In a statement released on Wednesday, Fisker said it has filed for arbitration, a motion that will be decided by the San Mateo Superior Court by June 11, 2008.

The contract between Fisker and Tesla had a clause that required that any disputes be handled through arbitration in the Orange County, Calif., within 90 days, according to Fisker. Tesla filed its suit against Fisker in San Mateo Superior Court.

Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker dismissed Tesla’s suit as “ridiculous.”

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News.com)
By filing a motion to compel arbitration, Fisker is trying to avoid costly litigation and resolve the matter quickly, according to its statement:

Because Tesla has sued, Fisker must enforce the terms of the contract and have this matter submitted to arbitration so as to obtain a decision as quickly as possible. Fisker must vigorously defend the meritless litigation brought by Tesla, despite its interference with Fisker’s objective to bring environmentally progressive cars to market.

It is ironic that Tesla is using precious financial resources pursuing costly litigation to try and prevent an entirely different clean technology from being made available to the public. Tesla and its investor would be better served if Tesla devoted its money and time to resolving its own technical and management issues, rather than attacking important innovations of other environmentally conscious companies.

Tesla filed suit against against Fisker Automotive last month, alleging that CEO Henrik Fisker’s design company, Fisker Coachbuild, stole Tesla technology when it did design work on a planned Tesla all-electric sedan.

In the suit, Tesla alleges that Fisker and Bernhard Koehler, Fisker Coachbuild’s chief operating officer, accepted the contract “to gain access to confidential design information and trade secrets, then announced a competing vehicle.”

In Wednesday’s statement, Fisker said it took “great offense” at allegations that it did substandard work. The language echoes comments that CEO Fisker made on Tuesday, when he called the Tesla suit “ridiculous” and “just sour grapes.”

Fisker did design work for Tesla’s upcoming Whitestar, a sedan that will run on an all-electric motor. In an interview with CNET News.com, Fisker said Tesla made significant design changes during the process and that the company has encountered many technical problems.

In its statement on Wednesday, Fisker argued that the Whitestar will not compete with the Karma, the $80,000 sports car that Fisker plans to release at the end of next year. It will run on a battery for the first 50 miles and have a gasoline engine that will feed a generator that charges a Fisker-designed lithium ion battery.

From the statement:

“Fisker’s performance of body and interior design under the contract with Tesla had nothing to do with Tesla’s electric drive technology. The Karma, which is being produced by Fisker Automotive, is based upon a clean hybrid drive technology which is proprietary to Fisker’s partner, Quantum Technologies.

Tesla’s contract with Fisker acknowledges that Fisker is entitled to perform identical services for others. Tesla actually retained Fisker to perform additional design services regarding the WhiteStar, after Fisker’s association with Quantum Technologies was known throughout the industry via press release.

Not once did Tesla ever complain to Fisker regarding Fisker’s performance under the contract, until after the Karma had been shown to the world.

Separately, CEO Fisker on Tuesday said the company intends to make a second battery car that will be priced at about $40,000. He said the expected release would be four or five years.

The Future in Review conference has always been about sketching a picture of the technology and business landscape five years into the future. But this year, attendees and presenters are focused on a more pressing issue: the need for alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels sooner, rather than later.

Stephen Evans of the BBC, Elon Musk of SpaceX, and Lyndon Rive of SolarCity (left to right) discuss solar power.

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)
As such, the early talk at the Hotel Del Coronado is all about alternative energy, whether that’s cellulosic biofuels, photovoltaic panels, and carbon-reduction strategies. Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures kicked off the conference Tuesday night with an after-dinner speech urging the technologists, venture capitalists, and entreprenuers in attendance to focus on greener technologies that make economic sense, rather than crowd-pleasers like hybrid cars or Sheryl Crow’s toilet-paper reduction strategy.

Khosla is plunging his dollars into technologies like enhanced geothermal, cellulosic ethanol, and efforts to improve the efficiency of products we already use, like engines and light bulbs. The key investment decision, in his mind, is whether these alternative technologies can work at utility-grade levels.

