Hyundai Santa Fe Remote Replacement on 2040-parts.com

Better Place EV Battery Swap business goes bust

It seemed like a good idea: take the cost of batteries out of the cost of buying an electric car and instead charge EV owners to use ‘Battery Swap’ stations where depleted batteries could be swapped for fully charged ones in the time it takes to fill an ICE car with petrol. But it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong. Better Place – which partnered with Renault in 2009 to make the battery swap technology viable – has failed to find anyone to add to the $750 million already involved in the project and has filed for bankruptcy.

Hershey auction and swap meet gets under way

The Hershey Auction in Pennsylvania is in full swing on Thursday, and our friends from Hagerty Insurance are there. The event is hosted by RM Auctions and includes some of the rarest auto antiques in the world. The two-day event auction coincides with the Antique Automobile Club of America Eastern Division Fall Meet, bringing even more classic sheetmetal to the Hershey Lodge.

Tomorrow's world: Ford's downsized 1.0-litre Ecoboost

Direct injection petrol and diesel, hybridisation, downsizing, turbocharging, twin-charging the list of efficiency-boosting, fuel saving features being offered in new cars is becoming so long, buying a new one is like revising for exams. Is there room for another? Apparently so, but since there’s no official name for it yet we’ll call it ‘super-downsizing’ or in other words, using a very small engine in a not so small car.