Motoring Podcast - News Show
Motoring Podcast
Updated 1 day agoMotoring enthusiasts Alan and Andrew discuss their takes on the week's motoring news in this 45 to 60 minute audio podcast.
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Episodes (327)
Thoughts and Prayers - 29 March 2022
NEW PHONE LAWS COME INTO EFFECTNew laws, about the use of mobile phones whilst driving, have come into effect. Effectively, it has become illegal to hold and use your phone except when using it for a contactless payment. Using the phone whilst in a cradle is still permitted in some circumstances, such as the sat nav app. For more on this, click here for the Autocar article. GOVERNMENT AIMS FOR WORLD BEST CHARGING NETWORKTransport Minister, Trudy Harrison MP, announced at an SMMT event, that the Government is aiming for the UK to have one of the best EV charging networks in the world. This will be quite a feat as the announced ‘new’ policies and ideas were not binding in anyway, nor was there any new money being made available. To learn more, click the Move Electric article link here. The Government also announced, this week, they are opening up a consultation on accessibility, for disabled people, at public charging points. More can be found here, on that story. RENAULT HALTS ACTIVITY IN RUSSIAFollowing a backlash to Renault’s announcement that it will reopen it’s Russian factories, there has been a u-turn. Renault is particularly exposed in Russia as it has several plants thanks to ownership of Avtovaz, owning Lada and Russia being an important market for it’s cars. Renault has adjusted it’s financial predictions now. Click here for the link to the Autocar article, to learn more. POTHOLES COST UK DRIVERS £1.7 BILLIONThat UK roads are in a poor state of repair, surprises no one who lives here. What is shocking is the 35% rise in costs for fixing cars due to the pothole epidemic. Last year 59% of those surveyed by KwikFit stated they had hit a pothole in 2021, up from 46%. Only London appeared to have improving roads. To learn more, click the Motoring Research article link here. BENTLEY ANNOUNCES RECORD FINANCIAL RESULTSIn the last independent results posted by Bentley, they have confirmed that 2021 was a record year. Operating profits were up 1,843% (not a typo), 14,659 Bentleys were delivered and that was a 31% increase on 2020 which was their previous record year! To learn more, click the YesAuto article here. UK GOVERNMENT AIMING TO END SALE OF NON EV BUSESBy 2032, the UK Government want to halt the sale of non zero emission buses and mini buses. They have opened a consultation on this too. For more, click the Move Electric link here. ——————————————————————————-If you like what we do, on this show, and...
Don't Own A Staffie - 22 March 2022
ELECTRIC VAN AND LORRY GRANT EXTENDEDThe Government has extended their grant scheme for electric vans and lorries, for two more years. Those looking to buy a qualifying vehicle can claim between £5000 and £16000. For more on this, click the MoveElectric article here. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY LISTS OIL REDUCTION STEPSThe International Energy Agency (IEA) has outlined ten steps we could take to reduce the amount of oil we need to use. If the ideas were adopted across the globe, the IEA predicts that an amount of oil equivalent to half of Russia’s exports could be saved. To find out more, click here for The Guardian article. VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCED PROFITS JUMPVW’s operating profits rose, over 2020, 451% on 2020, which to a certain degree is understandable. Whilst their sales revenue and returns on sale rose very slightly they actually sold 8% fewer vehicles. This is another example of companies targeting their higher profile specs and vehicles. For more on this story, click the Autocar article link here. AUDI GROUP POSTS RECORD PROFITSAudi is the latest company to say “we sold less but made more money”, with profits from Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati at €53.1 billion and record operating profits. We need to remember Bentley are not included yet as they were only assimilated into the group at the start of this year. To read more about this, click here for the Autocar article. POLICE TARGETING CATALYTIC CONVERTER THIEVESA national combined operation by police, in England, has targeted thieves of catalytic converters with over 30 arrests made. Added to this several scrap metal sites were served with forced closures. 38,000 catalytic converters were stolen in 2021. You can read more about this, by clicking the Motoring Research article here. NISSAN AXES THE GT-R IN EUROPEAfter 13 years the axe has finally fallen on the GT-R. The specific reason is stricter noise regulations, for this region, whilst changes to emissions and crash integrity being the official reason for other global markets. To learn more click here for the EVO article telling us the sad tale. ——————————————————————————-If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST——————————————————————————-WRC: CHANGES TO TIME PENALTIES FOR HYBRID FAILURESThe FIA has amended their rule and penalty for teams who miss stages due to a hybrid tech failure, for WRC teams. For the first two rounds each stage absence
Special Edition - Hyundai IONIQ5 Review
Andrew had a Hyundai IONIQ5 on test, for a week. What does the family man make of the multi award winning car from Korea? Listen to him tell Alan about it, the looks, the tech, the tasks that are easier to be actioned via voice control and orientation of volume control icons. Andrew keeps us all in suspense as to his overall verdict until right to the end!
