Fiat van becomes car

Fiat appears to have turned its Fiorino van (aka Citren Nemo, Peugeot Bipper) into a car.

The Fiat Qubo was thoroughly slated by Jeremy Clarkson in The Times last weekend, if you fancy a laugh.

Electric Charging Stations for London?

Also in The Times, news comes of a company that’s planning to setup a network of electric vehicle charging stations across London. Evoasis hopes to have six charging stations setup by the end of next year.

The stations will charge at 440V rather than the domestic norm of 240V, resulting in much faster charging than usual – Evoasis claims that charging could be completed in 20 minutes for suitably adpated vehicles.

Still seems a bit slow compared to filling up with petrol…

Finally, FedEx Hybrid Van Trial Saves 26.5% On Fuel

A six-month trial of 10 diesel-electric hybrid Iveco Daily vans by FedEx has resulted in fuel savings of 26.5% and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 7.5 tonnes when compared to conventional, diesel-only vans.

The vans participating in the trial apparently only did 4,900 miles in six months, so I would hazard a guess that they were being used on urban delivery routes, but the results are impressive nonetheless.

The only thing they don’t tell us is which solution would have cost more (assuming the hybrids were purhcased at market prices).