May 05, 2023
Mercedes-Benz has pushed back an interim goal on its way to becoming an electric car manufacturer. Specifically, it is about the target set almost two years ago that electric cars and plug-in hybrids should account for half of the sales in 2025. The manufacturer wants to continue to reach this interim goal by the middle […]
May 04, 2023
Following the unofficial leak of data and images a few weeks ago, Mini has announced the first official key data for the upcoming Cooper Electric. The fifth generation of the 3-door Mini will be available for purchase by the year’s end and will be produced in Leipzig from November. The fifth generation of the 3-door […]
May 03, 2023
With 70% of total consumption, diesel remains Belgium’s main fuel for road transport. This is shown by figures from Energia, the voice tube of the country’s petroleum sector. Nevertheless, it remains striking that fuel continues to make up most of what is refueled while fewer and fewer new diesel cars are being bought. In general, […]
May 03, 2023
Centrica Business Solutions, a British multinational energy and services company headquartered in Windsor, Berkshire, has started the construction of its first 24 MW battery storage facility outside the UK. The first installation will be built in Ostend. The site is set to be at full capacity by early 2024. Later, the company plans more similar […]
May 02, 2023
The BMW Group and E.ON have agreed on the first pan-European cooperation for intelligent charging at home. The strategic collaboration aims to create ‘Connected Home Charging’, “a holistic charging ecosystem that will allow customers to connect their electrified BMW or MINI vehicle with the energy system, as part of a climate-neutral, sustainable household.” “With this […]
May 02, 2023
While delivering Honda’s annual business briefing last week, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe made a few interesting comments regarding Chinese competitors, according to Automotive News. He said Honda executives had an unpleasant surprise at the Shanghai auto show, where local brands flooded the exhibition hall with advanced EVs of all kinds. In Shanghai, the Japanese automaker […]
April 28, 2023
On its home turf, Chinese car giant BYD has beaten Volkswagen and is currently the number one brand in sales. Also, the brand doubled its registrations worldwide, boosting its profit fivefold during the first quarter of 2023. At Auto Shanghai, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume stated, “BYD is very, very strong”. Reporting on its sales for […]
April 28, 2023
American number one car manufacturer General Motors has announced plans to stop production of the Chevrolet Bolt electric model at the end of this year, CEO Mary Barra told investors. So far, the Chevy Bolt EV and its larger offshoot Bolt EUV accounted for most of the company’s EV sales. Initially, the Bolt had been […]
April 27, 2023
Car manufacturing group Stellantis, representing 14 different brands with several North American brands among them, wants to reduce costs and finance the energy transition. On Wednesday, it indicated that it would propose a plan for voluntary redundancy in its US and Canadian branches. Renowned cost-cutter Carlos Tavares has struck again. The Stellantis CEO wants to […]
April 27, 2023
On Wednesday, the Dutch government unveiled a €28 billion climate plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% (or even 60%) by 2030. The plan includes 120 different proposals. For example, in the car sector, new EVs will lose part of their subsidies; second-hand EVs, on the contrary, will get €600 million in subsidies, while €90 […]
April 26, 2023
Skoda Auto is further stepping up the pace of its electric mobility campaign and transformation. Launching four all-new e-vehicles and two updated Enyaq iV family models, the Czech carmaker plans to expand its BEV range to six models by 2026. Skoda Auto will have invested a total of 5,6 billion euros in e-mobility by 2027. […]
April 26, 2023
On Tuesday, waste processing company Renewi officially inaugurated its new plastics sorting line in the port of Ghent (Belgium). A 20-million-euros investment to increase European recycling rates and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Present at the inauguration were, among others, Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) and Ghent Mayor Mathias De […]
April 26, 2023
Maritime contractor Jan De Nul has been indicated to pull the cables for the Thor project, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm. The company announced the news on Tuesday. Jan De Nul was awarded the contract together with partner Hellenic Cables. The latter will design and manufacture all cables in Greece; Jan De Nul will perform […]
April 26, 2023
Car manufacturer Hyundai and battery manufacturer SK will invest five billion dollars to build a joint battery cell factory in Bartow County, Georgia, US. Production would start in the second half of 2025. With this new joint venture, the two South Korean companies aim to produce 35 kWh of EV battery cells annually, enough to […]
April 26, 2023
German premium car manufacturer BMW will produce a second electric model at its German factory in Regensburg this year. The fully electric iX2 will follow the iX1 that has been coming off the lines in Regensburg since autumn 2022. Meanwhile, BMW is doing the final testing of its new 5 Series in the South of […]
