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Electric Kia Soul planned for 2014

Kia has revealed that they will offer a battery electric version of the next generation Kia Soul when it arrives in 2014. Hyundai may have seen the light and decided the future for cars lies with hydrogen fuel cell cars and not battery electric cars, but sister company Kia thinks differently. It seems an odd polarity for the Korean siblings to take different routes to the future of powertrains for cars, but perhaps it’s just a case of hedging bets rather than an inability by Kia to see how impractical the BEV is as a replacement for a normal ICE car?

Local authorities cashing in with CCTV fines

Councils are turning to CCTV cameras and spy cars to raise £312m in revenue, that’s according to Traffic Spies, a report published by civil liberties group, Big Brother Watch. Using a series of freedom of information requests, the group has discovered that many councils are continuing to use CCTV to hand out fines, despite the government’s Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which highlights the need to use CCTV for traffic offences “sparingly”. Council parking ’spy car’ gets speeding ticket Cameras to catch illegal parking on the school run Yet despite this, the number of CCTV cars in operation has increased by 87% since 2009.

Silverstone unveils new F1 Circuit

The new Silverstone F1 Circuit was revealed this week Bernie will be pleased It’s been a bit of a saga for Silverstone and the BRDC of late, with a backwards and forwards ‘will-they, won’t-they’ get to host the British Grand Prix going forward. Bernie Ecclestone finally announced that Silverstone would host the 2010 British Grand Prix back in December  - although it could be argued only by default after Donnington went belly-up – and the circuit upgrades are nicely in time for the 2010 British Grand Prix in July. Prince Andrew did the official opening on Thursday and got the chance to lap the track in a 2-seater F1 car with Damon Hill at the wheel and former F1 driver – and now BBC pundit – David Coulthard also on track in a Red Bull.