ELECTRIC CARS

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) may be losing money on the Chevy Volt at present, but the long-term benefits of early R&D in electric vehicles, improvements to brand image and improving sales volumes should ultimately make it a wise decision for the company.

Growing global demand for electric cars could drive demand for lithium up by as much as 20 percent per year, benefiting chemical and mining companies such as the FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC), Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) and Rockwood Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ROC), according to Standard & Poor's Capital IQ.

Each week, we pick the biggest, most dramatic, or most interesting winners and losers in money and business. Our picks for Aug. 19-24 include the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Eli Lilly & Co. on one side, and ZeekRewards and Best Buy Co. Inc. on the other side.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) talked some smack at Dutch carmaker Spyker N.V. following its Monday announcement that it would sue GM for $3 billion over the bankruptcy of Saab Automobile AB.

Like a bad case of herpes, the bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab Automobile AB just keeps flaring up in General Motors Company's (NYSE: GM) private dealings. Dutch supercar company Spyker N.V. announced Monday it was suing General Motors for $3 billion in damages on account of alleged interference in a 2011 transaction between Spyker (which owned Saab) and Chinese investor Youngman, a deal which Spyker alleges would have saved Saab if it had been successful.

The collection of new Saab Automobile AB 9-3, 9-4 and 9-5 cars that have been languishing in U.S. ports following the company's bankruptcy will be liquidated at auction beginning on June 28 with a lot in Newark, N.J.

We are living at the end of an era, during the swan song of greatness, the twilight years of a golden age, the last days of the great supercars, ultra-high horsepower paeans to driving: the Bugatti Veyron, Pagani Huayra, McLaren MP4-12C, Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. They may all soon be replaced by electric cars and hybrids.

Details of the fate of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile AB continue to emerge following the June 7 news that the company had been purchased by a Sino-Japanese joint venture National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, or NEVS. NEVS plans to use Saab to produce electric cars, the consortium announced Friday.

Sales of the Chevrolet Volt Hybrid-Electric Vehicle (HEV) have experienced a resurgence in California following tweaks that now allow the car from General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) to qualify for High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access.

Sino-Japanese joint venture National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB (NEVS) has paid a paltry 1.5 billion to 1.8 billion kronor ($210 to $250 million) for defunct Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile AB.

The Chinese government says it will allocate the equivalent of $27 billion to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in 2012, but the battle against the deterioration of China's environment will be a long and tough one.

Shares of Chinese electric carmaker BYD Company Ltd. (Hong Kong: 1211), which is partially owned by Warren Buffett, recovered some of the losses suffered after one of its e6 electric cars caught fire in a crash which killed three people in southern China.

Private-sector initiatives in space made history Friday when SpaceX?s Dragon space capsule was grappled by and attached to the International Space Station.

NASCAR will have its first-ever all-electric pace car at the Sprint Cup Capital City 400 race at the Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Saturday. All decked out in NASCAR livery will be the 2012 Ford Focus Electric vehicle that the Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) unveiled on video this week.

Ford Motor Co. trotted-out some brand, spanking new 2012 Ford Focus Electric cars in New York on Tuesday for a first round of test driving, and the new electric car certainly seems to meet Ford's twin goals of high fuel-economy with a positive driving experience.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) market is all set to witness a slew of offerings by major car manufacturers this year. Back in CES 2011, Ford announced its plans to electrify its Focus compact and now the company has recently announced its plans to bring the electric vehicle to the market.

International Business Machines Corp. said it would partner with the U.S. unit of Honda Motor Co. and PG&E Corp. to use the cloud for optimium charging of electric cars.

Electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc. is charging into Norway after some cold weather testing with the Tesla Roadster and Tesla Model S and will open a new showroom is Oslo, the company announced Wednesday, all as part of plan to expand its Norwegian customer base.

A $1.9 million car, an eco-friendly Batomobile and a flying car all sat under one roof at the 2012 New York International Auto Show. The NY Auto Show kicked off on Wednesday at with brands like Maserati, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Land Rover and more showing off their up-and-coming vehicles for 2013 as well as concept cars that some might not even dream could exist. Here are some of the hottest cars of the event.

Luxury electric vehicle company Fisker Automotive unveiled its newest model, the Atlantic, Tuesday night at the New York Auto Show, but the car may not hit the streets without a second cash-injection, the company's chief executive Tom LaSorda said.

Nissan Motor Co.'s CEO Carlos Ghosn didn't kill the electric car. He's the man determined to make the electric car a new cultural and transportation revolution.