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Okay, I'll admit it: I often watch a UK TV cable/satellite channel called 'Dave'. It has endless re-runs of Mock the Week, Red Dwarf, Jack Dee, Top Gear and all sorts of programmes that might go under the general header 'enjoyable TV for when you can't be asked to work your brain or bother with listings'. Just switch to Dave and the chances are quite good there's something watchable on there that won't be a weather girl learning to tap dance or someone telling a porker that they really should be dead on that diet. 

I also enjoy spin-offs from the Top Gear presenters. Brainiac (Richard Hammond presents, or did) always entertains and the three are generally very sensible in that they pick things that fit their personalities. Clarkson has an affection for the under-celebrated British industrial heritage stuff, kid Hammond does the slightly poppy science, while James May comes across as the understated upper crust English eccentric who is wowed by physics. They are clearly bright guys who can do more than just salivate over a Ferrari or power slide a Noble. Good luck to 'em. But there are only so many hours in a day and I don't actually watch all that much TV, guv (honest).

I was, however, particularly intrigued by the tale of TG presenter James May's Lego house. I have not actually seen May's 'Toys Stories' (great name) but building a full-size house out of Lego sounds like a reasonably daft and oddly uplifting idea. A thousand people put some effort into it.

However, something has gone very wrong, in a typically British, brutally harsh, shot-in-the-foot and totally unforeseen unfolding cock-up sort of way. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. They did actually complete the Lego house, but it's a tragic tale.

You'd think the mighty Legoland would perhaps have moved mountains for a positive PR story like that - a full-size house made from little Lego bricks that the long-haired and amiable May from Top Gear is championing. But for some weird reason it was built in a vinyard in Sussex (Denbies) and they need the land back. Why on earth build it there? 

You would also think it might have been built on some sort of modular platform - think about it, a Lego construction speciality that a 5-year-old could demonstrate - so that it might, when finished, be easily transported and not cost a small fortune to relocate? Nope. If mobile, it might well have gone on to do a world tour, along with a Lego car and who knows what else.

Oh well, it has had to be torn down. What a waste. I'd like to have seen it in the flesh. And what sort of low-life would nick the Lego cat?

James May's Lego house demolished

It sounds like a story that will run and run. Four people were killed in the US when the accelerator pedal got stuck on a Lexus demonstrator. It's a reminder that sometimes seemingly innocuous things - like the floor mat you wouldn't give a second throught to - can lead to tragic outcomes. The fact that someone in the vehicle dialled the emergency services before the car crashed would have helped the investigators pinpoint the most likely cause of this particular accident.

But it makes you wonder how many other such accidents there may have been and also how many floor mats are aftermarket products or simply not fitted properly. The dealer in this case will come under scrutiny I would think.

There's also the unsettling question of why the driver - who was in the California Highway Patrol, so most likely a bit better than average behind the wheel - apparently couldn't get the car into neutral. That might be something else to be looked at. And was the start-stop button tricky to negotiate in that emergency situation? If you have to keep it depressed for three seconds while you are unexpectedly doing 120mph and trying to stop crashing, you might have your hands full with the steering wheel.

And to start with you'd probably be pressing your foot down on the faulty pedal like crazy to shift it while also concentrating on the steering, precious seconds passing as you accelerate, maybe until it's too late to spare a hand for the transmission control. Horrible story.   

US: Toyota to recall 3.8m cars for floor mat check

Used cars in Britain have actually been going up in value over the past year - by as much as 25%-30%. Used car stocks have dwindled to an all-time low and prices may go still higher. Companies are delaying fleet replacement and the scrappage scheme is taking cars off the road. Earlier this year it was reported that some new cars were cheaper than used ones. Bonkers. So there you have it. If you have any spare cash, maybe put it in used cars. The old maxim that by the time you read about the business opportunity it's probably gone, may well not apply in this case. The UK's scrappage scheme has just been extended and most big companies running fleets are still financially traumatised.

