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Lotus has revealed an crucial new component for its next-generation all-electric sports cars. Called LEVA (Lightweight electric automobile Architecture), it’s an electrified rear subframe that will be incorporated into the E-Sports platform due to underpin a new Lotus sports car arriving in 2026, as well as the next-generation Alpine A110. 
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LEVA can be built in three configurations (examples given being a small two-seat sports car, a two-seat sports car with a longer wheelbase, and a 2+2) housing either a single or dual electric motor setup. It’s suitable for batteries ranging from 66.4kWh in size to 99.6kWh, with a “chest” battery mounted vertically behind the cabin, or a 66.4kWh “slab” battery mounted horizontally under the floor.

New Lotus Emira driven: first review by Jenson Button

The smaller two-seat sports car given as an example has a wheelbase of at least 2,470mm (which is around 100mm shorter than the Emira), and is powered by a single electric motor with an output of up to 469bhp.
Lotus’s larger two-seat sports car will measure a lot more that 2,650mm between the shock towers, and it’ll be powered by a much a lot more potent 650kW (or 872bhp) twin motor electric powertrain. The 2+2 model will have similar dimensions, but it’ll be available with either the single or dual motor setup.
The one-size-fits-all rear subframe will be made from a die-cast high-strength aluminium alloy developed by Brunel university London – and Lotus says it’ll be 37 per cent lighter than the unit fitted to the V6-powered Emira. In true Lotus fashion, the rear wheels will also be fixed to the structure with double wishbones, which will keep the tyres on the tarmac better than trailing arms or a torsion beam.
Richard Moore, executive director of engineering at Lotus, said: “Project LEVA is as revolutionary now as the Elise architecture was in 1996. In true Lotus spirit, significant weight savings have been achieved throughout, with a focus on utmost performance, efficiency and safety being engineered into the structure from the outset.”
What do you make of Lotus’s new electric architecture? let us know in the comments below

squander from Britain’s ever-expanding glut of coffee shops might be utilized to fuel cars and trucks according to freshly-brewed research study from scientists at the university of Bath.
Costa Coffee, Starbucks as well as cafe Nero might be the next huge petrol suppliers to rival BP as well as shell if the process can be scaled up.
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A coffee shop produces an typical of 22lbs (10kg) of leftovers every day – sufficient to be converted into two litres of the biofuel. This would make it a fairly minor operation however coffee chains might utilize it to power their shipment vehicles.
These exact same shipment automobiles might be utilized to gather spent coffee grinds as well as take them to a central biodiesel production facility to be processed. business such as London-based bio-bean already create biodiesel as well as biomass pellets from squander coffee grounds.
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Rhodri Jenkins, a PhD trainee in sustainable Chemical Technologies as well as very first author of the study, said: “There is likewise a big amount of squander created by the coffee bean roasting industry, with defective beans being thrown away. If scaled up, we believe coffee biodiesel has excellent prospective as a sustainable fuel source.”
The coffee fuel is created by extracting oil from the coffee grounds as well as soaking them in an organic solvent. A special chemical process understood as “transesterification” then converts them into biodiesel.
The fuel properties of the completed product vary depending upon the type of coffee ground utilized however researchers discovered that all coffee grounds have a common comprise as well as appropriate physical properties, irrespective of the source.
As part of the study, the researchers effectively made biofuel from ground coffee created in 20 different parts of the world, including caffeinated as well as decaffeinated forms, in addition to Robusta as well as Arabica varieties.
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Dr Chris Chuck, Whorrod research study Fellow from our department of Chemical Engineering, explained: “Around 8 million tonnes of coffee are created globally annually as well as ground squander coffee consists of as much as 20 per cent oil per system weight.
“This oil likewise has similar properties to present feedstocks utilized to make biofuels. But, while those are cultivated particularly to create fuel, spent coffee grounds are waste. utilizing these, there’s a genuine prospective to create a genuinely sustainable second-generation biofuel.”

