April 12, 2021
79% of European drivers say they would consider buying an electric vehicle as their next car. Almost half of the respondents say that the most popular reason for considering the change is a zero-emissions vehicle’s environmental benefits. This is the evidence from a pan-European survey of 7 000 motorists across Europe by the Japanese multinational […]
April 09, 2021
Recently US President Joe Biden unveiled his two-trillion-dollar investment plan. Now details are emerging about the e-mobility investments it includes. An impressive $100 billion incentive plan is to purchase subsidies for electric cars, and $15 billion is foreseen to build 500 000 charging stations. Reuters press agency issued the news, which was able to see […]
April 09, 2021
Early this year, Belgian energy regulator VREG announced that energy suppliers would start offering dynamic electricity contracts. The first to jump on the bandwagon was Yosu, which offers the formula for small businesses. Engie is now following suit. Their Dynamic contract is also available for private individuals, but only in Flanders. Engie says the new […]
April 09, 2021
A consortium with partners from Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Portugal is testing a bi-modal train prototype, which uses its pantograph on regular electrified lines and a fuel cell and hydrogen to make its own electricity when not available. Brussels-based Toyota Motor Europe will supply the fuel cells. The project, called FCH2RAIL (Fuel Cell Hybrid Power […]
April 08, 2021
In the past months, the Norwegian car market had a dip, and also the electrified cars suffered. Now the market is jumping up again, and the sales of EVs and hybrids now represent 85% of the entire car market. In March 2021, buyers in Norway bought 8 624 new fully electric passenger cars. Besides, there […]
April 08, 2021
Clean, ‘green hydrogen’ made with renewable energy will become cheaper sooner than expected, with costs dropping by 85% to become even cheaper than natural gas by 2050. That is, below $1/kg ($7,4/MMBtu) by 2050, says BloombergNEV (BNEV), the Bloomberg media concern’s energy research branch, after readjusting its energy outlook. The key driver will be the […]
April 08, 2021
One of the striking items in car manufacturer Polestar’s first annual review is the aim to create the first truly climate-neutral car by 2030. The Polestar 0 project wants to eliminate all emissions in a car’s production process without so-called offsetting (compensating emissions by planting trees, for example). Environmental experts have already warned several times […]
April 07, 2021
General Motors opens the order book for the all-new electric Hummer, which will be offered as a pickup and an SUV. The new Hummer promises great off-road capabilities, thanks to the considerable height adjustment and the Crab Walk, enabling the car also to move laterally. Like its predecessor, this version is heavy, lacking in streamlining, […]
April 07, 2021
Volvo Cars reported the best first quarter in its history. The company’s global sales increased by 40,8% compared to the same period last year. For March, Volvo Cars sold 75 315 cars globally, up 62,3% compared with the same month last year. Total sales during the period amounted to 185 698 cars, up from 131 […]
April 07, 2021
While the official world première of Mercedes’ EQS flagship is in a week, Mercedes has already revealed some key technical data. At the same time, there are signs that Mercedes-Benz is working on a pure electric G-Class. Daimler has already started battery assembly for the EQS at the end of March. Recently it published photos […]
April 07, 2021
Belgian retail group Colruyt starts to offer 100% renewable surplus electricity from its own wind parks to private individuals via its DATS 24 energy daughter. It started to finetune the new offer with 1 500 households of its own personnel and is now expanding it to private individuals, its regular supermarket clients. The five windmills […]
April 06, 2021
Cologne’s public transport company KVB has ordered another 51 VDL Citeas SLFA-181 Electric articulated buses to be delivered in 2022. This will bring the electric VDL fleet of the German city to 113 vehicles. That’s more than the largest VDL Citeas Electric fleet in operation today, in and around Amsterdam. VDL Citeas are deliverable in […]
April 06, 2021
Wind farms at sea are only producing one-third of their energy production capacity despite the wind. According to the Belgian Offshore Platform representing investors in renewable energy at the North Sea, many wind turbines are switched off because the surplus production leads to negative energy prices. Low and negative prices are more and more frequent […]
April 06, 2021
Recently, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse gave a series of boardroom interviews entitled “Delivering Net Zero”. He told the news agency Reuters, for example, that he’s no big fan of dedicated EV platforms and that BMW is ready to compete with Tesla. Meanwhile, he stresses that BMW doesn’t lag when it comes to energy transition and […]
April 06, 2021
Last week, the new electric flagship of South-Korean car manufacturer Kia was officially launched. The EV6 wants to symbolize the new brand strategy and is the first electric Kia on the dedicated E-GMP platform. Earlier, we already gave you information about the new philosophy behind the car and a grand overlook of its design features. […]
