Forget the Prius. The hybrid Hyundai Ioniq is soon to become the Uber car of choice October 17, 2016 The meteoric rise of Uber minicabs means more and more of us are familiar with the passenger experience in the backseat of an (invariably slightly stained) Toyota Prius. Indeed, an investigation by Motoring Research found the Prius minicab to be more ubiquitous in London than even Addison Lee’s black Ford Galaxys. But is it any [...]
What to expect from Google: More than just devices October 4, 2016 Dubbed by Google as the biggest event since the "birth" of its Android operating system (OS) in 2008, the company's latest launch will reveal new smartphones, the marriage of its two operating systems and updates to its Chromecast entertainment streaming service. Fuelled by some rather transparent teasers, Twitter is rife with speculation and expectation. What can [...]
Cronut craze: I queued for two hours for a £4 pastry and this is what I learned September 30, 2016 In 2013, Dominique Ansel’s New York bakery started selling a croissant-doughnut hybrid, which he called the Cronut. Nine days later, he’d registered the pastry’s name and crowds of people were queueing around the block to try the odd new delicacy. Now the super-baker has brought his brand, and his Cronuts, to London. The store opened [...]
Hybrid engine firm Vantage Power is setting itself apart with clever software September 15, 2016 Not many startups hunt for premises with the requirement that they can fit a double-decker bus in them. But for Vantage Power, that was a necessity. Founded by Imperial College graduates Alex Schey and Toby Schulz, the firm makes hybrid – part-diesel, part-electric – engines. Vantage Power can turn four buses currently in use hybrid for the [...]
High Speed 2 shortlists firms for phase two packages worth £520m August 23, 2016 A number of firms have been shortlisted for contracts on the second phase of High Speed 2 (HS2) worth a total of £520m. The £350m professional services contract will be fought out between four firms, while three will compete for the £170m programme development partner role. The winners for both packages will be announced before the [...]
How the office of the future will lure staff back from home August 22, 2016 Today's workers are nomads. But tomorrow’s workers are less likely to be. Two thirds of workers say that they work more productively in the office than anywhere else, according to a new survey we have conducted, and half say that working away from the office makes them feel stressed and disconnected from colleagues. As businesses [...]
“Brexit means Brexit” means something very different to what people think August 17, 2016 What does “Brexit means Brexit” mean? When Theresa May uttered these words, she almost certainly didn’t know what they will actually mean in practice, and she probably still doesn’t. The conventional wisdom says there are four potential ways forward for the UK. First, stay in the Single Market by remaining in the European Economic Area [...]
Banning diesel cars is essential to tackling London’s pollution crisis August 17, 2016 Writing in City A.M. on Friday last week, Trevor Raymond from the World Platinum Investment Council argued that the phasing out of diesel cars from London’s roads, as recommended in a recent report we published, was a “blunt policy response to a complex and evolving [air pollution] problem”. We totally agree. There is no single [...]
Who throws the best parties, Formula One or Formula E? The answer might surprise you… July 11, 2016 When it comes to Formula One, I feel like I lived through a golden era. I’m not just talking about the racing, I’m talking about the after-parties. When Red Bull launched their own F1 team in 2005 it was my job to cover not only what occurred on track and in the paddock, but what [...]
Honda NSX review: is this the most high-tech sports car in the world? We think so, and this is why… July 11, 2016 My first drive of the new Honda NSX would be on a racetrack, at speed, with the man who has spent the last four years of his life making this car a worthy successor to the legendary, 25-year-old original. Crash this and Honda’s Ted Klaus would personally kick me out the Circuito do Estoril. It’s [...]