November 19, 2024
The Dutch province of Zeeland wants to replace the Westerschelde Ferries, which currently sail across the Western Scheldt, with zero-emission ferries. Hybrid ships (diesel/electric) are also being considered. The States of Zeeland unanimously agreed to that proposal on Friday. The two ships currently transporting cyclists and pedestrians between Vlissingen and Breskens are approaching the end […]
November 19, 2024
Chinese CATL, the world’s biggest battery maker, claims a breakthrough in developing its second-generation sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries. These batteries still perform well at minus 40° Celcius, which could make them an even more exciting alternative to current lithium-ion batteries, LFP or NMC. CATL envisions these batteries becoming the cheapest alternative, costing less than lithium iron […]
November 14, 2024
Engie and lime producer Carmeuse are terminating the Columbus project, an industrial carbon capture and use (CCU) plant at Amercoeur near Charleroi, for “economic and regulatory reasons.” The project had a total investment cost of more than 300 million euros. 187,000 tons of CO2 With the Columbus project, French energy company Engie and Carmeuse, in […]
November 14, 2024
Renault opened the order books for the first two Renault 5 E-Tech electric versions in May. The Techno version costs €32,900, while the Iconic Cinq version costs €2,000 more. Both versions have the 52 kWh battery in the ‘Comfort Range’. Some additional versions have now been added. However, you will still have to wait until […]
November 13, 2024
The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has approved three energy cables linking Britain to Germany’s, Ireland’s, and Northern Ireland’s power grids and lines connecting Britain’s grid with Dutch and Belgian offshore wind farms. The projects are due to be completed by 2032. The power lines, called ‘interconnectors,’ enable Britain to be more flexible […]
November 13, 2024
The Court of Appeal in The Hague has rejected the 2021 ruling in the case brought by the Netherlands arm of Friends of the Earth (Milieudefensie) and other campaigners against Shell. According to the court, Shell cannot be forced to specify specific percentages by which it must reduce CO2 emissions. Therefore, the court’s ruling at […]
November 13, 2024
After extensive upgrades at the beginning of the year, the Taycan lineup is growing to offer buyers even more ways to get one in 2025. Three additional versions complete the family, now counting 16 different variants. Porsche announced on Tuesday that three new members of the updated Taycan family will be in the showrooms in […]
November 12, 2024
Nissan is adopting a harsh cost-cutting course. Global production capacities will be reduced by 20%, and 9,000 jobs will disappear. Nissan also plans to sell about one-third of its Mitsubishi shares, representing approximately 10% of the total MMC shares. The changes are motivated by the company’s consolidated net value decreasing by 79.1 billion yen (approx. […]
November 12, 2024
Dutch fast-charging chain Fastned will deploy eleven fast-charging stations in the Belgian province of Luxembourg in the next twelve to eighteen months. Fastned won a tender from the inter-municipal group Idelux, which – under tourism pressure – wants to address the ‘EV-charging desert landscape’ in Wallonia. The Belgian province of Luxembourg, bordering the Grand Duchy […]
November 12, 2024
In November 2020, Bentley announced as part of its ‘Beyond100’ strategy that the entire model range would be converted to fully electric vehicles by 2030. The VW luxury brand has now postponed this target to 2035. The schedule change is part of the revised corporate strategy ‘Beyond100+’, which the new Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser, who […]
November 11, 2024
Mercedes-Benz’s sporty subdivision Mercedes-AMG wants to develop a full-size electric SUV from the ground up. The model will be the second vehicle based on the all-electric AMG.EA platform. Development vehicles are due to start their first test drives this winter. The AMG.EA platform, short for AMG Electric Architecture, is designed for Mercedes-AMG’s future performance models. […]
November 08, 2024
German premium car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz says its upcoming entry-level CLA will set the bar for EV range, charging speed, and efficiency with advanced new tech. Ahead of its arrival in 2025, Mercedes is giving us a slightly closer look at its new generation of electric cars. “With the CLA, we are ushering in a new […]
November 07, 2024
The new Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder warned that the number of EV premium requests has already surpassed 11,700, doubling the budget initially foreseen by predecessor Lydia Peeters (Open Vld). De Ridder (N-VA) wanted to take a decretional decision to abolish the premium as soon as possible. This decision was voted positively on Wednesday […]
November 06, 2024
Oil giant British Petroleum (BP) is putting up for sale all its 310 fuel stations and 25 EV-charging stations in the Netherlands. The British are reluctant to spend millions to continue their expensive highway concessions, for instance, and expand their business in a market considered ‘too small, ‘ according to the Dutch newspaper AD. The […]
November 06, 2024
