September 13, 2024
Early in the morning on Friday, ‘white smoke’ came out of the negotiations between unions and management, which decided the factory would restart next Tuesday—first in the body and paint shop, later in the whole factory. From Tuesday on, the finished Audi Q8 e-trons will start delivering again to the dealerships, and the workers will […]
September 12, 2024
The new Chinese EV brand Jiyue, created by internet services giant Baidu in a joint venture with Geely, has officially launched its second model, the 07 sedan. Its starting price is 209,900 yuan or roughly 26,700 euros. The first ‘owner’ to receive the keys at the launch was Robin Zeng, chairman and CEO of battery […]
September 12, 2024
Mercedes-Benz is betting on solid-state batteries, co-developed with US-based Factorial, for its future electric car range. The companies promise a high energy density of 450 Watt-hours per kilogram that can extend the EV range up to 80%, which, at the same time, is safer, more compact, and cost-efficient to produce. The new battery—Solstice—should be ready […]
September 11, 2024
The 2023 European EAFO Consumer Monitor, an EU survey among 17,034 non-electric drivers and 2,046 actual BEV drivers in twelve countries, shows that despite the negative press EVs are getting in some countries, most EV drivers are generally satisfied and not willing to go back to fossil. Among non-EV drivers, 57% consider buying one in […]
September 10, 2024
After years of much excitement about the ‘hyperloop’, a science-fiction way of transporting people and goods at speeds above 1,000 km in vacuum tubes connecting cities envisioned by Elon Musk, it remained deafening quiet. However, Dutch Hardt Hyperloop, one of the pioneers, announced the first successful test of its hyperloop vehicle at the European Hyperloop […]
September 09, 2024
According to targets set in 2017, the EU requires carmakers to bring the average CO2 emissions of their newly sold car fleets below 93.6g/km by 2025. If this target is not met, they might have to pay €95 fine per gCO2/km over the target and per car sold. But now Luca di Meo, CEO of […]
September 06, 2024
As rumored before, BMW and Toyota officially announced their deepened partnership in developing a broader range of hydrogen cars on Thursday 5th of September. The first offspring that the collaboration for the next generation of fuel cell technology will bear is a mass-produced BMW FCEV by 2028. “The result of this collaborative effort will be […]
September 06, 2024
Lynk & Co, the Swedish-Chinese sister brand to Zeekr, Volvo, and Polestar, is going fully electric with the in July newly revealed Z10, a five-meter-long luxury sedan with a pure electric range of over 800 km. Presented first in Gothenburg, Sweden, it now debuts in China, with prices starting at 202,800 yuan (€25,733) to 288,800 […]
September 05, 2024
It sways the news headlines: the European car industry is facing one of the most challenging times in its 130-year history: reinventing itself in the much-needed energy transition while facing cutthroat competition from China. Still, EU car production jumped in 2023, nearing 15 million vehicles—nearly two million more than the previous year. China is the […]
September 04, 2024
In China, the fierce price war among the big car manufacturers raves on, with Geely throwing in a new weapon, the Geome Xingyan EV, for city dwellers at a bottom price of around 80,000 yuan or 10,170 euros. It’s targeted directly against BYD, which beefed up its popular Dolphin at unchanged prices starting at 99,800 […]
September 03, 2024
Researchers from the SLAC-Stanford Battery Center, linked to Californian Stanford University, have found that using high currents for the first charging after the battery’s production can improve its lifespan by 50 to 70%. At first glance, this might contradict the general belief that charging EV batteries frequently at ‘superchargers’ shortens their lifespan. However, it could […]
August 30, 2024
If anyone hoped the zero tax policy for EVs the Flemish government is offering to lure more people into electric driving was a never-ending story, it is time to wake up. Around the negotiating table for the next government, all parties – N-VA, Vooruit, and CD&V – agree that the ‘zero tariff’ will no longer […]
