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)
Drinking Game Bingo - 21 February 2023
FOLLOW UP: EU CONFIRMS 2035 BAN ON ICE ENGINESThe European Union Parliament has voted to ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid powertrain, from 2035. However, there is some breathing space, no pun intended, for small volume manufacturers. They will not be tied into the new CO2 reduction rules that were also approved, until the end of 2035. Interestingly, the EU will also share the methodology for calculating the lifetime CO2 emissions on new vehicles by 2025. Click here to read about the main story, from Autocar. To find out about what it all means for small volume manufacturers, click here to read another Autocar story. FORD TO CUT 3,800 EUROPEAN AND UK JOBS Ford has announced the extent of the job losses across the UK and Europe. 3.800 jobs will go, including 1,300 in the UK. With the move to electrification, fewer workers are required, Ford explained. However, the engineering and administration are bearing the brunt of the cuts as the company becomes “unapologetically American”. Click here to read the AM Online article, for more information. TESLA FORCED TO RECALL ‘FULL SELF-DRIVING BETA’In a shock move, after years of inactivity, the National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has demanded that Tesla recall some of their cars. In this instance it is the ones that have ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ software fitted. Due to fears the software is unsafe, particularly when approaching junctions, pass stop signs and incorrectly handle speed limit changes. The recall will be delivered via an over-the-air update. Click this Jalopnik article link for more information. RENAULT REPORT RECORD PROFITS FOR 2022 Renault announced record profit per vehicle, in 2022. Revenue was up to €46.4 billion, with an operating margin of €2.3 billion and that is despite the cost of relinquishing their Russian operations. To read more, click this link to an Automotive Daily article. WALES SHELVES ALL FUTURE NEW ROAD PROJECTSThe Welsh Government announced that it was shelving all new road plans, due to environmental concerns. They will judge any future proposals against a tough criteria for them to be approved. Subsequently, the Government also stated that they did not have the finances to fund road developments. Click here to read a BBC News article about the initial announcement. To find out more about the lack of cash, click this link for another BBC News article. GRIDSERVE PLANNING SECOND CHARGING FORECOURT IN ESSEXGridserve, who have charging forecourts in Braintree, Norwich with one due to open near Gatwick, is planning on a second Essex location. Plans have been approved by Basildon council. Click this link, to read more from Move Electric. DR SHOICHIRO TOYODA PASSES AWAYThe Honorary...
Blackpool Trams - 14 February 2023
FOLLOW UP: SOUTH KOREA FINES GERMAN COMPANIES FOR COLLUSIONSouth Korea has fined Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi for colluding over emission technology, to ensure no one produced better technology. The fine is €31.18 million combined, which is 42.3 billion won. The EU, following Mercedes informing them, fined BMW and VW Group in July 2021 for this issue. Click this EuroWeekly article link to find out more. NISSAN WARNS OF SUNDERLAND’S FUTURE Nissan has explained that unless the UK Government aids in reducing energy prices and helps to create a local functioning supply chain the future of the Sunderland plant is in doubt. Currently Sunderland is more expensive to make cars than their continental European plants. To learn more, click this Sunday Times Driving article link. LUCID MOTORS NEW MD IS EX-JLR SVO BOSSFollowing the surprise exit from Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicles Operation, Michael van der Sande has been announced at the Managing Director of Lucid Motors. The US EV company has started to sell their cars in parts of Europe as they slowly expand. You can learn more by clicking this link to the Automotive Daily article. LOTUS TECHNOLOGY TO MERGE WITH SPAC Geely is going to raise funds for Lotus by merging Lotus Technology, the non sports car division, with a special acquisition company (SPAC) that means it will be listed on the New York stock exchange. The expectation is that it will raise around $5.4 billion. Click this Automotive Daily article link, to learn more. BOLLINGER SUES MUNRO OVER PATENT INFRINGEMENTBollinger is suing Munro All Terrain Electric Vehicles for infringing their patents. The US company claims a consultant has also passed on confidential documents that have helped Munro produce their 4x4 EV. You can learn more by clicking this link to a Newsweek article. US CHECKING CHINESE IMPORTS OVER FORCED LABOURUS Customs is checking incoming freight from China for any links to forced labour production, thanks to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. Already aluminium imports have been slowed as inspections are taking place, which could well affect the car industry. Click here to learn more from the Maersk Advisory Note. BATH CONSIDERING PARKING PRICE RISESBath Council is considering increasing pay and display parking fees, once again, especially for vehicles that emit more emissions. The correct fee would be charged after entering registration data with the ticket machine. Click here for more on this matter, thanks to a BBC News article. Bath are also investigating if charging drivers to enter the city centre is a way in which they can help pay for the increased costs of installing the ‘ring of steel’ terrorism protection system. Click
Moved Nameplates - 7 February 2023
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT BUYER FOUNDThe Administrator for Britishvolt, EY, has narrowed down the options to the Australian firm Recharge. They are a start up and have not constructed a major project during their time. At the same time that they target getting a battery factory built in the UK they will be trying to do that same in Australia. Click here to learn more, by reading The Guardian article. FOLLOW UP: NEW DEAL DETAILS FOR THE REBEL ALLIANCE Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi announced the details for the restructuring of the alliance this week. We knew about the changes to share ownership but they also confirmed investment in Ampere by Nissan and that Mitsubishi is considering joining. To read more about the story, click this link to a Yahoo Finance article. JANUARY 2023 NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURESSMMT has released the New Car Registration figures for January 2023 and they are up on last year. Whilst it is an improvement you have to go back to 2012 for a worse year. Petrol and BEVs are up, with PHEVs also slightly increasing their numbers and diesel is down. Click here to read Tristan Young’s always excellent thread. The SMMT is calling on the Government to help with the charging network and also with VED. Click here to find out more via their article. FORD EXECS GET SMALLER BONUS Due to the poorer than expected results, Ford executives are receiving a smaller than anticipated bonus, whilst non decision making staff are not affected by this change. Jim Farley, Ford’s CEO, stated that it was unfair on staff who could not fix the issues that have impacted on the company’s earnings. Click here to learn more from the Detroit Free Press. Talks are apparently underway between BYD and Ford, over the Saalouis factory that is slated for closure. This would give the Chinese company a foothold in Europe quite quickly. However, not everyone agrees, with some thinking it is quicker for BYD to build their pown facility. Click here for the link to the The Driven article to read more. Even more reports suggest that Ford is looking at large job loses in Europe, with one figure being as high as 3,200. To learn more, click this link to an Autocar Business article link. ARRIVAL CUTS MORE staffArrival, the beleaguered commercial EV start up has announced the cutting of a further 800 jobs. This is on the back of a senior management reshuffle where the two top jobs just swapped nameplates. Click this Guardian article link for more. MERCEDES UNVEILS BEVISIONEERS CHARITYEyebrows were raised when Mercedes sold one of two