Kia has already delisted the Niro EV from its German-language website. This is likely due to the new Kia EV3, which is hitting the market with remarkably similar specifications but stands better in every category, from charging to pricing. Meanwhile, Kia is testing rigorously its even smaller EV, the Kia EV2. There are even talks […]
November 06, 2024
On Sunday, the new French Economy Minister Antoine Armand pleaded to postpone the fines for car manufacturers exceeding the EU CO2 targets. A spokesman for the European Commission responded on Monday that such initiatives are premature. “Talking already about a change in the Commission’s position on these matters is really premature,” he said in Brussels. […]
November 05, 2024
Suzuki has officially unveiled its first battery electric vehicle, the e Vitara, in Milan, Italy. Building on the concept model ‘eVX’, the model will also appear as a rebadged Toyota in global markets. The newcomer is expected to hit European markets by the summer of 2025. As the Vitara has been a long-time bestseller for […]
November 05, 2024
Energy provider Engie will start the construction of a new battery park in Kallo, in the port of Antwerp, at the beginning of next year. The large-scale project, representing a €100 million investment, should be completed by the summer of 2027. The park in Kallo will be located on the site of the energy company’s […]
November 04, 2024
Because of weak demand, the US automotive group Ford has decided to suspend production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck for six weeks. Ford’s electric car division has been making massive losses for a long time. The combustion version of the F-150 has long been a cult car in the USA and an important […]
November 04, 2024
Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union dropped by eight percent last year – the biggest drop in decades, marking significant progress toward climate neutrality. According to the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) ‘Trends and Projections’ report, the huge drop was led by a significant decline in coal use and the growth of renewable energy […]
November 04, 2024
One year after its creation, Renault’s electric subsidiary Ampere seems to flourish. Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo said this in a press gathering last week in Douai at one of the manufacturer’s ‘Electricity’ plants in France. According to the CEO, Ampere was the right decision to respond to the energy transition and for Renault […]
November 01, 2024
Yesterday, Hyundai Motor Company unveiled its Initium hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) concept at its ‘Clearly Committed’ event at Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang. Initium provides a preview of a new production FCEV that Hyundai Motor plans to unveil in the first half of next year. Initium is a Latin word meaning ‘beginning’ or ‘first’. “It […]
October 30, 2024
The distribution network rates on household electricity bills, which account for approximately one-third of the total cost, may increase by 31 percent next year. According to some initial calculations, this would amount to an average of more than 100 euros extra per year. For the third year in a row, electricity network rates are increasing. […]
October 29, 2024
MobilityPlus, a Ghent-based Belgian company that specializes in intelligent, integrated charging stations for businesses and fleets, has raised an additional 40 million euros in capital. The new investors include Suma Capital, while Concentra, the holding company of the Limburg Baert family that also controls one-third of Mediahuis, is strengthening its stake. The freshly raised money […]
October 28, 2024
Chinese battery maker Svolt, a spin-off from Great Wall Motors since 2018, has confirmed to local media Yicai that it will end its European production activities by January 31st, 2025. It will cancel factories it was to build in Germany, in Saarland and Brandenburg, and shut down its headquarters in Frankfurt. Officially, the difficult decision […]
October 25, 2024
Tesla surprised investors and analysts by posting bigger-than-expected profits for the third quarter of 2024. Though the EV maker boosted deliveries in the past three months, the money comes from unexpected income like CO2 credits, cost cutting, and “services and others.” Interestingly, Elon Musk never favored the latter as an important revenue stream. Tesla exceeded […]
October 24, 2024
Is lithium the new gold mine for Arkansas after oil? Researchers have discovered that an underground brine reservoir in the southern US state may contain as much as 5 to 19 million tons of lithium. Lithium is a crucial raw material for electric vehicle batteries. The amount of lithium in the Arkansas beds would be […]
October 24, 2024
The cost of the Princess Elisabeth energy island, an artificial island off the Belgian coast that will be used by the power grid operator Elia, will probably amount to 7 billion euros, a multiple of the 2,2 billion that was initially estimated. Princess Elisabeth Island will become an energy hub for cables to neighboring countries […]
October 24, 2024
Despite good Q3 sales results, Volvo is warning of a ‘cold winter’ in sales for the last quarter of this year and even deep into 2025. Meanwhile, the sales of electrified vehicles almost reach half of the total sales, and pure electric sales represent one-quarter of these total sales. Volvo Cars reported a core operating […]
October 23, 2024
Germany will build a nationwide 9,040 km hydrogen network connecting various industrial areas. In the long term, a future Dutch hydrogen network will also be linked to it. German regulators have approved the construction of the network, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck announced on Tuesday. Hydrogen should be used in sectors where renewable energy, such as […]
