Starting the week

• Nissan’s Infiniti brand is to make a compact, five-seater all-electric model, and has released a sketch (pictured). This will be launched in Europe and the US in 2013; it’s thought to share its platform and powertrain with the Nissan Leaf.

• Fiat has axed its two-seater, two-cylinder Topolino, reports Autocar, and instead will focus on a new-generation, more accessible and mainstream, Seicento.

• BMW is to start field trials of the ActiveE – a 1-Series Coupe-based EV – in the USA. Drivers in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston and areas of Connecticut will participate in a full shake-down of the technology, which will later feature in the Megacity. The ActiveE trials follow those of the Mini E in BMW’s Project i programme, and are an advance in that this car’s a four-seater with a 100-mile range.

• Toyota has confirmed production of a new small hybrid – Yaris-based – in Valenciennes, France, from 2012. And it’s also to supply the hybrid powertrain for the Lotus Elite, reports Automotive News Europe.

• Saab is to start making electric all-wheel-drive systems and components for electric/hybrid powertrains in Trollhatten from 1st October. It has formed a partnership with American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., named e-AAM Driveline Systems, and will supply components to other manufacturers as well.

• Subaru has improved the efficiency of its famous flat-four ‘boxer’ engine by 10%. Revisions to the cylinder bore, lengthening of the piston stroke, a new active valve control system and intake port configuration, plus lighter pistons and con rods and a smaller oil pump have all contributed to the improvement; internal engine friction is down 30%. The engine will be built at Subaru’s new factory north of Tokyo, and will first feature in the US/Japanese-market Forester from this autumn.

• Rumour of the day: Honda is preparing a successor to the S2000 – and it’ll be a hybrid based on the CR-Z’s underpinnings/powertrain, claims Road & Track.

• Meet VIPER and TIGERS: the first stands for Vehicle Integrated Powertrain Energy Recovery, a project underway involving Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Imperial College, BP, University of London, IAV and Controlled Powertrain Technologies (CPT). CPT is to contribute TIGERS: Turbo-generator Integrated Gas Energy Recovery System, to help reduce heat energy losses in an exhaust system.

• Heard the one about the road as smooth as glass? Glazed solar panels in road surfaces could provide all the power for an ‘intelligent highway’, reports Wired.com.

Midweek matters

• Despite the axe-wielding of our new coalition government, the Plug-In Car Grant scheme will still go ahead in the UK from January 2011. Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond confirmed today that up to £5000 – a 25% rebate on list price – will be available to buyers of electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell cars on a list of those approved for safety, reliability, performance and warranty standards. Funding for the Plugged-In Places initiative will also continue, with local authorities from the West Midlands, Cornwall, Sheffield, the Lake District, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland bidding for support to establish recharging infrastructure. *Update (thanks to Autocar) – though the scheme’s not been axed, the pot of cash up for grabs has been reduced from the original £230million to £43million.

• BMW has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming in an ad that its all-electric Concept ActiveE gave out “zero C02 emissions”. The ASA ruled, in response to a complaint, that the ActiveE would most likely be powered by electricity from fossil-fuel power stations and therefore the “zero C02 emissions” claim was misleading – despite the caveat “when driving” (The Telegraph).

• AFS Trinity of Delaware has patented its extended-range ‘extreme hybrid’ powertrain, which features ultracapacitors and is said to require half the usual number of battery cells. It intends to license the technology, claimed to be up to a third cheaper to make and fit than current plug-in hybrid systems, and is hoping that it will qualify for the US government’s tax rebates and incentives.  Full story at Autoblog Green.

• Planar Energy of Orlando, Florida, is to start trial production next year of its solid-state batteries. These have a solid ion conductor in place of a liquid electrolyte, and are said to have higher-density storage and a higher power capacity than lithium-ion batteries. Planar claims to have solved earlier problems of scaling-up the technology, and plans to develop its batteries for automotive applications (Autoblog Green).

• Enterprise Rent-A-Car is to add electric vehicles to its US fleet at over 5000 locations.  It will take delivery of 500 Nissan Leafs from January 2011, with other models to follow. The first locations to offer EVs will be Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; San Diego and Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.  These cities will have a recharging infrastucture in place, with charging points at Enterprise depots as well as in public-access facilities.

• Porsche has confirmed the launch of the Panamera Hybrid next year. This super-saloon will get the 329bhp supercharged 3-litre V6 petrol engine and 46bhp electric motor, as in the Cayenne Hybrid.