In case you were worried that the end of oil would mean the end of motor sport, here’s highlights of the TTXGP, claimed to be the first all-electric zero-emission motorcycle grand prix.

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PC Aero has shown a prototype of an all-electric, single-seater plane in Germany.

The Elektra One has a wingspan of 8.6 meters and it has an effective payload of 90 kilograms. The composite plane weighs 120 kilograms and is powered by a 16 kW electric motor. The manufacturers claim that it has a operational range of up to 400 kilometres at 160 kilometres per hour.

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Renault has unveiled the final production versions of two all-electric cars - the Fluence ZE sedan and the Kangoo ZE van. Both have a range of 160 kilometres and will be available in 2011.

The Fluence Z.E. is the first production-ready car that can take advantage of Better Place’s battery swapping system and will be the basis of the Better Place network in Israel. It will be sold through dealers in Europe.

Renault Fluence ZE

Renault Kangoo ZE

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The German Government has developed a new National Development Plan on Electric Mobility under which the Government will invest €500 million ($AU850 million) by 2011 in the development of electric cars. The document also says that the Governemnt will roll out an "efficient infrastructure" for electric vehicles with the aim of having a million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020 and five million by 2030.

German car makers are already investing heavily in electric vehicles. BMW is soon to launch its electric Mini E and Daimler is working with Tesla Motors on an electric version of the Smart car.

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The U.S. Energy and Treasury Departments on Tuesday announced $US503 million in cash grants to companies developing renewable energy projects.

This the first round of some $US3 billion in direct payments to companies in lieu of tax credits. The grants will eventually support an estimated 5,000 biomass, solar, wind and other renewable energy production facilities.

The largest of the initial round of grants were for the development of wind farms, with Iberdrola Renewables, a subsidiary of Spain’s Iberdrola SA, being the largest beneficiary. Iberdola was awarded $US294.9 million for five wind projects. This brings the company’s total investment in U.S. wind power to about $US1 billion.

These grants follow last month’s announcement of almost $100 million in government grants to install about 2,500 electric vehicle charging points in each of the greater metropolitan areas of Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Portland and San Diego. About 40 businesses, including Nissan and eTec, will match the federal grants.

Nissan hopes to sell 5,000 electric cars spread over the five metropolitan areas next year; while General Motors is hoping to have 10,000 of its electric Volt cars on the market by the end of 2010.

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KLD Energy Technologies, an electric engine company based in Texas, has developed an new electric motor which it believes will overcome the disappointing performance and high price of electric scooters produced to date.

The company has built an engine using nano-crystalline composite materials, which it says is ten times more efficient than traditional iron core motors. The cost of magnets made from the material has dropped from $4 to $5 ten years ago to around 20 cents today.

KLD has contracted with Sufat Co Ltd, Vietnam’s largest scooter manufacturer, to produce scooters using its motor.  Sufat is planning to build 50,000 of the scooters next year.

The companies say that the scooters will have a top speed of 125 kilometres per hour and will accelerate to 80 kilometres per hour in less than 10 seconds. They will be able to take a variety of bateries and their range will depend on the batery chosen.

Scooters with comparable performance currently cost around $US11,000. KLD expects its new scooters to sell for about $US1,500.

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John Waters, the engineer who invented the battery pack system for the EV1 electric vehicle, which was famously scrapped by General Motors in 1999, has launched his own electric vehicle company called Bright Automotive.

Bright Automotive plans to have an extended-range electric delivery van in production by 2012 and to be turning out 50,000 vehicles a year by 2013.

The van, to be called the Idea, will have more than 5 cubic metres of cargo space, a 900 kilogram payload and an 80 kilometre all-electric range, An electric motor will drive the rear wheels and a petrol motor, driving the front wheels, will take over when the battery runs low.

The company’s plans depend on securing a $450 million from the US Department of Energy.

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Leading automotive and energy companies have reached agreement on a common "plug" to recharge electric cars.

Car manufacturers including Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Toyota and Mitsubishi and energy companies including Eon, Vattenfall, EDF, Npower, Endesa and Enel have agreed on a three-point, 400-volt plug. The higher voltage plug will allow vehicles to be recharged much more quickly than common 110 to 240-volt outlets.

The agreement on a standard plug is regarded as a major step towards the mass production of electric cars, particularly for Europe, where cars will need to be able to be recharged on different national electricity systems.

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Segway have unveiled a new use for its technology by using it to develop a two seat electric car called the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility).

Segway worked with General Motors to produce the two-person vehicle that can drive on two wheels at around 55 kilometres per hour and has a range of about 55 kilometres on a single battery charge.

Segway’s technology uses computers to balance a platform on two wheels. The current first prototype model was developed by Segway in just 90 days.

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Coca-Cola Enterprises (US) has announced that it is more than doubling the size of its hybrid electric delivery fleet, Coca-Cola will have the largest hybrid delivery fleet in North America with 327 hybrid trucks on the road. The new hybrid trucks will be comparable in capacity to the company’s current large delivery trucks, with a gross weight of about 25 tonnes. But they will consume 30% less fuel.

Meanwhile, the US Arrmy has announced that it will lease 4,000 electric vehicles. The electric vehicles will be used in non-tactical roles on Army bases for passenger transport, security patrol, and maintenance and delivery services. The first of the "NEV’s" (Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles) will be four-passenger sedans, and utility vehicles able to carry two passengers and a 450 kilogram load. They will have a top speed of 40 kilometres per hour and a range of about 50 kilometres on a full, 8-hour charge.

The Army expects that fuel costs for the electric vehicles will be about one third of the cost for equivalent petrol vehicles and that their use will reduce the Army’s fuel consumption by about 44 million litres over six years.

The Army is also developing eight new types of hybrid-electric armoured vehicles for battlefield deployment. These are intended to reduce the Army’s dependence on fossil fuels and reduce the number of refueling convoys exposed in combat.

Senior Energy Executive for the Army, Paul Bollinger, stated that "The Army will continue to leverage new and emerging technologies to ease its dependence on fossil fuels…The Army can and will be a catalyst for greater production and innovation by renewable and alternative energy producers."

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