Priced at just £6,995 on the road, Twingo Freeway offers practicality, interior space and style joining the rest of the Twingo line-up - Extreme, Dynamique, GT and Renaultsport 133. This price point makes it substantially cheaper than the most basic Fiat 500 or Ford Ka.

It boasts an impressive level of equipment despite its low price tag.  Security is assured with standard-fit ABS with EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution) and Brake Assist, driver and passenger airbags, passenger airbag deactivation, dead-locking, anti-drill door locks, an insurance-approved engine immobiliser and R.A.I.D. (Renault Anti-Intruder Device).

Twingo Freeway beats the opposition with other standard features such as remote control central-locking, electric windows, tinted glass, a 2 x 15W radio single CD with fingertip remote control and a height-adjustable steering wheel.

Insurance groups are still to be confirmed but are expected to be an extremely low 2E. Renault dealers are taking orders now, and the Freeway is expected to arrive in UK dealerships in mid-February.

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It will be a mass production model right from the off, with the first units coming off the production line at the end of 2009, then production will be increased as the supply of batteries improves. Built in Turin by Pininfarina-Bolloré, the B0 will be a fully-electric vehicle with zero carbon emissions from the tailpipe. It was always designed with that particular aim in mind.

Its batteries will be housed in a compartment located under the car, between its axles, lowering its centre of gravity and providing it with optimised road-holding.

With an elegant body styled by Pininfarina, the B0 electric car will be a small, city style four-seater, four-door hatchback with an automatic gearbox. Its LMP battery, is claimed to be rechargeable in a matter of hours from a standard domestic main socket, and when fully charged to provide it with a range of 250 km (153 miles).

The B0 will have a top speed that is electronically limited to 130 km/h (80 mph) and is reported to reach rather odd, 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to 37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. The B0 will also feature solar panels on its roof and hood, similar to the Lotus Eco Elise, so as to help with recharging some of the electrical systems.

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This explains why the Eco Elise has 1950s sludge-beige tweedalike wool covering the steering wheel boss, gearlever gaiter and slimline seat shells. Two solar panels are built into the fixed hemp hard top, while the front clamshell, front access panel and rear spoiler are also made of hemp, the exposed and unpainted brown stripe giving a clue that these aren’t ordinary fibreglass Elise panels.

And rather than concentrating on tailpipe emissions or mpg figures, Lotus is taking an holistic approach to the Eco Elise. The shockingly brown interior trim is made from biodegradable wool and hemp – an indication of how Hethel’s engineers are applying equally clever thinking to the very core of its popular Elise roadster.

So how green is the Lotus Eco Elise?

It’s all about cradle-to-grave greenness, so the paint, primer and lacquer are entirely water-based products from paint giant Du Pont.

Many of the body panels are made from hemp instead of harmful fibreglass, and even more of the exterior could have been made of the stuff had Lotus not run out of time before the Eco Elise’s debut at the 2008 London motor show. Hethel made the most complicated panels first (the rear spoiler and front clamshell) so it reckons the rest of the bodywork should be a doddle.

Lotus also rightly points out that local sourcing and cutting air miles is a crucial part of minimising a car’s carbon footprint, so the hemp is locally produced in East Anglia.

Lotus says this research project is about whole-life responsibility more than tailpipe emissions, but the Eco Elise is still 12g/km cleaner at 184g/km than the regular S. No complete official figures have been issued yet.

The Eco Elise is also 32kg lighter than the standard Elise S – for the holy trinity of better handling, performance and economy. The diet programme includes:

• Lightweight alloys cut 15.8kg from the kerbweight
• Alpine stereo saves 1.5kg over regular item
• Each seat weighs 500g less than standard Probax items

The list goes on and on. Lotus’s Hethel HQ has been to boot camp, too, cutting its appetite for electricity (-14%), gas (-30%) and water (-11%) in 2007 from the previous year, while three on-site wind turbines will be operating within the next 18 months and supply Lotus with all its electricity needs.

Has the performance suffered?

Most of the clever tech comes in the manufacturing stage, so you’re left to get on and drive. Ignore the opinion-dividing woollen seats and sissal front-door-mat carpets and it’s pure Elise.