October 23, 2024
To mark the 25th anniversary of the original A2, Audi is showcasing an A2 e-tron, an A2 that has been converted into an electric vehicle by a bunch of Audi apprentices. Although this is a one-off created for the anniversary, Audi is planning a new entry-level electric model below the Q4 e-tron, likely to be […]
October 23, 2024
The all-electric Renault 5 e-tech and the Alpine A290 are the first Renault vehicles equipped with a bidirectional charger capable of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). They were launched with the promise of allowing the owner to earn back some money by delivering electricity from the car to the network. And now, France is the first European country […]
October 23, 2024
The Swiss manufacturer Softcar has unveiled a lightweight L7e electric car with four seats. It weighs 640 kilograms, including the battery, and is said to have a range of 200 kilometers. Prices start from €23,000. All vehicles in the L7e class have one thing in common: they can travel at a maximum speed of 90 […]
October 22, 2024
According to a new study by the green group Transport & Environment (T&E), subsidies for gasoline and diesel company cars cost taxpayers €42 billion every year in the five biggest EU countries alone. The study by ERM, commissioned by T&E, calculates the effects of the four tax benefits traditionally given to company cars: benefit-in-kind, depreciation […]
October 22, 2024
The European Car Manufacturers Association (ACEA) data show that in September 2024, new EU car registrations continued their downward trajectory (-6.1%), with negative results across three of the region’s four major markets. France declined by -11.1%, Italy by -10.7%, and the German market regressed by 7%. On the other hand, Spain experienced a rebound (+6.3%). […]
October 22, 2024
Over the coming two years, Electra, a European expert in fast-charging stations, plans to open and operate at least 20 fast-charging stations at existing and future branches of the fast-food chain Burge King. The collaboration starts today with the opening of the first fast-charging station at Burger King in Zandhoven. During the first phase, existing […]
October 18, 2024
The Dutch mobility organization ANWB has studied the charging habits of its members all across Europe this summer. They researched the data of their members’ charging passes (ANWB laadpas), which have been charged 63,000 times abroad this summer. Most charging sessions were in France (24,615), Germany (17,202), Belgium (5,179), and Italy (4,278). Still, some Dutchmen […]
October 17, 2024
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a global fuel and gas surplus in the next five years. Although the energy crisis has led to scarcity and sky-high prices in recent years, the IEA expects just the opposite in the second half of the decade. That could be good news for Europe, where the energy crisis […]
October 17, 2024
South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai wanted to present something new at the Paris Motor Show, so this week, it premiered the Inster Cross in the French metropolis. Hyundai says it’s a version of the small city dweller “with a more outdoor look”. The regular Inster, based on the little Casper with a combustion engine available […]
October 16, 2024
Stellantis brand Citroën presented the upcoming C5 Aircross as a concept car at the Paris Motor Show. The carmaker will also launch it with a purely electric drive. The revised ë-C4 and ë-C4 X were also on display. The C5 Aircross Concept shown in Paris features several design elements common to show cars of this […]
October 15, 2024
Amnesty International reports in a new report that car manufacturers BYD, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai score the worst on human rights in the production of their electric cars. According to the Human Rights Organization, mining potentially exposes communities to exploitation, health risks, and environmental damage caused by the rapid expansion of mines to extract metals such […]
October 15, 2024
A new study by the Belgian energy regulator CREG warns of an abundance of solar power and that more flexibility will be needed to accommodate the growing surpluses. The high-voltage grid operator Elia had already sounded the alarm before the summer. Since 2021, Belgium’s solar panel capacity has more than doubled to 10.3 gigawatts. In […]
October 15, 2024
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said on Monday at the Paris Motor Show that he is not ruling out future job cuts. “I am not ruling out anything,” Tavares told French radio station RTL when asked whether he intended to cut jobs. Tavares was in the French capital for the Paris Motor Show, which runs until […]
October 15, 2024
Leapmotor International entered the Paris Motor Show today with the global debut of the B10, the first model in its new B-series. “This launch marks a critical milestone in Leapmotor’s global expansion, as the company accelerates its efforts to provide accessible, high-tech electric vehicles (EVs) across Europe and beyond,” says the press release from partner […]
October 14, 2024
Renault is also showing the production version of its new R4 at the Paris Motor Show. The press release says the Renault 4 E-Tech electric “takes up a natural position in the B segment, just above Renault 5 E-Tech electric. ” Slightly bigger and roomier than the Renault 5 E-Tech electric, its positioning is similar […]
