Aptera to try again for federal loan from the DOE

Fledgling electric car maker Aptera Motors hopes a law recently signed by President Obama will give it another shot at winning financial support from the federal government.

The Vista-based automaker has been working for several years to bring its quirky, three-wheel, two-passenger electric car to market. Aptera suffered a setback in December when the U.S. Department of Energy rejected its application for a loan under a $25-billion program designed to speed development of fuel-efficient vehicles.

The reason, according to Aptera, was that the loans were available only for passenger vehicles which, by the government’s definition, must have at least four wheels.

However, Aptera is dusting off its old loan application. A provision in a new energy appropriations bill expands the program to cover two- and three-wheel vehicles that carry at least two passengers and get at least 75 miles per gallon.

Aptera hopes to borrow anywhere from $70 million to $100 million or more, depending on how officials at the DOE, which is overseeing the program, evaluate the company’s application.

Aptera could use the money. Private funding has been harder to come by since last winter’s credit crisis, and cash-flow concerns convinced the company to re-evaluate its production plans. The company had hoped to deliver its first vehicles by year’s end and to be at full production by mid-2010, but those dates may be pushed back, said Marques McCammon, Aptera’s chief marketing officer.

“We thought it was prudent to slow down a little bit. Our fundraising efforts were taking longer than we had anticipated,” he said.

“Our strategy has always been to fund our company with private money,” he added. But “we see the federal loan as a chance to accelerate production and expand outside California more quickly.”

Nearly 4,000 people have paid the $500 deposit to reserve a 2e, which will come in electric-only and plug-in hybrid versions. The price will be between $25,000 and $40,000.

McCammon says the company has lined up a distribution partner but can’t say yet who it is. To date, five companies have gotten loans under the DOE advanced technology program: Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., Fisker Automotive Inc., Tesla Motors Inc. and, most recently, parts supplier Tenneco Inc., which will use the money to develop fuel-efficient emission control components for advanced technology vehicles.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo: The Aptera 2e. Credit: Aptera Motors

Rush Limbaugh and Drew Barrymore take Jay Leno's Green Car Challenge

Because Jay Leno is on every weeknight now, he needs something besides his charming wit and sharp humor to keep us all entertained. Enter: the Green Car Challenge.

So far, the competitors have been a driver's license-less Drew Barrymore (watch the video on Hulu) and Rush Limbaugh, who was his usual sunshiny and smiley self, particularly as he backed up the electric Focus to run over Al Gore’s cardboard cutout one more time. Watch the road rage for yourself in the video above.

In August, we wrote about NBC’s new nightly “The Jay Leno Show” and its Green Car Challenge segment. In the feature, a celebrity guest climbs behind the wheel of an electric Ford Focus ST and races around the track for two laps in the back lot behind Leno’s soundstage, competing against other guest celebrities’ times.

The first lap of the challenge is an ordinary, unobstructed race lap, but the second adds dangling cardboard cutouts of environmentalist gurus Al Gore and Ed Begley Jr., who are to be avoided if the driver doesn’t want a 1-second penalty. Ping-pong balls and party streamers are also launched at the car in the second lap, in hopes of slowing the driver down.

According to Autoblog, the show, which premiered Sept. 14, uses no ordinary Focus. Shipped to Dearborn, Mich., for six weeks of makeovers, Leno’s bright orange electric Focus boasts added Recaro racing seats, a full roll cage and a five-point racing harness. It weighs in at 3,421 pounds, mostly due to its 98 air-cooled, 60 Ah lithium ion batteries.

-- Kelsey Ramos

Video: Rush Limbaugh takes the Green Car Challenge on “The Jay Leno Show.” Credit: Hulu.

DOE loans Fisker Automotive $530 million to build two plug-in hybrids

In its latest bid to help finance the car of tomorrow, the Obama administration said it would lend more than $500 million to Irvine-based Fisker Automotive Inc. to develop a pair of plug-in hybrids.

The loans, announced today, come from a $25-billion Department of Energy program to fund development of alternative vehicles. According to the administration, the loans will help create or save 5,000 jobs at Fisker and at suppliers to the vehicles.

The $528.7-million low-interest loan "is another critical step in making sure we are positioned to compete for the clean energy jobs of the future," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Over the summer, the DOE loaned $8 billion to a variety of automakers and suppliers under the same program.

