With a designed speed of 350 km/h (217 mph), the new CRH trains will travel between Beijing and Shanghai in 2011, when the construction of the 1,318-km, high-speed railway between the capital city and the country’s financial hub is expected to complete. Xinhua. China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) signed a deal with state-owned vehicle producer CNR Corporation Limited (CNR) for 100 high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) trains for 39.2 billion yuan (US$5.730 billion). MORE

The company said yesterday at the New York auto show that a development prototype had reached an electronically limited top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph) in testing last month. Only a handful of people have ridden in one outside the company, but development of the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan seems to be proceeding apace. MORE

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a new law to increase the speed limit from 65 to 70 mph (105 to 113 km/h) on rural four-lane highways, and to lower the limit by five mph for excessive speeding. A study by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that increasing a vehicle’s speed from 60 to 70 mph results in an average 14% decrease in fuel economy. Currently, the threshold for penalties is 31 mph over the limit. MORE

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, Larry "Spiderman" McBride set the first 200 mph quarter-mile run on an electric motorcycle. mph, Spiderman and his Lawless Electric Rocket bike have set not only an electric motorcycle record, but an overall electric vehicle record Crossing the line in 6.94 seconds and at a terminal speed of 201.37 MORE

Earlier this week, UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin confirmed that plans to lower the speed limit of certain sections of the UK motorway network from 70mph to 60mph would be shelved after tough opposition from the rest of the Government. MORE

mph (330.88 mph (300.63 Genovation broke the land speed record for a street-legal all-electric vehicle with the Genovation Extreme Electric car (GXE). The GXE reached 205.6 km/h) during supervised tests with Johnny Bohmer Racing at Space Florida’s Shuttle Landing Facility in Kennedy Space Center, FL. The record was certified by the International Mile Racing Association (IMRA). The previous record, which also was held by Genovation, stood at 186.8 km/h). MORE

And as bragging rights go, 133 mph isn''t too bad for an electric car. Top speeds are more relevant than many people think. That even applies to cars like the Tesla Model S, though perhaps more for bragging rights than any practical purpose. MORE

SF Motors, a Silicon Valley electric vehicle (EV) startup and subsidiary of Shanghai-based Sokon Industry Group ( earlier post ), announced its latest technological advances and a new line of intelligent electric vehicles at an event at its Santa Clara headquarters. The new EVs are the SF5 and the SF7; the SF5 will be available for pre-order by the end of 2018 and will hit the road in 2019. MORE

The bike should see a top speed (in stock configuration) of 130 mph. Mavizen has unveiled their TTX02 electric race bike today at SEMA, and unlike the Suzuki based frame and running gear of the TT01 prototype, the TTX02 will have a KTM sourced RC8 chassis surrounding the Agni powerplants. Mavizen is the technical arm of the MORE

mph (152.24 Hyundai’s Tucson Fuel Cell ( earlier post ) established the land speed record for a production hydrogen-powered SUV at the Soggy Dry Lake Bed of the California desert, with a top speed of 94.6 km/h). MORE

Ford said yesterday that its 2013 C Max Energi can travel on electricity alone at speeds up to 85 mph. Hybrid car drivers like to do everything possible to ensure their cars spend as much time as possible in all-electric mode. We’re sure plug-in hybrid fans around the world are rejoicing Most efficient at low-speed, the all-electric mode of MORE

Last week, we confidently predicted that we’d be hearing more about BMW’s first all-electric and plug-in hybrid production cars -- the i3 electric minicar and i8 plug-in supercar -- as we neared the BMW-sponsored 2012 Olympics. For the past few weeks, most of the news we’ve heard has centered around the 2014 BMW i3. But now MORE

It's long been an inspiring futuristic concept: electric cars that can recharge continuously at speed, driving along roadways with built-in inductive charging. Think a modern-day version of slot cars, but at 1:1 scale. Now French automaker Renault has demonstrated a prototype of just such a system, briefly recharging one of its electric cars at 60. Renault Kangoo charging Wireless charging Inductive Charging MORE

