Vauxhall is continuing its journey towards electrification with the new Grandland X all-wheel drive plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The new Grandland X Hybrid4 is Vauxhall’s first-ever plug-in hybrid and features state-of-the-art plug-in hybrid technology using a 200hp, 1.6-litre turbocharged direct injection four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric … [Read more...]
Tradelines 16 January
Roadside penalties imposed by the DVSA will in future be made via a secure payment portal. The familiar chip and PIN method ends this month and drivers will have to provide an email or text number for payment to be made, and confirmed. … [Read more...]
MoT sees more cars fail tougher test
More than one million cars registered to drive on UK roads have failed tougher MOT tests this year. They were stopped because there were defects considered so dangerous under new, more stringent MOT rules, that they pose an ‘immediate risk to road safety and/ or serious impact on the environment’. This worrying finding was revealed on analysis of DVSA … [Read more...]
Newslines 10 December
Nissan has been dragged into the controversy of under-reported payments and benefits to former chairman Carlos Ghosn who was sacked after his arrest in Japan last month. Prosecutors who questioned him in a detention centre along with fellow director Greg Kelly have now indicated they will be seeking actions against Nissan as well for failures in its … [Read more...]
Tradelines 28 November
The DVSA has changed the hazard perception test for cars to improve road safety. It’s added 23 new CGI clips into the driving theory test to simulate adverse weather conditions including: snow, wind, fog and rain and low-level lighting experienced at dusk and dawn. Hyundai has been named Electric Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year at the annual … [Read more...]
Newslines 14 July
McLaren will launch 18 new models over the next seven years and feature lightweight designs with hybrid technology, it has revealed. They will also pioneer a new type of very rapid charging, high performance traction batteries for the newcomers as part of a £1.2 Billion investment designed to put 6,000 cars annually into production. From today, DVSA … [Read more...]
Newslines 22 June
The Welsh Language Commission has produced the first standardised list of place-names in Wales. It covers 3,000 locations and has taken years to compile, check and agree and they will be gradually introduced over the next few years as signs are replaced and maps updated. London has joined Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Sheffield and Bristol to call on … [Read more...]
Mounting worries over safety recalls
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are calling on UK fleet operators to join the millions of consumers who have checked if their vehicles have an outstanding safety recall. In the first three months of this year, SMMT’s online Vehicle Safety Recalls Service was used 2,334,385 times by drivers to … [Read more...]
Earned recognition scheme gets FTA boost
The Freight Transport Association is launching a pioneering new service aimed at supporting operators who want to join the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's voluntary Earned Recognition Scheme. The Earned Recognition Data Hub will bring together both vehicle maintenance and driver data from multiple sources and has been designed to be a low-cost, … [Read more...]
Call for shake up of HGV testing system
Heavy truck and bus operators want a shake up of the vehicle testing system. The Freight Transport Associaton say there are not enough Government testers for an increasingly busy sector and it wants to see more trusted companies allowed to carry out their own examinations for roadworthiness. Alternatively it is suggesting privatization of HGV testing … [Read more...]
