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

Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.

Phil McNamara's 2010 LA Auto Show report

Optimism. California was built on it, and the first press day of the Los Angeles auto show was mired in thick, gloopy, ‘we’re going to save/conquer the world’ with cars rhetoric. Mercedes saw no irony whatsoever in announcing 200 deliveries of the zero emission hydrogen fuel cell B-class, then without missing a beat unveiling the 550hp CLS63 AMG, with huge increases in power and torque.

2012 BMW M5 Preview Video

2012 BMW M5 - another teaser video The tease for the 2012 BMW M5 started just ten days ago when we published BMW’s first M5 teaser video. Just the briefest of glances of the new M5 – still camouflaged – in a snowy, evocative landscape. But now we get what appears to be the same video only this time we get shots of the still camouflaged M5 cut in instead of cut out.