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Hamilton tops the time sheets as F1 season kicks off

LEWIS HAMILTON recovered from the misery of completing just half a lap on his opening run to move to the top of the timesheets on the first official day of the new Formula One season. Less than five minutes into the year's first practice session at Melbourne's Albert Park, and on his maiden installation lap, Hamilton's Mercedes ground to a halt due to a sensor calibration problem that cut out the power unit. That was it for Hamilton until the start of second free practice, when he more than made up for lost time and underlined his status as championship favourite in the wake of Mercedes' impressive form in pre-season testing.

Electric car range drops by nearly 60% in cold weather

Electric cars like the Nissan LEAF (pictured) can lose 60% of their range when it’s cold We already know that the range of electric cars reduces as the car ages, with Nissan conforming that the LEAF’s range will drop by up to 28 per cent over five years. And now we have confirmation that the ambient temperature can have a big impact on range too, thanks to the AAA, America’s equivalent of the AA. The AAA took three standard EVs on sale in the US - Nissan LEAF, Ford Focus EV and Mitsubishi i-MiEV – and subjected them to test in different ambient temperatures.

Volkswagen Cross Coupé: VW compact hybrid SUV Concept at Tokyo

Volkswagen Cross Coupé Concept at Tokyo Volkswagen to debut the VW Cross Coupe Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, a compact hybrid SUV that’s smaller than a Tiguan and bigger than a golf. Volkswagen are taking the VW Cross Coupe to the Tokyo Motor Show this week, and it looks a bit like they’ve taken inspiration for their new car from every successful current car niche, in the hope the cross coupe will strike a chord with buyers. From the name – which VW used for the concept version of the Q3 – to a bit of SUV, a small dose of swoopy coupe all wrapped up in a crossover, the Cross Coupe appears to be conceived to be all things to all car buyers.