December 22, 2020
The European Commission has given the green light for the merger between car manufacturer groups PSA and FCA. Both have to accept the conditions that the EU authorities foresee for the deal, notably preserving free competition in the light commercial vehicles (LCV) sector. PSA (representing Citroën, DS, Opel, and Peugeot) and FCA (Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, […]
December 21, 2020
The Belgian railway company, NMBS/SNCB, has ordered 200 additional M7 double-deck carriages from Bombardier in Bruges. The order is positive news for Bombardier’s 500 employees. It represents one and a half or even two years of job security, Peter Boels, General Director of the Bruges site, told Belga press agency. The production site is building […]
December 21, 2020
According to figures from the European bureau of statistics Eurostat, only 9,9% of the energy Belgians used in 2019 came from renewable sources while the European average is 19,7%. Forerunners are Sweden (56,4%), Finland (43,1%), and Latvia (41%). The Netherlands (8,8%), Malta (8,5%), and Luxembourg (7%) even have lower scores than Belgium. In 2020, Belgium […]
December 18, 2020
Antwerp will have a new shared e-scooter platform as of February 2021. The Dutch Go Sharing will introduce 500 flashy green electric scooters in the city. Users only have to download the Go Sharing app to find, unlock, and pay for the vehicle. According to the company, the formula is easy and cheap, green, and […]
December 18, 2020
German start-up e.GO Mobile AG, a spin-off from the RWTH Aachen University, will finally start building the e.GO city car – rebaptized into ‘Next e.GO’ – on the former Philips site in Aachen from 2021 on. Eventually, that was planned in 2018, but the project needed fresh money from a Dutch private equity firm to […]
December 18, 2020
“Volkswagen is doing too little to promote sales of its electric cars,” says Greenpeace. It’s not the first time that it has been noticed that dealers of almost all brands are not so well-informed about their EV products. A survey of Greenpeace in Germany seems to confirm this. Greenpeace just published a paper about the […]
December 17, 2020
Now that VW Group CEO Herbert Diess has been confirmed in his role by the Supervisory Board, he rolls out its plans for Volkswagen’s ‘mother plant’ in home town Wolfsburg. On Wednesday, he gave a (digital) speech to around 15 000 VW managers to explain his views. The new electric car to be made in […]
December 17, 2020
By renewing its car fleet with 39 new PHEV vehicles, software and IT specialist Netika consolidates its green vision. BMW/Mini dealer Ginion Group (Wavre) delivered 39 PHEV vehicles (BMW and Mini) to replace and enlarge its car fleet. Neofleet, a new fleet management system, has a solution for recurrent managing problems with green car fleets. […]
December 17, 2020
DPG Media, Belgium’s and the Netherlands’ biggest publisher, launched on its Flemish media website hln.be a new car info channel for consumers, called HLNDrive. Positioned beside the classic ‘Auto’ news channel, it claims to be a comparison tool for potential car buyers with TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) information about 435 car models on sale […]
December 16, 2020
The energy transition is inevitable. The sooner manufacturers are adapting themselves to it, the better for them. Nevertheless, manufacturers of real luxury cars seem to have many problems to adapt themselves, Porsche being a notable exception. For many of those traditionally-thinking companies, the energy transition won’t be a piece of cake. By the look of […]
December 16, 2020
French automotive supplier Valeo launches a center motor for electric bicycles. The drive is revolutionary because an automatic gearbox is provided in the drive on the pedal shaft. Pedelecs usually have a classic shifting device on the rear wheel. Valeo is mainly known as a supplier in the automotive sector, but now that the Covid-19 […]
December 16, 2020
Several European organizations specialized in collecting used lithium-ion batteries have joined forces and created Reneos. A European platform to collect, recycle and reuse batteries of hybrid and electric cars, buses, trucks, forklift trucks, cranes, boats, e-bikes, home batteries, etc. Reneos is an initiative of Europe’s top national battery collection systems and offers a full range […]
December 15, 2020
The German car manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz, has given details about the introduction of six new EQ models (battery electric vehicles) between now and 2022. The manufacturer wants to play a leading role in electric powertrains and vehicle software. The systematic electrification of its model portfolio is an important part of the new strategic plan Ambition39. At […]
December 15, 2020
According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), new car sales in China have risen by 12,6% in November, the highest progression in the whole year. Out of the 2,77 million cars sold in the world’s first car market during that month, electric and hybrid car sales grew to 200 000. It’s a quite different […]
December 14, 2020
2021 is approaching, and car tax rules and schemes are changing again. Compared to the city toll (Brussels) and the road-pricing (again) discussed, the implementable changes are not so important. Flanders was the first to draw its car tax scheme for 2021; we reported it two months ago. The most important things were adapted calculations […]
