October 24, 2023
Volvo Cars opened its largest software test center in Gothenburg, Sweden. The site is also set to expand further, more than doubling its capacity over time. The center measures 22 000 m2. Volvo says it is “the new flagship in our network of development centers and tech hubs worldwide”. Volvo Cars also operates software test […]
October 23, 2023
As of 2025, Toyota will equip its battery-powered electric cars with the NACS charging port in the US. The news follows in the slipstream of BMW’s announced switch, putting increasingly more pressure on the remaining automakers sticking to CCS. The list of carmakers joining the standard introduced and used by Tesla keeps growing. After Rivian, […]
October 19, 2023
General Motors and Honda are deepening their collaboration. Through its subsidiary for robotaxis, Cruise, both partners will start offering commercial driverless taxi rides in Tokyo as of early 2026, the first of its kind on the island. The news comes at a moment when the American Association for Highway Safety (NHTSA) started investigating pedestrian accidents […]
October 19, 2023
BMW joins the list of automakers that will adopt the Tesla-developed NACS charging standard in the US and Canada. The technical switch is adopted cross-brand, so Mini and Rolls-Royce are also joining. The connector will be built in as from 2025. Over the past weeks, several automakers agreed to synchronize with the NACS standard in […]
October 18, 2023
It sits and feels like a Porsche, is utterly powerful, and blazing fast on the water, yet silent as a sailing boat, but it will cost you more than twice the price of the most expensive Taycan. We’re talking about the Frauscher x Porsche 850 eFantom Air that was presented at the beginning of this […]
October 18, 2023
Nissan is presenting three EV concept cars ahead of the Japan Mobility Show 2023, which will take place next week. Each concept is represented by a symbolic character to which they have been tailored. The Hyper Tourer is an electric minivan with striking styling and solid-state batteries, the Hyper Adventure is an electric off-roader outfitter […]
October 17, 2023
Belgian shipowners’ family Saverys puts its money where its mouth is in taking the forefront of greening the world’s tanker business. Exmar, a leading player in transporting liquefied gas products like LPG, butane, propane, and ammonia, has ordered the world’s first two gas tankers that can run on the ammonia they transport. Two 46 000 […]
October 17, 2023
Sweden´s largest energy storage system, made with reuse batteries with an output of 2.8 megawatts, was commissioned on Monday in Gothenburg. BatteryLoop, the subsidiary of Swedish Stena Recycling, specializing in connecting used EV batteries, used batteries from Mercedes-Benz EVs for its stationary energy storage system. The storage system is to power a new sustainable district […]
October 16, 2023
Japan’s number one car manufacturer will exhibit the two new Toyota concepts at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 (October 28th to November 5th) with a booth themed “Let’s Change the Future of Cars – Find Your Future.” In this first announcement of models to be exhibited at the booth, Toyota reveals some design details for […]
October 12, 2023
Chairman of the Vingroup, Pham Nhat Vuong, announced a present for his automotive brand VinFast. It was gifted the battery-making arm of the group, VinES, at no extra cost. This must leverage the group’s competitiveness in the wake of current market challenges. VinFast Auto is set to acquire 99,8% of the shares of VinES but […]
October 12, 2023
Following the introduction of VW’s new 210 kW (286 hp) electric motor on the ID.7, more and more MEB platform-based models are getting this more efficient and powerful drivetrain. The Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs are next in line, raising their driving range up to 556 km, while the price remains the same. More power […]
October 12, 2023
The Flemish entrepreneur Guido Dumarey has bought the ZF transmission plant near Lyon, which produces transmissions for buses and trucks and industrial vehicles, with a yearly turnover of € 110 million. The amount of the investment has not been disclosed. ZF Bouthéon employs more than 300 people and will now be called Dumarey Powerglide Bouthéon. […]
October 11, 2023
German battery start-up High-Performance Battery (HPB) claims to have reached a breakthrough in battery technology by lifting its solid-state technology to production readiness. It’s one of the biggest hurdles of these promising battery packs. While nothing technological seems to be holding back solid-state, ramping them up from laboratory prototypes to commercial level is particularly challenging. […]
October 11, 2023
Hydrogen gas (H2) can be used as fuel for cabs and other cars in Brussels without any problems. That is the conclusion reached by D’Ieteren’s Taxis Verts and Colruyt’s Virya Energy after a one-year pilot project involving more than 55 000 km of driving. According to the two initiators, the zero-emission technology could, in the […]
October 10, 2023
BYD has brought a whole fleet of new electric buses to Busworld in Brussels, which runs from 7 to 12 October. The highlights include a new B12 model with a Blade battery within the chassis and a BYD-UNVI DD13 double-decker bus. Chinese manufacturer BYD is not only present in the European car market, with models […]
