How about an extended range electric sports car featuring 2+2 seating and all-wheel drive?

A company called Dubuc Motors SLC, based out of Montreal, in the Canadian province of Quebec, bets the market is ready for such a creation.

While the description may in some ways make you think of the BMW i8, this project named Tomahawk, is said by Dubuc to be totally original.

Not lacking confidence – though lacking in significant detail – Dubuc started its press release announcing this car in audacious terms:

The Tomahawk is ready to revolutionize the world as the first and only all electric sports car offering an extended range. Where mechanics and software unite and function continuously in perfect unison, creating a new generation of green cars. The much awaited 2 + 2 seater AWD will include the best automotive technologies driving the latest software applications to complement the ecstasy that awaits. Furthermore allowing programs to update and detect or troubleshoot problematic issues in real time.

The company says in 2016 it will unveil the 2017 Tomahawk and showcase alongside of it a taxi vehicle. A utility model will also be derived from this platform and powertrain found under the Tomahawk sports car.

SEE ALSO: BMW i8 eAxle Developed By GKN

Dubuc added the Tomahawk is expected to retail for under $100,000 U.S. dollars.

Nothing however is yet known of the powertrain or technology that will be used to power this sports car.

Notwithstanding, the electric sports car is said by Dubuc to offer incredible performances with an acceleration of 0-60 mph in just over three seconds with a top speed of 140 mph.

The goal is to have the Tomahawk reach a range of 275 miles.

The company added it intends on introducing another first in the industry making all of its vehicles come standard with an adjustable height air suspension.

The all aluminum-built Tomahawk has been designed by Dubuc to accommodate people up to 6 foot 5 and 275 lbs with a luxurious interior cab forward design and a customizable dashboard setting.

As with most such projects, there is a catch: Dubuc explained it is now seeking investors for the production of its electric vehicles and recently listed their business on famed angel website platforms making it public to a pool of investors.

“We are at the forefront of something huge! Millions of dollars in grants from the government are available, it’s the perfect time to invest” said co-founder and COO Mike Kakogiannakis.

Nissan’s Leaf is the world’s best-selling plug-in car, and just in time for its four-year anniversary since launching December 11, 2010, more than 150,000 have been globally sold, but we’re announcing this ahead of Nissan.

As reported last week, the Renault-Nissan Alliance did chronicle 200,000 total electric car sales and today Nissan confirmed that through October 31 global Leaf sales were over 147,200 – and then we have all of November’s sales to add to this …

Nissan says not all global sales are yet officially documented, but just its November U.S. sales tally was 2,687 which would add to around 149,900.

Beyond that, Norway reported 311 Leafs sold in November, so there’s 150,211, and beyond that can be added sales yet to be counted in around 33 more countries – not to mention Nissan is yet selling around 75 per day in the U.S.

So, the main question is really only how much over the 150,000 global unit mark has the Leaf now sold?

Best Seller

From 2011 onward, the all-new battery electric car had a decent year mildly surpassing the Chevy Volt launched the same month, but then during 2012 experienced a downturn in sales.

SEE ALSO: 2013 Nissan Leaf’s EPA-Estimated Range and MPGe Significantly Improved

Since 2013 with improvements to increase efficiency by 14 percent, a new “S” trim level $6,000 less than the previous year’s cheapest version, as well as localized production in Japan, UK, and U.S., the car has been globally making up for lost time.

Its 84 miles U.S. EPA-rated range is attainable, and intra-day charging enables it to work even for those pushing this threshold significantly less than petroleum-powered cars, and plug-in hybrids.

Nissan also promotes the car having invested billions in EV tech and has evolved its ad strategy from an environmentalist one where a polar bear is hugging a Leaf owner in the driveway to hammering home the value proposition.

The new message: Sure, you can feel good about zero emissions, but it does not have to be an extreme sacrifice either, or so it is now implied.

SEE ALSO: 2013 Nissan Leaf Review – Video

Nissan’s standard lease deals on the $30-$35,000 EV are between $200-300 down with a couple thousand or so down. Motivated dealers have come up with their own cheaper deals and meanwhile the cost to power a Leaf is maybe a third of a typical gas car.

Even with gas prices plummeting, the Leaf is hard to beat cost-wise if you can live with its range, and adopt to the EV lifestyle as it now is.

Many people have jumped in now, and say the water is fine. In fact, it’s now 150,000 people and counting.