August 29, 2024
Chery Automobile, China’s fifth-biggest automaker with over 1.88 million vehicles sold worldwide last year, says it will take on Belgium from the end of Q4 2024 with two models: the Omoda 5 EV and the Jaecoo 7 PHEV. Officially, three dealers, one in Genk, one in Liège, and one in Luxemburg, were already presented, but […]
August 28, 2024
In China, the price war among EV makers is raging further with yet another ‘Tesla 3 killer’ launched; Xpeng’s Mona sedan M03 at half the latter’s price: 119,800 yuan (€15,058) euros up to 155,800 yuan (€19,584). A Tesla Model 3 is offered in China in three variants, from 231,900 (€29,149) to 335,900 yuan (€42,222). So […]
August 27, 2024
SAIC Motor Corporation, the owner of the MG brand, which is currently the best-selling Chinese EV in Europe, is hatching a plan to export its popular MG4 model straight out of its Thai manufacturing plant to sail around the EU’s maximum 46.3% (36.3 % + 10%) import tax. According to Thai media, the factory was […]
August 26, 2024
Chinese Build Your Dreams (BYD) jumped over Japanese carmakers Honda and Nissan in Q2 2024 to the seventh spot in the top ten of the world’s biggest car manufacturers. According to data from the automotive industry portal Marklines, it sold 980,000 units, a 40% growth, partly thanks to overseas sales. It tripled this year to […]
August 23, 2024
For the first time, Tesla was challenged as the autocratic ruler of BEV sales in Europe by BMW, which sold more fully electric cars than the American electric brand in July 2024. BMW registered 14,869 BEVs that month, with the iX1, i4, and i5 as the driving forces, while the new iX2 registered more than […]
August 22, 2024
Philipp Römers, former Head of Exterior Design at Audi, who led the team designing the E-tron and E-tron GT, among others, is hopping over to Polestar, where he will succeed Maximilian Missoni, Polestar’s styling boss for the last six years. Römers is German, a native of Cologne, and worked as an exterior designer for VW […]
August 21, 2024
In China, the first L60 production models of NIO’s Onvo sub-brand have rolled off the assembly lines at NIO’s F2 plant in NeoPark, Hefei. The Onvo L60 will be a mid-sized all-electric SUV in an ‘affordable’ model line, positioned as an alternative to the premium NIO brand, also targeted at Europe. Prices start at 219,900 […]
August 20, 2024
BYD has rolled out an upgraded version of the Song Plus EV in China, known in Europe as the SUV version of the Seal, the Seal U. The starting price in China for the basic version with a 520 km range (CLTC) remains 149,800 yuan (18,922 euros). The cost of the top version with a […]
August 19, 2024
Swedish electric foiling boat start-up Candela has hooked a big fish by selling eight of its P-12 foiling shuttles to Saudi Arabia, which can accommodate 20 to 30 passengers, for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s NEOM project. It’s the most significant commercial order in Candela’s history. The first batch of eight vessels will be delivered […]
August 19, 2024
Dutch fast-charging chain Fastned saw its revenue in the first six months of 2024 grow by 45% to €37.8 million compared to the year before and claims to be in a prime position as a top 3 fast-charging company in Western Europe. Profitability rose, with underlying company EBITDA growing by 12% to €3.2 million. Still, […]
August 14, 2024
Geely daughter Zeekr, sister company to Lynk & Co and Volvo, claims a new record for its updated 2024 Zeekr 007 sedan with the ‘Golden Battery’, which can charge from 10 to 80% in 10.5 minutes—4.5 minutes faster than the first generation. It says its in-house developed ‘Golden Brick Battery’ is the world’s fastest-charging mass-produced […]
August 13, 2024
BMW has enhanced its brand apps, My BMW and MINI App, with a new Electric Vehicle Analysis function allowing customers who drive a BMW with a combustion engine to simulate how well an all-electric BMW would suit their driving profile. In other words, accurate data to cure its petrol heads’ range anxiety. The setup is […]
August 12, 2024