April 25, 2023
Last Friday, Toyota Motor Corporation’s CEO Koji Sato gave a stark assessment of the Japanese automaker’s work ahead in China, saying it must do more and move faster as its competition in the world’s biggest auto market surges. Toyota showed two new EV concept cars for the Chinese market at the motor show in Shanghai. […]
April 25, 2023
Nine European countries signed a joint declaration on Monday in Ostend at the second North Sea Summit to make the North Sea the “green power plant of Europe”. The nine aspire to produce some 300 gigawatts (GW) of energy by 2050 through the massive construction of offshore wind farms. According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander […]
April 25, 2023
In Berlin, Seat’s sporty daughter Cupra has unveiled the Tavascan, its first all-electric SUV coupe, and its second BEV model. Based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, the Cupra Tavascan will launch in 2024 and will be available with either 210 or 250 kW, the latter being the highest power yet for the platform. Two […]
April 24, 2023
The Renault Group is steadily recovering. For Q1 of 2023, turnover has risen by 30% to € 11,5 billion. The loss due to the withdrawal from Russia is not integrated into the figures, but Renault stays optimistic for the future. By the end of the year, it wants to go IPO with its electric division […]
April 24, 2023
The Chilean government wants to partially nationalize the country’s lithium reserves. This was stated by the leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric last week. At 9,3 million tons, the country has the largest amount of lithium among global reserves. All companies dealing with the valuable raw material in Chile will henceforth be forced to involve the […]
April 24, 2023
According to an agency report, the Japanese carmaker Nissan is pushing ahead with its growth plans in software and electric vehicles more independently of Alliance partner Renault. Somewhat strange when you know that the two companies recently agreed on retightening the links in a restructured Alliance. At the beginning of this year, the manufacturer Alliance […]
April 19, 2023
Canadian company Magna will manufacture an electric SUV for Ineos Automotive. Production will kick off in Graz, Austria, in 2026. In addition to building it, Magna will also be responsible for developing the complete vehicle. Magna says Ineos Automotive is a new customer in engineering and complete vehicle manufacturing. The two companies already cooperated on […]
April 19, 2023
More than 200 players in the hydrogen economy from Belgian Limburg, Dutch Limburg, the province of Liège, and the German city of Aachen met Tuesday in Spa-Francorchamps to support the development of clean hydrogen in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) triangle. Most signed a declaration of common interest, ‘The Francorchamps Hydrogen Initiative’. Philippe Henry (Ecolo), Walloon […]
April 19, 2023
Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark will deliver the first all-electric Bentley to its new owner in three years. By 2030, he wants every single of the company’s five production models (one more than at present) to be battery-powered. In an interview with the English car magazine Autocar Hallmark said: “Our surveys tell us that around 70% […]
April 19, 2023
Fitness center chain Basic-Fit and PowerGo have joined forces to realize charging solutions at about 450 Basic-Fit locations in Belgium and the Netherlands. PowerGo will install standard and fast chargers, where drivers of electric cars can charge their vehicles with 100% green electricity. The first location in Belgium will be Basic-Fit Brussels in Jette; in […]
April 19, 2023
According to the newly published figures of the European car manufacturers association ACEA, the EU car market recorded a significant 28,8% increase in passenger car registrations in March, surpassing more than a million units (1 087 939). All the bloc’s most significant markets saw double-digit growth last month, with Spain (+66,1%) and Italy (+40,7%) in […]
April 19, 2023
Volkswagen will invest around one billion euros to establish a new R&D center for fully connected electric cars in Hefei, China, named ‘100%TechCo’. The Group announced the project at the Shanghai Auto Show on Tuesday and set ambitious targets for the unit charged with accelerating innovation locally. The project is to combine vehicle and component […]
April 18, 2023
The West-Flemish steel wire specialist Bekaert is to make additional investments in Belgium in the manufacture of and research into electrolysis materials to produce hydrogen. Bekeart is doing this by setting up a new plant in Wetteren, East Flanders. With the new plant, Bekaert will double its annual production capacity of porous transport layers or […]
April 18, 2023
French carmaker Renault is reviewing its pricing policies for electric cars worldwide to ensure it stays competitive after a wave of price cuts by U.S. rival Tesla, a top executive said on Monday, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, Renault presents a face-lift of its (ICE) best-seller, the Clio. After slashing prices several times in the United […]
April 18, 2023
