Renault will soon be launching an electric car that is rumoured to take less time to charge than a mobile phone. The DeZir design is set to be introduced at the Paris Motor Show in October, and from the teaser images Renault has released, it’ll be a beauty.

Mercedes released details on a prototype it’s calling the SLS AMG E-Cell. The gullwing variant gets four, 12,000-rpm electric motors producing an equivalent 525 horsepower and 649 lb-ft of torque. It’s reported to go from 0-60 in just under four seconds.

General Motors Co. has been reported to be dropping plans for a Cadillac-badged version of the Chevrolet Volt.
Apparently a Cadillac version of the Volt would be too weighed down by the expected luxury and comfort features to replicate the Volt’s 40-mile electric-only driving range without extensive extra cost, a Bloomberg report said. Sources suggested achieving [...]

Jaguar has seen fit to contract its small engine work out to Lotus, which makes sense given the two British company’s differing product specialties. Lotus has reportedly delivered a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that generates 35kW of power, which is carried – with a little help from a UK government grant or two – inside a [...]

There has been a lot of rumours lately about Tesla planning on running an IPO in early 2010. A source told Reuters it could happen “any day,” but Stephan Dolezalek, managing director of VantagePoint Venture Partners and a Tesla investor, said in September that it’s unlikely to happen in 2009.

Rolls-Royce CEO Tom Purves hinted last year that they might be introducing an electric car, and now it has been leaked that the electric version will be of their flagship Phantom. The new electric Phantom is planned for late 2010 which will give them enough time to have everything in perfect place for 2012 London [...]