Snake surprise for garage mechanics

MECHANICS attempting to jump-start a car were given a shock when they found a snake under the bonnet. Garage workers in Kelty in Fife called out animal charity the Scottish SPCA after they discovered the 2ft (0.6m) corn snake in the engine of the Fiat Punto they were working on. The reptile, which has been named Punto, is now being looked after at the Edinburgh and Lothians Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Balerno.

Range Rover Sport SVR Prototype revealed as most powerful Land Rover ever (video)

The new Range Rover Sport SVR Prototype (above) is heading for Goodwood What were Land Rover to call the new, powerful, range-topping Range Rover Sport from the new Special Operations division, we wondered. Well, wonder no more – it’s the Range Rover Sport SVR. The Range Rover Sport SVR has been revealed – in prototype form and still sporting camouflage – ahead of an appearance at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed where it will flaunt its ‘work in progress’ prowess up the Goodwood hillclimb.

Electric cars must get noisier, ICE cars must get quieter

Electric cars will have to make a noise to protect pedestrians It’s four years since the Lotus solution for making electric cars noisy raised its head, since when the US has had a go at the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in 2010 to do the same thing, the Japanese are playing too, and Toyota revealed the Prius Vehicle Notification System, and now the EU has decided its time to act to make EVs emit ‘noise’. Despite the most appealing part of an EV being that it makes our cities quieter, legislators worry about the blind, partially sighted and distracted pedestrian (think earphones and a Smartphone) being mowed down by a stalking electric car and feel the need to act. So the European Parliament has decided that by 2019 new models of electric vehicle will have to make a noise in cities, and that by 2021 all new hybrids and electrics must be noisy too.