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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’.

Ssangyong e-XIV EV Concept at Paris 2012

Ssangyong are continuing their concept offensive with the e-XIV EV Concept, a range extender compact SUV. Mahindra seem intent on turning Ssangyong from the Lada of Korea in to another South Korean car maker to be taken seriously. We’ve recently seen a big push for the Korando SX, with Ssangyong pitching it hard against the competition as the cheapest way in to a compact SUV, and at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year we had a concept pointing to the next generation compact SUV from Ssangyong with the convertible Ssangyong XIV-2.

Audi TT (2014) in detail: news, prices, specs

By Ben Barry First Official Pictures 08 August 2014 10:39 Could the third-generation Audi TT finally be about to live up to the mini-me Porsche 911 billing that its looks have always promised but its dynamics never delivered? As tech development boss Oscar Da Silva Martins talks CAR round a cutaway of the car’s monocoque ahead of its launch in November, it seems a tantalising possibility. With a clever mixture of aluminium and steel, the new TT’s kerbweight is not only some 140kg shy of the iconic Mk1 of 1998 but also 50kg lighter than its steel-and-aluminium-based predecessor, despite extra equipment that boosts both safety and convenience.