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Volvo makes breakthrough in battery tech

Volvo has developed a new way of ‘storing’ energy for its future electric vehicles. The Swedish firm is exploring the concept of lightweight structural energy storage components made from carbonfibre, containing “nano structured batteries and super capacitors.” This technology is said to offer a lighter, more compact solution to the problem of energy storage, potentially removing the need for the heavy, bulky batteries used in current electric vehicles. On Bing: see pictures of the Volvo S80 Find out how much a used Volvo S80 costs on Auto Trader The investigation into the new technology is part of an EU-funded research project, undertaken by Volvo – the only major car manufacturer involved – and nine other organisations.

Toyota Yundong Shuangqing, Dear Qin concept cars at Beijing

If you want an idea of how important the Beijing motor show has become, get this: Toyota showed 38 production and concept cars in China this week. But two stood out: the Yundong Shuangqing and Dear Qin concept cars. Great names!

Nissan GT-R tweaked for 2009 with more power

By Ben Pulman Motor Industry 09 December 2008 11:30 The Nissan GT-R still hasn’t gone on sale in Europe and it's already been treated to a few tweaks - new for 2009 will be more power, revised suspension, different wheels and tyres, plus a price hike. Quite, but the increase is a mere 5bhp, taking the output of Nissan's 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 from 473 to 478bhp. Nissan says the extra grunt comes from the fine tweaking of the electronics, though torque remains unchanged at 432lb ft.