Tax disc to be scrapped after 93 years

David Cole | REX Features Tax discs are to be axed, chancellor George Osborne has announced in his 2013 Autumn Statement. But motorists will still pay an annual Vehicle Excise Duty (VED / road tax) fee. The round paper certificates we all currently display in our car windows have served as proof of this road tax payment since 1921.

Volvo 13-liter liquefied-natural-gas engine announced for North America

It comes as no surprise that, with rising fuel costs, companies are continuing their efforts to increase efficiency. Volvo Trucks, for its part, plans to launch a 13-liter liquefied-natural-gas engine for North America in 2014 and is set to develop a new form natural-gas fuel called DME, or dimethyl ether. Volvo looks to add the liquefied-natural-gas option to complement its compressed-natural-gas (CNG) offerings.

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.