15 Is The Magic Number - 31 January 2023
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT BUYER SEARCHThe Administrator for Britishvolt, EY, has narrowed down the choice to five potential new owners. They are trying to select the winner by Tuesday 31 January, the day of recording. Click here for a link to the Financial Times article explaining more.FOLLOW UP: HMRC CHANGES AER CALCULATIONS Following feedback from industry, HMRC has changed how it calculates the advisory electricity rate, that dictates how much company car driving EV owners can get reimbursed for charging their car. To learn more, click this Fleet News article link here. AKIO TOYODA STEPS DOWN AS CEO OF TOYOTAShock news from Toyota as CEO Akio Toyoda announced he is relinquishing his role and becoming the Chairman. Koji Sato will become the president and CEO, stepping up from the head of both Lexus and Gazoo Racing. Click this link, to an Autocar article, to learn more. For more context about this and pointers to other thoughtful articles, click this Twitter thread link from Jean-Yves Jault. REBEL ALLIANCE REORGANISES Renault and Nissan have finally reached an agreement in the reorganisation of the alliance, primarily in the amount of shares Renaults holds in Nissan. Early indications are that Renault will reduce their shareholdings to 15%. Click this YahooFinance article link here to learn more. JLR POSTS PROFITJaguar Land Rover has posted a profit in last quarter of 2022, thanks mainly to US sales of Ranger Rover models, with pre-tax profits of £265 million. This is the first profit since 2020 for the company. Click here for the Autocar Business link. DRIVERS FINED INCORRECTLY IN FRANCEThanks to mistakes upon installation, a speed camera in France has “caught” 50,000 speeding vehicles. The camera was pointed the wrong way. The police and local mayor has told those affected to ignore any summons. Click here to learn more, from a Connexion article. VOLVO RECALLS OVER 100,000 CAR DUE TO SAFETY BRAKE FAULTVolvo has globally recalled in excess of 100,000 cars due to a fault on the automatic safety brake feature that might mean it does not deploy. To learn more, click this Autocar article link. UK GOVERNMENT INVESTS IN DECARBONISING ROADSThe UK Government is investing £30...
Adequately Unashamed - 24 January 2023
FOLLOW UP: CAZOO TO CLOSE SOME UK SITESFollowing on the heals of their retreat from Europe Cazoo has confirmed that it will be closing some UK sites, in a bid to help their finances. The plan is to focus on selling fewer cars than last year but prioritising higher margin models. There will also be changes to senior management as the CEO and Chairman roles are to be split, with current CEO Alex Chesterman retaining the Chairman seat but Paul Whitehead becoming Chief Executive Officer. Click here to read more, from AMOnline. FOLLOW UP: MOT CHANGES PROPOSED AGAIN The UK Government has returned to proposals for changing the timing of MOTs, despite the outcry last time. The excuse of saving money was aired once more but now the claim that advanced technology such as LKAS will ensure safety is maintained. Motoring groups are united in condemning this idea. Again. Click this Autocar link to read more. FOLLOW UP: PARIS RESIDENTS TO DECIDE ESCOOTER FATEThe Mayor of Paris has decided that she wants the residents of the city to decide if they should have e-scooters or not. The three companies involved have implemented and proposed a number of measures to ease the concerns around their use. The referendum will be held on 2 April 2023. For more on this story, click the Move Electric article link here. TESLA SELF-DRIVING VIDEO STAGEDThe head of Autopilot software for Tesla confirmed, under oath, that the 2016 video claiming to demonstrate Autopilot driving the car without a human driver involved was staged. The video explicitly claims the person sat in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. This is testimony from a lawsuit connected to a 2018 fatal crash. Click here to read more, from Reuters. For more context on the issue of safety and Tesla software, click this Twitter thread from Mahmood Hikmet running through some of the shocking information that has come out. 2022 FAVOURITE COLOURSWith virtually no surprise, grey once again is the UK’s favourite colour to daub on our brand new shiny cars. Whilst monochrome was the predominant hue last year it was nice to see that brown, sorry bronze, orange, yellow and green all increased in their visibility. Click here for the SMMT article running through all the details. Interestingly, sports cars do not conform to the mainstream trends quite as tightly. Click here for a Tweet from SportsandGT that links to a video running through those colour preferences. BAC NAMES EX-MCLAREN CEO AS CHAIRMANMike Flewitt, the ex CEO of McLaren has been named as the Chairman of Briggs Automotive Company. This appointment has occurred just as they enter the next stage of their scaling up.
Stay In Your Furrow - 17 January 2023
FOLLOW UP: DFT WITHDRAWS APPEAL AGAINST FOI REQUESTDr Greg Marsden has confirmed that the Department for Transport has withdrawn their appeal over the Freedom of Information requirement for the justification of the Government’s plans for decarbonisation of transport. He has even been supplied with the answers to his three questions. Click here to see his Tweet about this. Now we wait on the analysis of said information. FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT RESCUE PACKAGE SLASHES VALUATIONBritishvolts has entered administration, you can find out more by clicking this link to Peter Campbell’s Twitter thread. Just last year Britishvolt was valued in excess of $775 million, now there are rescue packages which state the company is worth $39 million. There are, reportedly, two consortiums bidding. To read more, click this Automotive News Europe article here. For more context around battery factories and how the UK appears to be sinking behind others, click this article from The Guardian. ENVIRONMENT AUDIT COMMITTEE RECOMMEND IEA PLAN TO UKThe Environment Audit Committee, from Parliament, has recommended the UK Government implement the ideas from the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s ten-point plan to reduce oil usage. Some of the suggestions are reducing the speed limits by at least 10km/h, allowing cars to enter cities on alternate days of the week, encouraging working from home and more. Click here to read the article on Autocar. For the IEA plan, click this link here. FUEL STILL TOO EXPENSIVEWhilst the wholesale price of oil has dropped, particularly in December, the retail price has not matched the same pace. This comes as no surprise to anyone, mind you. There has been seemingly constant calls on the big retailers, including supermarkets, to drop their prices more than they have, but to no avail. Click here to learn more, from a Motoring Research article. POTHOLE DAMAGE UP 34% SINCE 2016In another piece of news that is not surprising in any shape or form, we find out that damage to cars from potholes has risen 34% since 2016. The suggestion is that due to the cold and the wet, which this winter has treated the UK to, the quality of roads will deteriorate further, meaning even more claims. Sunday was ‘National Pothole Day’, as promoted by Admiral insurance. Click here for more, from Motoring Research. UNMARKED SPEED CAMERA VANS TRIALEDNorthamptonshire Police are trialling the use of unmarked speed camera vans, in an effort to see if they deter excessive speeding and phone use behind the wheel. The force are at pains to explain they do not financially gain anything, bar an admin fee, for any tickets issues. They also explain that drivers do change behaviour when they see marked...
