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

£5000 electric car grants to cut a quarter off EV price

British motorists will qualify for grants lopping a quarter off the price of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen cars – up to a maximum of £5000 discount – the Government confirmed this week. The Office for Low Emissions Vehicles, which launched six months ago, said the new grants would come into force from January 2011 as part of a £230 million low-carbon car incentive programme. Car buyers will qualify for the Plug-In Car Grant from an approved list of low-carbon cars.

BMW 135is for the US only. But you can have much the same in the UK.

BMW 135is - US only BMW is not taking the new M135i to the US but has instead announced the BMW 135is Coupe and Convertible for the US only. There must be logic to BMW’s decision to badge a new 1 Series M135i for the UK and Europe and then add a new model in the US – the 135is Coupe – that actually has more power but no ‘M’ moniker. But that logic does escape us.

Boris planning war on diesel car drivers – London Mayor wants drivers of diesel cars to pay more

Boris wants to charge diesel cars an extra £10 to enter London We’ve long banged on about the nonsense of basing the cost of motoring on the Co2 emissions of cars, and it seems the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, also realises that Co2-based taxation has led to a real pollution problem. As we reported as far back as 2010, petrol cars – certainly before the introduction of Euro 6 emissions recently – are far cleaner than diesel cars when it comes to the sort of stuff that really matters – NoX and particulates. And the problem has been exacerbated by basing car taxation on Co2 emissions as lower Co2 levels have been much easier for car makers to achieve on diesel engines, which is why diesel-engined cars now account for around 50 per cent of all cars sold in the UK.