We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

After dropping a teaser on us last week, Citroën has released a full gallery of images for its forthcoming Cactus Concept (above) along with a short press release stating that this is "more than a concept car." Proving that there is production potential for this Frankfurt Motor Show concept, our spy shooters have managed to catch what looks like the C-segment crossover already out testing in production trim (inset) as an added bonus.

The concept's "airbumps" and floating roof obviously aren't carrying over to the production model, but other elements of the crossover seem to be close to what customers will see in showrooms. From the outside, we can see the vehicle in the spy shots will have a similar overall shape, but the unique four-spoke wheels have been replaced by a more mass-audience-friendly eight-spoke setup. One of the more interesting aspects in comparing both the prototype and the concept is the front end. The production version seems to have a more conventional headlight design, but looking more closely reveals there is something covered by the extensive camouflage above the headlights, a hidden detail which matches what we see on the concept.

We don't have any spy shots of the cabin, but as concept cars go, the interior of the Cactus isn't all that far fetched. We would expect to see changes to the display screen, steering wheel and seat designs, but the cabin's overall look probably won't stray too far from the concept. Citroën's press release for the concept, which is posted below, promises a hybrid powertrain, so that might also be headed for production.

With his legions of vociferous fans, there has been no bigger champion for the electric vehicles from Tesla Motors than the man at the helm, Elon Musk. Musk's latest promotional event to prove the power of EVs will be a cross-country drive in a Model S, using the rapidly growing network of Superchargers along the way.

Musk says the six-day, 3,200-mile trip should only require 90 minutes of charging a day.

Musk first proposed this trip back in May when Tesla announced an expansion to the Supercharger network. At the time, Musk said he wanted to retrace the route of a college road trip, but this time with his five children in the car. With the optional rear-facing seats installed the Model S can seat 7, if some are small enough. On Twitter, Musk said trip planning is done, and the six-day, 3,200-mile trip should only require nine hours of charging. He added, "At 1.5 hrs/day, we will only ever need to charge when stopping anyway to eat or sightsee, never just for charging itself." But we assume he's not including overnight charging in that time, since six Supercharger fill-ups – which can each provide three hours of driving – will not be enough for the entire coast-to-coast trip.

To be honest, driving across the country in a Model S – to say nothing of other EVs – is a feat that's been done before, but when Mr. SpaceX loads up the kids and goes for a drive, people pay attention. People also noticed when, during a much shorter drive, a writer from The New York Times managed to run out of electricity last winter. In response, Tesla fans proved the drive up the East Coast could be done.

Audi has unveiled a set of new television spots that seek to continue the company's proselytizing of diesel-fueled luxury cars to the American pubic. With TDI versions of the A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 available for its 2014 model year range, this is a subject that's obviously near and dear to the hearts of Audi marketers.

The first commercial, The Station, makes a play on the fact that many car buyers in the US don't associate luxury cars (in this case an A8) with those green-handled pumps at the "gas" station. The second commercial, Range, is a lot more informative (albeit less fraught with screaming and slowmo), discussing just how easy it should be to find a diesel fueling station in your long-range TDI before you need to fill up.

Continue on below for a look at both new commercials, or to have Audi explain them to you in great detail, via its press release.

Nissan, like Tesla, is finding that it's a seller's market when it comes to zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) credits in the most populous US state. The Japanese automaker has joined the California-based manufacturer of the Model S in selling ZEV credits to automakers who aren't making enough plug-ins to keep up with California targets but don't want to be fined, Bloomberg News reports. Nissan executive Andy Palmer confirmed that the company had credits leftover because it sells a sufficient number of all-electric Leafs relative to its total vehicle sales, but he didn't disclose details on how much they're selling for, when they're being sold and who's buying them.

Still, such credits can be substantial, especially considering that, through the first seven months of the year, Nissan more than tripled US Leaf sales from a year earlier to 11,703 units. We also know that Tesla made $68 million selling ZEV credits in the first quarter this year, about 12 percent of all its Q1 revenue. That said, Tesla Model S sales generate more than double as many credits as each Leaf sold because of the Tesla's longer single-charge driving range.

California offers ZEV credits as part of an effort to have 1.5 million ZEVs on its roads by 2025. Nissan said as early as last May that it may have had credits to sell other automakers, though didn't divulge further details.

