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Tesla unveils Model S electric saloon (2009)

By Ben Oliver First Official Pictures 27 March 2009 09:00 Tesla last night launched the Model S, a seven-seat electric hatchback capable of 60mph in 5.5 seconds, with a range of up to 300 miles and a charging time as low as 45 minutes. When it goes into production in 2011 the Tesla Model S will cost US buyers around $50,000 (£34,600) after a federal tax credit. Without a tax break, European buyers can expect to pay closer to £50,000.

New Lexus NX Compact SUV ‘Grows’ on UK debut

The Lexus NX in a flower bed at Hampton Court The new Lexus NX – a compact take on the Lexus RX Hybrid SUV – arrived officially at the Beijing Motor Show in April and will cost from £24,495 when it arrives in the UK in October. Ahead of its official arrival in Lexus UK dealers, the NX has had its first public outing in the UK at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show – the world’ largest annual flower show – where it was plonked somewhat incongruously in the middle of a flower bed (above). The NX was included in the ‘Inspire’ zone to showcase the NX’s contemporary design and technology and the debut was part of Lexus’s relationship with Quiet Mark, an international seal of approval from the Noise Abatement Society which encourages quiet technology.

Video: Jaguar's Julian Thomson on the importance of design values

Jaguar's Head of Advanced Design, Julian Thomson, appeared at this month's PSFK Conference in London giving a talk on design values. Thomson's talk, ‘Concepting Dreams, Making Reality Happen', dealt with questions of creating a design story as well as how Jaguar uses the value of its heritage while keeping things original and new. Thomson – the man behind the 2010 C-X75 and the recently revealed F-Type – said, "You can't get a good design story if you don't look at your heritage, where you came from, where your values came from." He went on to discuss the ‘sad years of Jaguar', from around 1968 to 2004 where Jaguar was too timid to develop and "essentially made the same-looking car." He put this down to a reluctance on Jaguar's part to move too far away from its successful models and, quite interestingly, because "not only did we start doing market research, we started asking Americans what they wanted." Watch the full video on the left.