News comes from the Japan Post Service Co, which is the mail delivery unit of Japan Post Group, that the mail carrier plans a switch to completely electric vehicles as soon as possible. This announcement comes as record-high gasoline prices sweep the world. Major Japanese automakers have big plans regarding all-electric cars, with manufacturers such as Nissan, Subaru and Mitsubishi all readying introductions of their first models in 2010. Stocks of each of these companies soared with the news from the Post, along with battery makers which have relationships with those auto companies. Mitsubishi and its partner Yuasa appear to have benefited the most from the announcement, with shares of those companies jumping a surprisingly strong 3.7 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

In an effort to start saving money on gas right away, the Post also suggested that it will start testing hybrid vehicles, which could fill in until the fully electric vehicles and the associated necessary infrastructure are ready.

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Toyota is about to pass another major milestone in the race to build the next-generation of hybrid vehicles with the announcement today that it will construct a new $192 million plant in Japan solely to manufacture batteries. The plant is being developed jointly with Matsushita Electric – the company behind Panasonic – and will be constructed in Shizuoka prefecture, in central Japan.

The plant will initially produce nickel-metal hydride batteries for Toyota’s current hybrid fleet as well as the next-generation Prius hybrid due at next year’s Detroit Auto Show. The Nikkei reports that a second battery plant will be built for newer lithium-ion batteries that will eventually make their way into Toyota’s new plug-in hybrid vehicle due at the end of the decade.

Mercedes-Benz is expected to be the first major carmaker with a lithium-ion powered hybrid vehicle when it launches a new S400 hybrid sedan next year, and GM is also hard at work readying its Volt plug-in hybrid for a 2010 launch. Earlier this month GM engineers reached a new milestone in testing, with initial prototypes of the car reaching the goal of 40 miles of electric-only driving.

Nissan which still hasn’t developed its own hybrid system for commercial sale, said it will have its original hybrid and electric vehicles by 2010 and announced a new its joint venture with NEC this week to start mass-producing

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Last we saw the Uno electric unicycle it was looking very much like the prototype it was, but as you can see above, it seems that the teenage engineers behind it have been doing anything but slacking in the ensuing months. As Motorcycle Mojo reports, the third incarnation of the vehicle recently made its debut at the 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto, with it sporting some custom-made wheels, a stylin’ new body, and a few changes under the hood as well. That latter bit apparently even included a trip to a robotics and gyro expert in California, who helped to fine tune the two gyros the Uno uses for turning and forward and backward motion (something you probably want to get right). There’s still no word as to when or if the vehicle might actually enter production, however, but you can at least now get a great look at it courtesy of the generous batch of pics Motorcycle Mojo has provided at the link below.

(source: Engadget)

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Renault has already hinted at building electric cars in Israel towards the end of the decade in a deal with Shai Agassi’s Project Better Place – an initiative designed to make electric vehicles a practical reality. However, according to new reports Renault will also build its own range of electric vehicles for sale in international markets.

Renault’s alliance partner Nissan is also working on an electric vehicle for sale in 2010 and it’s likely the two carmakers are sharing technology and investment to help speed up development and minimize risk. Like the new Nissan electric vehicle, which is expected to be based on the next-generation Cube minicar, Renault’s new model will also fill the sub-compact segment and will be targeted at customers in congested cities.

Speaking with AutoExpress, Renault’s director of product planning, Patrick Pelata, revealed the car could be launched in time for the 2012 London Olympics. He also hinted that it would be about the same size as the Twingo and could be available with two different batteries – a lighter unit for short distances and a larger one for weekend trips. Designers are also considering implementing a battery rental scheme to help absorb the costs of the powertrain.

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We were finally beginning to accept the notion of that we would never join the Alfa Romeo 8C owners club, and then this hot little number showed up. The single-seat electric kiddie car is definitely just the thing for aspiring Fangios, and in point of fact, it’d look pretty nice sitting in the corner of our Ann Arbor offices, too.

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