We don't intend to make a habit of writing about every twist and turn in the Tesla vs. Fisker trade secrets lawsuit, but because of the high level of interest in both of the electric car companies thought we ought to let you know that Fisker is seeking to toss the whole thing into arbitration.

That would take the case out of the courtroom, limit public access and likely result in a sealed settlement. It also could save both sides considerable time and, possibly, money.

Tesla would not comment when contacted today.

Southern California-based Fisker Automotive filed its arbitration request Tuesday in a Northern California court, near Tesla Motors Co. headquarters.

A court hearing has been scheduled for June 11.

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A lightly "disguised" Karma on the test track, in photo provided by the company.

Prototype models of the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid have exceeded performance expectations in early testing, the companies behind the car said Tuesday.

Fisker Automotive and Quantum Technologies, both located in Irvine, Calif., said that three Karma prototypes have been built and are undergoing electric-powertrain testing at an undisclosed Southern California track that appears to be a leased test site at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

"The vehicle dynamics and fuel economy have performed better than expected and we remain on target for our fourth quarter 2009 initial delivery," Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive, said in a prepared statement.

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Plug-in hybrids are seen by many, including Magna, as the next great  frontier.

By John O'Dell, Senior Editor

Another entry in the plug-in hybrid race, this time from a competitor with really powerful potential.

Magna International, the top-tier Canadian auto parts maker, says it will roll out a plug-in car late next year or in 2010.

So as not to foul relationships with the major automakers that it already supplies with scores of parts, Magna says it won't sell a competing plug-in but will sell them the bits and pieces needed to make their own.

In markets where its customers don't sell cars, though, Magna intends to field a complete plug-in under its own brand.

The company, which reported $26.1 billion in sales and a $663 million net profit last year, is serious about becoming a car maker.

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Ford is among the companies working on plug-in gas-electric hybrids.

In a bid to promote plug-in hybrid development, the University of California's Davis campus is cosponsoring what it calls the world's first international conference on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The confab, to be held July 22-24 in San Jose, California, appears to be in response to California's recent endorsement of plug-in technology in the revision of its controversial Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Mandate.

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He waited almost two weeks, but Fisker Automotive's Henrik Fisker finally has responded to a lawsuit by electric roadster maker Tesla Motors that accuses him of stealing company secrets.

Didn't do it, he says in a press release issued this morning. Specifically, he called the Tesla suit "nonsense."

We said when Tesla filed its suits last week that it looked like the opening of a new era as formerly cooperative EV developers finally see a market opportunity and begin battling one another for a piece of the pie.

That's born out in Fisker's response to the suit, which doesn't open with the denial but instead with the statement that his company "is on track for delivery of the Fisker Karma" in the fourth quarter of next year.

Only after getting in that little bit of marketing news did Fisker acknowledge and respond to Tesla's suit.

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Henrik Fisker, showing concept car to prospective investors earlier this year.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

The once-collegial world of alternative-fuel automobiles seems to be entering a new and highly competitive phase as interest in hybrids and electric vehicles grows.

The latest sign that the era of cooperation is ending came Monday as Tesla Motors, maker of the only highway-capable production electric car for sale in the United States, filed a lawsuit against competitor Fisker Automotive, its chief executive, Henrik Fisker,  its chief operating officer, Bernhard Koehler, and their design company, Fisker Coachbuild, for allegedly stealing some of Tesla's design ideas and trade secrets.

A spokesman for Fisker Automotive said today that the company had "no comment at this time."

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Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid created stir at its Detroit Auto Show debut.

Fledgling hybrid carmaker Fisker Automotive said it has signed its first European distributor and reiterated plans to begin delivering production models of its exotic, $80,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sport coupe by the end of next year.

Southern California-based Fisker intends to build about 15,000 cars annually and anticipated that more than half its sales will be in overseas markets where company chief executive Henrik Fisker, a longtime top designer with BMW and Aston Martin, is a well-known automotive industry figure.

Fisker retail development director Vic Doolan, former president of the North American operations of both BMW and Volvo Cars, said the company is talking to potential North American dealers in more than 40 market regions. The company's initial European market will be in Italy, through the new distributorship, Fisker Italia.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

In a deal aimed at bringing Fisker Automotive's exotic plug-in hybrid concept to reality, the fledgling automaker has granted joint venture partner Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide a $14.5 million program to further develop Quantum’s proprietary Q-Drive hybrid system.

The contract, announced today by Quantum, is intended to ready the Q-Drive plug-in system for the Fisker Karma four-door sport sedan production model.  The concept was unveiled last month at the Detroit auto show.

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Designer Henrik Fisker and his no longer secret plug-in hybrid convertible. 

Just a month after unveiling the curvaceous Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid concept that rocked the Detroit Auto Show, auto designer-car maker Henrik Fisker is showing around a convertible based on the same platform and hybrid-electric powertrain.

Fisker, chief executive of the eponymous Fisker Automotive in Irvine, Calif., showed a rendering of the unnamed convertible at a recent J.D.Power industry roundtable in San Francisco.

He tells Green Car Advisor that the photo (above) now making the rounds of automotive websites wasn't supposed to have been taken and doesn't represent what the convertible will actually look like.

"This was a meeting for some new car dealers and nobody was supposed to take any pictures," Fisker said. "but someone did…It's not anything like the way the car will finally look. It was just a preliminary concept drawing."

Still, it does show, and Fisker confirms, that he intends to have a convertible that future dealers can show next to the Karma sedan.  There's also likely to be a coupe, if the business really does get off the ground.

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Fisker Karma plug-In hybrid concept drew crowds at Detroit Auto Show.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

Wannabe green-car makers can compete with the big boys like never before, but success – for start ups and established automakers alike -- depends on alternative vehicles that not only are more eco-friendly than gas rides, but are more appealing in other ways, says Henrik Fisker, chairman of Fisker Automotive.

It's not enough that the vehicles of tomorrow be easier on the environment than today's vehicles, but they must be "so desirable and so exciting that people simply go out and buy them," Fisker told a full house Wednesday during a sustainability summit at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.

The former top BMW and Aston Martin designer said  his own experience with a plan for a new plug-in hybrid called the  Karma has proved to him that there's a market for upscale eco-friendly cars and a lot of investors willing to back their production.

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