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Seven automakers agree on standardized fast-charge system for EVs

Seven automakers have agreed to use a common single-port fast-charging system for electric cars in the United States and Europe. The goal is to reduce development costs and make it easier for consumers to adopt electric vehicles. Audi, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche and Volkswagen will use identical charge plugs and the same system for communication between the charger and the car in their electric vehicles.

Video: Fiat creates café racer 500 for SEMA

Fiat is preparing a café racer-style 500 for this week's SEMA show by stripping down an Abarth version to take it "down to the essence of what you need to drive a car." The café racer philosophy of ‘more speed, less comfort' was born around the 1960s British 'biker scene and while initially focussed on increasing performance, quickly developed into a culture as concered with 'the show' as 'the go'. "It takes something like this to really get noticed at SEMA," says Craig Buoncompago, Project Manager at Fiat Product Design. "The Café Racer is really going to be one special car that you guys should really come and see." The 500's roof has been chopped, while also shorn of its door handles and being fitted with hot rod billet rims.

VW Up 5 Door reveal

VW Up 5 Door The first photos of the VW Up 5 door have been revealed, a few months after the 3-Door Up debuted officially at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The 3-Door VW Up debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in September, but instead of being the radical departure we were expecting, it turned out to be just a replacement for the VW Lupo. And now we get the first photos of the VW Up 5-Door, which will broaden the appeal of the Up!