Well, it has finally arrived. After all the hype and teasers Tesla has unveiled its Model X all electric SUV at the Tesla design studio in California. Well, we thought it would be an SUV, but after having a look, its probably safe to say its more of a crossover than anything.

The model X is said to be a family vehicle with performance roots according to Tesla, and will hit the 0-60 MPH mark in under five seconds. A dual motor all wheel drive setup is available for the Model X, and when outfitted will have two separate electric motors, one driving each axle. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and co-founder said at the press conference that Model X has ”more room than a minivan, more style than an SUV and more performance than a sports car.” The crossover will come with two of the three available Model S engine sizes,using either a 60 or 80 kWh battery pack. Thanks to its added weight, the Model X will get 10 to 12 percent less range than the Model S. That will give the the Model X about 260 to 270 miles of range for the 85-kWh battery and 200 to 210 for the 60-kWh.

Thanks to its lack of an internal combustion engine, the Model X has storage in the rear of the vehicle as well as the front, with the “frunk” alone offering as much storage space as an Audi Q7.

One of the most interesting features on the Model X are the doors. Tesla calls this unique door design “Falcon Wings” and are building upon many other luxury cars utilizing the classic gull-wing design. The falcon wings allow passengers easy step in access to the second and third row of seats, and because they bend in the middle can be opened in tight spaces without worry of smashing up the car next to you. Tesla says that seating seven adults comfortably will be no problem, and entering and exiting the vehicle will be easier than ever before.

The Model X will begin production in late 2013 with deliveries beginning in early 2014. The Model X’s price is expected to be around $57,500.

The all-electric Tesla Model X will debut today at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time at Tesla’s design studio in California.

Mere hours before the official unveil Tesla founder and CEO, Elon Musk tweeted a new teaser photo which shows off what are being called the Model X’s falcon wing doors.

The new picture doesn’t give away much more than the first teaser photo did, but it’s doing the intended job: creating a buzz before the full unveil.

The falcon wing doors resemble gull wing doors like those found on the Mercedes-Benz SLS but claim to lift up and fold, offering easier access for rear seat passengers. We will have to wait and see exactly where Tesla is going with its new door design.

Be sure to check back here for coverage of the reveal.

Fisker Automotive, an electric car manufacturer based out of Southern California announced that it had laid off employees and contractors at both their headquarters and assembly facility in Wilmington, Delaware as they attempt to renegotiate terms from their $529-million loan from the US Department of Energy.

Fisker spokesman, Roger Ormisher, recently told the Associated Press that Fisker Automotive hopes that they can “reach a resolution soon” with the Department of Energy on revised terms on their low-interest loans. Recently, Fisker missed critical deadlines on the development of their second vehicle which is currently called Project Nina. Project Nina is supposed to be a mid-sized, plug-in sedan to complement the already existing Karma model.

Even though Fisker claims that much of the design, engineering, development, and testing has been done on Project Nina, the automaker said in October that production wouldn’t begin until mid-2013 though some production would occur before the end of 2012.

The Fisker Karma hasn’t been a huge success either, marketed as a range-extended electric luxury sport sedan. It had several delays in its launch and recently went through a recall to prevent a potential battery-pack leak. The layoffs that were announced included 40 employees and contractors in Anaheim, California and 26 workers at their Wilmington plant. Fisker Automotive is currently looking to conserve its cash while renegotiating their loans.

GALLERY: Fisker Karma

[Source: Associated Press]

Despite the hype and sometimes controversy surrounding the Chevrolet Volt, one aspect that’s been decidedly overlooked, is the fact that from the outset it was designed to incorporate future upgrades.

During a three-day teardown by Munro & Associates at their Troy, Michigan based headquarters, representatives from the news agency Reuters were invited to witness the process and discovered some interesting facts about the Volt, specifically relating to its battery pack.

Examining the circuit boards, Munro’s CEO, Sandy Munro, remarked “this is, without doubt, the most advanced board I’ve seen General Motors put on and it’s got room to grow.”

John Scott-Thomas, an engineer with UMB TechInsights, also present during the teardown, said, in reference to a board containing 32-bit Freescale Semiconductor chips from the Volt’s battery inverter, ”there are places here where you can see that it looks as though you should be able to put an integrated circuit and there’s nothing there.”

Such commentary clearly indicates that down the road, GM plans to add additional circuits, with the goal of improving both range and performance, in fact, that was exactly what company engineer Doug Parks told Reuters during a recent interview.

However, Parks also said that despite the Volt employing double the number of Freescale chips found in a conventional internal combustion engined vehicle, GM deliberately played it safe when designing the car, with the view that future batteries would be considerably more efficient.

Although the Volt has come under recent criticism, following a NHTSA probe that showed coolant leaking from the battery pack could cause fires, GM is introducing a strengthened structure around the battery pack to prevent it from happening in the future.