Car’s powered by Coffee? Whatever next? tell us you thoughts in the comments section below…

The new 2014 Mercedes C-Class will be fitted with DAB digital radio as standard when it arrives later in June 2014. 
It’s part of the Mercedes plan to go fully digital across the UK, with the tech set to feature totally free of charge in all future models, having already made its way into roughly half of the current line-up.
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This announcement follows a similar decision from Volkswagen, which yesterday confirmed the entire up! line-up will now be sold with DAB for no added cost. 
Mercedes joins Volkswagen and other major producers – including BMW, Audi and Ford – in committing to fit digital radio systems as part of the standard specification of all its models. 
Such a decision reflects the rising popularity of DAB radio. According to official statistics from CAP Automotive and The society of motor producers and Traders (SMMT), there has been a 50 percent increase over the past four years in the number of new car registrations featuring digital radio as standard.
Estimates by digital Radio UK suggest that roughly 3 million cars are now able to receive broadcasts through this technology, a figure equating to 9 per cent of all road-going cars.

The UK’s utilized vehicle market stayed in impolite health and wellness last year, with 8.1 million second-hand designs altering hands in 2017. That represents a decrease of just 1.1 per cent on 2016 as well as is a marked contrast to the new vehicle market, which was down 5.7 per cent over the exact same period.
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The figures, released by the society of motor producers as well as Traders (SMMT) as well as sourced from DVLA records, likewise show a big boost in the popularity of utilized electric cars. These saw a 77.1 per cent boost in demand, with 10,199 second-hand EVs being purchased in 2017.
• Best utilized vehicles to purchase in 2017
And while vendors experienced a 5.1 per cent autumn in sales in the final quarter, this wasn’t sufficient to stop 2017 being the second finest year on record for utilized vehicle sales, topped only by 2016.
In addition to the growing popularity of electric cars, sales of second-hand hybrids were up by 22.2 per cent in 2017. the market for utilized diesels, meanwhile, really increased by 3.3 per cent in 2017, an opposite pattern to last year’s new vehicle sales figures, which showed a decrease in diesel demand of approximately 17 per cent.
Used SUVs likewise rode high in 2017 with a 9.5 per cent boost in sales, while the popularity of superminis increased by 4.3 per cent. The news wasn’t all great though as, aside from a fractional boost (0.02 per cent) in the second-hand executive vehicle market, all other utilized segments experienced a decrease in popularity.
The South east of England saw the biggest proportion of utilized vehicles altering hands, with 1.2 million utilized vehicles offered there last year. Silver was the most prominent colour on the second-hand market.
Commenting on the figures, Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT said: “While such healthy demand is reassuring, to keep it that method as well as accelerate renewal throughout the fleet – the fastest method to enhance air high quality – government should now bring back confidence to the new vehicle sector.
“Given the recent economic as well as fiscal uncertainty, especially over diesel, consumers as well as companies requirement clearness to motivate them to relocation out of their older cars as well as into newer, lower discharge vehicles – whatever their fuel type.”

Now inspect out our 2017 utilized vehicle awards winners…

Bentley is planning a performance version of its range-topping Mulsanne and it could be seen as early as the Paris motor show in October. speaking to automobile express at the Goodwood festival of Speed, returning CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer said: “We will see Mulsanne developments at motor shows in 2014”.
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With Bentley’s recent success with its GT3 racer in the Blancpain series, and the unveil of the Bentley GT3-R at Goodwood, the smart money is on a hot version of the Mulsanne to additionally position Bentley as a ‘sporting luxury’ brand.
The exceptional reception to the GT3-R at Goodwood has given the company the confidence to push ahead with additionally high performance models, according to company insiders.
The new Mulsanne will keep its well established 6.75-litre twin-turbo V8, but expect power to be boosted from 505bhp to closer to 550bhp, while the 0-62mph time must drop below 5.0 seconds – quite a feat for a automobile weighing well over two tonnes. However, there must be some weight saving procedures employed, plus chassis tweaks for a a lot more responsive feel.
Dürheimer has returned to Bentley after an absence of two years, during which time he said the company has changed. “Bentley is on the move, the product is stronger than ever and there’s a new spirit around the company,” he told us.
He also revealed that one of his first jobs back in his new role was to take a test drive in the prototype version of the new Bentley SUV: “It feels 100% like a Bentley from behind the steering wheel with a really powerful feeling,” he said.
A total of 1000 jobs will be created as a result of the new SUV being built at Bentley’s factory in Crewe, with 400 of them being in-house and the rest at UK-based suppliers. The SUV will see Bentley’s production increase from today’s 10,000 automobiles a year to an eventual total of 15,000.
The performance of Bentley’s dealers has also been under scrutiny with Dürheimer saying that a new showroom experience was being developed, previewed by a new facility just up the road from the Crewe factory.