Yes No Maybe - 15 March 2022
FOLLOW UP: EXPANSION OF LONDON ULEZ ANNOUNCEDFollowing weeks of rumours Sadiq Khan has announced his plans for cutting congestion and improving air quality, by increasing the ULEZ to cover all of London, which appears to deal with only one part of the problem. To learn more about this story, click here for the YesAuto article. FOLLOW UP: SONY HONDA JV EXPLAINEDNick Gibbs, in this linked Autocar article, goes into more detail of what the Honda Sony joint venture probably means. Click the link above to better understand what it means and why it might just work. FORD ANNOUNCES 7 NEW EVS BY 2024Ford has announced that it will launch seven new EVs by 2024, comprising of three passenger cars and four light commercial vehicles. Ford has previously promised to be EV only for passenger cars by 2030. By teaming up with VW and using their MEB platform Ford says it will be able to fulfil this push. For more on the story, click the MoveElectric article here. BMW BUYS ALPINABMW has bought the rights to Alpina, who undertake some of the most understated and tasteful tuning services out there. The news was met with much worry that BMW will now over expose the brand and thus take away a lot of that which makes it so special. Click here for the Top Gear piece explaining more. BMW POSTS BEST PROFITS IN HISTORYBy focusing on high end and most profitable models, BMW posted it’s largest nett profit in history, €12.46 billion, which is up 150% on 2019! Having the anti-trust probe dropped by the EU also helped as they had set aside €1 billion specifically for that. More information can be found at this Autocar link here. BMW RECALLS 1 MILLION VEHICLES OVER FIRE RISKBMW is recalling 1.03 million vehicles world wide, due to a risk of a short circuit that could cause a fire in the vehicle. Vehicles built between 2006 and 2013 are involved. To learn more, click this Automotive News link here. VW INVESTS IN NEW EV FACTORYVolkswagen is investing in a bespoke facility at Wolfsburg, for their Trinity EV flagship model. The cost is expected to be in the region of €2 billion. For more on this story, click here for the Autocar article. ASTON MARTIN TO CO-DEVELOP HIGH PERFORMANCE BATTERIESBritishvolt and Aston Martin are teaming up to produce high performance batteries in time for the car companies first...
Barnsley In Some Mizzle - 8 March 2022
FOLLOW UP: GREG KELLY GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCEGreg Kelly, the former Nissan executive who was tricked into flying to Japan, has been found guilty on one of the charges brought against him. His sentence was suspended and he has flown back to the U.S. AS the Asian Times article, linked here, points out the ruling is “flawed”. FOLLOW UP: FELICITY ACE SINKS WITH VW GROUP CARS ONBOARDThe Felicity Ace, with it’s cargo of VW Group cars, has sunk following the fire onboard. This follows work for a couple of weeks to rescue the ship following the removal of the crew. To find out more, click this Autocar link here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FEBRUARY 2022The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released the February 2022 data on new car registrations. The figures are up on the pandemic market but still 25% below the before times. Electric, as well as hybrid and plug-in hybrid registrations rose dramatically. For more on this, click the SMMT article here. CAR INDUSTRY EFFECTED BY INVASION OF UKRAINEFollowing the invasion of Ukraine, by Russian forces, there have been knock on effects to the car industry. Ukraine produces a lot of the wiring looms for vehicles but also many brands have paused selling vehicles in Russia. To find out more, click this Autocar article link. STELLANTIS LATEST TO ANNOUNCE ALL EV LINE UP IN EUROPEIn this week’s “Company X will go all electric by Y” announcement comes from Stellantis. 2026 is the year all their model launches will be all electric in Europe. For more, click the Autocar article here. FORD TO SPLIT EV BUSINESS FROM ICEFord is creating two companies, one focused purely on EVs and the other dealing with the ICE products. Ford Model E will look after the electric, software and connected car side of things, whilst Ford Blue will focus on ICE vehicle development, cost cutting, simplification and quality. Click this link here to learn more from the Autocar article. HONDA AND SONY PARTNERSHIP FOR EVSHonda and Sony are partnering to build electric vehicles. Honda is concentrating on the car side of things, whilst Sony deals with the software of the mobility platform. They plan on releasing their first models in 2025. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. REGULATORS CAN BE SUED OVER EMISSION SOFTWARE
Just Stare At Me - 1 March 2022
KIA WINS CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDThe KIA EV6 has won the prestigious Car of the Year award, which was announced in Geneva but not whilst the motor show was on due to changes with the event. The EV6 is the first KIA to win and it fought off the Renault MeganeE-Tech Electric and the Hyundai IONIQ third. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. STELLANTIS EXCEEDS FINANCIAL EXPECTATIONSStellantis announced their financial results, for 2021, which exceeded expectations. Their nett profit, operating income and nett revenues far outpaced 2020, which is to be hoped and expected. All of which makes the announcement that they expect their suppliers to shoulder a bigger slice of the costs for EV tech rather hard to swallow. To read about this, click here for the Autocar article. ASTON MARTIN NARROWS LOSSESIn 2020 Aston Martin loses were £466 million, during 2021 they reduced that figure to £213.8 million. Added to which their revenue was up 79% to £1.1 billion. Aston is hopeful they will deliver between 75 and 90 Valkyries to customers in 2022. The plan is to return to an operating profit in 2022 as well. For more on this, click the YesAuto story here. RENEWED PORSCHE IPO INTEREST FROM VW GROUPThere is renewed talk of a Porsche IPO, with the VW Group to be in ‘advanced discussions’ regarding the shape this would take. Some or even many, have questioned why this has not happened before. Some have priced Porsche value at €85 billion, which the VW Group could do with as they push further into EV technology. More on this story can be found by clicking here for the YesAuto article. MORE 50MPH STRETCHES IN WALESIn an effort to tackle pollution, in South Wales, two more sections of roads are being considered for a speed limit of 50mph. This is one option for the next stage in improving the air quality of the region. A public consultation will be undertaken when the full options have been explored. To learn more, click the BBC News article here. SHEFFIELD CHOSEN FOR BATTERY TECH R&D AND MANUFACTURINGThe Ultimate Battery Company (UBC) has picked Sheffield to locate their new research and development and manufacturing facility. They are working on advanced battery technology that will help reduce costs, improve charging capacity and quicker charging times. For further on this story, click the ZapMap article here. HOME EV CHARGING GRANT RULES CHANGINGThe Government will be changing the rules over grants for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS). If you live in a detached, semi-detached, terraced or bungalow house you will no longer be...