He Might Just Explode - 11 January 2023
NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR DECEMBER AND ALL 2022The SMMT has released the New Car Registration figures for December, which also gives the full picture of 2022 and it wasn’t great. As expected the overall numbers for the year were down, ending up 2% lower than last year. Main cause of this was supply, significantly through a lack of semi conductor chips. One of the big positives, no pun intended, was that electric vehicles overtook diesel ending up at 16.55% of market share, according to Tristan Young writing for Broker News, which you can read here. Congratulations to Nissan as the Qashqai ended up the most registered vehicle, with the Corsa just ahead of the Tesla Model Y. You can read more from the SMMT by clicking this link here. NEW LONDON ZERO EMISSION RULES COME INTO FORCENewly registered private hire vehicles have to be zero emission capable, in London, as of 1 January 2022. They must emit no more than 50g/km of CO2 and be able to drive 10 miles without exhaust emissions or a maximum of 75g/km of CO2 emitted and no exhaust emissions for 20 miles. If the vehicle is a hybrid then the engine must be Euro6 compliant. To read more, click this article link from BusinessCar. Quick note, TfL will launch a scrappage scheme from 30 January 2023, to help residents who will be affected by the expansion of the ULEZ in August. Interestingly, cargo bikes are being included as eligible for grants. Click this TransportXtra article link for more information. GLOBAL TRAFFIC SCORECARDINRIX, a traffic data analysis company, has produced a report on the most congested urban areas of the world. Utilising data collected they have calculated where the highest delays occur, stated a cost to these delays, shown how transportation trends have shifted and discussed the safety aspects. Click here to read more and you can download their full report by filling out the form at the bottom of that article. BARCELONA IMPOSING PUBLIC SPACE TAX ON DELIVERY FIRMSBarcelona City Council is introducing the first tax on delivery firms, as a step to help protect local businesses. Large e-commerce delivery companies, think Amazon, are being targeted as they are seen to have taken customers that would have selected a local option previously. On top of that, there is extra congestion and pollution. Click this CitiesToday article link to find out more. Barcelona is one of the C40 Cities groups, which is a group of global cities who are collaborating and moving quicker than national governments are to address, what they see, as issues that need immediate action. Click here to learn more about that organisation. QUALCOMM DEVELOPS A CHIP TO CONTROL TOO MUCHAt CES, last week, Qualcomm revealed their new chip that will be capable of controlling the ‘digital cockpit’, driver assistance tech and automated driving. All discussions about car hacking and security are clear that the infotainment should be kept physically...
Not Dany Bahar
Andrew was busy, so Alan’s joined by the ever-knowledgeable Alex Grant to catch up on some of the news from the holiday period.FOLLOW-UP: DfT Appeals Freedom of Information RequestThe Department for Transport is trying to stop a Freedom of Information Request release to see the assumptions on which the UK’s Transport Decarbonisation plan has been built. You can read more in this TransportXtra article.FOLLOW UP: Continental CyberattackContinental has released a set of questions and answers about its August cyberattack. They can be found on the Continental webpage.STELLANTIS DEALERS COMPLAIN ABOUT ITS BEHAVIOURStellantis has been forcing dealers and buyers to register cars before arriving in the country to improve “stock velocity” and secure next year’s supply. That doesn’t seem good for today’s customers. Read more in this Car Dealer Magazine interview.Toyota To Build New Hybrid Powertrain in WalesToyota has announced plans for investment in its Deeside plant to enable it to build its next generation of hybrid powertrains. You can find out more in this AM Online article.New Morgan Chairman Takes OverLawrence Price, great-grandson of the company’s founder, HFS Morgan, has taken over as non-executive Chairman of Morgan Motor Company, according to this AM Online article.Volkswagen Group Reshuffles AgainVolkswagen has rearranged the usual faces one more time. This time it’s “Strategic” according to Autocar.Stroll Ups Aston Martin StakeLawrence Stroll has increased his stake in Aston Martin, with this Autocar article saying it’s to stop a Geely takeover.Rental e-Scooter Trials Report Contains 5 Key TakeawaysYou won’t believe number three, but you can read what they are, and follow a link to the report in this Move Electric article.Geospatial Commission Calls for Better Use of Location Data In Chargepoint RolloutThe UK Government is looking at how to roll out the correct number of EV charging points in the correct places and how to make that data easily available to the relevant parties as part of a new report. You can read the summary and the full report on the Cabinet Office website.TOM Karen OBEThe 96-year-old former Managing Director of Ogle Design has passed away. His best-remembered automotive work includes many...
Special Edition - Scion TC Review
On this episode, Alan explains to us all Toyota’s US sub brand, Scion and his new car the Scion TC. Listen to his exasperation at how nothing costs what it is listed at, why he purchased it and how come Janet Street-Porter is relevant.
Special Edition - KIA EV6 GT Line Review
Andrew tried out the KIA EV6 GT Line, for a week when the weather was much nicer than now. You can listen to his thoughts on the car, KIA’s approach to electric cars in this instance and if the praise is deserved, in his opinion, that the car has received.
