Search Results for: cars

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW public consultation could spark further improvements to the European Union (EU) system helping cross-border motor insurance claims, when insurers are unable or unwilling to settle quickly or efficiently. The consultation has been launched by the European Commission, which wants to test the operation of national compensation bodies established by the 2000 fourth motor insurance directive.…

BY KENCHO WANGDI, in Japan
VISITORS to this year’s World Expo at Aichi, Japan, are being introduced to a new low pollution tram that needs neither a driver, nor rails. Developed by Toyota researchers, this Intelligent Multimode Transportation System (IMTS) is guided along standard roads by embedded magnetic markers, enabling it to be steered and controlled automatically.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Car & Truck Rental Association (ECATRA) has called on the European Union (EU) to create taxation legislation allowing leasing companies to be refunded motor tax when transferring vehicles between EU countries. In a consultation paper for the EU’s ongoing CARS21 review of automobile policy, ECATRA said this was “one of the main problems facing the industry”, which often wanted to move vehicles to re-sell them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL health officers will be well acquainted with international efforts to develop hydrogen cars, but local authorities in Denmark wants to go further: they are planning to launch Europe’s first hydrogen-powered train. Three towns in western Jutland – Vemb, Lemvig and Thyborøn – have pledged funding to run a hydrogen train along the 59-kilometre railway that connects them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) has called on the European Union’s (EU) governments and car industries to adopt long-term innovative strategies that guarantee a sustainable future for the EU automobile industry, a key purchaser of steel and other metals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IN a political hair-and-tortoise move, a European Commissioner from a country where the Lada once reigned supreme has told speed-loving German motorists he will press for European Union (EU) speed limits of 90kmh (55.9 mph). Latvia’s Andris Piebalgs, energy Commissioner since last November, told the Die Welt newspaper “I personally support the idea”, which was originally proposed by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers have compromised on the final shape of a directive reducing sulphur content in marine fuels. The result is legislation that permits higher sulphur usage than the parliament wanted, cutting its marine fuels content to 1.5% by 2007, for all vessels in the Baltic, the North Sea, and the English Channel, and passenger ships in all EU seas and oceans.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
ASK the average motorist to identify which automotive technologies have advanced the most in recent years, and very few would mention coatings and finishings. Certainly, when it comes to innovation, carmakers are eager to promote new developments in performance, economy and safety.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRESSURE on oil companies to continue cleansing their fuels of potential pollutants continues to be applied within the European Union (EU), with the European Commission preparing for the introduction of a new standard ‘Euro 5’ in 2010. It has advised EU member states to harmonise any tax concessions encouraging the use of diesel cars cleaner than the ‘Euro 4’ emissions standard, (which became compulsory on January 1).…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has developed technology to process chicken feathers into a plastic-like material that can be moulded just like any other plastic, with properties similar to polyethylene and polypropylene. The federal agency says this makes the feather-derived plastic a unique material for packaging or other applications where high strength and biodegradability are desired.…