A motorist issued with a £130 fine after car parking on a pavement to go as well as utilize a shop’s loo has had his ticket cancelled, after an adjudicator ruled his situation constituted an “emergency”.
Michael Nyman, from Hindhead, Surrey, was stuck in heavy web traffic on Park road in London last November, when he discovered himself needing to response the phone call of nature. A lack of appropriate car parking locations prompted Mr Nyman to pull up on a pavement opposite a florist, in order to utilize its facilities.
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• exactly how to charm a car parking ticket
Transport for London (TfL) subsequently issued Mr Nyman with a £130 fine for being “parked with one or more wheels on or over a footpath” and, while Mr Nyman, who is 85, contacted TfL to plead his case, the organisation stood firm.
Last week, however, an official adjudicator cancelled Mr Nyman’s ticket, ruling that needing to go to the loo can make up an emergency, especially for older drivers. The adjudicator discovered Mr Nyman might have been included in an mishap “if he had not stopped to alleviate himself”.
Mr Nyman said: “There have to be rules governing the method we drive as well as I comprehend that people can’t just begin pulling in anywhere they like. However, some typical sense has to be used when the legislations of nature come face-to-face with the legislations of traffic.”
Is needing to response the phone call of nature reason sufficient for car parking illegally? let us understand your thoughts in the comments…

A leading transport expert has claimed strictly enforcing the 70mph motorway speed limit would generate “meaningful” improvements in air quality and “give the greatest benefit for air quality today.”
Richard Cuerden, director of TRL Academy, called enforcement of the 70mph motorway limit “the elephant in the room” with regard to discussions surrounding emissions regulations.
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He explained: “If we wanted to improve air quality, to minimize emissions, we’d embrace the speed limits we have on our motorways ideal now. We’d be brave enough to say ‘70mph indicates 70mph’ and we’d see a massive step change. It’s the one thing we could do overnight.”
Cuerden added that “European research says there’s between a 12-20 per cent reduction in fuel” use when travelling at 70mph compared to 80mph, and stated that emissions would also come down with minimized speed.
Previous research published by the government when 80mph motorway limits were under consideration some years ago found carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions boosted by 3-6 per cent in cars travelling at 80mph instead of 70mph. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions also rose by 2-4 per cent.
But Dr John Norris, principal expert for Ricardo energy and Environment, believes the clean-running nature of modern Euro 6 diesels indicated minimized NOx emissions wouldn’t be the most significant effect of a strictly-observed 70mph speed limit.
“If the automobile is running at a relatively constant high load, the dosing required to counteract that can be quite precisely controlled,” Dr Norris said. “And for those vehicles, such a change in speed would have very little change in NOx emissions.”
Cuerden acknowledged this to be true, but highlighted other emissions would still be minimized by enforced 70mph limits because of “the fuel composition today, where we don’t have very lots of of those automobiles on the road.”
Reducing emissions is likely to be at the forefront of transport ministers’ minds at present, following a recent defeat in the High Court over the inadequacy of official air quality improvement plans.
Did you know that smart motorway cameras are still active even when no variable speed limit is in place? read all about it here…