December 14, 2020
The Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB introduced a new timetable on Sunday, December 13th. The new schedule provides more than 400 additional trains a week, and the number of trains will increase up to almost 1 000 a week by 2023. The Board of Directors of the NMBS/SNCB earlier announced to increase the offer of trains […]
December 11, 2020
Brussels Airport registered ‘only’ 233 528 passengers during November, or only 12% of travelers compared to last year. Figures would improve slightly during the Christmas holidays, the airport expects. Still, the sector is pessimistic. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the impact of the pandemic to grow worse next year than expected initially. The […]
December 10, 2020
In a report published last month, French governmental institution France Stratégie declared that China could bring the European industry to its knees. This document now echoes back as the first Chinese-made Tesla Model 3 arrived in Zeebruges on September 27. Other well-known carmakers have decided to build their products in China, such as BMW, Polestar, […]
December 10, 2020
The Swedish manufacturer Volvo Cars announced that it would assemble electric motors at its engine plant in Skövde, Sweden. The Geely-owned Swedish company aims to establish a complete in-house production of electric motors at the plant by the middle of this decade. Volvo says that €68 million will be invested for this purpose over the […]
December 10, 2020
Last year, 30 296 bicycles were officially stolen. Among them numerous e-bikes, which increases the amount of the loss. In 2019, it was rounded up to 144 million euros. Mobility organization Touring analyzed the figures originating from the federal police and bicycle fair Velofolies. The number of thefts remains stable, but Touring emphasizes these are […]
December 10, 2020
The German car manufacturer Audi has announced that it will soon start producing the e-tron GT. It’s the most powerful electric model built by Audi so far and will be built at the Böllinger Höfe site in Neckarsulm with a CO2-neutral balance sheet. The e-tron GT is also the first electric Audi to be produced […]
December 09, 2020
Hyundai launches the new Tucson at the beginning of 2021 and the range will include both mild hybrids and a plug-in hybrid with a 13,8 kWh battery capacity from launch onward. The first units of the compact SUV should be at dealerships as of March next year. The Korean manufacturer has developed an innovative design […]
December 09, 2020
On Tuesday, German car manufacturing group Daimler announced to sell its Smart production plant in Hambach (north-east of France) to Ineos Automotive, part of the British chemical company Ineos. All staff should be transferred to the new owner, and production of the Grenadier off-roader should start in 2022 alongside the electric two-seater Smart EQ Fortwo […]
December 08, 2020
Japanese car manufacturer Toyota launches Kinto Europe, a provider of mobility services throughout Europe. Toyota wants to involve its dealer network as much as possible, to keep it alive, of course, and stay in touch longer with the clients. Selling is out. All sorts of ‘renting’ offer many more possibilities to please the customer and […]
December 08, 2020
On December 14th, the first trains will ride on the new so-called ‘rail bypass’ in Mechelen. The bypass consists of two new rails of 3,2 km each. They’re part of the intensively used Antwerp-Mechelen-Brussels connection – the oldest train line in Belgium – and link up with the Diabolo connection to the Brussels airport. Simultaneously, […]
December 08, 2020
Most car manufacturers follow the path to electric propulsion via hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. Chinese carmaker MG does the opposite. After introducing a fully electric vehicle, the MG ZS EV now introduces a plug-in hybrid SUV on the European markets, called MG EHS Plug-in Hybrid. The newcomer, also an SUV, is larger, roomier, and […]
December 07, 2020
After the Opel Corsa-e, Opel also is to offer a compact SUV with an electrical drive, the Mokka-e from March 2021 on. The latter is doing so well in pre-registrations on the German market that the quotum for 2021 of some variants of the electric SUV are ‘sold out’ up to September next year, according […]
December 07, 2020
The Supervisory Board of Daimler has given its CEO Ola Källenius the green light for an investment package worth more than 70 billion euros. Daimler intends to invest this sum between 2021 and 2025, in particular, to drive forward electrification and digitization. According to Daimler Group’s announcement, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars will account for the largest […]
December 07, 2020
The railway companies from France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland will sign a declaration of intention on Tuesday to launch new cross-border night train connections as of 2021. That is what is to be read in an invitation for a press conference of Deutsche Bahn and the German Ministry of Transport mentioned. The idea of a […]
December 04, 2020
German carmaker BMW announces that it will withdraw from Formula E after the end of next season. Volkswagen and Audi earlier said they are leaving this discipline. What is happening? BMW puts many motorsport activities on hold, but the most striking decision is to stop Formula E after seven seasons. According to the manufacturer, the […]
