Search Results for: cars

BY PHILIP FINE

A TINY wire antenna and a computer chip the size of a piece of glitter will be imbedded into most retail product materials in the next few years, if all goes as

planned by those currently involved in developing a revolutionary tracking system.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
VEHICLE manufacturers will be required to introduce new bumper and bonnet designs to reduce the risk of serious injury in collisions with pedestrians and cyclists, the European Commission announced yesterday (Thursday 20 – 2), dashing manufacturers’ hopes that a voluntary deal would suffice.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union environment Commissioner Margot Wallström has revealed that the European Commission will later this year propose rules regulating emissions from mobile air-conditioning, such as those in cars. The rules would be part of proposed legislation on reducing fluorinated gases.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
RESEARCHERS at DaimlerChrysler are developing an automatic driving correction system that they like to call a “predictive powertrain;” DC claims the technology could reduce engine fuel consumption by as much as 10 per cent.

The German carmaker is planning to install “a range of sensors” into vehicles that can examine a driver’s individual style as well as road and traffic conditions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has threatened Italy with legal action at the European Court of Justice over obstacles that Italian law creates for the parallel imports of cars from other European Union (EU) Member States. The Commission claims that Italy is breaking EU fair trading laws that stop national governments from unfairly protecting their own local companies against foreign EU businesses.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A PROPOSED European Union (EU) directive forcing car manufacturers to re-design cars so that pedestrians and cyclists suffer less severe injuries in collisions with vehicles has been generally welcomed by the insurance industry, though with some reservations. The planned legislation would, among other things, compel manufacturers to bring in new bonnet and bumper designs aimed at significantly reducing the severity of injury in accidents with motor vehicles at speeds up to 40 kph (about 25 mph).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been laying preparations for possible fuel shortages associated with a possible war in the Middle East, summoning its special group on petroleum provisions to analyse existing European Union (EU) fuel stocks and supplies. The Commission wants every Member State to stockpile enough fuel to last for 40 days of standard consumption.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE UNITED States automobile industry’s main lobby group has acknowledged that Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV’s) and pick-up trucks (small vans) pose serious dangers to smaller vehicles in collisions, and has promised its members will now develop voluntary standards to boost safety.…

BY PHILIP FINE

CALIFORNIA’S tough emissions rules seem to be translating into an increase in the number of environmentally friendly cars and trucks on the US market, according to this year’s "Green Book", published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A RESEARCH project funded by a European Commission Euro 1.62 million grant is to develop technology to install hydrogen fuel pumps in petrol stations by connecting them to a country’s existing natural gas supply network. The international Hydrofueler project – led by the University of Warwick – thinks that hydrogen can be crated form natural gas and delivered to cars via existing pipelines.…