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

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.

One lap of the Web: $52 million Ferrari 250 GTO, Alfa Romeo Montreal for sale and more bizarro engines

-- Even as the hammer fell on Juan Manuel Fangio's $30 million Mercedes-Benz W196R, we knew that that car wasn't the most expensive one ever sold -- it was merely the most expensive car sold at auction. Other cars were reported to have traded for a bit more in private sales. But now we have word of a car that absolutely blows the sale price of Fangio's little Silver Arrow out of the water: a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold to an undisclosed buyer for $52 million.

Production of Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero EVs halted

Production of the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero – both the Mitsubishi i-MiEV under the skin – has been halted by Mitsubishi. The Peugeot iOn EV arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show three years ago and the Citroen C-Zero EV arrived a few months later, heralding PSA’s arrival in the EV market with a car based on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. But the prices were frankly horrible at £33,155, more than four times what you’d have to pay for a Citroen C1 or a Peugeot 107 with the 1.0 litre petrol engine.