“(Alternative fuels) have to compete with the cost of fossil fuels without subsidies,” he said, and they also have to be scalable. Technologies like food-based ethanol, wind power, and regular geothermal aren’t scalable to meet the needs of a huge energy provider like PG&E, but if we could perfect ways to create ethanol from non-food sources, effectively store the energy generated by wind power, or drill geothermal plants anywhere on the surface of the planet, that goal of scalability comes into sight.

The other goal is that alternative sources of energy have to be price-competitive with current sources of energy such as oil, coal, and natural gas. The public will embrace cleaner, sustainable energy sources as long as they don’t have to pay for it, Khosla said.

Martin Tobias of Ignition Partners, Erik Blachford of TerraPass, and David Morris of EcoVerdance talk about carbon-trading systems.

(Credit: Tom Krazit/CNET News.com)
Khosla is betting on the future, but he thinks that significant changes could arrive in the energy market as soon as five years from now. Other presenters on Wednesday morning discussed their current businesses, such as Lyndon Rive of SolarCity and David Morris of EcoVerdance.

Rive has a thriving business installing solar panels on California homes but is working overtime to try to ramp up the supply of solar technologies to meet demand, which illustrates Khosla’s scalability issue: prices are way, way too high.

Morris’ company is working on carbon trading by allowing businesses to purchase credits for a chemical called Accele-Gro-M, which is then given away to farmers in developing economies. This “all-natural plant growth enhancer,” according to EcoVerdence’s site, is used to boost crops yields; 1 gallon can treat 12.5 acres, Morris said. The increased yields not only improve the food supply in those areas, the additional plants take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Carbon-trading markets have a bad reputation because many people feel they don’t work to actually offset carbon production and give carbon producers ways to feel better about their production without really solving the problem. Morris’ co-panelist, Erik Blachford of TerraPass, agreed that carbon-trading markets aren’t perfect, “but they work.”

Morris agreed. “The most costly thing we can do is nothing,” he said. The FIRe conference runs through Friday, and several more panels will discuss the energy opportunity from several different points of view.

The smart-grid company on Thursday announced that it has raised $20 million, led by Credit Suisse, to invest in development and sales of its networked utility meter technology. To date, the 8-year-old company, based on Jackson, Miss., has raised $80 million.

Joining the Internet: an electricity meter.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET News.com)
Technologies to upgrade the electricity grid is one of the most active of the clean-tech area. A number of smart-grid companies are building software to better operate the power grid or build “smart meters” that can communicate usage information between customers and utilities.

SmartSynch makes communications devices and software that go into smart meters.

Its gear gives meters their own Internet Protocol (IP) address and uses wireless networks used for cell phones to communicate information back to utilities.

Using the existing wireless networks gives two big advantages to utilities, said the company’s CEO Stephen Johnston.

First, they don’t need to build their own network, either by upgrading existing infrastructure or establishing a broadband-over-powerline network.

Secondly, utilities can take advantage of new wireless networks, such as WiMax or municipal Wi-Fi, as they become available since SmartSynch uses IP, he said.

Its systems are used by 75 utilities, which are using the metering technology mostly to cater to commercial and industrial customers. For example, a business could sign up for an energy efficiency program where it agrees to let a utility dial-down usage during peak times.

SmartSynch introduced a residential smart meter, which will double or triple the number of products installed in the next few years, Johnston said. It now has 120,000 installed.

In a statement, Nadim Barakat, a managing director in Credit Suisse’s Customized Fund Investment Group, said that its investment was driven by the anticipated demand in smart-grid technologies.

“Utilities are deploying smart-meter technology at a rapid rate to avoid the difficulty of building and permitting new power plants, to prepare for impending carbon regulation and more importantly because managing electricity use at a granular level opens up new business opportunities with customers,” he said in a statement.

