News

A new electric vehicle that is to be sold without bodywork, seats or even a steering wheel promises motorists a choice of design and performance as diverse and easily available as an iPhone application. Trexa says its ‘low-profile enclosed design’ lends itself to unlimited design possibilities – customers will be able to specify their exact...

A cycle lane that takes a direct route and is never blocked by parked cars or rendered impassable by rubbish or broken glass may be no more than a dream for many British cyclists, but a radical new design by architect, Martin Angelov, is far more ambitious. Kolelinia – a contraction of the Bulgarian words for ‘bike and ‘line’ – is a design...

Average speed cameras may be the single most effective way of encouraging motorists to keep to the speed limit, but a scheme that should be improving conditions for cyclists on a stretch of the A13 in east London appears to be putting them at greater risk. A number of gantries that carry average speed cameras have been placed in the middle...

Prospective cars buyers are struggling to find out how much CO2 new cars produce when they browse manufacturer websites, according to a report published today. The research found that only half of 363 attempts to find the official CO2 value for a particular car were successful. Manufacturers of lower carbon cars appeared to be no more...

The Tajima Motors EV Mini Sport looks like no other bicycle on the road, but the single-seat, mid-engined electric vehicle is classed as a motorised cycle in Japan because its motor is rated at 0.59kW. Good handling, modest speed The EV Mini Sport may look like a racing car but despite impressive handling its top speed is a modest 47mph. A...

Despite a recent drop in overall recorded crime, the latest statistics show that the number of bicycle thefts reported to the police has increased. The quarterly crime figures have revealed that in the three months to September 2009 there was a 7 per cent increase in bicycle theft; 34,600 bikes were reported stolen over this period. A...

A device has gone on sale that allows almost any small electrical appliance to be powered by a bicycle. The Cycle Charger clips onto any bicycle and will power or charge any device that can plug into the cigarette lighter outlet found in a car. The charger allows all manner of after-market devices to be fitted to a bicycle including an iPod...

Automated multi-storey bicycle parks of the kind found in Tokyo could prove the key to expanding the forthcoming London cycle hire scheme if it is ever to serve railway commuters. The transport chiefs behind the 6,000-bike, pay-as-you-go hire scheme are not planning make the bikes available outside railway stations because they are...

Even before the credit crunch became a recession, car buyers had begun to gravitate towards smaller, lighter and more fuel-efficient models. This month at the Detroit Motor Show, small cars were the focus of media attention – eclipsing for the first time interest in SUVs and sports cars. Buying habits are already changing. Last year in...

If you spend the winter months on a turbo trainer (the cycling equivalent of a treadmill) or simply want to lower your home’s energy bills and carbon footprint, you may be in the market for the Pedal-a-Watt bicycle generator. If your bicycle has a 10-inch, or larger, rear wheel, it will fit into the generator’s stand. The rest is up to you....