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Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.

New Mercedes C-Class UK pricing & specs revealed – costs from £26,855

The 2014 Mercedes C-Class (pictured) costs from £26,855 The new Mercedes C-Class for 2014 was revealed in December – looking like a proper baby S-Class – and now we get the specifications and prices for the UK market ahead of its arrival in Mercedes showrooms. To start, there will be just two engines available – 2.0 litre four-cylinder petrol in the C200 and 2.1 litre four-cylinder diesel in the C220 BlueTec – and a choice of six-speed manual and 7-speed auto boxes and three trim levels – SE, Sport and AMG Line. Mercedes say the new C-Class will be the best equipped in its sector, and all models come with a touchpad to control the Infotainment functions, Climate, Media Interface and Artico upholstery.

Vauxhall Astra GTC 2011 / 2012 revealed

Vauxhall Astra GTC - the 3 door Astra will be revealed in June Actually, we’re not sure we should really have called this a reveal of the new Vauxhall Astra GTC. It’s more the reveal of the production version of the GTC Concept we already saw at the Paris Motor Show last year. Surprisingly, the Astra GTC manages to hang on to quite a bit of the style of the GTC Concept, such as the blistered wheel arches and the deep grill, although the usual conpcety stuff – like oversized alloys – have had to bite the dust.