The loans to Fisker are sure to spur the rivalry between it and Tesla Motors Inc., maker of a $109,000 all-electric sports coupe called the Roadster. Tesla, based in San Carlos, Calif., was awarded $465 million in DOE loans, primarily to build its second all-electric car, a sub-$50,000 sedan, in the Golden State.

For its part, Fisker plans to use $169.3 million of the loan to finish development and production of its $87,900 plug-in hybrid sedan, the Karma, which is due out next summer.

EV road map: Follow the sun

Are solar panels the peanut butter to electric cars' chocolate?

A prime critique of electric cars is that they have serious range issues thanks to battery limitations, slow charging times and a lack of electric infrastructure. Another is that they're not truly carbon-free since most electricity in the country comes from fossil-fuel power plants.

SolarCity, a Foster City, Calif., designer and installer of solar panels, thinks it may have licked both of those problems at once.

The company said today that it has put up a "corridor" of high-watt/high-amp electric charging stations on the route of the 101 Freeway. That will allow electric vehicle drivers to make the trek from Los Angeles to San Francisco without "range anxiety" -- a condition that loosely translates as fear of having to stop overnight at the Motel 6 every time the battery runs dry.

The money shot is that one of the stations will be solar-powered, generating all of its electricity from the sun and wiping the EV's carbon footprint from the face of the Earth. And filling up the tank will be free of charge.

There is a catch, of course: For now the chargers will work only with the Tesla Roadster, a $109,000 sports coupe that only a few hundred people in the world own. By no coincidence, the chief executive of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, just happens to the chairman of SolarCity. (The company plans to eventually retrofit the stations to be able to charge other EVs.)

Tesla feud discharged

Good news, EV fans: the Hatfields and McCoys of the electric propulsion world are friends again.

A defamation lawsuit against Tesla Motors Chief Executive Elon Musk, filed by ex-Chief Executive Martin Eberhard, has been settled out of court.

Musk, who made hundreds of millions of dollars as the largest shareholder in PayPal when it was bought by eBay, took the reins at Tesla in October. Eberhard left the company late in 2007.

News that the lawsuit was resolved, broken by the LegalPad blog on Friday and confirmed by Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad today, puts to bed a contentious issue: Who founded Tesla?

The suit, filed in May by Eberhard, largely revolved around the right of Musk to call himself the founder of the San Carlos, Calif., automaker. Over Eberhard's protestations to the contrary, it was a distinction that Musk availed himself of frequently.

But now, thanks to terms that are "confidential," Eberhard and Musk are equals. Konrad, in a statement, called the them "two of the co-founders of Tesla."

(The others, according to reports, are Chief Technology Officer J.B.  Straubel, as well as departed execs Marc Tarpenning and Ian Wright.)

Eberhard, who has bashed Musk on his (now restricted access) blog, and accused him of sundry errors in leadership at Tesla in the lawsuit, is suddenly singing a different tune. "Elon's contributions to Tesla have been extraordinary," he said in a statement.

Electric cars are proving to be an awfully litigious technology, with Tesla leading the way. Last year, Tesla sued Henrik Fisker, head of rival Fisker Automotive, for stealing trade secrets. That suit was ultimately thrown out.

The resolution of this latest dispute will doubtless be mourned on the Silicon Valley gossip circuit. The suit, among other things, alleged that Musk had falsified information about his education, to which the South African exec responded with a detailed riposte on his blog.

--Ken Bensinger

Photos: Elon Musk (top right). Credit: Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times. Martin Eberhard (bottom left). Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press.

Nissan gives silent electric cars 'Blade Runner' appeal

A campaign backed by automakers and some lawmakers to make electric or hybrid cars noisier in a bid to increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists has taken a strange, “Blade Runner”-type twist.

Nissan sound engineers have announced that the Leaf electric car set for release next year will emit a “beautiful and futuristic” noise similar to the sound of flying cars -- or “spinners” -- that buzz around 2019 Los Angeles in Ridley Scott’s dystopian thriller based on a Philip K. Dick science fiction novel.

“We decided that if we’re going to do this, if we have to make sound, then we’re going to make it beautiful and futuristic,” Toshiyuki Tabata, Nissan’s noise and vibration expert, told Bloomberg. “We wanted something a bit different, something closer to the world of art.”

