With just about every other automaker on the planet champing at the bit to showcase its newest electric prototypes, Subaru's doing its best to hang on to the briskly moving bandwagon. Said company has just recently announced that its plug-in STELLA concept will be showcased at the upcoming G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, and four of the five on hand will actually be used to "transport government officials and other participants" while the other offers itself up for test drives. The four-seat vehicle in question utilizes the same EV (electric vehicle) system employed in the R1e, suggesting that it can cruise around 80-kilometers (50 miles) on a full charge and hit a top speed of 100km/h (or just over 62mph).

[Via AutoblogGreen]

While Audi is over there planning to produce an electric car within the next decade, Mercedes-Benz is hoping to be completely petro free within seven years. At least that's the word according to a recent report in The Sun. Dr. Herbert Kohler, who is responsible for Mercedes' advanced engineering, has reportedly suggested that "by 2015 motorists will have switched almost completely to alternative fuel cars." In order to make sure it's not left out, the automaker already has an electric car in the works for 2010 as well as plans to use its DiesOtto engine which will give motorists the ability to use biofuels should they choose. Still, aiming to phase petroleum completely out of its lineup by 2015 sounds overly ambitious from here, but we certainly won't complain if it achieves said goal.

[Via AutoblogGreen, thanks Dan]

Enough of these kit (ahem) cars, we're ready for the real deal. Up on the auction block today is a genuine 1984 Pontiac Trans Am that was used in the third and fourth seasons of Knight Rider. Yep, this is the one with the coveted Super Pursuit Mode, and legend has it that cops won't even ticket you for using it. At first glance, one can't help but be impressed with how spectacular this bona fide piece of history looks, but one glance at the interior and you realize there's quite a bit of work left to do. Personally, we could think of a limitless number of better ways to spend 26 large, but hardcore Hasselhoff fans will likely insist on differing.

[Via Autoblog]

Make no mistake, Terrafugia's outlandish airplane / motorcar hybrid has been on the drawing board for years, but it looks like the rubber is about to hit the proverbial road (or take to the skies, whichever) this July. A team of ten is working feverishly to ready the Transition for its debut at this year's AirVenture, where it hopes to catch more than a few eyes with its zany "roadable aircraft." As you can likely guess, this thing is meant to both fly and drive, and yes, that means it'll have to pass safety regulations from both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If all goes well, the startup expects to deliver its first vehicle to a customer in 2009, while mass production isn't scheduled to happen until 2012. We're no experts in the field, but it seems like it'll take a Christmas miracle for either of those feats to actually be accomplished.

[Via Slashdot]

Although Brent Hatch's homegrown solar-electric whip looks eerily similar (read: just as ugly) to the SUNN solar car kit, this one was actually created without the help of any pre-packaged parts or sophisticated schematics. After his gas bill rose well over $700 a month (he and his wife have seven kids, after all), he decided to purchase a rather unsightly eight-seater bicycle and figure out a way to enable roof-mounted solar panels to power an electric motor. Nah, the top speed isn't very impressive, and you certainly wouldn't want to head out on I-5 with it, but it sure makes picking up the offspring from their nearby school a whole lot less painful on the wallet. Check out the video in the read link for more.

[Thanks, Dave]

Yeah, Cin King has been tickling people's fancy for a small while now, but with a lineup consisting of the Slim Jim, Full Power Flagship, Naked Wonder and Circular 360, how could we not pass this along? Barring some sort of miracle, it's safe to assume that all of these motorcars are patently fake, but that doesn't mean you can't get a laugh out of such a cleverly designed website meant to showcase the whole family, right? Go on, you know you can't wait to read more about "the first electric car with diesel drive," a compact with twin turbines, anything codenamed "Naked Wonder," and a round-mobile ripped straight out of 2184 (or an obscure episode of The Jetsons). 'Tis a shame these aren't anywhere near production -- they'd go over so well in America.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

After this, you'll never have the same mental image when hearing "remote controlled car" again. Ever. Resident engineer and all around madman Dr. James Brighton took a break from his rigorous teaching duties at Cranfield University and whipped up a RC Hummer H3 -- as in, the man converted an actual Hummer H3 into a remotely controlled toy. Amazingly, the conversion was completed in just a month, and it's reportedly able to "climb a 407-millimeter vertical wall, traverse a 40-percent side slope and operate in up to 610-millimeters of water." Hit up the read link for a few more images of this guy having the time of his life.

If you can believe it (and we think you can), Toyota is already hard at work on a new battery system to replace its lithium-ion units currently slated for use in upcoming models. According to a report in Automotive News Europe, the company is hoping to adopt a more advanced battery for its hybrid vehicles in about 12 years as part of its Global Vision 2020 plan. The automaker won't say what technology it plans on moving towards, though it has suggested that air-zinc batteries could be a possible solution for maintaining its dominance in the hybrid vehicle market. In June the company will launch a new division dedicated to developing technologies for future cell power, while its lithium-ion vehicles will hit the roads around 2010.

