News

Bicycle parking spaces at the Palace of Westminster have been scrapped to make more room for ministerial cars. Covered bicycle racks in the Star Chamber Courtyard have been removed and replaced by parking for Government ministers’ cars, many of which are left with their engines running for hours while they wait for their passengers,...

The Shadow e-bike is the first electric bicycle to feature wireless throttle and brakes. The wireless brakes are applied like any other system, but when the brake lever is squeezed, a signal is sent to a controller to stop the motor. In common with a Segway, the Shadow is slowed using its motor – a process that provides a charge to the...

Mobile phone manufacturers may get away with making a different type of plug for every design of handset, but this would not be acceptable where electric cars are concerned. With this in mind, Toyota and Nissan have set up a working group to establish an international standard for electric car fast-charging stations. The group calls itself...

The planned £17.4 bn high-speed railway between London and Birmingham is unlikely to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 0.3 per cent of current emissions from transport. The Department for Transport describes the London-to-Birmingham route as ‘carbon neutral’. The London to Birmingham route is planned to open in 2026 and is part of a larger...

Two designs of future aircraft publicised this week illustrate contrasting visions for the future of flight. The first is a petrol-powered personal jetpack that manages 5mpg, whilst the other is a concept design zero-emissions electric airship able to carry multiple passengers. The Zep’lin is a result of crystal ball gazing by industrial...

Despite being many months away from production, the all-electric Nissan Leaf has been pre-ordered by over 56,000 people in America – a situation that may lead to a waiting list for new cars when deliveries start at the end of this year. At the Geneva Auto Show, the CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, said that he expected “no competition” for the...

Petrol-powered lawnmowers might have made gardening a little easier but they are far from kind on the wider environment; some estimates put the amount of pollution from a lawnmower at four times the amount from a car engine for every hour they are in use. The problem prompted bicycle builder Ted Wojcik to build a recumbent pedal-powered...

The European Commission is being taken to court by a coalition of environmental groups over its refusal to release data on the negative impact of widespread biofuel use in the EU. European member states are required by law to use renewable sources to meet 10% of their transport needs by 2020, which will be met in large part through the use...

It is rumoured that car makers test new vehicles in the thin air of mountain resorts to optimise fuel consumption figures, but whether or not this is true it seems some manufacturers are under-estimating the frugality of their cars. The driver of a 5-door family hatchback Peugeot 308 HDi has achieved an average fuel consumption of 89.95mpg...

An electric version of the Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, is on display at the Geneva Motor Show. The Tata Nano EV uses super-polymer lithium-ion batteries to give a range of about 80 miles. A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “No one knows for certain how much the Nano EV will cost, but it is...