BMW, NEI Corporation, DOE, RheinMobil.

Almost there: Finally, BMW has received the official EPA rating for its range extended i3. It is at 117 MPGe on electric power (29 kWh/100 miles), with a 72-mile all-electric range. Now, the EPA stickers have to be put on the cars to start delivery to U.S. consumers that had been delayed due to missing certification (we reported).
greencarreports.com, transportevolved.com

Water-based lithium-ion battery: NEI Corporation is developing an aqueous-based lithium-ion battery thus reducing the risk of fire associated with Li-ion batteries with organic solvents. The researchers are striving to reach energy densities of 250 Wh/kg and 750 Wh/l.
greencarcongress.com

Fuel cell storage funding: The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award seven million dollars to six projects aiming to develop lightweight, compact, and cost-effective hydrogen storage systems. Five of the companies funded are located in California.
greencarcongress.com

Varied charging: 120,000 kilometres have been electrically driven in the German ‘RheinMobil’ project in which Michelin, Siemens, KIT and Fraunhofer ISI are looking at how to efficiently use EVs for commuters. So far, they have found that a combination of quick and slow charging works best for the battery and ensures a high utilisation rate of the vehicles.
sciencedaily.com