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Meet the Kia Soul EV and Niro hybrid concept

Kia revealed three electrified cars at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday, one concept and two that are headed for production. The Niro hybrid is Kia’s future take on a city car, while the Soul EV and new Optima hybrid will be out later this year. The Soul EV is the company’s main focus at the show, judging by our seven pages of press releases on it.

Euro NCAP latest results

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 19 December 2007 11:36 The latest round of Euro NCAP results are announced today, with another round of high scores from a range of superminis and family cars. But none of the cars tested could manage more than three stars for pedestrian protection. Daihatsu's Materia supermini and, surprisingly, the Honda Civic trailed the pack with only four stars for occupant safety, but the Merc C-class, Renault Laguna, Volvo V70 and – impressively – the tiny Mazda 2 all came out with the top score.

Aftermarket Car Plug-In Hybrid system developed (video)

The Department of Engineering Technology at the Middle Tennessee State University has developed a plug-in hybrid retro-fit system for cars. As hybrid cars show the world that we can get more miles to the gallon from fuel by adding in an electric motor to the mix (depending on just how that electricity is generated, of course), it was inevitable that aftermarket solutions would eventually surface. Now, the Department of Engineering Technology at the Middle Tennessee State University has popped up with what they claim is an after market plug-in hybrid system that can be added to just about any car and would cost – assuming it gets to market – around £2,000.