Suzuki Gs1000 Cam Chain Tensioner on 2040-parts.com

London Motorexpo competition shows future EVs

London's 2012 Motorexpo show has showcased the work of the winners in its competition to design an electric vehicle of the future. The brief, to create a circa 2032 zero-emmission city car capable of transporting four adults and luggage, was won by Michael Vlcek, a first-year student at London's Royal College of Arts' (RCA) Vehicle Design department. Vehicles of the future Vlcek's proposal displayed a car with electric motors mounted in the wheel housings to maximise interior space, and a front-hinged opening to allow access via the rear of the car, where Vlcek positioned the rear lights on vertical vanes to improve aerodynamic stability.

Illegal school parking 'should be fined'

DRIVERS who park illegally when dropping off or collecting their children from school should be fined. A large number of drivers (86%) say they agree with trials by councils to catch school run drivers who park on zig-zag lines at pedestrian crossings, even if they stop for only a few seconds. Several local councils, including Enfield in north London and York boroughs, are now using CCTV cameras to capture illegal parking.

Planning continues for driverless cars

OFFICIALS in California have been looking to the future as they bid to legislate for the arrival of hi-tech driver-less cars. A law passed in 2012 set a deadline of the end of this year for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to decide how to legally integrate the so-called autonomous vehicles - which were once the stuff of science fiction but could be commercially available by the end of the decade. The latest talks on the matter among roads officials focused on how the vehicles will record actions so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident in an effort to trace the cause.