January 20, 2023
BMW Motorrad achieved the highest sales in its corporate history, with 202 895 motorcycles and scooters handed over to customers in 2022. This is an increase of +4,4 % compared to the previous year. By doing so, BMW Motorrad remains in first place in the global premium motorcycle and scooter segment. “I would like to […]
January 20, 2023
In 2022, car recycling organization Febelauto recuperated 120 tons of hybrid and electric vehicle batteries to be recycled. Three times more than the 37 tons of the previous year. “This year, we should arrive at about 400 tons because the volume is expected to triple each year,” explains Catherine Lenaerts, director of Febelauto. About 48% […]
January 20, 2023
The Flemish nationalist and conservative political party N-VA wants a maximum speed of 30 km/hour for cyclists on the cycle path in built-up areas. So says Flemish MP Marius Meremans. Speed pedelecs would still be allowed to drive faster but on the roadway. However, Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) does not think it is […]
January 20, 2023
The supply shortage crisis keeps troubling carmakers, also in the new year. The all-electric ID. models from Volkswagen currently leave the factory without the option of a heat pump. It is unknown whether sister models from Seat and Skoda, using the same architecture, are affected. But it seems likely, as the Audi Q4 e-tron suffers […]
January 20, 2023
Belgian start-up Veton wants to conquer the world and a growing number of EV owners from its base in Antwerp by wrapping the classic EV-charge pole or wallbox in a sleek, fashionable design with the cable neatly hidden when not in use. As 85% of EV charging is done at home or work, the young […]
January 20, 2023
Vanwall, a former English Formula 1 racing team, is revived and has presented an electric compact production model to be built in Germany. The Vandervell stands out with its sporty look and performance and will be delivered in the third quarter of 2023 at a (hefty) price tag of around €150 000. Vanwall was a […]
January 19, 2023
After leaving the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) last year, Stellantis has just announced they will stop all European lobbying efforts. CEO Carlos Tavares made the decision as a way to be more proactive than reactive in terms of future mobility strategies. “We no longer have lobbyists. We do not negotiate anymore,” Tavares says. “We […]
January 19, 2023
Chinese SAIC daughter MG, the self-appointed heir to Brittain’s iconic sports car brand, has launched into hydrogen, showing the Euniq 7 FCEV at Auto Expo 2023 in Dehli, India. The 5,2-meter long MPV offering seating for seven and a range of 605 km (NEDC) is said to be a demonstration vehicle, as no plans to […]
January 19, 2023
German airline group Lufthansa is the only bidder to take a stake in Italian airline ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia. This was announced by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance on Wednesday evening, after the deadline. Earlier in the day, French-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM had announced that it would not submit a […]
January 19, 2023
VDL Bus & Coach has received an order of 193 electric buses from Dutch public transport company EBS, which will use these new-gen Citea buses in the region Zaanstreek-Waterland (the Netherlands). These buses will be built in Valkenswaard and in the new Belgian e-bus factory in Roeselare, which is opening soon. EBS was founded in […]
January 19, 2023
Educam, the Belgian knowledge and training center for the automotive sector, wants to prepare the automotive industry for the advent of hydrogen vehicles. The organization, therefore, launched a brand new certification and training program focused on hydrogen-powered vehicles. The training will be given in Flanders and Wallonia. In addition, the organization has invested in hydrogen-ready […]
January 19, 2023
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted the Belgian Punch Group a €40 million finance contract for further developing hydrogen propulsion systems, like fuel cells and the H2 burning engine, as an environmentally friendly successor for the diesel engine. The investments will be made mainly at the company’s headquarters in Turin (Italy), Punch Group says, […]
January 18, 2023
At the Brussels Motor Show, we met Jon Williams, European Vice-President and General Manager of Ford Blue, the ICE part of Ford Europe’s business. He talked about the different specialisms inside Ford Motor Company now. “Recently, we’ve made clear that electrification and sustainability are the main priorities for our company, certainly in Europe,” Williams started. […]
January 18, 2023
US car rental company Hertz will make 25 000 electric vehicles available to Uber drivers in Europe by 2025. The two companies announced this in a joint statement on Tuesday. The first vehicles will be available for hire in London from January. The initiative will then be extended to Paris, Amsterdam, and other major cities. […]
January 18, 2023
Xpeng is steadfastly forging its road into the European market. The Chinese EV maker has announced that it will open four service and delivery centers across Europe in 2023 as part of its expansion plans. The centers will be opened during the first half of the year in the four markets where the brand operates. […]
January 18, 2023
