News

The latest offering from McLaren claims to have lower carbon emissions per horsepower than any other car on the market, including hybrids. The fact that the new car, which is currently referred to as the MP4-12C, produces 600 horsepower means it remains a high polluter, but the formula 1-derived engineering that enables it to be relatively...

As mobile phones become widespread so the need for telephone boxes dwindles, but resourceful town planners in Madrid have found a new use for them as re-charging points for electric vehicles. Phone box sites relatively easy to adapt as recharging points because they tend to be located close to the roadside and already have their own...

Cities around Britain are to join forces in calling for a high-speed rail network. Authorities in Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are outline their vision at a conference in London today (September 9th). Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, and Conservative...

An airline has made transatlantic flights without passengers in order to clean its planes. Delta has flown its aircraft from the US to London so that they can be disinfected. These planes then make the trip back to the US before then heading on to Australia. This has occurred due to regulations regarding the risk of dengue and malaria in...

All the major manufacturers at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show are expected to showcase at least one hybrid concept cars, not least those that will be on their home turf. Mercedes will exhibit the BlueZero E-Cell Plus, a plug-in hybrid which it claims is able to travel 62 miles on battery power alone. The car’s range can be boosted to more...

The popular belief that without the school run traffic would always run as freely as in the holidays is false, and far from adding to congestion, the school run reduces it in cities according to the Environmental Transport Association (ETA). A spokesperson for the ETA said: “If every child started walking to school then by next year there...

If a tortuous hill has ever left you wishing you could call on superhuman powers, you may be in the market for a new design of electrically-assisted bicycle that monitors its rider’s muscular effort and then multiplies it by up to fifty times, propelling the eROCKIT bike to a top speed of up to 50mph. The eROCKIT may look unusual, but the...

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is introducing a new element to the theory part of the driving test. From September 28th candidates sitting the test will read a case study before being asked five multiple-choice questions. This addition comes on top of the existing multiple choice and hazard perception sections. A spokesperson at the DSA...

Toyota will display its latest hybrid vehicle, the Auris HSD, at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month. Britain will become the first country in Europe to build hybrid cars following the decision by Toyota to produce the Auris at its Burnaston plant near Derby. The Auris hybrid shares its chassis, 1.8litre petrol engine and electric...

Commuters who have tried to combine a train journey with a bicycle trip can feel at best as if the rail operators are doing their best to dissuade them. Peak-time bans are common – even London-to-Brighton charity bike riders are prevented from travelling by train – but a sustainable way of getting about that is almost as old as the bicycle...