MikeWhelan's blog

Halfway through 2012 and here's Green Car Design's second review, April - June 2012: Supercars. Headlines: Vauxhall Ampera, Renault Twizy, Porsche Panameras, Rimac Concept_One on sale and Lightning's GT almost there. Plus the exclusive thoughts of Peter Stevens, supercar designer extraordinaire, as well as Michael Mauer (Chief of Design, Porsche) and Mark Adams (GM Europe).

The Nissan DeltaWing showed impressive pace in qualifying for the 80h edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France tonight however its assault on the timesheet was unfortunately "extinguished" early. More...

Along with plenty of excitement and an incredible atmosphere, the Olympic Games will bring thousands of visitors to London and the UK. This means the transport system will be extremely busy so it’s important to plan and book your journey well in advance.

The Renault Foundation is launching a new training course for students with two years’ further education (Bac+2 or professional-experience diploma) in partnership with the IUT technology institute in Mantes (Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin): the first professional diploma (a French licence) on eco-mobility.

London will be the first city in the UK to make utility companies pay for the amount of time they dig up the busiest roads, incentivising them to complete works at the least disruptive times, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced today.

What is your vision for sustainable living in 20 years' time? Competition "Generation '92" offers the opportunity for young Europeans born in 1991, 1992 or 1993 to make a video showing their vision of a sustainable future. The winners will be invited to take part in an event on sustainable development in Copenhagen on 5 June. The best entries will also win a total of €6,000 in cash prizes.

The official video showcase of the 2011 Bridgestone Eco-Rally between Oxford, BRE Innovation Park and The Mall in London. For more info on the Top Gear reference, see http://www.topgear.com/uk/tv-show/series-17/episode-6. | More videos...

To celebrate the centenary of Ford of Britain in 2011 the company is exploring its photo archive to reveal rarely seen images.

From the early Model T's production system that made motoring affordable, to the latest electric Transit Connect vans, Ford has a long tradition of breaking new ground and entering new markets.

There are certainly fast green cars out there, as we recently proved in our mini 'green grand prix' at Silverstone. However, energy efficiency is greatly reduced when travelling in excess of 70mph and this is one of the main reasons why 'eco-friendly' cars are generally 'not that fast'. A top speed of more than 70mph is largely irrelevant anyway as there are few places in the world where it's actually legal to drive that fast. Despite this, we can't help but fantasize about super-fast cars and it's often used as a very effective selling point. Listen to the debate here...