December 04, 2020
Daimler workers have sent 50 000 postcards to the Daimler management to protest against its reorganization plans. According to the unions, it’s the first action of this kind in its history. Daimler is planning to dismiss 4 000 of the 19 000 workers by 2025. According to the German premium car manufacturer, these resignments are […]
December 03, 2020
The sector of home delivery seems to be booming, influenced by the corona crisis. The French company Hiflow, a platform specialized in the home delivery of vehicles, is coming to Belgium and has appointed Belgian Michaël Thys as Country Manager of the Belgian branch. “Hiflow is responding to important trends in the car sector,” says […]
December 03, 2020
Travelers who want to combine their train journey in the Netherlands with a shared scooter or car ride can do so from this Thursday onward in a single app, the so-called NS Lab app. These are electric cars and electric scooters a traveler can reserve shortly before use. In the NS Lab app, an app […]
December 03, 2020
Car manufacturer VDL Nedcar in Born (The Netherlands) is going to cut 750 jobs. According to a spokesperson of the company, 150 permanent and 600 temporary jobs will be lost. The decision has been taken because the German premium car manufacturer, BMW, will order fewer cars. Sales of new cars collapsed due to the corona […]
December 03, 2020
BMW’s daughter Mini has now officially announced the development of electric vehicle models for the performance brand John Cooper Works. The development of a Mini John Cooper Works Electric is specifically mentioned. However, performance data are not yet mentioned in the announcement. “With the Mini Cooper SE (E from Electric), we’ve shown how well brand-typical […]
December 02, 2020
French car manufacturer Citroën is launching its new C4 model on the market. We were able to have a short drive in it, also the interesting pure electric model ë-C4. There has been a time gap between the old C4 and this new one at Citroën, a gap the manufacturer has tried to fill up […]
December 02, 2020
Antwerp wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50 to 55% by 2030. According to Antwerp Alderman for the Environment, Tom Meeuws (sp.a), the city has the ambition to become a European example of climate policy. And the plan is feasible, with clear measures to get there, he explains in De Tijd, among others. Antwerp […]
December 02, 2020
The love for Tesla has cooled down considerably in the Netherlands after the record year 2019. Sales fell back by 73% over the last eleven months of this year, financial newspaper FD writes, based on the car sector figures. And it has everything to do with tax measures. Corona is, like everywhere else, a key […]
December 01, 2020
French supermarket giant, E.Leclerc, joins forces with Groupe Renault to fast-track electric mobility in France. Through its 504 rental agencies, E.Leclerc will offer 3 000 Dacia Spring cars and 1 000 Renault Zoe models for rent from March 1st, 2021. The group also backed the French Transport Ministry’s plan and announced it would extend its […]
December 01, 2020
Until now, an electric car is bought by people who have enough money and belong already to a settled middle class. As many competitors are withdrawing themselves from the smallest segments, VW is considering producing a tiny electric vehicle, called ID.1 or ID.2, depending on the size. It seems that the newcomer is rather Polo-sized, […]
December 01, 2020
Car sharing is, in many cases, much cheaper than owning a private car. Especially drivers who drive up to 15 000 km per year are almost cheaper with car sharing. That’s what Autodelen.net reports. Together with the consumer organization Test-Aankoop and Brussels Mobility, the organization is launching a calculator with which everyone can calculate how […]
December 01, 2020
American carmaker General Motors is withdrawing from its deal with electric truck start-up Nikola to become a shareholder and co-develop and build the latter’s Badger pickup. As that project was only viable with an established carmaker’s help, Nikola decided to ditch the Badger, for the time being, and refund people that preordered it. GM will […]
December 01, 2020
The second generation of Toyota’s hydrogen car Mirai is very different from its predecessor. As a consequence, the number one Japanese car manufacturer has much higher ambitions for Mirai II. It wants to sell at least ten times more Mirai II models and prepare the field for real hydrogen-based mobility. One of the principal aims […]
November 27, 2020
Addax Motors, a small Belgian manufacturer of custom-designed electric vans for last-mile deliveries or city and leisure utility e-vans, is getting a capital injection of €8 million to expand further in Europe. The Belgian State comes on board via the Federal Holding and Investment Company, joining consultancy firm Resultance and a non-disclosed family investor. Addax, […]
November 27, 2020
The Chinese car manufacturer Aiways, a fairly recent start-up for electric mobility based in Shanghai, is expanding its European market presence. Following the sales launch of the battery-electric Aiways U5, the company is now setting up a European spare parts warehouse. The central warehouse will be located in the Fokker Logistik Park Schiphol, near Amsterdam, […]
