May 25, 2022
Four years and five months late and three billion pounds over budget, London’s new Elizabeth Line finally opened yesterday. The Crossrail project is a 118 km railway line, which links Essex in the east to Reading in the west, tunneling underground through Central London. By 2026, Transport for London (TfL) estimates that the Elizabeth Line […]
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
Road safety institute Vias advocates the rapid introduction of a driving license based on points to which measures and judicial sanctions are automatically linked up to a certain level. This is stated in a study commissioned by Federal Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo), and for which a comparison was made with the practices of […]
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 an objective to renew the airport of Zaventem into a multimodal hub based on a more environmental-friendly strategy, her CEO Arnaud Feist wants to exchange short-haul flights with high-speed train connections. While pointing at how Brussels Airport was one of the first in Europe with an integrated train station, he also puts the ball […]
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 decision has been made on the almost 18-year-old plans for a tram connection between Hasselt and Maastricht: the Flemish government is shelving the plans for an express tram between the two Limburg capitals. Instead, there will be an electric tram bus with maximum free bedding. In the longer term, the aim is fully autonomous […]
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
In 2021, there were 41,1 million trucks, mostly foreign, on Belgium’s roads. Never before has this number been so high. This is evident from the report for its operating year drawn up by Viapass, the organisation that manages the kilometer charge for trucks in Belgium. Consequently, revenues for the kilometer charge are also peaking: 822 […]
May 23, 2022
Belgian Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants the penalties for speeding to be more proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the risk to other road users, especially the most vulnerable. It is no coincidence that the Minister is launching this trial balloon now. Accident statistics are not good in Belgium. The figures […]
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
Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open VLD) wants to have people who buy an electric bike guided to a training course by the salesperson. The Minister wants to do that to counter the rising accident figures. One in four of the victims of an injury accident in Flanders in the first three months of […]
May 20, 2022
Road signs warning for crossing toads, ducklings, or deer are a familiar sight on Belgian roads. But in Wetteren, commuters on the cycle highway alongside the railway are now warned of a new species: wall lizards. Their growing population led to a casualty rate demanding precautionary measures. The population of wall lizards living asides from […]
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
The Brussels government has launched a project call to boost the rollout of charging stations for electric vehicles. All owners of private car parks in Brussels have a chance of receiving a subsidy on the condition that their charging stations run on green electricity, are public, and are accessible 24/7. This has been confirmed by […]
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
Together with Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands, Belgium will increase the capacity of wind turbines in the North Sea tenfold by 2050, to a total capacity of 150 gigawatts. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) signed an agreement on this on Wednesday in Esbjerg, Denmark. The sky-high energy prices and the ongoing military conflict […]
May 19, 2022
After more than six years, high-speed train operator Thalys is canceling its IZY low-cost offer. With the IZY trains, you could travel between Brussels and Paris for 10 euros, although it took an hour longer because it did not run on high-speed rail in France. On 10 July, IZY will run for the last time. […]
May 19, 2022
Mercedes is joining forces with Sila Nanotechnologies, who developed an innovative battery with a much higher density (+30 to 40%) than what we see today in lithium-ion EV batteries. The first of these would be for the future electric G-Class. Alternative to hydrogen Sila Nanotechnologies is a start-up from Silicon Valley in California that uses […]
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
On Wednesday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announced new plans for the French capital city’s ring road. The ‘périph’, as Parisians call it, will feature an ‘Olympic way’ during the 2024 Olympic Games, reserved for athletes, officials, and emergency services. After the event, that traffic lane will be deleted, and the 10 hectares ‘freed’ will see […]
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
The Dutch charging infrastructure provider Allego, already well introduced and proliferating in Belgium, has entered into a cooperation to install ultra-fast charging stations at 100 rest stops operated by G&V Energy Group by 2024. The partners want to realize twelve locations before the end of 2022 and see the longer-term potential for another 150 sites. […]
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
Russia has softened its required safety standards because of the supply shortage caused by the Western sanctions. It’s now legal for local carmakers to manufacture vehicles without ABS or airbags. Also, the emission standards have been lowered back to the level of the late eighties. The Ukrainian war is now also affecting road safety and […]
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
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
After Maserati, another new contender will appear on the grid of Formula E in 2023: McLaren will join the all-electric single-seater championship as of season nine. The British brands’ racing branch has acquired the team from Mercedes-EQ, which is retiring after this year. This means that Stoffel Vandoorne has a chance of returning to his […]
May 16, 2022
The board of directors has validated the ambitious draft business plan and investment plan up to 2032 for the NMBS/SNCB on Friday. They agreed on a 10% increase in train capacity, which must bring about a 30% growth in passenger numbers by 2032. Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet says that he will ensure that the […]
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 […]
May 13, 2022
On Tuesday, the Norwegian government put forward a proposal to apply taxes to the sales of electric cars, putting an end to their world-renowned incentive scheme that electrified the national fleet over the past few years. The Norsk Elbilforening, or Electric Car Association, reacts with disapproval. Thanks to VAT exemption and a host of benefits […]
May 13, 2022
Wednesday, a new president for the board was elected at the Autoworld museum in Brussels. Ex-Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, now still a member of the European Parliament, has accepted to succeed to another well-known Open-Vld politician, Herman De Croo, who has been heading the museum for 36 years. The entire Autoworld team is very grateful […]
May 13, 2022
Flemish Minister of Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), wants to know the effect of lowering the speed on the highways around Ghent. She, therefore, ordered a study, the Minister announced on Thursday in the Mobility Commission of the Flemish Parliament. The Minister hopes she will be able to start a test phase based on the […]
May 13, 2022
American electric carmaker Lucid Motors, opening its Munich Studio on Friday, is offering ‘a very limited number’ of Lucid Air Dream Editions to existing reservation holders in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland only. Eventually, this edition was reserved for the US, and 520 of them sold out in no time. First deliveries are expected […]
May 13, 2022
General Motors CEO Mary Barra is ready to return to Europe. The most obvious reason is that electric vehicle sales are booming in the EU. The old continent could be an integral part again of GM’s accelerated switch to electrification. Europe is the second-largest electric vehicle market globally, next to China. On Monday, Barra confirmed […]
May 13, 2022
During the announcement of the latest quarterly figures, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse confirmed that ‘die Neuse Klasse’, the new New Class platform planned for 2025, will first be used in the 3 Series segment. Zipse did, however, also somewhat limit the future use of the platform. Shortly after Zipse’s statement, the next strategic shift is […]
May 12, 2022
Some 15 months after creating the Stellantis Group, Group CEO Carlos Tavares makes several new management appointments. Opel boss Uwe Hochgeschurtz, who only took up his post last year, is leaving the brand to replace Maxime Picat at parent company Stellantis. The latter takes over as the group’s head of purchasing and supply chain. “The […]
May 12, 2022
On Wednesday, March 11th, energy provider Engie inaugurated its 200th wind turbine on Unilin Insulation’s site in Seneffe. Unilin Insulation is a construction company manufacturing thermal insulation materials. And the energy project contributes to the company’s target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The two new […]