The location of the site in the tony Westwood neighborhood reflects the high-end shopping experience it intends to create for the flashy $109,000 Tesla Roadster. The next store, slated to open in San Carlos, Calif. in a couple months, will be set up to appeal to the Silicon Valley tech elite.

Tesla Roadsters ready to roll. Click on the image to see a photo gallery of Roadsters in production.

(Credit: Corinne Schulz/CNET Networks)

The company told the Associated Press that it is impressed with demand: it has taken 600 orders for the Roadster and has a waiting list of another 400. CEO Elon Musk owns the first one produced.

The fancy showroom near Beverly Hills takes its inspiration from Apple stores, Musk said.

“The Apple stores have worked out well. It’s a fantastic consumer experience,” Musk told AutoWeek. “We wanted a nontraditional automotive experience, and we have it.”

The company plans to make a luxury sedan next year called the Whitestar that will come in two versions: an all-electric model that will run entirely on its lithium ion battery pack, and a range-extended vehicle that will also use liquid fuel to extend its range.

The Roaster will have a range of 220 miles per charge and the mileage equivalent of 135 miles per gallon.

The sex appeal of the Roadster is rooted in the electric motor as well: with powerful torque, it can go from standing still to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds.

Tesla can lay claim to putting all-electric cars back on the map, with its racy Roadster. But it certainly won’t be alone for long.

Audi recently said it will have an all-electric car in 10 years. General Motors is expected to bring out the Chevy Volt in 2010.

Think said it will bring its electric town cars to the United States next year.

The Fetish, an all-electric sports car touted by France’s Venturi for the last several years, won’t be hitting the market until 2009, according to Autoblog Green. It was supposed to come out this month, and before that reports circulated that it would come out in 2005. Venturi first showed off the concept–the “first desirable electric vehicle” according to the company–at the Paris Auto Show in 2004 and has been trotting a prototype around the globe.

Oh, behave!

(Credit: Lightning)
The car will go from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds and cost over $450,000. Although you can’t buy it now, you can buy a toy replica on the company’s web site for 32 Euros. The company is also selling a limited edition carbon fiber longboard skateboard for 480 Euros. Not sure if it’s crash tested for the U.S. yet.

Venturi’s situation is a common one for electric car makers. Getting a car to market–considering all of the testing, design issues, and battery breakthroughs required–isn’t easy. Tesla Motors experienced delays and it was one of the largest, best-organized and best-funded start-ups. Compared to these other guys, Tesla is like GM.

Meanwhile, across the channel, Lightning is taking deposits for its all-electric Lightning GTS for commercial delivery in 2009. Earlier, delivery was slated for 2008. The car uses batteries from Altair Nanotechnologies, which recently swapped out its CEO. The Lightning will have a hub motor, which is a great idea on paper that engineers have struggled to make a reality. The company claims that the car will go 250 miles on a charge, hit 130 miles an hour, and can be recharged in 10 minutes; 250 miles won’t be easy to hit, but the 10-minute charge time could be even tougher, judging by comments from battery experts and what other electric car makers say.

But check out the Union Jack license plate. If they put in a goofy foot gas pedal, I’m sold.

The company said it has secured $500,000 in funding from venture capital firm Big Sky Partners. As part of the investment, Michael Schwab of Big Sky Partners will join Mariah Power’s board.

Mariah Power’s vertical-axis wind turbine called the Windspire.

(Credit: Mariah Power)

Mariah Power, based in Reno, Nev., makes a ground-mounted vertical-axis wind turbine that is designed for people’s homes or businesses. It’s expected to be available later this month for about $4,000.

Company Mike Hess told Greentech Media that its forthcoming spire-shaped Windspire turbine can generate one third of the home’s electricity use.

The business of building wind farms with giant turbines is booming. But the world of small wind is getting more attention.

Marquiss Wind Power in January raised a Series A round to build up its square-shaped turbine meant for placement on top of the flat roofs of commercial buildings.

