TPM Idealab: Will GM’s First All-Electric Car Be A Chevy Spark Minicar? : “In June, Chevy unveiled the Chevrolet Beat EV in India, an electric conversion of the Spark minicar (called the Beat in some markets). A test fleet of these vehicles is meant to investigate the consumer acceptability of lower-cost, lower-performance electric cars in a country where few vehicles cover long distances, compared to the States with its network of high-speed highways. The Beat EV as shown in India isn’t particularly high performance: Its liquid-cooled 20-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack powers only a 45-kilowatt (60-horsepower) electric motor that drives the front wheels. Chevy says the little electric Beat has an electric range of roughly 80 miles.”

Strong Towns Blog: The ASCE Infrastructure Cult : “The American Society of Civil Engineers has just released a report that should be titled, “Pretending it is 1952.” Like a broken record, ASCE is again painting a bleak picture of the future if American politicians — as if they need to be plied — won’t open up the checkbook for our noble engineers. And in a way that the Soviet Central Committee would have expected from Pravda, the media and blogger world is sounding the alarm. This feels more like a cult than a serious discussion on America’s future.”

You Tube Huntley Film Archives: The Great North Road“A superb amateur home movie in colour from August 1939, recording a trip north from London along the A1.”