November 09, 2017
The Belgian Vias Institute for road safety unveiled some details of its important study on persistent road offenders. The institute analyzed cases in the Leuven and Malines Courts and determined a typical profile: a 39 year old male blue-collar worker with lower income, single and without children. Vias has studied numerous repeat road offender cases […]
November 09, 2017
On Thursday, Opel’s CEO Michael Lohscheller has unfolded his plans – called PACE! – to regain profitability by 2020 as demanded by PSA. Without ‘forced redundancies and while keeping all plants open’ Opel will reduce costs by 700 euro per car among others and go all the way in synchronizing with PSA for efficiency. All […]
November 08, 2017
French shipping company CMA-CGM decided to equip its future container carriers with a power plant running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reduce emissions. Deliveries are planned for 2020. CMA-CGM claims to be “the first maritime shipping company in the world to equip its container carriers with this power plant”. Using LNG as fuel will […]
November 08, 2017
As part of the Yélo 2 project, La Rochelle city’s sea shuttle replaced its batteries with four tanks of hydrogen and a fuel cell creating the first ever hydrogen powered “sea bus”. The experiment will continue until August 31st 2018. The small sea shuttle from La Rochelle has seen its powertrain change as part of […]
November 08, 2017
At the start of the climate conference in Bonn, the European Commission published its report on the implementation of the EU climate agreements. Belgium scores poorly: CO2 emissions rose last year again in Belgium. In Wallonia and Brussels in particular, European climate experts see a significant increase in CO2 emissions. In Flanders, there is no […]
November 08, 2017
Waymo, a subsidiary company of Alphabet (the mother company of Google), is going to drive his autonomous cars on Phoenix roads without a human driver to intervene. This was announced by the company’s CEO on Tuesday. It is the next step in autonomous driving vehicles. Waymo is planning to start a taxi service in Phoenix […]
November 08, 2017
German car maker Opel, recently bought by French group PSA, will present its new recovery plan on Thursday. The brand has to face huge competitively deficits and might have to let go its redundant staff. Opel and its British sibling Vauxhall were taken over from General Motors by the French group PSA back in July […]
November 08, 2017
Electric cars tend to stand two thirds of the parking time at a public charger without actually charging batteries. This learns a spot-check by NewMotion, the Dutch charging station network company that was taken over by Shell last month. A fee of 0,22 euro per hour seems to be a solution. Juice-point sticking The average […]
November 08, 2017
Belgian professor Pieter Abbeel, worldwide renowned artificial intelligence and robotics (AI) researcher at the Berkeley University (California), has left the university to start up his own company, Embodied Intelligence, aimed at training robots. Like the ones used massively in car production for instance , by ‘getting into the robot itself’ by means of virtual reality […]
November 07, 2017
Driving on domestic heating fuel commonly known as ‘red diesel’ is forbidden in Belgium and can cost a € 500 fine. Infractions have increased by 78% compared to last year with 812 drivers convicted and fined in the first 8 months of 2017. From January 1st to August 31st, 812 drivers were controlled and fined […]
November 07, 2017
Uber Belgium has listened to the different demands from its drivers and the company will now offer more flexibility, reduce the passenger free cancel period to 2 minutes and charge the passenger 25 cent/min when the driver has to wait more than 2 minutes. Job’s attracticeness Before, we put our priority on growth and perhaps […]
November 07, 2017
According to recent figures from the Flemish mobility organization VAB, the price of the second hand diesel car take a serious dive. The sector even predicts that prices will dip further. Already today, VAB sells only 16% diesel-occasions compared to 84% used cars on petrol. Five years ago this balance was 61% diesel-occasions to 39% […]
November 07, 2017
More than 15.000 clients of German car maker Volkswagen put in a collective claim for in total more than 357 million euro as compensation for the dieselgate emission scandal. The class action was filed by American law-firm Hausfeld at a German court. Next year, Hausfeld announced, it will start more cases for duped VW-owners. 7.000 […]
November 07, 2017
Fuel consumption of new cars on the road is in average 42 % higher than what the type-approval test results promise. This says a survey by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). In 2001 the difference was only 9 %. The ICCT is a non-governmental organization based in Berlin and the US, that published […]
November 07, 2017
From May 20th 2018, France is tightening up its technical vehicle inspection, up to European standards agreed on in April 2014. Cars will be checked for 606 features, compared to 467 today. The group SGS which does 32% of these inspections, expects the number of failed cars to rise to one out of two. In […]
November 07, 2017
