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Green car news for the day...

Electric cars are not yet fully known by the insurance industry, causing some potential headaches for first time owners and hiking the price of premiums up above those increases already determined by driver age, location, occupation and miles driven per year, according to AllCarsElectric. A couple of the factors... while electric cars may not have as many components forming the drivetrain and fuel system as gasoline cars, the costs to replace electric drive trains, batteries and motors are more expensive right now. And while many investment firms and institutions have tried to come up with a realistic model for electric car depreciation, no-one can agree on it.

Coulomb Technologies has named longtime digital networking executive Pasquale "Pat" Romano as its new chief executive and president, replacing co-founder Richard Lowenthal. Lowenthal, who helped start the California-based company in 2007, is transitioning into the post of chief technical officer and head of Coulomb's government affairs office as the company makes a transition of its own from entrepreneurial start-up into the growth and marketing development stages.

The new Honda EV Concept electric vehicle will be displayed in Geneva, alongside a platform for mid-size plug-in hybrid vehicles. The concepts will be shown as part of Honda's "Road to Zero Emissions", illustrating the current technology of hybrids alongside the near-future technology of plug-in vehicles and the ultimate goal of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, like Honda's FCX Clarity.

Automotive News reports that production of the first 500 Wheego Whip LiFes is finally underway and the company expects to have them ready for retail sales on March 30th. The company claims 24 dealers have shown interest in selling the LiFe and the automaker's two additional models – a battery-powered pickup truck and a four-door electric crossover – which Wheego's president insists will debut by the end of the year.

Things are stretching out even more for the CODA sedan - it will be rolling off manufacturing lines in Q2 2011, a year later than originally planned. If you're in a small start-up electric car company, I'm sure that CODA's backsliding would make you nervous. There are two aspects of the situation that stand out:

1. The price is fairly high - about $44,000 retail versus a bit under $33,000 for the Nissan Leaf and Wheego LiFE. Why would you paying $11,000 more for a brand new car from a brand new company when you have no idea what the resale value will be, quality and reliability, etc.

2. The production is dragged out and questionable. It's typical for a new car to take about three years from concept design to showroom floor traffic, and sometimes even longer - the Japanese makers have been known for keeping it tight and the Detroit 3 have dragged it out in past years. Still when the product launch is announced, then delayed, then delayed again, it ain't lookin' good.