2006 Cobalt Supercharger on 2040-parts.com

Electric cars must get noisier, ICE cars must get quieter

Electric cars will have to make a noise to protect pedestrians It’s four years since the Lotus solution for making electric cars noisy raised its head, since when the US has had a go at the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in 2010 to do the same thing, the Japanese are playing too, and Toyota revealed the Prius Vehicle Notification System, and now the EU has decided its time to act to make EVs emit ‘noise’. Despite the most appealing part of an EV being that it makes our cities quieter, legislators worry about the blind, partially sighted and distracted pedestrian (think earphones and a Smartphone) being mowed down by a stalking electric car and feel the need to act. So the European Parliament has decided that by 2019 new models of electric vehicle will have to make a noise in cities, and that by 2021 all new hybrids and electrics must be noisy too.

2012 VW Beetle confirmed

2009 VW Beetles - new Beetles will launch in 2012 So what did Stefan Jacoby have to say? What we already knew, really. The next generation Beetle will have more rear leg room than the existing Beetle (as it’s based on the new VW Golf).

Infiniti Emerg-e on the move at Goodwood FoS

The Infiniti Emerg-e range-extender supercar will be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this month and tackle the hillclimb. We’re still not sure that Infiniti really know where they’re heading in the UK and Europe, but perhaps recent changes at Infiniti PR will help make things clearer? But one thing Infiniti are doing that makes real sense is the Infiniti Emerg-e range extender supercar we saw at Geneva in the Spring as a potential range-topper for the Infiniti range.