According to sources, the pictures here are official trademark designs of an unnamed Chevrolet compact minivan. Note the front end and rear end styling. Notice the shape of the headlamps and tail lamps. Looks a lot like Chevy’s highly anticipated Volt series hybrid, no?

GM Inside News says that the compact people carrier/minivan seen in the drawings looks to be the same vehicle that was seen standing alongside the forthcoming Chevrolet Orlando MPV that was leaked in a video last year. Or to put it another way, this might not be new, just newly found out.

To further add fuel to the fire it has been rumored for a while now that The General is looking to introduce a compact crossover somethingorother that uses the Volt’s extended range electric / gasoline powerplant at this month’s Beijing Auto Show. And if that turns out to be the case, then it’s almost certain that what we’re looking at here is the crossover we’ll see at the Chinese motorshow that runs from April 23 to 27.

OK, so speculation aside, doesn’t this seem like one of the easiest swings to take? Why hasn’t there been a hybrid minivan yet? Why hasn’t every manufacturer that makes a hybrid, or has hybrid technology on tap, installed that technology into some sort of minivan/SUV/crossover/somethingorother?

And General Motors should have been doing this a long, long time ago. They need to recapture their mojo (if that is even possible at this late date). They need to get off their corporate ass and start leapfrogging the competition, not just answering them. There’s no point in counterpunching now guys.

Source: CarScoop

Before now though, we never were sure of the company’s exact intention for the future though. With a name like Lightning, you might think they intended to remain a sports car-only company. Not so!

While the actual car hasn’t gone into production, in many ways they have moved at a quicker pace than Tesla. Tesla has been around for a few years and seen quite a few delays. It remains to see if Lightning will do the same, but regardless the Lightning GT as a product is much more impressive then the Roadster in looks and appointments, etc. It really is a true British GT that just also happens to be electric. What an impressive thing to be able to pull off!

Lightning’s Chairman says the GT is just the beginning; future models he is planning for the company include ” a limo-sized model” that is high-end and “…chauffeur-driven”. Other possibilities are for a SUV and a smaller sports car, he says. It seems as if a sedan is the next step for the company, much like Tesla. Tesla definitely has a head-start for now, but if I were them I’d be watching Lightning closely. The Lightning GT is very impressive to say the least!

This is exactly what needs to be done in order to help open the doors to electric vehicle adoption. Eliminating confusion over things like this will reduce anxiety and help break down barriers in people’s minds. It’s just makes sense. Say you’re an potential buyer of either a pure electric-vehicle or a range-extended electric vehicle. You want to know you can charge your vehicle anywhere, not needing special connectors or adapters to make it happen. The process needs to be straightforward and this will go along way towards doing that.

Why spend billions developing a charging infrastructure that is only compatible with a certain vehicle?  There needs to be a complete network that is accessible to all electric vehicles. GM in particular is really pushing for this; it’s a sponsor to the SAE World Congress and the J1772 connector standard. They’re really wanting this standard completed quickly as the Volt’s 2010 launch date is quickly approaching.

I do think the standard is more pertinent for electric-only manufacturers like Tesla and Nissan, as well as the Circuit EV from Chrysler. But, if there is a really comprehensive network it might enable even plug-in range-extended electric vehicles to operate on electric power for even longer periods of time.

So 2010 looks to be a big year for alternative fuels, with Nissan launching it’s EV and Chrysler aiming for a launch of it’s Circuit EV then as well. The standard could be finalized as soon as this fall. The proposed standard is currently undergoing certification testing by Underwriters Labs and that is supposed to be finished by the end of next month.

After that the standard will go to balloting and that could result in adoption within a few months. GM, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Tesla are the companies participating in or supporting the new standard. Tesla even plans to retrofit it’s older vehicles to fit the standard, and would have the new plug ready to go for the Model S when it debuts.

Hopefully testing will go well and we can see adoption of the standard later this year! The work being done is a huge step toward helping the commercial success of the companies involved.

The company has developed a quick-charge technology that promises a lot for the future of electric vehicles. As recently as a few months ago, Toshiba was able to recharge their SCiB lithium batteries (Toshiba’s name) to 90% capacity in as little as 5 minutes. Now, they’ve announced their ability to reduce that time to an incredible 90 seconds. 90% in 90 seconds. To me that seems just unbelievable if Toshiba can really deliver on that.

The news about the technology was reported by Business Green via Japanese financial paper Nikkei. First of all it remains to be seen if these claims will pan out in the real-world. Second of all, I think it goes without saying that to achieve anything near that time, it will require an power source of extremely high voltage. Not the ability to do that at home, but you can’t refill you car at home either, can you?

If a technology like this really made it to production, it could be used in hybrids and range-extended electric vehicles as well as pure EVs. An infrastructure of charging stations could be built similar to the gas station network we have right now. 90 second recharges would be absolutely amazing, and would afford electric vehicles with the same convenience as gas ones.

The SCiB batteries would render battery-swapping as unneeded. Why need to swap for a fully-charged pack when you can just recharge in 90 seconds? Better Place certainly has the right idea and business plan though as it is developing a network of battery swap and charging stations as well. Good things are happening in the alternative fuels world, I look forward to the advances we’ll be seeing in the area over the next few years!

The information supplied by the company is a bit haphazard. The car’s 32 kilowatt-hour battery pack, supplied by partner BRUSA Elektronik AG has a range of 200 k/mh (or 125 miles).

 We don’t know whether or not this is destined for production, I suppose there’s more on that to car.  Protoscar bills themselves ”CleanCar Shapers”. Hmm, interesting.

The car is a collaborative effort with Protoscar SA and it’s many partners, some of which include BRUSA Elektronik AG, ALPIQ, BASF, and Q-11.

 It appears that the car is based on General Motors’s Saturn Sky roadster, something that should down on cost both for the actual show vehicle and for production if it ever makes it to that point.

I think that green turn signal displayed in the top image is a unique idea. It’s something that helps further identify the car as an EV. Overall though from what I can tell, Tesla doesn’t have anything to be worried about at this point.

See what I mean about Saturn Sky? You can see it in the interior. That certainly is no bad thing though, the Sky is a very good vehicle to base from.

One of the big things the company is excited about here is it’s EV-centric navigation system that calculates range and shows the nearest charging stations.

Also included in that is a sophisticated control system that lets owners set certain parameters for charging times and the like.

All this comes from a company of only “14 specialists”. Sounds pretty impressive when you think about it. Let’s say my curiosity is piqued, I look forward to seeing more!