At the Delhi Auto Show 2023, Suzuki unveiled the EVx, a concept car announcing the brand’s first all-electric SUV. The first specs seem to point to in-house development. Though the unveiling took place in India, the brand intends to sell it worldwide. “Strong 4×4 DNA with the advanced features of the latest BEVs.” Those words […]
January 18, 2023
Belgian SMEs, companies of up to 250 employees, invest more rapidly in ‘green’ car fleets. In 2022, one in eight new commercial vehicles was fully electric. Most company cars (80%) are younger than five years, and since 2021, there are more new hybrid gasoline cars than diesel cars. The largest part of newly registered company […]
January 18, 2023
Volvo has presented its Chinese roadmap for 2023 during a press conference, revealing three new electric models coming this year. Next to a more luxurious version of the EX90 and the compact EX30 SUV, a yet-to-be-announced MPV is shown in a slideshow. And it should have some Zeekr DNA. Last year, Zeekr launched its luxury […]
January 18, 2023
Britishvolt, the UK’s hope of constructing a 30 GWh Gigafactory in Blyth, in the northeast of England, is going belly-up as attempts to find last-minute investors failed. The startup collapsed into administration on Tuesday, and most of the 232 employees were made redundant immediately. Britishvolt had asked the government last year for an advance payment […]
January 18, 2023
In December 2022, new car registrations in the EU expanded by 12,8%, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth this year. However, in 2022, the European Union passenger car market contracted by 4,6%, mainly due to component shortages in the first half of the year. Although the market improved from August to December 2022, cumulative […]
January 17, 2023
As part of a new package of product updates, Volvo has improved both the range (WLTP) and charging for the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge, increasing range by as much as 60 kilometers on some variants. Furthermore, three new powertrains are offered on the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge. These include two rear-wheel-drive variants – […]
January 17, 2023
Consumer credits for new cars in 2022, amounting to around two billion euros, support the transition to environmentally friendly vehicles. That is the conclusion of BVK, the professional association for credit (Beroepsvereniging van het Krediet, BVK), and published by the federation of the financial sector Febelfin. Following the opening of the actual Brussels Motor Show, […]
January 17, 2023
Minister Petra De Sutter (Groen) wants more parcels delivered by bicycle, she said during a company visit to Cargo Velo, the all-round urban courier service operational in Ghent, Antwerp, and Brussels. E-commerce is still booming, partly due to the corona crisis, but, unfortunately, most deliveries are still made by vans. However, according to experts, at […]
January 17, 2023
Antwerp Airport reopened its connection with London on Monday. Luxembourg-based airline Luxair is responsible for the link to London City Airport. In the first phase, they will fly to the British capital four times a week. Although flying is climate-friendly compared to before, traveling by Eurostar remains a good deal less polluting, even if the […]
January 17, 2023
If there is one sector for which the corona pandemic was a blessing, it is the recreational vehicle (RV) sector. After the first lockdown in 2020, demand skyrocketed in 2021, with a peak in Belgium never seen before. But with 2022 and the Ukraine war, uncertainty and inflation pushed private individuals more than ever to […]
January 17, 2023
With EV and battery technology gradually lowering in cost, more manufacturers are introducing cheap electric city cars. For example, the Chinese manufacturer BYD, the fourth largest EV company in the world, is set to introduce the Seagull, a new electric city car, as shown by Chinese regulatory filings. The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information […]
January 17, 2023
Electrification and the swing toward SUVs are making their mark on the scales of the Belgian car fleet. On average, cars now weigh 10% more than three years ago, according to research by Energyville. According to the organization, the weight penalty of both trends is terrible news for safety and CO2 goals. Energyville spots two […]
January 17, 2023
Last week, BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse previewed some of the technology on its ‘Neue Klasse’ EV platform at the CES in Las Vegas. He was also very outspoken regarding the group’s future in the EV market. Zipse boldly said that BMW’s next wave of EVs will be the industry benchmark in range, charging speeds, […]
January 17, 2023
After Colruyt started experimenting with an Estonian delivery robot in November, French supermarket chain Carrefour is setting up a pilot in the business park Corporate Village in Zaventem near Brussels with a Turkish-branded autonomous robot. After the first test panel of twenty people, everybody in the Corporate Village will be able, starting next week, to […]
January 16, 2023
Facing stiff opposition from customers and criticism in its home country after lowering its prices in China twice in three months, Tesla has decided to make the price cut global. Depending on the model and the region a discount of up to 20% is now on the table in a bid to keep output at […]