Linguistic Issues - 13 December 2022
FOLLOW UP: ARRIVAL ‘PAUSES’ JV WITH MERCEDESRecently Arrival announced a joint-venture with Mercedes-Benz, to make electric vans in Europe. However, they have just stated there will be a ‘pause’ in the deal as they focus on the US market and becoming cash flow positive. You can learn more by clicking this Reuters link here. REGULATOR STATES FUEL PRICES NOT DROPPING FAST ENOUGHCompetition and Markets Authority has concluded their investigation into retailer fuel prices, with the conclusion that they do not fall quick enough, especially compared to the increases. This is not surprising to anyone, as we have all seen the price gouging by those making huge profits. Click this Autocar link to learn more. BMW FINED BY UK REGULATOR OVER LACK OF DATAAccording to the BMW Group the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has no jurisdiction to demand information from it, only BMW UK, over the investigation into anti-competitive practices that is running concurrently with the European one. The CMA disagrees and is now fining the company. More can be read on this by clicking this MSM news article link. TOYOTA RESHAPING EV STRATEGYToyota is reshaping their three staged EV strategy to move certain aspects further up the timescale. They will be holding a large call with relevant supplies in February 2023. To learn what this means, click this Market Screener link here. VW BOARD TO BE GIVEN SOFTWARE ‘REALITY CHECK’Oliver Blum, the VW Group CEO, will present what is being described as a ‘reality check’ of their software program, to the Group board. The much heralded V2.0 release will likely be put back from 2026 to at least 2028. Don’t forget one VW CEO has lost their job thanks to their software woes. Click this Reuters link to learn more. M&S TEAMS UP WITH BP PULSE FOR EV CHARGERSFurthering their partnership, where M&S stores can be found at BP forecourts, BP Pulse is going to be the provider for rapid EV chargers installed at shops across the country. The plan is for 900 to be installed, being a mix of 50kW and 150kW capable chargers. To read more, click this Move Electric article here. WHEELCHAIR FRIENDLY EV DESIGN COMPETITION LAUNCHEDMotability and Callum Design have teamed up to launch a design competition for students to come up with a future-proof and affordable design for wheelchair friendly EVs. 60 submissions have already been received with the winner being announced in January 2023. Click here to learn more, from the Move Electric article. UK ESCOOTER LAWS DELAYEDSurprising no one, the Government has confirmed there will be a delay in producing laws designed to take account of escooters and their use...
Inflated Dolphins - 6 December 2022
NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FOR NOVEMBER 2022The SMMT has revealed the new car registration figures for November 2022 and there is reason to be more optimistic as the rise is genuinely impressive, if not up to pre-pandemic standards. Supply has allowed for 142,889 cars to be registered, with BEVs and to a certain degree PHEVs being a major factor in the push. Click here to read more, from SMMT.FORD INVESTING IN HALEWOOD PLANTFord Motor Company is investing in the Merseyside Halewood plant, to enable the production of electric drivetrains. The aim is for the site to produce 70% of the drivetrains required for Europe, by 2026. To read more, click this link to The Guardian article. RIMAC EXPANDING UK R&D CENTRERimac is beginning a recruitment drive for their UK Technology R&D Centre, where they will add to the control systems, battery and electrical systems teams. Click here to learn more from TheBusinessDesk article. GOVERNMENT FUNDING TOYOTA HYDROGEN RESEARCHThe UK Government is allocating £11 million to a project run by Toyota, researching hydrogen use for zero emission vehicles in isolated areas of the UK. There are plenty of places, in the UK, that it is not practical to set up an EV charging station, particularly in industrial settings, therefore investigating if this is viable is important. Click this Autocar link for more. SIRIUSXM VULNERABILITY EXPOSES CARS TO HACKINGIn the US SiriusXM is known, on the consumer side of things, as a streaming/radio platform. However, they also provide connected car services to many major car brands. Ethical hacker Sam Curry found a vulnerability tied into the VIN numbers of cars which then allowed him to access certain vehicles, unlocking doors, activating the horn, starting engines and the likes. All due to basic protection being non existent. SiriusXM claim they have fixed the issue. To learn more, click the AutoEvolutions article link here. To see exactly what Sam did, click his Twitter thread here. EUROPEAN AUTOMOTIVE CYBER SECURITY HUB FORMEDEurope’s first automotive cyber security hub has been formed in Sweden, where the Research Institute of Sweden will join forces with telecom experts and ethical hackers. For more on this story, click the AMOnline article link here. BORGWARD FINALLY DECLARED OFFICIALLY BANKRUPTIn a Chinese court, Borgward has been declared as officially bankrupt, closing the door on what was once a much hyped EV company that only seemed to sell anything in Luxembourg. Click this Autocar link to find out more. NOTTINGHAM EXTENDING ESCOOTER TRIALWhere many other trials are coming to an end and some places are even considering banning...
Terrible Cynic - 29 November 2022
FOLLOW UP: GHOSN HELPER NOW OUT OF US JAILMichael Taylor, the father of the father and son duo who helped Carlos Ghost escape from custody in Japan has been released early from US detention. Authorities stated his months of good behaviour in Japanese jail mean they allowed him back into the community ahead of the expected January 2023 date. To read more, click the Bloomberg UK article here. FOLLOW UP: REVEALED EVIDENCE CASTS DOUBT ON GHOSN CHARGESEvidence, which Nissan and the Japanese prosecutors are supposed to have kept hidden from Carlos Ghosn’s lawyers, indicate that Ghosn did not have a secret deal with a very small number of co-conspirators but that the board members of Nissan at the time, knew the details. This casts even further bad light onto Nissan and particularly the Japanese legal system. As the Asian Times asks, if no crime actually took place, how can anyone be charged, let alone be found guilty. Click here to read yet more damning information thanks to the Asia Times article link. FOLLOW UP: ARRIVAL CEO STEPS DOWNDenis Sverdlov, the CEO of Arrival, has stepped down with Peter Cueno, taking over. The two are swapping roles. In the announcement was the news that the strategy chief and president, Avinash Rugoobur, has also stepped down. The hope is that stakeholders see these as positive moves that stabilise the company. Click here, to learn more, via the FleetOwner article link. FOLLOW UP: FBI TO HELP IN CONTINENTAL HACKGerman security forces have asked the FBI for assistance in their investigation into the data hack of Continental. Budget, strategy, investment information as well as some data about customers is reportedly been accessed. For more on this story, click this Yahoo Finance link here. LONDON ULEZ TO EXPANDConfirmation from the Mayor of London, came last week, to announce that the ULEZ would now expand to be contained by the M25. This comes into affect in August 2023. To read more, click this Autocar article here. There was an expected outcry over this move, but some were saying that many had already swapped their non compliant car when the first expansion came in. London is bringing in a scrappage scheme from January 2023, which will help those looking to scrap and retro-fit their vehicles with compliant technology. Click this Parkers link to learn more. JLR REDUCING PRODUCTION INTO 2023Jaguar Land Rover is reducing the shift on certain production lines due to the chip crisis, they are particularly badly hit by. The focus will be on the more profitable models such as the Range Rover whilst the F-Pace and Velar do not. Click here for The Guardian article, to find out more. LEICESTER SCRAP WORKPLACE CHARGING COSTLeicester City Council had planned to bring in a workplace parking levy, similar to that in...
