London black cabs to go 100% green by 2018

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced plans this week that will require all new London taxis to be zero-emission capable from 1 January 2018. The Mayor was speaking at Transport for London's 'New Taxis for London', an event where he met five manufacturers currently developing vehicles designed to meet the new requirements. Boris Johnson has previously pledged to make the capital an Ultra Low Emission Zone by 2020, although some have argued that it needs to come sooner than that.

Volvo Flywheel KERS Hybrid cuts fuel consumption by 25%

Two years ago we reported that Volvo were testing a clever hybrid Flywheel KERS system for road cars and hoped it would prove to be a good way to make road cars more economical. And it seems it does. The Hybrid Flywheel KERS system Volvo has developed weighs only 6kg, has a diameter of just 20cm, is made of carbon fibre, sits in a vacuum and is located on the back axle and works by recovering energy under braking which is then stored for use when the car moves off.

Kia CUB concept

Kia gave its new CUB concept its official debut at this week's Seoul Auto Show. The B-segment five-door hatchback was designed at Kia's Namyang Design Center in Hwaseong, South Korea, under the direction of the carmaker's president and chief design officer Peter Schreyer and is less than 4 meters long. Developed as the latest study into Kia's B- and C-segment future models following last year's Trackster concept and the Provo concept unveiled earlier this month at the Geneva show, there are a number of design features taken from the 2007 Kia Kee 2+2 concept.