February 01, 2023
The jostle in job positions at Stellantis Belux continues, as Florian Kraft (39), the Director of Sales & Operations at Peugeot Germany, is taking the wheel as CEO to replace Stephane Levi. Levi, who held the position since March 2021 after being CEO of PSA Belux, is ‘moving on’ within Stellantis to continue his career. […]
January 31, 2023
Didier Blokland, until December 2022 Marketing Director for Peugeot at Stellantis Belux and active at Peugeot Belgium for 21 years, is the new Director of Communications, PR & Events of the Belgian importer of the French-Italian-US car brands. He succeeds Dominique Fontignies, who left the company a few months ago. Blokland took up his new […]
January 27, 2023
French automaker Renault has teamed up with compatriot R-FIT to offer, in 2023, electric retrofit kits for its iconic R4, R5, and later also for the first generation of the Twingo. A complete retrofit kit for the Renault 4 costs €11 900, VAT, and installation included. And the government is willing to subsidize it from […]
January 26, 2023
Munich-based Sono Motors, creators of the Sion solar car, is buying more time to survive by extending its #savesion campaign until the end of February 2023. “As talks with potential investors are in progress”, the founders announce in a press release and a video. So far, they have managed to secure 47 million euros of […]
January 26, 2023
By the end of this year, buses and trams of the Belgian public transport company TEC in Wallonia will automatically get a green light when approaching a traffic light at an intersection. This will reduce travel times, causing fewer delays, and as another positive result, allow for fewer emissions if not yet electric. To technically […]
January 25, 2023
On Tuesday, the Colruyt Clevon delivery robot, on test since November last year, has delivered for the first time groceries to a client, 26-year-old Ellen Cools, who lives on the trajectory between the distribution center and the Collect & Go pickup point in Londerzeel. Colruyt has found thirty clients living along the route the robot […]
January 25, 2023
German multinational energy company RWE is building two new plants in the Maastricht-Roermond region in the Netherlands, to produce 54 000 tons of green hydrogen yearly out of 700 000 tons of municipal solid waste that otherwise would have to be incinerated. Hydrogen from non-recyclable solid waste streams saves around 3,6 million tons of CO2 […]
January 25, 2023
Poppy Mobility, the car, e-scooter, and e-bike sharing daughter of D’Ieteren Automotive, is going to triple its fleet of shared cars from 1 000 to 3 000 in the next months to comply with the growing demand of about 200 000 users, the company announces. Soaring costs of living, the growing part of teleworking, and […]
January 24, 2023
If we can rely on what battery manufacturers are predicting for the next four years, Europe can be self-sufficient in lithium-ion battery cells for its domestic EV production as soon as 2027, and end its reliance on China. That’s the conclusion of NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) after analyzing all recent announcements. That is if […]
January 23, 2023
ElectroMobility Poland (EMP), Poland’s only car manufacturer created in 2016, has postponed the production of its first car under the new Izera brand for the second time until the end of 2025. The state-owned company, which made a technology deal in November 2022 with Chinese Geely for the underpinning of its car, confirmed this to […]
January 20, 2023
Belgian start-up Veton wants to conquer the world and a growing number of EV owners from its base in Antwerp by wrapping the classic EV-charge pole or wallbox in a sleek, fashionable design with the cable neatly hidden when not in use. As 85% of EV charging is done at home or work, the young […]
January 19, 2023
Chinese SAIC daughter MG, the self-appointed heir to Brittain’s iconic sports car brand, has launched into hydrogen, showing the Euniq 7 FCEV at Auto Expo 2023 in Dehli, India. The 5,2-meter long MPV offering seating for seven and a range of 605 km (NEDC) is said to be a demonstration vehicle, as no plans to […]
January 19, 2023
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Belgian Punch Group a €40 million finance contract for further developing hydrogen propulsion systems, like fuel cells and the H2 burning engine, as an environmentally friendly successor for the diesel engine. The investments will be made mainly at the company’s headquarters in Turin (Italy), Punch Group says, […]
January 18, 2023
Britishvolt, the UK’s hope of constructing a 30 GWh Gigafactory in Blyth, in the northeast of England, is going belly-up as attempts to find last-minute investors failed. The startup collapsed into administration on Tuesday, and most of the 232 employees were made redundant immediately. Britishvolt had asked the government last year for an advance payment […]
January 17, 2023
If there is one sector for which the corona pandemic was a blessing, it is the recreational vehicle (RV) sector. After the first lockdown in 2020, demand skyrocketed in 2021, with a peak in Belgium never seen before. But with 2022 and the Ukraine war, uncertainty and inflation pushed private individuals more than ever to […]
January 17, 2023