Southwest Wind Power, which raised a series B round of $6.5 million last year, makes a ground-mounted propeller-type turbine for individual homes or business.

ERCOT studied the costs and benefits of wind power in three scenarios and concluded that expanding wind power in Texas would outweigh the total costs of boosting the state’s electrical grid with conventional technologies. (Renewable Energy Access has a more detailed story here.)

The organization estimated the costs of putting in 5.1 gigawatts (GW), 11.6GW, and 18GW of new wind energy as well as the required grid connections. The 5.1GW plan would bring with it a $3.8 billion premium, but save $1.2 billion in fossil fuel costs a year. The 11.6GW plan would cost $4.9 billion, but save $1.7 billion in fuel costs annually. (Estimated fuel cost savings were not included for the 18GW scenario, but will be included in a future study.) Either way, both programs would pay off in about three years. Wind turbines last for decades; thus, new turbines would save billions over time as well as cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

If you assume 2 kilowatts a house, 5.1GW is enough for 2.6 million homes.

Wind, according to many, is the cheapest form of renewable energy and in many places it is quite plentiful. Ireland could nearly supply all of its power through wind and some companies are developing technology to store wind power so that these plants could provide power on calm days. Wind harnessed at night, for instance, could pump water up a hill, which could be released during the day. The high demand of turbines, however, has created a shortage.

Texas gets 49 percent of its electricity from natural gas plants, says Renewable Energy Access. The U.S. has 16.8GW of wind power installed and 4.4GW is in the flat, windy plains of Texas.

The prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade Nueva School in Hillsborough, Calif., has incorporated a number of green features, including a 30-kilowatt solar array and a “living roof” of plants that lessens water runoff and insulates.

Displays in common rooms show students the positive impact of a school’s green features, including its ‘living roof.’

(Credit: Agilewaves)

Agilewaves makes Resource Monitor software, which can display how the building is performing as a whole. The idea is that creating a visual representation of the green building in action will drive changes in people’s behavior and generally raise awareness of the environment.

In a statement, the school said the application will be valuable to facilities managers and to students as an educational tool.

Building monitors are still the purview of high-end green buildings and generally only viewed by facilities managers.

But there are a number of products being developed for homes. GE, for example, has developed an in-home display for new housing developments that is meant to give people a better idea of usage and their carbon footprint.

Like a lot of cell and panel makers, Trina laid out plans last year to ramp up production of silicon to help ease the rising prices and supply shortages that have plagued the industry since 2004. Solar panel sales are climbing and there isn’t a ton of pure silicon around. The billion dollar plant, slated to begin production in 2012, was announced in December.

The company now says that it has the supplies it needs for now.

“We have made this strategic decision after careful assessment of our raw material requirements, in conjunction with recent and favorable long term polysilicon market and supply condition developments.” said Jifan Gao, Trina Solar’s CEO in a prepared statement. “Furthermore, we wish to reaffirm our strong working relationship with our partner GT Solar, which continues to provide us with advanced multicrystalline technology platforms to support our target of 350MW of annualized module capacity by the end of 2008.”

Some analysts have predicted that supply for silicon solar panels will start to exceed demand in 2009, which in turn will ease the shortage. The reversal in part will come because more factories have come on line, but also because silicon panels will start to face more competition from thin film. Having a brand new factory in 2012 may be a financial burden.

On the other hand, Trina’s move might be largely related to internal issues. It’s not like the long range forecasts for solar have dramatically altered in four months. In the chip business, companies have done this for years.

Typically, no one worries much with the first cancellation in the chip world, but a second will raise eyebrows. So keep your eyes peeled for a second. That could be the key.

Chinese solar makers have also been engaged in a price war with each other.

Doerr was the keynote speaker at the MIT Energy Conference here Saturday. He alternated between expressing wonder at the progress in addressing global warming and discouragement at the overall state of affairs.

Kleiner Perkins investor John Doerr sees a ‘green tech’ boom whose scale is falling short.