As promised, the Volkswagen brand officially showed its new ID flagship on the 17th of April. The almost five-meter-long ID.7 saloon has a new drive system and battery size and is trimmed for range and comfort to convince earlier European Passat clientele to change to electric drive. In addition, the promised 700 km range of […]
April 17, 2023
Germany and the Netherlands are starting a cooperation on battery development for the European industry, by collaboration between two of their development nerve centers. The Dutch TNO Holst Center and the German Zentrum für Sonnenenergie un Wasserstoff-Forschung (ZSW) will join forces to remedy some of the pain points of the lithium-ion battery. TNO and ZSW […]
April 17, 2023
Ahead of the official premiere, more photos and the first technical data of the new Mini Cooper have appeared on the internet. This model is being produced in cooperation with the Chinese company Great Wall and will be available in EV and ICE versions. The pictures show a blue Mini with a white painted roof, […]
April 14, 2023
Saturday, April 15th, will be a historical day for Germany. After more than sixty years, the nuclear era will come to an end. Precisely at midnight, the last three nuclear reactors in the country will shut down. Isar 2 in Bavaria, Emsland in Lower Saxony, and Neckarwestheim 2 in Baden-Württembergare are the last three reactors […]
April 14, 2023
Japanese carmaker Toyota takes a further step in its global multi-tech strategy for decarbonizing conventional drivelines. With oil giant Exxon Mobile, it has partnered to test so-called low-carbon fuels in some ICE models. According to the official statement, the potential is to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint by 75%. Even though Toyota is gradually adopting […]
April 14, 2023
Group Renault has made a deal with battery manufacturer Verkor from Grenoble to buy the bulk – the equivalent of 12 GWh of a total capacity of 16 GWh – of its Dunkirk gigafactory’s production from 2025. That will allow Renault to equip between 130 000 and 200 000 electric vehicles annually. Renault Group is […]
April 13, 2023
On Wednesday, we announced that at least one out of ten sales in Q1 for the BMW Group was electric. Competitor Mercedes-Benz now announced that it scored almost at the same level for its fully electric car sales in the first quarter of 2023. Sales of battery-electric passenger cars almost doubled to 51 600 units […]
April 13, 2023
Volkswagen has unveiled a new generation of drive units for its Modular Electric Building platform (MEB). The rear-axle drive APP550 comprises a newly developed power unit that is supposed to offer more power and improved efficiency simultaneously. We already talked recently about the APP550: this drive unit has been manufactured by VW Group Components in […]
April 12, 2023
Last year, wind and solar energy generated 12% of electricity worldwide – a new record. Still, the share of renewables remains smaller than that of coal. That is the conclusion of the global energy think tank Ember. The organization recently published its fourth ‘Global Electricity Review’ based on the open data of the electricity sector […]
April 12, 2023
While total sales for Q1 of 2023 were slightly lower at 588 138 units (-1,5%), there was (again) a significant growth of BEV sales. BMW Group delivered 64 647 fully electric BMW and Mini vehicles, an 83,2% increase compared to Q1 of 2022. This means 11% of the Group’s sales are fully electric. If plug-in […]
April 11, 2023
In his first speech as the new Toyota CEO, Koji Sato said on Friday that Toyota Motor Corporation would expand its electric vehicle line-up with ten new models and sharply increase its EV sales to 1,5 million units annually by 2026 and 3,5 million in 2030. The company sold 24 000 EVs out of 10,48 […]
April 07, 2023
American FreeWire Technologies is bringing its unique take on fast charging to Belgium and other European countries under its own name. Its chargers with integrated battery storage have the advantage that they can be rolled out quickly. Later this month, the company is opening its European Headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. As installing high-speed […]
April 07, 2023
The all-new, all-electric 2025 Ram 1500 REV – the first battery-electric light-duty pickup truck from Ram Truck – made its world debut at the New York International Auto Show. With an optional 229 kWh battery pack, the pickup truck has a targeted range of 805 km. “The all-electric Ram 1500 REV is a monumental milestone […]
April 06, 2023
Dredging and marine engineering companies DEME and Jan De Nul, and Aertssen Group in JV Terranova, specialized in infrastructure works, join forces with energy providers Luminus and Nippon Gases to build and exploit a production unit for green hydrogen in Zelzate. The companies have established a new partnership Terranova Hydrogen NV. The three companies will […]
April 06, 2023
VW ID.7 testing is in its last weeks. Shortly before the world premiere of Volkswagen’s future ID. flagship on 17 April, VW provides pictures of the last test drives and delivers more details on the electric sedan’s drive, chassis, and comfort features. The VW ID.7 will have a new, specially developed electric drive when it […]
April 06, 2023