After Colruyt started experimenting with an Estonian delivery robot in November, French supermarket chain Carrefour is setting up a pilot in the business park Corporate Village in Zaventem near Brussels with a Turkish-branded autonomous robot. After the first test panel of twenty people, everybody in the Corporate Village will be able, starting next week, to […]
January 13, 2023
Astara Western Europe, the former Belgian Alcomotive group and importer of Hyundai, Suzuki, MG, SsangYong, and Maxus, also becomes the BeLux distributor for the Spanish Silence scooters and micro-mobility EV, the so-called ‘nanocars’. The latter share an interesting ‘swapping battery’ technology. At the opening of the Brussels Motor Show, Belgian prices were communicated with the […]
January 13, 2023
According to internal sources quoted by the German Handelsblatt, Mercedes-Benz intends to drop its EQ-label it uses to differentiate its electric models from regular ICE cars. As the premium brand plans to go full electric by the end of the decade, it might start doctoring with the labels from 2024 and return to its old […]
January 13, 2023
Nissan has brought its Ariya Single Seater Concept to the Brussels Motor Show, an ‘electric racecar’ conceived as a “high-performance exploration, development, and demonstration project”. It is in fact the dual motor all-wheel drive of Nissan’s second BEV, the Ariya crossover, squeezed into a Formula E-like single-seat racing chassis. It was presented for the first […]
January 12, 2023
Volvo Car Gent, the Belgian production site pioneering the electric models of the XC40 and the C40 Recharge, is readying the factory to gear up production of fully electric cars (BEVs) to 150 000, compared to just over 70 000 last year. In 2040, this should be 200 000 in an utterly carbon-neutral plant. Volvo […]
January 10, 2023
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is the first to get official approval for SAE Level 3 autonomous driving in the US, with Nevada taking the lead and California following, most likely soon. The latter was confirmed by the carmaker at CES in Las Vegas last week. It’s the first manufacturer to accomplish this government approval, beating Tesla […]
January 10, 2023
An electric vehicle replacing one with a classic combustion engine (ICE) can spare a European company today on average €3 599 and 5 560 liters of fuel per year per vehicle. That represents a reduction of 15 tons of CO2 per vehicle, a new report based on telematics data from Webfleet shows. Webfleet is the […]
January 10, 2023
Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (SHM) is planning to launch as soon as possible two other models besides the sedan – an SUV and probably an MPV – under the new Afeela EV brand, announced at CES in Las Vegas last week. It would make no sense to limit the brand to one model for the […]
January 09, 2023
VW’s design and engineering studio Italdesign has explored the boundaries of autonomous shuttles roaming around future cities. It envisioned, together with Swiss Schindler integrating them into buildings as an elevator capsule. The Climb-E can pick you up on the 30th floor of your apartment building and, once on the street level, drive you to any […]
January 05, 2023
Hours before the official ‘unveiling’ of the first teaser pictures of its second solar car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Dutch scale-up opened on Thursday the waiting list for the Lightyear 2. This one, a more compact ‘grid-independent’ sedan with integrated solar panels and a range of +800 km, gets an […]
January 04, 2023
At the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, French automotive supplier Plastic Omnium and French deep-tech startup Greenwave are showing a revolutionary way of integrating radar sensors into the entire surface of the car’s bumpers to catch a high-resolution image of its surroundings. The companies claim that far more information can be gathered by […]
January 03, 2023
Talking about EV incentives, this one from the African country Uganda fires one’s imagination: President Museveni announced in his end-of-the-year address he made a deal with investors to swap all motorcycles with internal combustion engines (ICE) in the country for locally-produced electric ones for free. The investors will be able to make their money by […]
December 30, 2022
The United States is leaving an opening for foreign carmakers to benefit from EV tax credits of up to $7 500 under the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the Bloomberg news agency, The US Treasury Department signals in its Frequently Asked Questions list a commercial-vehicle clause in the law that imported EVs can qualify for […]
December 30, 2022
Europe is well on its way to undercutting by at least three grams the CO2 emission targets of 116 g/km set by the EU for new car registrations in 2022, according to German automotive data analyst Dataforce’s forecast. It is an improvement of six grams compared to the year before (119 g/km). Eventually, the EU […]
December 29, 2022
You won’t be stared at for its modern but not unique looks when driving by, as this family hatchback – MG’s latest EV washing ashore in Europe – could be one in a thousand. Unless you chose that ‘Fizzy Orange’ color. Driving the basic version for the first time on Belgian roads, this MG4 proves […]
December 28, 2022
