Zoomi Life

Everyone wants government money. It seems that all of the electric vehicle manufacturers, whether making parts, batteries, or cars want in on that cheap Department of Energy cash. Matthew Lesko is already working on a new book with a working title of “Get FREE Government Money For Your Electric Car Company!”*

Read More: More Department of Energy Loans and Foibles: Tesla, Aptera, and More

Back in January, at the North American International Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz introduced the concept BlueZERO platform for the modular production of three different vehicle drive trains: an electric (E-Cell), a hydrogen fuel cell (F-Cell), and a range-extended electric (E-Cell PLUS).

Read More: Mercedes-Benz Fleshes Out the E-Cell Concept

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its Citaro FuelCELL Hybrid at the UITP World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition in Vienna earlier this month. The bus is hydrogen powered and has so far shown good performance during fleet testing.

Read More: The Mercedes-Benz Citaro Fuel Cell Hybrid Bus

A lot of exciting news has happened regarding corporate partnerships and alliances over the past week or so. Volkswagen and BYD, Daimler and Tesla, and others. Car makers are entering the new era of auto manufacturing by taking a lesson from the tech sector: you can’t do it all alone anymore.

Read More: BYD Gains VW As Partner, Ford May Follow - Other Partnerships Also In the Works

General Motors still thinks it’s in the game and is hoping to get even more stimulus money by building lithium batteries for the Volt in-house. LG Chem, meanwhile, is looking at building a US-based plant as well, but would need guaranteed orders of 50,000 plug-ins per year to justify it–that may be forthcoming soon, however.

Read More: GM Still Has Big Battery Plans - Daimler Does Too

Tesla Motors has announced that they will be supplying the battery packs for the Daimler Smart ED. Well, 1,000 of them anyway (all lithium-ion), with chargers. The deal was penned and announced at the Detroit Auto Show, where the Smart ED (soon to be renamed to Smart ForTwo or a derivative) was said to be coming to America soon.

Read More: Tesla To Supply Batteries For Daimler’s Smart ED

I know, the NAIAS Detroit Auto Show isn’t actually over. In fact, only the press show is done, the public show starts this weekend. All of the major announcements that were going to be made, all of the cars that were going to be debuted, and all of the pontifications on how such-and-such company promises to be this-that-or-the-other in the future have been grandstanded. So we feel confident in giving a roundup overview of this year’s show.

Read More: NAIAS Detroit Auto Show Roundup

The Smart Car called the “ED” (Electric Drive), made by Daimler, is gaining ground on the European market as a smart urban commuter. The name will be changed, since ED has other Viagra-related connotations for English-speakers, but the car will likely be the same. It’s just a question of when this little EV hits the American market.

Read More: Detroit: Smart ED Electric Smart Car Coming to America Soon