U.s. Old Car Thermostat. Dole. Item: 3820 on 2040-parts.com

Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid: Production underway

The world’s first production plug-in diesel hybrid – the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid – has gone in to production ahead of customer deliveries. Volvo are producing just 1,000 2013 V60 plug-ins, but are aiming to up production to between 4-6,000 a year from the 2014 model year and, despite the problems of integrating the V60′s complicated electric stuff in to a production car, the V60 plug-in is rolling down the same production line as the regular V60, V70, S80 and XC90. That complicated stuff includes two different powertrains and a battery pack – enough for up to 32 miles as an EV only – and a total of 300 additional parts compared to a regular ICE V60.

Volvo Concept XC Coupe at Detroit Auto Show – previews the new Volvo XC90 (+ video)

The Volvo Concept XC Coupe (pictured) will debut at Detroit next month Volvo are heading to the Detroit Auto Show next month with the second of three concepts planned utilising their new scalable platform architecture which will underpin almost all future models – the Volvo Concept XC Coupe. The first of the three new concepts from Volvo came at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in September as the Volvo Concept Coupe – a new take on Volvo’s iconic P1800 – but this time we get a concept that points firmly at the new Volvo XC90, due in a year’s time as a 2015 model. We’ve already got some idea of what Volvo’s designers think the new XC90 should look like, but the styling cues on the Concept Coupe – and the teaser photos of the Concept XC Coupe (above) – give us a much clearer view of what Volvo are planning for one of their most successful cars.

Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid Monterey +video

The Porsche 918 Spyder in Monterey Unless you’ve been locked in a cupboard for the last week, you can’t have failed to notice that this weekend the car world – or at least the upper echelons of the car world – has migrated to Monterey in California for a weekend of basking in the beauty that is the automobile, which culminated in the Pebble Beach Concourse d’elegance We’ve had a couple of premiers from Jaguar and a crash by Sir Stirling Moss; the US has acquainted itself with the Bugatti Veyron SuperSports and the Morgan Eva GT got its world premier. And Porsche took the 918 Spyder Hybrid to Monterey to let the world see it – and to pitch its wares to some of the wealthiest collectors on the planet. Which gives us the opportunity to bring you a VT of the Porsche 918 Spyder on the move.