In news that brings to light the ever-worsening vehicle pollution and congestion problem in China, the 62-mile traffic jam near Beijing that officials say could last until mid-September has entered into its 10th day.

Local authorities have dispatched hundreds of police to try and maintain order and to reroute cars and trucks carrying essential supplies, such as food or flammables, around the main bottleneck. Vehicles were inching along little more than a third of a mile a day.

Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city’s Traffic Management Bureau general office, said that he didn’t expect the situation to return to normal until around Sept. 17 when road construction is scheduled to be finished and traffic lanes will open up.

Earlier this week, the New York City Police Department introduced the first 30 of 102 Ford Fusion Hybrids to be used as patrol cars.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the cars use less fuel and emit fewer pollutants, and they contribute to his PlaNYC goal of reducing the city government’s carbon footprint. The cars are equipped with specialized police equipment and switch between a gasoline engine and an electric motor.

This is just another move in The NYPD’s effort to become a more green force. Their fleet already includes hybrid Nissan Altimas, SUVs and electric scooters.

Sixteen Chinese state-owned companies have joined forces to form an electric vehicle industry association in Beijing. According to a Beijing Times report, the association’s goal is to develop electric cars. integrate technological standards and assist Chinese companies to become world leaders in the production of electric vehicles.

The newly formed group also hopes to design a thorough and efficient information sharing system that allowed automakers, battery producers, and associated state resources to exchange information.

The companies are anticipated to invest a total of $14.7 billion on the growing electric vehicles market by 2012.

China is reporting that they will invest more than $15 billion dollars in the hybrid and electric vehicles industry during the next decade, according to the Shanghai Securities News.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has completed drafting a development plan for the alternative energy vehicle industry covering the period from 2011 through 2020, the newspaper reported. The ministry may submit the plans to the State Council for approval this month after first seeking feedback from other ministries, the newspaper reported.
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In a huge move towards becoming more electric vehicle focused, GM has decided to enter into a partnership with Indiana-based electric vehicle company Bright Automotive.

So what’s the deal? GM will give Bright Automotive $5 million to help kick start production of the plug-in hybrid van which Bright has dubbed the “Idea.” Not too sure how crazy we are about the name, even though we get it (Bright Idea, hardy har har) GM will then receive a minority stake in Bright.

“With this deal, Bright gets financial support that puts us on the fast-track toward mass production of the Idea. And perhaps just as importantly, we gain a strategic partner that is a world leader in electrification,” said Bright Automotive CEO Reuben Munger.

The Senate Energy Committee has approved a $2 billion program whose goal is to have 400,000 electric vehicles on the road in three years. The Promoting Electric Vehicles Act (PEVA) of 2010 was approved with a 19-4 vote. The approved version is a scaled-back version of an $11 billion bill first proposed in the spring.

The legislation from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee also sets in motion a $1.5 billion research program to lower the cost of vehicle batteries and connecting them to the electricity grid. The government has stated that the nations long-term goal (by 2030) is to have at least half of the vehicles in the country be electric, which would decrease foreign oil dependency by a third.

In an effort to increase the popularity of electric vehicles on the West coast, a company called Coulomb Technologies has stepped up to the plate to make some major headway. The company would be installing a third of the total 4,600 electric vehicle charging stations in California alone. Over 1000 installations are scheduled to be put in by December, with the rest in place by September 2011.

The installations are a part of $37-million project called ChargePoint America, funded partly by a $15-million stimulus grant administered by the Department of Energy through the Transportation Electrification Initiative.

Zipcar, the largest car-sharing player in the North America, filed the paperwork this week for a $75 million initial public offering (IPO).

“Zipcar’s plans for the proceeds from the [IPO] include, among other things, repaying more than $40 million in debt, developing new services, expanding its fleet and paying some $5 million to shareholders in the recently acquired Streetcar.”

Zipcar boasts 7,000 vehicles, more than 400,000 members, and it relies on the web, software, data centers, GPS, mobile networks and other communication tools to provide mobility as a service. We have always respected what this company does, and we look forward to what they will get up to in the future.

If you’ve got a Christmas wish list that includes, “Electric vehicle with 500 mile range,” then you might be in luck. The Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010 is a bill that’s currently sitting in the House and Senate which could help grant you your Christmas wishes.

The bill has several important measures but the Senate version has a particularly interesting measure that would award a $10 million prize to the first company to create a commercially viable electric vehicle battery that could provide a range of 500 miles on a single charge.

While a 500 mile range sounds wonderful, it also sounds a little ridiculous. Maybe it would be better to encourage a lower cost battery with a range closer to 200 miles and focus on quick charging stations. Lots of gas powered cars can’t even make 500 miles on a single tank of gas. So heck, why stop at 500. Why don’t they offer $100 million for a 2,000 mile range battery that sings Carmina Burana to you while massaging your back and doing your laundry?

Congress will be examining two bills today that would see up to $11 billion in new funding put towards the goal of seeing four million electric vehicles on the road by 2017.

This new cash injection would be earmarked for electric vehicle purchase subsidizing as well as investing in electric vehicle recharging stations.

With one of the main stumbling blocks to the whole hearted adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S. being range anxiety, increased funding for EV charging stations could go a long way to hitting the 2017 target.

The bills in the House of Representatives and Senate have sponsors on both sides of the partisan fence and have a good shot of passing especially with massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico looming in the minds of voters.