Dodge Challenger Srt Hemi Travel Cup Commuter Mug Limited Edition Hellcat Orange on 2040-parts.com

BMW plotting a hydrogen fuel cell EV

The BMW i3 EV (pictured) will eventually be joined by a hydrogen fuel cell BMW BMW has now taken its first fully-fledged step in to the electric car market with the BMW i3, revealed in full earlier this week. The i3 is a properly competent offering from BMW and it seems likely that, despite a price pushing on £30k even after the taxpayer bribe for EVs, that they will find a ready market in their affluent customer base for the i3 as a second (or third, or fourth…) car for local runarounds. BMW has even managed to negate range anxiety by offering the option of a range-extender engine in the i3 – basically a BMW motorcycle engine to charge the battery when it runs out of juice – so BMW’s customers who may wish to use their i3 for more than just a trip the shops can do so without getting stranded.

Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV (PHEV) Paris 2012 debut

A production version of the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) will debut at the Paris Motor Show in September. Mitsubishi has already had a couple of stabs at a plug-in hybrid Outlander EV, with the PX-MiEV at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2009 and then again with the imaginatively named PX-MiEV II at last year’s Tokyo Show. But now we’re about to get the production version.

Mercedes-Benz introduces nine-speed automatic gearbox

Mercedes-Benz has quietly slipped a new nine-speed automatic into its lineup as standard equipment on the European market E350 BlueTec. The new in-house produced unit, known internally under the name 9G-Tronic, has long been slated for selected Mercedes-Benz models. However, its existence was officially denied until the weekend, when Mercedes-Benz's German language website configurator went live with various updates for the E-class lineup -- including an entry signaling the 9G-Tronic is now available on the standard rear-wheel drive E350 BlueTec in place of the older seven-speed.