February 21, 2024
As already mentioned in our article on Renault’s growth, Dacia now launches a new edition of its Spring electric model. The compact electric car, which looks like a small city SUV, is facelifted inside and out. Along with its 2023 sales figures, the Renault Group announced that there will be a new edition of the […]
February 21, 2024
The sporty brother of the upcoming fully electric Renault 5 is undergoing its last test stages in arctic conditions. The launch of the first Alpine EV is foreseen for June 2024. “Our A290, the future compact B-segment electric sports car, is currently being tested in the extreme and demanding conditions of Sweden’s Lapland,” says Philippe […]
February 19, 2024
The CEOs of U.S. automakers Ford and General Motors said last week they would consider partnerships to cut electric vehicle technology costs as Chinese rivals move into the U.S. and European markets. “If there are ways that we can partner with others, especially on technologies that are not consumer-facing, and be more efficient with R&D […]
February 19, 2024
Just 17% of electric cars sold in Europe are compact vehicles in the cheaper B segment, compared to 37% of new combustion engines, a new analysis finds. Carmakers are slowing EV adoption by prioritizing sales of larger, more expensive electric cars, according to Transport & Environment (T&E), which conducted the research. According to the report, […]
February 19, 2024
For the fiscal year 2023, car manufacturer Stellantis Group recorded a net profit of € 18.63 billion (+11%) compared to last year’s € 16.78 billion. Net revenues were € 189.54 billion, up from last year’s € 179.59 billion, with consolidated shipment volumes increasing 7%. The adjusted operating income increased 1% to € 24.34 billion from […]
February 16, 2024
Automotive Cells Company (ACC), the joint venture by Stellantis, TotalEnergies’ Saft, and Mercedes-Benz, has announced that its shareholders secured a €4.4 billion debt raising, increasing the funding for the construction of four new production facilities at three gigafactories for lithium-ion battery cell production in France, Germany, and Italy. Future production sites include one factory in […]
February 16, 2024
More than ten years ago, BMW shook the car world with its first i-cars, the i3 and the i8. In 2019, it showed a concept for a successor of the PHEV i8 sports car called Vision M Next. The canceled production version of this car, called I16, has now been revealed by BMW’s chief designer, […]
February 15, 2024
Renault is doing well again these days. Its turnover has grown by 17,9% to €52.5 billion, with a net benefit of €2.3 billion. Its free cash flow has turned around €3 billion now and has grown by €905 million last year. More interestingly, the operational margin has increased to 7,9%, a record figure for the […]
February 15, 2024
On Wednesday, the revived Lancia brand launched its first car of the new era, a successor to the current Ypsilon that will be available as a pure electric car or (somewhat later) as a hybrid. It starts with a limited series of 1,906 cars (the founding date of Lancia) designed in collaboration with the famous […]
February 14, 2024
Today, the resurrected Italian car brand Lancia launches the first car in its new product portfolio, the successor to the current Ypsilon. We presented the car in another article and talked to Lancia’s brand CEO, Luca Napolitano. Napolitano studied Business Administration in Rome and began his automotive career at Ford. In 2000, he started working […]
February 14, 2024
Stellantis will manufacture electric drives at its Hungarian plant in Szentgotthárd. The car manufacturing group will also use Tesla’s fast-charging system NACS in North America. The Stellantis Group will invest some 100 million euros in equipping its Hungarian factory accordingly. The first Electric Drive Modules made in Hungary will roll off the production line at […]
February 13, 2024
A few months ago, Volvo Cars announced that it would withdraw its interests in its sister company, Polestar. Today, Volvo confirms that it won’t be the major investor in Polestar anymore, but a total withdrawal seems out of the question. In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan (59) declared: “We […]
February 13, 2024
Audi has started preparations at its plant in Györ, Hungary, to produce the new generation of electric drives called MEBeco for the Volkswagen Group’s small electric cars announced in 2025. According to Audi Hungaria, the first systems for this have arrived, and the planning of the production lines is underway. Audi had already confirmed in […]
February 12, 2024
Autobahn GmbH, the German federal agency that plans, finances, builds, maintains, and manages the network of highways in the country, has finalized a tender for 1,000 new fast charging points at 200 so-called ‘unmanaged’ rest areas. These will have to be upgraded to the grid to support high-power charge points (HPC) first, as most today […]
February 12, 2024
Abarth unveils the first picture of the pure electric New Abarth 600e as it undergoes its final tests while making its public debut. The New Abarth 600e – in its Scorpionissima launch edition – appeared for the first time in public last Thursday at the shooting of a new commercial in Milan, Italy. The new […]
February 12, 2024
