January 05, 2023
Hours before the official ‘unveiling’ of the first teaser pictures of its second solar car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the Dutch scale-up opened on Thursday the waiting list for the Lightyear 2. This one, a more compact ‘grid-independent’ sedan with integrated solar panels and a range of +800 km, gets an […]
January 05, 2023
The BMW Group shows its vision of ‘the future digital experience’, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. The BMW i Vision Dee is a futuristic mid-size sedan with a new, pared-down design language. ‘Dee’ stands for Digital Emotional Experience, aiming to create an even stronger bond between people and their cars. […]
January 04, 2023
Drivers getting caught speeding in traffic in Flanders can request a language change when they have to appear before a judge. As a result, their file moves to a French-speaking court, resulting in a lengthy legal backlog and avoiding losing their driver’s license. In the first six months of 2022, police registered more than three […]
January 04, 2023
The Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has fined Tesla 2,85 billion won (around 2,1 million euros) for exaggerating its range figures by not disclosing range drops in cold weather. The KFTC also wasn’t pleased with the promised charging speeds and fuel savings that Tesla advertised on its website. Tesla has received a slap on the […]
January 04, 2023
The Renault Zoe, first released in 2012, will not be replaced. Renault’s second-in-command, Fabrice Cambolive, has confirmed this to the English car magazine Autocar. Instead, Zoe will end its life as one of the best-selling electric cars in its home country and one of the EV best-sellers in Europe. A final date for the end […]
January 04, 2023
On Tuesday, January 3rd, the Brussels museum ‘Train World’ in Schaarbeek (Brussels) welcomed its one-millionth visitor. Train World is the museum of NMBS/SNCB, the National Company of the Belgian Railways. It is Belgium’s first real railway museum, and it opened its doors to the general public in September 2015. Visitors can get a unique view […]
January 04, 2023
Brussels Mobility has just submitted a request for a permit to renovate and make safe the Belliard and Loi tunnels, the newspaper La Dernière Heure writes. The planned works consist of a complete renovation, without any change in traffic, and should last more than 2,5 years with 15 months of night closure and five months […]
January 04, 2023
At the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, French automotive supplier Plastic Omnium and French deep-tech startup Greenwave are showing a revolutionary way of integrating radar sensors into the entire surface of the car’s bumpers to catch a high-resolution image of its surroundings. The companies claim that far more information can be gathered by […]
January 04, 2023
Volkswagen will showcase its first fully electric sedan based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (from 5 to 8 January). Following on from ID.4, the new sedan is Volkswagen’s next global electric vehicle and will be offered on three continents in the future. The world […]
January 03, 2023
In 2022, almost 80% of all newly registered cars in Norway were electric, a world record. Tesla is the overall market leader, with a 12,2% market share. As the government wants to build down incentives and the Norwegian consumer is having trouble recharging, it could be that this was the highest sales figure in a […]
January 03, 2023
The ferry connection on the Belgian river Scheldt, the so-called Antwerp ‘water bus’, is a huge success. The number of annually transported passengers increased year after year, growing from 105 000 to 775 000 in five years. That is why Aqualiner decided to deploy larger ships this year. The water bus has been operational since […]
January 03, 2023
The EV battle for record drag has spawned a new self-declared winner. Chinese brand Aion, a subsidiary of GAC, has unveiled the hyper GT featuring a Cd value of just 0.19. It’s worth mentioning that the car is still in concept. It remains to be seen whether the production version can uphold those record-breaking aerodynamics. […]
January 03, 2023
Talking about EV incentives, this one from the African country Uganda fires one’s imagination: President Museveni announced in his end-of-the-year address he made a deal with investors to swap all motorcycles with internal combustion engines (ICE) in the country for locally-produced electric ones for free. The investors will be able to make their money by […]
January 03, 2023
About a month after the first delivery event of the Tesla Semi, where it proved its 500-mile range, technical images have emerged of the long-haul electric truck revealing its battery location and more details about its weight. Tesla data miner @greentheonly on Twitter has shared a series of technical images of the Semi, revealing its […]
January 03, 2023
Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy has announced the ‘Green Taxi’ plan. With the plan, Greece aims to replace 2 000 old and polluting taxis with purely new electric ones. The Greek government provides a budget of 40 million euros for this purpose. The new program will allow cab owners to apply for a subsidy […]
January 03, 2023
