced every day. If Coulomb Technologies has its way, you’ll be powering your next PHEV with the help of “Smartlet Charging Stations”— curbside plug-in charging machines that activate with “ChargePoint Smart Cards”.

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Last week, news broke that the upcoming plug-in Prius was returning 65 miles per gallon in tests. That would represent a 15 mpg gain over the recently announced 3rd generation non-plug-in Prius. Now, in a post on Toyota’s Open Road Blog, Irv Miller, Vice President Environmental and Public Affairs, says that no such claims were made.

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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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