The Department of Transport said that last year would be the “year of the electric car” offering subsidies and encouraging councils to plan accordingly.

However, the British public had other ideas with only 1,000 electric vehicles sold with drivers feeling that they were impractical and slow.

Well, that may be about to change because, this week, Oxford are leading the way introducing 60 electric charging points around the city. With one re-charging point for 2,400 residents this gives Oxford the top ratio in the whole of Europe.

Chargemaster are the company responsible and they hope that Oxford will encourage other towns and cities to get ready for many new hybrid and electric cars that are expected to be launched in the next couple of years. London has more charging points than any other city in Europe with 654.

Chargemaster’s chief executive, David Martell stated “Not only do electric vehicles have obvious environmental benefits, they also make the most financial sense. They have never been more convenient to charge and maintain.”

In the past the time taken to re-charge a vehicle has been one of the reasons that has put people off as older charging points took eight hours-the new ones take four hours. In fact there are another fifty re-charging points scheduled for Oxford and the surrounding locality in the next year that could reduce charging times to only twenty minutes.

Twenty-nine new hybrid or electric cars are expected to be released over the following 18 months. Ford are launching the Focus Electric and BMW the i3 and i8.

Phil Baker, Transport Minister said, “One of the biggest barriers to the take-up of electric cars has been drivers’ concerns about finding somewhere to charge them. Motorists are used to having a filling station within easy reach and want reassurance that vehicles using alternative technologies will also be easy to refuel or recharge. This barrier has been well and truly smashed in Oxford.”

With the ever-increasing cost of petrol and the fact that the Government will contribute £5,000 towards the cost of these cars it will be interesting to monitor how things develop in Oxford.

Nevada is the first state in America to license the use of driverless cars on public roads.

Google has started a thorough testing program of the vehicle that takes cruise control to the extreme! Although the car must have two people sat in the vehicle all the time it will operate with the use of a computer, radar sensors, lasers and video cameras. This is perhaps the next development after self – parking cars.

The car is dependant upon mapping that has been created by staff at Google driving the route and noting the road signs and lane markings.

In California, a test car has already done 140,000 miles with only one mishap when the car was bumped from behind at traffic lights.

Sebastian Thrun, who is vice president at Google and a professor and Stanford University designed the car.

The Department of Motor Vehicles Director, Bruce Breslow, approved this vehicle in Nevada having ridden in one of them

“I sat in the back seat first, looking at the laptop that shows what the vehicle is seeing,” he said. “My apprehension disappeared after about five seconds.

“Once I felt confident that the car could see better than I could, they allowed me to get behind the wheel.”

The person sat in the “driving seat” of the car is responsible for how the car behaves and, because the car will only break a speed limit with a driver having control, that person would receive the fine.

Robert Gifford who is the executive director of the Parliamentary Council for Transport Safety in the UK was sceptical.

“Our regulations require a driver to be in control of the vehicle at all times. It would be impossible for these cars to be allowed on our roads,” he said.

“But there are cars which already park themselves and the need there is for the driver to be assisted but not replaced by the technology.

“The Government has to understand how the technology will develop over the next decade and get ahead of the game rather than respond to it.”

As security is tightened leading up to the Olympic Games wealthy businessmen and heads of state are securing specialist re-inforced rocket proof armoured vehicles.

International Armoring Corporation (IAC), who supply public figures in some of the most dangerous countries in the world with such vehicles, have seen a 200% increase in demand. Clients in the UK are paying as much as £60,000 to have their vehicles modified.

Chief Executive and President, Mark Burton, of IAC said: “The UK is one of our two fastest growing markets, along with South Africa.

“There has been a huge increase in interest and I would say it is around 200 per cent in the last year-and-a-half.

“This is a trend that has been going on for a number of years here, probably since the bombings in 2005 occurred.”

The forthcoming Olympic Games and Diamond Jubilee have fuelled interest.

Mr Burton further commented: “Here in the UK, there is such an international feel and a lot of individuals who work here are accustomed to a certain level of security in their own country so when they come here, that is something that they want.

“In early 2002, Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics just after the September 11 attacks and we saw the same demands and requirements.

“Local security forces got involved and we are seeing similar interest here from forces who need added protection.

“They have recognised there is a threat and need to be discreet in what they offer.

“We do quite a few government agencies around the world and a lot of corporations….”

IAC also manufacture James Bond-style high-tech vehicles that incorporate laser cannon, tear gas and grenade-launchers.

The cars are built to withstand “almost anything you can bring to your shoulder” i.e. a rocket launcher, says Mr Burton.

The company are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and employ in excess of 300 employees around the world.

In the UK they have 12 staff based in Ipswich.

Since 1993, the company have enhanced or built around 8,000 vehicles including the Pope mobile, for clients that included over 40 heads of state.

Mr Burton added: “In terms of highest demand, there is a lot of business in countries such as Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines and all over the Middle East too, such as Pakistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

“These vehicles are not tanks, but the entire passenger compartment is protected.

“It is like you’re in a cocoon, but doesn’t look like it. If you went past one of our cars, you wouldn’t notice that it was armoured at all.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) are presently testing their ability to deal with terrorist attacks during the London Olympics.

Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond said: “Whilst there is no specific threat to the Games, we have to be ready to assist in delivering a safe and secure Olympics for all to enjoy.”

Petrol or Diesel Cars?

The decision from a cost saving perspective as to whether you should select a petrol or diesel car or van is not just dependant on the cost of the fuel per litre and the mileage you will do each year so let us look at the factors you may need to consider before reaching your decision.

Fuel prices

Currently, here in the UK, diesel is several pence more per litre than petrol but the gap does vary. On the plus side a diesel does more miles to the litre than a petrol vehicle. The number of miles you do each year could have a major impact on your decision which type of fuel to go for. As a rough rule of thumb you may need to be driving at least 10,000 miles per annum to make a diesel car potentially more cost effective that a petrol car assuming that you will retain the vehicle for 3 to 4 years.

Residual value

The residual value of a diesel car tends to be greater than that of a petrol vehicle especially at the moment with road tax tending to be lower for diesels and better fuel economy (subject to the above).

Car tax

Because of lower CO2 emissions diesel cars have lower road tax charges than the petrol version of the same vehicle.

Servicing

Diesel cars tend to be more expensive to service and repair although the periods between servicing can be longer than that of petrol.

Some people are of the opinion that diesel engines are more reliable but nowadays there is likely to be nothing to choose between them.

There are a number of websites that allow you to calculate the period of time to re-coup the cost of running a diesel vehicle when compared to that of a petrol car making numerous assumptions that you may find useful