(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET Networks)

The theme of the conference is “scale,” as in finding the right technologies and policies to address burgeoning global energy demand without polluting the planet to the point of dangerous greenhouse gas levels.

Doerr is a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital icon Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he has invested in Google, Amazon.com, Sun Microsystems, and several other successful technology companies.

Thousands of people have seen a video of a talk Doerr gave at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference last year, in which he broke down crying, telling the story of how, after seeing the movie Inconvenient Truth, his teenage daughter angrily told him to fix the global-warming problem because his generation caused it.

Two years ago, Kleiner Perkins announced the creation of its first green-tech investment fund, and Doerr has become a high-profile investor and policy advocate in the field.

Altogether, the company has invested more than a half million dollars in 30 green-tech ventures, many of which Doerr touted during his talk.

Fisker Automotive, founded by a former Aston Martin and BMW sports car designer, will have a four-door plug-in hybrid electric vehicle out next year. Another investment, Amyris Biotechnologies, is using synthetic-biology engineering to create low-cost malaria drugs and synthetic biofuels that mimic the characteristics of hydrocarbons.

Doerr also successfully lobbied to pass the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020.

“So what’s happened in the couple of years since my daughter yelled at me? We’ve invested a lot, we’ve lobbied a lot, and I’ve learned a lot. Think about it: who would have thought that a designer of gas guzzler vehicles would make a 100-mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrid?” he said in reference to Fisker Automotive.

But despite all the accomplishments of these innovative companies, he struck a downbeat tone on both technology and policy. After listing some of the technologies being generated by Kleiner Perkins-backed companies, he said:

“To the point of scale, who would of thought that all of that is not going to be enough? To get solutions that scale, we are going to have to find answers that are economic for all people everywhere. We are going have to use policy to harness innovation to make sure the right thing to do is the profitable thing to do, so that it becomes the probable thing to happen. There’s more money that flows through markets in a day than all the word’s governments in a year…

The energy market is $6 trillion. I like to say it’s the mother of all markets. Compared to that Internet, which is a big deal, this is much bigger, much more exciting. But the challenge is much larger. Going green–solving that problem will be largest transformation on the planet.”

Doerr said the entire planet needs to “reindustrialize” to adopt less-polluting forms of energy.

Many people have called for the equivalent of an Apollo Project or Manhattan Project in the United States to solve the energy challenge. But Doerr said that those, which were multibillion-dollar, single-government agency projects, “fail miserably to convey the size of the challenge.”

To underscore how little is being done at the federal level, he said government funding in U.S. research and development on renewable energy was less than $1 billion last year, while oil giant Exxon makes $1.1 billion in revenue a day.

The $5 million in federal research for geothermal power is “so low, it’s almost criminal,” he said.

He predicted that the three leading presidential candidates will address climate change regulation far more aggressively than the current Bush administration, which has opposed mandates and sought to stay outside United Nations-led climate talks.

Despite Doerr’s concern for inadequate action on clean energy, he touched on the question of an investment bubble in green tech. Overall, he said there isn’t a bubble, but he does see some problems.

“There’s too much money chasing too few good ventures, despite the size of this problem,” Doerr said.

Venture capitalists have poured billions of dollars into the sector, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of investment, though it still garners fewer venture capital investments than biotech and information technology. That rapid capital influx, along with the challenges of large capital demands and regulatory complexity in energy, have caused concern that investment has been too aggressive.

In response to a question, he said the venture capital industry will not change to fund more capital-intensive energy projects. And he noted that returns in venture funds have been getting worse.

But he predicted that returns for green-tech investments will be good, once more recently funded start-ups go public in 2009.

Echoing the comments about a “global-warming bubble” made earlier this week by investor and tech luminary Bob Metcalfe, Doerr said “booms,” or large investment waves, are generally good for the economy.

“I think that we’re at the beginning of a green-tech boom. I can assure you we don’t have an overinvestment to deal with the scale of the problem.”