New Jaguar XE OFFICIALLY launched – price from £27,000

The new Jaguar XE arrives After months of teasing, years of planning and huge sums of money spent, it’s here – the new Jaguar XE. Looking like a slightly smaller version of the XF, with an upright nose, longish bonnet, coupe-like profile and stubby tail, the XE is clearly a Jaguar – and a fairly conservative one at that – which is probably sensible when  entering such a competitive sector as the ‘Premium’ compact saloon market. But the new XE isn’t just a punt for a few sales in a new sector for Jaguar, but a car that could take Jaguar from an interesting maker of relatively low volume cars to a global ‘Premium’ car maker; nose to nose in a very competitive sector with, principally, Audi and the A4, BMW and the 3 Series and Mercedes and the C-Class.

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Economy & Emissions

The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid will cost from 'Under £30k' Toyota has revealed that the Prius Plug-in will average 134.5mpg, emit 49g/km and cost under £35k in the UK. If you’re going to pay through the nose for a hybrid or electric car, probably the only route you should choose is a plug-in hybrid or a range-extender. And if you want to go the plug-in hybrid route you will now be able to get the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid in the UK, and relieve the British taxpayer of £5k in the process.

Plug-In 2013 conference plugs along

Every now and then, the electric car industry comes together in a sort of Woodstock-of-the-Watt-Hour to take stock of itself and to exchange ideas, sign contracts and maybe have a beer. The most recent parliament of the plug-in was last week in San Diego at an annual industry event known as Plug-In 2013, although obviously they change the year in the title as necessary. Why keep gathering?