Recently, spy shots and leaked interior photos of the highly anticipated Chevy Volt have hit the auto blogging world, leaving most motorheads foaming at the mouth. I, on the other hand, sort of feel like I showed up to meet an eHarmony.com date and he turned out to look more like Boy George than George Clooney.

Full Gallery After The Jump

Pre-Production Extended-Range Electric Vehicle, Mazda 5 MPV

The fight to be crowned the first mass producer of an extended-range electric vehicle [E-REV] is on, folks. The waiting list for the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt is now about 40,000 eager-buyers long, and fellow auto makers want a piece of the action. Today, Autocar UK reported that inside sources have confirmed that Mazda is currently developing an E-REV of their own. Powered dually by a rotary engine and rechargeable battery pack, the Mazda plug-in prototype is housed within a Mazda 5 MPV body shell. Trial runs have already begun, but the Mazda E-REV’s future release is hindered by the same obstacle almost all the electric vehicle manufacturers are facing: the exorbitant cost of the requisite batteries.

Jon Rådbrink’s Lexus Nuaero concept

Ah, car design students, they’re pretentiousness embodied. Aside from actors, there really is no more self-absorbed group. Young Swedish designer, Jon Rådbrink, presented this concept at the Royal College of Art graduation show in London last month. This really is function sacrificed at the altar of faux-futurist form.

Brilliance BS6

Small Chinese automaker and BMW-alligned Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co. has recently scrapped plans to showcase 4 new vehicles at the Detroit Auto show in January. The original North American Brilliance line-up was to showcase 4 models, the BS6 mid-size sedan, BS4 compact car, BC3 sports coupe, and FRV hatchback. Today, Brilliance modified their U.S. debut to only include 2 models, the BS6 and BS4. In much the same way the Hyundai Genesis resembles a Mercedes S-Class, in the right light, the Brilliance BS models could pass for BMW 3- or 5-series sedans.

Brilliance BS4

The new LEV lithium ion battery in a Mitsubishi iMiEV

Most of the lithium ion batteries used in electric cars today are custom made or put together from batteries meant for some other use. Starting in the first half of 2009, the Japanese company Lithium Energy Japan will be producing new rechargeable high performance lithium ion batteries built specifically for automobiles. The company, which is co-owned by Mitsubishi motors, is building a new manufacturing plant in central Japan.

Warning: Hilarity extraction requires attentive reading. From failblog.org

Yesterday Carl Deitrich, CEO of the new company Terrafugia Inc, introduced his brainchild, the Terrafugia Transition, to the consuming public. Dubbed the “Modern Day Chitty Chitty Bang Band”, the Terrafugia Transition is a roadable aircraft designed for travel on the road and in the air, the ultimate goal being convenience. As such, the Transition’s fully retractable wings are expected to provide for easy storage in a single car garage while its diminutive overall stature will allow the operator to utilize the 5,000 small-craft airports that currently dot the U.S. [Dietrich averages there is at least 1 such airport within any 25-mile point in the continental U.S.].

View photos taken at the Terrafugia Transition’s Proof of Concept unveiling at the EAA Air Venture “Read More”

All the major parts of the Mazda RX-8 Renesis engine disassembled.

Today in history - Felix Wankel, the inventor of the Wankel rotary engine, was born. I’m a Wankel freak. I love Wankel rotary engines, I think they’re one of the most beautiful mechanical devices of all time. Call me a geek, call me a weirdo…whatever, I love it when you talk dirty.

When I was young, I saw the innards of an old, junked Mazda Cosmo at my fathers salvage yard. I heard about this crazy motor out in the yard and decided to check it out; I knew the basics of how piston engines worked, and figured this strange thing would be pretty fun to mess around with. But sitting there, with it’s seals broken and rotors immovable, it blew my mind. It was just an oval with a triangle in it. That’s it. I had no idea how it worked or how it moved or anything. How could this thing power a car?

A spin on Chrysler’s wave of 2-Mode Hybrid vehicles, GM has announced plans to expand its fuel efficient XFE line-up for 2009. Currently, the only XFE [Xtra Fuel Economy] vehicle available is the Chevy Cobalt XFE, a fuel efficient version of Chevy’s small car that was released last March. Using a combination of mass and drag-reducing enhancements, the Cobalt XFE saw a 9% jump in fuel economy [from 33 mpg hwy to 36 mpg hwy] while the Cobalt line saw an 8% jump in sales.

Recognizing the dramatic change in consumer interests as wrought by the fuel crisis, GM has decided to perform an XFE overhaul on its 2009 large vehicle line up. Among the vehicles scheduled for an XFE face lift: the Chevy Silverado pick-up truck, Chevy Tahoe SUV, GMC Sierra pick-up truck, and the GMC Yukon SUV.

On May 17, 2008, Scion sponsored an event in Boulder City, NV called “Scion United”, effectively publicizing the rapidly growing Scion cult. Over 300 cars made it to the event, some hailing all the way from the East Coast, and are featured in Scion’s newest commercial.

Obviously tuner cars are not a new theme, for every tricked out Scion tC, there’s two equally bad ass Honda Civics [we use "bad ass" in a relative sense] - but Scion is the first company to cater specifically to that demographic. According to Scion’s corporate manager Dawn Ahmed,  ”We have 600,000 owners, and the community gets more passionate…every day.”

To view commercial spot and photo gallery, click “Read More”.