Land Rover testing electric Defender 110 pickup

Land Rover has begun testing an electric version of the Land Rover Defender first shown at the 2012 Geneva motor show. The electric Defender prototype is in service at the Eden Project in Cornwall, U.K., a complex of several large transparent domes that house multiple artificially maintained environments containing thousands of rare plants, and is a popular visitor attraction. At the moment the electric Defender isn't exactly tearing through the Amazon rainforest, but the work it's doing is nevertheless a good approximation of how quite a lot of Defenders are used in real life -- at least in terms of speed and duration of use.

Ford to add 1,200 jobs at Chicago plant to build 2011 Explorer

Ford plans to add 1,200 jobs when it begins making the Explorer sport-utility vehicle later this year in Chicago. The announcement is expected Tuesday morning at the plant. Plans to bring the Explorer from Louisville, Ky., to the underutilized Chicago plant have been known for nearly a year.

Alfa Romeo reveals new 1.8 litre turbo engine with up to 300bhp

New Alfa Romeo 1.8 litre turbo engine - destined for the Alfa 4C Alfa Romeo are on something of a push to make themselves seem a viable part of the Fiat setup, with a plan to push hard in to America (although that keeps getting delayed) and new product on the horizon. One of those new products is the Alfa 4C which we expected to get a version of the existing Alf 1750 lump with around 250bhp. But it looks like that’s not going to be the case after all.