Rigid Industries 30113 Battery on 2040-parts.com

Tesla Roadster vs Top Gear

As I’m sure many of you will have seen at the weekend, Clarkson got to play with the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car based on the Lotus Elise. Made for interesting viewing. It was obvious that the weight of the batteries would compromise the handling, but its actual straight-line speed was a real revelation.

Art Center and Clemson University students unveil Mazda Deep Orange 3 concept

Art Center College of Design and Clemson University students joined forces to design and develop a next-generation Mazda concept, the Deep Orange 3. The Deep Orange 3, which features a body designed by Art Center student Frederick Naaman, has been unveiled at the Center for Automotive Research Management's Briefing Seminars in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The project started with market research focusing on what kind of car Generation Y would want to drive, with the results showing that the majority wanted five or more seats.

News watch March 2012: 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: news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Friday 30 March 2012• Fiat is suffering from its decision to suspend new product innovation during the recession, argues ANE. It is losing ground on account of delays to its Punto range, which won't be replaced until 2014, and the ageing Bravo, which was launched in 2007 and has no successor in sight (Automotive News Europe)• Mercedes plans to build the new four-door coupe spun off the A- and B-class architecture at its new Hungarian factory (Automotive News Europe)• Opel denies rumours it may sell the Eisenach factory in east Germany where it builds the Corsa supermini (Automotive News Europe)• Mercedes is cutting the time it takes to build a car from 43 hours in 2008 to nearer 30 hours by 2015, according to production boss Wolfgang Bernhard.