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the Lightning Motorcycles electric motorcycle race team has done it again. At 12:14 PM today they smashed the land speed record they set on Sunday for electric motorcycles, achieving a MORE

Ford also announced that the plug-in hybrid version of the C-MAX, the Ford C-MAX Energi, features the a top electric-only speed among all plug-in of 85 mph (137 km/h)—more than 20 mph more than the Prius plug-in, and sufficient easily to keep pace with the flow of high-speed highway traffic even when the EV mode button is engaged and the gasoline engine is off. MORE

The car was smooth, quiet, and relatively fast at speeds up to 95 mph on the test track surrounding Tesla's assembly plant in Fremont, Cailfornia. We've had a ride in a prototype 2012 Tesla Model S electric luxury sport sedan, and it was impressive. Intrepid test driver (and Lotus racer) Joe Nuxoll didn't take his foot off the accelerator at 55 MORE

Lucid Motors made its global auto show debut at the New York International Auto Show, presenting the Lucid Air luxury electric sedan and also presenting its Alpha Speed Car test vehicle, which had just completed its first high-speed stability test at 217 mph (349.2 MORE

With a 0-60 mph time of less than four seconds, the 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport certainly puts the myth of slow vehicles to bed, but just how fast can an electric car go? Land speed records have long been a integral part of motor racing, but for many years electric vehicles have been viewed as slow and cumbersome. On Tuesday this week, a team of MORE

In two consecutive runs in opposite directions, they achieved an average speed of over 300 mph over the straight 1 mile course, as per On September 25, 2009, the Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2 team from Ohio State University, broke the landspeed record for a hydrogen vehicle in their hydrogen fuel cell powered Venturi Buckeye Bullet 2 vehicle. MORE

The latest United States entry into October''s World Solar Challenge in Australia has been unveiled by a team at Stanford University. First held in 1987, the World Solar Challenge is a biennial event covering more than 1,800 miles through Australia''s barren Outback, teams mixing speed with efficiency to complete the route from Darwin to Adelaide MORE

It's been a long time since diesels were clanky, slow, smelly and noisy, but very few carmakers have gone down the route of making a diesel sports car or supercar. To some that might seem strange--after all, diesel engines are certainly capable of delivering high power and torque figures. In other ways, it's not that odd--what millionaire supercar MORE

The McLaren F1 supercar and Tesla Model S P85D sedan can both do 0 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. But they're not fast, not really. Not when there's an electric car that will do 0 to 60 in less than 2 seconds. MORE

There are lots of different Land Speed Record categories, and each year one or two of them fall to new challengers. So it's not surprising that new records for production diesel and biodiesel trucks were set this weekend at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. What is surprising is the vehicle that was used: a relatively stock 2011 Ford F-250 MORE

Trains run at an average of 350 km/h (217 mph), reducing the previous ten-hour transit time to just three hours. km/h (245 mph). MORE

Steady-speed highway cruising doesn't actually take that much energy compared to accelerating up to, say, 70 mph in the first place. Does 52 mpg at 70 mph sound impressive to you? The really hard part is getting consistently high gas mileage in all driving conditions--which is why the 50-mpg Toyota Prius hybrid is still a remarkable vehicle. MORE

Many electric-car owners use solar panels to generate power that they can use in home charging stations. But what if they could actually put those panels directly on their electric cars instead? Solar-car racing is nothing new, and solar panels have been used to a very limited extent to supplement battery power in a few production cars. DON'T. Australia solar roof plug-in cars solar MORE

The system enables dynamic charging with a charging power of 180 kW (DC 600 V, 300 A) while driving at a vehicle speed of 155 km/h (96 mph). At the upcoming WCX 17: SAE World Congress Experience, a team from Honda R&D will present a paper on their study of a dynamic charging system that uses high power to charge a traveling EV, with the goal of realizing an unlimited vehicle range. MORE

The UK Government is planning to trial 80 mph (129 km/h) speed limits on sections of the motorway network. At the time, then-Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said that the current limit of 70 mph was out of date and that the higher limit would give the economy a boost. The Government announced a consultation on motorway speeds in September. MORE

