Nissan has announced that it has built a super-fast EV charger that can take your battery from drained to fully charged in a mere ten minutes -- a huge improvement over the typical eight-hour refueling time that most EV chargers require.

This new quick charger, built with help from Japan's Kansai University, was made by swapping out the traditionally-used carbon electrodes for tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide electrodes that proved to be far more efficient.  One major drawback to this swap is that EVs today are made with charging components that work with those carbon electrodes, so EVs themselves would have to be updated to work with this new type of charger.

Nissan plans to fully commercialize this new charger, but it's likely to take about another decade until they're on the streets or available for your home.  It's a drag to have to wait that long to see this technology produced, but it's also really exciting to imagine that in ten years you'll be able to recharge your EV in the time it takes to eat a snack.

via Inhabitat

Chevrolet is bringing out a new "city car" model to be available in summer 2012, and along with it, an all-electric version of the same vehicle will be available starting in California in 2013. Both the non-electric and the electric versions are called the Chevy Spark.

The Spark is a small car aimed at Millenial generation consumers, particularly those living in dense cities. "The Chevrolet Spark is 14 inches shorter than the recently launched Chevrolet Sonic. It’s three feet longer than the Smart Fortwo and four inches longer than the Fiat 500."

The gas powered version of the Spark will have an 83 horsepower (61kW) 1.2L four-cylinder engine. The company has not yet released specific details about the price, driving range or performance of the Spark EV, nor what markets it will be available in. However, according to the company, A123 Systems will supply the advanced nanophosphate lithium-ion battery packs that will power the Spark EV.

via: Michigan Radio