October 10, 2023
Giant Chinese battery cell producer CALB has unveiled a new battery with an impressive estimated lifecycle at RE+ 2023, the energy solution exhibition in Las Vegas. Named 314Ah, referencing its capacity, the new cell can withstand 15 000 full charge cycles. According to CALB, it’s the equivalent of 25 years. Moreover, the Chinese battery expert […]
October 10, 2023
The Volkswagen Group’s new battery subsidiary PowerCo and the Belgian materials technology group Umicore have established a joint venture for cathode and pre-material production in Europe. The JV is called Ionway. From 2025, it will supply PowerCo’s European battery cell factories with key materials from the Ionway factory in Poland. By the decade’s end, the […]
October 09, 2023
Volvo Group and Renault Group have signed a binding agreement to create a joint venture with the goal of creating a new generation of electric vans. These will be built on a modular platform with 800 V batteries, with production expected to start in 2026. Logistics company CMA CGM is also planning to join the […]
October 06, 2023
The end of government subsidies for electric company cars is causing a significant slump in sales of EVs in Germany. Their market share in September has fallen from 32% to 14% one month earlier. Overall, the automotive market is regressing only slightly, but this year’s negative trend is a first. The Kraftfahrt Bundesamt (KBA) results […]
October 05, 2023
As a key sponsor of the Paris Olympic Games next year, Toyota is deploying a fleet of zero-emission mobility solutions that must support athletes and auxiliary services. The aim is to reduce carbon emissions from transport at the Games by 50% compared to the previous edition in Tokyo, where the Japanese brand also attended as […]
October 04, 2023
Volvo Cars has signed a multi-year agreement with the Israeli developer of fast-charging technology StoreDot. The car brand will work with the latter’s experts to develop and test XFC cells. The first fruit of the collaboration is scheduled for next year. Storedot has been continuously working on its XFC cells (the abbreviation for ‘extreme fast […]
October 04, 2023
In a striking opinion piece, William Todts, Executive Director of the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), points at the mess the German car industry has made these recent decades and the efforts from the European Union to tackle the problem. “Earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen sent shockwaves through the European and Chinese car […]
October 02, 2023
Belgian dredging and offshore energy giant Jan De Nul has ordered the world’s biggest cable-laying vessel to be built, with a carrying capacity of 28 000 tons and capable of embedding power cables in the ocean floor some 3 000 meters deep. The new ship, to be delivered in 2026, will carry the name of […]
September 29, 2023
No card, less hassle. The Kia EV9 is joining the list of models compatible with Plug&Charge. The convenience automatically recognizes the car through its VIN and facilitates the charging and billing. After the EV9, more electric Kia models will join the program. For EV9, Plug&Charge will be available from the start, and for the other […]
September 29, 2023
German carmaker BMW announced it is investing an extra €100 million in its Innovation Park Wackersdorf campus near Regensburg to set up a new battery testing center that will be integrated into the existing buildings. The 55-hectare campus built in the 1980s was initially intended as a nuclear reprocessing facility. BMW has located its cockpit […]
September 29, 2023
Daimler Truck announced with some pride it had a prototype of its Mercedes-Benz fuel cell truck GenH2 accomplish a journey of 1 047 km on hydrogen with only one filling session. The truck maker says this is another milestone within its dual-track strategy with hydrogen and battery-powered vehicles. The truck completed the run fully loaded […]
September 28, 2023
Honda is racking up a series of novelties and world premieres for the upcoming Japan Mobility Show. It has already unveiled pictures of two small city cars in a preview. The Sustaina-C represents the company’s vision of circularity, while the smaller CI-MEV is an urban last-mile car with enhanced automated driving. The Sustaina-C looks like […]
September 27, 2023
British airplane engine expert Rolls-Royce says it has proven a critical engine technology that marks a significant step in enabling hydrogen as an aviation fuel. “Tests on a full annular combustor of a Pearl 700 engine at DLR in Cologne running on 100% hydrogen have proven the fuel can be combusted at conditions that represent […]
September 26, 2023
Chinese authorities have published three critical aspects of the upcoming ultra-high DC charging standard. The ChaoJi-1 connector clarifies that China will continue to use a proprietary national standard in the future. This new charging unit supports up to 1,2 MW and is compatible with CHAdeMO3.1. Not only does it support higher power, but it’s also […]
September 22, 2023
Railing at 550 km/hour on the existing rail infrastructure? It’s the dream of the Polish company Nevomo. It has conducted its first successful trial on its test track in Nowa Sarzuna in Poland. We all know the Maglev trains, those floating carriages lifted and pulled by magnetism and which reach incredible speeds of more than […]