January 16, 2023
Belgian railroad company NMBS/SNCB is preparing a pilot project with silence cars, where passengers who like to travel in silence can take place. This is what newspaper De Standaard writes, and NMBS/SNCB spokesperson Bart Crols confirmed the news. “The public service contract with NMBS/SNCB includes a lot of novelties for greater passenger comfort,” wrote Mobility […]
January 16, 2023
As we were already hinting at a few weeks ago, Mazda revealed a new car at the Brussels Motor Show. The independent Japanese manufacturer is adding a plug-in hybrid version to its battery-electric MX-30. The MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV is the announced new variant with a rotary engine acting as a range extender. It’s sold at […]
January 16, 2023
The Euro 7 ruling keeps throwing oil on the fire. According to the Association of European Auto manufacturers (ACEA), the proposed norm demands a considerable investment for a small ecological trade-off. With practically no impact on the NOx emissions of road transport, the organization pleads that it better should be skipped. However, the Commission put […]
January 16, 2023
According to a recent survey by mobility federation Traxio, Belgians still associate the month of January with the Brussels Motor Show. Despite corona, the long delivery times, and the financial and energy crisis, Belgian drivers are still willing to invest in new or second-hand cars. Their purchase intention is high, especially in Brussels and Wallonia. […]
January 16, 2023
The American-Chinese manufacturer Seres, from the same group as DFSK, has launched its second model for Europe at the Brussels Motor Show. The Seres 5 is a midsize electric SUV with up to 585 hp and a driving range of around 500 km. Seres was first introduced to Belgium and other European markets with the […]
January 16, 2023
For the first time, the award-winning Car of the Year (COTY) ceremony was at the Brussels Motor Show. Fifty-seven car journalists from 23 countries have finally voted for the fully electric Jeep Avenger as COTY 2023. Before the voting, there was no great rival this year, although the VW ID. Buzz was the most noticed […]
January 13, 2023
Astara Western Europe, the former Belgian Alcomotive group and importer of Hyundai, Suzuki, MG, SsangYong, and Maxus, also becomes the BeLux distributor for the Spanish Silence scooters and micro-mobility EV, the so-called ‘nanocars’. The latter share an interesting ‘swapping battery’ technology. At the opening of the Brussels Motor Show, Belgian prices were communicated with the […]
January 13, 2023
Belgian railway company NMBS/SNCB once again carried more than 200 million passengers last year. The previous two years had failed to reach that mark due to the corona crisis. “On average, the number of passengers is about 90% of the passenger volume in 2019,” the railway company says in a press release. For 2022, NMBS/SNCB […]
January 13, 2023
On Thursday, New Holland Agriculture, a global player in agricultural machinery, showed in Belgium its first tractor that runs on methane, a gas emitted from various anthropogenic (human-influenced) and natural sources, like cows, goats, and sheep. The vehicle was presented at Agriflanders, an agricultural fair in Flanders Expo (in Ghent, Belgium). Earlier, two new prototypes […]
January 13, 2023
The Brussels-Capital Region is releasing 500 000 euros to support eleven private projects to roll out fast and ultra-fast charging stations for EVs. This was announced by Brussels Minister for Energy and Climate Transition Alain Maron (Ecolo). Brussels wants to make 22 000 charging points accessible to the public by 2035, both on and off […]
January 13, 2023
According to a survey by insurance company AG, half of the Belgians are willing to switch to driving an electrified vehicle. Those who remain reluctant don’t blame range anxiety but the recent spike in electricity prices. This confirms the assumption that EV adoption could be hampered in light of the energy crisis. The data from […]
January 13, 2023
According to internal sources quoted by the German Handelsblatt, Mercedes-Benz intends to drop its EQ-label it uses to differentiate its electric models from regular ICE cars. As the premium brand plans to go full electric by the end of the decade, it might start doctoring with the labels from 2024 and return to its old […]
January 13, 2023
Nissan has brought its Ariya Single Seater Concept to the Brussels Motor Show, an ‘electric racecar’ conceived as a “high-performance exploration, development, and demonstration project”. It is in fact the dual motor all-wheel drive of Nissan’s second BEV, the Ariya crossover, squeezed into a Formula E-like single-seat racing chassis. It was presented for the first […]
January 12, 2023
Where VW Group importer D’Ieteren had decided not to be present at the 2022 BMS (which was finally canceled), it’s again present with an entire exposition hall (11) at the BMS 2023. But the importer will not only show the novelties of its VW Group brands. Apart from that, all ‘new mobility’ proposals will also […]
January 12, 2023
The French public transport purchasing bureau (CATP) has updated its comparative study of bus drivetrains concerning pollution and costs during a 15-year lifespan. The increased energy prices and new hydrogen offers on the market gave the incentive to publish the latest figures unfavorable to hydrogen. The CATP was founded in 2011 and published its initial […]
