And, on a lighter note: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/04/13/spark-evs-michael-papp-arrested-in-electric-vehicle-scam/
"Spark EV's Michael Papp arrested in electric vehicle scam Posted Apr 13th 2008 at 6:44PM by Sebastian Blanco Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Green Daily Thanks to our reader Mike, we have an update to share about the troubled history of Michael Papp electric vehicle company. Regular readers will remember that Papp is the man behind Spark EV, a company that has been accused more than once of shady dealings. It looks like the New Jersey law officials agree, and have decided to step in to put a stop to Papp's scam. According to the Express Times, Papp was arrested Friday after failing to deliver 14 electric vehicles to Electric Cars of Houston (which had ordered 10) and Electric Transportation of Arkansas (four). Papp is charged with bilking them for almost $100,000, according to court records. The EVs were paid for in January and February, and Papp told the payers the vehicles would be delivered March 14. They weren't. After trying to track down what happened, the companies asked for a refund. Papp answered that he was filing for bankruptcy, so no go. Apparently, Papp is in Northampton County Prison and being held on $20,000 bail. We'll have more on this as things move forward, I can guarantee you that." <end> Terry On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 1:08 PM, Terry Blanton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hey it looks like my xBox! > > http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080806085901.thpknii3&show_article=1 > > "Nissan Motor Co. unveiled a new prototype electric vehicle Wednesday > with batteries twice as powerful as conventional technology, aiming to > take a lead in zero-emission cars. > Japan's third-largest automaker said the front-wheel drive, > boxy-shaped car has a newly developed 80 kilowatt motor with advanced > lithium-ion batteries installed under the vehicle's floor to avoid > taking up space. > > The laminated batteries, jointly developed with electronics giant NEC > Corp., pack twice the electric power of conventional nickel-metal > hydride batteries currently used in hybrid and electric cars, it said. > > Nissan aims to start selling an electric car in the United States and > Japan in 2010 and the rest of the world in 2012. It will have a new > "unique bodystyle" that is not based on any existing model, the > company said. > > Nissan has been slower than rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor > Co. to embrace petrol-electric hybrids, but it aims to become the > industry leader in electric vehicles. > > Such cars have so far failed to break into the mainstream, partly > because of their limited battery life. > > Nissan is also developing hydrogen fuel-cell cars as well as its own > hybrid system, betting that zero-emission vehicles will take a 15 > percent share of the global auto market in the future. > > The company also unveiled a prototype hybrid which will also be > launched in the US and Japan in 2010, as well as a new, slimmer fuel > cell stack with double the power density of previous ones and 35 > percent lower costs." >