April 02, 2021
Efteling, the fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, near Tilburg in the Netherlands, just opened the largest charging hub in the Benelux. This week, energy provider Eneco eMobility added 60 charging stations, each with two charging points, bringing the total to 87 and enabling 174 electric cars to charge simultaneously. Efteling joined forces with Eneco to […]
April 01, 2021
Mercedes-AMG has officially announced the details of its electrification strategy. Mercedes’ sporty daughter will launch performance hybrids and battery-electric derivatives. They will be based on the new Mercedes Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) for luxury cars. AMG’s first electrified road models should come on the market later this year. According to AMG, the drive strategy will […]
April 01, 2021
According to the newest Oeco report about the environmental and climate policy, Belgium is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Harmful emissions and energy consumption decreased during the past ten years. Still, Belgium’s performance remains insufficient to stop biodiversity loss and alleviate the growing pressure of demographic development, urbanization, and […]
April 01, 2021
The marketing stunt of the German VW Group is turning against her. On Tuesday, Volkswagen of America leaked a marketing message: the company will rename itself into Voltswagen of America. It was fake news. Afterward, the message has been denied, qualified as an April Fool’s joke, and reconfirmed as a deliberate strategy. After Dieselgate, VW […]
March 31, 2021
BP has agreed to join BMW Group and Daimler Mobility AG in developing charging networks. Under the agreement, BP will become a 33.3% partner alongside BMW Group and Daimler Mobility AG in Digital Charging Solutions GmbH (DCS). DCS is one of Europe’s leading developers of digital charging solutions for automotive manufacturers and vehicle fleet operators. […]
March 30, 2021
Ford of Europe’s electrification program will make long-time icon Mondeo disappear at the beginning of next year. The Galaxy and S-Max MPVs will stay in production. Of course, the fact that Ford needs production capacity in its Valencia plant for new electrified engines is not the main reason for Mondeo’s demise. The so-called D-segment sedan […]
March 30, 2021
While the vast majority of newly registered medium and heavy buses in Europe in 2020 were still diesel propelled (72,9%), electrically charged vehicles (ECV) increased by 18,4% from 1 448 units in 2019 to 1 714, representing a market share of 6,1%. According to ACEA’s latest figures, the Netherlands clearly leads the dance with 446 […]
March 30, 2021
German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz published the first details and photos of the interior of its electric luxury sedan EQS. The world premiere of the model will take place on 15 April, but Mercedes is already giving a preview of the ‘hyperscreen’ integrated into the cockpit. The most striking element is undoubtedly the ‘MBUX Hyperscreen’, the […]
March 29, 2021
Two weeks ago, Peugeot launched the brand-new 308. The car will first be available with conventional ICE engines and in an electrified form in two PHEV power variations. Recently, the full EV has also been confirmed. The 308 is one of the bestsellers in the compact C-segment and has already been sold more than 7 […]
March 26, 2021
According to a Dutch PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study, there are no ‘insuperable difficulties‘ for the Netherlands’ goal to ban sales of ICE cars by 2030 totally. In that year, some 1,9 million EVs will drive around, with the Dutch driving 28 billion kilometers annually purely electric. PwC bases its findings on current prognoses in the car […]
March 26, 2021
In the wake of the Renaulution plan, CEO Luca de Meo’s sweeping stratagem for a turnaround at the brand, Renault is also uplifting and reviewing its commercial vehicle branch. As part of its energy transition, it is expanding and will focus more on greener technology, even including hydrogen propulsion. Mark Sutcliffe, Senior Vice President LCV […]
March 26, 2021
Electric car manufacturer Tesla now has more than 6 000 superchargers all over Europe. They’re clustered in 601 locations in 27 European countries. Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk draws the attention once again, clashing with the American National Labor Relations Board and the German TV station ZDF. The first supercharger was installed by Tesla in Norway […]
March 25, 2021
BMW North America and Californian energy provider Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) extend their ChargeForward pilot from 400 to 3 000 electric BMW drivers. Urged by a central BMW server to move their EV charging times, drivers can support the grid while taking advantage of renewable energy when there is less demand such as […]
March 25, 2021
Toyota’s director of Energy & Environmental Research, Robert Wimmer, has pointed out before the American Senate “the tremendous challenges” that are awaiting us when we go too fast in the energy transition. Simultaneously, the leaving CEO of Toyota Europe, Johan van Zyl, is declaring that the company will launch “at least ten fully electric vehicles […]
March 24, 2021
