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Battery companies got funding as automakers committed to pursuing plug-in hybrids this year (see What's Next for A123?, Supercharging Hybrid Batteries, Project Better Place Tops Off, Smarter Batteries for Strykers?, Can Thinner Batteries be Better? and Who's Reviving the Electric Car?).

Toyota and Ford delivered plug-in hybrids for testing, and GM unveiled the sexy Chevrolet Volt as a concept car (see GM Seeks Green Cred with Chevy Volt). Not everyone agreed the concept makes sense (see Honda Says No to Plug-In Hybrids and Khosla Calls Plug-In Hybrids 'Toys').

Smaller players also announced wins, with Venturi and Think Global entering small amounts of production for their electric cars (see Venturi Gets Kinky and Tesla Suspends Battery-Pack Business). Google and X-Prize also got into the act, offering cash for fuel-efficient vehicles (see Google Leaves Out Clean Diesel, Hydrogen). Google also announced it would enter the clean-energy business, starting with solar-thermal.

But not all has gone smoothly.

Tesla Motors, which inspired a whole generation of green-car startups with its flashy, speedy electric sports car, has suffered delays, put its battery business on hold and ousted its CEO (see Tesla Founder Ousted, Tesla Names New CEO and Tesla Suspends Battery-Pack Business).

New CEO Ze'ev Drori now says full production will begin next spring and that the first cars will have a "public beta" version of the transmission, which will have a range of 221 miles instead of the previously estimated 245 miles and will accelerate more slowly than previously expected, going 0 to 60 in 5.7 seconds instead of 4 (see Earth2Tech post).