On December 15th, Fisker Automotive will jack up prices on its plug-in hybrid Karma. A six percent price increase is expected, which means the price tag on the cheapest 2012 Fisker Karma will be $102,000 and the top-of-the-line version will set buyers back a whopping $116,000.

Nissan officially began taking orders yesterday for its 2012 LEAF from residents of Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Deliveries of the 2012 LEAF, which features additional standard equipment including a quick-charge port and a cold-weather package, will commence in these seven additional states in spring 2012.

The 2012 Ford Focus Electric officially has its price tag, an online configurator and is available to reserve starting today. As we reported on Monday, it's very good news to see a new choice for getting behind the wheel of an electric car. However, the $40,000 price tag is simply not competitive, raising questions about Ford's commitment to selling electric cars in significant quantities—or even being perceived by the early adopters as a company that cares about the technology.

The sales race between the Nissan LEAF and the Chevrolet Volt is truly heating up. This time around, it's the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt that outsold the electric-only LEAF in October.

Ford Focus Electric fans, take note: it's nearly time to fire up your computer to reserve your electric-only 2012 Ford Focus. Starting on Wednesday, Nov. 2—just two days away—Ford will begin accepting online orders for the 2012 Ford Focus Electric.

Ford today clarified launch plans for its forthcoming Focus Electric, saying that the despite reports to the contrary the car has not in fact been pushed back and will see a limited release in New York and California “as scheduled,” by the end of this year.

A former Saturn dealer turned auto pundit is accusing some Chevy dealers of gaming the federal plug-in vehicle incentive program and passing on the hidden costs and legal liability to consumers. In a post on the website of the National Legal and Policy Center (which is a right-leaning watchdog group,) Mark Modica charged Saturday that dealers across the country have been purchasing their allotment of Chevy Volts and then re-selling them on the used car market at full price. The alleged practice makes purchasers ineligible for the $7,500 federal electric vehicle tax credits—and allows dealers to pocket the difference.

There aren’t many initiatives that Republicans and Democrats can quickly agree upon, but deployment of electric cars is one of them. Both sides of the aisle support a strong EV future in the United States, as a strategy for job creation and reducing dependence on oil. Today, U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) joined Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to introduce the Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act—legislation designed to fast track the deployment of energy-saving electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid technologies.

The residual values for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have been widely speculated on by bloggers and commentators, but overall it seems likely that the initial residual values are going to be relatively low.

In 2013, when BMW releases its full production electric car known now as “Megacity,” it will reflect a six-year project to rethink all aspects of the automobile—including the core vehicle structure and materials, manufacturing processes, and obviously the drivetrain. But it one key area—marketing—the Megacity might be more of a throwback than a bold move into the future. According to Automotive News, BMW will lease the vehicle rather than sell it—an approach that harkens back to the painful chapter of electric cars when General Motors snatched the EV1 from its leaseholders. Yet, inside sources tell us that the Automotive News is wrong.