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GM’s PR office was in high gear yesterday reminding us that the Volt is still an active project over at Warren Tech Center. Make no mistake–it’s the biggest project at Warren and for that matter all of GM since the Cobalt. But if you read between the lines carefully, you’ll note that the releases are just out of step enough to confirm what we’ve already said here on CD: the Volt is not just a really big project, but it’s also on schedule. My sources over there have been pretty up front about it–everything in those releases is already in the bag. The lithium ion technology is moving forward and mules are out in the field. But don’t get too excited–things can get hung up for all sorts of reasons. And that is why Mr Lutz is asking the entire engineering staff to keep the Volt in the number one position. The only way to insure every possible solution gets examined is to keep the problem at the front of everyone’s mind. Think of it as a Lutz-It (R) note to Warren.

Read the GM press release. And Jalopnik has some Volt video that was snuck out of GM yesterday.

Pro surfer Taylor Knox managed to get his sponsor, Rip Curl, to finance the grease-car conversion of his F-250 diesel pickup. Now that’s using your sponsor dollars wisely, since the side-effect of the stunt is, of course, free gas for life: "I transfer all their [restaurants'] unwanted grease into the tank, and I’m good to go," Knox says. What could be better? Rip Curl paid Grease Not Gas $3700 to install the necessary parts to run the truck on waste veggie oil, including a massive 73-gallon tank. The price seems a little steep compared to the original Greasecar conversion, but when you’ve got a multinational footing the bill, it probably doesn’t hurt to pull out all the stops. Knox says he’s "only had to fill up a few times" since the conversion. With that race-hauler-sized tank, I should hope so!

Source: PacSun via Auto Motto

It’s ultra-compact, it’s a fully rechargeable plug-in electric… and it’s from 1962. A company in California called Electrodyne made a few of these little runabouts back in the day, and a surprisingly well-preserved one has shown up on eBay. Like a lot of the EV conversions that showed up in the 80′s, it runs on a traction motor and a trunk full of lead-acid batteries. No word on its top speed, so it’s hard to say if it’d be a viable street car or just a glorified golf cart. The seller’s accepting offers, so it could be gone at any time!

There are two kinds of projects automotive engineers have at any given time–those they are supposed to talk about, and those they are not allowed to talk about. It looks like the A/C system on the Volt is one of the second type. I’ve been fishing around for a while about it, and stepped up my efforts after last week’s profile of Mark Weber (the Volt project leader) in the Detroit Free Press. While everyone I contacted was very forthcoming in agreement that electricity-sucking A/C was definitely going to cause problems with the vehicle’s range and fuel efficiency, no one was willing to address any of the potential alternative cooling technologies out there. Particularly interesting was the response to my inquiries about Peltier cooling, a type of electrical circuit that acts as a heat pump and dispenses with the mechanical losses of a compressor. "Yeah, we’ve looked into that," followed by a complete and rather stony silence. If that response means what I think it means, then the Volt will not only showcase GM’s new drivetrain, but possibly some lower power-consumption accessories to go with. Get ready geeks, this thing is going to be a toy box!

It’d be an understatement to say that the Aurora 101 is remarkable car. Built by a group of volunteers “dedicated to achieving extreme efficiency in transport,” the Aurora is no conventional family sedan, though it’s got some pretty interesting features. The frame is constructed from carbon fibre while the upper body is made from polystyrene and composite materials. It weighs in at 160kg, with 30kg of batteries and no driver. Powered by an electric motor that produces a continuous power output of 1.8kw, it harnesses the sun’s rays using solar panels that take up a surface area of 5.9 meters. All of this technology was put to good use last year with the team, taking 3rd place at the 2007 World Solar Challenge. They also won the “Spirit of the Event” award.

So you want to go green, but don’t feel like you have to announce it to the entire world by buying an ugly ass Prius? Want something that’s more of a driver’s car? Two great options for around $23k are the Honda Civic Hybrid and the VW Jetta TDI. Which would you choose, the Japanese hybrid or the German diesel?

Check out the Loremo, under development by a German company, which promises to get 130-150 mpg through aerodynamics and a 2-cylinder turbocharged diesel. The name stands for "Low Resistance Mobile" and a lot of its efficiency is achieved through creative weight reduction—including its bizarre entry system, which eliminates the need for the heavy mechanics of side doors. The Loremo is skipping the auto-show circuit and going straight into mass production: Europe will get a 22,000-dollar version beginning next year, and the Loremo is scheduled to hit the US—with a 3-cylinder version costing about 30 big ones—the following year. John’s story on the 376 mpg Opel made the point that ultra-efficient cars aren’t exactly beyond our reach. But could we really be getting a production, non-hybrid, triple-digit mpg car Stateside by 2010? See more photos after the jump, and read up at msn.

Check out the video of Greg Zanis’s loony pyramid-shaped home-built EV. It appears to be running license plates, though I can’t imagine how this thing can be street legal. Still, it sure looks right at home cruising through a residential neighborhood—and just wait’ll you see him pop out of that glass canopy and give an informative demo of all his ride’s features (including a "temporary radio" and a functional seat-heater, because "it is winter here in Illinois"). It has working headlights, though they need to be turned on individually, and his video ends with a pitch for donations to finance his next project. You gotta hand it to hometown Gyro Gearloose—he thought of just about everything! And guess what he calls it: the Dream Car.

The mad geniuses at Rinspeed are either really handy with the GCI, or they’re seriously bringing a functional diving car to the Geneva Motor Show. In any case, their site has been restocked with a hilarious video and a lot of more detailed pictures that depict a well-dressed couple supposedly putting the Lotus-bodied submarine-car through its paces. And yes, as some of you complained the other day, the sQuba is in fact a convertible. Which means you have to wear diving gear to drive it. Don’t forget your tuxedo! See more astonishing pics after the jump, and the full gallery at Left Lane News.

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