CAR tech: who's to blame for your car's terrible fuel economy?

In early 2013 Audi lost a case brought by the Advertising Standard Agency (ASA) because of ‘misleading’ fuel economy figures used in an advert, after a customer complained they couldn’t get anywhere near the 68mpg quoted. The court case once more exposes the yawning gap between officially sanctioned mpg figures and those experienced by owners. A recent study by the Independent Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) looked at cars sold in the UK and Europe, and discovered the difference between official mpg figures and real-world driving had grown from 8% in 2001 to a barely believable 21% in 2011.

M25 speed cameras not switched on

Most speed cameras on the M25 have not worked for five years, according to a report in the Sunday People newspaper. Of the 117-mile stretch of London’s orbital motorway, only 3.2 miles between Junctions 2 and 3 in Kent is covered by working cameras. On Bing: see pictures of speed cameras Cars most likely to be caught speeding in the UK The cameras, which sit behind overhead gantries imposing lower speed limits during congested times, haven’t been switched on since they were installed in 2009.

Nissan's senior manager color and design strategy Francois Farion on the importance of objects in keeping focus [w/Video]

Nissan's Francois Farion, senior manager, color and design strategy, features in a new video giving an insight into how important objects are to designers when communicating, defining and maintaining their design intentions. A lot of time and energy goes into designing a car and so, Farion says, it's vital that designers keep their focus throughout the process. He believes objects are the key to creating coherent designs.