Shell have replaced their previous Unleaded and Diesel fuels, with a new range called FuelSave. It means drivers use less fuel at no extra cost!

Shell have spent 5 years developing the new products in their own Technology Centres. And it is now available to buy on UK forecourts (other countries availability varies).

So how do the fuels achieve the improvements?

Efficiency Improver – Unleaded
FuelSave lubricates engine parts normal fuels don’t reach, such as the ‘Upper Piston Ring’. This reduces energy losses in the engine, the result is more of the fuels energy is available to drive the wheels.

The fuel also contains special detergents which help to keep the inlet valves clean, once again contributing to improving the efficiency.

Efficiency Improver – Diesel
Because diesel engines are different the fuel works in a slightly different way. It is designed to ignite and burn more effectively then regular diesel, the end result is more effective combustion in the engine, thus saving fuel.

Once again the fuel also helps protect against harmful build ups on engine parts.

Beyond Technology – What Are The Benefits For Drivers?
In the short-term it will mean savings. If you fill your tank full once per week, and the average cost over a year is £1.10 per litre, then in that year you would save £57.20 (presuming you achieve the 1 litre saving each time). A worthwhile saving just for going to a Shell forecourt.

Long-term it should also help keep some of your engine parts clean that would previously have got dirty and may have affected performance.

Conclusion
We may not be talking about huge financial savings for consumers, but they are still worthwhile. And the small savings will also contribute a tiny bit to reducing how much fuel we use in Britain. With no extra cost to drivers it is a no-brainer to buy this over competitors fuels!

Images used above are owned by Shell, downloaded from their online Media Centre.

It may not be on sale until the autumn, but, in the 40th anniversary year of the Range Rover, we’ve already had a sneak preview of the technology behind the new 4.4-litre TDV8 model.

For a start, the new V8 engine with parallel sequential turbocharging produces 309 hp and 700 Nm of torque, making it more powerful than the unit it replaces. If you want even more power, there’s a 5.0 litre supercharged version. This new ‘super diesel’ engine means that, for the first time, the Range Rover will be capable of delivering more than 30mpg.

The new engine is ‘greener’ too, with the new powertrain cutting CO² emissions by 14%. Because no more than two internal clutches are open at any one time all contribute to improved fuel economy and emissions.

Additionally, there’s a fresh 8-speed automatic transmission, five new alloys, and some minor exterior styling alterations. Top speed increases to 130mph from 125mph.

At the same time, the 2011 Range Rover is improved thanks to upgrades to the Terrain Response® system with a Hill Start Assist and Gradient Acceleration Control.

Hill Start Assist keeps the initial driver-generated brake pressure enough time for the foot to move from brake pedal to throttle, while keeping the vehicle in place. Gradient Acceleration Control is aimed at providing safety cover on steep inclines when the driver has not engaged Hill Descent Control.

A bespoke version of this model, the Autobiography Black, is being launched as a special limited 40th anniversary edition, with a Barolo Black finish, a unique front grille and 20-inch alloy wheels.

“Only 700 will be made worldwide, underlining the exclusivity of this limited edition,” said design director for Land Rover Gerry McGovern.

Source: LandRover press. All images are owned by Land Rover, you can click to enlarge them, they are of a TDV8 model in dark blue colour.

A Mira EV car powered by lithium ion batteries has travelled more than 1,000kms without needing to be recharged, smashing the Guinness World Record for the longest journey of its kind.

The Japan Electric Vehicle Club carried out the run this month, at a training school for racing drivers in Ibaraki, Japan. The same vehicle had already managed over 500kms from a single charge when travelling between Tokyo and Osaka late last year, a distance officially recorded as a world record by Guinness earlier this spring.

Now that record has been comfortably shattered, with a distance nearly twice as long, and using the same Sanyo batteries. The lithium ion battery systems were designed by assembling 8,320 cylindrical lithium-ion batteries (18650-type) of the kind which are generally used in laptops and other devices, and similar to the configuration used in the April record. With a rating of 240.5V to 294Ah, total energy expended was around 50kWh.

The car ran for 27 and a half hours, travelling at an average speed of around 40kms an hour, covering exactly 1,003.184 km without a recharge.

The Japan Electric Vehicle Club had a team of 17 people who took it in turns to be at the wheel of its specially customised car at a driving course in Japan’s Shimotsuma, reported to be the world’s longest. It will ask the Guinness World Records to officially recognise the new record.

And this latest announcement could give the lie to the most commonly stated difficulty that stands in the way of electric vehicles becoming more widely adopted – limited battery life.

For its part, Sanyo says: “We will continue to improve our lithium-ion battery technology as part of our contribution to a low carbon society.”

Source: http://sanyo.com/news/2010/05/24-1.html . Image Credit: Japan Electric Vehicle Club

Keeping your eyes on the road takes on a whole new meaning after IT researchers at Berlin’s Free University unveiled software which can steer a vehicle just by sight.

Project Lead Raul Riojas and his Artificial Intelligence Group team launched the prototype software for eyeDriver with a research vehicle, Spirit of Berlin, kitted out with complex electronics at the former Berlin Tempelhof airport this month. They worked on the product with SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI.)

The driver’s eye movements are collected on the helmetconverted into control signals for the steering wheel. Speed is considered a separate issue, and so is not part of this invention.

The converted bicycle helmet also has two cameras and an infrared LED, along with a laptop computer kitted out with special software. One camera points in the same direction as the driver, while the other films one of the motorist’s eyes. The infrared light supports the eye camera and points in the direction of the eye which is being tracked.

A transparent mirror reflecting only the infrared light ensures a reasonable viewing angle for the eye camera, without restricting the driver’s vision.

The software on the laptop can capture the position of the pupil in the eye camera, and work out the position in the other camera. These co-ordinates are sent via a regular LAN to the vehicle‘s onboard computer. The software in this computer receives viewing positions regularly, and can then control the steering wheel.

At the same time, if you’re at the wheel you can choose between two modes: “free ride” and “routing”, in which the vehicle steers itself autonomously most of the time.

This may all sound a bit Knight Rider, but it’s reality, not science fiction! Once the technology is completed, eyeDriver will be tried out on private roads before it is ready for the public highway.

Source: fu berlin