October 14, 2024
French energy giant Engie is pulling the plug on its Dutch charger daughter EVBox seven years after acquiring it and accumulating €800 million in loss. Attempts failed to find someone to take over the ailing company that installed 550 thousands of charging points worldwide and claims a +20,000 business customer base. The decision, like a […]
October 14, 2024
Just before the start of this year’s Paris Motor Show, Renault’s sports car subsidiary, Alpine, invited guests to the presentation of the A390_β. Without the Greek letter in its name, the production version is scheduled for market launch next year. We were allowed to look at this ‘beta version’ and gain insight into Alpine’s electrification […]
October 11, 2024
The BMW Group increased its deliveries of all-electric vehicles in the third quarter by 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Across all BMW brands, the manufacturer delivered a total of 103,440 electric vehicles. In total, for the first nine months of 2024, BMW Group delivered 1,754,158 units, 4.5% less than the year. “This […]
October 10, 2024
The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a massive increase in renewable energy production by 2030. According to a new report published on Wednesday, tripling the capacity – as agreed at the latest climate conference in Dubai – is within reach. The IEA expects renewable energy sources like wind and solar to meet almost half the […]
October 10, 2024
General Motors’ Ultium battery brand name will be discontinued as the company shifts toward incorporating different battery types and chemistries in its electric vehicle (EV) lineup. The move comes as GM aims to cut EV production costs and address the challenges of scaling battery production. Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of batteries (and a former Tesla […]
October 10, 2024
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest mining group, is to buy U.S. lithium producer Arcadium Lithium Plc. The British-Australian group is putting 6,7 billion dollars, or 6,1 billion euros, on the table for the acquisition. This is Rio Tinto’s largest deal in 17 years. With the acquisition, the group is betting heavily on lithium, a […]
October 10, 2024
Dacia, already Europe’s leading B-segment brand, is entering the C-SUV segment with Bigster. This all-new vehicle illustrates Dacia’s core values: essential, eco-smart, robust, and outdoor. It will also be a lot cheaper than its main rivals. The all-new Bigster is tailored to the specific requirements of a still-growing SUV market. “Spiraling costs are an issue […]
October 09, 2024
Another Toyota and Subaru co-developed electric SUV is coming to the US, Europe, and Japan. The new electric SUV will join the current bZ4X and Solterra in the Japanese automaker’s global lineup. Toyota and Subaru worked together to launch the bZ4X and Solterra models in May 2022. These electric SUVs are based on the e-TNGA […]
October 08, 2024
The business newspaper L’Echo writes that there is a good chance that the measure requiring all new cabs in Brussels to be emission-free by January 1st, 2025, will be postponed for a year. The main reason would be that there are not enough charging stations in the Brussels Region, while the high price of new […]
October 08, 2024
Nissan joined the ‘club’ one month after BMW, Honda, and Ford started operating their shared US EV-charging network ChargeScape. The three founding automakers have been researching the possibility of a standard charging service network for some time and have turned their findings into a business. Nissan will be a 25% equity partner in the charging […]
October 08, 2024
Jeep’s commercial results in Europe at the end of September 2024 show a volume of registrations of 100,700 units, an increase of 3.5%, and a market share of 1%. “We are thrilled to announce that Jeep sales in Europe have surpassed 100,000 vehicles, demonstrating that our commitment to delivering a brand that embodies freedom and […]
October 04, 2024
A week before its official premiere at the Paris Motor Show, Peugeot has already revealed the e-408, an electric variant of its mid-size crossover that will try to compete with the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2, among others. This addition means that almost every car available to order in Peugeot’s line-up now offers a […]
October 04, 2024
Skoda has presented the Elroq, its second EV after the Enyaq. When the Skoda comes onto the market in the first quarter of 2025, it will offer much for the money asked. The price for Belux has just been released: €33,990. According to Skoda, it’s the first time a fully electric vehicle is available at […]
October 01, 2024
The planned restart of the Doel 4 nuclear reactor has been postponed until December because the outer shell has been damaged. During a scheduled maintenance service, inspectors discovered damage to the concrete reinforcement of the outermost of two casings above the reactor. Last year, the Alexander Decroo government and operator Electrabel decided to keep the […]
October 01, 2024
Sustainable energy producer Eneco has built Belgium’s largest battery park in Ville-sur-Haine in the province of Hainaut (Wallonia). Last Friday, the press was invited to visit the site. The site housed a coal-fired power station until the 1980s. Now, it has 53 batteries that can store 200 MW of electricity. The batteries will store excess […]
