News

Solar Impulse HB-SIA, an emissions-free aircraft that has been designed to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies by circumnavigating the globe without landing, has made its maiden flight from Payerne airfield, Switzerland. During the 87-minute flight, Solar Impulse reached a height of 1,200m before performing a series of...

The current fashion for fixed gear bicycles may be partly explained by their light weight and low maintenance, but there is also something undeniably pleasing about their simplicity of form. The simpler the bike, the greater one’s attention on those components that remain – a fact that has been addressed by Cykelmargeren, a Danish company...

A fully-automated robotic battery swap service for electric cars is to be tested this month in Tokyo. The technology is being pioneered by Better Place, a Californian company with plans to build a global infrastructure for electric cars. The system enables the empty battery of a Renault Fluence Z.E to be exchanged for a fully-charged one in...

Designer Erik Lanuza is the man behind a stylish electric bike based on the self-balancing technology pioneered by Segway. The Taurus allows the rider to sit astride a motorcycle-style seat rather than stand as is the case with the Segway Personal Transporter. To control the Taurus, the rider leans forward or backward to control the speed...

London’s long-awaited mass cycle hire scheme will begin on 30 July, Boris Johnson has announced. A total of 6,000 distinctive-looking bicycles will available for hire from 400 locations dotted around the city. Users will have to pay a small amount to register for the scheme, but the first 30 minutes of each trip will be free. London mayor,...

A super-efficient, petrol-engined car designed by students from Laval University in Quebec this week achieved a fuel efficiency of over 2,000mpg to win first place in the prototype class and overall grand prize in the Shell Eco-marathon competition. The NTF 4.0 vehicle achieved 2,487.5 miles per gallon (US) over a 0.6-mile circuit on real...

Buses have long suffered an image as dirty, slow and unreliable but that could change with the introduction of the Superbus, an all-electric vehicle capable of 155mph that turns up close to your home on request. The 15metre-long bus seats 23 passengers and is designed to operate on existing roads as well as purpose-built super highways that...

City cars of the future will need to be small, clean, energy-efficient and, given the increasing number of vehicles, able to communicate with each other to make best use of limited road space. A team of designers has applied this brief to an existing prototype by Segway and come up with what they call an Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V), a...

Tyre manufacturer Goodyear hopes to dramatically reduce the 26 litres of oil it takes to make the average car tyre by introducing a new plant-derived substance called BioIsoprene, which can be made from renewable sources such as sugar cane. BioIsoprene will be used to supplement isoprene, a by-product in the production of crude oil, that is...

An all-electric version of the popular Fiat 500 is to be launched onto the American market in 2012. Fiat does not currently have a presence in America so may choose to brand the car as a Chrysler as it owns a 20 per cent stake in the company. The Fiat 500 EV will be on the market in time to provide competition for the Nissan Leaf and BMW’s...