[Via Autoblog]

Remember that elusive WhiteStar we first got wind of earlier this month? Apparently, Tesla Motors is doing its best to round up a quarter-billion dollars over the next two years in order to produce the aforementioned electric sedan. Reportedly, the firm is deciding between Albuquerque, New Mexico or the East Bay area in California to construct its plant, and if all goes to plan, it'll use that facility to crank out the 2010 luxury sports sedan. As expected, concrete details are scant at the moment, but we are hearing that it hopes to launch the WhiteStar for around "half the price of its roadster," which currently retails in the US for a shade under $100,000.

We don't know about you, but we were doing far, far less productive things than Andrew Angelloti when we were 16. The green-minded youth -- a forum member over at Ecomodder -- has taken his 1988 Mazda pickup truck and converted it to run solely on electricity using $6,000 he'd earned as a part-time lifeguard. According to Andrew, the truck reaches a top speed of 55 MPH, sports a range of 40 miles per charge, and has acceleration that's, "Not that bad." The mod uses 20 flooded lead-acid batteries (for 120 volts), and a 60 HP, 9-inch electric motor. For most of us, that one major conversion would be enough, but Andrew is cracking away on his second EV mod, working his magic on a 1992 Toyota Tercel and gunning for more speed and a larger motor. Who said kids were lazy these days?

[Via Digg]

While the idea of the networked car has been simmering on the back burner for years now, the farthest we've gotten is niche single-vehicle products like AutoNet -- but a pair of new proposed systems could actually get past the drawing aboard before flaming out and failing like all the rest. The first is a collision-avoidance system being developed in Europe called Vehicle2Vehicle (or V2V), which uses GPS and wireless networking to constantly analyze the speed, position and trajectory of nearby cars and alert drivers to impending collisions. The developers say the tech is simple enough to be deployed relatively rapidly, but that the mess of different in-car integration standards is keeping costs high and interest low -- which is the same problem faced by the developers of a different system called CarTorrent at UCLA. CarTorrent is more about getting cars connected, and it's pretty much what the name implies -- distributed networking across cars. The system is based on something called digital short range communication over the 5.9GHz spectrum, and it allows cars to transmit and receive navigation, media, and telemetry information -- and what's more, it's based on a proposed IEEE car-to-car networking standard called 802.11p, which should speed adoption by automakers when it's finally approved. Even still, we've been burned too many times in the past to keep our hopes alive -- guess it's back to eBay for that KITT auction.

Read - V2V
Read - CarTorrent

Just as Toyota saw fit to pimp its own forthcoming plug-in hybrid, General Motors is hitting back with "hopes" to produce a similarly equipped Saturn Vue Green Line in 2010 as well. We know, GM doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to delivering on time, but you say what you have to in order to keep up, right? Nevertheless, this vehicle is slated to house a "modified version of GM's two-mode hybrid system and plug-in technology" along with an obligatory Li-ion, and current testing has shown it able to traverse ten miles at "low speeds" when running on battery power alone. It's also stated that the SUV can be fully recharged in just under five hours, but alas, GM isn't opening its mouth even a little to address pricing expectations. Hit the read link for a gallery of photos -- who knows when you'll see it in the flesh.

According to reports, roost-ruling, green automaker Toyota has confirmed plans to launch a plug-in hybrid by 2010. Our man in Japan Katsuaki Watanabe (company president) dropped the bombshell at this year's Detroit Auto Show while detailing the automaker's plans for tackling environmental concerns. Apparently, the new lithium-ion-equipped vehicles will first be made available to Toyota's commercial customers -- such as government agencies. Watanabe gave no indication of when a general consumer rollout would occur. The vehicle, which is a modified version of the ultra-popular Prius, is capable of achieving fuel efficiency of 99.9 miles-per-gallon in EV mode, though it can only sustain pure battery power for about seven miles. The announcement will no doubt come as a total bummer to GM, which has plans to sell its own plug-in, the Volt, around the same time -- though the Chevy vehicle is said to be able to make trips of up to 40 miles on a six-hour charge. It's about time we saw some healthy competition in the green-auto-game -- let's just hope consumers reap the benefits.

While many around the globe have their eyes fixated on the events going down in Las Vegas this week, the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi, India is managing to steal at least a hint of the limelight. Announced today, Tata Motors' $2,500 "1-Lakh" car will actually see production in India later this year, and it has affectionately been dubbed the NANO. For those not keen on such a title, it can also be recognized as "The People's Car," but it seems "The Person's Car" may have been more appropriate. Nevertheless, this little bundle of automotive joy will feature an all-aluminum, two-cylinder engine that can deliver around 54 US miles per gallon, and while stripped down would be a gross understatement, it does promise to "exceed current regulatory (read: safety) requirements." Hit the read link for Tata's official release along with a plethora of photos.

[Image courtesy of Manan Vatsyayana/Raveendran for Getty]

We know, it's a little sad how dear Knight Rider is to our hearts, but honestly, we couldn't be more elated to find that the show is finally getting a new breath of life. Starting in February, an updated version of the classic will be hitting NBC, and while we could spend hours gushing over the cast, our eyes are fixed on the star pictured above. The new K.I.T.T. will be played by a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR, and while three versions will make appearances, it should come as no surprise to hear that out personal favorite is the driverless K.I.T.T. Remote. Go on, indulge in the links below for more pictorial goodness, we won't tell anyone.

[Via TVSquad, thanks to everyone who sent this in]