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Make money from your electric vehicle

Imagine if your Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi iMiEV started earning its own car payment every month in the form of a rebate check from your local utility. A small (for now) startup in Palo Alto, Calif. called EV Grid Inc.

News watch July 2011: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: car news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Friday 29 July• The BBC and Sky have a agreed a TV deal for F1, which will see the Beeb only broadcast half of all Grand Prix races from the 2012 season (BBC) • Aston Martin Racing will revert to its older, V12-powered DBR1-2 LMP1 racer for the remainder of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) while the new straight six-powered AMR-One 'continues to undergo review' (Aston Martin Racing)• Dr Heinz-Jakob Neußer is to take charge of drivetrain development at VW from Volkswagen 1 October 1 2011. His predecessor Dr Jens Hadler is leaving at his own request, and Dr Rüdiger Szengel is to become deputy head of VW's drivetrain development and retain his role as head of petrol engine development (Volkswagen) Thursday 28 July• Porsche today dug the first soil at its €150m extension of the Weissach R&D base.

VW reveals plug-in diesel hybrid concept, claims 261 mpg

Volkswagen has used a car show in the Middle East nation of Qatar to unveil a two-seat plug-in hybrid concept car that the automaker says will deliver 261 mpg. The VW XL1 uses a lithium-ion battery pack, an electric motor and a two-cylinder, 0.8-liter diesel engine for the powertrain. We're still digesting the press release, but here are some highlights: -- VW says the XL1 can travel about 22 miles on electricity from the battery pack.