Musical Chairs - 22 November 2022
GOVERNMENT BUDGET STATEMENTThe Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that electric vehicles will, from 2025, be required to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time. This will be £20 in the first year, if brand new, then rising to £165 per year after that. The extra charge for cars over £40,000 will also come into force at the same time. Fleets will also be impacted, not just via the introduction of VED but at the Benefit in Kind rate is changing. They will rise 1% from 2025 to 2028. Added to this, there are changes to National Insurance contributions, charging costs and workplace charging point installations. These are all protected to some degree, but home charging will not be as the Government is reducing the help it gives households, from April next year. To read more, click this Autocar article. For more context, click the Autocar article from Alex Grant here. THIERRY BOLLORÉ TO LEAVE JLRThierry Bolloré has announced that he will be leaving Jaguar Land Rover, after only a couple of years in charge, due to “personal reasons”. The news is on the back of another round of losses, albeit much less than previous results. To read more, click this link from EVO. For some context around his departure, click this Autocar link to read what Steve Cropley has to say. And, if you fancy it, you can find more context with Peter Campbell and his tweet here. MAZDA EXITING RUSSIAN MARKETMazda has sold their part of the joint-venture operations to Soller, for €1, with a three year buy-back clause in place. They are the latest manufacturer to make such a move. Click this MSN article link, to learn more. DfT ORDERED TO RELEASE FORECAST BEHIND NET ZERO PROJECTIONSThe Information Commissioner has ordered the Department for Transport to release traffic level forecasts, which are behind the Net Zero projections. Professor Greg Marsden of Leeds University, submitted the Freedom of Information request as he states transport professionals and the public need to know what choices are behind the scale of change required to meet targets. Click here to read the TransportXtra article, for more on the story.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 PODCASTWRC: DRIVER MUSICAL CHAIRSNow is the brief window between a season ending and the next starting in Monte Carlo, early next year, for WRC. That means it is silly season, where there is a scramble for drivers and teams to get seats filled. The not so unexpected news came from M-Sport, announcing that they’d parted ways with Craig Breen.
Ignoring You - 15 November 2022
FOLLOW UP: MORE BAD NEWS FROM ARRIVALArrival announced that it has a cash problem, as in not enough to get it through to the end of next year. They are looking at cutting more costs, which is rumoured to include large layoffs in the UK as it focuses the operation in the US. To read more, click this article here from Yahoo Finance.FOLLOW UP: PORSCHE CLASS ACTION SETTLED IN USIn diesel gate news we find that a US judge has approved a settlement of $80 to $85 million for the class action brought against Porsche over emission tampering and misleading fuel economy information. Porsche also have to pay $25 million legal fees. There is also an extra $250 per vehicle that has Sport+ fitted. Further information can be found by clicking this Automotive News article link. EURO 7 ENGINE RULES ANNOUNCEDIf both manufacturers and environmental groups are both unhappy with the new regulations for Euro 7 internal combustion regulations, does that mean they are pretty close to being right? Manufacturers are shouting it is too tough and the environmental groups are screaming it is too weak. Click here to read the Autocar Business article about the proposals. For some more context, on one of the trickier parts, is a thread from Julian Rendell discussing the constant monitoring tech that does not exist, which you can read by clicking here. More context can be found in this excellent article from Emission Analytics, who talk about the balance the regulations have hit. Click here to read that. JLR REDUCES LOSSES IN LAST QUARTERThanks to the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, Jaguar Land Rover reduced their losses to £175 million, when £302 million the previous year. Sales were up to £5.3 billion, a jump of 36% on the three months previous and 20% on the same period last year. To read more about this click the BusinessLive article here. For some extra context, click the Tweet from Peter Campbell. CONTINENTAL DATA STOLEN IN HACKContinental, the Tier 1 supplier to much of the automotive and mobility industry, has been hacked by the group called LockBit. The group claims to be selling 40 terabytes of the company’s data to anyone willing to stump up $50 million. Continental stated it was hit in August this year but it had “averted” the attack, yet also confirmed to Handelsblatt business newspaper that data had been stolen. Not a great look when you desperately need to get your customers to trust you and your systems. This is potentially very bad for a wide range of mobility and automotive related areas due to Continental having a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. To read more about the incident,
Fewer Doom - 8 November 2022
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT TEMPORARY REPRIEVEBefore we had even published last week’s show the news about Britishvolt had changed from receivership to saved. More details are now available, as Glencore have given the company a five week lifeline. Britishvolt has again asked the UK Government for an early release of £30 million in funding. To learn more about what has happened, click this Move Electric link here. Peter Campbell has produced a Twitter thread with more context and information, click here to read. The Guardian has an article asking if the Government is doing enough for the car industry, click here to read that. FOLLOW UP: ARRIVAL IN TROUBLEArrival, the EV light goods vehicle company, appears to be in more trouble than some thought. There has been a fire in one of their vans, there are reports of low moral and a company wide email from the CEO expressing his anger at leaks to the Financial Times. On top of that, some really silly management decisions such as thinking of opening an office in Mauritius and trying to develop an electric jet plane. For more click another Peter Campbell Twitter thread here. GHOSN’S RESCUE TEAM SENT BACK TO USThe father and son team who helped Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan have now been sent back to the US, where they will serve the remainder of their sentence. To read more, click this Bloomberg link here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES OCTOBER 2022The SMMT has released data on the New Car Registration figures for October 2022. They have risen 26.4% over 2021, but that was an appalling month. Battery electric vehicles were a big portion of the spike. Added to which the just announced canned Fiesta finally makes it back in the Top 10 Most Registered vehicles for the month, at No.1, pipping the Nissan CashCow by two! To read more about this, click here for the SMMT article link. ASTON MARTIN DOWNGRADES OUTLOOK FOR 2022CEO Amedeo Felisa has stated that supply issues and logistics are at the core of their problems that have led to them cutting back on forecasts for margins and deliveries in 2022. However, he went onto say that the steps being taken mean 2023 onwards will be much better. Share prices dropped on this news. Click here for the BusinessDay article to learn more. BENTLEY DOUBLES PROFITS IN FIRST QUARTERBentley has announced that it increased profits in the first quarter, thanks to sales improving in the US, Europe and the UK. These more than offset the drop in China, Middle East and Africa. New model derivatives and personalisation are the reasons why, according to the company. Learn more by clicking this BusinessLive link here. SAUDI...
