Despite the roads-of-life starting to reopen with shops, businesses, car manufacturers and dealerships getting the wheels of business moving again, I’m still sifting through automotive news you might have missed until my first new model road test car arrives at the end of this week, says a hopeful David Miles. But for the foreseeable future the availability of new model lest cars will be very … [Read more...]
Travel Features
Weekend roadtest: Locked down with a Peugeot 2008
Lockdown has been a learning experience for everyone, including the policeman who pulled me over for a routine check. Now I have spent over three months behind the wheel, some of the time, in the newest Peugeot 2008 and that’s a long time when we normally have to experience a test car in a matter of hours during a new model launch or in a week of extended test driving. So the lockdown rules have … [Read more...]
Music to move you
Spotify can make your car journey a smooth road or a rough ride, say Redex. The specialist additive company has consulted the downloads on Spotify to come up with the country’s favourite music, whether taking a stress relieving road trip or enduring another commute. With the clampdown on public transport, cars and personal space will become more important. And if you’re stuck on a lonely bus or … [Read more...]
EU charging plan welcomed, with reservation on size
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association and Eurelectric welcome the focus on infrastructure for electrically-chargeable vehicles in the coronavirus recovery plan announced by the European Commission but warned that still more charge points would be needed. The associations support the goal of funding 1 million public charging points referred to in the plan but they note that this … [Read more...]
Fiat launch ‘Pay As You Go’ deal
Fiat has become the first car firm in the UK to launch a ‘Pay As You Go’ finance deal where the average commuter can drive a brand-new vehicle to work for less than £10.50 per day. The government continues to advise against the use of trains and buses where possible, despite lockdown starting to ease. And research by Fiat has revealed 35 per cent of motorists are considering driving more to … [Read more...]
Cars are an escape from Coronavirus
Cars, councils and the country make strange bedfellows, but they now depend on one another to fight Coronavirus-19. After decades of being squeezed out, criticised and taxed as a milk-cow it now seems that councils and the country cannot survive without cars. All the investment pushed into public transport at the expense of improving roads and parking seems to be wasted as the country is told to … [Read more...]
Newslines 6 June
GoCompare is warning would-be car buyers to check their insurance before heading out for a test drive because 92% of policies don’t cover driving cars other than their own. If a motorist test drives another vehicle without checking they’re covered, they could be prosecuted for driving without insurance. Dyfed Powis Police has stopped and turned away from Wales about 1,000 motorists in two days … [Read more...]
Fuel prices fall but rise coming, says RAC
The average price a litre of unleaded petrol fell below the 106p mark in May, the first time in more than four years that the price has dropped to this level, although drivers should be braced for the start of price rises, suggest latest RAC Fuel Watch data. As the lockdown in England was eased and more drivers headed onto the roads, the cost of refilling a 55-litre family-sized petrol car … [Read more...]
Newslines 5 June
Passengers might have to pre-book bus and train tickets in future to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, Wales' economy minister has warned. Ken Skates said space on services would be "vastly reduced" for passenger safety but Transport for Wales said passenger numbers have collapsed in ten weeks and social distancing has cut capacity by over 90%. Britain's new car … [Read more...]
World’s car sales stall but EVs silently move on
New car registrations in Europe faced a steady decline in April. Volume fell from 1.34 million units in April 2019 to 292,600 vehicles in April 2020. This represents the lowest monthly level since the 1970’s, and the worst result among the big three markets – China, USA-Canada, and Europe. Europe’s sharp decrease was only outperformed by India (-100%). Year-to-date volume for India was also the … [Read more...]