Genuine Toyota Side Body Trim Protector (left Rear) 58742-04100 on 2040-parts.com

Insurance interest costs motorists millions

BRITISH drivers are paying £682 million more than they should be for their car insurance by paying monthly. Most insurers charge a high rate of interest for the privilege of spreading payments out over the year, with the average pay-monthly customer hit by an additional £88. Almost a third of people (31%) pay their car insurance by monthly direct debit, market research from Consumer Intelligence has discovered.

2012 Ford Mondeo Titanium: The fastest ever Mondeo

2012 Ford Mondeo Titanium - the quickest ever Mondeo If you want an illustration of how quickly things are changing in the car world when it comes to the relationship between power and economy, you could do worse than look at the 2012 Ford Mondeo Titanium. The new Mondeo Titanium and Titanium S offer two options of power from their 2.0 litre Ecoboost lump, either a 200bhp version or a 237bhp one. And with a manual ‘box the 237bhp version becomes the fastest Mondeo Ford has ever built.

Tesla opens its patents for everyone to share EV knowledge

By Michael Karkafiris Motor Industry 13 June 2014 10:43 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and one of the most talked-about personalities in the automotive industry, announced today that his company has opened all of its patents to make way for the competition to catch up and promote electric mobility for a wider audience. Open-sourcing your patents is a rather unusual strategy in the automotive world but Musk says that ‘Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal.