Control Arm Outlander Platinum# 2410376 on 2040-parts.com

Tesla sues Top Gear. Oh, dear. +video

Jeremy, Tesla and Lotus Just over two years ago Top Gear took a Tesla Roadster to Dunsfold and played. And Tesla got the arse because Top Gear ‘staged’ the Tesla running out of juice. Jeremy Clarkson subsequently defended what they did – pushing the Tesla in to a garage – to demonstrate the biggest drawbacks of an electric car, like lousy range and refuelling measured in hours rather than minutes.

America trialling solar-powered roads

Solar Roadways After glow-in-the-dark road markings proved to be a bit of a flop when the paint washed away in the rain, experts are now experimenting with solar-powered motorways. A small, family-owned American company based in Idaho called Solar Roadways has created a short section of road that uses the sun’s energy to power nearby buildings, as well as electric cars. If the solar-powered roads are adopted worldwide, it could put an end to the range-anxiety commonly associated with electric vehicles.

Vauxhall ADAM with new 1.0 ECOTEC 3-Cylinder engine will debut at Geneva

The Vauxhall ADAM (pictured) gets the new 1.0 litre 3-pot ECOTEC engine At the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, Vauxhall announced they would be offering the Vauxhall Adam with their new 1.0 litre 3-cylinder ECOTEC engine in 2014, and we now know it will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month before going on sale in the spring. The new 1.0 ECOTEC 3-Cylinder engine is Vauxhall’s answer to Ford’s 1.0 litre EcoBoost proliferating across Ford’s range, and if it’s half as good as Ford’s unit it should make the 3-pot Adam a fun and appealing option. Available in two states of tune – 89bhp or 113bhp – with both delivering 122lb/ft of torque and with a new 6-speed manual ‘box that’s 30 per cent lighter, the new engine delivers 30 per cent more torque than Vauxhall’s 1.6 litre petrol but can manage 62mpg and emissions of 99g/km for the 89bhp version.