September 22, 2023
Limburg-based Giga Storage Belgium will construct a large-scale battery farm in Ophoven (Kinrooi). With a 300 megawatt capacity, it will be the largest battery farm in Europe, capable of providing 165 000 families with electricity for four hours. Large storage capacity with batteries is essential to absorb fluctuations in supply and demand in the electricity […]
September 22, 2023
BMW Motorrad has issued a (temporary) sales ban on all its motorbikes with combustion engines throughout North America. This applies not only to new bikes but also to used ones at dealers. Only the electric model CE 04 is currently released for sale in the US and Canada. BMW emphasized that the sales stop is […]
September 21, 2023
As of next year, Volvo halts production and subsequent sales of diesel engines in its entire model line-up. The news was symbolically released at Climate Week in New York. CEO of Volvo Jim Rowan called electric cars “a key part of our response to climate change”. As of 2024, cars from Volvo will only be […]
September 20, 2023
Rixensart-based start-up Risorce has raised 12,5 million euros to build a new factory in Baelen, Liège, which will eventually be able to recycle 2,4 million used car tires a year. This will be done through pyrolysis. In the process, the tires will be processed into mainly oil. By 2025, the plant should be fully operational […]
September 18, 2023
Lithium is indispensable in today’s rechargeable batteries, from smartphones to EV batteries. With demand expected to grow exponentially over the following decades, every discovery of lithium reserves makes headline news. Even in Belgium, where lithium is found in brine pumped up from 1 000 to 3 000 meters deep for a geothermic heat-distribution grid. Experts […]
September 18, 2023
Not all battery packs in EVs age at the same level. According to research by the Future Mobility department of Thomas More High School, the variation can mount up to 8% annually on specific packs. This is much worse than the rule of thumb prescribing 70% capacity after usage of eight years and could severely […]
September 15, 2023
British oil company BP continues to set ambitious targets for its network of ultra-fast charging stations. By 2030, it wants to roll out 20 000 High Power Charging (HPC) points for cars and a network of low-carbon mobility hubs for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. It will do this with Germany’s largest service station network, Aral, […]
September 15, 2023
Danish container shipping company Maersk has launched the world’s first container ship to run on green methanol in its fleet. The ship, the ‘Laura Maersk’ was christened in Copenhagen by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “This ship embodies Europe’s decision to be a pioneer in the fight against climate change,” von der Leyen […]
September 15, 2023
Toyota has revealed more details about its next-gen battery tech for electric vehicles, including three new liquid battery technologies and the start of mass production of solid-state batteries. The aim is to offer 1 200 km or more range, faster charging times, and a lower height for better aerodynamics. In June, Toyota announced it would […]
September 13, 2023
Battery packs with pouch cells from LG Chem continue to cause problems and recalls at car manufacturers who purchase them for their EVs. Latest in row are Porsche and Audi, globally recalling 6 766 vehicles over a possible leak inside the battery pack that could lead to sparks. The affected models are from the Taycan […]
September 12, 2023
Allego, founded in 2013 in the Netherlands as part of grid operator Alliander and now a pan-European EV network with 34 000 chargers, says it is finally phasing out CHAdeMO chargers as only 4,12% of EVs today are still equipped with the Japanese system. Only the Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV are still […]
September 11, 2023
In Turin, car group Stellantis has opened its first battery technology center – one of Europe’s most significant. More than a hundred employees will test, verify, and produce new battery products for its upcoming range of all-electric vehicles. As part of its Dare Forward 2030 plan, Stellantis is subjecting the Italian Mirafiora factory to a […]
September 11, 2023
A recent Mozilla Foundation study reveals some shocking facts, and 25 car manufacturers deserve the ‘Privacy Not Included’ warning label in the United States. According to the study, cars have become data-gobbling machines that watch, listen, and collect information about what you do and where you go. While we worry that our connected doorbells or […]
September 08, 2023
A recently conducted test on 24 engine families within the Stellantis group has convinced the car giant of the longevity of combustion-engined cars. The company believes that the CO2 benefits from the fuel will keep these cars on the road until 2050. After the European Commission opened the backdoor for e-fuels after 2035, several car […]
September 08, 2023
The VW group boss Oliver Blume has shed some light on the future of its most iconic golf car. As prior reports believed, the next generation won’t be a rebadged ID.2 but a standalone model on the all-new SSP platform specifically developed for returning a profit comparable to ICE models. Clearly, Blume is realigning his […]
