1989-1991 Jaguar Xj40/xj6 Front Driver Side Seat Back/ Good/blue on 2040-parts.com

Renault axes Fluence Z.E. electric saloon

Renault has ceased production of its all-electric Fluence Z.E. saloon car at its European factory in Turkey due to poor sales. Figures from industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that only 75 Fluence Z.E.s were sold in the UK since the car went on the market in 2011.

What's different about electric cars this time? A column by Kevin A. Wilson

Thirteen years after the General Motors EV1 was rolled out to cheers from advocates of a revolution in the way we power automobiles, those same advocates are out front cheerleading yet another revival of an idea as old as the automobile itself: Run 'em on batteries. Batteries aren't a source of energy. They're just storage units, a convenient means of making power portable.

Driverless cars on UK pavements by 2015

REX Driverless cars are starting to look less and less like science fiction and much more like a realistic vision of our near future – and now the first UK trial of the technology is set to start in Milton Keynes in 2015. But don’t go expecting a Ford Fiesta with a brain. Instead the Milton Keynes experiment will feature compact pods that you can hail via a smartphone app, zipping along pavements at up to 12mph.