Dutch EV fast-charging scale-up yeet! Power is looking over the borders to France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium to invest some €60 million in 250 new fast-charging locations. Forty to fifty of them yeet! wants to realize in Flanders that will be the main focus to start, CEO Wim Boer told financial news channel Kanaal Z […]
March 24, 2021
The combined energy production of nuclear power plants, solar panels, and wind farms leads to an electricity surplus and lower or even negative energy prices. Wind farms risk being shut down this summer on one out of four weekends. According to Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen), this shows the energy market needs more […]
March 24, 2021
Audi’s electric offensive is picking up steam. Just shortly after the launch of the GT e-tron, the company announces the production start in Zwickau of their compact electric SUV, the Q4 e-tron. With assembly now up and running, the company is on a full schedule for the mid-April global unveiling set. The car will be […]
March 24, 2021
Practically everybody agrees that the car market is reaching a turning point and that the energy transition is near. But which European citizens are most interested in EVs? The English company Click4Reg, a private plates supplier, tried to find out by sourcing search data on Ahrefs.com across Europe. It may come as no great surprise […]
March 24, 2021
Geely, the Chinese car manufacturing group, has now confirmed that it is planning a new brand called Zeekr to be positioned in the premium segment and to compete with, for example, Tesla. The plan is to launch the brand under Geely’s planned subsidiary Lingling Technologies. It has been public since mid-February that Geely wants to […]
March 23, 2021
Seat announced that at its annual press conference, it wants to produce 500 000 EVs per year in Spain from 2025 onward for its own label and other Volkswagen Group brands. The Spanish VW daughter announced the target and the reveal of its own new ‘urban electric vehicle’, a tiny EV that currently only exists […]
March 22, 2021
Recently, car leasing company LeasePlan published its yearly ‘Mobility Insight Report’. According to Johan Portier, Managing Director of LeasePlan Belgium, the most striking result is that some 55% of the Belgians consider switching to electricity when buying a new car. “We are at a crucial tipping point regarding electric driving,” he says. We had a […]
March 22, 2021
French rolling stock giant Alstom is touring Flemish cities in a charming offensive for its Aptis city e-bus. This 12-meter bus, with a capacity of 100 passengers, is fully electric, featuring large glass surfaces for better viewing, an electric entry platform for the disabled, and takes up 25% less space on street curves due to […]
March 22, 2021
Four major motorbike manufacturers have teamed up to develop swappable universal batteries for use in light motorbikes and scooters. These four pioneers are Honda, Yamaha, KTM, and Piaggio. This cooperation goes a lot further than what we have seen in the automotive sector so far. These are compact batteries that are also interchangeable and can […]
March 22, 2021
In June last year, we talked to you about the advent of a new pure electric car from Ford, the Mustang Mach E. Meanwhile, Ford has launched a sportier GT version of this car (to better cope with the Mustang aura?), and the ‘normal’ Mustang Mach E has arrived in the showrooms. We were able […]
March 18, 2021
This Wednesday, petroleum giant Total has opened in Jambes its first ‘bio-CNG’ filling station in Wallonia. Actually, the fuel coming out of the nozzle today is no different than regular CNG. Total compensates every kilogram with a certificate of origin it buys in the Netherlands or France as an equivalent to biogas, until it finds […]
March 18, 2021
Segway, the producer of electric mobility solutions, launches three e-scooters and a moped. According to the company, they are affordable yet foreseen with the newest connectivity technologies. Notable features are a color LED-screen and the fact that one can easily operate them by smartphone. Segway now offers eBrommers (mopeds) and eScooters, and the starting price […]
March 17, 2021
On the same day as their annual conference, BMW has given more details and the prices for their new flagship, the all-electric SUV iX. At the market introduction end of this year, clients will be able to choose between an iX xDrive40 and an iX xDrive50. They don’t like to call their products at BMW […]
March 17, 2021
MG has been active in the European market for two years today. It started with the MG ZS, a compact SUV, and the manufacturer indicates that two more electric models will be launched in 2021: the Marvel R Electric and the MG5 Electric. MG is currently present on the Belgian market with two models. The […]
March 17, 2021
At the BMW Group’s annual conference, CEO Oliver Zipse started his keynote speech with his view from a long-term perspective, assembled in five beliefs. At the same time, the production version of the i4 has been revealed. “At BMW, our decisions are based on a long-term perspective,” said Zipse. “That makes anticipating how the world […]
March 17, 2021
The German car manufacturer Audi, part of the VW Group, has stopped developing new combustion engines (ICE). Audi CEO Markus Duesmann justified the decision with the EU plans for a stricter Euro 7 emission standard. In an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Duesmann said: “We will no longer develop a new combustion […]
