We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

How about a little of that over here?

That's what some electric-vehicle proponents may say after General Motors announced the upcoming public debut of an all-electric Chevrolet Spark. In South Korea.

GM Korea, which is 77 percent owned by the US automaker (the rest is owned by Korea Development Bank and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.), will start making and selling the all-electric Spark in 2013, according to the Wall Street Journal.

GM, which says it's investing more than $900 million annually to further development of electric-drive vehicles, will also eventually "export" the Spark EV here to the US, though fewer details were disclosed about that process. Most likely, the Spark EV will be a California "compliance car." In March, GM started testing Spark EVs in California, and estimated that the car had a single-charge range of about 100 miles.

South Korea accounts for about 25 percent of all Chevrolets sold globally. Pictured above is a gas-powered Spark.

A123 System's bankruptcy created a quite a stir in the plug-in vehicle industry. Now, Fisker is asking the judge that the bankruptcy auction be delayed by a minimum of 30 days so that creditors' value "may be realized through higher and better offers." Fisker is involved in A123 because the battery maker is the sole supplier of battery packs to the Fisker Karma. The deal now means that A123 has $100 million worth of obligations that "give rise to substantial unsecured claims" in Fisker's favor, according to court papers filed today, Bloomberg reports.

Fisker said it would also file an emergency motion to challenge "debtor-in-possession loan." Johnson Controls is set to take over A123's automotive assets, and Fisker said it is not trying to stand in the way of an asset sale in theory. It just wants the delay because "various protections" that Johnson Controls has "are unnecessary, excessive, and counterproductive to a successful sales process."

Fisker attorney Gregg Galardi said the bankruptcy process was "crafted" to benefit Johnson Controls and that, "The best interests of the estates, however, are not well served through a hasty and unfair sale process designed to ensure that JCI is the ultimate purchaser." In other words: don't let all this good stuff go cheaply.

Fuel-efficient cars might be nearly synonymous with Toyota here in the US, but in Mexico, the Japanese automaker is reportedly leading a fight in a dustup over more stringent automobile fuel efficiency regulations. Mexico's government is reportedly trying to make its own mile-per-gallon rules the same as those in the US as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its economy, but Toyota isn't taking too kindly to the proposed legislation.

Reuters reports that Toyota has obtained a federal court injunction against Nom-163, the law that would align Mexican regulations with US standards. Amia, the carmakers' association in Mexico, has joined Toyota because they say the rules are too strict and will reduce sales because automakers will have to charge more to develop these fuel-efficient cars. Amia also wants Mexican rules to have all of the incentives that the US rules do, and says "central Mexico's high altitude makes higher fuel efficiency harder to achieve," Reuters writes.

According to the report, the government figures that the industry just wants to continue selling dirty cars in Mexico, the kind that are are too dirty to be legally sold in other places. It's certainly not because the automakers can't make clean cars in the region – Mexico's environment undersecretary, Sandra Herrera Flores, points out that "Mexico exports 80 percent of all cars produced locally. From that, 75 percent head to U.S., Canada and Europe, so these vehicles already comply with regulations we are trying to pursue, or even tougher regulations." If the new rules are adopted, Mexico calculates that carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by 160 million tons by 2030.

There was a 60-day comment period for the new law, but Toyota instead filed its lawsuit in the Tribunal Federal de Justicia Fiscal y Administrativa in early September and, just a few weeks later, the court issued an injunction.

The National Resources Defense Council's Rich Kassel called Toyota's actions "truly stunning." He writes, "Toyota filed its lawsuit before the public comment period even closed. And, the company only filed short comments on the Mexican proposal late in the process. They have not issued any public statement that explains their actions. Indeed, they have never spoken publicly about any concerns whatsoever with the Mexican fuel economy proposal."

AutoblogGreen has solicited Toyota for comment on this story, but have not heard back as of publication time.

"It may very well be the most important new car since the Model T."

That's the summation of the latest video from Motor Trend and its Ignition video series, speaking of the Tesla Model S. Though the buff site had previously released a video featuring a range-testing excursion from LA-to-Vegas (and back), this time its cameras were out to capture whether it proves its worth as a car.

