1995 Lexus Es300 on 2040-parts.com

Hyundai Suicide ‘Advert’ causes a rumpus

It’s not easy advertising your wares and finding the right balance between mainstream and innovative to capture attention, as Hyundai has found out to their cost with an ‘advert’ for the hydrogen powered ix35 FCEV which, rather distastefully, depicts a man trying to commit suicide by running a hose from the tailpipe to the cabin before realising he can’t achieve his aim as the FCEV’s only emissions are water. It’s a proper cock-up from Hyundai – usually so sure-footed with their PR – but, despite Hyundai US putting the blame at the door of Hyundai UK, there’s more to this suicide ‘advert’ than meets the eye. It seems the suicide video was put together by Innocean – a European Ad Agency owned by Hyundai’s Chairman Chung Mong-koo and his daughter, and responsible for much of Hyundai’s marketing output – and was a clumsy attempt to gauge reaction to the somewhat macabre take on the benefits of an FCEV.

Boris lets motorbikes in bus lanes

It wasn’t too difficult to make the choice between Ken and Boris in the last London Mayor elections. Ken had done much that got under the skin of the average Londoner, and it was time for a change. But, however affable Boris is, it always seemed likely he could easily cock everything up.

Toyota powering its US headquarters with Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Toyota’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell power supply at their US HQ It’s been a pipe dream for a long time; harness the planet’s plentiful supplies of hydrogen to produce power. That’s getting a lot closer with a number of hydrogen fuel cell cars coming to the real car market in the next few years, and no doubt as part of their mission to convince the world that hydrogen is the future, Toyota are demonstrating the potential by using a hydrogen fuel cell to produce power at their US HQ. Toyota has installed a 1.1 megawatt stationary fuel cell at its Los Angeles HQ which is capable of producing half its power needs during the heavy-load summer period.