1970-73 Corvette Original Rh Rear Fender on 2040-parts.com

75,000 Irish drivers left uninsured after policy provider collapses

TENS OF thousands of motorists in Ireland have been warned their insurance policies may be useless after the collapse of an insurer. The Central Bank has urged policy holders with Setanta Insurance to switch their cover after the Malta-based company went into liquidation. It is believed as many as 75,000 motorists are insured by the firm in Ireland, which is popular among smaller businesses who use vans for their deliveries and trading.

Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.

Hyundai i30 Tourer gets five-star Euro NCAP

The latest version of Hyundai’s i30 Estate – the Hyundai i30 Tourer – has gained a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating – the same as the i30 hatch. Hyundai has placed plenty of emphasis on the safety stuff in their cars too, with the i30, i20, ix35, ix20, i40, Veloster and latest i30 all getting a five star Euro NCAP rating. And now the new i30 Tourer has joined the gang with its very own top rank safety rating.