Optima Batteries 8042-218 Yellowtop; Deep Cycle Battery on 2040-parts.com

Better Place Electric Car visitor centre opens

Better Place have opened a visitor centre in Israel to demonstrate their battery swap technology for electric cars Last October we wrote about a start-up company in Israel – Better Place – that had a new way forward for electric cars by taking the purchase of battery packs out of the equation, and was developing a system for ‘Battery Swap’ stations where electric car owners could drive in and swap their battery pack for a fully-charged one in a few minutes. That story first brought to our attention our favourite quote of last year – by Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – who said “A hybrid is like a mermaid: if you want a fish, you get a woman; if you want a woman, you get a fish.” Which probably explained why Nissan – and its partner Renault – got involved with Better Place. Better Place aims to address the main concerns of electric car drivers by making the battery packs in electric cars ‘swappable’.

2014 Range Rover Sport UK price & specifications confirmed

But as Land Rover has decided they are ready to make the specifications and prices for the new Range Rover official, it seems only fair to do a quick recap, although there’s not much we didn’t cover before. The 2014 Range Rover Sport comes in four trim levels - SE, HSE, HSE Dynamic and Autobiography Dynamic – and a choice of three engines - TDV6 and SDV6 3.0-litre diesel units and supercharged 5.0-litre V8 petrol – although not all engines are available on all trim levels. Equipment levels are decent with even the Range Rover Sport SE getting leather trim, auto lights and wipers, DAB, power tailgate, Stop-Start, Climate, heated front seats, SatNav, air suspension and Terrain Response.

2012 Canadian Grand Prix Qualifying: Vettel takes pole

Sebastian Vettel has taken Red Bull’s second pole position in a row with a stunning qualifying at the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix. Red Bull may have seemed a bit out of sorts so far in the 2012 F1 season, but Vettel’s pole at the Canadian Grand Prix on top of Mark Webber’s win at Monaco last time out may be an ominous sign for the rest of the grid. Vettel took his Red Bull round Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve a full three tenths of a second ahead of second place Lewis Hamilton and moves Vettel up to fifth place in the all-time pole listings alongside Nigel Mansell – and his career still has a long way to go to overhaul Schumacher, Senna, Clark and Prost.