November 27, 2020
Hyundai Group is experiencing a growing demand for electrified cars. This suits them well, especially in Europe, where stringent CO2 targets have to be met. Like some of its direct competitors, the Group is rolling out an EV offensive in the next five years. On Thursday, the Group declared that it would export more than […]
November 26, 2020
Consumer organizations and NGOs have been critical (again) about the official fuel consumption figures for new cars. Transport & Environment has published a report about the consumption of PHEVs. Consumer organizations now offer an online tool for people to monitor the real-life fuel consumption of their cars. Meanwhile, the sales of plug-in hybrid cars are […]
November 26, 2020
The Antwerp Kennedy tunnel will get a completely new and intelligent LED lighting system to replace the old-fashioned installation with sodium lights. The works are planned for autumn 2021 and spring 2022. The news was confirmed by the Agency for Roads and Traffic (Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer, AWV) According to AWV, LED lights should improve […]
November 26, 2020
Renault’s Flins plant in France will undergo a drastic transformation to become Europe’s first factory dedicated to the circular economy of mobility. Production of the electric Zoe will end by 2024, after which the factory will concentrate on remanufacturing young second-hand cars, retrofitting ICE cars to electric and battery recycling. By 2030, the Flins plant […]
November 25, 2020
The Australian airline company Qantas will only welcome passengers on its international flights when they have been vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus. That’s what the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced on Tuesday. The man is convinced this measure will become standard in the sector. It will be applied as soon as the vaccine is available. […]
November 25, 2020
The number of fatal traffic accidents during the first nine months of the year decreased by 16% compared to last year. The number of injured people went down (-20%), according to the safety barometer of traffic safety institute Vias. The reason for the decline is the lockdown. Remarkable is that in Flanders, the number of […]
November 25, 2020
One of the consequences of the energy transition is storing renewable energy to be used when necessary. For example, when the wind isn’t blowing, or a thick cloud deck hides the sun. On Tuesday, we brought the news about the largest battery storage park in Belgium, which will be built in Bastogne in the first […]
November 24, 2020
Apparently, BMW is proceeding to the final tests of a fully electric version of its 3 Series sedan. For the time being, it will only be launched and sold in China under the name BMW i330e. According to the specialized Spanish portal motor.es, the car is based on the long-wheelbase version of the 3 Series […]
November 24, 2020
Researchers at the Catholic University of Louvain succeeded in opening a Tesla Model X from a distance, and the technicians were even able to drive away with it. It is not the first time bugs have been discovered in the American car manufacturer’s security system. Like most cars, you can open and close the Model […]
November 24, 2020
General Motors CEO, Mary Barra, has withdrawn her support of the Trump administration in its effort to deny the State of California the right to fix its own rules regarding pollution. Barra seems to be leading the movement of many industry bosses in the US who are now turning toward the new president, Joe Biden. […]
November 23, 2020
More and more taxi companies in the Netherlands are fed up with their Tesla vehicles’ reliability problems. Meanwhile, other Tesla clients consider starting a class action against the manufacturer because the cars are too often immobilized. At the moment, there are a lot of taxis at a standstill in and around Amsterdam, especially Schiphol. Air […]
November 23, 2020
American car manufacturer General Motors is launching an “all-out pursuit of global EV leadership,” GM CEO Mary Barra announced. By 2025, the US number one carmaker wants to have 30 electric models and intends to raise investment from $20 to 27 billion. The planned electric vehicles go from a $-30 000 to well over $100 […]
November 23, 2020
The Belgian grid manager Elia is convinced electric vehicles will become an important player to integrate renewable energy into our electricity network. The electric fleet could serve as a huge battery. Today, the transport sector represents one-quarter of European CO2 emissions. Now that the technology for electric vehicles is mature, the mobility sector can enable […]
November 20, 2020
Toyota indicates that the Mirai Mk2 will be launched on the Japanese market and in the United States at the end of 2020. Whether and when this version will come to Europe could not be confirmed by the Belgian importer. Japanese market takes the lead After a career of six years, Toyota replaces its first […]
November 20, 2020
Multi-brand retailer Cardoen starts online selling and goes immediately all the way. The chosen car is delivered at home, and you even have the right to return it within 14 days when not satisfied. The latter is a novelty in the growing business of online car selling. In general, online sales are growing, even more […]
