Nissan's big number: 20,000

Nissan will start taking orders for the upcoming all-electric LEAF next Spring. And they are building to meet expected initial orders for 20,000 cars, according to an Automotive News report picked up by AutoBlogGreen. The report states that Nissan will launch the Leaf next year in the states of Tennessee and Oregon, along with San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; and the Phoenix/Tucson region in Arizona. The Bay Area, or at least Sonoma County, should be on that list, and I'll assume it was an oversight. Once the Smyrna Tennessee plant is up and running, in 2012, Nissan foresees production of 150,000 electric cars a year. Game changing.

[Source: AutoBlogGreen]

FoxNews called out on misinformation about plug-in cars

Media Matters for America is watching FoxNews so you don't have to. The media watchdog is pointing out misleading reports about the government loans secured by Tesla and Fisker recently aired on the "fair and balanced" network.

In reports on FoxNews.com, America's Newsroom, and Your World, Fox News repeatedly advanced misinformation about Department of Energy loans recently granted to Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors to support development of fuel-efficient vehicles, suggesting that those funds would be ill-spent. The false or misleading claims include: that the loans will be used to build cars that cost $89,000 and $109,000; that the loans will finance foreign manufacturing; and that Fisker and Tesla are European companies.

Here's one of the FoxNews stories:



See the full report here.

BMW considers extending MINI-E leases

The MINI-E program is going well enough that BMW is considering allowing leases extensions, Richard Steinberg the program manager said at CARB's ZEV Technology Symposium today.

Iceland Prez pops hydrogen bubble; Looking to electric cars

The last, best hope of hydrogen and fuel cell for vehicles is down for the count. After grand ambitions and lofty rhetoric, reality has set in. Iceland was to be the test platform. But ten fuel cell cars and a Shell filling station do not a transformation make.

EVs represent a faster way forward according to Iceland's President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Iceland to working with Mitsubishi to bring iMIEVs in large numbers, and cooperating with other Nordic countries to create a unified market for EVs. Read Jim Motavalli's informative blogpost about his conversation with the President.