Captain Delusional - 1 November 2022
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT IN RISK OF RECEIVERSHIPThings are moving quickly at Britishvolt. A week or so ago we were talking about them seeking funding, as of Monday’s news, they could well have been in receivership by the time you listen to this episode. They had sought to draw some of their funding from the Government early but have been rebuffed as they decide not to risk more public money. However, it appears they do have some short and medium term funding secured, but we don’t know from where. To get an idea of what has gone spactacularly wrong, click this Twitter thread link from Peter Campbell. To learn how they have found some funding click this BBC News article link. EU BANS NEW ICE CARS FROM 2035The 27 countries of the EU have agreed to ban all new internal combustion engined cars, powered by fossil fuels, from 2035. There is also an increase in the reduction of CO2 emissions from 2030, up to 55% reduction on 2021 engines, where previously it was 37.5%. There are some exemptions though, for smaller production numbers. Those registering between 1,000 and 10,000 will be exempt until the end of 2035, whilst those registering less than 1,000 cars do not need to comply. Autocar has more information, which you can get to via their link here. FORD AND MERCEDES THE LATEST TO LEAVE RUSSIABoth Ford and Mercedes have sold their Russian facilities to in-country partners as there is no end in sight to the current geo-political instability, thanks to the invasion of Ukraine. Ford have paid a “nominal” fee and have a nice year buy-back clause agreed. We know very little of the details of Mercedes’s deal. Click here to access the Reuters article about the Ford story. For more on the Mercedes news, click this Reuters link. FORD AND VW PULLING THE PLUG ON ARGO AIArgo AI is an autonomous vehicle technology company founded in 2017. Ford and Volkswagen were their major investors but are now pulling their funding meaning that the company is closing. Argo AI were the only AV company who produced a safety case for their work, unlike all others in the industry. However, statements by Ford CEO has made it clear this would never succeed as board members still have no real understanding of what is and is not autonomous and automated tech. You can find out more by clicking this TechCrunch article link. GEORGE HOLTZ QUITTING COMMA AIGeorge Holtz, who rose to fame claiming he could write autonomous vehicle software until the US Government told him to stop experimenting on public roads, is leaving his company Comma AI. Recently he pivoted the business to target driver assistance technology and started to call those still attempting to create AVs as con artists. He stated that he is not the right person to now lead the company as it needs to be led, to ensure it is successful. More can be learnt about this, by clicking this The Verge link here.TESLA FACING CRIMINAL PROBE OVER SELF-DRIVING...
Departing Arrival - 25 October 2022
FOLLOW UP: US CITIZEN PLEADS GUILTY TO CAUSING DEATH OF HARRY DUNNA US citizen who initially claimed diplomatic immunity, Anne Sacoolas, has pled guilty to causing the death of Northamptonshire teenager, Harry Dunn after 3 years. She’ll be sentenced at the end of next month. More detail in this Guardian story.EU PLANS TO DITCH EURO 7The EURO 7 emissions standard is rumoured to be in doubt as it’s now felt that the cost and difficulty in implementing will far outweigh the benefits it’s expected to bring. This is, unsurprisingly, contentious. There’s an Autocar story with more details and an informed Twitter thread from Emissions Analytics on the subject.EXPANDED LONDON ULEZ RAISES OVER £90 MILLION IN 8 MONTHSIn the first 8 months since its expansion last November, London’s expanded ULEZ zone has raised £93.6 million in tolls but excluding late and non-payment fines. More in this Autocar article.STANDARD FOR EV CHARGE POINT ACCESSIBILITY PUBLISHEDThe British Standards Institute, in association with the UK Government and charity Motability, has published its first standard for the accessibility of public EV charging stations. This can’t come too soon. This Zap-Map article has more information.HYUNDAI PAUSING H2 LORRY TRIALS IN SWITZERLANDThe rise in electricity costs across Europe has caused Hyundai to pause its hydrogen truck trials in Switzerland due to a shortage of “green” hydrogen. Here’s the twitter thread containing the original report in German and also a link to the LinkedIn rebuttal/correction from Hyundai.DEPARTING ARRIVALFladgling commercial EV manufacturer, Arrival, is looking to “pivot” back tot the US and “right-size” the company according to Tech Crunch and others. This isn’t looking good. NOISE CAMERAS4 councils across England are looking to crack down on loud cars. Quite what constitutes “loud”, nobody seems able to say. Autocar investigated a little more.BENTLEY OPENS HERITAGE GARAGEBentley has gathered its collection of historic vehicles into a new Heritage Garage at its Crewe factory. The collection will be open to the press, VIPs and customers according to Hagerty.MOTORSPORT NEWSRally SpainRally Spain took place over the weekend. Seb Ogier was victorious and Toyota have taken the World Championship crown. Oh, and Ott Tanak is leaving Hyundai at the end of the season…Ogier...
Rollercoaster of Delights - 18 October 2022
FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT SEEKS EMERGENCY FUNDING[00:00:24] Britishvolt is searching for investors to plug a £200 million cash shortage it needs to survive until the summer of 2023. Nothing is ‘off the table’ as they look for anything from minority investors all the way up to new ownership. They currently have 300 staff, which is costing £3 million a month in wages, but are not expecting any income until at least 2025. To learn more about this story, click this Business Matters article link. NIKOLA FOUNDER GUILTY OF FRAUD[00:03:12] Trevor Milton, the founder of Nikola electric lorry firm, has been found guilty on three counts of fraud relating to the business and tech of the company. The prosecution claimed he lied about the progress of their development, the capability and the deals done. The start of all this was the advert which Nikola claimed showed the vehicle running along the road, which was exposed as it being dragged to the top of a hill and rolling down. On january 27 2023 Milton will find out what he is sentenced to, out of the possible 20 years. For more, click here for the Engadget link. ELECTRIC MINI PRODUCTION MOVED FROM OXFORD [00:04:58] Oxford is losing the production of the electric MINI, but gaining the convertible version from the factory in Holland when the next generation comes along. However, tied in with the first story, this is another blow to the UK car industry. BMW state the plant needs investment and refurbishment, but a lack of battery production facilities in the UK must also be a factor. Click this link from The Telegraph to find out more. NISSAN EXITS RUSSIA[00:07:03] Nissan has agreed to sell its total operation in Russia to the Government backed company NAMI, for €1. On the upside, that is more than Real Alliance partner Renault got for AutoVaz. Nissan has a six month buy back offer, if the situation significantly alters. Only Mitsubishi, of the three Alliance members, still has any footprint in Russia. You can read more, by clicking here for the Forbes article. TRANSPORT FOR WEST MIDLANDS AND WAZE PARTNERSHIP[00:08:28] Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is partnering with Waze to help provide smoother travel across the region. With Waze providing real time traffic data, to help plug the gaps where WfWM is not monitoring, the expectation is that planners can better deal with planned and unplanned restrictions. Key to this will be how many actually use Waze in the area, who is passing what info to whom and has the small print been read? Click this Autocar link to read more. FUEL SHORTAGES IN FRANCE [00:12:57] France has introduced bans on citizens filling up any jerry cans at petrol stations as they endure fuel shortages thanks to strikes at six of the seven refinery plants. Making huge profits, giving the boss a massive pay rise and then telling staff there’s no money to pay rises hasn’t gone down well. The French Government has reclassified some staff as vital workers, who are key to the safety and ability of the country to function and therefore stating they cannot strike. The move, whilst understandable, has...
