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Why carmakers say no to battery swapping

There's a strange disconnect surrounding Better Place, the company best known for its plan to extend the range of electric vehicles by relying on speedy battery swaps. Automotive executives are nearly unanimous in dismissing the idea. With the conspicuous exception of Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, rarely does an executive express interest.

Money Advice Service’s Online Tool Helps Buyers Choose Wisely

NEW researched published by the Government-backed Money Advice Service (MAS) has found more than half of people who purchased a used car underestimated the running costs. Some 56% of motorists said that total cost, including maintenance, repairs, insurance and fuel had turned out to be higher than anticipated, while one in five (20%) have resorted to going into debt just to keep their vehicle on the road. One in four (26%) of the 3,000 people surveyed who have bought a second-hand car since 2012 now has regrets about their purchase, with many of them saying they had not worked out whether it was really affordable or that the purchase price was too much in the first place.

Toyota Prius MPV teased

The Toyota Prius MPV Facebook Tease We reported back in May that Toyota were finally going to produce a Toyota Prius MPV – probably with an extra row of seats – in 2011. Which looks to be on the money if the photo above, which has turned up on the Toyota Prius Facebook page today, is anything to go by. The photo seems to make it clear that even though Toyota are using the tag line “The Prius family is getting a whole lot bigger” we should sensibly conclude that the biggest bit of bigger is that there will be an MPV and a plug-in.