June 07, 2022
British chemical company Ineos wants to build an open hydrogen network in Antwerp together with gas distributor Fluxys. The hydrogen network must serve as an alternative to fossil fuels. The Ineos factories may later become one of the largest customers of this hydrogen network. Climate-neutral Ineos is the first industrial player to sign an agreement […]
June 07, 2022
Renault’s mobility branch Mobilize has delivered 40 units of the Limo model to its first customer, the Spanish ride-hailing brand Cabify. The cars will be operated in Madrid by Vecttor, a subsidiary of Cabify. In autumn, Mobilize will expand its Vehicle-as-a-Service (VaaS) model to Paris, with more European cities to follow in the coming months. […]
June 07, 2022
The BMW Group has laid the foundation stone for its new electric car plant in Debrecen, Hungary. The company invests more than one billion euros in the site, where series production for the first all-electric New Class vehicle will start in 2025. It will be a complete vehicle plant with a press shop, body shop, […]
June 02, 2022
Renault is extending its range of electrically powered vans with an EV version of the latest Kangoo, the Rapid E-Tech Electric. The arrival of an electric version of the newest generation Kangoo is a logical step. After all, the manufacturer also has a Master E-Tech Electric on offer in the larger van segment. This Kangoo […]
June 02, 2022
EV start-up Rimac has raised 500 million euros in a funding round, attracting investment from new players from the financial sector. As not to dilute its share in the Croatian company Porsche stepped in as well, with an undiclosed but double-digit million cash injection. Everybody knows Rimac from its zero-emission supercars, flirting with 2.000 hp […]
June 02, 2022
Ford is taking the next significant step in its transformation in Europe. Martin Sander becomes General Manager, Ford Model e, for Ford in Europe. Ford Model e is Ford’s new global business unit. It was introduced earlier this year as the company accelerated the transformation of its global automotive business. In his role as General […]
June 02, 2022
Dutch navigation service provider TomTom will be cutting about 500 jobs in the coming period, 10% of the total. The job losses will occur in more than 20 countries. The sites where the maps are made will bear the job losses. TomTom has recently invested a lot of money in a new way of making […]
June 02, 2022
Mercedes-Benz has presented the new generation of its popular SUV model GLC. Only electrified drives are used, which means at least a 48-volt mild hybrid. Three plug-in hybrids offer a battery range of more than 100 kilometers each. According to the press release, the core of all three plug-in hybrids is the new battery, an […]
June 02, 2022
German villages adjacent to the Dutch border are experiencing a flood of Dutch fuel tourists after the government having lowered the pump prices. With differences of some 25 euros per tank herds of drivers from the Netherlands are crossing the border for a cheaper fill. The German police is patrolling to keep the local traffic […]
June 01, 2022
BMW has unveiled the third generation of its most compact crossover, the X1. For the first time, the model will come in an all-electric variant, the iX1, which basically replaces the i3 as the entry-level BEV from Bavaria since production of the latter is ceasing this month. The new X1 sits on flexible underpinnings, accommodating […]
May 31, 2022
The all-new model from DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) was set for a digital launch today following several teasers. Still, the automaker released the first pictures and information earlier than expected through the official website for anyone signing up for news and updates. The DeLorean Alpha5 is designed by Italdesign, just like its predecessor. It is […]
May 31, 2022
As part of a complete network of five hydrogen filling stations, DATS24 opened a second unit in Wilrijk yesterday. The forecourt lies along the busy lanes of the A12 and not far from the city of Antwerp, where garbage trucks drive on the emission-free fuel carrier. The plan for DATS24 to roll out several hydrogen […]
May 31, 2022
Daimler Truck has built the first prototypes of the battery-electric long-distance truck eActros LongHaul and plans to test them on public roads this year. In addition, the truck manufacturer has announced further variants of the eActros for distribution transport. The eActros is an electric truck for distribution transport, delivered since the end of February 2022. […]
May 30, 2022
Arne Christiani, mayor of Grünheide, has confirmed that Tesla has applied for an expansion of the Gigafactory. The newly developed area must provide the factory with logistics space, parking and a goods station. The expansion covers 100 hectares, but the mayor assumes that the permission will be granted. Tesla’s expansion plans are not new. In […]
May 30, 2022
The Chinese battery giant CATL will be supplying BMW with cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles starting from 2025. The cells will be used in BMW’s next generation of EVs, the so-called ‘New Class’. This news was announced by CATL (via Reuters), which has confirmed the signing of an agreement with BMW, but without […]
May 30, 2022
