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General Motors says the battery-powered version of its Chevrolet Spark mini-car can travel up to 82 miles on a single charge, putting it among the leaders in mass-market electric vehicles sold in the U.S....

A driver was hospitalized Thursday after a large sinkhole opened up in the middle of the street and swallowed three cars on Chicago's South Side, police said. The injured man was driving when the road buckled and caved in at 9600 South Houston Avenue near the Chicago Skyway, Chicago Police Department spokesman Mike Sullivan told NBCChicago.com.

BMW is giving fans of its 3-Series more room and better gas mileage in two important variations of the small luxury sports sedan that it's rolling out at the New York International Auto Show this week.

The Hertz Corporation recently expanded its Supercar rental offerings in Europe, increasing the number of cars and models available in Britain and Spain, and adding Italy, France and (beginning in April) the Netherlands, to the countries where the premium cars can be rented. Renters can now choose brands including McLaren, Lamborghini (shown) and Aston Martin. What European financial crisis?

Barack Obama will use a visit to a Chicago-area lab on Friday to call on Congress to set aside $2bn over the next decade to fund research into a next generation of electric cars. The White House said the Energy Security Trust, which Obama first proposed in his state of the union address, would use royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling in public waters and would not add to the deficit.

German carmaker BMW says 2012 was the best year in its history after it posted a rise in profits and record revenues.

This week in Geneva while Ferrari joined the hybrid race with McLaren and Porsche, Lamborghini unveiled its latest prototype, the $3.9 million Veneno. The 750-horsepower car is a one-off model made to coincide with the company’s 50th anniversary. Its multi-million-dollar price tag makes it one of the most expensive cars ever made, putting it in the same echelon as the $2.4 million Bugatti Veyron and the $1 million McLaren F1.

Cars will soon be so linked into wireless networks they will be like giant rolling smartphones — with calling systems, streaming video, cameras and apps capable of harnessing the unprecedented trove of data vehicles will produce about themselves and the humans who drive them.

...There’s little doubt that motorists want more connectivity, despite the worrisome traffic statistics. But many experts are betting that so-called connected car technologies can be put to work reducing the number of accidents, injuries and deaths on America’s roadways.

Lexus, Porsche and Lincoln are the best performers in an annual survey of vehicle dependability.