Ford Mustang Saleen S281 S351 H302 F-150 Power In The Hands Of A License Plate on 2040-parts.com

Why carmakers say no to battery swapping

There's a strange disconnect surrounding Better Place, the company best known for its plan to extend the range of electric vehicles by relying on speedy battery swaps. Automotive executives are nearly unanimous in dismissing the idea. With the conspicuous exception of Nissan-Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, rarely does an executive express interest.

Audi S1 at Paris

The Audi S1 will have a Paris Launch (A1 Wörthersee Concept pictured) It’s getting on for a year since we reported that – despite some saying it wouldn’t happen – Audi were planning at least a warm version of the A1 and had on the drawing board the Audi S1 to take on the MINI Cooper. So it’s not a shock that we hear Audi are planning on bring the S1 along to Paris for a reveal before getting the S1 on the roads by the second quarter of 2011. Expect the usual Audi S bits in the mix  - bigger wheels, fettled suspension, beefed-up brakes, body kit – and power in the S1 to come from the S/C turbo 1.4 TSI found in the VW Polo GTI, although the S1 may just get a tweaked version of the engine as befits its higher standing in the VW hierarchy with a bit more than the 178 horses the Polo GTI manages.

2015 Land Rover Defender delayed – creating the absolute dog’s danglers will take longer

Recently, we reported  Land Rover’s design director Gerry McGovern saying of the 2015 Land Rover Defender  “This car will be the bollocks, I assure you. The absolute dog’s bollocks.” But it seems that creating the absolute dog’s danglers is going to take a bit longer than planned. Autocar are reporting that John Edwards – Land Rover’s Global Brand Director – has said the new Defender will not be going in to production in 2015 as planned, although Land Rover are planning to scrap the current Defender then as it will no longer meet emissions regulations.