For a week each year, speed freaks from across the globe descend on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, for a chance at walking away with a land speed record. All sorts of vehicles show up, but predictably, being green isn't always on the minds of the competitors. Still, there are other ways of proving that green technology works, even if it's not MORE

We all know that battery packs are the weakest link in electric vehicles. Not only are they heavy and expensive, but they take a long time to recharge and on average can only provide around 100 miles per charge. A German-based company has changed all that with a new vehicle capable of driving up to 375 miles at moderate highway speeds MORE

Hybrids are great. Economical, clean, soothing, relaxing, quiet, thrilling. Okay, perhaps not the last one, as thrills are conspicuously absent from many hybrids on the market today. However, some carmakers are changing that image with powerful and luxurious models--and Lexus is one of those carmakers. How better to show off the new, edgy breed MORE

It''s been a good week for electric vehicles in motor sport. At the weekend, Audi''s R18 e-tron, a diesel-electric hybrid race car, took victory at the Le Mans 24-hour race. Also at Le Mans, Nissan unveiled its 2014 competitor for the race, the ZEOD RC electric prototype. And on Tuesday, reports the BBC, a new electric land speed record was MORE

The tiny electric car reached 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) from a standstill in just 1.513 seconds during a run at Dübendorf Air Base, near Zurich. A group of Swiss students have built an electric car that can out accelerate even the quickest supercars. MORE

On 26 June, CLP Motorsports’ Superlite Coupe crossed the finish line in Santa Monica, California, after driving across the USA on one tank of NEXBTL renewable diesel ( earlier post )—the first time that this type of trip was driven using a fuel that is made exclusively from bio-based raw materials. MORE

Most countries have their own road rules and regulations and it''s no surprise that driving conditions and car requirements vary greatly as a result. One such country is Germany, where some sections of freeway--or Autobahn--have long been de-restricted. In other words, they have no posted speed limit. Ensuring Tesla Motors'' Model S electric sedan MORE

What does a hybrid car need to be sexy? Speed? Good looks? Impressive gas mileage? Kepler Motors thinks its first supercar, the Motion Hybrid, has it all. Announced back in 2009, Kepler Motors has been quietly working on its super lightweight Motion hybrid for nearly three years. Now the company has released its first official videos of the car in MORE

blasted through the land speed record for production electric bikes by 30 mph to be crowned the first electric bike to exceed 200 mph. In a 14 August SCTA (Southern California Timing Association)-sanctioned run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Lightning—the 2010 land speed record holder—achieved 206.079 mph, topping its 2010 speed of 176 mph. Using a Remy propulsion electric motor, Lightning Motorcycles, LLC. MORE

UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has announced a consultation on increasing the motorway speed limit in England and Wales to 80 mph (129 km/h). Hammond said the current limit of 70 mph (113 km/h) is out of date and that the higher limit would give the economy a boost. The proposal was immediately criticized by environmental and safety campaigners who said it would lead to higher carbon emissions and more road accidents. MORE

This week the Lightning Motorcycles team broke new ground with electric motorcycles at the Speed Week event on the Bonneville Salt Flats. During qualifications they shattered last years land speed record of 173 miles/hr with a stunning 33 MORE

Vehicles can be tested at wind speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph), simulating real traffic conditions with a view to reducing drag, fuel consumption and emissions. MORE

The Tesla Model S, now into its sixth model year, just keeps getting quicker. When Tesla introduced the current P100D version, it quoted a 0-to-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds. But then it released a "Ludicrous Plus" software upgrade, cutting that time to 2.4 seconds. MORE

Fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG), the Lucas Oil/Lessman Streamliner hisett an official speed record for a CNG vehicle of 323 mph through the measured mile at the Bonneville Salt Flats in early October. With an official timed speed by the Southern California Timing Association at the 2009 World Finals of 323 mph and an actual peak speed of 332 mph, owner-driver Roger Lessman is excited about the demonstrated performance aspects of a more environmentally friendly fuel. MORE

A few weeks back at the opening of a Tesla Motors service center in Munich, Elon Musk told a room full of fans and journalists that Tesla would offer a special tuning package for high-speed Model S driving. MORE