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

GM expands advanced-vehicle-technology center in California

General Motors unveiled a new technical center dedicated to the development, maintenance and testing of alternative-energy vehicles last week in Torrance, Calif. The company has had local digs for years but recently leased the building next to its existing Advanced Technology Center for an alternative-energy research facility. It now employs a dozen scientists, technicians and engineers to advance the electrification of GM vehicles.

KISKA opens new design studio

Austrian brand management and design company KISKA has moved its design studio into a modern new building in Salzburg, Austria, just a few meters from its former location. The new headquarters boasts state-of-the-art workstations and has been built to enable the firm to prepare for expansion and new challenges in the years to come. Designed by Hofbauer architects, the 4700m² building was built in just one and a half years.

Driven: BMW i8

When BMW unveiled the Vision EfficientDynamics concept at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, we wrote: "for our money, it's the first time a major carmaker has really attempted to communicate ‘green' technology in an aesthetic sense." Fast-forward five years and we've swapped the show halls of the IAA for a beauty spot on the north-west coast of Scotland. And, while the car's name has changed to i8, our sentiment towards this genre- and era-defining car remains. Admittedly the production car's design execution hasn't received the universal praise of its concept forebears, but, on a remote outpost of the British Isles, a Protonic Blue i8 couldn't look more exotic.