• The city of Minneapolis has about 300 "green" government vehicles, 50 of them gas-electric hybrids. Mayor R.T. Rybak had his car converted into a plug-in hybrid, and on Monday he unveiled two all-electric vehicles that inspectors from the Regulatory Services department will use to get around town. One of those electric cars is an e-ride EXV4 manufactured in Princeton, Minn. (www.e-ride.com). The range on a single charge is estimated at 20 to 35 miles; top speed will be 25 miles per hour.
• The Mini E, BMW's new all-electric car, premiered at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week. The 500 cars rolled out initially have a 150-mile range, recharge in about three to four hours on a 240-volt outlet and are being offered to select customers in New York, New Jersey and California.
• Tesla Motors has 1,200 advance orders for its $100,000 Roadster, but has scaled back production plans because of the sour economy.
• HourCar, a Twin Cities car-sharing program, has two solar-powered plug-in Toyota Priuses (www.hourcar.org).
KRISTIN TILLOTSON AND JIM FOTI