The world’s largest EV battery supplier with a market share of 33% in 2022, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), has kicked off serial production at its new lithium-ion battery cell plant in Thuringia, Germany. It’s the first battery factory of CATL operational outside of China, with an initial manufacturing capacity estimated at 8 Gigawatt […]
December 28, 2022
Going silently and electric until your final destination is now possible in a Dutch-built Tesla 3 hearse, a European first for this smaller Tesla, as Derks Autogroup in the Netherlands shows. The hearse is based on a Model 3 Standard Range Plus and gets a 100% composite, lightweight body with a tailgate. It features small […]
December 28, 2022
Along with introducing two new flagship SUVs, the third generation of battery-swapping stations was shown at the NIO Day 2022 event in Hefei, China. These stations can hold up to 21 charged battery packs (up from 13) and perform 408 swaps a day (+30%), as it now only takes two and a half minutes to […]
December 27, 2022
Chinese premium electric carmaker NIO has launched two new flagship SUV models – a Coupe-SUV EC7 and a new version of the bigger six-seat ES8 – at its traditional NIO Days event in Hefei, Anhui province, where the company builds its cars in two factories. It claims the EC7 has the industry’s lowest aerodynamic profile […]
December 23, 2022
Wallonia lets go of the tight deadline for its regional low-emission zone (LEZ) that was to become active on January 1st, 2023, and postpones the ban on Euro 0 and Euro I cars for two years until 2025, together with the Euro 3 cars. This means a stay of execution for 6 200 of the […]
December 22, 2022
Belgian fuel station chain Gabriëls has opened in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw at the Bergensesteenweg, the second ultra-fast charger of thirty planned to be rolled out in the Flemish region by 2026. Like the first one opened in Deurne at the Bisschoppenhoflaan, the station offers, besides traditional fuel pumps, three 300 kW chargers, each capable of charging two […]
December 22, 2022
American premium electric carmaker Lucid opened its first retail and delivery center in Europe in Hilversum near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last week. Now Lucid says delivery of the limited series of the Lucid Air Dream Edition to selected clients in Germany and the Netherlands has started. The latter just got its WLTP range rating of […]
December 19, 2022
Mercedes-Benz has signed a letter of intent with Norwegian aluminum producer Hydro to significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint of aluminum in the automotive supply chain. A fully electric Mercedes luxury car can contain up to 700 kg of aluminum. From 2023, this metal delivered by the Norwegians for the German carmaker’s electric lineup will already […]
December 16, 2022
What turned out to be a significant trend in 2021 is now reconfirmed for 2022: electric cars are in nearly every segment and almost every European country at the same price level or cheaper than gasoline or diesel cars when considering the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). LeasePlan did the math again for 22 European […]
December 15, 2022
Audi’s Belgian factory, which pioneered the EV production of the brand with the e-tron, of which 160 000 were shipped worldwide, delivered on Wednesday the first of its successor, now baptized Q8 e-tron. In the meantime, the Brussels factory is preparing to start building the smaller Q4 e-tron too, as confirmed in October. In summer, […]
December 14, 2022
Volvo’s electric sister brand, Polestar, is launching a second edition of the electric CAKE Makka moped via its Polestar Additions webshop in selected countries. The first limited edition developed with the Swedish manufacturer of light electric motorcycles, painted in Polestar’s Snow Matte color, was sold out in no time. This one is in Sky blue, […]
December 14, 2022
Chinese electric carmaker NIO has opened a second battery swapping station in the Netherlands in Apeldoorn, near the 50 highway at the Hotel Van der Valk Exclusief parking. The first one opened two weeks ago in Tilburg near the Belgian border. NIO wants to roll out a network of 120 Power Swap Stations in Europe […]
December 13, 2022
Mobilize Financial Services (MFS), a subsidiary of the Renault Group (ex-RCI Banque), is throwing itself further into the market of long-term rental and created Mobilize Lease&Co for all the Alliance brands, Renault, Dacia, Alpine, and Nissan. The goal is to expand the lease fleet from 350 000 today to one million cars by 2030 and […]
December 12, 2022
The Flemish Finance Minister Mathias Diependaele (N-VA) was brooding on it for a long time. Now the Flemish government has taken the plunge: gas-guzzling pickups will no longer benefit from ridiculously low taxes from January 1st, 2023. At least, this will apply to privately used pickups, not to professionals. For a new Dodge Ram V8, […]
December 09, 2022
“We failed,” say Jona Christians and his friend Laurin Hahn, the co-founders and CEOs of German Sono Motors, who laid the foundation for the company’s first vehicle, the Sion solar car, in a garage in Munich in 2016. In a remarkable campaign, they call up to at least 3 500 of the 21 000 holders […]
December 09, 2022