Regarding the roll-out of electric vehicles, JLR is stepping on the brakes or is at least recuperating energy. The carmaker also announced launching more plug-in hybrids, saying the demand for pure EVs has cooled down. The announcement is quite surprising as it comes when the company is seeing strong interest in the first electric Range […]
February 12, 2024
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has used an electric heavy truck from Swiss boutique manufacturer Designwerk to clear snow for the first time. Thanks to the 1,000 kWh battery capacity, the truck was able to complete a full day’s plowing work with ease. Designwerk is a small, Swiss-based manufacturer of custom electric trucks. It’s partially […]
February 09, 2024
Volvo Cars is building a new center for mobility innovations in Torslanda near Gothenburg. With this facility, Volvo wants to take new technologies out of the laboratory environment and test them in a realistic way. Volvo describes the new center, ‘ Mobility Innovation Destination Torslanda’, as a tailor-made test field for automotive development near the […]
February 08, 2024
Fossil fuel energy production took a record dive in the EU last year. An energy think tank Ember report unveils that the continent’s energy mix was greener than ever. But a rolling thunder is perturbing these clear skies, as a disastrous 2023 for Europe’s offshore wind leader, Ørsted, sharply contrasts with the record profits from […]
February 08, 2024
In Hannuit, in the Belgian province of Liège, on the border with Flanders, there will be a park with more than 3,800 solar panels. That solar panel park managed by Infrabel will provide solar energy to the Leuven-Liège high-speed railroad line. The project has a price tag of about 2 million euros, 90% of which […]
February 07, 2024
After announcing the Touring version at the new 5 Series sedan presentation and sending teaser images, BMW has officially revealed its estate version. Meanwhile, spy pictures had already leaked from a studio shoot. Now, BMW comes with the full story of the car. A flexible drive architecture allows model variants with gasoline and diesel engines, […]
February 07, 2024
According to the plans presented on Tuesday, the European Commission wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 90% by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. “There’s no other way,” says Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action. “The longer the EU waits to take difficult measures, the harder and more expensive it […]
February 07, 2024
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will invest $1.3 billion in its Kentucky factory in the United States. The investment is part of the preparation to begin producing its first electric vehicles in the country in 2025. Meanwhile, the world’s number-one car manufacturer expects record net profit even as quality scandals bite. The new investment […]
February 07, 2024
This week the first fully electric Volvo EM90 minivans are rolling of the production lines at Geely’s Hangzhou Bay plant in China. Volvo launched its EM90 in November last year, a close brother to the Zeekr 009. It gets a 200-kW electric motor on the rear axle powered by a 116-kWh battery for 738 km […]
February 06, 2024
The car rental giant Hertz freezes its mega-deal with Polestar. After deciding to sell off one-third of its existing EV fleet (mostly Teslas) in January, the company now puts a temporary hold on the agreement to purchase 65 000 Polestar 2 vehicles. That’s another big blow for Geely’s daughter Polestar, which recently announced the dismissal […]
February 05, 2024
The German electric vehicle developer ElectricBrands has filed for insolvency under self-administration and aims to “completely reorganize the company”. The company, based in Eppertshausen, says it is about to launch its lightweight electric vehicles on the market. ElectricBrands states that it has filed an application for insolvency under self-administration with the Darmstadt Local Court and […]
February 01, 2024
Industry data show that in 2023, China became the world’s biggest car exporter for the first time, dethroning Japan with overseas solid sales of electric vehicles. Data from a Japanese trade organization, released Wednesday, showed the country’s car exports in 2023 rose 16% from a year earlier to 4,42 million vehicles, falling behind China, which […]
January 31, 2024
Confident in the quality of its products, Peugeot offers customers of the new e-3008 ‘Peugeot Allure Care’”, a program that guarantees peace of mind by covering the electric motor, charger, powertrain, and the main electrical and mechanical components for up to 8 years/160 000 km. At the second E-Lion Day, the Stellantis daughter also promised […]
January 31, 2024
The fully electric BMW i5 sedan and BMW iX2 SUV Coupé will each be available with an additional drive system variant from March 2024. The drive system offerings for the BMW X2 and BMW XM have also been expanded. New features in the area of digital services will also be introduced in spring 2024. These […]
January 31, 2024
Various sources reveal that Isuzu Motors will invest nearly two billion dollars into electric trucks and batteries. News reached us over an order with LG worth one trillion won. There is also talk of a new EV pickup truck from Thailand. The Korean battery specialist LG Energy Solution will supply Isuzu Motors with cylindrical cells […]
