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

CAP call on Renault to include battery in Zoe price – when it would cost £25k

CAP has called on Renault to include the battery cost in the list price of the Renault Zoe EV, otherwise it won’t be able to set residual values. We reported recently on the price of the Renault Zoe EV – which starts at £18k – and were surprised to find that Renault weren’t including battery costs in the purchase price but charging and extra £70-93 a month for leasing them. That leads to a completely misleading headline price for the Zoe and, as used car price experts CAP say, is akin to Ford removing the engine costs from their cars to reduce list price.

Mazda to reveal fourth-generation MX-5 on 3 September 2014

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 03 July 2014 09:11 Mazda has confirmed it will show the new, fourth-generation MX-5 roadster in September 2014. An event to mark the 25th anniversary of the MX-5 will be held in Barcelona, Spain on 3-4 September - and the new MX-5 will be shown to the world for the first time. The new MX-5 is a major launch for Mazda; the car has been a runaway hit since launch in 1989 and now mops up a large portion of two-seat roadster sales.

Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.