Last year, there were 779 road accidents in Belgium with a damage cost of more than 125.000 euro. The average cost of these claims was 424.647 euro. In order to pay only the major accidents claims, more than one million insured persons are needed, as evidenced by recent figures from Assuralia, the professional association of […]
November 07, 2017
One year ago, 31-year-old Perrine Collin launched Cycad, a young company building electric bikes out of bamboo. They now offer these ecological bicycles for long term rent at a degressive rate. “I met Narciso while I was working for an NGO in the Philippines”, explains Perrinne, “He was building bicycles out of bamboo and I […]
November 07, 2017
Last few weeks, German chancellor Angela Merkel’s entourage is lobbying heavily in Brussels to put the brake on the EU Commission proposal for new CO2 emission standards until 2030 it is to present on Wednesday. These would imply a general CO2 decrease of 25 to 35% for cars and vans, eventually with an interim deadline […]
November 06, 2017
Since September 2017, numerous shared bicycles from different renting companies such as GoBee Bike, OBike or Billy Bike are appearing all around Brussels., totaling around 850 today. These “free-floating” bicycles can be picked-up and dropped-off wherever the user desires it, without the need of a station. In Brussels, the concept of the shared bike is […]
November 06, 2017
The Electric GT championship, an European series for race prepared Tesla’s, is in the air again. Initially planned to start this month in the Marseille region, the start of the championship is postponed until at least mid-2018. The race in Zolder scheduled on June 23th 2018 has been cancelled and Belgian race director Pierre Delettre […]
November 06, 2017
A growing number of lakes and rivers prohibit the use of combustion engines in leisure boats. The Belgian Liso Yacht anticipates this trend by building luxury electric pleasure boats, capable of reaching speeds up to 100 kph on the water. “We are the Tesla of the boats,” says Dirk De Munter, the founder of Liso […]
November 06, 2017
Construction works on the Groenendael ecoduct are nearing completion with cars driving under it and animals from the Sonian Forest already able to cross the Ring without danger. Grading and leveling works of the different adjacent sites should be finished in December and specific plantation is due beginning 2018. The ecoduct’s layout takes into account […]
November 06, 2017
The Belgian bicycle sector has developed a digital system called Velo-Pass, which must help in the fight against theft. Traxio is aiming for a launch in early 2018. In Belgium, almost 100 bikes are stolen every day. To counter it, umbrella organization Traxio, which also represents the bicycle sector, developed the digital bicycle passport Velo-Pass. […]
November 06, 2017
Four big car makers have created a joint venture under the name Ionity with the objective to build about 400 fast charging stations all over Europe by 2020. The point is to have one charging point each 120 km. One year ago, BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Ford signed a memorandum for the construction of a […]
November 06, 2017
“The Netherlands should have the first test section of the hyperloop in Europe, a vacuum tube through which passengers can travel at speeds up to 1.200 kph. That’s why the government should make a one-off investment.” This is the message sent today to The Hague by companies and the semi-public sector. Cost for the construction […]
November 06, 2017
From January 2018 on, the Flemish region will promote the usage of a ‘greener’ kind of asphalt, that reduces CO2 emissions by one third when applied. Ben Weyts (NV-A), Minister for Public Works, even wants to make the ‘green asphalt’ mandatory form 2021 on. The asphalt used is a new kind that only needs 110 […]
November 03, 2017
Elon Musk himself predicted that the production start of the Model 3 would be ‘a hell’. But the actual problems go beyond his worst case scenario. Especially the software for the Model 3 batteries from Tesla’s own Gigafactory turns out to be problematic. Production prognoses are delayed by another three months. GigaFactory If all goes […]
November 03, 2017
Expect a moralizing sermon with every traffic infringement fine you’ll get in the near future. Belgian Minister of Mobility François Bellot (MR) wants to add ‘a personal message’ with each fine to sensitize people in what the minister calls “behaviour on the road that can’t be tolerated”. The ‘fine with sermon’ on about 9 million […]
November 03, 2017
Belgium’s most famous viaduct will get a crucial makeover with four lanes in each direction in the context of the redesign of the Ring around Brussels. Local and through traffic will be split and the viaduct will become a so-called ‘selection zone’ of almost 2 kilometres long. The first works are scheduled for 2019. The […]
November 03, 2017
Dutch bicycle maker VanMoof developed a tracking system for stolen bikes and sends out its own ‘bike hunters’ to retrieve them. A service that is proposed at an annual fee of 100 euro. In Belgium every quarter of an hour a bicycle is stolen. Police is powerless with a result that only 4 % of […]
November 03, 2017
Turkish President Erdogan announced a plan to launch a new car brand, entirely made in Turkey. His aim? To see a car rolling off the domestic assembly line by 2021. For years now, a domestic produced car has been an objective for the Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Parti), as a symbol of the […]