The G7, the international group of the seven largest advanced economies, have agreed on their energy meeting to “predominantly decarbonized electricity sectors by 2035”. The group concluded that “to this end, we will rapidly scale up the necessary technologies and policies for the clean energy transition.” The G7 consists of the United States, Canada, France, […]
May 30, 2022
The Swiss manufacturer Micro Mobility has revealed more details on the individual variants of the Microlino light electric vehicle (LEV) in a virtual presentation. Micro plans to offer a total of four versions of the model. Deliveries of the ‘Pioneers Series ‘that had already been presented are to start in the summer of 2022, first […]
May 30, 2022
For the first time, the German government has refused to back investment in China on the grounds of human rights, with Volkswagen as the applicant. And in Brazil, the car company is facing a trial for slavery during the dictatorship period. It seems like old ghosts are reappearing in Wolfsburg. “A company with activities in […]
May 28, 2022
While the Renault management is trying to get everybody on the same line regarding the possible division of the company into two separate entities (EV and ICE products), a class action is threatening. A growing number of the 1.2 TCE engine users are complaining and threatening to sue the company for negligence. Some thousand owners […]
May 28, 2022
German premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will slowly fade out the manual gearbox from its entire range, mainly due to the increasing electrification of powertrains. The transition to fully automatic transmissions should begin next year. Stuttgart isn’t alone, as many carmakers have already switched to auto boxes and reserved manual transmissions for entry-level […]
May 27, 2022
The French government is working on a project to provide the poorest inhabitants with an electric car at a cost of 100 euros per month. The proposal, first proposed by the Socialist candidate and mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and promised by newly elected president Emmanuel Macron during his first campaign speech on 17 March, […]
May 27, 2022
The German car manufacturing group Volkswagen pays £ 193 million (€ 226 million) to 91 000 British car owners as a settlement in the so-called Dieselgate case. The car owners had set up a class action against the manufacturer. The settlement is private and didn’t pass jurisdictional channels, so there is no confession of guilt, […]
May 27, 2022
BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA), the joint venture between BMW Group and the Chinese manufacturer Brilliance has for the first time established a closed cycle in China for the reuse of the raw materials nickel, lithium, and cobalt from high-voltage batteries. As a result, compared to the use of newly mined material, CO2 emissions are to […]
May 25, 2022
The Italian government has received two offers to acquire a majority stake in the Italian airline ITA Airways, the successor of Alitalia. One offer comes from Lufthansa, joining hands with the Swiss maritime group MSC. The other comes from an American investment group, Certares Management. This offer is backed by Air France/KLM and the American […]
May 25, 2022
The majority of Shell shareholders support the oil and gas company’s plans to reduce its emissions and become climate-neutral by 2050. However, a resolution by activist shareholder Follow This to force Shell to set even stronger climate targets did not get the majority of votes and received less support than last year. The annual meeting […]
May 25, 2022
Swedish electric car manufacturer and Geely daughter Polestar has become a shareholder in Israeli battery developer StoreDot. In addition to the financial investment, both companies want to explore the use of StoreDot’s fast-charging silicon-dominated batteries for future Polestar vehicles. Volvo Cars had already invested in StoreDot in April. StoreDot’s other strategic partners include Mercedes-Benz, BP, […]
May 25, 2022
D’Ieterens ‘Lucien’ bike business has a new, important competitor: Raida. The new group consists of three local chains: Cool Electro Cycles (West-Flanders), Velodome (Antwerp), and Bicyclic (Wallonia). Altogether, they represent 22 shops with 120 employees and a € 40 million turnover. Another big chain is the Colruyd daughter Bike Republic (formerly called Fiets!), which counts […]
May 24, 2022
Somewhere in the first half of 2025, Hyundai will start the production of electric models and batteries in a new factory in Georgia, US. The plant must reach an annual output of 300,000 cars. In addition, the South-Korean carmaker is joining forces with another yet unnamed partner for battery manufacturing. The budget of 5.5 billion […]
May 24, 2022
As the world’s largest producer of cobalt, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) no longer wants to settle for the role of a raw material supplier. Instead, it wants to build its own battery supply chain in the country. A battery factory is also being considered, together with country neighbor Zambia. As the German Handelsblatt […]
May 24, 2022
In the first quarter of 2022, three times more EVs were sold worldwide than last year. With two million battery-powered vehicles registered already this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) sees a substantial increase in EV adoption, especially in China and the EU. Of all new car sales, EVs now represent 10%. According to the […]
May 24, 2022
