Volvo Egr Valve 85133799 on 2040-parts.com

BMW i3 tops Sunday Times best Electric Cars list

The BMW i3 EV tops Sunday Times best Electric Cars list Just as they did with the new Range Rover last year, the Sunday Times has declared the new BMW i3 EV the pick of the bunch of electric and hybrid cars on sale in the UK, despite the i3 not yet arriving on UK roads. But there seems a good chance that the Sunday Times have got it right this time too, just as they did with the new Range Rover. The Sunday Times praised BMW for biding its time with the launch of their first electric and range-extender car (the next, the BMW i8 supercar, will arrive in 2014) and said the i3′s big appeal lies not in its cutting edge electric motor or battery technology – because there isn’t any – but in its appeal as a car even without its EV powertrain.

2011 Volkswagen Passat: Paris Motor Show 2010

The 2011 Volkswagen Passat at Paris Volkswagen like to call this 2011 VW Passat the seventh generation Passat. But it’s a sort of six and three-quarters Passat because, although every bit of sheet metal has been changed, the underpinnings stay the same. Up front the Passat gets a new set of lights and a new grill and the back sees a new set of lights.

Driven: BMW Z4

Loved as it may be by its loyal fanbase, the outgoing Z4 was always something of a mixed bag in terms of design. While the car's classic long-bonnet, cab-back profile and short overhangs should have pleased the eye, the BMW's sheer frontal mass made its proportions seem out of balance. The application of the company's then-new ‘flame surfacing' form language also generated a visual business that seemed out of place on something as conceptually simple as a roadster.