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The typical Miles Electric Car is a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). The sturdy slow speed EVs have been around for some years. They come in two flavors: the Miles ZX40S Car and the Miles ZX40ST Truck. They are mostly manufactured in China.

The car and truck have similar model numbers, and platforms. The truck is about 10% heavier than the car, with correspondingly less range, 35miles for the truck vs. 45 miles for the car. Cost for both is around $20,000. That is higher than the Zap NEV for example, though the Miles is well built.

Both are powered by good old lead acid batteries. This is fast becoming a dated power source for electric vehicles.

Fast forward to 2010; Miles is pulling ahead with the Miles Coda powered by a 100kW motor supplied by an advanced 34kWh Lithium Battery pack. The car is expected to first sell to Californians sometime late in 2010. The Coda weighs in at around 3,600 lbs which improves the power to weight ratio considerably over the ZX40 class.

The target market for the Miles is likely to be the same as for the Nissan Leaf. For information, the Leaf has posted some 19,000 pre-orders already. Interestingly, a recent survey shows that it turns out that people purchasing the Leaf might be former Prius owners. Since the Coda and the Leaf share similar power, range and price levels, it appears that they may also be sharing the same market.

Miles has news stating construction of a new plant in Ohio if support funding from the US Department of Energy comes through. The Miles Coda is designed and managed in the US, but many if not most of its components are manufactured in China. Likewise, Miles has teamed up with the Chinese concerns Lishen Lishen Power Battery and Lio Energy Systems to produce their batteries. Lio would operate the plant should the Government funding come through.

Tata Motors is one of the leading Indian car manufacturers. With a lot of experience and decades of reliable service, Tata has been tremendously contributing towards the growth of the Indian car industry. Tata cars in India carry the proud tag of being produced by the country’s largest automobile maker and the second largest passenger car maker. That said, it’s time we had a look at the Tata cars in India.

The Tata Indica V2 is an economic car with enhanced power, great fuel efficiency, and gives passengers the luxury of ample space. It comes with the choice of a 1.4-litre diesel engine and a 1.2-litre petrol engine which is available with an LPG kit. Indians, mostly those with white-collar jobs, sit on their office seats the whole day long. Tata has designed this car exclusively for such workaholics in India whose lower backs need the right kind of rest at least while travelling. The broad seats come with superb lower back support.

The Tata Indica Vista is nothing but the new generation Indica built on a fresh platform. Very spacious, very efficient engine, improvised interiors and great handling are few attributes that the car can boast of. It is available in India as the Terra, Aqua, and Aura. The rack and pinion hydraulic power steering and the long petal-shaped headlamps are the car’s unique features that enhance its value.

Tata Motors has proved to India that luxury can come at a lower price. The Tata Indigo is one car on the Indian roads that has an athletic character, sufficient power, enough roominess and still comes within an average Indians means. The car is known for its turbocharged engine and the DICOR engine in the diesel variants and the 1.4L MPFI engine in the petrol variant.

The Indigo has further been worked upon to give rise to other cars that adorn the Indian roads now. They are the Indigo CS, the Indigo Manza, Indigo Marina and the Indigo XL. To the Indica Vista range, the car maker has added another variant which has been blazing the streets of India of late, the Tata Indica Vista DriveTech4.

Moving further, we have the bigger cars. The Tata Safari which is quite popular in India has been upgraded with the 2.2 VTT engine. New emission norms have been implemented in the country and Tata brought out this new car variant that will comply with the new rules. The premium SUV is available with both Bharat Stage III and Bharat Stage IV compliant engines.

The next big car from the car maker’s stable in India is the Tata Sumo Grande MK II. This car has its DICOR engine borrowed from the Safari that has been mentioned earlier. The exteriors of this Tata car are graceful and the interiors are sophisticated. They truly suit the any Indian, be the office going guy or the off-road travel enthusiast. Apart from the Safari and Sumo Grande, Tata also has two other big cars, the Sumo Victa and Xenon XT plying on the Indian roads.

Finally, coming to the smallest car developed in India which is also the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano. This car has been prey to a lot of controversy. Luckily, it has come out of all of it and has been declared as a safe package. This car is available in six peppy colours and has been adding a lot of colour to the streets of India. It will probably be exported to the rest of the world in some time.

For 2010, the only option powering the Lexus SC 430 luxury convertible is a dual overhead cam (DOHC), 90o eight cylinder, 4.3 liter, V8, gasoline engine. This engine features direct port sequential fuel injection, has four cams and is equipped with Lexus’ variable valve timing and camshaft with intelligence.

Maximum horsepower of this engine is 288 delivered at 5,600 rpm. The torque is rated at a maximum 317 foot pounds and is produced when the engine is operating at a speed of 3,400 rpm. The engine Is made from an Aluminum block and has aluminum heads has a bore of 91 mm and a stroke of 82.5 mm and a compression ratio of 10.5 to 1. The efficiency and power of this engine are revealed by its impressive acceleration from 0 mph to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. The car also has an impressive quarter mile time of 14.3 seconds. The maximum speed of the SC 430 is electronically limited to 149 mph.

Fuel economy for the SC 430 is rated as 16 miles per gallon (mpg) in urban environments, and 19 mpg on the highway. This gives the vehicle an average rating of 23 mpg. The engine is made to run on premium unleaded fuel. The SC 430 has the distinction of being certified as an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV II), making an appealing choice for those who are environmentally conscious. The ULEV rating means that the engine emits extremely low levels of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide into the air.

If you’re in the market for a car that can be rebuilt and put back on the road or re-sold, you have certain advantages if you find a repairable car with a clean title. A clean-title rebuildable car could be a car that’s been in a collision, or a theft recovery, a vandalized vehicle, a flood-damaged car or a burnout. In the case of floods, in particular, often insurance adjusters will get a sampling of cars that have been affected by flood damage on a dealer’s lot, and then write off all the cars as total losses. Sometimes these cars will come away with salvage titles; other times they’ll come with a clean title.

What is the one clearest advantage? A car that comes with a clean title will be worth more when the rebuild process is complete. A rebuilt car with a salvage title will be worth less, and many states will mandate extra inspections before the car can be registered again. Remember that some states do NOT record salvage vehicle titles.

You’ll also need to know that an unscrupulous seller can launder a salvage title by moving the car from a state that has salvage titles to one that records only clear titles.

You will, of course, need to check over a clean-title repairable car closely. Flood damage, in particular, can cause lingering headaches even after a car has been rebuilt. Inspect under the hood, under the dash, under the seats and carpets and in the trunk. Be aware of musty, mildewy smells (or efforts to cover up dank smells). Be on the lookout for rust inside the vehicle, or signs that the flood damage has been repaired or covered over. Water up to the floor pan of a car isn’t necessarily a big problem, even though an adjuster might still call it a total. Water up to a car’s windshield is almost always going to mean real trouble.

If it is at all possible, you should try to get a vehicle history report such as CARFAX. CARFAX isn’t perfect, but it gives you a leg up when buying a damaged vehicle (any vehicle, really). You can also look at the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s database to look for VIN numbers of cars that have been damaged in hurricanes or floods.

Clean-title repairable vehicles can wind up being a great deal for the rebuilder and reseller. Often these vehicles have negligible damage, or may just need cosmetic work to be returned to resellable condition. Do your homework, be aware of what you’re getting into and you can wind up with a car that can bring you years and many miles of reliable service, or can be sold at a fairly tidy profit. Also, remember that an older car has a lower book value, so it’s going to mean less actual damage for an insurer to write it off as a total loss.