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What you missed at the Detroit auto show

Press days for the 2014 Detroit auto show wrapped up on Tuesday, and the sum total was more big reveals than we can shake a stick shift at. Production cars included the Ford F-150, Corvette Z06, BMW M3 and M4, Subaru WRX STI and the Porsche 911 Targa, while on the concept front we saw the Toyota FT-1, Nissan Sport Sedan and Kia GT4 Stinger just to name a few. Here are some of our favorites, in no particular order.

Chevrolet Spark EV tops EPA's fuel-economy rankings for 2014

The 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV has been named the most fuel-efficient vehicle by the EPA and the Department of Energy in a new ranking for 2014. The Spark EV returns a combined 119 mpg equivalent, achieving 128 mpg in the city and 109 mpg on the highway. Chevrolet's pure-electric hatch displaced last year's chart topper, the Scion 2013 iQ EV, with its 121 mpg equivalent rating, but the Scion is not offered for the 2014 model year, so it didn't make the list for the U.S.

Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.