For MT's Carlos Lago, the criteria involved in the equation includes important things like, "How fast is it, how fun is it to drive." And while he does spend some tire-smoking time testing the five-door hatchback's performance parameters, the approach overall is more holistic than some we've seen.

Adding up the performance, style, technology and price, Lago compares the Tesla favorably with the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Porsche Panamera. He says it feels "like car 3.0." It all kind of gives us hope our favorite fastback will come out on top when MT reveals its Car Of The Year sometime in November.

Scroll down to watch one of the best-looking Model S video reviews to date, and let us know in Comments if you agree with its conclusions.

Our friend Paul Scott knows a thing or two about electric vehicles (EVs), having been involved with Plug In America for years. These days, he's a Nissan Leaf salesman and his top technique is to, as he puts it, put butts in seats. Once people drive an EV, they often walk away with a better understanding of the potential change that EVs offer. Since he's one of the top EV salespeople in the US – he works for Nissan of Downtown LA – we asked how things have been going recently. The short version, Scott told AutoblogGreen, is that things are going incredibly well.

"Sales are very good right now," he said. "Nissan's aggressive pricing has jump started the Leaf sales and especially the Leaf lease. I'm pretty sure we'll see a record month for the Leaf when the national numbers come in. If other dealers are experiencing what we're experiencing, it'll be a record for certain.

"When the monthly payment dropped to less than many people spend for gas, the phone began to ring constantly. I delivered four Leafs in one day last week and I'll have a record month since coming to Nissan of Downtown LA last year. Our inventory is dropping fast, so much so that we've ordered more from the port."

Part of the potential change is what Scott calls the realization that, "'The oil companies [can] pay for their new electric car.' The money [people] were giving the oil companies is more than they pay for the Leaf, so they get to use some of the savings for electricity and the rest can go into their kid's college fund.

"A good measure of how well the car is doing is that employees of our dealership began leasing the cars. This is very important since they can now speak from experience when selling the car to customers. Their glee in saving money on gas is clearly evident when they speak to customers and this becomes infectious."

Automotive Digest also recently spoke with Scott, and you can see a video of that interview below.

Plug-in vehicle drivers being tracked by Ecotality in the EV Project are revealing some interesting tidbits about home and public charging habits. Ecotality is collecting data on the driving and charging patterns of about 6,000 US plug-in electric vehicle owners, and has found out that plug-in hybrid vehicle owners are more likely to use workplace and other public charging stations than those in battery electric vehicles. Yes, if you have a gas engine backup, you're plugging more. It sounds counter-intuitive, but there is a logic at work here.

The public-private, multi-year EV Project is gives away Blink home-charging stations to plug-in vehicle drivers of cars in both of these plug-in electric categories, embodied in both the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf. According to the data – collected over 43 million plug-in miles – Leaf drivers are choosing to charge more at home – 89 percent of the time and are plugging in 1.1 times per day – while Volt drivers plug in away from home 21 percent of the time (compared to 11 percent for Leaf drivers) and tend to charge 1.5 times per day.

Part of the reason is that the Nissan Leaf has about twice the battery-powered range, around 70-80 miles, than the Chevy Volt, which tends to go around 35-40 miles on battery power. It only makes sense that Leaf owners would be charging more at home, often plugging in when they come from work and unplugging before leaving the next time. Volt owners pay more for their extended range car, but then apparently want to drive more miles on electricity than gasoline to save money. This year, the US auto market has been seeing more plug-in hybrids purchased than pure electric vehicles and the ratio of plug-in hybrid to pure electric is expected to reach two to one. According to Ecotality, with that shift comes a desire for more public charging stations.

Find more on charging habit research here.

Audi says the car, which is akin to the R8 E-Tron that had been slated to go on sale later this year until the winds of change swept through, will have three electric motors, as opposed to the E-Tron's two motors, and that power will be driven to both the front and rear axles. The F12 also uses two battery packs that have a combined energy capacity of over 38 kWh.

Perhaps most interesting, the packs area designed to better withstand crashes, using 200 macrocells in each pack packed into beveled walls that "allow the macrocells to shift relative to one another for additional safety in the event of an accident." Audi says this system "can even withstand a side impact with pole."