Single Bladder - 11 October 2022
FOLLOW UP: CLARIFICATION OF STROLL’S FORTUNEDuring the discussion of Geely buying a stake in Aston Martin, last week, we got the info about Stroll’s fortune incorrect. He has made his money through fashion and sportswear brands. Thanks to listener, David Edmondson, for straightening us out. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES SEPTEMBER 2022September’s New Car Registration figures are out. There is a rise, year on year, but do not forget, 2021 was the worst September since 2006 and down a third on 2019. Battery electric vehicles are up, though, just over 40%, and now have 14.5% market share. To read more, click here for the SMMT article. To see the breakdown via ‘what you put in it to make it go’, click here for Tristan Young’s Twitter thread. PERSONAL SAFETY STANDARDS AT EV CHARGERS DEMANDED Following an investigation in to the public’s thoughts on personal safety at EV charging points, the Government is being urged to set minimum standards. Lighting, CCTV and emergency call buttons are all being requested. You can read more on this, by clicking the FleetNews link here. DEALER PLUG-IN GRANT REINSTATED BY UK GOVERNMENTEarlier this year the Government announced, with immediate effect, the ending of the plug-in grant for electric vehicles under £32, 000. They have now reinstated the £1500 saving for orders placed via dealers, but not for consumers applying directly themselves. The new window runs until 31 March 2023 and is due to supply constraints. More can be found here, by clicking the Autocar link. CITROËN OFFER REWARDS TO PHEV USERSSimilar to the BMW scheme, Citroën is offering rewards to users of their PHEV models who regularly charge their car and take advantage of what they offer in terms of electric only running. Details are yet to be released on exactly how the point system will work, but it is expected to start next year. For more, click the Autocar article link here. VW SIMULATING IPOS FOR OTHER BRANDSAfter the initial move of the Porsche IPO, the rest of the VW Group is now “simulating” IPOs for their specific brands. Following this test run, information will be presented on a market day. Click here to read the Reuters article further. NISSAN WANT RENAULT TO REDUCE STAKEDuring discussions between Renault and Nissan, over the hoped investment by the Japanese company in the new electrification unit also included a request that the French firm sells as much of its stake in Nissan as possible. More can be read here,
Sucking Through My Teeth - 4 October 2022
FOLLOW UP: PORSCHE TAKEOVER CASE DISMISSEDA court in Germany has dismissed the claims for compensation by hedge funds, relating to the failed attempt by Porsche to takeover VW, which resulted in them then being taken over by Porsche. The judge decided there was no merit, whatsoever, whilst the plaintiffs have already appealed and asked for certain judges to be excluded. More information can be found, by clicking this Automotive News Europe link here. PATIENT GEELY BUYS STAKE IN ASTON MARTINGeely are not a company to be denied, it would seem. After a couple of failed attempts in buying out or taking a stake in Aston Martin, they finally managed it by purchasing 7.6% shares in the UK firm. To read more, click here for the AM Online article link. GOVERNMENT ROAD INCIDENT STATS OUTThe 2021 road incident statistics have been released by the UK Government and in some places make grim reading. A positive is that cycling fatalities has dropped 21%, which we guess is due to a combination of people remembering how to drive again and cyclists getting used to the roads. The bad news is that road fatalities has risen 7%, with an astonishing 30% relating to not wearing a seatbelt. Click this Autocar link here for more information. NEW CITROËN LOGOCitroën has updated their logo, harking back to the original, with the font an evolution on the previous version. As with all the current updates to logos, this is aimed at making their use and options of what you can do with them, much easier in this digital age. To have a look at the smart makeover, click the CAR link here. FCA WARNS INSURANCE INDUSTRY TO PROTECT CONSUMERSThe Financial Conduct Authority has warned the insurance industry to help consumers, in the current cost of living crisis, and not foist unnecessary products on them. The FCA also reminded them it expects them to help those struggling to pay, so that they do not expose themselves by not having adequate protection. Click here for the AM Online link to learn more. CHINESE EV SALES RISE SHARPLY ACROSS EUROPETying back to last week’s Lunchtime Read which mentioned how the Chinese Government effectively subsidises their EV companies so they can sell their vehicles cheaper than other companies can, figures were released showing how well that tactic is doing. Just behind and catching rapidly, the German produced percentage is the Chinese. This link, to the AM Online article, will tell you more. WESTMINSTER COUNCIL INSTALLING LAMPPOST EV CHARGERSWestminster Council has engaged Siemens to
Wonderfully Awful - 27 September 2022
FOLLOW UP: TOYOTA TO CLOSE RUSSIAN PLANTToyota has announced that it will permanently shutter their production facility in Russia. They closed temporarily in March, following the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces which led to supply issues. They have not been able to resume production since, nor can they see when the situation may change. For more on this story, click here for the SupplyChainDive article link. FOLLOW UP: INVESTORS WANT PORSCHE SHARESThe demand for the upcoming Porsche IPO has been described as “robust”, with some claiming all of the shares could be sold multiple times over. The floatation is expected to raise between €18 billion and €19 billion. Which goes to show, we don’t know anything about the game of share. To read more, click the Reuters link here. PHONE HOLDING DETECTION TRAILDevon and Cornwall police will be trailing a new system that uses “AI” to detect if it believes a driver is using a phone, occupants are not wearing seatbelts and the speed the vehicle is moving at. If the software detects laws are being broken the photograph gets passed on to a human to decide if a warning or intention to prosecute letter is warranted. Click here for the BBC News article link. UBER GOING ALL ELECTRIC BY 2030Uber has stated that it will be going all electric for it’s fleet, across the US, Canada and Europe, by 2030. They claim to be on track to hit their London 2025 target, for EV-only vehicles in the capital. To see more on this, click the Jalopnik link here for a video on the story. CANTERBURY E-SCOOTER TRIAL ENDS IN NOVEMBERKent County Council has decided not to extend the trial of e-scooters in Canterbury, from the end of November 2022. The Government announced, in the summer, that it is extending the trial until 2024 and existing trials can be extended. The Council’s fear is that accidents will increase, although to date one person has been knocked over by someone using a scooter outside the trial area and on the pavement. Click the Move Electric link here to read more. ——————————————————————————-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——————————————————————————-NEW NEW CAR NEWSFord Mustang -Ford revealed the 2023 Mustang and Dark Horse variant, at the Detroit Motor Show last week. The car will retain the V8 and is using the current car’s base. Whilst it will have the latest infotainment system, it will not get new automated driving tech due to the age of the platform. The likelihood is...