Honda has officially launched the Fit sub-compact in its home market, ahead of its eventual arrival in North America. The third-generation Fit is wildly important for Honda, with the company's president, Takanobu Ito, saying, "This is the most important model."

The third-generation Fit is a ground-up reworking of the car that we've come to know. It will pioneer Honda's new design language, Exciting H Design (seriously) and will also be the very first Fit to be manufactured in North America. Thanks to a Mexican factory that is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014, Honda will be able to produce 200,000 Fits for the North American market in North America, saving the brand a huge amount of cash.

As for that Exciting H Design, it's meant to be sleeker and more modern, according to Automotive News. It's not bad looking, but the overall design is far less important than what's under that hood. The vehicle you see above is a Fit RS, which has quite a resemblance to the rumored Fit Mugen. There's not a lot of detail on this model, but based on looks alone, we certainly hope it'll be coming to the North American market - it'd make a great Fit Sport. A hybrid variant will also come to the US market, and that car is returning impressive numbers on the Japanese cycle: 86 miles per gallon so far, thanks to the combination of an 1.5-liter, Atkinson-cycle, four-cylinder engine and a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission. That's a 35-percent improvement over the current, JDM Fit Hybrid.

Indeed, if the Fit Hybrid can return anything near those numbers on the US EPA cycle, it should do well. Ito's demands for improved economy are part of what has him believing that Honda will eventually move 1.5 million Fits by 2016. The Honda boss is also expecting the B-segment car to become the brand's best seller, overall, surpassing the Civic, CR-V and Accord. Those are some big expectations.

Smart has revealed its newest concept car, the jovial four-seater Forjoy. The "joy" part of that sobriquet is rather obvious ­– with the doorless, roofless, rear-glass-free concept looking like a beach-wagon full of fun ­– but it's the four seats that might prove most prescient as far as Smart's future plans are concerned.

The German small-car maker goes as far as to call the Forjoy "the forerunner of a new smart generation" in its press release, saying that the concept car's proportions portend a lot about the appearance of a four-seat production car. That upcoming Forfour (most likely) should get an official launch at the end of 2014.

Of course, while there might be some production-car cues hiding in this wispy, white and pearlescent concept buggy, the detailing of it can be safely categorized as "concept car only." Polished bits of milled aluminum brightwork are shiny flights of fancy, as is the modern minimalist furniture that ornaments the airy cabin.

On the other hand, the powertrain inside of the Forjoy, a 55-kilowatt electric motor drawing from a lithium-ion battery pack, has been scooped directly out of the production Fortwo Electric Drive. Other than its existence in the concept car, Smart hasn't dropped any hints in the press release as to the ED unit making into a production Forfour. We certainly wouldn't rule it out as a variant.

Look for live images and more info about Smart's hint-heavy Forjoy when we see it on the Frankfurt show floor next week.

The term "Rainbow Coalition" may have been originally coined to describe a movement led by Rev. Jesse Jackson during the 1980s, but the largest US carsharing service appears to be putting its own spin on the concept, with the help of some Honda hybrids. Zipcar is giving a folks a chance to contribute to GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) while taking out a Honda Insight hybrid (here referred to as the Honda GLAAD Insight) for a few hours. By going to Zipcar's "Equality" page, people can rent out the Hondas knowing that Zipcar will give away $1 of free drive time to GLAAD for each hour the cars are being rented out. "Do you imagine a world where everyone is equal?" asks Zipcar (rhetorically). "We do. And we want to help get there with our pals at GLAAD."

Technically, the real benefactor for such lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights is actually Avis Budget Group. That company, the third-largest US car-rental company after Enterprise Holdings and Hertz Global Holdings, acquired Zipcar earlier this year for about $500 million.

GLAAD was founded in 1985. Most recently, GLAAD received notoriety for leading the effort towards getting the Boy Scouts of America to end its ban on gay scouts.

Angie Nucci, Honda North America's senior environment and safety specialist, told AutoblogGreen that, "Honda proudly supports Zipcar's initiative to reach out to the LGBT community by supporting the GLAAD organization. We don't have plans to expand the scope of the program at this time, but we're pleased that Zipcar has selected the Insight."

