According to Henrik Fisker, head of the company, by fake engine sounds it means real, gruff, user-selectable engine sounds. One will apparently sound ''like something between a Formula One car and a jet plane," which should certainly be enough to keep unwary pedestrians leaping for the sidewalk as you roar toward them.

Let's hope there's a silent option and that not many morons buy it. [Jalopnik]

Designed for the streets of Taiwan, the car uses a airplane-grade Nomex honeycomb body that makes it just 550lbs with seats. The light weight brings efficiency, so much so, in fact, that the developers claim that the car just needs a few hours of sunlight to recharge its batteries for another 3 hours of driving. But we'll admit it—with a solar panel that tiny on top of the car, we can't help but be a little skeptical about that figure.

Then again, for its groundbreakingly low $24,600 price tag, we'll be willing to give it a chance over this more expensive, equally hideous alternative. [taipeitimes via treehugger]

How's 230mpg while driving at 55mph? Yes, that's short of the 330mpg first promised last year, but that's a real world number demonstrated as the company rolled out the first working prototype of this diesel-electric car in March. Part of the secret to that great mpg number is its drag coefficient of 0.11, extremely slippery. The company's also claiming a 0-60 time of 10 seconds.

It looks way-cool, too. We especially like the view from the rear of this car—it looks like a flying saucer, and the view from the side? Why, it's a banana on wheels, and we mean that in the nicest way.

And the pricing? The company insists all this tech will cost around $20K, and say the first Apteras will be delivered in "approximately 12 months." That's a long time to lend someone $500 interest-free, but hey, this is an extraordinary design so maybe we'll give 'em a pass this time. [Aptera]

Right now, it's all talk, with no real solid ideas behind it. The politicians have suggested that completely switching to alternative fuel sources and raising highway tolls to fund a national rail system are key — but we'll see if any of it actually happens. Both my lungs and I pray to God that it will. [Scotsman via Wired]

When are the first hack-shops coming together for the mechanically simple electric cars? And when will Tesla tackle the minivan segment? All that torque has to be useful for hauling around today's McNugget-fed preteens.–Brian Lam

Tesla EV [Treehugger and Dvorak]

Lotus Engineering is busy these days—it's the same company that designed the Tesla's body. This next electric road rocket will be a joint venture of Lotus and ZAP, the company that's bringing Smart Cars to the US. No word on when this electro-tech might be available to the public, but a prototype is expected to show up at the big North American Dealers Association (NADA) annual meeting early next month. – Charlie White

Zap, Lotus Team Up on Electric Crossover SUV [Jalopnik]

It's packed with lots of humble off-the-shelf components, yet we're hearing the vehicle might cost in the neighborhood of $100K. It takes 3.5 hours to charge up those thousands of batteries, and on a full charge it can keep on going and going, quick like a bunny, for 250 miles. Looks like lots of fun to drive, where its two forward gears let you enjoy that flat torque curve you can only get with an electric motor. Now if you'll just lend us $99,995, we'll be on our way. – Charlie White

Mechanical Resonance: The Tesla Motors Press Intro, Complete With Governator [Jalopnik]

The EV1 will be replaced at the Smithsonian by an SUV, the robotic VW Touareg designed by Stanford University. Is it a coincidence that GM is one of the largest financial supporters of the Smithsonian, and its EV1 was mysteriously removed from that museum on the eve of the premiere of this GM-critical documentary? Hmm. Just asking. – Charlie White

Smithsonian Kills the Electric Car [treehugger]