May 21, 2010
Nissan’s Leaf to cost £10,000 more than its competitors
Nissan announced today that the world’s first mass-market electric car, the Nissan Leaf, will cost nearly £10,000 more than its equivalent petrol and diesel rivals.
Nissan were quick to add that the new fully electric car would actually cost £23,350 when the government grant is taken into account.
“At first sight it looks expensive,” said Edmund King, president of the AA, “but we estimate a Ford Focus or similar car in that category would cost about 14p a mile, where the Leaf would cost something like 0.3p per mile depending on your electricity tariff. If you do 10,000 miles you save around £1,500 a year. Over three years you almost make your money back on the premium.” The car is also exempt from vehicle excise duty and London’s congestion charge.
With a range that is double a G-wiz of 100 miles, the Leaf will be able to go without the plug socket and should avoid drivers being worried they will become stranded after running out of power.
Ben Lane, editor of What Green Car, said Nissan would likely be losing money on the first sales of the Leaf but said, “It could do for electric cars what the Toyota Prius did for hybrids.” Toyota has sold over 1m units of the Prius since it launched 1999.
April 15, 2010
Hennessey Venom GT: hear and see it in the new video
The crazy guys at Hennessey have just pooped the first footage of their new monster the Venom GT on Youtube today.
Filmed whilst being tested on UK roads, Hennessey have captured what is great about supercars – the sheer noise of them.
We’re not sure which fire breathing version this is; as they come in two distinct flavours – the ‘standard’ 725 bhp supercharged v8 or the full-fat 1,000bhp monster.
In the majestic words of Vanilla Ice, check out the hook while my DJ revolves it…..
March 25, 2010
The UK’s most expensive insurance claim for crashed Pagani Zonda
A test drive that ended in tears is going to cost UK car insurance company Aviva £300,000 after it was crashed in a test drive in Aberdeen.
Rumours are flying around the internet that it was 3 time world champion Jackie Stewart after an Aberdeen newspaper claimed Sir Jackie was the driver.
However a spokeswoman said it was not true, and added: “Sir Jackie wasn’t in the country. He’s never driven the car and doesn’t know the owner.”
The Pagani Zonda S, which would cost more than £500,000 to buy, was involved in a crash last September.
The car has been sent for repair to Modena in Italy, where the vehicles are made.
A spokesperson for insurers Aviva said: “This is the biggest insurance payout we have had for repairs to a private car in the UK.”
The spokesperson said: “This is out of the ordinary for an insurer.
“Although the vehicle was badly damaged, Aviva decided that the car may be repairable and set about making arrangements for the car to be shipped across to Modena, Italy, home of Pagani, the vehicle manufacturer.
“There are roughly only 10 Zondas produced per year and they are painstakingly constructed.”
The insurance claim was lodged by the test driver, not the owner of the car.
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