• Magna Snatches Opel.  All best are off the table now, Magna was the winner of Opel, after Fiat pulled out.  According to James Rickman on Seeking Alpha, at the 11th hour, Magna came up with €700m, $990m with the Russian Sberbank backing 55% of Opel and agreed to come up with €300m of emergency funding the Detroit car maker says it needs immediately.  Interesting twist of events there.
• Hybrid Boats And Aptera.  Hybrid boats have been showing u here and there with obvious performance benefits and a healthier environment.  According to KFMB, Aptera’s Chris Anthony is working on a Hybrid boat with his company, Epic Wakeboats which he claims is the first hybrid electric wakeboat in the world.
• Advanced Lead Acid For HEVs.  John Petersen at Seeking Alpha comes back to the charge with his firm belief that advanced lead/acid batteries not only has a place in today’s hybrid, HEV market but will also dominate.  And he brings good points which we have backed for some time, lithium for high performance, high end lead/acid for SUVs and pickup trucks.
• Manx TT, The First 0 Emission GP.  The Manx TT is the first zero emission Grand Prix in history, according to TimesOnline and we are happy to report that.

So what does all this mean for the electric car.  First and foremost, that the car industry has to go through the intermediary step of building hybrids, before batteries can be refined for longer transport.  Second, Magna buying into Opel is very, very interesting considering its ties with Ford and the electric Ford Focus.  How will this place the company between these two giants?  Will Ford eventually swallow up Opel down the road?  Fascinating times we are living.

That’s it for now.  Stay tuned for more on these subjects.