January 30, 2024
Renault Group has announced that it has canceled the initial public offering (IPO) of its electric division, Ampere. This is a major strategic turnaround for the group and a sign of the EV sector’s difficulties in attracting investors. Renault justifies the decision in its statement by pointing out that “the current market conditions are not […]
January 29, 2024
Organizing photoshoots for imminent car launches without giving away the looks becomes more complex every day. After the recent leak of the new Lancia Ypsilon pics, the website car scoops got pictures of the announced BMW 5 Series Touring, scheduled to follow its sedan brother this year into the market. The Touring version of the […]
January 29, 2024
At the shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) in Ulsan, South Korea, the world’s first vessel on ‘green methanol’ carrying up to 16 592 twenty-feet shipping containers (TEU) has been baptized ‘Ane Mærsk’. At the beginning of February, it will enter service connecting Asia and Europe The 350-meter-long vessel is Mærsk’s second container […]
January 26, 2024
Porsche has (finally) unveiled its first electric SUV. After a couple of years of delay, the carmaker has high hopes for its second electric model after the Taycan. After all, the Macan is not only Porsche’s best-selling model, but with the new Premium Platform Electric, it is also a trailblazer for the upcoming electric models. […]
January 25, 2024
“Despite lofty ambitions and strict requirements, most passenger cars on EU roads still emit the same quantity of CO2 as 12 years ago,” the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said in a statement. A top EU auditor reported on Wednesday that sales of electric cars in the European Union are not growing fast enough to […]
January 25, 2024
Through the inadvertence of people working for the car manufacturer’s official web channels, ‘official’ pictures of the production version of the Wagoneer S EV already leaked long before Jeep was ready to show them to us. Jeep had already teased its first-ever EV for the American market last week, but the short video only really […]
January 24, 2024
The iconic Golf is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and Volkswagen is launching an enhanced version of its bestseller to mark the anniversary. To date, more than 37 million Golfs have been sold across eight generations. The updated Golf has a next-generation infotainment system, a more intuitive operating concept, a sharper front and rear […]
January 24, 2024
The French oil and gas group TotalEnergies has signed a deal with Danish sustainable energy company European Energy for a majority stake in two wind projects. Under the arrangement, TotalEnergies will take an 85% stake in the Jammerland Bugt project (240 MW), and 72,2% in the Lillebaelt South nearshore development (165 MW), both in Danish […]
January 24, 2024
Toyota Chairman and former CEO Akio Toyoda believes battery-electric vehicles will have a maximum market share of 30%, with the rest taken up by hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and ICE cars. “With a billion people in the world living without electricity, limiting their choices and ability to travel by making expensive cars isn’t the answer,” […]
January 23, 2024
Stellantis has fully unveiled its STLA Large platform. Designed for large electric vehicles, it forms the basis for future cars in the D and E segments for the global markets. However, it is not a purely electric platform, which has a reason. This will be a pivotal year for the strictness of emissions regulations with […]
January 23, 2024
With the ‘Neue Klasse’ or ‘New Class,’ BMW will launch a new vehicle architecture for the electric future in 2025. The Munich-based company has a tight model schedule: six model series are to use the New Class base within two years. More details have become available. BMW already confirmed in March 2023 that six model […]
January 23, 2024
“The growing demand for key materials can increasingly be met by technological advances, battery recycling, and global cooperation,” said Chinese battery giant CATL’s CEO Robin Zeng, attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos. “At the end of the day, when we achieve 100% electric cars, there will be a very tiny amount of […]
January 18, 2024
After four years of decline, the sales of Renault group are going upwards again (+9%). In 2023, the group sold 2 235 000 vehicles worldwide. Sales to individual buyers represent 65% of total sales in the five most important European markets. In a press release on Wednesday, the Group says to be “in a dynamic […]
January 17, 2024
The French micro-mobility specialist Ligier will import K-Ryole’s electric transport solutions to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The purpose is to offer even more zero-emission micro-mobility solutions for building and logistics. K-Ryole is a French manufacturer of innovative, electrically supported bike trailers and trolleys, especially suited for last-mile delivery. The bike trailers are mainly used […]
January 17, 2024
Swedish battery maker Northvolt will get 4,6 billion euros to expand its large battery factory in Sweden and the Revolt Ett recycling plant next door. It is the largest green loan given to a company so far in Europe, according to the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is issuing the loan with 23 commercial banks […]
