Ener1 Inc

Fisker Automotive, the vehicle manufacturer which took the clean transportation world by storm in 2009 when it announced the debut of its Karma model plug in hybrid vehicle, has announced its intention to renegotiate the terms of its $528.7 million conditional loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE.

Solar module manufacturer Semprius, Inc. has achieved 33.9 percent efficiency for its latest high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules the company said Tuesday.

On Thursday, lithium-battery developer Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) filed a voluntary petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The broad stock market indices all had lacklustre weeks, apparently bothered by ongoing worries about the Greek economy and a meeting of Euro-zone finance ministers scheduled for Monday. Nevertheless, the broader markets managed to outperform the clean energy and energy efficiency indices this week, with the biggest exception being the EnergyBoom Biofuel Subindex (E•B Biofuel) which ended the week up 2.48%.

Shares of lithium-ion battery technology company Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) (market cap $292 million) had plunged more than 27% by mid-day after the company reported at the market close Tuesday that it increased Q1 2011 revenues but suffered major net losses largely attributed to the write-down of the company’s 48% investment in Think Holdings, AS, a Norwegian electric vehicle manufacturer.

Solar power technology companies continued this week to lead the overall green indices and ETFs as well as the broad markets. 

The EnergyBoom Solar Subindex (E•B Solar) increased 4.06 percent and the Guggenheim Solar  ETF (TAN) gained 3.32 percent on the week, compared with the S&P 500 (+0.13 percent), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.43 percent) and the NASDAQ composite ( -1.51 percent).

Shares of Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) closed up 14 percent Tuesday (down from 25 percent earlier in the day) after announcing prior to the market open that it had signed a joint venture agreement with Wanxiang Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. to co-manufacture lithium ion cells and battery packs for the Chinese market. 

Ener1 shares are up 43 percent over the past six months, but down 19 percent over the past year.

EnergyBoom’s E•B Efficiency subindex had the best performance in November among Energyboom’s five sector indices and also beat all broad market indices for the month. The E•B Efficiency slipped 0.13 percent for the month, narrowly beating the best-performing broad market index, the S&P 500 Index (-0.23 percent).

EnergyBoom’s E•B Solar subindex, led by the Chinese low-cost solar cell and module producers, increased 5.10 percent last week.  E•B Solar beat EnergyBoom’s other four clean sector indices and all broad market indices except the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) Index which increased 7.18 percent.

You've no doubt heard about the Chevy Volt, America's first mass-produced electric vehicle.