Automotive

One of the big advantages of driving fossil fuel-powered vehicles is that it's easy to find a place to fill up. In the more than a century since the world's first purpose-built gas station was built in St. Louis, Missouri in 1905, a massive worldwide infrastructure has emerged to keep our vehicles running. As automakers make the move to electric vehicles, early adopters are faced with a lack of infrastructure to keep batteries charged, however, the number of public EV charging stations is steadily growing and Google is now doing its bit to help make tracking them down easier by adding EV charging station location information to Google Maps. Read More

It’s extraordinary what pops up in the in-box each week. Those with a keen eye for fashion will note that the picture is from the sixties – the Ford Comuta was a concept presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1967. It was all-electric, had a top speed of 40 mph and a range of 40 miles, and that was 40 years ago. The upcoming electric Ford Focus has more than double the range (160 km) and double the top speed of 84 mph (135 km/h), but surely the Comuta is worth digging out of the archives for a second look. With modern motors and advanced controllers and high density batteries, the Comuta might be quite suitable for European cities such as London where road speeds haven’t progressed much since the horse and cart. Read More

If your kids are always running late for school then this little number might be just the transport option to ensure they arrive on time. Made by Micro Electric Vehicles (MEV), the Mini Seven is a hand-built, proportionally accurate child’s motorized car that is a slight departure from MEV’s other vehicles, which are powered by electric motors, as it is powered by a small petrol Honda HP motor that can propel the Mini Seven to 19 mph (30 km/h). Read More

Fancy a Porsche Cayenne crew-cab ute (1), a tastefully-elongated Audi R8 (2) or maybe a stretched Bentley (3)? How about an Aston Martin shooting break (4), a Toyota Landcruiser that seats an extra three people (5), or perhaps an altered roofline, respectfully modified or fully armored … well, anything? Xenatec is one of the places where people go when they have lofty desires and a matching bank balance. The company is now breaking out of its traditional custom niche and entering production of a 100-only limited edition EUR675,000 Xenatec Coupe (6 & 7) that captures the spirit of the many mouth-watering Maybach coupes across time (9) including the famous Exelero (8). Read More

We’re a little non-plussed on Porsche’s announcement of a reconstructed Semper Vivus, which it is claiming was presented at the Paris Show of 1900. There’s a video of the construction of the vehicle, but the scant info available is at odds with previous Porsche historic information on the Lohner Porsche and the normally fastidious Porsche press department hasn’t issued any details of the Semper Vivus yet. The Semper Vivus was a series electric hybrid with its two engines charging the batteries and Porsche electric hub motors delivering the power. It must be said the Porsche execs looked anything but comfortable driving the Semper on stage. Read More

Christian von Koenigsegg has once again created a hypercar of the highest order – the new Agera R is capable of approaching 400 km/h and features so much innovation that we’re not going to even attempt to squeeze it all into the introductory paragraph. The 5 litre V8 bi-turbo engine is the lightest and most compact hypercar engine in the world, and produces 1100 hp on E85 bio fuel with peak torque of 1200 Nm spread over over a 3300 rpm rev range. It’s most notable feature though, is a Thule Roof Box which ensures you can take all your gear as well as having a show car with the standard roof when you get there. Read More

One of the most remarkable things we’ve seen in a long time is this deconstructed 2010 F1 car on display at Mercedes-Benz World in Surrey, UK. The Mercedes GP Petronas F1 comprises 3200 components and every one of them is hung in the display. The display itself was arranged by Dutch artist Paul Veroude and definitely fits into the “how can you do that?” category. Its subject is equally as fascinating, accounting for 90,000 man hours of design time, 200,000 man hours of manufacturing manifested as 600 kg finished form manufactured to the most exacting tolerances of the world’s most exotic substances - carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum and magnesium. To look at, the car is predominantly carbon fiber (85% by volume) but it’s so light that it accounts for only 30% of the mass. Read More

There is no greater accolade than to be judged the finest by your peers. This year the car design fraternity has delivered an overwhelming verdict for the concept design of the year to the Pininfarina – 40% of all the voters (all car designers) voted for the Pininfarina 2uettottanta ahead of some quite outstanding competition in the form of the Jaguar C-X75 and Renault DeZir. The Car Design of the Year 2010 Production category gong went to Range Rover's Evoque ahead of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Audi A7. Read More

Well, it may not be able to fly, but it is nonetheless a car with wings ... or in this case, winglets. Unveiled at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the Saab PhoeniX concept car pays homage to the automaker's roots in aviation with roof-mounted winglets designed to channel airflow from the sides of the car and across its rear deck, thereby reducing lift forces without increasing drag. Other notable features include butterfly opening doors, stalk-mounted rearward cameras, an electrically-driven rear axle and Saab's new upgradable Android-based IQon entertainment and communications system. Read More