The BMW Group plans to open its planned Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre (CMCC) in Parsdorf near Munich in the autumn of this year. According to the car manufacturer, the pilot line in the center of excellence will enable it to fully analyze and understand the value-added processes of the cell. Now that the immission control […]
May 24, 2022
The Chinese car and battery manufacturer BYD has started offering its Seal electric sedan in China. This means that the prices and some technical data of the eagerly awaited electric car, which is intended to compete with the Tesla Model 3, have been released. The BYD Seal is available in four versions with ranges between […]
May 23, 2022
Lancia is resurrecting. It starts its ‘ten-year plan’, which will begin in 2024 with the new Lancia Ypsilon. In 2026, the new flagship is supposed to arrive, 4,6 meters long, which will allow the brand to enter the largest segment in Europe. 2028 will be the year of the new 4,4 meters long ‘Delta’, a […]
May 23, 2022
Mercedes has unveiled a design study guiding the electrification strategy for its performance brand AMG. CEO of Mercedes-Benz Ola Källenius also announced that the brand would move away from lower-margin models and reap more profitability from luxury models. With sleek lines and a long profile, the Vision AMG takes several cues from the Mercedes EQXX, […]
May 23, 2022
Renault has presented the Scenic Vision, a compact class show car that has both a large battery and fuel cell on board. The car gets its energy in two ways: it can use electricity from the battery and it can recharge from hydrogen while driving (via electrolysis). The French company describes the concept as a […]
May 23, 2022
The district court of Detmold started a historic court trial against Volkswagen on Friday. The accusor is Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, a German organic farmer who claims that the German car giant is responsible for the demise of his farm, with his crops and animals suffering from global warming. Greenpeace supports the court case. Allhoff-Cramer is a […]
May 20, 2022
The Swedish energy company Vattenfall is building a wind turbine that produces hydrogen in front of Scotland’s coastline. According to the company, this is a world’s first. An electrolyzer placed on an existing wind turbine produces the hydrogen. To realize the project, Vattenfall has been awarded £ 9,3 million (approximately € 11 million) in innovation […]
May 20, 2022
“ESG is a fraud.” With these exact words, Elon Musk tweeted his disapproval over Tesla being removed from the S&P 500 ESG. The stock index for sustainable trading doesn’t regard Tesla as an exemplar anymore. Despite Tesla’s mission to accelerate the net-zero transition on a global scale, the index sees too many objections for the […]
May 20, 2022
The European Commission wants the EU to faster accelerate its endeavor to gain energetical independence. Energy use must be more efficient, the energy supply must be diversified, and the energy sources must become sustainable. The whole plan has been presented this week under the REPowerEU name. The war in Ukraine has once again emphasized the […]
May 19, 2022
Under development for many years, the airless tire for cars is still at a prototype stage, but some heavy-duty equipment already makes good use of it. Advantages include the complete resistance to puncture, lower maintenance, and easier recycling. However, this do-it-all tire is still facing issues with road noise and suspension. Goodyear is currently developing […]
May 19, 2022
In a press release, the American EV manufacturer announced that also in Belgium, certain Tesla superchargers would be made available to electric vehicles of other brands. This means that 141 additional fast-charging points will now be available in Belgium. Tesla drivers are not complaining Tesla announced last year that it would open up its charging […]
May 19, 2022
BMW Group has become the most important investor in Mangrove Lithium through its venture capital arm, BMW i Ventures. The Canadian company has developed a process to transform virgin and recycled raw lithium into battery-grade material. “Mangrove’s modular, feedstock-flexible technology has attracted serious investors who see that our technology gets global refining capacity much closer […]
May 19, 2022
Giant Japanese carmaker Toyota has announced a significant partnership with the French world leader in gas and technologies Air Liquide for hydrogen mobility. Together with Portuguese bus manufacturer CaetanoBus, they will act on developing infrastructure and vehicle fleets to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen for both light and heavy vehicles. “We are uniting our forces […]
May 18, 2022
For months now, Renault has been thinking of separating its activities into electric and thermic ones. The Renault bosses met with their Alliance partners Nissan and Mitsubishi in Japan yesterday. The message was clear: Both Japanese partners could decide whether and when to join the electric pole. They can jump on the running train whenever […]
May 18, 2022
According to a report from InfluenceMap, a conglomerate of a UK-based non-profit and a US charity, the production of electric and hydrogen vehicles won’t be enough to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate objective of limiting temperature rise to 1,5°C. Zero-emission vehicles should represent 57,5% of sales and 20% of the whole fleet by 2030. However, […]
