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.

The DeZir will charge in just 20 minutes with a 400V outlet, or eight hours with a standard household outlet. DeZir goes from zero to 62mph in five seconds and will also reach a top speed of 112mph.

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.

The motors are placed near the wheels, but not in the hub, so they don’t count as unsprung mass. A 400-volt lithium-ion battery provides the juice.

Another big difference between the E-Cell and the standard SLS is the front suspension, which gets an independent multilink setup with pushrod damper struts. The vertically-arranged dampers in the series SLS took a hike to make room for additional drive shafts. No word on timing, but the E-Cell could see a small series production run.

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 even a 20-mile driving range solely on battery power might require $30,000 of added cost, the report added.

The loss of the proposed Cadillac variant of the Volt casts more doubt on the near-term applicability of the Volt’s battery-intensive, series-hybrid design.

Some GM executives had argued a Cadillac version of the Volt would help reduce costs – mostly centered around the expensive lithium-ion batteries – and speed wider adoption of the Volt’s technology.

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 new 2011 XJ sedan with a lithium ion battery pack.

Motive force comes courtesy of what Autocar believes is a 145kW (194 horsepower) electric motor with 295 pound-feet of torque. Performance specifications sound pretty good – though not quite as impressive as we might have imagined – assuming all of this is accurate, with a range of 600 miles, combined fuel economy of 47 miles per gallon (57 mpg UK) and carbon emissions of under 120 g/km. Top speed would reportedly come in at 112 miles per hour.

An unnamed source at Jaguar tells Autocar that the electric XJ handles quite well “because of the bulk that’s removed from car when you strip out the conventional drivetrain.” Future Range Rover models are also rumored to get a similar drivetrain.

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 Olympics.

Price is still unknown but expect it to be more than the gas powered version which is currently priced at $380,000.