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Good Samaritan pulls key from hit-and-run driver

A man in England stopped a hit-and-run driver from fleeing the scene by grabbing her keys from the ignition. On February 13, Michael Scott witnessed a crash on a busy road in Birmingham, England according to the Telegraph. He watched as a Vauxhall Astra crashed into a Porsche right in front of his vehicle. At first, it seemed like the offending driver was going to stop, but she just kept going. Luckily, Scott had his dashboard camera rolling at the time. "I was shocked when the Astra driver didn't stop, and just carried on accelerating up the road," Scott told the Telegraph. "I thought the driver was trying to do a runner, so when the car in front of me moved off I managed to speed up and block the Astra in. Scott rushed ahead of traffic to cut off the Vauxhall in a turn lane a few hundred feet from where the crash originally occurred. The running driver then maneuvered around Scott, but was blocked by another car from making a clean getaway. Scott then nabbed the driver's keys to keep her from fleeing again. "I was in a rush so I couldn't stop, but I gave her keys to the Porsche driver and left," Scott told the Telegraph. "I contacted the police to let them know I had footage of the incident too." When police arrived they found both drivers were unhurt, though the Porsche will probably need some expensive repairs. The fleeing driver was charged with drinking and driving and is currently out on bail.

Porsche working on turbo V12 for Putin limo project?

Porsche is best known for building very well-regarded sports cars and better-selling utility vehicles. Come to the company with a big enough bag of cash, though, and the Porsche Engineering division can create just about anything. The group's past projects include working with Harley-Davidson, Mercedes-Benz and corporate cousin Audi, but if rumors prove true, then its latest partner might be the last one you'd expect.
Russian website Wroom reports that Porsche Engineering is building the engine for the Project Cortege government limousine project for Russian president Vladimir Putin. The mill is supposedly a turbocharged V12 displacing between 6.0- and 6.6-liters and making around 800 horsepower. When complete, it will reportedly be built by ZMZ with Russian-sourced parts.
The limo is expected to debut in 2017, according to Wroom, but it's just the beginning of Putin's grandiose plans, which also goes by the name of the Motorcade Project. The same platform is also meant to underpin several vehicles for use by the government, including an SUV, a small bus and a sedan. All of them would reportedly have a longitudinally mounted engine and all-wheel drive.

Will the Mission E be the world's first must-have EV?

The Porsche Mission E concept was recently green-lit for production and has a tentative production date just before the end of the decade. With the recent onslaught of all-electric technology, the question remains: Which automaker will release the first must have all-electric EV? Tesla has clearly gained experience in testing the worldwide appetite for luxury, six-figure EVs, having sold its 100,000th vehicle in just three years and six months. But it remains to be seen if automakers can truly manufacture the ultimate green driving machine. Audi has shown its R8 e-tron but acknowledged that it will be produced in only limited quantities. On the other end of the spectrum, vehicles like the Chevy Bolt and BMW i8 are being produced for mass consumption, but will they satisfy the enthusiast who is looking for more than a commuter car? Tesla's Model S has certainly raised eyebrows and collected accolades with "ludicrous" level straight-line performance, but how well will the vehicle stand up to long-term ownership for enthusiasts? Porsche has dismissed any notions of autonomous driving in its vehicles, suggesting that it will try to stay close to its high-performance roots. This would seem to suggest that despite all the forecasted performance cred of the Mission E – 582 horsepower, 0–60 in 3.5 seconds, and a 310-mile range – potential buyers may not be getting the latest and greatest in gee-whiz-bang autonomous technology. And while Porsche has offered that future iterations of its 911 and 718 may in fact use hybrid-assisted drivetrains, the execution of a true, mass-produced, all-electric sports sedan remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, unlike start-ups like Tesla, the larger, more established manufacturers have larger budgets and more time to invest in R&D. Consumers have raised expectations from the more mature automakers in terms of reliability and the overall finish of their products. The arrival of the Mission E production car may introduce us to electric sports sedans that emphasize performance over efficiency while still eliminating its carbon footprint. Related Video: Porsche Electric porsche mission e porsche mission e concept open road