Automakers since 2007 have been exploring ways to increase the sound of electric or hybrid vehicles, which run almost silently at low speeds, after concerns were expressed by advocates for the blind and for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Nissan says its system would turn off after the car reaches 12 mph, when, it says, tire noise is deemed loud enough to warn a pedestrian or cyclist that a car is approaching.

An act going through Congress -- The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008 -- would require a federal ruling on whether a minimum sound level for hybrid and electric cars is needed and, if so, for the Department of Transportation to set that limit. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will release a report on the issue in January. And Nissan, alongside Toyota and Honda, has responded to concerns in Japan over sound-emission safety, and in a combined report with Japanese government agencies will present its findings later this year.

Some reports suggest that in the future, car owners will download a sound for their car the way many consumers buy ring tones for their cellphones. No word yet on whether electric vehicles will -- a la “Blade Runner” replicants -- get implanted memories, though.

-- Craig Howie

Top photo: A futuristic car, or "spinner," in the 1982 film "Blade Runner." Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Bottom photo: Nissan's Leaf. Credit: EPA

They Might Be Giants charges electric cars with our future happiness

As one of many kids of the '70s, when we wanted to get our dose of education via quirky music videos, we memorized every word to the now-retro "Schoolhouse Rock," but today the category belongs to double Grammy-winning nerd rock band, They Might Be Giants. Best known for creating the theme song to the "Malcolm in the Middle" TV show ("Boss of Me"), TMBG has found an even younger audience with its last three CDs dedicated to helping kids learn their ABCs and 123s in a highly entertaining way. Their new CD, which comes out next week, is called "Here Comes Science" and tackles scientific topics, many of which are considered somewhat controversial -- evolution, scientific theory and, yes, the superiority of electric cars. The song "Electric Car," sweetly sung by Robin Goldwasser, wife of  band member John Flansburgh, celebrates a bright future of electric cars with lyrics like, "No diesel, steam or gasoline, how can you deny an electric car?"

The band should be trusted to know something about cars because for the last 20 years, they've been managed by Jamie Kitman, a columnist for Automobile Magazine and BBC's Top Gear Magazine. Kitman's opinion on the song is that it hearkens back to a time when American automakers were full of optimism and projected an appealing view of the future. "I think young people these days are reflecting more optimism in general for the environment than we ever did as youngsters." Kitman admits that the topic of electric cars is still a "charged issue," because the final die has not yet been cast as to which eco-friendly type of car will actually come out a winner in the race to become less dependent on foreign oil.  He does, however, believe that electric cars top the list in terms of  straight efficiency. "Of all the new technologies, the electric car is more efficient in terms of the total spend and has a long history that dates back to the turn of the century," Kitman says.

Perhaps to throw in a tiny disclaimer, the lyrics include the little phrase, "electric car, so good so far." In any case, the youth of America will certainly be singing along to this little ditty, imagining a future in which "happiness resides in an electric car."

-- Joni Gray

They Might Be Giants will perform Saturday, Nov. 14 at UCLA's Royce Hall with a family show at 3:00 p.m and an adult show at 8:00 p.m. Their new CD "Here Comes Science" can be found on iTunes and Amazon.

YouTube video of "Electric Car" by TMBG

Chevy Volt could jolt your pocketbook

The Chevy Volt’s sky-high fuel economy numbers may not be the bargain they appear, according to online auto site Edmunds.com.

General Motors Co. said today that its much-anticipated plug-in hybrid will get 230 miles per gallon in city driving, based on the automaker’s preliminary calculations. Highway mileage will be less impressive, although GM isn’t releasing those numbers just yet.

The folks at Edmunds.com think the Volt’s numbers will decline dramatically for many drivers when the car is subjected to real-world conditions. But even if it did get 230 mpg all day, every day (which works out to a paltry 65.2 gallons of gas to drive 15,000 a year), the Volt would still be a wallet-killer compared with other hybrids now on the market. Blame the car’s expected high sticker price.

The Volt, which GM plans to have in showrooms late next year, is widely rumored to cost around $40,000. Even with the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles, it would take 9.5 years' worth of gas savings to make up for the difference in price between the Volt and the Chevy Malibu hybrid, which sells for around $24,000 after rebates and tax credits, according to Edmunds.com. (They based their calculations on a national average gas price of $2.53 a gallon — a bit light by California standards.)