Oh, Canada, indeed. A husband-and-wife team set out to see what kind of fuel economy numbers they could get out of a Chevrolet Cruze Diesel on a transcontinental drive, and they ended up hitting some pretty impressive numbers. The team, according to their Driving.ca blog, averaged 4.3 liters of fuel use per 100 kilometers for their 5,956-kilometer (3,701-mile) jaunt from Vancouver to Halifax. That maps out to about 55 miles per gallon. And the drivers weren't total slow pokes, averaging about 50 miles per hour for the trip.

Chevrolet parent General Motors, which first unveiled the production version of the Cruze Diesel at the Chicago Auto Show in April, estimated that the model would get 42 miles per gallon on the highway, or about the same as the Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel. In addition to the fantastic fuel economy, the 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine delivers 148 horsepower. But, when it came to our two intrepid Canadians, the Cruze Diesel delivered as advertised, plus an additional 30 percent or so. "We made memories. The marriage survived. Here's to road trip!" the drivers wrote on their blog. Read here for Autoblog's Quick Spin review of the model from late May. At the time, we figured the car would do better than the EPA numbers suggested, but still only managed 44 mpg.

Given the vehicle's importance as a halo car for Toyota, news of the next-gen Prius getting a potential 55 miles per gallon was our first headline from the recent Toyota Hybrid World Tour media event, but there is some news to report on the Prius Plug In as well. Namely, that the "plug" part of its name might be kind of superfluous as the car gets a wireless charger.

"We are developing a new wireless/inductive charging system to recharge the battery without the fuss of a cable."

A cord-free Prius is not coming anytime soon – system verification is not scheduled until next year – but if there's anything we learned at the Hybrid World Tour, it's that Toyota believes in the long term success of hybrid technology. Satoshi Ogiso, managing officer for the Toyota Motor Corporation and one of the engineers on the original Prius, said that wireless charging is just one new thing coming to a future Prius Plug-In. "We have been listening very carefully to Prius PHV owners over the past two years, and are considering their requests for additional all-electric range," he said. "We have also heard from these owners, that they would like a more convenient charging operation. In response, we are developing a new wireless/inductive charging system that produces resonance between an on-floor coil and an onboard coil to recharge the battery without the fuss of a cable." You can read all of his comments below.

Toyota is not the only automaker working on wireless charging. Infiniti wants it and Volvo is testing in-road chargers, for example. You can even go cordless today if you want to go with an aftermarket system from the likes of Bosch.

The best we've been able to suss out thus far is that the Volkswagen XL1 will be expensive. Like six-figure, "as much as a nicely detailed Audi A6," expensive (we're assuming that Audi bit is European pricing). Given that this is a hand-built, hyper-aerodynamic, plug-in-diesel vehicle – and one that VW will only make 250 of – it's not at all surprising that it'll be a ride for the upper class. Thanks to a report in Wirtschafts Woche, we finally have a potential price tag for the 261-mpg car: 111,000 euros, or a little over US $146,000. VW tells Wirtschafts Woche that there should be plenty of demand for the car at that price from collectors and enthusiasts, even though we heard earlier that the car will likely be available for lease only.

The XL1 gets its name from the fact that it uses less than one liter of fuel to go 100 kilometers (using one liter would be equivalent to 235 mpg). Thus far, VW has built 50 of the slippery little things and plans on making another 200 for delivery in the spring of 2014 before ending the project. "The car is more a lighthouse than a business model," VW's Ulrich Hackenberg told Wirtschafts Woche (translated). We got to drive the XL1 earlier this year – you can read all about that here.

Toyota first launched Lexus in the United States back in 1989, but it wasn't until 2005 that it brought the luxury marque home to roost. But don't think that Toyota didn't find a way of selling many of its premium models in the Japanese Domestic Market in the meantime. The Lexus LS was sold as the Toyota Celsion, the ES as the Vista and Camry Prominent, and the SC as the Soarer. (We could go on, but you get the point.)

These days Lexus sells in markets around the world, including Japan, but Toyota still spins off its own versions of Lexus models to sell domestically as well. Like the new Sai, for example. Sharing its platform, hybrid propulsion and much more with the Lexus HS (which you may remember as the world's first dedicated luxury hybrid until it was pulled from the market early last year), the Sai was introduced to Japan at the same time as the HS was rolled out around the world. Now nearly four years on the market, Toyota has given it a bit of a refresh.

