Ford Oem-windshield Spacer 9l3z14030a12a on 2040-parts.com

AAA unveils battery-charging trucks for stranded EVs

The American Automobile Association has unveiled an example of its new roadside-assistance truck, which is capable of recharging batteries for stranded drivers of electric vehicles. AAA first announced the plan in June, and the first truck was shown on Monday at the Plug-In 2011 electric-vehicle conference in Raleigh, N.C. It uses Green Charge Networks technology and has a removable lithium-ion battery pack that allows for mobile charging.

One Lap of the Web: Porsche flat-fours, hot rod artists and German car shows

We spend a lot of time on the Internet -- pretty much whenever we're not driving, writing about or working on cars. Since there's more out there than we'd ever be able to cover, here's our daily digest of car stuff on the Web you may not otherwise have heard about. -- You've heard of watching paint dry, but NHTSA has a new hobby: watching Fords rust.

New Mercedes S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Mercedes S-Class (pictured) will arrive with a plug-in hybrid version in September We’ve known Mercedes were planning a plug-in hybrid version of the new S-Class as far back as 2009, and it now appears it will debut – as a 2014 model – at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. When Mercedes revealed the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid Concept at Frankfurt in 2009, they had fitted it with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 44kw motor and a bank of lithium-ion batteries, and promised the hybrid S-Class would do 90mpg, have emissions of under 75g/km and manage 18 miles in EV mode. That means the hybrid S-Class would have performance comparable to the V8 petrol-engined S500 but attract no BIK or VED in the UK.