It uses the detuned 1.8-litre Toyota engine from the Elise S, producing an identical 134bhp and 127lb ft – so it doesn’t feel especially fast until you rev it hard. You miss you out on the Elise R’s 189bhp hit and its ballistic transformation from roadster to rocket as it comes on cam, but it remains a brilliant, simple-thrills sports car.

Final verdict

Overall the Eco Elise is brilliant. Lotus claims that some of the tech is near production ready – the water-based primers and lacquers should be ready by the end of 2009 (water-based paint is already used at Hethel), the lightweight wheels are available now and only the hemp body panels and solar panels require more testing with production ‘a few years away’.

Let’s just hope they make some of this eco tech standard fit, rather than reserving it for a special, premium-cost green special as most mainstream manufacturers have chosen to do. The whole sports car fraternity deserves this kind of fresh thinking, not just those with more cash to spend.

Statistics
How much? £26,000
On sale in the UK: 2009 (for water-based primer and lacquer)
Engine: 1794cc 4cyl, 134bhp @ 6200rpm, 127lb ft @ 4200rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Performance: 127mph, 5.8sec, 34mpg (est), 184g/km
How heavy / made of? 828kg/ Aluminium and hemp
How big (length/width/height in mm)? 3785/1719/1117

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The i-MiEV - pronounced eye-meev – from Mitsubishi, is a hatchback which will carry four adults and reach a top speed of 87mph. It will be available in the UK, initially for leasing, from the middle of 2009 and can travel up to 100 miles without charging.

The i-MiEV represent a big jump up in quality from the cars which have so far dominated the electric car market in the UK. Both the G-Wiz and the French-made Mega City are two-seaters strictly limited in specification and performance. The G-Wiz only has a top speed of 50mph and a range on a full battery charge of 48 miles, and the Mega City is even more restricted, with a top speed of 40mph and a range of 40 miles only. Plus they were both about the ugliest small cars ever made.

There has been a market for them because they are environmentally friendly, with zero tailpipe emissions, and also because for use in and around a city they make for very cheap motoring. They are exempt from the congestion charge in central London, easy to park, and in parts of the capital can have their batteries recharged free.

However, in the past year the market dropped sharply. Published figures this month showing sales had more than halved in 2008 – 156 electric cars were sold from January to October, compared to 374 for this period in 2007. It happened in part because Westminster City Council in London had ended its previous free parking for electrics, and also because the G-Wiz had performed very badly in a crash test run by Top Gear magazine

Enter the i-MiEV. A big departure from Mitsubishi’s normal products, better known for rather less environmentally friendly Shogun 4×4.

Developed from Mitsubishi’s petrol-driven i-minicar, the i-MiEV is fully crash-tested, and offers double the speed of its predecessors. It also offers double the range on a battery charge – 80 to 100 miles – although this, of course, is still the major drawback for a consumer. You won’t be using it to drive from London to Glasgow. And it takes six to seven hours to recharge at home, although this is not too much of a problem if left charging overnight, which also takes advantage of cheaper electricity and is also more efficient for the grid as a whole.

Mitsubishi is convinced there is a serious market for the i-MiEV – which stands for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle – beginning with companies and organisations which need to be seen to be at the forefront of environmental awareness, and will not be put off by the hefty price tag of £35,000. About 200 will be available for leasing from selected UK dealers next summer, for about £750 per month.

Despite the high price, there seems little doubt the i-MiEV is showing the way to the future of motoring, as the threat of climate change grows and transport policy increasingly bears down on vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas.

The UK transport sector accounts for more than a fifth of CO2 emissions, and in the recent first report of the Government’s new Climate Change Committee, the chairman, Lord Turner, said he could envisage as many as 40 per cent of Britain’s cars being electric-powered, or hybrid electric-petrol, by 2020 if the UK is to meet interim targets to counter global warming.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV could be a new dawn for electric cars. Offering zero emissions from its tailpipe, it is the first crash-tested all-electric four-seat vehicle from a mainstream carmaker that you will be able to buy in the UK.

