Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.

Porsche 911 cabriolet: First official photographs

Porsche has developed an innovative fabric and composite-plastic folding roof for the 911 cabriolet as part of a push to give it a cleaner appearance, improved aerodynamic efficiency and greater levels of refinement than its strong-selling predecessor. Pictured here officially for the first time ahead of its world premiere in January at the Detroit auto show, the new open-top 911 is planned to go on sale in North America in 2012 in Carrera cabriolet and Carrera S models. Eschewing the traditional multilayered fabric structure of the 997 series 911 cabriolet, the next model (991 series) adopts a specially developed lightweight roof that uses two fabric-skinned composite plastic panels for the upper and rear part of the structure, giving it a more uniform shape together with a tauter fit that is claimed to make it more resistant than before to buffeting at high speeds.

The ‘Persuaders’ Aston Martin DBS fetches £533,500 at Bonhams auction

The Persuaders Aston Martin DBS sold at Bonhams Aston Martin Works sale As we reported back in March, the Aston Martin DBS driven by Roger Moore in the 1970s TV Series The Persuaders – where Moore played Lord Brett Sinclair and Tony Curtis Danny Wilde – was up for sale this weekend at the Bonhams Aston Martin works sales Newport Pagnell. The first time this iconic TV car had been offered for sale in 40 years – although without its iconic ‘BS 1′ number plate – the DBS fetched an impressive £533,500 (including buyers premium and taxes) – a world record price. Compared to the huge prices reached by James Bond Aston Martins, the price paid for the Persuaders DBS was small, but in terms of the price paid for a ‘TV’ car it was huge.