Despite an excellent December month (+20,6% compared to last year), the Belgian car market regressed by 4,4% compared to 2021. This was due to significant deficits in sales in the first seven months, which couldn’t be compensated by the progress in the last five months. As the Belgian market stays dominated by company cars, BMW […]
January 03, 2023
Ram’s electric pickup is set to debut in less than a week, and up until recently, it wasn’t exactly clear what it would be called. However, a new trademark filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office indicates it could go by the name of Ram 1500 REV. On January 5, Ram will reveal […]
December 30, 2022
The United States is leaving an opening for foreign carmakers to benefit from EV tax credits of up to $7 500 under the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the Bloomberg news agency, The US Treasury Department signals in its Frequently Asked Questions list a commercial-vehicle clause in the law that imported EVs can qualify for […]
December 30, 2022
From now on, Hyundai Motors has decided to sell only pure electric vehicles in Norway. The Hyundai Group has invested a lot lately in developing electric cars. It is already benefitting from it as it has become the third biggest car manufacturer in the world. Hyundai imported the first electric Ioniq in Norway in 2016, […]
December 30, 2022
Belgian citizens can be extremely annoyed by unsocial behavior in traffic and illegal dumping in their surroundings. Inappropriate speed, aggressive driving, inappropriate parking and illegal dumping in the neighborhood are considered among the most irritating inconveniences. That is what the latest Security Monitor 2021 – a large-scale population screening among almost 100 000 citizens by […]
December 30, 2022
One in three road accidents on New Year’s Eve in Belgium involves a drunk driver. This is according to an analysis by traffic institute Vias. There are significantly more accidents during the night between the old and the new year. On average, 63 accidents involve injuries or deaths, compared to an average of 30 during […]
December 30, 2022
The 100th-anniversary edition of the Brussels Motor Show (BMS, 14 to 22 January 2023) will show at least 14 world or European premieres and 48 Belgian ones. Of course, this has to do with the absence of the (live) show for a couple of years, but also with the painful exit of some of its […]
December 30, 2022
Europe is well on its way to undercutting by at least three grams the CO2 emission targets of 116 g/km set by the EU for new car registrations in 2022, according to German automotive data analyst Dataforce’s forecast. It is an improvement of six grams compared to the year before (119 g/km). Eventually, the EU […]
December 29, 2022
You won’t be stared at for its modern but not unique looks when driving by, as this family hatchback – MG’s latest EV washing ashore in Europe – could be one in a thousand. Unless you chose that ‘Fizzy Orange’ color. Driving the basic version for the first time on Belgian roads, this MG4 proves […]
December 29, 2022
The era of the original Smart two-seater has gone. In came the new Smart, a completely different approach and the fruit of a collaboration between Mercedes and Geely. The new #1 is also a completely electric car, like the latest ‘old’ Smarts, but every other similarity halts here. The newcomer is a crossover that tries […]
December 29, 2022
Last Wednesday, wind energy production in Belgium reached record levels. That morning, at 7:15 a.m., the combined wind farms produced as much as four nuclear power plants: 4 505 MW of electricity. The new record is partly due to the expansion of wind farms on land, and at sea, the national grid manager Elia confirmed. […]
December 29, 2022
More than 38 400 scheduled train journeys were canceled in Belgium last year, a record number. So reports the newspaper De Tijd, which analyzed figures from railway network operator Infrabel from January to November. With more than 38 400 train journeys scheduled to be canceled, 2022 thus already breaks the record from 2016, when just […]
December 29, 2022
The Hyundai Group is officially the third-largest automaker globally, behind only Volkswagen and Toyota. However, the South Korean automaker may have an advantage as the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles. Especially as the number one, Toyota, seems to hesitate to go for EVs at full speed. According to Bloomberg, the Hyundai Motor Company, including […]
December 28, 2022
The world’s largest EV battery supplier with a market share of 33% in 2022, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), has kicked off serial production at its new lithium-ion battery cell plant in Thuringia, Germany. It’s the first battery factory of CATL operational outside of China, with an initial manufacturing capacity estimated at 8 Gigawatt […]
December 28, 2022
Since the end of last month, the first units of the new electric SUV Fisker Ocean have been coming of the line in the Magna-Steyr factory in Austria. This is a perfect moment to ask CEO and owner Henrik Fisker about his views on the car business and its recent evolutions. Henrik Fisker is Danish […]
December 28, 2022
Going silently and electric until your final destination is now possible in a Dutch-built Tesla 3 hearse, a European first for this smaller Tesla, as Derks Autogroup in the Netherlands shows. The hearse is based on a Model 3 Standard Range Plus and gets a 100% composite, lightweight body with a tailgate. It features small […]