FEATURE: Signs of recovery in UK used car market

Used cars in Britain have actually been going up in value over the past year - by as much as 25%-30%. Used car stocks have dwindled to an all-time low and prices may go still higher. Companies are delaying fleet replacement and the scrappage scheme is taking cars off the road. Earlier this year it was reported that some new cars were cheaper than used ones. Bonkers. So there you have it. If you have any spare cash, maybe put it in used cars. The old maxim that by the time you read about the business opportunity it's probably gone, may well not apply in this case. The UK's scrappage scheme has just been extended and most big companies running fleets are still financially traumatised.

FEATURE: Signs of recovery in UK used car market

Someone overtook me in an urban area the other day - in a 30mph zone. I was perhaps nudging 35. Although the road was in a residential area, I figured I was safe to be slightly over the 30, not that I am condoning breaking the law. All roads have a kind of natural speed limit and this was one where 30 was a bit tight.

But the person who overtook me - obviously transporting a woman giving birth or having just learned that his house was on fire - was doing more like 50mph and well and truly crossing the line into reckless behaviour. And, of course, it was a guy without a care in the world kindly letting the whole neighbourhood in on his musical taste (strangely enough, not Mozart but something that I would imagine the CIA might recommend in its 'enhanced interrogation techniques for beginners' manual).

Now then, as is common in such situations, I caught the fellow up at the next set of traffic lights. Once upon a time I might have resorted to a firm stare at the rogue or even, in extremis, a hand gesture to communicate my displeasure at his actions. I tend not to risk inviting a disproportionate response these days.

I came across an 'innovation' recently that allows you to customise an LED-based image or message in your wheel hub. The clip on YouTube is a hoot and it is amazing what people will come up with. It makes you think. I could just drive past the reckless one with a message in the relevant wheel that says simply 'UR a tool'. Of course, to do that so he saw it, I'd have to overtake him, so maybe I would be best to leave it. And it is probably best for one's overall state of mind and blood pressure not to get riled by such things.

Maybe I could put something more positive in the wheel hub - 'Nice day, isn't it?' Or weirdly comical - 'I'm not normal'; 'back off - swine flu'; 'Jesus loves U, but I don't'. The possibilities are endless and maybe advertisers and social networkers could be very interested. Could be yet another distraction for drivers though, if it really took off. Will it just be a bling niche product?  

There is a fair bit of hype around regarding electric cars. Improvements are coming, but electric drive can only take us so far - quite literally, when you consider range constraints.

There is still a lot of work ahead - with battery technology, with charging infrastructure, with viable business models - in order to knock the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) off its perch of automotive powertrain dominance. And the ICE is not standing still - it is getting more efficient, too.

Last week we carried an interesting interview with Thomas Weber, Daimler's board member for group research and development. He said that it would be some 20 years before a cost-effective electric vehicle could be produced with a range comparable with today's petrol and diesel motors - around 500 miles (800km).

There will be degrees of improvement as we go, but we are not facing an imminent and rapid automotive technology revolution. There is plenty of good work going on with advancing electric drive technology, but a sense of perspective is needed also.

INTERVIEW: The future is electric but some time away

And here's something we published earlier this year:

RESEARCH: Market projections for EVs and hybrids

You have to hand it to the boffins in Japanese companies - they really do come up with some impressive stuff. Honda's U3-X is an interesting take on low-speed personal mobility. It's reminiscent of a unicycle and presumably is packed with gyroscopes and clever sensors to make it work. Practical? It might have applications for people who have trouble walking - an alternative to a wheelchair for people with arthritis, for example. I'd like to see a 20-stone Millwall fan balancing on one. I guess things like this keep the Honda engineers happy. 

There's an interesting post-script to the recent blog item concerning the Castrol billboard campaign that involves a camera reading your registration plate, a DVLA database and the billboard giving you a personalised message on what engine oil you should be using as you drive past. It would appear that the DVLA is in hot water on motorists' privacy and who should have access to such a database.

Looks like Castrol's marketing initiative has backfired a bit (although if it has garnered publicity for the brand, maybe it hasn't). I can imagine a few people were watching to see how it went and may now back off from similar ideas. Good.

UK: Vehicle licencing authority eyes Castrol data leak