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Well, it’s the end of the year, so it’s time for everyone to start rolling out their favorites lists and summing up what they saw during the year. This is our top five favorite electric cars that are either on the market or will be before 2010.

#1 – Fisker Karma

While this car has some drawbacks, namely the price tag, it’s got a lot going for it: great styling, beautiful concept, and a well-put-together package of performance and practicality. I really like this car and hope that other car makers stand up and notice it.

#2 – Honda FCX Clarity

Although the car’s looks aren’t all that breakthrough and it’s definitely not getting the kind of publicity that the Chevy Volt and similar cars are getting, I feel that this car is probably the most innovative design to hit the roads so far. Released in limited numbers for testing to Hollywood celebrities and mogul types this summer, the car is quietly revolutionizing how people think about energy. If the car had been designed to look a little cooler, it might have made number one.

#3 – Aptera

This is, design-wise, easily the most innovative car yet. Due to hit the roads soon, this car has all kinds of great things going for it. The hybrid version gets great mileage and is capable of long distances while the EV is practical enough to be useful. Either way, the aircraft design elements in this car make it extremely unique. That’s coming from me, who generally doesn’t like trikes.

#4 – Tesla Roadster 1.5

This car and its design (as well as Tesla themselves) have had some real ups and downs this year: from Tesla claiming they’ll have the sedan model out in 2010 with a new factory to boot to their claim a couple of months later that they’re going bankrupt and need government money. The year for Tesla has been rocky at best. Still, this car is the benchmark to which almost all electrics are compared. That despite the exorbitant price tag the Roadster sports.

#5 – BYD F6DM

OK, not the most stylish or even innovative car out there, it’s still hitting the roads faster than most. Leave it to the Chinese to take a concept like “electric car” and make it affordable through mass production. I hope to see these on the road here in America on their promised 2010 release date. Meanwhile, we can watch the other side of the world drive them for a while. Work out the kinks for us, will ya?

There were others I wanted to put on this list, but most were either too far out to make the 2010 release or were just not quite good enough to really be counted. Even though electric vehicles are still considered “cutting edge,” there’s enough of them out there now and a long enough history that many “new” designs are really just rehashes of old ideas and a lot of “breakthroughs” just don’t give you the “wow” factor anymore.

It’s a sad day.  Really.  The Tesla Roadster got beat out by one of the worst geek-mobiles in the electric vehicle production world: the Tango.

The good news is that some kind of technicality caused the Tango to actually lose the race.  Something to do with “dial caps,” whatever those are.  The driver of the Tango later got behind the wheel of the Tesla and lost that race for the same reason.

Anyone know what a heck a “dial cap” is?

Well, one blog commenter got it right with this:

Then the owners got out and argued about who would win in a fight, Picard or Kirk, before returning to their moms basement for a nap.

Here’s the Video:

Via Jalopnik

I know that I’ve touted the Tesla a lot and tend to use it as a benchmark for other electrics, but there’s a reason for that: it rocks. Why? Because it goes fast, does so for a long time, and looks cool. My biggest beef with it is its price tag, but that’s neither here nor there.

Tesla has announced that the Roadster will be seeing some upgrades and improvements in the 2009 and 2010 models, mainly having to do with the transmission and drive train. “Transmission?” You ask. Ya, betcha didn’t know the Tesla has a two-speed transmission that they’ve locked into second gear for performance and maintenance reasons. Guess what? Turns out that was slowing this car down.

Wait…the car that does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds is getting faster?

Yep, although that acceleration speed will stay the same. What changes is the quarter mile numbers, which go up about 30% (making it now 12.9 seconds).

So what’d they change?

Little things. They’ve improved the drive train with another one-gear transmission, but this one helping the motor deliver higher torque values. The motor itself also sees improvement as does the inverter and other items. Here’s the new spec sheet for the changed items:

• An improved inverter (PEM) to deliver higher motor current
• An improved motor to handle higher current and torque
• A new single-speed gearbox
• A new motor to gearbox coupler and an improved motor cable
• Upgraded vehicle firmware
• Weight of gearbox reduced by 8kg while improving strength

All these changes mean that the Roadster’s now labeled the “1.5” (same car, new innards). You can read more detailed information on the upgrades on Tesla’s website.

This Post Sources: 1, 2

Tesla is all the talk in American electric vehicles, with their ground breaking Tesla Roadster, which is based on a stretched Lotus Elise platform. The car company has announced a new model, this one a four-door sedan of all-original design, to be ready for pre-order in 2009 and available in late 2010.

The new model will be built in Tesla’s new $240 million manufacturing plant, which will begin construction next summer in San Jose, California. The company’s current facility in San Carlos will be retained as a secondary facility, a company spokesperson says, but most operations will move to the new facility when it opens. A new (second) sales floor in West Los Angeles is also in the works. The current is in Menlo Park, California.

Right now, Tesla’s manufacturing is done by Lotus in Hethel, Britain, where parts are shipped from various parts of the UK, Taiwan, and the U.S. and assembled before the cars are finally shipped to the states. Darryl Siry, Tesla’s VP of Sales, Marketing and Service, says that the company is also planning to set up a national network of service centers, likely through a deal with current luxury automobile repair shops. Rumors say the deal could be done through Lotus’ current network here in North America.

The Model S will be based on the design information and engineering learned from the Roadster, but will be a very different car because of the requirements of a four-door sedan. For one, the new car will have a price tag around $60,000, just over half the price of the Roadster. It will have a slightly longer range (240 miles) per charge due to its projected lower pick-up, doing 0-60 in around 6 seconds—compared to the Roadsters 3.9.

It will use the same lithium-ion battery pack the Roadster uses, though changes in technology between now and production could change that. The general components of the car will be roughly the same, though the motor will have a lower horsepower rating and higher torque values (to handle the extra weight inherent in a larger car).

The new Model S was designed entirely in-house by Tesla Motors and will be a completely original luxury sedan. It’s got great looks and styling, as the photos will show you, and will have all the amenities people expect from a luxury car of this price range.

Tesla recently acquired Franz von Holzhausen to finish off the design of this new model. Holzhausen was formerly the Director of Design for Mazda North America.

Watch for this new model to make some waves in the near future in both the press and the Internet community. It’s a big step for both Tesla and the American electric car market as a whole. Also watch for Tesla’s new race car to hit the circuit too.

It’s likely that pre-sales of the Model S will cap out the 2010 production abilities of the new facility, given the more affordable nature of this model and it’s actual usefulness as a family car.

We Americans have the Tesla Roadster, the electric car which does zero to sixty in four seconds. The British now have the Lightning, the electric car which does…you guessed it, zero to sixty in four seconds.

Built by the Lightning Car Company of England, this all-electric sports car has some impressive features (to go with its impressive price tag). It’s 700hp electric motor system has a top speed of over 130mph and has an innovative design.

Notice I said “system” and not “motor?” That’s because the car doesn’t have one electric motor, but four: one in each wheel. This allows for less waste because of power transfers from motor to drive train to wheels. It also allows for more efficient regenerative braking, which most intelligent electrics are using now, wherein the power used to brake the wheels to slow or stop the vehicle is also used to recharge the batteries by capturing the inertia and re-converting it back to electricity.

While you may or may not see this car in the next Bond film, don’t expect anyone besides him to be able to afford it. With a price of a whopping 120,000 British Pounds (about $240,000 American) and reservation payment of 3,500 British Pounds, you’ll have to really, really want to go electric to get one. For the rest of Britain, there’s always the G-Wiz, I guess.