Mazda Capella 1998 Front Left Caliper [0744360] on 2040-parts.com

UK buyers plugging into electric cars

Renault New figures suggest UK motorists are charged up about electric vehicles (EVs), with a record number of zero-emission cars now on Britain’s roads. Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) suggest there are more than 10,000 electric cars on the road today, with as many as 1,200 EVs sold in March alone. In the midst of an EV revolution Compare that to the lowly 270 that were sold during the same month in 2013 and it becomes hard to argue that we’re not in the midst of an EV revolution, especially when you combine the figures with the 10,200 hybrid cars sold so far in 2014, up by 45% on last year.

Volvo wants to deliver stuff right to your car

If you've missed deliveries of items you've ordered online because you weren't home when the delivery person showed up (who knew they have the same working hours as you?), then you may be interested to hear that Volvo has a new system in development that could enable logistics companies to deliver things right to your car, whether you're there or not. The cost of missed parcel deliveries amounts to 1 billion Euros per year according to Volvo. This week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the automaker showed off a system that would notify car owners, via a smartphone or tablet, when a delivery company wants to drop off or pick up something from their car.

Toyota Prius points the way to design future

For a glimpse of Toyota's future design trends, check out the Prius. The third generation, debuting Monday in Japan, stays true to the line's role as a vanguard of futuristic styling and sports many new elements that will be popping up soon in other models. Chief among these are the sharply creased corners, the forward placement of the Toyota badge, a lowered grille and styling that Toyota's global design chief Wahei Hirai calls "free-form geometrics." The goal was to create an avant-garde, high-tech look that also screams green.