It is a sea-change from the safety-tarnished and low-quality image of the G-Wiz or the trial-only and space-compromised dreams of the E-Mini. The i-MiEV can fit four 6ft adults plus 246 litres of luggage, despite being shorter than a Fiat Panda. The battery pack, which makes the car 200kg heavier than its conventional petrol version, sits under the floor and the 47kW (63bhp) electric motor occupies the space near the rear wheels.

Recharging takes seven hours via a conventional three-pin plug or up to 80 per cent in 20 minutes via a unit that Mitsubishi intends to lease with the car. Mitsubishi expects to lease all its 200-unit UK allocation for 2009 for about £750 per month (equivalent to £35,000 bought outright).

Mitsubishi says 100 miles will cost just 45p of electricity and zero road tax would offset its initial high cost. Prices should come down as production increases but still expect to pay £15,000-£20,000 by 2011.

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However, the Corporation said it stood by the results of its test of the electric sports car.

A spokeswoman for the popular motoring show reportedly said the show was never without a working Tesla throughout the test.

“They never had to push a car off the track because of lack of charge or a fault,” Tesla spokesperson Rachel Konrad wrote earlier this week. “It’s unclear why they were pushing one into a garage in the video; I’ll refrain from speculating about their motives.”

According to the Top Gear spokeswoman, the tested Tesla was filmed being pushed into the shed in order to show what would happen if the Roadster had run out of charge. Quite a strange one that. How many times hoave they shown a Ferrari, or a Porsche being pushed into a garage to show what would happen if they ran out of petrol?

“Top Gear stands by the findings in this film and is content that it offers a fair representation of the Tesla’s performance on the day it was tested,” the BBC said in statement.

However the shows’ review was generally favourable. When it thrashed a Lotus Elise - the car on which the Roadster is based - in a drag race, Clarkson announced that the “volt-head had beaten the petrol-head” and it was “snowing in hell”.

In the hands of Top Gear’s “tame racing driver”, the Stig, the Roadster completed a lap of the Top Gear track in exactly the same time as Porsche 911 GT3, not that’s quite a good endorsment if ever there was one.

Here is the video below so you can make up your own mind.

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However Hyundai i20 buyers are set to be pleasantly surprised. Despite having excellent levels of space, quality and safety – plus dynamics which can take on and beat the best from Europe and Japan – the little Hyundai is still priced at least £1,000 lower than mainstream rivals.

When it goes on sale in the new year, the entry level 1.2-litre Classic will start at just £8,195 for the three-door with a five door costing an extra £450. Despite the low price, all i20s are equipped with air-conditioning, six airbags, active head restraints, remote locking, electric front windows and an aux-in socket. In addition there is the reassurance of Hyundai’s Five Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty – unique in this class.

The mid-range Comfort model – expected to be the best seller and starting at £8,995 – adds 15-inch alloy wheels, body colour door mirrors and handles, electric rear windows, full iPod integration, steering wheel mounted audio controls, a trip computer and a six-speaker system.

There is plenty of new technology under the bonnet too. The i20 debuts with two new petrol and diesel engines, starting with an advanced 78PS 1.2-litre ‘Kappa’ petrol which is expected to be the range’s biggest seller. Its CO2 rating of just 124g/km is around 15g less than similarly-sized petrol engines from rivals and it returns 54.3 mpg on the combined cycle.

Next up in the range is a 1.4-litre, 100PS 1.4-litre petrol borrowed from the i30. In the i20 it returns 50.4mpg on the combined cycle and produces 133g/km – better that some rivals’ 1.0-litre engines!

Meeting the demand for low-emission, high economy diesel power, the i20’s all-new CRDi engines both have a 1.4-litre capacity and offer 75PS or 90PS. Emissions and fuel economy figures are exceptional – at just 116g/km and 64.2 mpg for the 75PS version and 118g/km and 62.8 mpg for the larger-wheeled 90PS model. This places both i20 diesels in band ‘B’ for VED, making a tax disc cost just £35/year. Furthermore, company car drivers will find they are taxed for benefit-in-kind at just 13% – offering significant savings for those wanting to downsize.

Five door models will go on sale January 15, with the first three-door i20s arriving in April. A full list of prices appears below:

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Initial distribution of the TH!NK city electric vehicle in 2009 will be targeted to the most `EV friendly’ cities in Europe.  In order to prioritise markets, Norwegian EV manufacturer Think has developed an EV Friendliness Index, a quantitative measure of the benefits associated with buying and using an electric vehicle in each market.

