It's been an interesting week in Australian politics with Prime Minister Abbott hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. The farcical notion of an Australian Prime Minister awarding a knighthood to the Queen's husband has dominated the airwaves and rightly called into question the PM's judgement. Not being so highly reported but a story
MEC has reported on the impending revolution of autonomous (self drive/driverless/no driver) vehicles previously. Already we are seeing the technology built in to existing high end models such as the Tesla P85D and probably most people are aware of the Google self drive car. The advances in the underlying technology seem to be advancing at a more
There has been quite a bit of press coverage recently resulting from the study by the University of Minnesota that had the predictable headlines of "Your all electric car may not be so green" or similar, despite that same study stating the cleanest vehicles are electric cars powered by renewable energy. Funny how some reporters
A study conducted in the US has come to conclusions which do not sit well with EV ownership depending on the source of energy. If an electric vehicle is powered via a coal powered power station the pollution results are worse than for a gasoline powered vehicle and cause 86% more deaths due to air pollution.
We've made a point many times about the toxicity of the current global fleet. Outdoor air pollution, much of which is caused by vehicle exhaust has led to 3.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2010, 1.2 million of which were in China. The densely populated cities of India are not faring a great deal better
2017 Nissan Leaf The range of electric cars has been one of the major hurdles preventing greater uptake. Unless you can afford a Tesla (range of 500kms) you're currently stuck around the 160kms range with today's production vehicles. Although today's range is more than enough for the average driver range anxiety is a definite deterrent. (According
Electric Car dreaming Androids? Move over Electric Sheep and forgive me Philip K Dick but Tesla recently came out with an update to their Model S that warrants the reference. The Tesla Model S Dual Motor P85D with Autopilot has just advanced vehicle technology into the realms of scifi. The original Model S was rightly awarded Car of
Chinese battery company BYD have announced the worlds largest electric bus - the articulated or 'bendy' Lancaster ebus. The bus has been designed and built in the US town of Lancaster and is powered by iron phosphate batteries. This gives the 18 meter long people mover, a range of around 240kms with a payload of 120
Some now suggest that M King Hubberts theory of 'Peak Oil' first developed in the 1950's is dead and buried. The theory suggested that as oil fields ('easy oil') were discovered and developed the production would meet a peak and then taper off as the oil became increasingly more difficult to extract. With new technologies
This is one of those OMG moments in the evolution of vehicle technology - this has to be the most incredible futuristic car that has been produced on the planet. The technology is still under wraps but it's a radical new way to thrust an exotic machine through its paces. With a reputed acceleration of