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New options make Prius pricey

High-tech features and luxury options will push the redesigned Toyota Prius into new territory--namely, $30,000-plus. The 2010 Prius hybrid will offer options found on luxury cars: systems that automatically park the car in a parallel parking space and slow the vehicle when a crash is likely. But Toyota is aware of a new competitor--the 2010 Honda Insight, a hybrid that is a little smaller and expected to be less expensive than the Prius.

BMW X3 gets a turbo four-cylinder

BMW is expanding the use of its N20 turbocharged four-cylinder engine by making it the base powerplant for the 2013 X3 SUV. The X3 xDrive28 will use the twin-scroll turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that produces 240 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. Twin-scroll turbocharging means that the exhaust stream of cylinders one and four follow a separate path to the turbine wheel from cylinders two and three.

Nissan Renault have sold 100,000 electric cars

Nissan Renault have sold 100,000 electric cars like the Renault Zoe (pictured) Nissan Renault are the only mainstream car maker to have embraced the idea that the electric car is the future, so they’ve been busy building and marketing their EV offerings for a couple of years and have now reached a sales milestone – 100,000 EVs sold. It sounds a lot, but in terms of worldwide car sales it’s a drop in the ocean. Still, it’s an important milestone nonetheless.