March 16, 2021
Yesterday, the Volkswagen Group presented its technology roadmap for batteries and charging up to 2030 today on its first s-called ‘Power Day’. It wants six gigafactories of battery cells before 2030, totaling 240 GWh. The roadmap’s goal is to significantly reduce the battery’s complexity and cost to make the electric car attractive and viable for […]
March 16, 2021
Thousands of Teslas and Chinese EVs, among which the first shipment arriving in Zeebrugge of Lynk & Co’s 01 PHEVs, are charged from now on with green electricity delivered by windmills. Since the end of February, the new 11 units wind farm of roll-on/roll-off goods handler and vehicle processing specialist, International Car Operators (ICO), is […]
March 16, 2021
Opel seems to be electrifying its cult model Manta. The German carmaker has provided a first preview of the Opel Manta GSe ElektroMOD, a purely electric reinterpretation of the 1970 original. It remains unclear whether the electric Manta will remain a one-off or actually go into production. Opel has only published a computer-generated image and […]
March 15, 2021
Peugeot is adjusting its plans in the electrification of its models. By 2023 every model in the range will be electrified. The reason is twofold: the arrival of Fiat in the Stellantis group changes the balance. On the other hand, the demographic future – with five billion people living in an urban environment by 2040 […]
March 15, 2021
The BMW Group already said recently that it would accelerate its strategy into electrification and becoming a renewable manufacturer. This week, it will probably announce that BMW goes for cars that are entirely recyclable from 2025 onward and that Mini will be fully electric in 2030. Next Wednesday, the BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse will […]
March 12, 2021
Despite the stormy weather on Thursday, energy provider Eneco had to inactivate its wind farm – Seamade – at the North Sea. The surplus of electricity from nuclear power plants, solar panels, and wind farms made energy prices plunge and even led to negative electricity prices. Wednesday night and Thursday, the wind was so strong […]
March 12, 2021
While in the passenger car market alternative drivetrains like BEVs and PHEVs, in particular, are gaining momentum, in the EU truck market, it’s the diesel engine that remains omnipresent with 96,4% of new sales, despite an overall decline of -25,5%. The share of alternative fuels (3,5%) – with natural gas representing 99% of this – […]
March 12, 2021
BMW reckons that the new positive momentum that was already visible in the second half of last year will continue in 2021. The pandemic has caused a 23% fall in net benefit in 2020. This resulted in €3,9 billion instead of €5 billion in 2019. Total turnover went down 5% to €99 billion. The benefit […]
March 11, 2021
Together with the Netherlands and Denmark, Belgium has issued a demand to the EU authorities to fix a date on which cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) would be prohibited. Six other EU member states have joined the action: Austria, Greece, Ireland, Lituania, Luxembourg, and Malta. The Belgian demand has been signed by two […]
March 11, 2021
As of today, March 11, a minimal number of EV charging points or preparatory works will be mandatory in the building sector for new developments, or structural renovation works to acquire an environmental permit in Flanders. The decree was issued in March last year to become active in March 2021. For newly built non-residential buildings […]
March 10, 2021
German automotive supplier ZF sees an important future for 800V technology in electric vehicles. Initially, this would mainly concern premium products that can be charged more quickly and are, therefore, easier to use for longer distances. ZF hopes that 800 V will become the standard by 2026 in the premium EV segment and for sports […]
March 10, 2021
California-based green energy start-up HyPoint has developed a lightweight fuel cell stack prototype that claims to outperform by far the energy density limits of current lithium-ion batteries that today prevent the breakthrough of zero-emission aviation. HyPoint’s ‘turbo air-cooled’ fuel cell stack would allow five times more flying time and a tenfold operational time increase, at […]
March 09, 2021
Dutch oil and energy giant Shell has set up a pilot at its charging station in Zaltbommel (Netherlands) for using a ‘superbattery’ to enable simultaneous fast-charging for two EVs at 175kW in cases the electricity grid can’t deliver locally. According to Shell, the Alfen static battery has an additional benefit as it “can use the […]
March 09, 2021
Porsche increases its stake in the Croatian electric technology and sports car company Rimac Automobili from 15,5 to 24%. At the same time, rumors heighten Porsche’s thinking of an initial public offering (IPO). In 2018, the German luxury carmaker took a 10% stake in Rimac and increased its holding to 15,5% a little over a […]
March 08, 2021
The Volkswagen brand has presented its ‘Accelerate’ strategy that should speed up its electric plans. Spain will be one of the key factors in this plan to produce EVs and (jointly) produce batteries. Volkswagen’s target is to increase the share of fully electric cars. Sales in Europe should rise to over 70% by 2030. This […]
