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Driver spends £3,400 on failing theory test 110 times

A WOMAN from London has failed the driving theory test 110 times, it has been discovered. At £31 per attempt, she has therefore spent £3,410 on failing the first half of the driving exam - and cannot sit the practical element until she passes. The woman, who was not named but is from the south east of the capital, is followed by many more hapless learners including a 30-year-old man from Peterborough who has had 86 unsuccessful attempts at the theory test.

Electric cars amped up with £500 million boost

THE GOVERNMENT is to extend the £5,000 grant scheme open to anyone who buys a car with plug-in electric power. It is part of a £500 million move to encourage car owners – and city authorities – to take up the electric car baton and run with it. The initiative will give cities a chance to win government funding to further the sales of electric cars in their areas, for example by allowing them to use bus lanes or park for free.

New Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive goes in to production

The first Mercedes B-Class ED (pictured) rolls off the production line in Rastatt With the BMW i3 grabbing headlines – and flying out of showrooms – as BMW’s first electric car, Mercedes need to play catch-up with a convincing EV of their own, and that’s the new B-Class Electric Drive – an EV version of the regular B-Class – which has now gone in to production in Germany. Built alongside regular ICE versions of the B-Class at Mercedes’ Rastatt Plant, the B-Class ED (Electric Drive) looks practically the same as its more conventionally powered siblings – although the front bumper does look a bit different – and has an electric motor good for 177 bhp and 250 lb/ft of torque, can manage a scoot to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds and has a range of up to 124 miles. The range – at least the quoted range – is a chunk better than the BMW i3′s and on a par with the latest Nissan LEAF, thanks to EV technology provided by Tesla, and the wrapping of an EV drivetrain in a conventional series production car could appeal to more buyers than the ‘statement’ design of the BMW i3.