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Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.

McLaren 12C Spider: The video

Last week we had the reveal of the convertible version of the MP4-12C – the McLaren 12C Spider – and now we get the first video of McLaren’s convertible supercar. We did think McLaren would have released a video of the new 12C Spider when it was revealed last week, but they’ve obviously got the hang of their new video software now so we finally get to see the 12C Spider in action. McLaren has used cinema-quality RED camera technology to capture the 12C Spider in terrific detail as it first performs on track and then traverses the stunning roads in the mountains of Andalucia.

USED CAR BUYER CONFIDENCE “UNLIKELY TO IMPROVE” IN 2011 SAYS RAC

USED CAR buyer confidence is unlikely to improve significantly in 2011, meaning that demand for safety net products such as extended warranties will remain strong, says RAC Warranty. The company points out that at the end of 2010, used car warranties are still being enhanced – by both length of time and depth of cover – at around the same rates as during the worst parts of the recession, indicating that the mood of consumers remains cautious. Ian Simpson, sales and marketing director, said: “Next year, the measures that the coalition Government has undertaken to reduce public spending will really start to bite and that will have a definite impact on general confidence.