1968-1976 Corvette Standard Steering Column For Parts on 2040-parts.com

Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.

Jaguar XF CKD assembly starts in India

Jaguar Land Rover has started assembling the Jaguar XF at its plant in Pune, India, in a move to reduce XF retail prices in India. Lower taxes on cars assembled in India from CKD kits produced in the UK  (although not as low as they were), rather than importing complete cars from the UK, mean assembling the Jaguar XF in India will give the XF  - already Jaguar’s best-selling car in India – a more attractive headline price. That means the 3.0 litre Jaguar XF dropping in price from 5.8 million rupees (around £68k) to 5.1 million (around £60k) and the newly introduced 2.2 litre diesel XF will come to market at 4.5 million rupees (around £53k).

GM looks to drop some weight with magnesium

Like many Americans, carmakers are on a continuing quest to lose weight. Less weight, which equals better fuel economy without a loss in performance, is a key selling point in dealerships. Weight loss is a key factor for two upcoming launches from General Motors--the redesigned full-size pickups and SUVs, and the redesigned 2014 Chevrolet Corvette.