Working off of the post from earlier today concerning Lotus adding artificial engine noise to hybrid cars in the name of safety, we thought we might see how a few alternatives might work instead of the boring artificial car engine sound.

The Li-ion batteries would lower the weight of the car by hundreds of pounds, improving handling and mileage. You’ve already got them in your phones, media players, and so on, but adapting them for the high-capacity, high-throughput application of powering a car is a serious endeavor — which must be why Sanyo is pledging nearly a billion dollars over the next couple years to developing the technology.

At CES it was behind lock and key, visible only through a glass cell. At Macworld, though, Casio let me have my way with the camera, and I must say I was impressed by the things it can do, while at the same time wondering why there are some things it can’t.

The camera itself is lighter than a DSLR, that being simply because it lacks the DSLRs intricate mechanics. That’s welcome to we bloggers who, at the end of the day, require the work of three Swedish Bloggirls to get our tightened necks worked out so we can sleep.

It operates much like a DSLR though, with the same sort of switches, knobs, buttons, and lens controls. The lens is static, you can’t readily swap it out as you can with most DSLRs, which is a drawback, but it’s a good lens as is, with a good wide-angle view.

SDHC is the card of choice for the camera, and the battery is said to last long enough to fill up a 4GB card easily, likely stretching all the way to an 8GB including video.

The display is big and bright, much like Yours Truly. When showing video, it refreshes nicely, with no stutter as you sometimes get with point-n-shoots.

What’s really exciting, though, is the fast shutter speed. The camera’s not aimed at casual users, the rest of the Exilim line is fine for that. Nor is it aimed at professionals, or even prosumers; DSLRs are a must for them. The EX-F1 is aimed at niche markets, such as scientists who want to watch a chemical reaction in super-slow-motion, or sports coaches who want to be able to examine exactly where things went wrong, or power stalkers who need to know the exact moment Britney broke down last.

For these people, the EX-F1 bridges a gap that’s left them in the gully of indecision, and it should make many people — but by no means all — very happy when it hits later this year.

If you haven’t heard of Aptera yet, you’ll probably be hearing a whole lot about the company in the coming months. It’s got two models of automobiles coming out next year. One is just about ready — named the Aptera Typ-1 e — which is all-electric and gets 120 miles per charge. The Typ-1 h is a gasoline/electric hybrid that’ll be available in 2009 and is apparently capable of getting 300 miles to the gallon.

Both will cost less than $30,000. That’s a nice price to be able to either rarely or never have to put gas in the thing. Popular Mechanics just took the Typ-1 e for a spin. Click the link below to watch the video.

Aptera Electric Typ-1 e – Video Test Drive – First Look Details and Slideshow – 300 MPG [Popular Mechanics]

We don’t link much to DailyKos here. We try to keep away from politics, lest we finally piss off everyone, but this is something worth sharing. There is a man with an eighth-grade education who has developed a way to mod cars for biodiesel in a way that doubles their horsepower and doubles the gas mileage. It makes them faster and more powerful, using off-the-shelf parts. Detroit says it’s impossible to increase fuel economy without sacrificing horsepower. Jonathan Goodwin says that’s total crap.

In the video above, we see a 1965 Impala Goodwin had modified blowing away a Lambo in a straightaway. It runs clean. This is what we want.

I think the H3 and other large SUVs are horrible, as are the people who drive them. I’m not Greenpeace hippy, but I like to consider myself environmentally responsible. Thus my car is an efficient Kia Spectra. But the nerd part of my lusts after a big, get-the-hell-out-of-my-way tank of a car. If this man has a way to rectify my internal strife, he’s welcome to.

No word yet on if Goodwin will be marketing his skills in any way besides custom work, but he’s now working on a Hummer hybrid with a jet engine. That is so cool. This man is a hero.

Doing what Detroit says is impossible [DailyKos]

On display were six Toyota Prius and Ford Escape vehicles that were modified to run partly on electricity from the power grid. The addition allows vehicles to travel about 75 miles on a single gallon of gas — which is roughly double the distance that current hybrids travel on a gallon.

That’s not really the interesting part though, as similar chargeable cars have existed in the past. The real point of note is that the vehicles can give energy back to the grid. Although the technology is still in the early stages of development, the idea is that the electric company will be able to store power in car batteries during off-peak hours. Then when grid loads increase during the day, the company can draw energy from the cars. Sure it only amounts to a slight amount from one car, but if there were hordes of them, it could equal something more practical.

Another cool bit is that Google has placed the cars in carports equipped with solar cells that contribute heavily to the charging of the cars. I find this to be probably the coolest part of it all. Solar cells charging cars holds a very appealing sort of self-sufficiency to the dirty hippie apparently hiding inside me.

Google and Utility to Test Hybrids That Sell Back Power [NY Times]

The Aptera concept car’s three-wheeled, egg shaped design makes for an incredibly efficient vehicle, purporedly achieving 330mpg. It seats two people, weighs 850 pounds and utilizes a super-efficient hybrid diesel engine. A clear downside of the Aptera, however, is the complete lack of cargo space, a factor that will surely prevent many consumers from becoming early adopters.

Nevertheless, even in light of its oppressively nerdy design and its absence of cargo room the Aptera marks a step in the right direction. As more vehicles of this nature are developed and produced, they will inevitably expand in size, decrease in nerdiness and, in time, eliminate gas guzzling vehicles from the road altogether. Accelerated Composites, the vehicles manufacturer, has vowed to make make this incredible egg available for under $20,000 within the next two years.

Aptera Concept Car [SciFiTech]