Bamboo has been used to make bicycle frames for more than 100 years, but while the material is lightweight, environmentally friendly and cheap to produce, its use is usually confined to basic models for the developing world or prohibitively expensive designer bikes.
Dramatic footage of a car being pushed along a motorway by a tanker lorry, the driver of which seemingly unaware of the situation, is a reminder of the danger posed by lorries with blind spots.
Nissan has announced that its plant at Sunderland is to manufacture the Leaf, the world’s first mass-produced electric car.The company is investing £420m in a new factory at the facility to provide batteries for the estimated 50,000 examples of the car it plans to turn out each year. The Nissan site will provide cars to the entire European market.
The Japanese have trumped mass cycle hire schemes such as the Velib in Paris and the forthcoming, but as yet unnamed London scheme, with solar-powered bike share stations capable of operating completely independently of their national grid.
Nissan plans to undercut the price of the Mitsubishi i-Miev and sell its Leaf five-seater electric car for £24,500 – £28,000.