Special Edition - Volvo XC40 Recharge Review
Andrew had a Volvo XC40 Recharge, with the twin motors, on loan for a week. How did he get on? You’ll have to listen to find out. Additionally, you get in-depth discussions on curry hooks and good fonts for driver display information. You cannot say we do not know how to treat you!
Driving Miss Daisy - 22 February 2022
SHIP CARRYING VW GROUP CARS ABLAZEA ship carrying cars from Volkswagen Group companies, is on fire in the Atlantic Ocean. Conflicting reports state where the fire originated but that this has spread to the rest of the ship, including the cargo. Whilst Porsche has confirmed some of it’s vehicles were on board, it is not clear what other cars are involved. For more information, click the Autocar article here. RENAULT BACK IN PROFITSAfter two tough years and burying the hatchet with Nissan, Renault has returned to profit in 2021. In doing so it has achieved some longer term aims well ahead of schedule. Renault do make it clear that the semiconductor crisis is and will continue to hit business in 2022. To learn more, click here for the Autocar article. NEW FLOATING LOTUSLotus has announced it is going to float the company, which got us all excited that there would be another car/boat model but then quickly dashed on what it actually meant. The plan is to put the EV division on the stock exchange, which they are hoping will be valued at £5-6 billion. If there is enough interest from potential investors, they hope to bring this to the stock exchange in Asian, New York our London within 12 to 24 months. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. OLA ELECTRIC OPENS UK BASEThe Indian from, Ola Electric, will open an engineering and design facility in Coventry. Over the next five years the company plans to invest £100 million into the West Midlands site. The site will be called Futurefoundry. To learn about this story, click here for the Autocar article. ECO FRIENDLY TYRES DEVELOPEDEnso, a new UK company, is bringing their tyre technology to market, in order to break up the traditional models. Their tyre is more efficient for the vehicle, but also harder wearing and thus reduces the amount of pollution. More on this can be found by clicking this link to the Autocar article. HYDROGEN V8 DEVELOPMENTToyota and Yamaha are working to gather to develop a hydrogen-fuelled V8. The project is using a Lexus RC F engine and modifying the injectors, heads, intake manifold and other elements, which ends up with a claimed 449bhp at 6800rpm and 398lb ft at 3600rpm that is almost the same as an unmolested engine. You can learn more about this by clicking here for the Autocar article. CALLS FOR REGULATED PUBLIC EV CHARGING POINTSSMMT has called on the Government to implement a seven point plan for regulating public EV charging points or risk failing to...
Lightness In Your Heart - 15 February 2022
FOLLOW UP: MANCHESTER CAZ “PAUSED’Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced that the Government has agreed on a delay for the region hitting clean air requirements, until 2026. Burnham has argued that due to the pandemic there is a problem in sourcing the zero emission vehicles needed by commercial and private hire companies. To read more, click the YesAuto article here. FUEL PRICES CONTINUE TO RISEA new record average price was hit over the weekend for both petrol and diesel, at £148.02 and £151.57 respectively. Crude oil nearly at $100 per barrel the retailers are quick, as ever, to pass that straight onto drivers. For more depressing information about this story, click here for the Autocar article. NEW ELECTRICITY RULES TO PREVENT STRAIN ON NETWORKThe Government is introducing new rules, which includes residential EV charging points, that must be able to prioritise charging when demand is lowest or renewable energy production is high. Included in the changes is the need for security and provision of information for users. To find out more, click the YesAuto story here. TESCO STARTS USING ELECTRIC ONLY LORRIESThe supermarket brand Tesco has started using electric only lorries between two distribution centres in South Wales. The company said whilst the technology is not suitable for long distances yet, they wished to understand how best to utilise it so are trying it now. For more on this, click the BBC News link here. LOTUS ANNOUNCES NEW DIVISION Ex-Aston Martin Q boss, Simon Lane, will be the head of Lotus’s new Advanced Performance division, which will be a special projects arm of the company. This is being termed as a ‘blank sheet of paper’ team where they are to create the “most exciting and exclusive Lotus cars”. To learn more about