News

Mercedes-Benz is testing its electric Smart cars in ‘real-life’ situations in Britain so that the car manufacturer can understand what improvements could benefit drivers. Brighton-based firm Elektromotive has been chosen to participate in the scheme and will be testing the Smart electric drive for the next four years."The...

Car and scooter manufacturer Peugeot has taken inspiration from both forms of transport to produce a 2.5m long electric vehicle that can seat four people. The Peugeot BB1 has electric motors in its rear wheels and replaces a regular car’s steering wheel and pedals with handlebars and side-by-side motorcycle seats. The result is a highly...

Electric cars could have longer-lasting batteries take no longer to refuel than petrol or diesel vehicles following a breakthrough in liquid-electrolyte technology by German scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT). Redox batteries generate power using two fluid electrolytes and now boast a capacity approaching...

Battery-powered versions of the Ford Transit Connect and the Focus, the best-selling car in Britain, are currently being tested. Ford predicts that by 2020, between 10 and 25 per cent of new car sales will be hybrid, plug-in hybrid or battery-electric vehicles. Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of global electrification, predicts that the...

The British government should offer a rebate of £10,000 to drivers who buy electric cars, according to the Government advisory board, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). A subsidy of £5,000 will be available to those buying cars that run entirely on electricity. The scheme will run from 2011, but the government’s climate change committee...

A national road-pricing charge should be added to existing environmental and fuel taxes to encourage motorists to leave their cars at home, according to the Government’s climate change advisory body. Up until now it has been assumed that a pay-as-you-go motoring charge of the future would replace road tax (VED) and fuel taxes, but according...

The latest design of electric-assisted bicycle from Iwatani of Tokyo does away with the need for recharging points by using hydrogen cartridges as a source of fuel. Hydrogen fuel cells usually replace the need for batteries but this bicycle will include a lithium-ion pack as a back-up power supply. One hydrogen cartridge will give the 31kg...

Peak District National Park has been singled out to become the first rural area in Britain to receive government funding to promote cycling. A cash injection of £1.25 million from Cycling England is to be used to transform the park into a "haven for leisure and commuting cyclists". The independent body has launched the initiative, which is...

Halfords has reported a boom in business as more Britons get on their bikes. The retailer announced a jump in pre-tax profits from £59 million to £61 million for the six months leading up to October 2nd. This represents a 2.2 per cent rise in profits for the firm, which sells items such as bikes and accessories. It said that the growing...

Nissan’s luxury car brand, Infiniti, has announced that it is set to join the hybrid vehicle market. The firm revealed that production of its first vehicles of this type could be available by 2011. These will be the Infiniti M35 saloons, the first hybrid cars from the company in its 20-year history. According to the firm, these will...