Yamaha 90179-12588-00 Nut (3gg) on 2040-parts.com

£10 million cash boost for Lotus

Business secretary Vince Cable has visited Lotus’ Norfolk headquarters today, where he announced the company would be awarded £10.44 million from the Regional Growth Fund. The money will be used for research and development of products, as well as staff training. The sports car company expects to create 313 full time jobs to support production over the coming years.

Hydrogen cars to storm London

A CONSORTIUM of car makers, infrastructure suppliers and energy consultancies has signed an exciting new agreement to turn hydrogen-powered cars into an everyday reality. The pioneering deal, dubiously named the HyFIVE project (Hydrogen For Innovative Vehicles), is the largest of its kind in Europe. The five manufacturers have agreed to deploy a total of 110 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at several European locations and develop new clusters of hydrogen refuelling stations – and London is high on the list of targets.

Tesla system will swap a Model S battery in 90 seconds

"This is the title fight," said Elon Musk, in typical brashness. "This is battery-powered versus gasoline." The Tesla CEO preached this to a crowd of Tesla owners and supporters while formally confirming the company's worst-kept secret: the fact that the Model S sedan's batteries were designed from the beginning to be swapped out. The system Tesla envisioned has plenty of ambitious, techno-wizardry automation, with a focus on as much convenience as possible: The Model S will drive over a pit containing machinery which automatically changes the battery from underneath in approximately 90 seconds -- and the driver doesn't even have to get out of the car.