this, click here for the Autocar article. VOLVO UPGRADING TORSLANDA PLANTVolvo will be investing around £800 million in their Torsldana site in Sweden, as it steps up efforts to be EV only by 2030. They will be introducing meg-casting, where they combine many separatly created parts with a system that makes it all in one go, such as casting the rear floor plan which currently involves 100 pieces. For additional information on this story, click the Autocar article link here. KOENIGSEGG FACTORY EXPANSION Koenigsegg has revealed plans of their factory expansion which will allow them to increase production capacity as well as other aspects of the business. The new four set Gemera hyper-GT will be produced within the factory space but also allow space dedicated to customers. To learn more,
Panthera - 8th February 2022
FOLLOW UP: PRIVATE PARKING FINES CAPPEDPrivate parking fines and the rules surrpounding them are to be tightened up. Read the BBC story here.JLR REVENUE BOOST IN Q3 2021JLR’s revenue has ramped up in the third quarter of 2021, and they also have a new EV platform on the way.ROAD PRICING COULD BE EN ROUTEA story from Evo magazine says that GPS-based road pricing could be here by 2024.BORTISHVOLT AND GLENCORE TO OPEN RECYCLING PLANTBritishvolt and Glencore are to work together to open a new EV battery recycling plant in Kent according to Autocar.TREASURY URGED TO RECONSIDER UNFAIR TAXAccording the YesAuto, the UK Treasury is being urged to address the discrepancy in VAT between home EV charging and public EV charging.BP ACQUIRES 30% OF OIL COMPANYBP has acquired a stake in a UK producer of hydrogenated vegetable oil that be used of biofuels. More in the Autocar story here.UK GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS DECIDING WHAT IT MAY DO ABOUT e-SCOOTERSThe UK Government is considering introducing a new vehicle class for e-scooters according to Autocar.ROLLS-ROYCE UNVEILS AERO SPIRIT OF ECSTASYRolls-Royce has revised the Spirit of Ecstasy to make it more realistic can more aerodynamic in preparation for its EV future.DAIMLER TRUCK SEES SIGNIFICANT SALES INCREASE IN 2021Volvo are to offer free minor repairs to Volvo cars, no matter their age, via their dealer network according to Motoring Research.GOODWOOD FOS TO CELEBRATE “MASTERMINDS OF MOTORSPORT”Goodwood has announced that the theme of the 2022 Festival of Speed will be “Masterminds of Motorsport”. Find out more, and when the ticket prices will increase, here.
Grey Is The Colour - 1st February 2022
GREY IS THE MOST POPULAR COLOURGrey is the most popular colour chosen by British new car buyers for the 4th year in a row. You can read the release from the SMMT here and analysis from Autocar here.COUNCILS COULD ENFORCE MOVING TRAFFIC OFFENCES FROM JUNECouncils in England and Wales could be able to follow the examples of London and Cardiff and enforce some traffic offenses from June. They will have some hoops to jump through though. You have read more here.STREETLIGHTS TO GAIN MORE TECHSome streetlights could gain additional tech to help aid car to car communication as part of their scheduled refurbishment. More information about this here.CALLS FOR AUTONOMOUS CAR USERS TO BE USERS, NOT DRIVERSA report on legal changes required to enable autonomous vehicles in the future has called for four significant law changes. You can read more in the BBC article here.ALLIANCE OUTLINE LATEST EV PLANRenalut-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has outlined its plans for 35 new EVson 5 platforms across the next few years, but we won’t see them all in Europe. The Autocar story is linked here.BENTLEY RECEIVES SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT BEYOND 100Volkswagen Group is investing heavily in 5 new electric Bentley models and refurbishment of the Crewe factory. More here from evo magazine.ALL CURRENT ROLLS-ROYCE MODELS TO GO ELECTRICIn an unsurprising move,Rolls-Royce has announced that all their current models will be EVs by 2030. More from Autocar here.HEALTH WARNING ON FRENCH CARSThe French government plans to mandate that a percentage car adverts is given over to a warning panel promoting alternative transport methods. To find out more, here’s the article from treehugger.com.DAIMLER TRUCK SEES SIGNIFICANT SALES INCREASE IN 2021SMMT commercial vehicle registrations figures for 2021 haven’t been released yet, but Daimler, globally, sold 20% more vehicles in 2021 than 2020. You can find out
Special Edition - Volkswagen ID.3 Review
Alan had Volkswagen’s most important new car since the Golf for a week. Is the ID.3 People’s Car 2.0 or does its hurried gestation in the light of Dieselgate shine through?