On the news of Think’s commitment to bring the TH!NK city to London, UK Secretary of State for Transport, Geoff Hoon responded by stating “I am pleased that Think sees London as one of the most attractive markets in Europe to roll out their electric vehicles.  We want to see more electric and other low emission cars on roads in the UK, as we move towards a low carbon future”.

The Norwegian capital city of Oslo ranks highest when it comes to EV incentives, largely driven by significant purchase tax benefits, no annual road tax, the permission for EVs to use bus and taxi lanes, access to free inner-city parking and the exemption from all road toll fees.

London also features prominently amongst the top five cities possessing a variety of initiatives including no road tax costs, exemption from the London congestion charge and free parking in many parts of the city, particularly the West End.  Moreover, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and Secretary of State Hoon, recently announced a series of funding initiatives to accelerate the development and demonstration of low carbon transport solutions in the UK.

Announcing Think’s EU roll-out plan, Think CEO Richard Canny commented “Due to high demand for our vehicles and our finite production capacity in 2009 we want to make sure that we concentrate our sales on the European cities that have the most potential - not just in terms of sales volumes, but the cities where our customers will receive the maximum benefit.  And since EVs are a unique solution for congested urban environments, we will take a city-by-city approach rather than a pan-European or country-by-country approach.”

The Think EV Friendly Index takes into account purchase incentives for electric vehicles, their usage and practical support measures undertaken by cities and local energy utilities to encourage EV adoption rates and the associated environmental benefit of the TH!NK city will have in displacing fossil-fuelled cars.

The TH!NK EV Friendliness Index

Think’s EV friendly index examines the attractiveness of cities, in the context of buyer benefits, in three broad categories:

1. EV Purchase incentives – the available rebates, tax incentives or other purchase incentives available at the city, state or national government level, including reductions in annual tax charges. This includes measures available for individual purchasers, as well as those available for fleet and car sharing customers.

2. EV Usage measures – includes actions which make it more attractive to use an electric car, including:

• Availability of free charging in both public and private sector locations
• Freedom from congestion charges or road use tolls
• Free on-street and off-street parking for EV’s and preferred parking locations
• Ability to use bus, taxi and high-occupancy vehicle lanes on city and surrounding area roads
• Customer discounts on electricity

3. EV impact – includes the environmental and air pollution benefits of using an electric vehicle, including the use of energy from renewable sources at the city level.

Think is encouraging cities to adopt these measures, in order to induce buyers toward considering an electric vehicle.

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Lotus believes the Evora will propel it into the big league. It is betting on the car to broaden its appeal beyond the hard-core enthusiasts who so love the Elise by offering the same razor-sharp handling in a car more suited to daily driving. “The Evora proves you can have phenomenal performance, fuel efficiency, elegant design and practicality” in a sports car with four seats, says company CEO Mike Kimberly.

Lotus is making a big splash with the Evora at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and for good reason — it’s the first all-new car to come out of Hethel since the Elise appeared in 1995. If the Elise and its even more extreme Exige variant are the embodiment of Colin Chapman’s fanatical dedication to high performance through light weight, the Evora is aimed at people who think a sports car can include a few amenities. Like, say, carpeting (which is an option on the Elise). Think of it as the refined bigger brother to the lightweight Elise.

Bigger is a relative term when talking about a Lotus. The Evora is 14.2 feet long with a 101.1-inch wheelbase, up 2 feet and 10.9 inches, respectively, from the Elise. It’s about the same size as the Cayman and, at a little less than 3,000 pounds, weighs about the same.

The extra room allowed the engineers to squeeze a pair of jump seats into the Evora, making it the world’s only mid-engined 2+2. Of course, you aren’t going to fit back unless you’re a child. In a nod to the universal truth that a proper sports car has just two seats, Lotus will offer a version that ditches the jump seats in favor of a luggage shelf. Lotus proudly notes the boot is large enough to swallow a set of golf clubs, which seems to be the industry’s universal standard for defining boot space.