Boasting a far more aggressive front end and a restyled rear, the revised Sai features LED headlights, 16-inch alloys and a higher-quality interior in which JDM buyers will find a new center console and trim, along with an optional 10-speaker infotainment system. Toyota also boasts that the new Sai is made of 20-percent Ecological Plastic and recycled resin.

Power still comes from the same 150-horsepower 2.4-liter inline-four and 143-hp electric motor for a combined maximum output of 190 hp. Toyota anticipates selling 2,000 of these every month in Japan. Read all the details in Toyota's official press release below.

It's been a while since the Chevy Volt has has a headline-worthy sales month, but with 3,351 units sold in August, General Motors figures now is the time to trumpet how the plug-in hybrid is doing in the marketplace (see press release below). In the US, the Volt had an 18.4 percent increase over August 2012 numbers, and easily beating the Volt's previous best sales month from October 2012, when 2,961 were sold. For the year, the Volt has so far sold 14,994 units, 11.1 percent more than the same time in 2012.

Interestingly, the Nissan Leaf also hit a new US sales record in August, but it wasn't enough to outsell the Chevy. Still, with 2,420 of the EVs moving off the lot. that's a 253.3 percent year-over-year increase and moves the Leaf's year-to-date total to 14,123.

Sales of these plug-in vehicles are increasing thanks to serious price reductions.

Sales of both of these plug-in vehicles, the dynamic duo of the new breed, are increasing in part thanks to serious price reductions. The Leaf dropped its price and started domestic production at the beginning of the year, and the Volt finally followed suit last month (but the MSRP decrease was $5,000, compared to $6,400 for the base model of the Leaf). Even in a market of cheap-to-lease EVs, it's good to see the original plug-in vehicles selling more than ever.

As always, we will have a detailed report on last month's green car sales, including other plug-in models, soon. Except, of course, the list will be missing information on the Tesla Model S, since Tesla doesn't play the monthly sales numbers game.

When it rains, it pours. Toyota has announced a pair of separate but voluntary North America recalls covering approximately 235,000 vehicles built between 2006 and 2011. The larger of the two recalls targets Toyota's hybridized crossovers, the Lexus RX400h and Toyota Highlander Hybrid. 133,000 units, including 2006-2010 Highlander and 2006-2008 RX crossovers are covered in the campaign. The other recall affects 102,000 IS350 sedans, IS350C convertibles and GS350 sedans built between 2006 and 2011.

With the CUVs, the faults in the parallel circuits of the transistors can cause heat damage in the inverter assembly, triggering an abundance of warning lamps and sending the vehicle into limp mode. The Lexus sedans are being recalled due to loose bolts on the variable valve timing controller. Detected by unusual underhood sounds on startup, the issue can cause the engine to stop while driving. The inverter issue is also triggering similar recalls in Japan and Europe.

At the moment, it's unclear if any of these issues have caused any crashes or injuries. Toyota says it plans to notify owners of the recall via snail mail. Additional information for owners can be found on the recall sites for Toyota and Lexus or by calling Toyota's customer service line, at 1-800-331-4331. Scroll down for the complete recall notice from Toyota.

Solar pioneer "Captain Sunshine," aka Yosef Abramowitz, has failed in his bid to take over bankrupt company Better Place, which specializes in electric vehicle charging and battery swaps. Abramowitz, who built Israel's first commercial solar field about two years ago, failed to make a monthly payment of $1 million on August 25 to Better Place's liquidator.

Better Place is now going to Success Parking, an Israeli parking garage company, which lost out to Abramowitz last month. Success Parking led a consortium that included Car Charging Group. Abromowitz had agreed to pay $4.9 million for Better Place's assets and another $6.9 million for Better Place Switzerland's intellectual property. Tzachi Merkur, CEO of Success Parking, will only be paying about $3 million for Better Place. That's coming from reports from The Marker, which does not mention whether that includes assets and intellectual property.

Last month, Abramowitz won the bidding for Better Place in partnership with the Association for the Advancement of Electric Transport in Israel. Captain Sunshine said there was another side to the story – the liquidator didn't provide lists of drivers to bill for using the battery-swap stations – and the needed revenue couldn't be generated. Abramowitz also said that Israel's Transportation Ministry wouldn't release 350 Better Place cars held at its port unless he purchased an import license.

Better Place and its founder CEO Shai Agassi, had high hopes for Israel coming through for the battery-swap innovator. Now, it's not looking so good.