Flitz Knife & Gun Care Kit -kg 41501 on 2040-parts.com

GM contacting Chevrolet Volt owners as NHTSA investigates battery fire

General Motors on Monday said it is contacting all owners of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid to reassure them that the car is safe as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigates a battery fire from a Volt that was crash-tested. GM said any Volt owner who had safety concerns would be offered a different GM car as a loaner vehicle. Executives also stressed during a teleconference that the battery issues were seen only in vehicles in the crash tests.

Better Place EV Battery Swap business goes bust

It seemed like a good idea: take the cost of batteries out of the cost of buying an electric car and instead charge EV owners to use ‘Battery Swap’ stations where depleted batteries could be swapped for fully charged ones in the time it takes to fill an ICE car with petrol. But it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong. Better Place – which partnered with Renault in 2009 to make the battery swap technology viable – has failed to find anyone to add to the $750 million already involved in the project and has filed for bankruptcy.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 & DB9 Carbon Black & Carbon White Editions: Geneva 2014

The new Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 (pictured) gets Vantage S power It’s tough having motor shows to attend and nothing new to offer, so car makers tend to deliver a ‘Special Edition’ of an existing model to make it look like they’ve made and effort. Step forward the Aston Martin V8 Vantage N430 and the Aston Martin DB9 Carbon Black & Carbon White Editions. There’s little new on offer, really, with a rehashing of what Aston Martin has produced before as ‘Limited Edition’ cars, with the V8 Vantage N430 continuing the theme of Vantage  ’N’ Editions and the Carbon’ limited edition’ DB9s done before.