This year, the online magazine is looking at five finalists including the new Ford Focus Electric, Honda Civic Natural Gas, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius v and Volkswagen Passat TDI. That includes two all-electrics, a CNG vehicle, one hybrid and a diesel-powered car.

Read the full article here.

Global market realities, principally high oil prices, are also compelling governments to look for non-traditional, environment-friendly fuel to run vehicles, power industries, and energize communities to achieve sustainable national development.

But any drastic or “cold turkey” approach to a switch to alternative fuels or energy sources carries a high tag price.

But such outlay should not be considered a cost; rather, it should be treated as an investment – an investment in a cleaner, healthier planet.

For instance, a new generation of motorists are receptive to the idea of hybrid cars, vans, sports utility vehicles, and light trucks which can run on gas, electricity, bio-fuel, and solar energy.

But vehicle buyers can only be motivated to choose “green” automobiles when offered reasonable incentives.

This has prompted more lawmakers to grant incentives to car makers who build or import cars powered by electric or hybrid engines or those that run on alternative fuel in a move to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuel.

Under the plan, the incentives include exemption from excise tax or import duties. Owners of hybrid cars would be exempt from payment of the motor vehicle user’s charge and number coding and given priority in the issuance of license plates, according to a proposal now gaining steam at the House of Representatives.

The House Committee on Ways and Means has consolidated several measures on the proposed “Electric, Hybrid and Other Alternative Fuel Vehicles Incentives Act of 2011” seeking to promote the use of alternative sources of energy for automobiles.

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Next Green Car have added a further 282 electric car charging points to Zap-Map in the two months since its launch, resulting in a total of 1,034 points mapped across 451 locations.

The majority of the charging points continue to be the “Slow” chargers (6-8 hours for full charge). However Zap-Map has added the first six “Fast” chargers (3-4 hours for full charge) and an additional two “Rapid” chargers (80% charge in 30 minutes) to add to the existing 27. Zap-Map will continue to be updated on a weekly basis.

“The continuing roll-out of recharge points at home, at the workplace and in public locations is key part of encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles. As part of this electric revolution, owners of plug-in EVs need an easy-to-use data resource showing where the public recharging points are located – this is why we have developed Zap-Map in the UK” says Dr. Ben Lane from Next Green Car.

The Next Green Car’s Zap-Map can be found on a new electric cars micro-site within Next Green Car, which also provides an electric car buying guide, details about available electric models, model prices and more.

Next Green Car’s Zap-Map is now available to license by third parties, either as a fully integrated bespoke map or as a data feed to integrate onto an existing map.  Great news, keep them coming!

However, producing EVs cranks out a sizeable 8.8 tonnes of carbon, compared to 5.6 tonnes for standard fuel cars, meaning that 46 per cent of an EV’s lifetime emissions are generated before the car even hits the road.

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On May 17, KB Home unveiled the Primera Terra, the largest Leed Platinum-certified residential community in California. Leed, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Leed-certified homes typically use 20 to 30 percent less energy than other new or resale homes, but some homes using up to 60 percent less energy.

Read the entire article here.

Google and more than 80 other companies are collaborating with the Department of Energy to make it simple for drivers of electric vehicles to find parts and charging sites.

Via a partnership called the GeoEVSE Forum, the organizations are pooling their data to build a definitive database of all available EV charging stations in the U.S. regardless of the manufacturer or network, the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory said yesterday.

The GPS and mapping system database will also include all available electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) stations.

The first mass-market electric vehicles are about to go on sale in selected cities, kicking off the beginning of a wave of new green vehicles hitting showrooms over the coming year.

The Chevrolet Volt, from General Motors, and the Leaf, from Nissan, both launching in December, are just the beginning of the electrification trend. At least eight hybrids and 12 plug-in electric cars in every price range are planned for 2011, with another batch of electric vehicles (EVs) expected in 2012.

The rollout of these vehicles will be regional, starting with California and a handful of other states, including New York, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee, among others. It could be several years before EVs are readily available across America. Each employs different powertrain technologies, so it pays to do your research at sites like www.hybridcars.com or pluginamerica.org.

But here are the basics:

A hybrid, as the name suggests, uses both a gasoline engine and electric motor to power the car, switching back and forth as necessary. A plug-in hybrid is similar, but comes with a larger battery that allows the vehicle to travel solely on electric power for short hops, but not for long stretches. An extended-range electric vehicle, like the Volt, can go up to 40 or so miles on electricity, after which a small gasoline motor kicks in to recharge the battery and keep driving. A pure EV, like the Leaf, runs solely on electricity and needs to be recharged every 100 miles or so.

When it comes to hybrids, Toyota’s Prius is the only one anyone ever really talks about, so it might surprise you that there are 27 other hybrid models already on the market today, including hybrid versions of the BMW 7-series, Mercedes S-class and Lexus LS.

Many more are coming. They include luxury cars like the recently introduced Porsche Cayenne S hybrid SUV, which, at $67,700, sells for about $4,000 more than the gasoline version of Porsche’s bestselling vehicle, and the Lexus CT 200h compact, due in early 2011, which is aimed at a younger, Gen-X crowd, and will likely be priced under $32,000.

Read the full article here.

I could not get the whole scoop, but I do know I will be looking out for the Daily Planet over the next few months to see this very cool episode!!