Vauxhall has released prices and specifications for the new Crossland with order banks now open. The new Crossland will start from £19,060 on-the-road in SE trim, with first customer deliveries of the compact SUV starting in early 2021 with a range of petrol and diesel engines, including automatics. Valmet Automotive is extending the battery plant in Salo, Finland after less than 12 months of … [Read more...]
Smart charge trial planned for Wales
A smart charging trial for cars is planned for North and Mid Wales. SP Energy Networks is seeking participants to take part in a major trial of an innovative electric vehicle (EV) charging solution across Cheshire, Merseyside, North Shropshire, and North and Mid-Wales. The trial will evaluate the performance of ‘smart charging connections’, which can intelligently control the power … [Read more...]
Mission Motorsport sparks new venture for industry
Mission Motorsport, the Service charity which run ‘Mission Automotive’, has secured Electric Vehicle Training Centre approval from the Institute of the Motor Industry. This will open the door for ex-services personnel to apply their expertise in the automotive sector with wide-scale electric vehicle adoption on the horizon as the government is potentially set to ban the sale of new petrol … [Read more...]
Latest flying car is BMW powered
AirCar (V5) is the latest generation flying car that transforms from road vehicle into air vehicle in less than 3-minutes. Useful for leisure and self-driving journeys, and also as a commercial taxi service, the dual mode transformation vehicle can go from driving to flying mode with the click of a button. The fifth generation flying car designed by Professor Stefan Klein completed two 1500’ … [Read more...]
Germany gives £1.8 billion aid to auto industry
Germany has agreed a 2 billion euro or £1.8 billion aid package to help its carmakers and suppliers. It’s to help in their switch to greener engines and automated driving, according to an Economy Ministry paper seen by Reuters on Monday. From next year, the government plans to distribute grants to key industry players by 2024 and will also use the funds to promote research and … [Read more...]
Looking ahead towards driverless vehicles in UK
Carsofthefuture.co.uk has been named a Zenzic CAM Creator in recognition of its work providing news and views about driverless vehicles in the UK. Bringing together government, industry and academia, Zenzic is tasked with establishing the UK as a world leader in self-driving. Its newly updated UK Connected and Automated Mobility Roadmap to 2030 tracks progress against core deliverables including … [Read more...]
Newslines 30 October
Electrified vehicles have outsold diesel-powered models across Europe, says JATO Dynamics. This turnaround comes as September registrations in the EU were up by 1% over 2019, marking a significant milestone in the low carbon drive and much of it was due to the arrival of the VW ID.3 . UK car production fell in September, with output down -5.0%, to register the worst performance for the month in … [Read more...]
“Frost Jacking” warning
With the average first day of frost striking as early as 11 November in some regions of the UK, Tracker warns motorists of the perils of ‘Frost Jacking’ and urges extra vigilance when de-icing vehicle windscreens. Over three and a half million pounds worth of stolen vehicles were recovered by Tracker between November 2019 and January 2020, the peak months for vehicle thefts and typically when … [Read more...]
EU states largely unprepared for EV motoring
A new report by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association shows that despite strong growth, the available charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the EU still falls far below what is needed, and remains unevenly distributed across member states. Its second edition of ‘Making the Transition to Zero-Emission Mobility’, is an annual study which tracks progress on the availability … [Read more...]
Aston Martin to get future Mercedes powertrains
Aston Martin's future electrified vehicles will have Mercedes-Benz powertrains when they go into production in St Athan in a few years. The technical deal is part of a massive investment by Daimler taking a 20% stake in the British luxury car-maker over the next three years. The two have been working together since 2013 when MB supplied petrol engines to the sports cars made in Gaydon and this … [Read more...]