HS2 bill begins its long route to the starting line November 25, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT kicked off years of parliamentary jostling over the High Speed 2 project yesterday by publishing the law needed to start building work. The hybrid bill was hailed as a major step forward by supporters and a vanity project by campaigners attempting to block the scheme. The bill sets out street by street the [...]
To Infiniti but probably not beyond November 18, 2013 This tech-heavy premium motor has an impressive array of gadgetry but fails to knock your socks off Performance first” is the motto of Infiniti, the premium car brand from the same company behind Nissan. You can tell it’s serious because, at the launch of its latest car in Barcelona, everyone from Infiniti is dressed like [...]
Who says green has to mean dull? November 11, 2013 The powerful and attractive new Porsche Panamera is a vast improvement on first generation hybrids PORSCHE has been selling its hybrid Panamera since 2011 but this is its first plug-in car. Its predecessor, like other first generation hybrids, had an absurdly limited electric-only range of just two miles, which meant its hybrid components only served [...]
The real McHoy October 20, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks to Sir Chris Hoy: Olympic athlete turned entrepreneur BRITAIN has caught the cycling bug. Close to 7m people hop on a bike once a month, a rise of 1m in four years. Not only are City professionals now donning full lycra for their daily commutes, but the craze has inspired entrepreneurial flair [...]
Cameron must now translate his vision into concrete action October 2, 2013 THERE is, of course, a place for soundbites. David Cameron’s speech yesterday had those in spades; some were even pretty good. The Prime Minister spoke up for the profit motive, for enterprise, hard work, improved standards in education and called for a land of opportunity. He defended business from the vicious attacks of Ed Miliband, [...]
Personality of the year September 16, 2013 Mark Carney has been the most talked about central banker for many years, and he’s only been in situ at the Bank for a few weeks. Maybe that makes it hard for the judges to hail him so soon but he has made a big claim to this award. Needless to say there is strong [...]
Who said Volvos were boring? September 16, 2013 Volvo’s new V60 Plug-In Hybrid is proof that sensible and cool are not mutually exclusive THERE was a time when the Volvo estate was thought of as the most sensible car imaginable, a large, boxy family vehicle parked outside a semi-detached house on a suburban cul-de-sac awaiting its sole function; ferrying children about as safely [...]
Not convinced by the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid? September 16, 2013 TAKE A LOOK AT THESE ALTERNATIVES BMW ActiveHybrid 3 SE, £40,560 A powerful hybrid at its fastest. BMW has combined a 306bhp 3.0-litre turbo petrol engine with an electric motor, so total output is a massive 340bhp. This translates into a 0-62mph time of just 5.3 seconds and a top speed of 155mph. Unless you [...]
Disruptive technology isn’t a miracle: We can harness its future power now September 15, 2013 THE ASTONISHING rise of firms like Twitter (founded just seven years ago, yet now expected to float for $10bn), is often seen as a grand romantic narrative – an exciting story, difficult to predict. But transformation, disruption, and change should be easier to forecast. The only weapon we need is the deceptively simple power of [...]
Self-driving pods and 3D printing will be the real challenge for Royal Mail September 12, 2013 TWENTY years ago, as the web came into existence, it was obvious that Royal Mail would be carrying fewer personal and business letters by now, that there would be a vast rise in junk mail and another huge increase in parcel deliveries thanks to online buying. All of those expectations have come true. After a [...]