May 18, 2022
At the IAA 2021, Porsche lifted the curtain on the Mission R, the electric version of the Cayman. Today, the South German sports car manufacturer indicates which direction the electrically powered coupé will take, as Porsche shows the first prototype with stunning specifications. The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance is the base for this concept […]
May 18, 2022
Volvo Trucks has inaugurated a factory for battery assembly in Ghent, aside from its plant for truck assembly to support its electrification program. The site will not complete cells but put together packs supplied by Samsung SDI. Volvo Trucks already has several all-electric heavy-duty vehicles in its portfolio with the FH, FM, FMX, FE, and […]
May 18, 2022
ABB E-Mobility and Shell plan to set up the first Germany-wide charging network with ABB’s Terra 360 fast-charging station. More than 200 charging stations, each with a capacity of up to 360 kW, are to be put into operation over the next twelve months. Later, other countries are to follow. In September 2021, ABB introduced […]
May 17, 2022
In his eagerly awaited report, the intendant appointed by the Belgian government, Guy Vloebergh, concludes that the Ventilus line is best placed above ground. The high voltage connection, which must bring wind electricity from the North Sea onshore, has been strongly debated. Action groups now threaten with legal procedures, which would stall the project resulting […]
May 17, 2022
After the ID.3, the ID.4, ID.5, and the ID. Buzz, it looks like the next in line of VW’s electric ID. products will be the compact ID.2. Earlier, VW already showed a concept version in the form of the ID. Life. So it looks like the production version of that ID. Life will not be […]
May 17, 2022
French start-up of hydrogen cars Hopium wants to appoint Minister of Transport Jean-Baptiste Djebbari to its board of directors. Djebbari is still serving at the Elysée but has announced that he intends to retire from political life with the formation of a new government at hand. The specific tasks for Djebbari have not been made […]
May 17, 2022
SOLiTHOR, a spin-off of the Leuven-based research company Imec, will develop and market solid-state batteries under the brand name SOLiTHOR. These batteries should also be usable in automotive applications within five to ten years because they are safer, weigh less, and, above all, are cheaper than the current generation of batteries. Ten years of research […]
May 17, 2022
A broad cross-industry coalition is now including Ford of Europe and Volvo Cars. They are appealing to the EU to ensure that all new cars and vans in Europe are zero-emission from 2035 and establish mandatory charging infrastructure targets. The coalition says the deadline for new fossil fuel engines is needed to ensure the last […]
May 17, 2022
The Dutch start-up Squad Mobility presents the final version of its solar two-seater, which was first shown three years ago and is scheduled to go into production in 2023. The Squad (or Solar Quad) can be bought starting from € 6 250 net and can be reserved now via fully-refundable, non-binding pre-orders for the Netherlands, […]
May 17, 2022
According to media reports, Audi will only offer its compact A3 model in pure electric form for the next generation due in 2027 as part of its accelerated electric vehicle course. As the company has decided to move away from really small cars, this A3 e-tron will probably be the smallest Audi in the range. […]
May 16, 2022
The global industry is accelerating its investment in energy efficiency in the next five years as the crucial race towards Net-Zero intensifies, a new survey commissioned by ABB finds out. 90% will increase spending over the next five years, while 52 percent plan to achieve Net Zero within the same period. This Energy Efficiency Investment […]
May 16, 2022
The Afro-European startup NamX has presented a fuel cell SUV designed by Pininfarina set for market launch in 2025. The highlight of this Hydrogen Utility Vehicle (HUV) lies in its hydrogen storage. NamX’s patented technology combines a fixed hydrogen tank and six removable capsules as secondary tanks. These tanks were of primary concern also to […]
May 16, 2022
Renault has confirmed the launch of a strategic review into a spin-off of its electric car business. – and provided more details. At the same time, Renault Group signs agreements to sell Renault Russia and its controlling interests in Avtovaz. Specifically, a separate company in France could be dedicated to developing, producing, and distributing electric […]
May 13, 2022
After having suffered two financial years of losses, Japanese carmaker Nissan ends 2021 with a full-year net income of 215,5 billion yen (€ 1,6 billion) in spite of the currently extremely challenging automotive environment. The group benefited from its 2019 restructuration and NEXT strategy focusing on quality sales. “The business environment in 2021 remained extremely […]
May 13, 2022
The Environmental Committee of the European Parliament has voted in favor of a sales ban on internal combustion engines for cars and vans as of 2035. The Committee dismissed synthetic fuels as a solution and didn’t adopt new interim CO2 targets for the automotive industry. The European lawmakers stayed close to the original proposal by […]
