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Better Place EV Battery Swap business goes bust

It seemed like a good idea: take the cost of batteries out of the cost of buying an electric car and instead charge EV owners to use ‘Battery Swap’ stations where depleted batteries could be swapped for fully charged ones in the time it takes to fill an ICE car with petrol. But it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong. Better Place – which partnered with Renault in 2009 to make the battery swap technology viable – has failed to find anyone to add to the $750 million already involved in the project and has filed for bankruptcy.

UK Honda Civic Type R for Japan

Honda UK is to export the Civic Type R to Japan to be sold as the Honda Civic Type R Euro Currently, the only Civic Type R sold in Japan is the saloon version, so the addition of the 3-door will add to the range. But the problem is that the current Civic Type R is a bit of a let-down. It’s gone from being the ‘Thinking Man’s’ hot hatch to something of an also-ran.

Chevrolet WTCC Ultra concept

Chevrolet has released a sketch of their WTCC Ultra concept that will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in three weeks. Styled by Ewan Kingsbury of GM Australia, who also worked on the Holden Torana, the concept was further developed in Europe to produce a fully working prototype, while the engine comes from Korea and the body from Japan. The international collaboration demonstrates the breadth of GM's resources, and has resulted in Chevrolet's vision of a new generation of World Touring Cars.