The heart of the car is the same 3.5-liter V6 engine found in the Toyota Camry, although it has been tweaked with a Lotus-designed intake and exhaust systems to push output to 276 horsepower.  Those ponies run through a six-speed transmission also sourced from Toyota. Look for a top speed in the neighborhood of 160 mph and a 0 to 60 sprint in less than 5 seconds. Fuel economy figures for the Evora have not been released yet, but Lotus say you’ll see 30 mpg or better on the motorway while emitting less than 225 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

The Evora gets a jazzed-up interior big enough for people as tall as 6.5 feet. Although the Evora retains the race-ready look of the Elise, it’s tempered by the liberal application of leather and carpet. There’s even a navi system, Bluetooth and Alpine stereo system. It all looks downright comfy next to the minimalist Elise. “[It's] a huge departure from what people might expect based on Lotus’s recent past,” says design chief Russell Carr. “We wanted the Evora’s cabin to feel special and to be surprising as well as sporty.”
The Evora is the first production car built on the company’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture, a remarkably adaptable platform that can be adjusted nine ways from Sunday with relative ease to suit a wide range of vehicles. Lotus says VVA will allow it to develop new cars — like, say, the next-gen Esprit — in less time and at lower cost.

Look for the Evora in showrooms this winter with a price of around £40,000.

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ENDS (Environmental Data Services) reports that the cuts are expected to come from production efficiency improvements and a switch to biofuels and other cleaner fuels. Biofuel sustainability criteria will be added to the new law once they have been agreed in separate negotiations relating to the new Renewable Energy Directive.

The deal will require oil companies and other fuel suppliers (obligated parties) to cut road fuel life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 6% from 2010 to 2020. The European Commission had proposed earlier that there should be a mandatory 10% cut. The Commission says that it will review progress in 2012 and may then propose an extra 2% cut requirement.

In response to the news the European oil industry trade body, EUROPIA, said the 6% emission cut made the new law more aligned with a target to boost biofuels expected in the Renewables Directive. The Association repeated that the reduction target should not apply to fossil fuels and that it would not improve refinery efficiency beyond the level already being encouraged by the EU’s emission trading system.

This coming week in Brussels, Members of the European parliament will debate the state of the ongoing negotiations between Parliament, Council and Commission on the climate change package. The package lays down the legislative measures needed to achieve the EU’s climate targets agreed by the March 2007 European Council for the year 2020: to cut the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, to increase the share of renewable energies in the energy consumption to 20% and the share of biofuels to 10%.

This debate will include targeted reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for new cars (130g/km to be reached by improvements in vehicle motor technology, with a further 10g/km reduction to reach a 120g/km target, to be obtained by using other technical improvements such as better tires or the use of biofuels.

In line with Parliament’s resolution of 24 October 2007, MEPs agreed to set a long-term target of average emissions of no more than 95g CO2 per km from 1 January 2020, by means of improvement in vehicle motor technology.

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The MINI E’s electric drive train produces a peak torque of 220 Newton meters, delivering seamless acceleration to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 95 mph. Featuring a suspension system tuned to match its weight distribution, the MINI E sports the brand’s hallmark agility and outstanding handling.

Putting some 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hands-on experience. Evaluating these findings will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass-produced vehicles. The BMW Group aims to start series production of all-electric vehicles over the medium term as part of its Number ONE strategy.

Weighing in at 1,465 kilograms, the MINI E has an even weight distribution. Minor modifications made to the suspension ensure safe handling at all times. The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system has been adapted to this model’s specific wheel loads.

The MINI E’s brake system comes with a newly developed electric underpressure pump. Its Electrical Power Assisted Steering (EPS) is the same as the one used in mass-produced MINIs. Both brake and steering assistance react to driving conditions and are thus extremely efficient.

Based on the current MINI, the car will initially be available as a two-seater. The space taken up by back-seat passengers in the series model has been reserved for the lithium-ion battery. When in use in the zero-emissions MINI, the battery unit combines high output with ample storage capacity and a small footprint with power ratios that are unrivalled in this field of application so far. The lithium-ion storage unit will have a maximum capacity of 35 kilowatt hours (kWh) and transmit energy to the electric motor as direct current at a nominal 380 volts. The rechargeable battery is made up of 5,088 cells grouped into 48 modules.

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