In all, the F12 will have 204 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. Audi developed the model along with Bosch, among other entities, and the project so far has cost 36 million euros ($46.6 million US).

The Audi R8 E-Tron, which has a single-charge range of about 135 miles, set a world speed record for a series production car at Nürburgring earlier this year by completing a lap in eight minutes and 9.099 seconds. Audi's F12 press release is available below.

Arnaud Montebourg (pictured), French Minister of Industrial Recovery, was recently the target of a rather despicable slur at the hands of Mitsubishi France's leader, Jean-Claude Debard.

Frustrated by Montebourg's attempts to encourage the purchase of lower emitting vehicles and discourage use of high-emission vehicles – by way of tax breaks and tax hikes, respectively – Debard reportedly used the occasion of a new product launch to call the minister "stupid," a "mental case" and a "retard" before members of the media. Here's the full quote, as reported by the French newspaper La Provence by way of The Telegraph:

"This mental case, this retard, increases ecological taxes, reduces the speed motorists can go on Paris' ring road and ruins the life of motorists from all social origins all suffer as a result of him. He is stupid and understands nothing, you can quote me on that."

And quote him they did, it seems.

Mitsubishi's Debard may have legitimate points to make about the French tax structure's effect on the automotive sector in that country, but finding a more level-headed way to get his thoughts across to the media would probably be a more effective strategy if he wants people to take him seriously. His use of the word "retard" reminds of a recent similar statement by American political pundit Ann Coulter that triggered a firestorm of criticism. The response to that tweet, quite eloquently answered by John Franklin Stephens of the Special Olympics, might serve as recommended reading for Debard, as well.

No word on what, if any, reaction the Japanese automaker has to Debard's statements.

UPDATE: According to a new report by La Province, Montebourg has resigned effective immediately and Mitsubishi has issued an apology. Thanks for the update tip, Daniel!

It looks like the all-electric version of the Fiat 500 will make its official debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show next month. No word on whether Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne will bring the house down with his "we don't really want to build this car" routine.

The LA Auto Show has confirmed that the 500E will be one of the models revealed at the convention, but organizers didn't disclose further details about price, performance or potential on-sale date (best to leave that to Fiat anyhow, right?). Green Car Reports estimates that the car will be available only in limited numbers and that it will have an electric motor delivering about 100 horsepower.

Marchionne said in February that it would start making an all-electric 500 by the end of 2012, and the Italian automaker has been talking about the car since Chrysler unveiled a 500 BEV concept at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, but has been pretty mum on the subject ever since.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your finalists for the 2013 Green Car of the Year: the Dodge Dart Aero, Ford C-Max and Fusion, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota Prius C. The list runs the gamut of fuel-efficient powertrains, from hybrids and plug-ins to high-mileage gas burners. The Fords, for example, make the list in part because they come in both hybrids and plug-in hybrid flavors.

The GCOTY is sponsored by Green Car Journal every year, and the publication looks for vehicles a lot of people will want to buy. Specifically, GCJ's press release says, "All are affordable mass-market products that provide drivers full functionality and mainstream appeal, paving the way for making a difference in fuel use and overall emissions in daily driving."

These five vehicles are also the cars that Green Car Journal is calling the "Top 5 Green Cars for 2013." From here, GCJ's jury of "top environmental leaders" along with celeb car buff Jay Leno and the GCJ staff will pick a winner.

Past Green Car of the Year winners have been the Honda Civic Natural Gas (2012), the Chevrolet Volt (2011), the Audi A3 TDI (2010), the Volkswagen Jetta TDI (2009) and the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid (2008). The 2013 winner will be announced at the LA Auto Show on November 29. What do you think it should be?

Throughout its brief history – from concept car at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, to production-bound prototype – the Audi R8 E-Tron has promised supercar levels of entertainment in a sexy German wrapper. A prospective range of 150 miles with acceleration on the order of 0-60 in under five seconds suggested a more luxurious rival for the Tesla Roadster, and a challenger for the upcoming Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive at the E-Tron's expected launch in early 2013.

Now it seems like Audi may have slammed on the regenerative brakes, as it were.