Turned Into A Camel - 13 September 2022
FOLLOW UP: RIVIAN PARTNERING WITH MERCEDES Rivian are partnering with Mercedes to build large EV vans, at an existing facility somewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. They will base the vehicles on two platforms, one from each company. You can read more about this, by clicking the link to the The Verge article here. Additionally, Andrew needed to clarify the issues Rivian has with the proposed UK data law changes, from last week’s item. If the new laws come into force, then the UK loses the current data ‘adequacy’ with the EU, meaning the businesses need to deal differently with UK and EU data. This will cause expenses and extra hassle for businesses. QUESTIONS RAISED OVER PORSCHE IPOThe proposed IPO of Porsche, by Volkswagen, is not as straightforward as some are making out. There is the timing of it, which when one looks at the current global financial projections, seems 'unwise. On top of that, VW’s own internal structures and connections in and out of Porsche could make investors very wary. Of particular note is that no voting rights will be granted any investors. To find out about how complicated this all is, click here for the AMOnline article. CAZOO EXPANSION U-TURNCazoo, the online car retail organisation, is retreating from mainland Europe, to concentrate on it’s UK operations and being at a breakeven point with cash flow, by the end of 2023. The company claims it will save £100 million by closing down its operations in Europe, by the end of 2023. Amazingly that is exactly the amount it claims it will still have in the bank by the end of 2023. For more, click the AMOnline article link here. TOBIAS MOERS JOINS PIECH AUTOMOTIVEFollowing his departure from Aston Martin, Tobias Moers has moved to Pitch Automotive as Chief Technical Officer. He will, apparently, run the company alongside Manfred Fitzgerald, the ex head of Genesis. Click here for the Top Gear article link, to learn more. BMW PUTS ROUND PEG IN SQUARE HOLESBMW has unveiled a new battery design, moving away from square ones currently used, to cylinder ones. The company claims these will offer an improvement of range up to 30 percent and potentially a 50 percent saving. Click this Move Electric link here, to find out more. EV CHARGING SOLAR TREES UNVEILEDWhilst called “solar trees”, they are large umbrella shaped canopies, that have solar panels on them to allow for charging of vehicles and properties. They can also be linked together to create a ‘mini-grid’. To learn more, click this link to the Renewables Now article.
Like The Big Boys - 6 September 2022
FOLLOW UP: RIVIAN NOT INTERESTED IN UKAccording to filings in August, Rivian made it clear that it would not consider the UK as the base for a factory due to the data laws, existing and proposed changes. On the surface, it would appear that Rivian wants to do what it likes with owner’s data and also it naively insists on housing all data in the US, which is not how countries are approaching data creating in their boarders. For more, click this Twitter thread from Vincent Manancourt. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES AUGUST 2022An increase of 1.2% on last year’s figures is a welcome sight, but it must also be remembered that 2021 was the worst August since 2013. EVs continued to increase their market share, even with constrained supply chains. SMMT has, though, warned of the energy price increases adding to the struggles for the industry. To read more, click the SMMT article here. BMW BEGINS HYDROGEN FUEL CELL VEHICLE PRODUCTIONBMW are building a small fleet of iX5 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for testing and denonstration, at their Munich plant. BMW has been working with Toyota over this technology. BMW seem to think it has a place for personal mobility, whilst many believe it is best suited to commercial vehicles. To read more, click the AMOnline article link here. RENAULT HARVESTS USED PARTS FROM OLDER LORRIESRenault is disassembling old lorries to collect the parts that are still usable. This is all part of the ‘Renaulution’ plan to bring recycling in-house and reduce costs on parts and materials. You can find out more, by clicking this link for the Jalopnik article. FIRST BUS ORDERS 193 EV BUSESFirst Bus has placed a large EV order with Wrightbus, to be fulfilled within the next two years. York, Portsmouth, Leicester, Leeds and Norwich will all be getting these buses. Just under half the money is coming from from the Department for Transport’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Area grant. More can be learned by clicking this Move Electric link here. POLESTAR AND CITROËN SETTLE LOGO DISPUTEIn France, Citroën objected to Polestar selling as they claimed the Swedish company’s logo was too similar to the famous double chevrons and would confuse buyers. Following a lengthy legal battle the two companies settled out of court, with the exact agreement still not known. All very silly. Only the lawyers won, as is usually the case. To read about this, click the CarScoops article link here. POLICE GAME WAZE TO CONTROL TRAFFICPolice in Surrey have admitted that they ‘game’ Waze, pretending there are more of them around that is the reality to get people to slow down. Whilst on patrol they...
Don't Try This At Home - 31 August 2022
FOLLOW UP: GENEVA MOTOR SHOW CANCELLED AGAINFor the fourth year on the trot, the Geneva Motor Show has been cancelled. Therefore, only the Qatar element of the new set up will be held next year. This has caused a lot of discussion about the suitability of the location, due to the country’s track record on human rights. As a note, due to the situation in Qatar, this podcast will not cover any aspect of the show. To read more about the story, click here for the Autocar link. FOLLOW UP: FORD DELAYING SPANISH INVESTMENTFord is now delaying investing in their Valencia plant, following the June announcement, due to a “revised outlook for Europe”. The plant was due to be converted to produce electric vehicles. Ford’s statement is on the back of other manufacturers stating orders are beginning to slow. You can read more about this by clicking this Reuters link here. FOLLOW UP: STELLANTIS TO PAY US DIESEL EMISSION FINEFCA, now part of Stellantis, pleaded guilty to diesel emission false representations and have been ordered to pay nearly $300 million, as a consequence. We should note that VW has paid over $30 billion for the same offence. To read more, click the Reuters article link here. FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT FACTORY ON ‘LIFE-SUPPORT’The plans for the Britishvolt car battery facility, in Northumberland, are being pared back, currently, as the company looks to minimise cash flow out. There is a new round of funding the company is looking to unlock, but that will not be until next year. This throws doubts up about the ambitious targets the company has announced. More can be found by clicking The Guardian article link here. TOYOTA TRUCK AFFILIATE FALSIFIED EMISSION DATAHino Motors Ltd, has been found to have falsified emission data, going back to 2003 for truck and buses made on behalf of Toyota. This came to light following an internal investigation after initial claims were made that information was incorrect in the past decade. Hino have been cut from Toyota, as a result. By clicking this Reuters link you can read more. STELLANTIS HALTS PRODUCTION AT PLANTS IN EUROPEDue to the ongoing issues with parts supply, Stellantis is halting production at their Peugeot, Open and van plants, across Europe. To learn more, click this link to an AMOnline article. FERRARI BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR RECALLFerrari is recalling nearly every car sold since 2005 due to a fault with...