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(Another) Audi A3 e-tron hybrid at Geneva 2013

The Audi A3 e-tron – a hybrid A3 EV based on the A3 Sportback – will debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show as a concept. This Audi A3 e-tron isn’t a pointless electric supercar – like the R8 e-tron – or another rollout of the A3 e-tron BEV, but a hybrid A3 with a proper ICE engine coupled to an electric motor, just like the A3 e-tron concept we saw in Shanghai in 2011 That still means a lot of complicated and heavy technology to game the silly official economy tests and come up with ‘official’ economy figures of 158mpg and 35g/km, but the A3 e-tron would – if it were made – offer big tax breaks for company car drivers. The A3 e-tron gets a 1.4 litre direct injection petrol engine good for 148bhp working with an electric motor good for an extra 100bhp.

Automotive Press Association Design Panel says autonomous cars will tear up design rulebook [w/Video]

Fully autonomous cars will challenge everything we know about car design to date, according to industry experts at the Michelin Challenge Design-hosted Automotive Press Association (APA) Design Panel. The APA members-only event, held at the Detroit Athletic Club, carried the theme of 'Driven/Undriven: The Duality of Tomorrow's Automobile' – the subject of this year's Michelin Challenge Design – and explored the design challenges and opportunities that will arise with the advent of autonomous vehicles. The APA Design Panel consisted of Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics, Chris Borroni-Bird, vice president of Strategic Development at Qualcomm and author of Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility of the 21st Century as well as Stewart Reed, chair of the Transportation Design course at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme launched

Renault has introduced a new entry-level Megane Estate - the Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme It sounds as if a Renault Megane Sport Tourer Extreme should be a rival for a Renaultsport, but it’s not. It’s the new entry-level package on the Megane Sport Tourer. But there’s nothing wrong with that, even if the ‘Extreme’ designation is a bit of an oxymoron (unless you think of it in terms of at the bottom extreme of the range).