Is It Cause I’m Old - 25 January 2022
FOLLOW UP: MYTHS ABOUT HIGHWAY CODE CHANGESLast week the chaps had an article on the changes to the Highway Code as the Lunchtime Read as they are significant and we all need to understand them. Apparently some did not listen to us, with reports from mainstream media outlets not correctly explaining the issues. In case you didn’t read last week’s recommendation then click this article from The Guardian, so you are well informed. FOLLOW UP: MORE DETAIL ON POSSIBLE LONDON ROAD TRAVEL CHANGESAs Andrew and Alan stated during the article, as they were confused with the change in price, they have found some more detail which helps to explain the possible new rules better. Click here for the Move Electric article. POLICING LEVELS BLAMED FOR STATIC ROAD DEATH FIGURESBetween 2010 and 2019 the level of road deaths, on British roads, has remained stable, after three decades of reduction. The main blame for this is the level of visible police on our roads. Added to this, Panorama found that roughly 50% of static speed cameras do not work. For more about this story, click the YesAuto article here. WILLIAMS ADVANCED ENGINEERING BOUGHT The Australian mining group, Fortescue Metals, has bought Williams Advanced Engineering, the engineering, design and technology offshoot of Williams F1. Fortescue are aiming to become a major company in the industrial transport sector. To learn more, click here for the Autocar article. BRITISHVOLT SECURES MAJOR FUNDING FOR BATTERY FACTORY BritishVolt announced that through a combination of private and Government funding they had secured around £1.7 billion for their battery factory planned in the North East, due to open in 2024. For more information, click the article from Autocar here. LEICESTER LATEST COUNCIL TO TAX COMPANY CAR PARKSLeicester City Council are set to introduce a parking levy on companies that provide ten or more spaces. The charge is £550 per space, with the money being reinvested into zero emission public transport and active travel schemes for the city. More on this story can be found by clicking here for The Guardian link. CHRIS BOARDMAN LEADS ACTIVE TRAVEL PUSHChris Boardman, the former Olympic cycling hero, is to lead a push to get more people to switch to active travel options, when making journeys. Active Travel England will be evaluating schemes that encourage walking or cycling, including the infrastructure. To learn about this, click...
Special Edition - Tokyo Auto Salon 2022
TOKYO AUTO SALONAlan and Andrew are rounding up the highlights from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022, a tuner focused show that is worth paying attention to because a lot of ideas and themes get explored at their most undiluted form, by manufacturers experimenting and trying to wow audiences. PERFORMANCE CAR HIGHLIGHTSThere is a huge performance car contingent to the show, with the following highlights discussed. Toyota GR GT3 ConceptToyota GRMN YarisToyota bZ4X GR SportSubaru Solterra STiSubaru E-RA ConceptNissan Fairlady ZHonda Civic TypeR ConceptKEI CAR CONCEPTSKei cars are the small vehicles that are tightly regulated to take up minimal space and run with very small engines, that Japan is famous for. Some of the highlights include the following;Daihatsu Atari Camper ConceptHonda N WGN Picnic ConceptHonda K Climb ConceptMitsubishi K EV Concept X-StyleJACK IT UP AND SHOVE IT ON KNOBBLIESMuch of the show was either slammed to the ground as though suspensions had just given up or jacked up and shoved on knobblies. We like the second option so have focused on them. Lexus NX PHEV OffRoadHonda Fit e:HEV Crossstar ConceptBEST IN SHOWThere are many ‘Best In Shows’ for various classes, we have picked our favourite from the huge number of options.Best in Show MPV ClassFEEDBACKAs this is the first time we have tried to do this, where we are showing what we discuss (if your player can display the photos), we would like your feedback. We know there are things to improve, but if you could let us know if the efforts we have gone to are okay or not, that would be great.
Our Little Run of Fun - 18 January 2022
SMART MOTORWAYS HALTED BY GOVERNMENTThe roll out of new smart motorways will be halted for five years, as the Government wants to use that time to collate more data on the safety of the existing sections. Those schemes that are already being built will continue, however. In the meantime, £900 million has been pledged to improving the safety of existing smart motorways. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. FUEL DUTY LOSS ESTIMATED AT £5 BILLION THANKS TO EVSThe RAC Foundation has estimated that the Government could lose £5 billion in revenue from fuel duty, with the rise in EV adoption, by 2030. This brings up the thorny problem of how will that be recouped, especially as car owners already feel they are over burdened with costs. To learn more, click here for the YesAuto link. LONDON MAYOR CONSIDERING A DAILY CAR CHARGESadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has commissioned a City Hall report into achieving the net zero target for London of 2030. One of the recommendations is for a daily charge of £2 per car, except the zero emission vehicles, as well as charging those from outside entering Greater London. This would increase the scope and area of existing schemes. The claim is this is needed for clean air reasons. In order to find out more, click the BBC News article here. POTHOLE DAMAGE AT THREE YEAR HIGH The RAC attended an astonishing 27 call-outs related to pothole damage each day in 2021. This is a three year high. The RAC has called on the Government to properly invest in maintaining roads to a safe and acceptable standard, as well as fresh thinking as current practices and funding levels are inadequate. Further information can be found by clicking this Motoring Research article link here. SCOTLAND PUSHING FOR CAR USE REDUCTION The Scottish Transport Minister, Graeme Day, has published a ‘road map’ for reducing the need to use cars. This has been criticised for having little in terms of actionable steps. To read more about this, click the YesAuto article here. This stance is being echoed in the UK Government, with Transport Minister Trudy Harrison, stating we need to move away from private car ownership late last year. You can read her comments and more by clicking the AMOnline link here. RENAULT GROUP SALES SLIDE AGAINFor the third year running, sales fell for Renault Group, two of the last three years are fairly easy to explain though. Last year, further disruption from Covid and the semi conductor chip shortages are being blamed. Some bright news is that Alpine, Dacia and Lada made gains. For more on this story,
Special Edition - Hyundai i20N Review
Andrew had a Hyundai i20N, for a week, to see if it could be as good as so many are saying. Listen in as he chats to a jealous Alan about what he found out whilst battling his local mud strewn roads.To listen to Alan’s review of the i20 Premium, click this link here. To listen to Alan chat to Andrew about his driving day with Hyundai, that included a quick run in an i20N, click here for the link.