The Volt fares even worse against the Toyota Prius, the current industry fuel economy leader with a combined city-highway rating of 50 mpg. It would take more than 17 years to make up the cost difference with a Prius. The comparable figures are 15 years for the Honda Insight and 8.5 years for the Ford Fusion hybrid.

“Even if the Volt’s fuel savings could possibly be as dramatic as today’s numbers suggest, the expected purchase price will be much higher than that of existing hybrids, and it will take years to pay off its price premium,” notes Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.

“And that doesn’t even take into account the slight bump in the electric bills of the owners who will plug it into their homes.”

To be fair, the Volt could come to market at a lower price than rumored, although GM has done little to tamp down the $40,000 speculation.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo: Chevy Volt

Credit: Getty Images

Nissan's greener-than-chlorophyll EV: The LEAF

In person, Carlos Ghosn, CEO and all-around-savior of Renault-Nissan, does not strike anyone as an Earth-hugging counterculture type – the man’s shoe collection is probably worth more than a Brentwood mansion.  You cannot find a bigger arch-capitalist anywhere. So it must be said, Ghosn’s embrace of electric-vehicle technology means something: If EV’s weren’t on the threshold of being practical and profitable, if there weren’t a powerful business case, you have to assume Ghosn wouldn’t go near them.

Instead, Ghosn has thrown his company into a full-on EV mobilization. This first results of that effort debuted Aug. 2, when Nissan unveiled the LEAF, a five-seat compact, all-electric hatchback with lithium-ion batteries (24 kWh energy storage and max output of 90kW), giving the car a top speed of 90 mph and nominal range of 100 miles – a magic number, Nissan figures, in Americans’ driving psychology. The car’s electric motor generates 80 kW (107 horsepower). Depending on how you define your terms, the LEAF will be the first mass-market EV sold in the U.S. since the 1920s.

 The car will be produced in Japan and at Nissan’s facility in Smyrna, Tenn., (release after the jump).

Bank of America to finance Tesla Roadster purchases

With a Tesla -- like a Ferrari -- if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

Starting at $109,000 and with just enough trunk space for a pitching wedge and a decent bottle of single malt, the all-electric Tesla Roadster would hardly appear to be the car for the guy who counts his every dime. But now, thanks to Bank of America, cheapskates (read: the lumpen masses) may finally have an entree into the electric sports car market.

The Charlotte, N.C.- based banking behemoth, long a leader in auto loans, will begin offering financing for the purchase of a Tesla. Qualified borrowers will be eligible for a loan of up to 75% of the value of the car and can have up to five years to pay it off.

According to Tesla Motors, based in San Carlos, Calif., that means for just $20,000 down, you too can get behind the wheel of the coveted Roadster.

Of course, that number isn't exactly accurate. It includes a $7,500 tax credit that you don't get until you file your taxes next year. It also doesn't account for $10,628 in sales tax and $1,322 in registration fees you'd pay if you were a resident of Los Angeles. (Sadly, the new car sales tax deduction included in this year's stimulus bill doesn't apply to cars that cost as much as a Tesla. Ditto for the Cash for Clunkers program.)

So, in reality, for just $30,237.50 down -- or about the sticker price for a Ford Mustang Premium GT, you too can get behind the wheel of the coveted Roadster.

Then you get to make monthly payments, which Tesla suggests could run at around a 5% annual rate, of a mere $1,700 a month. At the end of the day, you'll have paid just shy of $12,000 in interest on the electron-fired hot rod as well.

According to Tesla's Chief Executive Elon Musk, the loan program "will help advance EV adoption by allowing more Americans to experience the joy and convenience of owning a Tesla.”

Leaving aside the fact that there's a pretty darn long waiting list just to get a Tesla, one might wonder just how many Americans can afford $30 large down and a monthly nut as much as a nice one-bedroom apartment on the Westside just for the right to drive an electric car.

Another question also comes to mind: Which lasts longer, the monthly payment or the 6,831 lithium ion cells in the Tesla battery?

-- Ken Bensinger

Photo: Tesla's store in Menlo Park, Calif. Credit: Tesla Motors