Diesel hybrid cars avoid BIK penalty. Peugeot, Citroen & Volvo rejoice.

Peugeot 3008 HYbrid4 is the first car to benefit from BIK rates on diesel hybrids As a company car driver the Inland Revenue gets its cut no matter what. With BIK rates set based on CO2 emissions and list price, it’s hard to find a way to beat the system. Even opting for a diesel car doesn’t help because, despite much better economy on the whole from diesels than petrol engined cars, HMRC adds an extra 3% to your BIK rate because diesels emit more of the stuff that matters – particulates and NOx – than a petrol-engined car.

2014 Range Rover Evoque revealed with 9-speed gearbox & Active Driveline

The 2014 Range Rover Evoque (pictured) gets a raft of improvements for 2014 In the run-up to the Geneva Motor Show in March, Land Rover revealed they were planning to fit a new 9-speed ZF automatic gearbox to the 2014 Range Rover Evoque. And they’ve done that, and more, as they reveal the 2014 Evoque. It’s hard to call the 2014 Evoque a facelift as it’s more about evolving the Evoque with improvements as it matures, but there are some interesting changes beyond a few cosmetic upgrades for 2014. Chief amongst the changes is the new 9-speed ZF ‘box which promises some quite impressive economy improvements, with fuel consumption, and therefore emissions, improving by up to 11.4 per cent with the most frugal Evoque – the FWD with the 148bhp 2.2 litre diesel – now boasting official figures of 57.6mpg and 129g/km.

Court battle over driver using Google Glass

A CALIFORNIA WOMAN has pleaded not guilty to what is believed to be the first traffic offence alleging a motorist was using Google's new computer-in-glasses invention. The device, known as Google Glass, features a thumbnail-size transparent display above the right eye. The technology will not be made widely available to the public until next year, but Cecilia Abadie was one of about 10,000 "explorers" who received the glasses earlier this year as part of a try-out.