98 99 00 01 02 Forester Rear Drive Shaft At 110885 on 2040-parts.com

Kia Soul EV revealed at the Chicago Motor Show

The new Kia Soul EV (pictured) has been revealed in Chicago The Kia Soul EV is Kia’s first effort at a proper mass production EV, and if you’re looking for an electric car it does look promising. Due to go on sale later in 2014 in the US – initially in California, New York and Oregan because of their charging infrastructure – and, Kia promised, the UK and Europe later in 2014 or early 2015, the Soul EV offers a real world driving range of 80-100 miles from a recharge taking half an hour for 80 per cent on a rapid 50kW charger or up to 5 hours for a full recharge from a UK 240 volt supply. The range is helped by Kia’s third-generation regenerative braking system which manages to capture 12 per cent of the car’s kinetic energy, feeding it back in to the battery as electricity during braking and coasting, with four different regeneration modes.

Motorcity Europe launches design seminars

UK-based independent design studio Motorcity Europe (MCE) has launched a series of two- and five-day training seminars aimed at broadening the skills, experience and job prospects of anyone working - or looking to work - within the field of automotive design. Held at Motorcity Europe’s design studio in Cologne, Germany, the seminars will see well-known design professionals instruct on a range of design techniques, including sketching and visualizing, clay and digital modelling, portfolio improvement, presentation skills, creative thinking, and automotive and product design business strategies. These seminars are open to students, graduates, design professionals and even non-designers seeking to gain experience in the field.

Electric SEAT Altea & plug-in SEAT Leon hybrid revealed

The SEAT Altea EV & plug-in SEAT Leon hybrid - testing for the next 4 years Seat may have revealed a pair of cars with ‘eco’ powerplants -  the Leon TwinDrive Ecomotive and the Altea XL Electric Ecomotive – but they’re not coming to a showroom near you. Well, not before 2015, anyway. The plan is to build a small prototype fleet of the Leon Hybrid and Altea EV and make them available to local government in Catalonia and Madrid, to get evaluation and real-world feedback before the cars go in to production, which won’t be for at least four years.