The compact Atto 3 full-electric SUV, just launched on the European markets by China’s biggest EV maker, BYD, was elected by both the professional and the family jury ‘Family Car of the Year’ in the yearly contest by the Flemish mobility organization VAB. With a total of 63 points, the Atto 3 preceded the Renault […]
December 09, 2022
As of 1 January 2023, the current CEO of Renault, Luca de Meo, will take over the presidency of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) from BMW’s CEO, Oliver Zipse, who has held the position for the last two years. The Board of Directors announced that on Friday. Once renewable, the ACEA President is elected […]
December 09, 2022
From January 2024, BMW will roll out the much-debated direct sales ‘agency model’ starting for its MINI customers, followed by the BMW brand itself in 2026. Customers will buy their new car online and have a dealer of their choice deliver it, the latter getting a ‘fair’ share of the profit. No more bargaining at […]
December 08, 2022
A business coalition of 45 companies is calling upon the EU Commission in an open letter to ensure all new freight trucks are zero-emission from 2035. With exceptions until 2040 for so-called ‘vocational trucks’ in niches like construction, mining, and timber industry having specific driving patterns. Among them are big names like Unilever, Henkel, PepsiCo, […]
December 07, 2022
Commercial Vehicle Charging Europe, the joint venture formed in July 2022 by the Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, and Traton Group, announced on Monday that it begins operating its fast-charging network for heavy trucks, buses, and coaches under the brand name Milence. Milence will initially focus on charging locations in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, […]
December 06, 2022
Chinese MG finally has a price tag in Belgium, starting at €30 785 for the Standard version with a 51 kWh battery, 125 kW (170 pk), and a WLTP range of 350 km. The Comfort version with 64 KWh battery and 150 kW (204 pk ) getting you 450 km far is listed at € […]
December 06, 2022
European aircraft giant Airbus believes in hydrogen to propel aviation in the future. It solemnly pledged to have an H2 airplane commercially ready by 2035. The hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine showed last week could be the ideal solution for planes for mid-haul flights with up to 100 passengers and a range of 1 000 nautical […]
December 05, 2022
Car sales in Belgium are getting back on their feet steadily, as registrations are up again in November by +23,4%, according to the latest figures of Febiac, the Belgian car importers federation. And among them, BMW can set up a party, as it leads the rankings both in car sales and motorbike sales, which is […]
December 05, 2022
After an intensive testing program, BMW has started, as announced earlier, producing a small series of fuel cell iX5 SAVs that will be used as a technology demonstrator for crucial clients in selected regions from spring 2023. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is being built in the BMW Group’s pilot plant at its Research and Innovation […]
December 01, 2022
With a picture of its driverless sci-fi-like electric truck or T-Pod, ‘shot or conveniently Photoshoped (?)’, in front of the iconic Antwerp Port Authority building, the Swedish Einride has announced its official launch in the Benelux. Einride will deliver six fully electric trucks to Belgian beer brewer Ab InBev, which pledges to replace all its […]
November 30, 2022
Dutch solar car scale-up Lightyear has kicked off production of its Lightyear 0 sedan in Uusikaupunki, southwest of Finland, at contract manufacturer Valmet Automotive. Valmet plans to produce one vehicle per week, for the time being, pushing up production in 2023. The goal is to produce only 946 vehicles of the Lightyear 0, a symbolic […]
November 30, 2022
After getting the final approval of the EU Commission last week, leasing giant ALD Automotive is replenishing its capital to finalize the take-over of this other European leasing giant, Dutch LeasePlan, at a discounted price of €4,5 billion instead of the initial €4,9 billion proposed. Combining both fleets, the companies that will operate under the […]
November 29, 2022
It’s a world first, says the British airplane engine manufacturer Rolls Royce with the same name as the car, but no other than historical connections: a modern turboprop airplane engine running on green hydrogen. It didn’t fly yet, but it was a successful ‘ground test’ together with the British low-budget airline easyJet. H2ZERO, as the […]
November 28, 2022
Cars that fail technical inspection in Flanders for a defective or insufficient working diesel particulate filter (DPF) will have one year to fix it and present it again for review. Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) decided after weeks of consultation to extend the period from three to twelve months, the newspaper Het Belang […]
November 25, 2022
On Thursday, Renault Trucks and Coca-Cola’s Belgian-Luxembourg branch Europacific Partners (CCEP) presented to the press the four first fully electric delivery trucks of a total fleet of thirty, which is to be commissioned in the next twelve months. The trucks with a range of 180 km to 400 km are charged overnight at Coca-Cola’s depot […]
