Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive gets wheel hub electric motors

The Ford Fiesta eWheelDrive – a driveable research vehicle built by Ford and German specialists Schaeffler – may be a regular supermini in size, but it points towards a potential future EV which is much more compact and very manoeuvrable. Ford has taken a regular Fiesta and dumped its powertrain, replacing it with a battery bank where the engine would be and fitted a pair of in-hub electric motors on the rear wheels. But the plan is to build new cars with the batteries under the floor which frees up the space under the bonnet which can then be all but removed to create a very compact urban car that still has space for four.

Lotus Exige S V6 rolls off the production line

The Lotus Exige S V6 with the 3.5 litre Supercharged engine from the Evora S has started rolling off the production line at Hethel. How nice to be able to report a new car arriving from Lotus instead of more doom and gloom. The Lotus Exige S V6, with the supercharged 3.5 litre engine we first saw in the Evora S, has started to roll off the production line (actually, ‘production line’ me be a bit of an exaggeration) and is heading off to its new owner.

Lotus appoints Swizz Beatz as Vice President of Creative Design and Global Marketing

We've become accustomed to surprising and – at times – bizarre news stories emerging from Lotus since Danny Behar became CEO. But judging from reaction in the world of social media this afternoon, even by Lotus's recent standards, the news that it has appointed American rapper Swizz Beatz as its vice president of Creative Design and Global Marketing, came as something of a surprise. Kasseem Daoud Dean, otherwise known as Swizz Beatz, has a broad creative background, having a portfolio that includes music producer, rapper, designer and painter.