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Volvo's eco-friendly DRIVe (2008): first photos and video

By Nick Eaton First Official Pictures 10 September 2008 10:00 DRIVe is Volvo’s new eco-friendly, fuel-efficient technology that will be unveiled at the Paris motor show in October 2008, and we'll see it first on the C30, S40 and V50 1.6-litre diesel models. All of these cars achieve CO2 figures below 120g/km, which places them in the UK's VED tax band B and, according to Volvo, makes them the most efficient cars in their respective classes. UK sales start in January 2009.

Ford at CES: Charge your car with science and wash your dishes while you sleep

Ford's C-Max Solar Energy Concept is a "plugless plugin," said Donna Bell, which initially sounds silly -- as if the carefully structured chaos and noise of CES may have finally gotten to her. But as someone who has been managing Ford's electric vehicle infrastructure for the past 20 years, she isn't being facetious. Solar panels on the roof of a car aren't anything new -- the Fisker Karma used them to power the radio and other in-car accessories, to cite a soon-obscure example.

BMW 640d xDrive announced

On Thursday, Greg Kable waxed effusively about the new BMW M550d xDrive coupe, suggesting that it was the ultimate 5-series for everyday use. On Friday, Munich announced that the 5's two-door sibling will receive an AWD diesel variant: the 640d xDrive. While not quite as high-zoot as the 5-series' top oil burner, the 640d's 3.0-liter, twin-turbo straight-six cranks out a respectable 465 lb-ft of almighty torque between 1,500 rpm and 2,500 rpm, plus 313 hp at 4,400 rpm—numbers that, according to BMW, will carry the 6-series to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds.