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Former car writer has dream job at Mazda R&D

True story: When Mazda engineer Dave Coleman was 10 years old, he announced that he wanted to work at Mazda. See, at about that time, his dad bought a 1983 Mazda RX-7, a car so overwhelmingly awesome to young Dave, he was hopelessly smitten with the entire brand. “All the other kids, when you asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, they said all that astronaut/fireman crap.

New gadget immobilises cars with electronic pulse

Mitsubishi It might sound futuristic, but British technology company E2V has developed a prototype gadget capable of remotely stopping a car using a burst of electromagnetic radiation. Although it does appear to be a piece of equipment from the ‘James Bond bad guy’ locker, this technology really does work and could be used by police forces in the future. On Bing: see pictures of speeding carsHow motoring convictions affect your car insurance So bank robbers beware – even speeders, too.

BMW Concept5 X5 eDrive revealed. It’s a plug-in Hybrid X5

The BMW Concept5 X5 eDrive (pictured) will debut at Frankfurt The arrival of the BMW Concept X5 eDrive ahead of its debut at Frankfurt next month doesn’t preview and immediate addition to the X5 range of a plug-in hybrid, but it does show what will be on offer in a year or two. Just like yesterday’s Mercedes S500 plug-in hybrid, the X5 eDrive is another example of how car makers have developed their way round CO2 taxation levels by throwing electric motors at ICE engines to create a car that offers impressive emissions and economy on official tests. In the case of the X5 eDrive that means a four-cylinder twin power ICE engine (BMW aren’t saying, but we’re assuming its a petrol engine), a 94bhp electric motor and a lithium-ion battery under the boot all working together to produce an X5 that is capable (at least in official tests, which is all that matters) of 74.3mpg and emissions under 90g/km.