January 12, 2023
The organizers of the Brussels Motor Show are announcing the presence of 95% of the market at the motor show opening its doors (for the press and VIP guests) tomorrow. However, it’s only 85% considering that Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover will only be ‘symbolically’ present. Volvo and Mercedes explain that they prefer organizing their […]
January 12, 2023
According to mobility federation Traxio, the market for second-hand motorbikes experienced an exceptional end of the year. In November 2022, the number of registrations went up by 29,7%. In December, figures even increased to 117,7% (+7 235 units), bringing the annual total to 81 436 registrations (+0,9%). Why this peculiar final sprint? “This unusual year-end […]
January 12, 2023
For the first time in five years, Belgians use their cars slightly less to commute to work. On the contrary, public transport is again as popular for commuting to work as before corona, and the number of company cars reaches a new record. This is according to the annual mobility barometer of HR service provider […]
January 12, 2023
During the last quarter of 2022, the Dutch fast-charging operator witnessed a growth of almost factor three compared to the year before. Apart from a significant expansion of its network, this is attributed to the rise in BEVs on the roads. As well as price hikes due to the energy crisis. In the last quarter […]
January 12, 2023
Accompanied by some pictures of prototypes and a video, Porsche has released further details on the upcoming Macan EV. The sports carmaker confirms that its first all-electric SUV will feature a battery pack of 100 kWh, ‘bank charging’, and a clever rear axle. A fast charge from 5 to 80% shouldn’t take more than 25 […]
January 12, 2023
Volvo Car Gent, the Belgian production site pioneering the electric models of the XC40 and the C40 Recharge, is readying the factory to gear up production of fully electric cars (BEVs) to 150 000, compared to just over 70 000 last year. In 2040, this should be 200 000 in an utterly carbon-neutral plant. Volvo […]
January 12, 2023
According to the NGO Transport & Environment, the ‘big bet’ of Europe’s major oil companies on hydrogen as the transport fuel for the future is not so big in reality. A new study on behalf of T&E shows that investments in biofuel refining are eight times bigger. T&E accuses oil producers of not being serious […]
January 11, 2023
The intended merger between the Norwegian oil tanker shipping company under Cypriot flag, Frontline, and the Belgian sector peer Euronav is definitely off. Frontline pulls the plug, and the company does not give an official reason for abandoning. In reaction to the news that came like a bolt from the blue, Euronav management says that […]
January 11, 2023
New data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union reveal that 2022 was a year of climate extremes, with record-high temperatures and increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The year 2022 was the second warmest in recent history for Europe. Only 2020 was even warmer. The temperature did not reach absolute […]
January 11, 2023
For the second consecutive year, the BMW Group has beaten Mercedes-Benz in total sales for 2022. The number three, Audi, follows at arm’s length. Also noticeable: all three have sold consistently more electric and electrified cars than in 2021. With 2,4 million vehicles sold by the BMW Group (BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce) and 2,1 million […]
January 11, 2023
In 2022, the high-luxury daughter of BMW, Rolls-Royce, sold 6021 cars. Never before has the illustrious company sold so many cars: 8% more than the previous record year, and that was 2021. Bentley sold more than 15 000 cars, also a record. So the Ukrainian war, the energy prices, etc., don’t affect the buying habits […]
January 10, 2023
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is the first to get official approval for SAE Level 3 autonomous driving in the US, with Nevada taking the lead and California following, most likely soon. The latter was confirmed by the carmaker at CES in Las Vegas last week. It’s the first manufacturer to accomplish this government approval, beating Tesla […]
January 10, 2023
The arm wrestling between the Brussels regional and local authorities over the activation of the average speed checks in the Annie Cordy tunnel is still ongoing. And it does not look like they are going to be activated immediately. For the municipalities in the northwest of Brussels remain obstructionist. They are now asking for a […]
January 10, 2023
According to the mobility organization Touring, Belgian drivers still don’t understand the principle of the emergency lane. Despite the information campaigns the authorities conducted, many road users still are unaware of the regulation introduced in Belgium two years ago. Forming an ’emergency lane’ to give priority vehicles a clear path through traffic jams became mandatory […]
January 10, 2023
Dutch individuals buying an electric car this year or leasing one privately can apply for a subsidy again. That popular subsidy moneybox was empty at the end of May, but it is refueled with 99,4 million euros, 8 million euros more than in 2022. Because the amount per car has been reduced, more people can […]