November 03, 2017
Car maintenance and repair costs shot up with +32,6% in Belgium since 2008, higher than in the neighbouring countries the Netherlands (+21,9%), Germany (+25,5%) and France (+24,5%). This is one of the conclusions of the latest study of the Belgian Price Observatory, part of the federal Agency for Economics. The study focuses on the total […]
November 02, 2017
Dutch start up Circular Energy from Delft has worked out a concept to ‘harvest’ gas at sea on mobile gas power plants and produce electricity without CO2 emissions. The gas power plant can compliment wind farms when there is no wind and use their power lines to supply to the grid on the shore. A […]
November 02, 2017
Created in 2013, the Waterbus connecting Vilvoorde to Brussels on the canal, has transported 42.000 passengers this season. It’s 10.000 more than last year. Born from an initiative from the Brussels’ association “Brussels by Water” and the Brabant association “Kanaaltochten Brabant”, the Waterbus service was active for the first time this year all days of […]
November 02, 2017
Californian electric car maker Tesla announced on Wedsnesday its biggest quarterly loss ever, due to continuing production problems with the new Model 3 and 700 sacked employees. Since it entered the stock market back in June 29 2010, Tesla has experienced eight annual losses. Yesterday, the company announced its biggest loss ever of 620 million […]
November 02, 2017
Minister of Mobility Francois Bellot (MR) wants to change the road code so that companies can be held liable if a traffic infringement is committed with a company car. At the moment, fines are sometimes left unpaid if it’s not clear which employee committed the offence. In the new proposal liability is not only extended […]
November 02, 2017
“Electric car sales are progressing all around the world, but only evolve in EU countries with a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of more than 30.000 per inhabitant, the more wealthy countries”, European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA explains. Since the beginning of this year, electric car sales are taking off. This market growth is pulled upwards […]
November 02, 2017
Modern cars are loaded with safety systems, but most drivers hardly ever use them. They simply don’t know what smart gadgets their car is equipped with. This was one of the remarkable results of the study carried out by the Connecting Mobility, a project office of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management together […]
November 02, 2017
One of the side effects of self-driving car is that the drivers tend to fall asleep and are unable to intervene when something goes wrong. “A scary experience”, Waymo CEO John Krafcik told Reuters on a visit of its Phoenix area test facilities this week. After experiencing this in 2013 during highway testing, Waymo, sister […]
November 02, 2017
Dutch bus company Qbuzz started on Wednesday with the first double deck buses for public transport in the Netherlands on the Emmen-Groningen line. The TDX27 Astromega buses, build by Belgian bus builder Van Hool, offer 85 seats and extra comfort like Wi-Fi and USB charging points for its passengers. Five QLiner 300 buses will assure […]
October 31, 2017
The Commission on Infrastructure of the Brussels’ parliament has agreed in the forming of a work group that has to study the implementation of dynamic road signs and speed limits on the main entry axes and the Ring. These dynamic road signs will adapt the speed limits to the traffic and weather conditions. The implementation […]
October 31, 2017
On Monday, the renewed VLM flight connection between Antwerp Airport and London City was officially ‘inaugurated’. VLM Airlines will fly the route again after nine years, this time with a Slovenian licence. The company is also working on connections between Brussels and China. Since September, there were no longer flights between Antwerp and London City […]
October 31, 2017
After hearing the final pleadings in the class action of consumer organization Test-Aankoop/Test-Achat (TA) and Volkswagen – D’Ieteren, the Brussels Court of First Instance’s judge has one month to decide whether the case is admissible or not. Compensation In June of last year, TA started a collective legal action or so-called ‘class action’ for about […]
October 31, 2017
The Belgian Walloon regional government has agreed last week on an ambitious plan to reduce car usage from 83 to 60% by 2030. Its Transport, Mobility and Road Safety Minister Carlo di Antonio (cdH) wants 4 out of 5 car trips in the future to be with at least two passengers and boost public transport […]
October 31, 2017
Swedish Anders Hedin Invest is taking over seven Mercedes dealerships in Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Anders Hedin is Sweden’s largest Mercedes-Benz dealer group. The dealerships, managed until now by Mercedes-Benz Belgium-Luxembourg’s own succursal, are concentrated around Ghent (Ghent, Gent Zeehaven, Sint-Martens Latem, Eeklo) and in Aalst, Ninove and Zottegem. Together the dealerships realize a turnover of around […]
October 30, 2017