Less than two months after its global media launch, and only weeks after becoming available to Canadian consumers, the Kia Soul EV has just picked up its first significant award.

At a press conference held today in Toronto, Ontario, the Kia Soul EV was awarded the “Best City Car” designation from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada, better known as AJAC. The award was included among Fifteen “Best New” category winners which were announced.

The category winners represent the vote results by the largest group of Canada’s best-known automotive journalists, who gathered this October in Niagara Falls, Ontario for “TestFest”, a five-day test-drive evaluation of brand-new or significantly changed vehicle models.

“TestFest is the most intensive new vehicle evaluation process on the planet,” said Canadian Car of The Year Co-Chair, Gary Grant. “No other organization employs such stringent testing methods to determine their car of year award winners.”

The rigorous testing program includes “real world” driving on public roads – exactly where consumers drive – so that the test data and vote results are directly relevant to potential car and truck buyers. The results are not based on the personal opinion of just one or two journalists. Instead, the 73 automotive journalists each drove a vehicle in 15 categories back-to-back on the same day, under the same conditions, to ensure fair and objective comparisons.

As a category winner, the Kia Soul EV is now eligible for consideration for the overall Canadian Car of the Year Award, which will be awarded on February 12, 2015 during Press Days at the Canadian International Auto Show, held in Toronto.

SEE ALSO: 2015 Kia Soul EV Review

The Kia Soul EV offers an EPA-estimated range of 92 miles, which is 15 percent higher than the Nissan Leaf. Estimated EPA fuel efficiency of the Soul EV is 102 MPGe combined.

While interested US buyers have had to deal with the Soul EV being available only in California for its launch, Canadian availability has been more wide spread. Kia Canada has launched the Soul EV in 3 Provinces, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, which are the strongest markets in Canada for EV sales.

The provincial governments in both Ontario and Quebec each offer rebates on purchases of EVs. Ontario offers $8,500 CDN while Quebec offers $8,000 CDN. The government of British Columbia recently ended their rebate program due to the exhausting of funds allocated for the program, but is considering bringing it back.

For US buyers outside of California, Kia hopes to introduce it to states that follow California’s zero-emission rules in 2015. These could possibly be Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

There’s a new hybrid sedan in Honda’s stable, the Grace Hybrid

Today Honda Motor Co., Ltd. began sales of the new Grace hybrid sedan at dealerships across Japan.

Honda declared the all-new Grace fuses together the easy handling and excellent fuel economy of a compact vehicle with the spacious cabin, stately styling, high visibility and tactile qualities and agile driving experience of an upper-middle-class sedan.

Although classified as a compact sedan, space for rear seat occupants is said by Honda to come close to that of the Accord Hybrid, a result of a long wheelbase.

The Grace is powered by Honda’s SPORT HYBRID i-DCD one-motor hybrid system. This system allows the driver to start in EV mode and combines a 1.5 liter Atkinson cycle DOHC i-VTEC four cylinder engine, seven-speed DCT with built-in high-output motor and the IPU with a built-in lithium-ion battery.

SEE ALSO: 2014 Honda Civic Hybrid Review

Fuel economy, according to Honda, is rated under the Japanese JC08mode rating at 34.4 km/L (80.91 mpg), which is said to be the best among all hybrid sedan models in the market.

Interestingly, for the first time as a compact hybrid sedan in the Japanese 5-number size category, the Grace offers a 4WD version in its lineup, through the use of a lightweight and compact viscous coupling-type 4WD system.

The Grace will be available in Japan in three trim levels, DX, LX and EX and all three are available either in front-wheel-drive or AWD. On top of these, Honda said a special needs vehicle equipped with a rotating front passenger seat was added to the lineup.

Wait. Isn’t the Chevy Volt an old model and about to be retired with the reveal of the 2016 just more than a month and a week from now?

Yes, but adding to a long list of awards since the beginning of the plug-in “extended-range electric vehicle” Kelley Blue Book just named the outgoing model its 2015 Electric/Hybrid Car Best Buy.

In doing so the 2015 Volt was chosen over the Nissan Leaf launched the same month as the original 2011 Volt, as well as the also-aging Toyota Prius Liftback hybrid, and the relatively new BMW i3.

SEE ALSO: 2016 Volt To Have 12-Percent Greater Overall Range

Admittedly, three of these cars are getting up there in years (as cars go), but the combo of design, functionality, and net price make them still strong buys, says KBB.