Almost Coherent - 11 January 2022
FOLLOW UP: PROPOSED MANCHESTER CAZ TO BE REVIEWEDGreater Manchester’s Mayor has announced that the proposed Clean Air Zone will be reviewed, ahead of the implementation on 30 May. There are concerns that it will impact businesses heavily. Andy Burnham has called on the Government to do more to support those trying to transition to cleaner vehicles. The CAZ will only charge commercial and private hire vehicles, not private cars. For more on this story, click here for the BBC News article. FOLLOW UP: OXFORD ZEZ GOES LIVE FEBRUARY 2022Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have announced they will be opening the city’s first Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in February this year. Initially it will be a very small number of streets in the city centre that will charge petrol and diesel vehicles to enter. The second phase will be larger but has yet to be confirmed in size and when it will come into force. To learn more, click the Motoring Research article here. To find out more about clean air zones and if you might be affected, click this link to a Motoring Research explanatory. If you wish to find out if your vehicle will be required to pay to enter a CAZ, click here for the .GOV checker. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR DECEMBER AND 2022The December 2021 New Car Registration figures have been released by the SMMT, which you can find out more about by clicking their link here. Tristan Young has also taken a dive into the figures and has written a very good thread on Twitter, adding more context to the details. Click here to read through that. Autocar has also written an interesting article on the best selling car of 2021, the Ford Transit. Click here to find out how and why that happened. SSANGYONG BOUGHT FOR $255 MILLION The struggling Korean car maker, SsangYong has been bought for $255 million, by a local consortium which included EV maker Edison Motors. This allows Mahindra to divest itself of the company’s shares after it took up 75% ownership when it bought the collapsed company in 2010. For more information, click here for the Automotive News Europe article. TOYOTA TO REMANUFACTURE PRE-OWNED CARS Toyota is going to remanufacture and heavily refurbish cars up to three times to improve the longevity of their cars and maintain a longer direct contact with customers. To find out more about this story,
Earned Their Prosecco - 4 January 2022
FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO CHARGER RULES ROLLED BACKOver the festive period, the Government quietly rolled back some of the changes they had outlined would have to happen when it comes to installing charging points at non residential properties with a large car park. Now only new or refurbished commercial properties will be required to install at least one charging point. To read more, click The Guardian link here. FOLLOW UP: NEW GREG KELLY EVIDENCE EMERGESInformation disclosed to Asia Times seems to show that Greg Kelly is innocent of the charges brought against him, yet is still facing trial. In a damming report, outlining the tale of what happened, how both he and Ghosn were tricked and how those inside Nissan have behaved has to be read to be believed. For more information, click here for the Asia Times article. FCA RULES SHOULD REMOVE NEED TO HAGGLE INSURANCE EACH YEARNew rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should mean that when it comes to renewal time we will not have to haggle to get the best price from our existing insurer. Firms are no longer allowed to offer new customers a better rate than those who already have a policy with them. To read more about this, click the Autocar article here. TESLA RECALLING OVER VARIOUS SAFETY ISSUES Tesla is recalling 356,309 Model 3 cars over an issue with the reversing camera. Meanwhile they are recalling 119,009 Model S cars over a problem with the bonnet. Both of these are US only at this time. This is on top of the debacle over allowing games to be played on the touchscreen as the car is driven, forcing Tesla to disable that “feature”, as well as the ongoing investigation into their rollout of the testing program for “full self driving” software/feature, to name but two. For more information, click here for the CNBC article. CHINA REMOVES FOREIGN INVESTMENT RULES FOR CAR MANUFACTURINGAs of 1 January 2022, the rules on ownership of car manufacturing facilities in China are changed, to allow 100% foreign ownership, instead of the joint-venture policy previously. How quickly any firms move to enable this will have to be seen. To read more, click the CNBC article here. RIVIAN BATTERY FACTORY OFFERINGRivian, the EV start up based int he US, is being courted by the UK Government in the hope that they choose an offered site near Bridgewater, Somerset, over two option in the EU for their factory. A decision is expected within the first quarter of 2022. To find out what the site could be and what has been offered, click the Somerset Live article here. HYDROGEN FUEL-CELL CARGO BIKES
Men In Sheds - 21 December 2021
FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO TOWING RESTRICTIONS NOW IN FORCEAfter recently confirming that the changes to the towing rules had not, in fact, changed, we were informed by one eagle-eyed listener that as of 16 December 2021, they have changed. To find out who is allowed to do what, compared to who was allowed to what previously, click the Government’s own guidance link here. PLUG-IN CAR GRANT ALLOWANCE CHANGED AGAINOnce again , the Government has changed the eligibility of the plug-in grant with no notice at all. The criteria is that if you select a car that has a book price of less than £32,000 new, you will receive £1,500 grant, down from £35,000 and £2,500 respectively. To learn more, click here for the Motoring Research article. Some manufacturers have reduced their prices so that certain models are still capable of collecting the grant, to find out which no longer qualify at the time of recording, click the YesAuto link here. CONGESTION CHARGE TIMING ADJUSTED OVER CHRISTMASBetween Christmas Day and 3 January 2022, the Congestion Charge will not be enforced at night, in a bid to help out the beleaguered West End. This was, clearly, an idea before the scale of the Omicron variant was known. But, from February 21 2022, the timing will change back to 07:00 to 18:00 daily when the congestion charge will be applicable. For more information, click the Evening Standard article here. NICHE UK FIRMS SUPPORTED BY SUPPLIER SUPPORT WITH EVS WEVC and Equipmake, are working together to help niche UK manufacturers electrify their range and help them deal with new and impending legislative changes. To find out more about the companies and the work they do, click here for the Autocar article. VOLVO AND NORTHVOLT JOINT INVESTMENT IN BATTERY FACTORYVolvo, with the help of Northvolt, will be opening a battery research and development centre and factory near Gothenburg next year. Investment is in the region of £2.5 billion for the factory. Volvo wants to try and control better the cost of EV batteries but also produce them in as environmentally protective manner as possible. To read more, click here for the YesAuto article. ALBERT BIERMANN RETIRESIn news that took the chap’s breath away, it was announced that Albert Biermann is to retire from Hyundai. He will be retained as an advisor, but steps away from day to day activities. He is, of course, lately known for the amazing job he has done with the N cars from Hyundai. To read more about this and who his successor will be,
Chuckle of Despair - 14 December 2021
FOLLOW UP: VW RESHUFFLE COMPLETEDVolkswagen Group announced a host of senior management changes, which didn’t occur in quite the way some reports suggested, in the previous week. The main one is that Thomas Schäfer is moving from Skoda to head up VW. Brandstätter, who was tipped to take on more responsibility from Diess is sent to head up their China operations. Added to which Diess will take control of Cariad, their software division. For more information, click here to read the Autocar article. RENAULT ZOE GETS ZERO STARS FROM EURO NCAPThe latest Renault Zoe is the third car in history to receive zero stars from Euro NCAP, but it is not just a case of safety moving on, Renault has removed part of the safety capability from the previous model, by reducing the protection to occupants with airbags. But this does bring up the worry that people may think they are buying a safe car, particularly second hand, but are in fact not. To learn more, click the Autocar article here. PEUGEOT LATEST TO ANNOUNCE ALL ELECTRIC FUTUREFrom 2030, Peugeot will be an all-electric car company, in Europe. They are the latest to declare an electric only future from a specific date. This is later than those confirmed by other Stellantis brands, so far. For further reading, click the Autocar article here. STELLANTIS SOFTWARE DRIVE Stellantis, to much fanfare, announced they anticipate €20 billion revenue from software products and subscriptions in 2030. Included in all this is over the air updating, without the need for hardware to be installed, automated driving capabilities, data and fleet services. To learn more, click here for the Autocar article. BENTLEY OPENS NEW TEST FACILITYBentley has opened a new test facility, in Crewe, that will enable them to test emission and electrification aspects of their designs. The £12.5 million facility, will start being used straight away after receiving approval from the Vehicle Certification Agency. This should speed up and eventually save costs compared to sending their vehicles to a third-party testing site. If you would like to read more, click the Autocar article here. VW DRIVES FURTHER INTO ELECTRIFICATIONVolkswagen announced that they will be investing £76 billion in electrification and digital technologies. This is an increase on their previous investment. The plans were declared in September but have taken until now to be confirmed by the Board. For more information, click the Autocar article here. GRIDSERVE CONSTRUCTING TWO NEW EV FORECOURTS
Special Edition - Bcomp Natural Fibres Composite Materials
The Swiss company, Bcomp produce lightweight, natural fibre composite materials and panels which are beginning to find their way into the automotive sector. Listen in as Andrew talks to Per Mårtenson about how Bcomp started, what they do and how these clever products can be used. Thank you to Per for chatting with Andrew and giving us this fascinating insight into a different material.
