Honda Motorcycle Generator Alternator Stator Coil 31120-mr5-015 -870 -871 Pc800 on 2040-parts.com

The Future Role of the Vehicle Designer

The vehicle design department at the Royal College of Art hosted the second in a series of five lectures looking at the future of the profession last week. Moving on from the previous week's topic of sustainability, this debate explored the future roles and responsibilities of the vehicle designer. Head of department Dale Harrow began by posing the question "Is it time to rethink – do we still need the car?" Although still relevant, Harrow's ultimate answer to this was that the profession was about to see marked change, with the end to an era where "designers are locked behind closed doors in studios".

Drink Drive Limit Cut: Binned for now

The Drink Drive Limit safe - for now Having already criminalised a huge swathe of the motoring population of the UK by sticking endless ‘Safety’ Cameras anywhere they will catch drivers unaware and rake in huge fines, it seemed the Con-Dems were about to emulate the last administration’s actions on motorists and move to a stupidly low drink drive alcohol limit to try and criminalise the handful of motorists the speed cameras hadn’t already nabbed. Earlier this summer a quango report – lead by ‘Expert’ Sir Peter North – declared that the UK’s drink drive limit should be lowered from the current 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg – less than a pint for most people. In our risk averse, nanny-state, ‘elf ‘n’ safety obsessed world it seemed a dead cert that the UK would adopt a lower limit – as the report recommended -  in line with much of Europe.

BMW i3 revealed: The BMW Megacity lives

BMW i3 Revealed - on sale in 2013 The BMW i8 – also revealed today –  may be BMW’s answer to a supercar with a conscience for the 21st century, but the other end of the scale is the BMW solution to city mobility – the BMW i3. Known as the Megacity Vehicle – at least until BMW gave us all the detail of the i3 and i8 a few months ago – the BMW i3 is an upright box with a choice of pure electric or range-extender powertrains and is – in size – somewhere between the MINI and the current 1-Series. Just like the i8, the BMW i3 has a predominantly aluminium chassis and a body made of CFRP so it’s reasonably light for an EV (1270kg) and should be nimble thanks to its low centre of gravity which, just like the i8, is due to its batteries and the other heavy stuff sitting low down.