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Forza Motorsport 6's new drivable Hot Wheels cars are the best

Each month, Turn 10 Studios releases a new car pack for the latest installment of its Forza Motorsport video game. Sometimes that means less-than-exciting stuff coming to our Xbox Ones – BMW X6M, bleh – but this time our inner seven-year-old is beyond ecstatic. Two of the seven cars are based on actual Hot Wheels models. And. They're. Awesome. First we have the 2011 Hot Wheels Bone Shaker. Yes, there are flames on the side. And yes, there's a giant skull where the grille should be. This one came from the imagination of "Mr. Hot Wheels" Larry Wood, whose design was so popular it inspired an actual real-world creation. Like all good things in this world, it's powered by a small-block Chevy V8. Oh, and it has no roof. This will be a popular one among gamers. The other digitized Hot Wheels creation is a 2005 Ford Mustang. A modest vehicle, sure, but the toy designers have festooned this pony car with a wild paint scheme and the body mods to emphasize it. Originally developed to celebrate the 'Stang's 50th birthday, this Hot Wheels car trades Americana for wild Japanese style. There's just one functioning life-size version of this car in existence as well, but if you look hard, you might be able to find one of the 1:64 scale models that inspired it. Other highlights from this month's car pack include the latest Ford Focus RS – finally time to replace that NASCAR-V8-powered, all-wheel-drive 2009 Focus RS – the 2015 McLaren P1 GTR, the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, the aforementioned X6M, and Alain Prost's 1990 Ferrari 641 F1 car. The Hot Wheels Car Pack is available for download today. Related Video: Featured Gallery Forza Motorsport 6: Hot Wheels Car Pack News Source: Turn 10 Studios via YouTube Toys/Games BMW Chevrolet Ferrari Ford McLaren Racing Vehicles Performance video games Hot Wheels forza motorsport chevy camaro ss forza motorsport 6

Recharge Wrap-up: Range-extended EV taxis in London, 2016 Chevy Volt interior two years old

The first Metrocab range-extended EV taxis are operating on the streets of London. The cabs use a 12.2-kWh battery and two 50-kW motors, as well as a 1.0-liter gasoline range extender. Fuel economy is 98 MPGe on the ECE101 cycle, and total driving range is over 348 miles before needing to charge or refuel. Cabbies can expect to save GBP20 to GBP40 (about $30 to $60) per day on average. "The cash savings on fuel are significant, the ride and comfort outstanding, and my first customers are thrilled with the new cab," says the first operator of the new EV taxi, Preston Morris. "With its air suspension providing unrivaled comfort, panoramic glass roof for views of the city and silent powertrain, what's not to like?" Read more in the press release below. Chevrolet has had the interior design of the 2016 Volt finished for two years already, according to GM interior designer John McDougall. Beginning around 2010, GM received sketches from designers worldwide before narrowing it down to a handful of designs. Then the top three choices were molded from clay. The chosen theme was then refined for up to 18 months. "Every little thing you can imagine goes into that," says McDougall. "The glare angle from the windows, the placement of the controls, the placement of the seat. You have to create something that's beautiful and functional." Read more at GM Authority and at Inside EVs. More details have emerged about the Second Life Batteries Alliance. Vattenfall has announced a research project in partnership with BMW and Bosch to use retired EV batteries for stationary, grid-connected energy storage in Hamburg, Germany. Over 100 lithium-ion batteries from BMW i3 and ActiveE vehicles will make up a two-mWh storage unit for grid balancing, enough to power 30 four-person households for a week. The system is "compact enough to fit in a small building," says Bosch. Such storage systems are especially fit for storing and moving alternative forms of energy, which often fluctuate in supply more than electricity from a traditional power plant. Vattenhall will operate the storage unit for 10 years, with Bosch managing the batteries, during which time the three partners hope to learn more about battery applications and their performance over time. Read more at Green Car Congress, or in the press release below.

Nissan Leaf sets new November sales record, Chevy Volt drops again

When you talk to people in the plug-in vehicle industry, one theme you hear repeatedly is that the more plug-in cars that are out there, the better things are for everyone. One reason is that more EVs build a need for more public chargers, and more chargers mean more people see that plugging in is feasible. But there's still something to be said for old-fashioned competition, and in the sales race between the two long-running plug-in vehicles in the US, the Nissan Leaf is resoundingly beating the Chevy Volt for 2014. In fact, it won't be long before the EV's cumulative sales top the PHEV's. But that's a topic for another month. For now, we have the sales results from November. Unsurprisingly, Nissan set another monthly record (that is, the best Leaf sales in any November, the 22nd time in a row we've seen a monthly record) with 2,687 sales last month. That's up 34 percent over last November and up 35 percent year-to-date. Toby Perry, Nissan's director of electric vehicle marketing, said in a statement that, "Our 'Kick Gas' ad campaign and 'No Charge to Charge' launch in Chicago and Atlanta drove an increase in November Leaf sales. Even with gas prices falling across the country, consumers appreciate that the cost of driving a Nissan Leaf is still a fraction of that of a gas-powered car." Over on the Chevy side of the ledger, there were 1,336 Volt sales last month, down 30.4 percent from the 1,920 sold in November 2013. So far this year, Volt sales are down 16.4 percent and Chevy has sold 17,315 Volts in 2014. As we said last month, the Volt slump might be due to people waiting on the new version to make an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show next month before going on sale in the second half of 2015. So far in 2014, Nissan has sold 27,098 Leafs. Look for our detailed post of US green car sales in the near future. Until then, please discuss last month's Leaf and Volt sale in the comments, below. News Source: Nissan, General Motors Green Chevrolet Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales hybrid sales