BMW ActiveE – the BMW 1-Series Electric – at Detroit

BMW has reveled the BMW Concept ActiveE at the Detroit Motor Show BMW obviously think there’s room for more than just the MINI E to be punted round the roads by Joe Public to shake out all the wrinkles in their electric car gubbins as they’ve brought along the BMW ActiveE Concept to the Detroit Motor Show – basically an electric BMW 1 Series – which we first reported on back in December. The ActiveE Concept gets a rear mounted electric motor that divvies up 170bhp. Unlike the MINI E BMW has managed to stick the batteries under the car instead of ripping out the back seats to store them.

2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor gets engine upgrade, crew cab

A larger standard engine and more seating capacity are the big changes for the 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor pickup. For starters, all 2011 Raptors will come standard with a 6.2-liter V8, rated at 411 hp and 434 lb-ft of torque. The 6.2-liter engine was an option on the 2010 Raptor, while a 320-ho 5.4-liter V8 was the base engine.

MPs call for parking charge reports

COUNCILS should publish annual parking-charge reports to show where revenue comes from and where it is being used, MPs said today. The use of parking charges and fines specifically to raise revenue was "neither acceptable nor legal" said Louise Ellman, chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee. Launching a report by her committee into local authority parking enforcement in England, Mrs Ellman said: "There is a deep-rooted public perception that parking enforcement is used as a cash cow, so it's essential that local authorities apply stringent transparency." The committee said local authorities in England had a collective parking surplus in the hundreds of millions of pounds, but that the exact amount was subject to debate.