It’s also likely, that given the amount of time and money invested in the Volt so far, it probably won’t be surprising if many of the features incorporated into the car’s battery pack show up in other GM electric and Hybrid vehicles, since not only will it make the technology more profitable, but having the ability to upgrade battery systems will also go a long way to addressing consumer concerns about EV/Hybrid longevity and practicality.

[Source: Auto News]

Today Nissan announced its list of concepts that will bow at the Geneva Auto Show next month. There are two world premiers in the group, the Invitation and one other that the company is keeping closely guarded.

The Invitation, which from what we can tell is a lot like a cooler version of the Versa, will feature Nissan’s Around View Monitor (AVM) which gives a bird’s eye view of the car for easy parking.

“The future product vision promised by these four concept vehicles – when added to the strength and depth of our full range – shows the confidence coursing through every aspect of Nissan today. We are on target to become the top Asian brand right across Europe by 2016,” said Paul Wilcox, the senior vice president of sales and marketing in Europe.

Aside from the Invitation and the secret concept which has us wondering, the company will also display the Juke NISMO concept that will wear speedy-looking trim on the dressed-up Juke, but little in actual performance improvements.

The e-NV200 is Nissan’s next foray into the EV market and will first gain entry to the U.S. market as a fleet of New York City taxi cabs. The e-NV200 will be the fourth and final concept unveiled by Nissan at the Geneva show.

Electric car maker Fisker Automotive is expanding its grip on worldwide sales by pushing its new Karma in Canada.

To bring the cars to the Canadian market with the smallest investment possible, Fisker partnered with existing retailers in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver to market its car. In Toronto, a standalone store will be constructed in a well to do area of the city to try and push sales up in the Country’s largest market

Electric vehicle sales in Canada are also backed by the Canadian government as well as provincial governments, with Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec offering incentives up to $8,500 CAD on new electric vehicle purchases. Ontario residents also get the benefit of unrestricted access to high occupancy vehicle lanes for plug-in cars. The province of Quebec is offering to pay for half the cost of a charging station.

You would think with all the damage control Chevrolet has to do after their share of bad press on the Volt that they would be able to come up with a better, more creative ad for this year’s Super Bowl.

Nonetheless, Chevy will be presenting your run-of-the-mill commercial featuring aliens from another planet, or galaxy far, far away that are interested in the technology behind the Chevy Volt. Unfortunately it doesn’t really say too much about what makes the Volt a great, but more importantly safe, vehicle – other than the fact that “it’s electric, and when I need to go farther it runs on gas.”

We have to admit that Chevy is going to have to really step up their game if they hope to change the general public’s perception of their Volt. Aliens just won’t cut it these days.

Check out the odd commercial after the break.

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Infiniti has announced that its upcoming plug-in hybrid sports car concept will be called the Emerge-E.

Using a gasoline range-extended to add power and range to an electric powertrain, this will be the first such system used in an Infiniti product. The “advanced sports car concept” will also be the first Infiniti to use a mid-engine powertrain configuration.

Few details are yet known about the brand’s new flagship performance vehicle but Infiniti is promising a zero emissions mode as well as “vivid performance.”

Watch the latest video teaser for the Emerge-E below:

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Coda CEO Phil Murtaugh knows a thing or two about the car industry and expects to be selling their cars by the end of the month.

Before taking the reigns at the Los Angeles startup, Murtaugh spent 10 years as the head of GM China. Not surprisingly, his current project takes advantage of the connections he made during that decade by sourcing most of their parts from the country.

It’s a policy that prompted some criticism, though Murtaugh said to the Detroit News that they plan to run a more U.S.-centric operation if they can secure a loan from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Loan program.

As for the car, customers can head to the company site to peruse options for the as-of-yet unnamed vehicle.

There’s lots to look at, but frankly we’re still scratching our heads a little on this one. The Coda, as it’s simply referred to on the site, can run for a 150 mile range, sure, but at $39,900 it seems like a tough sell next to the Nissan Leaf’s $35,200 tag, before tax credits.

It’s also hideous. The thing seems to take styling cues from late 90′s that are bland enough to make a Camry seem exotic.

It’s hard to look past the fact that the same cash could buy you a car that doesn’t look completely out of date.

The Coda also only has about 143 horsepower and is electronically limited to 85 mph. We wish the company luck, but it looks like they’ll need a lot more than that to push products.

[Source: Detroit News]

The BMW i3 concept has been around for some time, but now we can speculate that BMW must be close to having a production car on their hands.

These newest spy photos show the i3 playing around in some snow in the European north, and looking like it could be ready for the road fairly soon. The i3 will feature a carbon-fiber reinforced plastic chassis to make it incredibly light, and along with the BMW i8 will be the first high volume production car to utilize such technology.

The nose on the i3 actually looks like it has changed a little bit since we last saw it in our first batch of spy photos. Clearly BMW is hard at work on the i3.

The fully electric i3 makes roughly 170 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque and thanks to a weight of roughly 2,755 lbs is expected to accelerate to 60 mph in around 8 seconds.

At the unveiling of the concept version at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, BMW announced the i3 would be in dealers by the end of 2013.

GALLERY: i3 Spy Photos