—Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey

Back in early November, we drove the all-new BMW 550i Gran Turismo around the hilly, tree-lined roads of northern New Jersey and southern New York. While we were out on the United States’ eastern seaboard, the good people of BMW brought along a slew of other cars for us to test, including the all-electric Mini E. We’ve driven (and loved) the full range of gasoline and diesel-powered Minis, but would our affection stand true to the battery-powered E?

Aesthetically, there isn’t much to differentiate the E from the rest of the Mini line, save some selective coloring both inside and out. The only major difference is the removal of the rear bench seat in favor of the housing for the 5088 individual battery cells. Because of this, the Mini E porks on quite a few extra pounds over a standard Cooper S—596, to be exact—and this extra heft was immediately noticeable on our drive loop around BMW’s North American headquarters. (More on that in a minute.)

CLICK HERE to continue reading this review.

The Volkswagen E-Up! Concept is only a few days old now, but VW is already making a big statement and calling it the "Beetle of the 21st Century." No, it's not a homage back to any sort of retro vehicle, and instead uses Volkswagen's latest design language that we've seen in production form on the Golf and Scirocco. The automaker hopes that the E-Up! will be its small car of the future, better serving the needs of buyers who would originally shop the New Beetle.

As the big capital E in its name would suggest, the E-Up! is powered by a completely electric motor, producing 54 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of torque, all running to the front wheels. Not that any eco-drivers will be worried about this, but 0-60 sprints should happen in 11.3 seconds and the E-Up! will top out at a maximum speed of 84 miles per hour.

Inside, the E-Up! benefits from a unique three-plus-one seating concept derived from the original Up! concept shown a few years back. This layout means that the driver and two side passengers will have optimum seating positions with the extra space behind the driver used for cargo capacity. Interesting stuff, no?

Will the E-Up! make it to production? We hope so. And if VW wants this to be the Beetle for our future, they'd better get moving. Click through the post for all of the nitty gritty details.

Audi, like other German automakers, has long trumpeted that diesel power is the way of the future, and we've seen examples like the R8 V-12 TDI concept to prove this point.

Not anymore. The first images of Audi's all-electric e-Tron concept have leaked onto the web, and the car will make its official debut at the Frankfurt show this week. It's no secret that this car shares most of its construction with the R8 supercar, though overall aerodynamics have been improved -- fitting of a MPG-happy electricity sipper.

We'll have the full details later this week, but in the meantime, scroll through our gallery of images above to see the e-Tron from all angles.

+ Autoblog: Frankfurt Preview: Audi e-Tron electric supercar gets early web unveil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8dBDl24SL4

Just a few days after General Motors caused a stir by announcing that the Chevy Volt will achieve up to 230 miles per gallon, Nissan has already one-upped them. According to a report from AutoWeek, Nissan says that the Leaf EV will get 367 miles per gallon with no fuel required.

To further start the war between EV cars, Nissan also states that its Leaf will be very affordable, too, priced within the $25,000 to $33,000 range. However, like the Volt, it's still very unclear how Nissan came up with the 367 mpg rating, and we'll be interested to see how the EPA reacts to this statement, too.

+ AutoWeek: Nissan says the Leaf EV beats the Chevrolet Volt with 367 mpg

According to a report from Autocar, an unnamed source at Volvo has confirmed its all-electric C30 hatchback debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show

The Volvo spokesperson also states that it is still a concept car and that “Volvo has no current plans to put it into production.” Volvo is considering whether or not an electric C30 will fit into their lineup, but don’t expect this battery-powered hatch to hit showrooms anytime soon.

Scroll through our Volvo Recharge Concept gallery above, and for more information about the new Volvo all-electric C30 click on the link below.

+ Autocar: All-Electric Volvo C30

Nissan unveiled its all-new electric vehicle called the Leaf yesterday, which is to be launched in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. in late 2010.

Unlike internal-combustion engines, the Leaf’s powertrain does not have a tail pipe and hence cannot emit any environmentally hazardous gases. Of course, electric vehicles push emissions back up the chain to the source of electricity, making it unlikely that such vehicles are truly zero emissions (see our Tesla coverage for more on this).

The Leaf is powered by laminated compact lithium-ion batteries, which generate power output of over 120 horsepower, while its electric motor delivers 80 kilowatts (107 horsepower)/ 280Nm (206 pounds-feet of torque) and the regenerative braking system aids the driving range of 100 miles on a full charge.

The Leaf has a sharp, upright V-shaped design featuring long, up-slanting LED headlights (which happen to consume only ten percent of the electricity that other LEDs use). The headlights have been specially designed to slit and redirect airflow away from the door mirrors to help reduce wind noise. The interior colors of the car come in bright,  “blue earth” color schemes. The mounted monitor displays the amount of power left in the car and can also show you where nearby charging stations are. With a quick charger, the Nissan LEAF can be charged up to 80-percent in 30 minutes.

For more details about the Nissan Leaf scroll down and read the press release.

Nissan announced today that its electric-vehicle platform, which is based on the Versa, is expected to be in the U.S. by the beginning of next year.

Nissan states that this new EV platform is built with a high-performance motor, an extremely rigid body, and a compact lithium-ion battery with high power output and energy capacity. The engine delivers 80 kilowatts (107 horsepower)/ 280Nm (206 pounds per feet of torque) for better response and powerful acceleration, the battery pack is placed under the vehicle floor for more efficient packaging and to create more cargo space and the additional frame for the battery pack helps improve the rigidity of the platform.

The new EV also comes with a navigation map, which can show the driving radius within range under the current state of charge. It can calculate if the vehicle is within range of a pre-set destination and can point out the latest information on available charging stations within its current driving range.
Nissan plans to unveil the design of its production EV at its new Global Headquarters Opening in Yokohama on August 2.

Click on the link below to watch a video of the new EV and scroll down to read the entire press release.
+ egmcartech: Nissan EV

Brammo has started production of its electric motorcycle, Enertia, and the bikes are going to be sold at select Best Buy stores in the Northwest, by the end of this month.
 
The Brammo is a plug-in, capable of 53 miles per hour with a range of 45 miles. The Enertia has 18 horsepower and peaks at 3600 rpm. According to the Brammo website, the Enertia was designed keeping in mind and enhancing the pleasures of riding and by reducing elements that are daunting to a rider.
 
The bike seems ideal for short day-to-day commutes and city driving. This single-seater comes in several colors and is steeply priced at $11,995. To make amends for the exaggerated price, at zero-emissions it will be cheap to run and easy to ride in crowded areas.

For more details and to order your new Enertia, click on the link below.

+ Brammo: Brammo Enertia Powercycle

It's no secret that the upcoming Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (with those awesome gullwing doors) will be nothing short of wonderful when it hits the streets in the near future. And while the full production version is expected to be shown this fall at the Frankfurt Auto Show, new reports are suggesting that there may be an all-electric SLS in the works for a 2015 launch.

Dubbed the SLS eDrive, the EV Merc will use batteries from Evonik, a company who is partnering with Daimler for batteries. The electric version is expected to produce the equivalent of 526 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque, meaning that 0-60 sprints should happen in about four seconds flat. Not bad, considering that the gas-powered version is only expected to be 0.2 seconds quicker doing the same.

+ AutoWeek: Mercedes plans elecric version of SLS AMG supercar