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Britain's low-carbon future

By Guy Bird Motoring Issues 25 March 2008 12:36 Higher purchase taxes for high emitters, ‘traffic-light style’ tax discs to indicate a vehicle’s environmental friendliness and mandatory dashboard-based driving efficiency technology are just three recommendations from a new report that looks set to inform Government policy for the next decade. Published on the same day as the Budget, the snappily titled King Review Of Low Carbon Cars Part Two (Recommendations For Action) was lost amid all the hoopla of new tax bands. But now we've had time to scrutinise it, we can assess the proposals that could affect your next car choice, from upfront purchase price to tax and running costs.

Fisker Atlantic prototype [w/gallery] [UPDATED]

The Fisker Atlantic prototype, developed under the codename Project Nina, has been officially unveiled at a special VIP event on the eve of the New York motor show. This luxury extended-range four-door sedan, described by Fisker as a design prototype, is aimed at young families, and uses the same hybrid plug-in as the Fisker Karma. A standout feature of the Atlantic is the rigid ‘spider' structure, which allows for a generous amount of rear headroom for a fastback car as well as maximizing the light entering the cabin while offering increased visibility to the car's surroundings.

VW BlueSport Concept moves nearer to reality

We reported last week on the VW BlueSport Concept, a relatively economical 2 seat roadster, which VW unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show. We said then that if we were VW we’d be pressing the start button as soon as possible, and reports seem to indicate that that is exactly what VW are hoping to do. The secret to the success of the BlueSport will be the ability of the VW Group as a whole to find three platforms within its setup that can produce viable models based on the BlueSport Concept.