Car and Driver reports that the R8 E-Tron plan is on hold, pending a project review ordered by new research and development head, Wolfgang Dürheimer. Concerns about the project include a lack of sufficiently advanced and reasonably inexpensive batteries with which to power the car, as well as a buyer pool sufficiently rich and reasonably motivated to drop big sums on the R8 EV.

The Car and Driver report indicates that the expected launch in the first part of next year is now off the table, and that the entire project faces existential jeopardy.

UPDATE: We were able to speak with a member of Audi's team regarding the fate of the R8 E-Tron, who basically corroborated the earlier Car and Driver report, with a few clarifications. Audi claims that the "initial" run of R8 E-Trons was always meant to be very limited (ten cars), and that those cars were essentially meant to serve as evaluation models for the project as a whole. The discrepancy seems to be in what eventually happens to this first run; first plans indicated that they would end up in public hands, while now Audi states that they are "primarily intended for internal purposes."

On a positive note: While the future of the R8 E-Tron looks pretty cloudy (at least in the pure-EV form), we're told that the A3 E-Tron is still on track for arrival in 2014.

A company has the right to change its mind, right?

Volkswagen, which said as recently as late 2010 that it wouldn't consider a two-cylinder engine for its Up! city car, is now doing just that.

The German automaker will add the option of a two-cylinder diesel engine to the Up as part of an effort to compete against the Fiat Panda TwinAir, UK's Autocar reports. VW's Ulrich Hackenberg added that the two-banger is compatible with larger platforms as well, bringing up all sorts of fuel-saving possibilities for Europe's biggest automaker.

Hackenberg, when interviewed by Autocar in late 2010, said the company would prefer getting the most efficiency out of its three-cylinder engines rather than going to a two-cylinder. VW's Michael Hinz said at the time that two-cylinder engines were too expensive and unrefined to consider for the Up!

Chinese automaker BYD has reached an agreement to provide London with its first fleet of all-electric cabs.

BYD and Greentomatocars signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in which BYD would supply 50 all-electric e6 vehicles for the company's fleet. Greentomatocars, which operates about 300 cabs throughout London, expects to have the EVs in service by mid-2013. The e6 delivers around 100 horsepower and has a single-charge range of up to 186 miles.

Using EVs for cabs is topical because the high-mileage/low speed driving conditions create the opportunity to substantially cut refueling costs compared to traditional cabs. A Washington, DC-area taxicab operator recently said he planned to have an all-electric fleet of cabs and ordered about 40 Nissan Leaf vehicles. That company, Electric Vehicle Taxicab Company, is also planning to install 56 DC fast-charging stations in the company's service area.

And earlier this year, Nissan promoted the all-electric Leaf in the London area by providing free cab rides. New York City and Mexico City are among other areas where Leafs have been tested in taxi fleets. Check out BYD's press release below.

Here's a story with an ironic twist.

Jeremy Dory is a Chevy-Volt-owning, AutoblogGreen-reading guy (Hi, Spiffster!) who, after falling in love with the Brammo Empulse electric motorcycle, started up a blog called Empulsebuyer and became something of a brand evangelist. Now, Brammo has rendered that domain name, well, completely inaccurate, and Jeremy couldn't be happier.

You see, the software engineer won't be buying an Empulse R after all. He doesn't need to. Brammo has recognized the work he's done and the devotion he's displayed and is giving him one. Yes, giving. Like, for free. If that's not cool enough, the company flew him to Daytona for the TTXGP World Championship to tell him.

This is not the first time the Oregon-based company has made such a move. In 2010, it turned Brammofan into a Brammo man by awarding that evangelist of the year an Enertia. It may, however, be difficult to top the efforts of these guys in the future.

Consider that, besides tracking all the Brammo news in his blog and being the voice of reason in countless internet discussions, Dory is also the author of the Electric Motorcycle Price & TCO Calculator. This tool allows you to compare costs of electric and gas-powered motorcycles over time. If that doesn't impress you, we can only add that he has also posted a pic of the cutest Brammo babe ever. Top that!

"Empulsebuyer" expects to receive a white Empulse R sometime early in the new year and, thereafter, will be known as Empulserider. We, of course, look forward to reading his many tales of Empulse ownership on his new blog. Scroll below for the official press release.