Scientists at Oxford University Physics Department have developed a revolutionary solar power-generating coating that can be applied on everyday objects from buildings over car bodies like future EVs to ‘wearables ‘ like a backpack or even your cellphone’s back. There is no need for silicon-based solar panels anymore, and it’s even more efficient. The technique […]
August 09, 2024
The ‘Brussels Auto Show’ (BAS), the Dutch alternative to the ostracized ‘Brussels Motor Show (BMS)’ of the Belgian car importers federation Febiac, had to shed its skin, becoming the ‘Belgian Motor Show’ and moving to Flanders Expo Ghent in March 2025. The show, which targets car enthusiasts with supercars and lots of show rather than […]
August 08, 2024
In the US, Ford has given the two-wheel ‘offspring’ of two of its most iconic cars, the 60-year-old Mustang and the Bronco, the reins: e-bikes with 750W hub-mounted motors providing 85 Nm of torque and assisted top speed of 45 km/h (28 mph). They’re the fruit of a partnership with N+, which has already created […]
August 07, 2024
Engineers from the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston have found a method for creating pure hydrogen at sea that might become an interesting new path for greening the shipping industry. The technique uses recycled aluminum from soda cans, seawater, and… caffeine. The engineers estimate that just 1 gram of aluminum would generate […]
August 06, 2024
Sources told the press agency Reuters that the US is considering banning software for connected and autonomous driving cars developed in a ‘foreign entity of concern’ like China as a matter of ‘national security’. The new rule envisioned would target Level 3 automation and above and Chinese-developed advanced wireless communications. That would mean Chinese cars […]
August 05, 2024
As is commonly known, freezing cold temperatures affect an EV’s range. But how do extreme summer temperatures affect its battery capacity? When temperatures rise to 38 degrees Celcius, like in Southern Europe, that can shorten your range by 31%, an ongoing study by American Recurrent Motors Inc. shows, using data from 7,500 live connected cars. […]
August 02, 2024
The Belgian Flemish Region has selected 19 projects to receive financial support totaling three million euros for the roll-out of (semi-)public charging infrastructure for heavy trucks. This support is the result of the project call launched by the Flemish government in April 2024. One of the first significant projects to be realized in 2025 will […]
August 01, 2024
American ride-hailing giant Uber has cut a deal with Chinese carmaker BYD to offer 100,000 electric cars at lower vehicle pricing and financing to Uber drivers in Europe and Latin America in the following years. The US is omitted as President Biden raises tariffs on Chinese EVs to 102.5% this year, but the Middle East, […]
July 31, 2024
Chinese carmakers registered a record share of 11% of the EU’s plus UK’s electric car market in June, as they rushed to import as many EVs as possible before July 5th, the date the European Commission fixed for preliminary import taxes on Chinese cars. The figures come from market analysis by the German automotive data […]
July 30, 2024
Chinese premium carmaker NIO has officially rounded the cape of 2,500 Power Swap Stations (PPS), of which 2,454 are located in China and 51 in Europe. Besides some local minor projects from Californian start-up Ample, NIO is the only one offering swappable batteries in Europe. But currently, only for its own models. However, NIO has […]
July 30, 2024
Europe’s biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, is investing one billion dollars in American electric van and pickup specialist Rivian and promising another $4 billion in the coming years. The German Federal Cartel Office has also given the deal the green light. For loss-making Rivian, losing up to $39,000 per car it produced, it’s a lifeline. For VW, […]
July 29, 2024
Daimler Truck kicked off real-world customer trials with its fuel cell truck last week in Germany with Air Products, Amazon, Holcim, INEOS, and Wiedmann & Winz. The five Merceds-Benz GenH2 Trucks will be deployed in different long-haul applications on specific routes in Germany, such as transporting building materials, sea containers, or cylinder gases. The trucks […]
July 29, 2024
German automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG will cut 11 to 14,000 jobs from its current domestic workforce of 54,000 by 2028 “to respond to the changes in the mobility sector, particularly in electromobility.” That will be “difficult but necessary,” ZF CEO Holger Klein said in a statement last week. In the future, its German locations […]
July 25, 2024
The latest edition of Ayvens’ Mobility Guide 2024 provides a comprehensive country-by-country analysis of EV readiness and electrification pace. Belgium (4) and Luxembourg (5) are joining the top five countries despite a general negative feeling among mostly private buyers. Norway remains number one, with the Netherlands and Finland following close by. The annual guide draws […]
July 24, 2024
Chinese lithium-ion battery cell maker Farasis Energy, which supplies Geely, Mercedes-Benz, and Turkish Togg, among others, claims to have successfully achieved durable NMC cells for a million-mile (1.6 million km) battery in lab testing. Battery packs using these cells can last a million miles over 15 years while retaining over 70% of their capacity, even […]
July 22, 2024
What Apple failed to accomplish is building its own electric car, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi excels in doing so by building the world’s fastest four-door car ever, the SU7 Ultra. Imagine going from 0 to 200 km/h in 5.96 seconds. This is a Porsche Taycan-sized ultra-version of the SU7 that is on sale in China […]
July 22, 2024
Chinese media report that Lynk & Co’s fully electric Z20 crossover is being road-tested without camouflage in China before it arrives in Europe in late 2024. It shares the same SEA2 platform as the Zeekr X, the Volvo EX30, and Smart #1 & 3, but with larger overhangs that would be somewhat longer than the […]
July 19, 2024
It looks like a boxy mini-Jeep, fully electric and ready to take on the sandy beach. It could wear a Jeep batch, but it isn’t a Jeep. However, if interest is high, it might as well become one. It is a design concept by French designer Emmanual Klissarov based on Citroën’s Ami 8 EL6 light […]
July 18, 2024
After thoroughly testing a stint on the test rig in the lab, BMW’s Startup Garage is now switching to the next step to build in DeepDrive’s revolutionary in-wheel dual motor in different BMW models for road testing. According to BMW, DeepDrive’s innovative concept more or less melds two electric motors into a single unit, creating […]
July 17, 2024
Chinese premium EV maker NIO has opened the 50th Power Swap Station on the Old Continent in Norway, where it started in 2022 its European journey. With those in homeland China, NIO manages 2.493 swapping stations over six markets. For NIO, battery swapping is a USP as it is the only one offering that possibility […]
July 16, 2024
BMW’s Digital Key, a smartphone app that allows you to open and start your car without having the official car key fob in your pocket, is the first to get the official worldwide recognized CCC Digital Key™️ certificate. With a secure Digital Key in your Apple or Android wallet on your smartphone, you can unlock […]
July 15, 2024
Just a few days after Chinese-Swedish brand Zeekr unveiled the first pictures of its first luxury large five-seater SUV designed for the mainstream market, the 7X, its specs leaked through the Chinese regulator office that has to approve all new cars. It’s a ‘bruiser’ of an SUV with profound dimensions (4,825/1,930/1,666 mm) and a wheelbase […]
July 12, 2024
It looks like an iconic Mercedes 300SL Gullwing from the fifties. Still, under its neath fiber coachwork, it’s a fully electric, genuine Tesla Model 3, including a touchscreen and Tesla’s Autopilot cameras and sensors for semi-autonomous driving. And there will be no second one anybody else can buy; it is a one-off. It’s the latest […]
July 12, 2024
Dutch Technical University Delft students have accomplished their mission to create the first foiling hydrogen-powered boat to cross some 160 km of rough water of the North Sea between the Netherlands and England. To set their record, they took a ‘ride’ of 12.5 hours hovering above the waves between Breskens (Netherlands) and Ramsgate (UK), normally […]
July 11, 2024
