Zbroz A Arms on 2040-parts.com

Tesla takes a swipe at BMW & Audi

Tesla’s design boss, Franz von Holzhausen, says the BMW i3 is an IKEA car We’ve long been of the opinion that electric cars, certainly with the current levels of battery technology, can never be a replacement for an ICE car. But we do have soft spot for what Tesla are doing. That’s because Tesla has tackled the issues of electric cars in  the cleverest way possible by building a car (the Model S) that looks like a normal luxury car – rather than making it look odd or quirky just to ram home its difference – and made it travel a sensible distance on a single charge.

Mercedes-Benz introduces nine-speed automatic gearbox

Mercedes-Benz has quietly slipped a new nine-speed automatic into its lineup as standard equipment on the European market E350 BlueTec. The new in-house produced unit, known internally under the name 9G-Tronic, has long been slated for selected Mercedes-Benz models. However, its existence was officially denied until the weekend, when Mercedes-Benz's German language website configurator went live with various updates for the E-class lineup -- including an entry signaling the 9G-Tronic is now available on the standard rear-wheel drive E350 BlueTec in place of the older seven-speed.

First Sight: Infiniti Emerg-e

It's a month before the Geneva motor show and amongst the usual pre Motor Show commotion I receive a string of cryptic emails about an Infiniti electric sports car concept. The name Emerg-e is only revealed as I drive to the secret preview at Park Royal Studios in West London to meet the big three in design – global design director Shiro Nakamura, Francois Bancon of advanced design and head of Nissan Design Europe Victor Nacif. This is clearly a critical car for Infiniti.