September 07, 2023
With six electric vehicles on the stand, a world debut for the Seal U, and the European launch of its new brand Denza, China’s largest EV maker, BYD wowed the crowds at the IAA Mobility in Munich. In the backyard of the German premium carmakers, the boss of BYD Europe also announced that the final […]
September 07, 2023
The Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB and Brussels Mobility have launched the new multimodal app, Floya. Now available in the app stores, the app brings together information on the entire mobility offer in Brussels on one platform. Users can thus see all possible travel options at a glance. According to MIVB/STIB, the app Evident/Trafi developed […]
September 05, 2023
At the IAA Mobility in Münich, automotive supplier ZF puts the spotlights on a new type of motor for electric cars. The I2SM is a variant in the externally excited synchronous family. Still, ZF has found ways to cut its CO2 footprint in half during production and reach interesting levels of sustainability and efficiency. The […]
September 05, 2023
Mini plays big at the IAA 2023 in Munich with the public debut of the three-door Cooper and its SUV derivative, Countryman. Presented as battery-powered models, the new-generation Mini models come in two flavors but in an unmistakable recognizable design. However, one can’t help but notice that the Countryman is moving toward a more refreshed […]
September 04, 2023
At the IAA in Münich, Mercedes has unveiled a future glimpse of how the revival of its smallest range will look like. The Concept CLA provides a new all-electric platform with an ample range of more than 750 kilometres on a single charge while boosting the use of sustainable materials on board. And, yes, there’s […]
September 04, 2023
For BMW, the IAA in Münich is some home match and now is the time to show the world a glimpse of its (electric) future, with a wink to its heritage: the BMW Vision Neue Klasse. It shows how the successor of BMW’s most successful model, the 3-Series, might look when it arrives in 2025. […]
September 04, 2023
There’s something old and something new about the ID. GTI Concept that Volkswagen has brought to the spotlights of the IAA in Münich. The name combines the letters from the brand’s all-electric range with those from its hereditary sports badge. But weren’t all-electric go-faster models from Wolfsburg called GTX? Indeed, but it seems Volkswagen wants […]
September 04, 2023
At the beginning of August, Chinese Zeekr, the sister brand of Lynk & Co, announced that it would launch a hypercar version of its Zeekr 001, shooting brake at around one million Chinese yuan or 140.000 dollars. Now the curtain is lifted, it turns out to be pure muscles with 1 265 horsepower (943 kW) […]
September 01, 2023
Ahead of its motor show debut, Volkswagen has lifted the veils of the new Passat. It’s exclusively available as a station wagon and is no longer assembled in Germany. With beefed-up plug-in hybrid versions, a revolutionary damping system, and return-to-button controls on the steering wheel, the old namesake must straighten its back in a fast-moving […]
August 31, 2023
Alfa Romeo kills two birds with one stone by presenting its long-awaited ‘6C’ supercar and its first fully-electric model: the 33 Stradale, which harks back to the Tipo 33 from the Sixties. But this hyper-exclusive supercar has a trick up its sleeve, as the electric drivetrain is not the only option on offer… You could […]
August 30, 2023
Designwerk, a Swiss company specializing in building custom electric trucks for specific use cases, entered the Benelux market after expanding to Germany. The company is mainly owned by Volvo Trucks and converts diesel-powered trucks into e-trucks with up to 1 000 kWh battery capacities. Designwerk (DW)’s origins trace back to 2008 when converting small vehicles […]
August 30, 2023
All thirteen Provincial Education Flanders secondary technical schools will launch the training ‘charging station installer’ on the first of September. A Flanders’ first. Some manufacturers will support them. “Training will be the biggest challenge in the sector.” Flanders faces a significant energy transition, and we need a faster rollout of charging infrastructure in Flanders. There’s […]
August 30, 2023
Carpark specialist Interparking is testing two robots to move vehicles in and out of their underground facilities. These robots are better at dealing with precious cargo without damaging it and are safer for the staff operating them in case of fires. Interparking is looking into moving robots in case of uncontrollable electric car fires in […]
August 30, 2023
Under the name Blue Plug Chargers, Hyundai will start building its own supercharger through its subsidiary, Hyundai Kefico. In its home market, the company wants to get to terms with the more successful rollout of Tesla, which also manufactures high-power chargers. In 2021, Hyundai announced the launch of its own supercharger network under the name […]
August 29, 2023
Mercedes is on track, building its own global fast-charging park. In Europe, where the brand aims at 200 charging points, the car brand announced that it will open its first hub in Mannheim in October 2023. The charging station must set new standards for fast, convenient, and sustainable charging. The rollout of its own charging […]
