Late last week, Nissan announced via press release the availability of the new zero-emissions Nissan LEAF. The announcement came amid the fanfare surrounding the Nissan LEAF Zero-Emission Tour that culminated in New York last week.

The LEAF is slated to be the first all-electric, zero-emissions car for the mass-market. To make sure everyone who wants one gets one, Nissan has set up a clever purchase/lease process. First, go to www.NissanUSA.com to register your interest (50,000 treehuggers are ahead of you). In April, registrants will be asked to pay $100 to reserve their LEAF. Then, actual orders will be taken in August and the first deliveries will take place in December 2010. We can’t wait!

Three high-ranking Tesla Motors employees were killed in a private plane crash east of Palo Alto, CA today. After taking off in thick fog, the twin-engine Cessna 310 clipped power lines and crashed into the residential neighborhood at 7:55 this morning. No one on the ground was injured.

What does this mean for the green automaker? Having just closed a deal on a nearly half-billion dollar loan and preparing to go public in the near future, all systems looked to be go at Tesla until now. It looks like none of the victims we C-Suite employees (CEO, CMO etc), so the IPO should go off as planned. But, how will a company that bills itself as green defend its use of fuel-gluttonous private planes? Only time will tell.

For the record, we LOVE Tesla Motors and everything they’re trying to do. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families and the entire Tesla operation.

Okay, we were wrong. But, what do you expect from a two-bit hack blogging regurgitated articles from his garage while drunk and calling it auto journalism, anyway? Why the self-deprecation and angst you ask. Well, last month we reported that Porsche had no plans for a hybrid vehicle. And, you know what? We said thank fucking goodness. But today, Jalopnik reports that Porsche plans to reveal a hybrid 911 at Geneva. Besides making Discover Hybrid Cars look the fool, a hybrid 911 is an abomination. Sorry Ferdinand…

This image is spreading like wildfire across the blogosphere. And, it looks to be a trifecta of the greenest proportions—Tesla Roadster (full electric), Toyota Prius (hybrid) and a Volkswagen Golf (diesel). Only one question remains, was it the Toyota’s faulty brakes, accelerator or headlights that caused this catastrophe?

Source: Jalopnik