Yamaha, Beijing, Peugeot Partner, Kia K-Velo EV, BMW i8.

New player on EU market? According to Nikkei, motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha wants to get into the car business. The company aims to start making and selling two-seater commuter cars in Europe as early as 2019 and plans to offer them in both gasoline and electric versions. At the 2013 Tokyo auto show, Yamaha had already presented an all-electric city car concept named Motiv.e.
nikkei.com, wsj.com, europe.autonews.com

Beijing favours plug-ins: The Chinese city cut its licence quota for newly registered petrol-driven cars from 19,066 to 17,600 this year. Meanwhile, the license quota for new energy vehicles, meaning electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, gets doubled – from 10,000 last year to 20,000 in 2015.
cleantechnica.com, renewables.seenews.com

Peugeot follows suit: After Citroën announced a facelift for its Berlingo a few days back, Peugeot announced the same cosmetic changes for its sister model, the Partner. While the petrol and diesel engines will log better fuel efficiency, the 49 electric motor of the Partner Electric will remain unchanged.
worldcarfans.com (with video)

Kia e-bike in Geneva: The Japanese manufacturer will unveil its K-Velo EV at the Geneva motor show. The pedelec will be available as a city and mountain bike variant, each powered by a 250 kW Bosch electric motor and a 10 amp lithium-ion polymer battery pack.
autoevolution.com, worldcarfans.com

BMW i8 named car of the year: The BMW i8 has been announced as the overall winner of the 2015 UK Car of the Year award, judged by a panel of 27 of British motoring journalists. BMW’s plug-in hybrid sports car also won the title of Performance Car of the Year.
hybridcars.com, autoblog.com, express.co.uk