Kalmar Automotive, a Danish enhancer and restorer of bespoke sports cars and special-purpose adventure vehicles, is breathing new – electric – life into the 35-year-old Porsche 911 (type 964) with a beefed-up Tesla S hart in new lightweight factory fiber bodywork. The 7-97 E-Volt is engineered to produce more power and torque than any road-going […]
July 10, 2024
After signing up Fiat & Alfa Romeo dealer Pagnotta in Maasmechelen (Limburg), Chinese carmaker Chery Automotive gets a second foothold for its Omoda and Jaecoo brands in Liège with L’Universelle, a dealership for Hyundai, Mazda, Suzuki, and Chinese MG. L’Universelle also offers multi-brand second-hand cars. Chery Automotive was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in […]
July 10, 2024
Belgian car importer D’Ieteren has officially commissioned its brand-new ‘Mobility Center’ in Anderlecht, grouping showrooms for the Volkswagen, Seat, Cupra, and Škoda brands and a 3,000 square meter workshop for maintenance and repairs. After opening a similar Mobility Center in Kontich, this building groups the teams from Brussels Auto Group Anderlecht and D’Ieteren Centers Brussels. […]
July 09, 2024
It’s beautifully designed, as you might expect from an iconic Italian brand, but this one is rather meant to ‘fly’ on the water than on wheels: the Maserati Tridente. It’s a fully electric, 10.5-meter speedboat with 447 kWh or 600 hp of power and a top speed of 40 knots (74 km). But with a […]
July 09, 2024
Less than six months after the latest update with the Glory Edition, Chinese EV maker BYD beefs up its popular Dolphin hatchback in its homeland with a bigger 48 kWh or 60.48 kWh battery for more range without raising prices. Meanwhile, the 700,000th Dolphin has rolled off production lines. Like the Glory Edition, the Dolphin […]
July 08, 2024
The first-ever electric NASCAR racer debuted at the Chicago Street Race last week. It was eventually set to debut earlier, in Los Angeles on February 4th, but it took a few months longer than intended. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) worked with the Swiss electrification and automation multinational ABB in what […]
July 08, 2024
Chinese premium EV maker NIO has set up a joint lab with Belgian Solvay-split-off Syensqo to explore more advanced materials for electric vehicles. The lab was established at the Nio Nanxiang delivery center in Jiading, Shanghai, and announced on the occasion of Syenqo’s CEO Ilham Kadri’s visit. Syensqo is a Belgian multinational materials company established […]
July 04, 2024
Researchers from three German Fraunhofer Institutes claim to have jointly developed “a tandem module that is self-sufficient and reliable at producing solar-generated green hydrogen”. It’s a classic electrolyzer – what typically would be complex and expensive – combined in one ‘cheap’ panel. With 100 square meters of these hydrogen-solar panels, they theoretically could produce 30 […]
July 04, 2024
Swedish battery maker Northvolt, one of Europe’s pioneers in that field, is forced to gear down in its ambitions to build several gigafactories in Europe and Canada. Founder and CEO Peter Carlsson told Swedish media, “We’ve been a little too aggressive in our expansion plans and need to reassess the next steps.” That includes postponing […]
July 03, 2024
In 2023, Honda amazed the world with a modern electric version of its iconic foldable MotoCompo motorscooter from the eighties (1981 – 1983), the MotoCompacto. That ‘electric suitcase on wheels’ might get a ‘family version’ or an electric child cart version for two kids and one parent standing on it like an e-scooter. At least […]
July 02, 2024
CIM Capital, founded by one of the grandsons of Van Hool founder Bernard, Mark Van Hool, missed out in court in summary proceedings on its claim against the take-over of the Van Hool truck-trailer division by Australian GRW. CIM Capital, a Belgian investment company specializing in taking over ailing firms, claimed it was not granted […]
July 01, 2024
In 2030, one in three cars sold worldwide will be Chinese, compared to one in five today. Chinese brands are well underway to catch 33% of the global car market by then, according to a study by financial advisory and international consulting firm AlixPartners. “The 21st edition of the AlixPartners Global Automotive Outlook finds Chinese […]
