Tesla plans to get its first sedan out next year and it has begun testing the first of two prototypes: the Model S Alpha. The new Model S shows a few slight design variations from the versions that we’ve seen in the past at auto shows, including a new front fascia with air intakes in the bumper.

Tesla released some video of its hot, electric sedan so you can give it the full eye over. Excuse the cliche, but it’s definitely not your daddy’s family sedan.

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Electric vehicles are starting to catch on with automakers, especially since the millionth Prius rolled out in the U.S. The Nissan Leaf, aimed squarely at urban drivers who don’t need a lot of range, is showing promise and more electrics are aimed squarely at that market, especially with gas hitting $4 a gallon and threatening to cross the $5 barrier.

Including Audi’s e-tron, which has a big advantage…and a big disadvantage.

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Want to hear something funny?

China has vehicle safety standards! No, really! The same country that gave us the Chery Amulet, a car that crumples like a tin can at forty miles an hour during impact tests! There are cars they won’t accept!

In this case, the Jeep Wrangler, because it keeps catching on fire for some reason.

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Whether it’s a zippy Tesla Roadster or a sedate Nissan Leaf, all electric cars have the same problem: range. You’ve got to plug them in and charge them up, and if you’re running low on charge, you’ve got to get back home fast before the power runs out.

But, it turns out that if you’re too far away from home to recharge, power can come from an unlikely place: your local RV park.

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LoJack put out its most recent report on who’s stealing what and where they’re stealing it, and, once again, everybody’s favorite Japanese import brand, Honda, tops the list, with the 2000 Honda Accord disappearing the most from parking lots and garages across the nation. But don’t think there isn’t enough jacking action for everybody, what other cars made the thieves’ most wanted?

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Cars are a lot of things, but “biodegradable” isn’t one of them. Not that car makers haven’t been trying for years: ever since “biodegradable” became a buzz word in the mid-90s, they’ve been doing their best to design a car that will eventually rot away, instead of being unearthed by future civilizations and mistaken for a coffin or something.

Of course, they didn’t go quite as far as the Phoenix, here…

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We’re used to seeing some absolutely wild stuff. Car companies really can’t think of an idea so outlandish they won’t at least try it out on a concept before packing it in, whether it’s jet engines or bodies made out of bamboo.

So, when we say BMW is creating a transmission that uses GPS signals, topography, current speed, and other data to choose the precise and correct gear in an eight-speed transmission, you probably think it’s just another wacky idea.

Nope. BMW wants it in cars within the decade.

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Yes, we know Toyota recently held a vote and insists the plural of “Prius” is “Prii”. We’re pretty sure 4Chan was involved in that one.

Anyway, as you might have guessed, the original green status symbol and butt of thousands of jokes by cranky old people who don’t get why the kids care so much about that durned global warming Glenn Beck told them was fake is officially grown up, selling a big-boy 1 million cars as of April 5th. So what’s next?

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NASCAR vehicles are wonders of engineering. Designed to strike a delicate balance between aerodynamics, speed, and control, they’re machines of beauty. In a way, it’s kind of a waste that they’re used on a sport that exists solely on very tiny nuances of strategy and physics only the drivers can appreciate. But in one very important respect, these machines are antiques: they still use freakin’ carburetors.

But maybe not for long.

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