According to information gathered by the Belgian newspaper “La Libre”, 110 pilots have quit Ryanair last week. Since 20.000 flights were cancelled due to the shortage of pilots available, Ryanair experiences a resignation rate of 23 per week. Ryanair had to cancel 20.000 flights until next March due to employee’s vacation scheduling problems. Since then, […]
October 30, 2017
The Executive Board approved the new 2018-2022 investments plan for Belgian railways SNCB/NMBS. It foresees 3,2 billion euro for commuter transport, train stations and equipment management and maintenance. On Friday, the SNCB/NMBS executive board approved the new power delegation and sub-delegation allowing the CEO Sophie Dutordoir to appoint her own general managers and department heads. […]
October 30, 2017
The stone marten is again on the up in Flanders. Side effect of this is that the number of cars with chewed through cables peaks. Although not scientifically proven yet, substances on the rubber coating of the cars wiring might be similar to the one stone martens use to mark their territory, so they attack […]
October 30, 2017
According to American real estate experts Justin Thompson and Garth Bostic the autonomous car can tempt people in the future to flee the city and move back to the green countryside, while traffic jams around the city will still remain and parking spaces in the city will become obsolete. The Los Angeles based experts asked […]
October 30, 2017
Philippe De Backer, State Secretary for Social Fraud, but also leader of the Open VLD faction in the Antwerp city council, calls for a kilometre tax for lorries in the inner city of Antwerp for certain critical time slots. Unless they pay a substantial fee. “Circulation plans sound good, but the solution is just there […]
October 30, 2017
Japanese carmaker Subaru has confirmed that its certification method for home market cars wasn’t done by certified inspectors, just like Nissan. The company plans on recalling 250.000 cars. “These methods involving controlling new vehicles by non-accredited inspectors for the Japanese market have been going on for 30 years at Subaru”, declared CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga. The […]
October 30, 2017
In spite of earlier Belgian bus manufacturers’ objections, Brussels Airport has confirmed its order of 30 full electric busus with Chinese BYD. BYD Europe gets 330.000 euro per bus, which is 33% cheaper than the second best bidder, VDL Roeleare. Dumping practices Bus builders VDL and Van Hool suspect Chinese battery giant and bus and […]
October 27, 2017
Belgian Rail is challenging technical students to find a solution to warn passengers being too close to the edge of the train platforms while waiting, despite of the yellow line indicating the safety distance, the signs and the public call systems. Every day, railway company NMBS/SNCB transports 850,000 passengers in 3.500 trains on the world’s […]
October 27, 2017
In Wallonia starting 2018, all classic cars will have to go through a periodic technical inspection every two years. For cars aged between 25 and 30, it will be every year. In Belgium, a car is considered a classic car if it is older than 25 years old, counting from its first registration date. In […]
October 27, 2017
Two Brussels police zones will be given bait-bikes equipped with GPS trackers and use them to catch bicycle thieves. The justice deems the method to be legal. “Lately, the Dutch Tilburg University published a study reveiling that the number of bicycle thefts in the municipalities using bait-bikes had decreased by 40% in one year”, explains […]
October 27, 2017
Environmental organization Greenpeace is preparing the summons for court to demand ‘representative measurements of air pollution’ from the Flemish and Walloon governments to know the impact the air quality really has to people’s health. On 11 September, after conducting its own NOx measurements in Antwerp showing far higher values than the official ones, Greenpeace sent […]
October 27, 2017
After numerous driver associations reached out to the government concerning its new and harsher tax plan for plug-in hybrid cars, the federal government reworked its copy. The new draft exempts cars such as the Toyota Prius PH or the Passat GTE, but its still reduced the tax advantage on what the government calls “fake hybrids” […]
October 27, 2017
After the indignation about the bicycle crashes in Antwerp, the political parties are now focusing on road safety. The collective ‘Samen’, joining political parties sp.a and Groen, wants to introduce a drastic new traffic plan like Ghent did. The left-wing collective asked professor Dirk Lauwers (UA, UGent), an authority in the field of road safety, […]
October 27, 2017
Without drastic measures Belgium will never achieve the CO2 targets set by the Paris agreement. Kris Welkenhuysen, researcher at the Belgian Geological Service, thinks in theory two thirds of industrial CO2 emission could be stored underground in the former coal mines or under the North Sea. Welkenhuysen studied the matter for his PhD thesis in […]
October 26, 2017
More than two years after the dieselgate scandal, around 100,000 cars are still circulating in Belgium with the so-called cheating software. According to D’Ieteren, importer of the Volkswagen group’s brands, some 1 million letters have already been sent out. However, 30% of customers have not yet had an update carried out. This update is completely […]