January 17, 2024
After opening its first station in Denmark in Q4 2023, Dutch fast-charger provider Fastned is now expanding to Spain, where it won a first tender for seven stations along highways. The first Spanish station will be built in Casarrubuelos (Madrid) along the A42 to Toledo, featuring eight 400 kW chargers. The goal is to build […]
January 16, 2024
BMW chief financial officer Walter Mertl said in a recent media roundtable BMW has passed the tipping point for combustion engine vehicle sales and now generates most sales growth from electric cars. “The tipping point for the combustion engine is already there,” the CFO said, adding that, in his view, it had been passed last […]
January 16, 2024
Gas station operator Q8 and energy company Storm will build a network of up to 200 fast charging stations in Belgium – about half with a shop or restaurant. That is what both companies announced on Monday. They call it “a unique partnership”. The project represents an investment of up to 250 million euros. Both […]
January 15, 2024
The Dutch energy storage company Giga Storage plans to develop Europe’s largest battery park in Dilsen-Stokkem (Belgium). The 60 MW energy storage project will have a 2 400 MWh capacity. This means that the average energy consumption of 330 000 families can be stored here each day and fed back into the electricity grid. “In […]
January 15, 2024
Volkswagen has published its Group-wide sales figures for the past year. According to the figures, the Volkswagen Group delivered 771 100 fully electric vehicles worldwide in 2023. Across all drive types, Volkswagen achieved total sales of 9,24 million vehicles in 2023, an increase of 21% compared to 2022. The 771 100 fully electric vehicles delivered […]
January 15, 2024
The French start-up company Tiamat Energy is planning a factory for sodium-ion battery cells with an annual capacity of 5 GWh in northern France and is receiving financial support from Stellantis, among others. Tiamat Energy is a sodium-ion cell developer spun off from the French National Research Centre CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). […]
January 12, 2024
According to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewable energy production capacity has increased by 50% in the past year. The IEA says the increase is faster than ever in the last thirty years. Due to the rapid growth, there is a real chance that global capacity will triple by 2030. Last […]
January 12, 2024
Rental company Hertz announced that it will ditch approximately 20 000 electric cars in the US, equivalent to about one-third of its global EV fleet. Hertz names unsatisfying customer demand as one of the reasons and will reinvest in combustion-engined cars. The news smudges the company’s leading move two years ago, ordering 100 000 zero-emission […]
January 12, 2024
Since September last year, Wolfgang Bremm von Kleinsorgen (52) has been CEO of Mercedes-Benz Benelux. He took the alternative Mercedes motor show event ‘Defining Class Star Days’ in his own headquarters as an opportunity to talk to the outside world for the first time. The new CEO originates from Aachen, Germany, and knows Belgium fairly […]
January 11, 2024
The students of the Belgian Solar Team, who became world champion in October 2023, are preparing for the SASOL Solar Challenge in South Africa, which will start within eight months. This competition is considered the most extreme in the world. The engineering students from KU Leuven will travel more than 4 000 kilometers over eight […]
January 10, 2024
The BMW Group sold a total of 376 183 all-electric vehicles in 2023. That is 74,4% more than in 2022, with the BMW core brand achieving even stronger growth thanks to several new models, while Mini only saw a slight increase. In 2022, the BMW Group sold 215 755 fully electric vehicles of the BMW […]
January 09, 2024
Germany has been given the green light by the European Commission to allocate 902 million euros in subsidies to a battery plant by Sweden’s Northvolt in Heide, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The plant in northern Germany, positioned to produce the cleanest batteries for EVs in continental Europe with a capacity of up to 60 […]
January 09, 2024
Toyota Belgium, one of the market leaders in the segment of individual buyers with its Yaris model, ordered a survey showing great uncertainty reigning in this market segment about when and what to buy. Toyota Belgium asked marketing research specialist Ipsos to investigate the buying intentions of individual car buyers. 1 000 respondents (only potential […]
January 09, 2024
CO2 emissions from Germany, Europe’s leading industrial nation and the largest energy consumer in Europe, have reached their lowest level in around 70 years, thanks to a stronger-than-expected decline in the use of coal. Greenhouse gas emissions reached 673 million tons of CO2 last year, “the lowest level since the 1950s” and significantly down from […]
January 08, 2024
According to market research ordered by Mobia, the Belgian car buyer will be more impacted by a premium to buy an electric car than by the eventual expansion of LEZ zones. Mobia, the overarching association of car sector federations Febiac (new car market), Traxio (second-hand car market), and Renta (car leasing and renting), has done […]
