News

An updated version of the all-electric Toyota RAV4 EV, a vehicle that was available to lease in America from 1997 to 2003, is to be developed with help from Tesla. Toyota expects to mass-produce the new car by 2012. Toyota, a company that has gained a reputation for favouring hybrid technology such as that used in its Prius over pure...

The competition between manufacturers to build the fastest electric bicycle can seem purely academic to cyclists in Britain where such machines must be registered as motorcycles in order to be road legal, but the recently-launched, German-designed ‘Blacktrail’ is a fascinating insight into the type of electric-assist bike that might one day...

London’s first distinctive blue cycle lane ‘Superhighways’ opened this week from Merton to the City, and Barking to Tower Gateway. Over 5,000 cycle journeys are already made each day along the routes, but the Superhighways are expected to boost this number to 27,000 cycle trips a day by 2013. What is a Cycle Superhighway? London’s...

An electric robotic exoskeleton that allows wheelchair users to walk and climb stairs unaided went on sale this week and offer an exciting future alternative to electric cars. Electric bionic legs Rex, the Robotic Exoskeleton, is a pair of robotic legs worn outside the body that enables its user to stand up, walk, move sideways, turn...

American inventor, Steve Hunt has designed a bicycle lock that, if tampered with, calls you on your smart phone. The Halo Lock is a wonderfully sleek design, but its ability to alert a cyclist to the fact their bike is being stolen works only in areas served by Wi-Fi. Tracker locks for bicycles A spokesperson for cycle insurers...

The future of personal transport is widely assumed to be electric cars, but if an American inventor currently vying for the James Dyson design award has his way many of us will be sporting motorised shoes. In a world where the default mode of transport is often the car, Treadway Wearable Mobility shoes are designed for short urban trips and...

Fifty illustrators and artists have drawn, painted, etched and stencilled their interpretation of cycling in London for an exhibition to be hosted next month by the London Transport Museum. The museum joined the Association of Illustrators to invite students and professionals to submit images based on the environmental, health and...

Wednesday Last night I had a dream about driving my car. In my dream I forgot about my challenge And rove to a new gym I have been wanting to check out, but haven’t been to due my lack of car. In the dream I suddenly realised what I’d done and was super sad as I thought I’d have to start the challenge all over again!

Friday I had my Streetcar booked today, I used my Iphone to show me exactly where my car was parked – about 10 minutes walk from my house, then used the phone again to unlock the door). Once in the car (lovely brand spanking new BMW 1 series) I pressed the start button but the car didn’t come on, so I used the iphone app again to call the...

Thursday Working in London town today – releasing that my Iphone has become even more of a life support than it was before. I plan all my journeys on it now, trains buses and even use the GPS to fin things when walking. I have a hospital appointment tomorrow (nothing serious just following up from an op I had last year) in Farnham. I had...