Volvo S40 Instrument Cluster 30710071 on 2040-parts.com

Tomorrow’s world: future car technology news

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 14 October 2009 17:11 CAR's new technology series looks at the car tech developments that will quickly change the shape of the new cars we’ll all be driving in the years to come. We’ve talked to the world’s biggest components suppliers, and interviewed experts at manufacturers across the globe. Our reports detail the innovations and technical advances that will make our cars cleaner, greener, safer and – we hope – keep the fun factor we all enjoy in our cars.

BMW 320d EfficientDynamics Review & Road Test (2010) part 3

BMW 320d ED Review Try as hard as we can we can find precious little wrong with the BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics. About the only thing we can come up with that’s specific to the 320d ED is the longer final drive. We’ve no doubt it plays its part in achieving the economy and emissions on offer, but it does mean changing gear on motorways when baulked.

2013 Nissan LEAF updated

Nissan has updated the LEAF EV in Japan for 2013 with better range, less weight and a new LEAF S entry-level model. Revealed in Japan – but likely to come to the UK from 2013 when the LEAF starts rolling out of Nissan’s Sunderland factory – there are significant upgrades to the powertrain which result in both less weight and better range. Nissan has had a play with the electric powertrain and made it both smaller and lighter with a new motor that uses 40 per cent less dysprosium (a rare earth metal) than before, and comes in 30 per cent smaller and 10 per cent lighter, and a new streamline battery case and a few other tweaks drops the LEAF’s weight by 80kg.