“That the Chevy Volt stands atop our list of Electric/Hybrid Best Buy contenders after four years in the marketplace is a testament to its virtues,” says KBB. “The Volt might not be the newest entry in a group that includes the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 and Toyota Prius, but a clever powertrain and exceptional value helped Chevrolet’s gasoline/electric wondercar secure the win.”

Helping the Volt along is the full $7,500 federal tax credit, and fact that the Volt’s 38 miles EPA-rated range lets it span the gap between a pure battery electric car and hybrid better than any plug-in hybrid on the market. The nearest plug-in hybrid competitors are the Ford C-Max and Fusion “Energi” models with an estimated 19 miles EV range.

And, says KBB, the BMW i3 may be nice, but it’s about $11,000 more, and if you want the range-extended version with small, short-range gas engine, add $4,000.

The 2011 Volt with 16.0-kwh battery launched into a maelstrom of politicized rancor for tax credits, and post-bankruptcy General Motors. 2013 saw Volt’s battery upped to 16.5 kwh, range and MPGe increased, and 2015 saw another battery upgrade to 17.1 kwh. KBB cites a $5,000 price cut last year which helped the value proposition.

The Volt also comes in $1,600 less than the plug-in Prius when factoring a ZEV credit in California, its largest market, says KBB. The plug-in Prius is only rated for 11 miles range, and its top electric speed is less than the Energis 85 or the Volt’s 100, and a firm accelerator push will kick the gas on.

Not so with the Chevy which despite the GM/Volt critics still saying otherwise, it is true to the “marketing” name of extended-range electric vehicle, and does function differently than other plug-in hybrids.

SEE ALSO: Redesigned 2016 Volt Looks Altogether Better

Adding onto all the rest is KBB appreciates the driving dynamics of the Volt.

“Mash the rightmost pedal, and the wonders of electric propulsion become clear,” says the publication. “The Volt accelerates with silky effortlessness. Carry some of that speed through an unclogged onramp, and you might be surprised by the Volt’s willingness to play. No, this electrified Chevy isn’t a sports car, but there’s more fun here than the green veneer might suggest.”

And as icing on the cake, the looks and style also got points, says KBB:

Ok, we’ll admit it. Style counts. Especially among electric and hybrid cars, a compelling design tends to correlate with acceptance from the buying public. On that count the Volt strikes a smart balance between futurism and familiarity. Techy-looking energy usage readouts and sci-fi startup/shutdown sound effects co-exist with comfortable seats, a usable capacitive touch instrument panel, and a surprisingly accommodating cargo area. Provided you don’t need more than four seats, the Chevy Volt delivers a good mix of style and substance.

All told, not bad for the grandfather of this type of vehicle that’s still teaching the newcomers a lesson.

And they’re going to retire it soon, and we’ll be seeing a new version believed to be better.

KBB

On Friday Maserati signed a master agreement providing access to technologies from Airbus Group Innovations, the RD hub of the Airbus Group.

Maserati, owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), said this agreement enables the company to make in-depth reviews of Airbus Group Innovations’ broad portfolio that covers manufacturing processes, production methods, metallurgy and composites expertise, systems integration and other know-how.

In short, we may soon see incorporated in these Italian vehicles, amongst others, some weight saving manufacturing techniques used on airplanes.

SEE ALSO: Maserati To Launch First Diesel

“By evaluating this broad spectrum of technologies, Maserati can benefit from Airbus Group capabilities exploited in several applications, such as airliners, helicopters and fast jets to spacecraft that are exploring the universe,” said Harald Wester, Chief Executive Officer of Maserati, and Chief Technology Officer of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

It is not clear yet if this agreement will spill over to other brands manufactured by FCA or if this will remain the exclusivity of Maserati.

“We developed the Technology Transfer Framework with industry leaders such as Maserati in mind, and it is being selectively offered to a limited number of potential partners,” said Wulf Hoeflich, the Head of Airbus Group Technology Licensing. “Maserati is perfect for an agreement of this type, as the company is a benchmark in high-end automobiles, while having production volume that is flexible enough to implement new technologies.”

With the Technology Transfer Framework arrangement, Maserati is said by Airbus to have access to technologies across a wide range of Airbus Group Innovations’ technical areas during a multi-year period, allowing the company to identify technologies that could be “game changers” when utilized under license and applied to its automobile product line.