Onan Oil Filter (black) - Part No. 185-7444 on 2040-parts.com

Britain to be third global production site for the Nissan Leaf EV after Japan, U.S.

Nissan Motor Co. said it will build the new Leaf electric vehicle at Britain's Sunderland assembly plant starting in early 2013, with initial capacity of 50,000 units. The Japanese company and its French alliance partner Renault will invest more than $642.6 million in the project, including the construction of a lithium ion battery plant on the site.

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’.

Citroen DS3 Cabrio to get Top Gear Live UK debut

The drop top version of the DS3 – the Citroen DS3 Cabrio – is to get its UK debut at this year’s Top Gear Live shows. Just as Fiat has with the 500, Citroen has given the DS3 Cabrio a folding roof that keeps pillars and roof rails in place so the DS3 Cabrio looks just like the regular DS3 with the roof up, saving weight and costs and keeping the very good looks of the DS3 intact. The DS3 Cabrio is due to go on sale in early 2013 – just in time for first customer deliveries in the spring – but ahead of the UK arrival of the Cabrio you can see Citroen’s appealing drop top at this year’s Top Gear Live shows.