Octopus Electric Vehicles has secured a multi-million-pound green funding line from HSBC UK to support the growth of its salary sacrifice scheme, which aims to make the switch from a petrol or diesel car to an electric car easy and affordable for businesses and drivers.
The company will use the funding to finance its fleet of electric cars for clients offering EVs as a benefit to their employees and is looking at a 10-fold year on year increase with customers will be able to choose from over 65 models across more than 25 brands.
More than 250 different tyre combinations from Pirelli have been approved for the growing band of EVs.
They cover all popular sizes in summer, winter and all-seasons specifications and have been engineered to extend battery life, give better acceleration and reduced weight and noise.
On 7 June, Europe’s MPs will vote on the next stage of reduced CO2 emissions, and there is concern among component suppliers that it will lead to substantial job losses throughout the automotive industry.
The European Association of Automotive Suppliers wants a cautious approach towards net-zero with balanced decisions for the industry and citizens so alternatives are affordable and quality of life is maintained.
A European wide network of 320kW ChargePosts is being rolled out this year.
Operating at over twice the capacity of the best current systems it promises fully charging near flat traction batteries in minutes if the vehicle system can take the punch.
Ford is trialling connected vehicle technology using geofencing – a virtual geographical boundary – that could one day completely do away with the need for speed limit signs.
As well as potentially making streets safer for other road users and pedestrians, Ford’s Geofencing Speed Limit Control system could help drivers avoid inadvertently incurring speeding fines and improve roadside appearances by taking the speed control off a driver’s foot.