December 28, 2022
European Sleeper, the Dutch-Belgian night train service announced in February 2021, will be operational in May 2023. The train will connect Brussels, Amsterdam, and Berlin and be available three times a week in both directions. The maiden trip is planned for May 25th, departing in the German capital at 10:56 p.m. and arriving the following […]
December 28, 2022
Every bus line of the Flemish public transport company De Lijn driving to and from the Brussels Capital Region will, in the future, be recognizable by a new line number. The new combination consists of the letter ‘R’ and two digits. The letter R stands for ‘regional’. The Flemish transport company, which has some 50 […]
December 28, 2022
Retrofit, the transformation of an existing, sometimes old car into an electrically driven one, is becoming increasingly popular. But many countries have legal obstacles to such a conversion. Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants to solve these problems by creating a legal canvas for the proceedings. In France, Retrofit is already popular. One of […]
December 28, 2022
Along with introducing two new flagship SUVs, the third generation of battery-swapping stations was shown at the NIO Day 2022 event in Hefei, China. These stations can hold up to 21 charged battery packs (up from 13) and perform 408 swaps a day (+30%), as it now only takes two and a half minutes to […]
December 27, 2022
The city of Lille is to introduce an eco-bonus to ease highway congestion. So writes the French newspaper Le Monde. Congestion on the highways to Lille during rush hours is increasing so that alarm thresholds for fine particles in the air are increasingly being exceeded. Those who do not use their cars during rush hours […]
December 27, 2022
Swedish engineer and researcher in motor vehicle safety, Astrid Linder, has developed the world’s first female crash test dummy. Linder and her team are convinced that this research can help shape the way cars will be built in the future by highlighting key differences between men and women. Some of them include females being shorter […]
December 27, 2022
From now on, those who wish to do so can request a digital repayment plan for traffic fines. So reports Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld). The application is made through the Justice Just-on-Web digital portal and is available for everyone, as the offender does not have to prove his financial situation. The initiative […]
December 27, 2022
Chinese premium electric carmaker NIO has launched two new flagship SUV models – a Coupe-SUV EC7 and a new version of the bigger six-seat ES8 – at its traditional NIO Days event in Hefei, Anhui province, where the company builds its cars in two factories. It claims the EC7 has the industry’s lowest aerodynamic profile […]
December 27, 2022
Scania and the transportation company Girteka from Lithuania announce an extensive new partnership. Girteka expects Scania to deliver up to 600 battery-electric trucks over the next four years. The companies will also collaborate on establishing charging infrastructure. The aim is to help reduce Girteka’s customers’ climate emissions at competitive costs. Girteka Logistics was founded in […]
December 27, 2022
Umicore, the Belgian materials technology group, and the Canadian battery developer Nano One announce the signing of a non-exclusive agreement to jointly develop production process technologies for lithium-ion battery active cathode materials. Both companies intend to share their technologies for high nickel NMC active cathode materials to increase throughput further while reducing the cost and […]
December 23, 2022
Flemish citizens don’t take the car, train, or bus as often as before the corona crisis. That is what the second large-scale Covid-19 survey of Flanders, in which 3 730 respondents took part, revealed. The third and final report from Statistics Flanders to gain insight into the impact of the corona pandemic on the living […]
December 23, 2022
In the two coming years, Flanders will install at least 10 789 additional charging points for electric vehicles. Compared to the beginning of the year, the total number will almost triple. According to Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), answering a question posed by MP Stijn Bex (Groen), Flanders is on track to achieve the […]
December 23, 2022
Did you miss your Citroën My Ami Buggy? Most probably, the 50 produced specimens were sold out in… 18 minutes. Now, Citroën has decided to produce 1 000 more, twenty times the initial number. As an answer to the success of the first version, a new limited edition of “My Ami Buggy” will go on […]
December 23, 2022
Today, traffic will be able to cross the steel arch bridge over the Albert Channel in Viversel (Heusden-Zolder, Limburg, Belgium) again. That is what the Flemish Waterway (Vlaamse Waterweg) announced on Thursday. All bridges on the Channel had to be raised to allow inland shipping barges with four containers stacked on deck to pass under […]
December 23, 2022
