Monthly Archives: April 2012

Rocketship megatruck aims to change transport for good

April 22, 2012   Sean

The spaceship-cum-HGV you see here is the Innotruck, which is one big fat feasibility study into the personal mobility issues of the future. Built by the clever dudes and dudettes at the Technical University Munich (TUM), Innotruck is the embodiment of the university’s ‘Diesel Reloaded’ project. It sounds like an eau de toilette pour hommes, but it actually aims to demonstrate how paradigm shifts in automotive, energy, and information technologies can help to address societal needs in future, we’re told.
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Toyota invents mood-reading car

April 20, 2012   Sean

Toyota has created a piece of technology that can read drivers’ moods and adjust the car accordingly. The tech is a safety feature that senses the fettle a driver is in, based on facial recognition technology reading no less than 238 separate points. It then evaluates how he or she will react to a hazard and, if necessary, send out warnings.
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chemical factory fire threatens Global car production

April 20, 2012   Sean

A fire in a chemical factory in Germany has put car manufacturers on red alert – because the chemical it produces is critical to braking systems. The factory is owned by a company called Evonik and it manufactures an obscure chemical called CDT, which in turns makes a resin called PA-12. Brake and fuel lines are made out of this resin, and something like one-third of the global supply has, literally, gone up in smoke.
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Audi new niche…buys Ducati for $1.1bn

April 20, 2012   Sean

Audi has bought superbike company Ducati, bolstering its plans for total vehicular world domination. It means that Audi can fight BMW on two wheels now, too.The price is thought to be £700 million plus £150 million of existing Ducati debts. Quite what Audi gets for that price is harder to establish. Ducati is a great brand name for motorcycles, but has limited value for a car manufacturer. Audi says that it enhances its sporting credentials, but that seems a stretch. If someone is interested in an Audi A5, or even an R8, it is hard to imagine the fact that Audi owns Ducati sealing the deal. How many people buy a BMW car because BMW also makes motorbikes?There have been suggestions that Ducati’s clever “Desmodromic” valve system could interest Audi. This is a way of closing engine valves without using springs – a mechanical system closes them instead. However, Mercedes used that system in its 1950s racing cars and no car manufacturer has seen the need to use it since.
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Mercedes Concept Style Coupé…and it’s affordable

April 20, 2012   Sean

Mercedes-Benz has released pictures of a gorgeous surprise concept car that’s due to debut at the Beijing Motor Show. Called the Concept Style Coupé (CSC), it’s a four-door saloon with swoopy coupé styling, and therfore every inch the junior CLS. However, despite looks that give it instant prestige and high-end appeal, it will reportedly come with a (relatively) junior price tag: from £19,000.That’s conjecture at the moment, but the CSC is smaller than it looks on the images – it’s based on the forthcoming Mercedes A-Class.
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