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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’.

SEAT Ibiza ST (Sport Tourer) at Geneva

The SEAT Ibiza Sport Tourer will launch at the Geneva Motor Show Once upon a time it was all about getting the biggest estate car you could. That was what estate cars were for. But these days style and compact dimensions appeal to estate car buyers as much as anything, so the reveal of the SEAT Ibiza Sport Tourer should mean a few more sales heading SEAT’s way.

Kia Ray Concept at Chicago Motor Show

Kia wil preview the Kia Ray Concept plug-in hybrid at the Chicago Motor Show next month Yes, the Detroit Motor Show is only just about done, but waiting in the wings is the rather less fancy Chicago Motor Show (although they probably won’t thank us for describing it as such). But despite Chicago being a lower key affair than Detroit they will still get their share of new stuff. Well, not necessarily new (we reported that North America gets the BMW Alpina B7 which will debut at Chicago) but certainly new to the US.