In its station at De Watering in Dutch Oostzaan, charging point operator Fastned has opened a charging column of 400 kW. In theory, vehicles can charge 100 kilometers of range in just about three minutes here. The milestone is a cooperation with charging solutions supplier EVBox. To reduce downtime in areas with high traffic rates, […]
December 23, 2022
Wallonia lets go of the tight deadline for its regional low-emission zone (LEZ) that was to become active on January 1st, 2023, and postpones the ban on Euro 0 and Euro I cars for two years until 2025, together with the Euro 3 cars. This means a stay of execution for 6 200 of the […]
December 23, 2022
BMW wants to produce solid-state battery cells in its own pilot plant in Germany based on the design of technology partner Solid Power. To this end, the Munich-based carmaker has obtained a research and development license from the US company. “Solid Power, Inc., an industry-leading developer of all-solid-state battery and sulfide-based electrolyte technology, today announced […]
December 22, 2022
The United States Postal Service (USPS) plans to deploy more than 66 000 electric vehicles by 2028. This will make it one of the largest electric vehicle fleets in the country. The company announced this on Tuesday. The vehicles purchased under this plan will replace the aging fleet of more than 220 000 vehicles, many […]
December 22, 2022
IM Motors, the joint venture between e-commerce giant Alibaba and car manufacturer SAIC, has released a second model: the LS7, a large electric SUV. The Zhiji LS7, as it’s called in China, offers a high-tech driving experience and even a ‘Zero Gravity Buoyancy Mode’ thanks to its flat-folding passenger seat. The LS7 follows the L7, […]
December 22, 2022
According to the European Investment Bank (EIB), Africa can earn a trillion euros annually from the production of green hydrogen from 2035. This hydrogen can be produced without CO2 emissions using solar energy and transported abroad. The ‘Africa’s Extraordinary Green Hydrogen Potential’ report, analyzing Africa’s green hydrogen potential, was commissioned by the European Investment Bank, […]
December 22, 2022
Belgium’s biggest bank, BNP Paribas Fortis, wants to be far more active in the mobility sector. So it launched a survey among 2 000 Belgians about their mobility preferences. 35% of the respondents declared not to be ready for electrification (fully electric or hybrid), which is a 6% increase compared to 2021. The electric transition […]
December 22, 2022
This year, Flanders installed 55 additional windmills – twelve of them to replace old units – increasing the energy production by 204 megawatts (MW) to a total of 1 748,6 MW. The new units have a capacity of 3,6 MW, compared to 2,0 mW for the older ones. They’re situated higher in the atmosphere, where […]
December 22, 2022
More than one million cyclists passed the counting post in Brussels Wetstraat/Rue de la Loi, toward the city center, this year. It’s one of Brussels’ busiest approach roads, with the presence of several notable Belgian and EU governmental buildings. If you also consider the second counting post, in the other direction, the number of cyclists […]
December 22, 2022
Belgian fuel station chain Gabriëls has opened in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw at the Bergensesteenweg, the second ultra-fast charger of thirty planned to be rolled out in the Flemish region by 2026. Like the first one opened in Deurne at the Bisschoppenhoflaan, the station offers, besides traditional fuel pumps, three 300 kW chargers, each capable of charging two […]
December 22, 2022
Toyota has announced a €77 million investment for producing fifth-generation hybrid powertrains at its Poland and UK plants. The powertrain will be built in the UK and Turkey and used for the first time in the new Corolla. Seven production lines will be upgraded at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland (TMMP) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK […]
December 22, 2022
Micromobility operator Dott, which has shared e-scooters and e-bikes in several Belgian cities, has acquired 15 electric vans from Maxus to use as service vehicles. The vehicles were delivered by the leasing company Athlon. The blue-and-red shared e-scooters from Dott are becoming common in Belgian cities like Brussels, Ghent, and Liège. Those bikes and scooters […]
December 22, 2022
American premium electric carmaker Lucid opened its first retail and delivery center in Europe in Hilversum near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, last week. Now Lucid says delivery of the limited series of the Lucid Air Dream Edition to selected clients in Germany and the Netherlands has started. The latter just got its WLTP range rating of […]
December 21, 2022
Belgian railway network operator Infrabel has inaugurated in Brussels an infrared system against track walkers. The system should avoid as many casualties as possible and protect the punctuality of trains. The advanced surveillance system was inaugurated at Brussels-Capelle Church, the busiest point on the rail network with a daily flow of 1 200 trains and […]
December 21, 2022
Nissan Sunderland has produced its 250 000th Leaf, which has been in production in the British plant since the first generation in 2011. To celebrate, the Leaf is used to power the plant’s Christmas display using ‘Vehicle-to-X-Mas Tree’ (V2X) technology. The Nissan Leaf has been in production for over a decade. Still, it’s the second […]
