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

EV maker Coda trims staff

Not much more could go wrong for electric-car maker Coda, which has struggled to sell its four-door EV in the United States since officially launching it here in March. But Web reports, first seen at www.plugincars.com, say the company laid off 50 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce, last week, mostly in the sales and marketing departments. Efforts by Autoweek to contact Coda have not been successful.

Audi A2 EV & A1 Range-Extender dropped

It seems Audi is getting cold feet on its electric car plans with the Audi A2 EV and the Audi A1 Range-Extender reported to be dropped. It’s starting to look as if car makers are waking up to the reality that electric cars are not something car buyers, on the whole, want to spend their hard earned cash on. We recently reported that the BMW range of EVs is being re-thought with the BMW i3 likely to be just a range extender and plans to extend the i-BMW beyond the i3 and i8 Supercar put on ice.

Chrysler launches Autorama High School Design Competition for Michigan students

Michigan high school students with dreams of being a car designer have the chance to win themselves prizes and courses at the College of Creative Studies with the launch of a new competition from Chrysler. The Autorama High School Design Competition 2014, which is open to high school students currently attending a Michigan public school, asks entrants to ‘design a vehicle that satisfies the needs of young consumers while remaining eco-friendly'. Students are recommended to draw inspiration from any of the Chrysler Group brands: Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck, Fiat or SRT (Street and Racing Technology).