1991 Yamaha Waverunner Iii 650 Starter Drive Gear on 2040-parts.com

Electric car range drops by nearly 60% in cold weather

Electric cars like the Nissan LEAF (pictured) can lose 60% of their range when it’s cold We already know that the range of electric cars reduces as the car ages, with Nissan conforming that the LEAF’s range will drop by up to 28 per cent over five years. And now we have confirmation that the ambient temperature can have a big impact on range too, thanks to the AAA, America’s equivalent of the AA. The AAA took three standard EVs on sale in the US - Nissan LEAF, Ford Focus EV and Mitsubishi i-MiEV – and subjected them to test in different ambient temperatures.

Concept Car of the Week: Fiat Scia (1993)

After a successful design competition between famous Italian design houses to rework the little Cinquecento, Fiat renewed the experience two years later by giving to nine of them – including Fiat's in-house studio – a new Fiat Punto as a base to let their creative juices flow. The results ranged from being simply forgettable (Zagato Monomille), ridiculously daft (Boneschi Doblone) or just plain ugly (Giannini Punto 4x4 TL), but one of the concepts stood out from the flock for being brilliantly bold. This was the Fiat Scia, presented to the public at the 1993 Turin Auto Show.

Uwe Bahnsen 1930-2013

The design world remembers Uwe Bahnsen, who passed away on 30 July aged 83. Born in Hamburg, he studied Fine Arts at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste before joining Ford in 1958. His final position at the blue oval was vice president of design, which he held until 1986.