Fettling His Matiz - 7 December 2021
FOLLOW UP: MORGAN HINTS AT FUTURE DESIGNSRecently the chaps discussed the new appointment of Matthew Hole as CTO and idly wondered what that would mean for future designs. Seems Morgan heard, well, okay, they probably didn’t, but let’s not dwell on that as they have teased out some sketch designs of how future Morgan’s could look. To find out more, click the Morgan article here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES NOVEMBER 2021 The SMMT has published their monthly new car registration figures, for November, which shows a continued issue due to supply. To read more, click the SMMT link here. SHARP RISE IN CYCLIST DEATHS ON RURAL ROADS89 people lost their life on English rural roads, whilst cycling, in 2020, Department for Transport figures confirm. A campaign from NFU Mutual, British Cycling and British Horse Society has begun to raise awareness in driving to the conditions and dangers of rural roads. For more information, click here for the BBC News article. 1 IN 50 CARS UNINSURED ON UK ROADSThe Government has revealed that it estimates 1 in 50 vehicles on the road, is uninsured, costing approximately £119 million in lost revenue. The suggestion is a mix of affordability and lack of enforcement, as two of the major contributing factors. To read about this, click the Autocar article linked here. RIVIAN APPARENTLY OFFERED SWEETENERS FOR UK FACTORYThe UK Government is, a report states, offering incentives to Rivian so they open a factory in the UK. The sweeteners include changes to the local road infrastructure, dust off a shuttered railway line and develop training facilities. The hope is Rivian invests around £1 billion for the facility near Bristol. In order to learn more about this, click this link here to the Autocar story.VW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE IN DISCUSSION Reports suggest that Volkswagen CEO, Herbert Diess’s future is under discussion after the Unions raised concern over the job losses touted. We will have to wait to see if this ends up with the departure or lessening of the powers Diess has. In the meantime, you can read more about the matter by clicking this Autocar link. FORD JOINS VW UK CO2 POOL To meet the rules on CO2 limits across a company’s fleet, Ford has joined the Volkswagen Group pool, that also includes SAIC, which is mainly MG Motors. To read more about this move, for 2021, click the Schmidt Automotive Research article link here. ——————————————————————————-
Maintaining The Capability - 30 November 2021
ALISON JONES NAMED PRESIDENT OF SMMTAlison Jones, Stellantis VP and Country Manager for the UK, has been announced as the first female President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. She will take up her position on 1 January 2022. Dr George Gillespie OBE, steps down after a three year tenure as President. To find out more, click the SMMT article here. UK CAR PRODUCTION WORST SINCE 1956 The continued pressures on the supply chain constrained the UK’s car production in October to on 64, 729 vehicles, the lowest since 1956. Whilst the chip shortage was a major factor, Honda permanently shutting the Swindon factory in July also impacted the figures. For more information, click here to read the Autocar article. EV CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE OPENSMilton Keynes is the preferred location for Intertek to open their electric vehicle centre of excellence, where they will test and develop EV powertrains. Costing £12 million, the centre will also develop powertrain components. To read more about this, click the Autocar article here. REE EXPANDS UK OPERATIONSREE, the Israeli electric start-up, is expanding their Warwickshire operations to include producing their ‘corners; product that combines suspension, wheel and electric drive in one compact package, effectively creating in-wheel motors. For more about this interesting company, click here for the Autocar article. LONDON SCRAPPAGE SCHEME OVERSUBSCRIBEDThe £61 million that Transport for London (TfL) had allocated to a ULEZ scrappage scheme has been oversubscribed and the budget is now used up. 23,300 applications were made, with 9,370 accepted. TfL also acknowledged that there would be a shortfall in ULEZ income at 91% of vehicles are compliant with the rules. To learn more, click the Evening Standard article here. IONITY TO EXPAND NETWORK Ionity is to expand their network of EV charging points across Europe by 2025, with a £700 million investment. The plan is to quadruple the number of 350kW chargers to 7000. For more information, click here to read the Autocar article. COST OF EV CHARGING RISES WITH ENERGY PRICE SPIKEThe rising price of wholesale energy is now hitting the EV charging network, with organisations increasing their tariffs in line with the increases. The jump in prices is not insignificant either. To find out more about how you may be effected,
Special Edition - BMW Driving Day
Alan went to Oxford for a day to try some of the new sporting and electric offerings from BMW. With the keys to everything fromt he new M3 Competition xDrive to an electric MINI, how did he get on and what new and novel insights did he gain?
Hear the Sparrows Farting - 23 November 2021
FOLLOW UP: VW SHOULD’VE PUBLISHED ENGINE PLANIn a test case brought by investors in Germany, Volkswagen is accused of failing to disclose the problem from back in 2008. The judge has stated that it is on the investors to prove VW or any of their staff withheld information, but it is up to VW to prove the board not telling investors from 2012 was not grossly negligent nor deliberate. To read more, click here for the Reuters article. FOLLOW UP: CONTINENTAL EX-CEO AND EX-CFO INVESTIGATED The ex-CEO, Dagenhart, and just sacked CFO, Wolfgang Schaefer, who held their roles for Continental, are being investigated by German prosecutors over their involvement in dieselgate, specifically regarding the 1.6 litre diesel engines. To read more on this story, click the Yahoo News article here. HAND HELD DEVICES TO BE ILLEGAL BEHIND THE WHEELThe Highway Code will be updated with changes to interacting with your mobile phone, whilst driving. The loopholes that allow playing games, filming or scrolling through playlists whilst holding the phone, will be illegal. However, if the device is in a cradle it can still be prodded as though it was a touchscreen infotainment system fitted to the car. To find out more, click here for the BBC News article. NATIONAL PARKS NOT CONSIDERING BANNING CARSStories started circulating that some National Parks were considering banning cars from some roads at certain times of the year, this is not the case. However, they are all looking at what they can do to reduce congestion and the effect so many visitors have travelling to these beauty spots. To read more, click the Autocar article here. PORTSMOUTH CAZ OPENS 29 NOVEMBERPortsmouth will be starting their Clean Air Zone (CAZ) initiative on 29 November. This will only affect HGVs, buses, vans, taxis and private hire vehicles as it is designated as a Class B CAZ, therefore private car drivers are not going to be saddled with extra costs to enter the city. To find out more, click here for the YesAuto article. VOLTA TRUCKS STARTS PRODUCTION IN COVENTRY Volta Trucks has started building their prototype all-electric Zero lorry, in Coventry. The vehicles comes with a range of 95-125 miles. 25 prototypes will be built in Coventry and once Volta are ready for full production they will be built in their Austrian factory. To find out more, click the Autocar Professional article here.