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

UK electric car sales hit record high

While electric cars may not have taken off as quickly as the likes of Renault and Nissan had hoped, the latest figures from the government’s £5,000 electric car grant scheme show that sales have leapt 25% in the last quarter. A total of 1,149 electric cars were registered in Q3, not only a 25% improvement over Q2, but the most successful quarter since the government scheme began back in January 2011, indicating that consumers are starting to understand the technology and its limitations rather better. On Bing: see pictures of electric cars in the UK Find out how much an electric car costs on Auto Trader This news comes as the Renault-Nissan alliance has been forced to admit it is not going to reach its self-imposed target of 1.5 million electric car sales by 2016.

Name game: Analysis predicts vehicle brand based on first name

Here's something to fill your mid-afternoon break. MoneySupermarket.com, a site in the U.K. that compares everything from insurance to travel, analyzed 17 million car insurance searches on its site to come up with a list of cars people are most likely to drive based on their first name.

Exclusive: Phil Zak appointed Chief Designer at Hyundai America (updated)

Phillip A Zak will become the new Chief Designer at Hyundai's North American Design Center in Irvine, California, filling the role previously held by former GM designer Joel Piaskowski who left Hyundai to become Head of Advanced Design at Mercedes-Benz's North American Design Center in January of this year. Zak joins Hyundai from his previous role as head of exterior design at GM Europe - a post he has held since August 2007 - and will work in parallel to European Chief Designer Thomas Buerkle (who worked at BMW before joining the Korean automaker), developing vehicles for the North American market. As is the case with Buerkle, Zak will report to Hyundai Design Director Mr.