Feds researching fire risks from EV batteries, regulator says

Federal safety regulators have begun an $8.75 million study of whether lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles pose a potential fire hazard, officials said Thursday. Kevin Vincent, chief counsel of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said researchers are looking at whether the high-voltage batteries can cause fires when they are being charged and when the vehicles are in an accident.

New baby Jaguar to be called XE

Jaguar has revealed its new small saloon rival to the BMW 3 Series will be called XE. The new Jaguar XE, which will be revealed this year before going on sale in 2015, will be the first all-aluminium car ever launched in the premium small saloon sector – and prices are expected to start from £30,000. Jaguar is promising a range of cars that stretch from a sub-100g/km model (something the BMW 3 Series doesn’t yet achieve) to one that can reach a top speed of 186mph (a speed that’s also faster than every 3 Series).

BMW 1 Series M Coupe – Official +video

The BMW 1 Series M Coupe - it's official The whole ‘Will it – Won’t it’ debate about a BMW 1 Series ‘M’ version has been rumbling on for decades (not quite, it just feels that way) with many convinced that not only would BMW make an ‘M’ car for their smallest car but would call it the M1. It was laughable (we can say that because, thankfully, we always rubbished the idea) to think BMW would waste an iconic moniker on a baby ‘M’ car. Well’ they’ve made the car but they haven’t wasted the moniker - it’s the BMW 1 Series M Coupe.