"The networked grid-friendly charging stations are a perfect complement to the many innovative green features of the restaurant," said Ric Richards, "Our customers will have a dedicated place to park and recharge their vehicles. McDonalds is enabling a better environment for future generations by supporting zero-emissions transportation infrastructure, through the use of the ChargePointSM Network.

So, it appears that McDonalds has their sights set on the all important electric car driving, morbidly obese carnivore demographic. Yeah, I don't think that "s" is necessary after the word "customer", but I'm sure that this is the start of something genuinely important in our quest for greener energy. [Novacharge via Red Ferret]

The Lampo will never actually be for sale because Protoscar isn't an automobile manufacturer. Instead, the prototype was designed to show just what was possible with today's technology.

Because of that, the car doesn't quite drive like its pricetag might make you expect.

Driving the Lampo is not that different from driving any other car, apart from the lack of a gearbox. The "central selector," as it's called here, allows you to choose forward drive or reverse. There's also an "E"-mode where the car will brake using mainly the torque of the electric motors, maximizing the energy recovery. This is not intended for regular braking, but works brilliantly holding speed constant or slowing down while driving downhill. The Lampo's main problem is that this is basically the only feature of the car that works as it's supposed to.

If you spend a six-figured amount on a car, you'll want it to fire on all cylinders or whatever that translates to in EV-speak. The Lampo doesn't. In theory its twin motors and battery packs running the front and back wheels separately are good for 268 HP and 325 Lb-Ft of torque, but for "technical reasons" the power output has to be limited to somewhere in the region of 60 % during our test drive. Maximum speed is supposed to be over 125 MPH, but it's been restricted to 75 MPH. Hard acceleration is also out of the question, as that may upset the batteries and cause all sorts of problems. Problems like fire.

Which is all fine, because again, this is a prototype. And it's still impressive that a solar car is out there. Just its existence promises that we'll see the good parts of this car in consumer autos at some point, with the bad parts left off. [Jalopnik]

For your money, you'll be getting one of the fastest all electric vehicles around. The 2009MY can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, has a top speed of 125 mph, and can go 227 miles on a 3.5 hour charge. If you're especially opulent, you can add sweet extras like a painted carbon fiber top for $3,200 or a premium leather interior for $1,800.

Want to think a little more before you let this sweet lil' ride burn a hole through your bank account? Here's a couple of reviews to help you make your decision. Or if you're in California, scuttle over to their dealership in LA. [Tesla Motors]

Not right away. It's not too late to plunk down a $50,000 deposit, which gives you the right to buy your shiny new Tesla by next July, or if you pay a $30,000 deposit, you'll be in line behind the $50,000 depositors. Oh yeah, you'll have to pay the balance on the final price of $102,900 plus any tax and delivery charges, and that breaks down to $98,000 for the car, and of course you'll want to add a $1200 navigation system, a carbon fiber hard top that matches the body color for $3200, and then there's that $500 mobile charging system. All of those options sound like necessities to us.

It does look like a great car, but we're reluctant to buy anything that's in a such a limited edition, and especially since it's version 1.0. We'd rather let others be the beta testers for this fire-breathing electro-rocket. [Mercury News]

Since it just goes just 30 miles on a charge, don't be thinking about taking any extended road trips with this 33hp motorcycle-like contraption, but it has a top speed of 70mph so you could probably head out on the highway for a short trip or two if you're able to muster up enough courage. Plug it into a 110-volt outlet and it takes six hours to charge, but connect it to 220 volts and it takes only an hour to juice it up.

Pricing, an even uglier pic that'll make you laugh out loud, and an alternative suggestion, coming up:

Ha ha ha! If you really can't stand that banana color, you can choose from a long list of other colors, too, including red, teal, orange, blue, purple, magenta, white, coral, dark aqua, green, lime green, lilac and aqua. Maybe just paint a clown face on the thing for even more fugly impact.

But now the shocker: this 1600-pound ugly duckling costs—wait for it—$24,899.95. Save your money; there are much better electric trykes on the way. – Charlie White

The Electric One-Person Car [Hammacher Schlemmer]

The minuscule 900-pound vehicle is not quite as fast as that zero-to-60-in-4-seconds Tesla electric roadster, but then it still has a top speed of 125mph, and at $42K, doesn't cost nearly as much as the $100,000 Tesla. The company's taking orders for delivery this spring.

Here's more, a trio of tack-sharp shots of this electro-coolness:

If the hotcake-like sales of the Tesla were any indication, this Silence PT2 will probably sell out fast. – Charlie White

Product Page [EBW & Silence Inc., via AutoBlog Green]

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]

A car equipped with EEStore's Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) is said to only need $9 worth of electricity to travel 500 miles, compared to the $60 worth of gasoline needed by a conventional vehicle with an internal combustion engine. The company's goal goes far beyond powering vehicles—it plans to "replace the electrochemical battery" everywhere, from powering laptops, storing electricity at electrical utilities and storing energy from wind and sun. This could change the world. – Charlie White

Battery Breakthrough? [Technology Review]

Yuan aims her design concept at China in 2012, hoping urban professionals will pick up on this customizable idea. It's a wonderful utopian notion, but we doubt it would do too well against cabbies in New York or SUVs ruling the roads in the U.S. Check out more fanciful renderings, vaguely describing how it works:

Team up this idea with automated driving and self-parking, and it might be an acceptable post-apocalypse runabout. – Charlie White

Design Page [Patty Yuan, via Yanko Design]