A year ago, we first mentioned the Taito, the first product of a young Ghent start-up. The three-wheeler e-scooter is now ready for sale and will cost €2 590, available through the Bike Republic sales network. That’s more than the initially suggested retail price of €1 750 back in 2022, but the company argues that […]
April 05, 2023
The new generation Mini Countryman, the largest Mini model, is in its final testing phase. The start of production at the BMW Group Plant Leipzig in November 2023 will be the first time a Mini is produced in Germany. With five doors and a variable-use interior, the largest model in the new Mini family of […]
April 05, 2023
Dutch solar carmaker Lightyear declared bankrupt by the court in January, has managed to find eight more million with mostly private investors, a group of 225 people around Amsterdam entrepreneur Arnoud Aalbersberg. Lightyear has announced the founding of a new company that will focus entirely on Lightyear 2. This might enable the company to reboot […]
April 04, 2023
The Korean car manufacturer SsangYong Motor Company was saved from bankruptcy last year (September) by the Korean chemical-to-steel group KG. So today, the name of the new automotive KG daughter has changed to KG Mobility. KG Mobility showcases three new concepts and the new Torres EVX at the Seoul Motor Show, now taking place in […]
April 03, 2023
The German car manufacturer BMW Group is betting on efficient design and recycling to bring down battery costs and is steering clear of investing in mines, its finance chief said on Friday, according to Reuters press agency, setting it apart from some competitors digging deep into the supply chain. “We don’t think it is right […]
April 03, 2023
According to Volkswagen brand boss Thomas Schäfer, it is now clear that there will be no ninth generation of the current VW Golf, despite being still a best-seller. Schäfer uttered similar thoughts in the German newspaper Die Welt in August last year. Now he has reiterated them in an interview with the specialized magazine Automobilwoche. […]
March 30, 2023
Volkswagen is partnering with EnerKite to develop flexible, grid-independent e-charging stations. These will be powered by electricity generated from wide-winged kites – also called ‘airborne wind turbines’. The technology must help facilitate the switch to a suited infrastructure for e-mobility by avoiding costly and complex power grid upgrades and subsequent investment in conventional wind turbine […]
March 30, 2023
Dutch fast-charging provider Fastned has nearly tripled its charging turnover by 191% to €36,0 million, providing 2,3 million load sessions at 244 charging stations (+30%). Nevertheless, the company is still writing in red with a €22,2 million loss in 2022, compared to €24,6 million in 2021. The EBITDA went up by 244% to 8,1 million. […]
March 29, 2023
Negotiators from the European Parliament, the European Council, and the European Commission have reached an agreement on the rollout of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. Drivers of electric cars must be able to charge their vehicles every sixty kilometers on the main European thoroughfares. However, the text still has to get the final approval of […]
March 28, 2023
The United States and Japan have signed an agreement to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and electric vehicle batteries. The agreement also envisages strengthening trade between the two countries in these products, which are essential for the energy transition and have been dominated by China. The agreement marks the first […]
March 27, 2023
The EU Commission and the German government have agreed on a compromise on how new cars with combustion engines can be registered after 2035 as long as they run on climate-neutral fuel. The original regulation on the phasing out of internal combustion engines is not to be touched again, and the exceptions will now be […]
March 27, 2023
Flemish public transport operator De Lijn plans to buy up to 600 new electric buses. With the new framework agreement, De Lijn wants to green its fleet. Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) is making at least 55 million euros a year available for the purchase of emission-free buses. Two framework agreements are involved: […]
March 24, 2023
It’s light. It packs a lot of energy. And it could make electric planes a reality. So when Amprius first announced its revolutionary lithium-ion battery pack, there were reasons to be enthusiastic. And cautious. The sector of battery developers is famous for making promises that it finds difficult to keep afterward. But in the case […]
March 24, 2023
Volkswagen plans to produce a total of three million fully electric small cars at its Spanish (Seat) plants in Martorell and Pamplona between 2025 and 2030. The total number can be even higher with the sub-20-000 euro entry-level model announced for 2027. But, probably, the latter won’t be built in Spain. This was announced by […]
March 23, 2023
Colruyt Group is selling Parkwind, a company that builds offshore wind turbines, to Japanese energy company JERA. The Japanese will pay around 1,55 billion euros for the company. Parkwind currently participates in, among others, four of the nine wind farms off the Belgian coast in the North Sea. Those four – Belwind, Northwind, Nobelwind, and […]
March 23, 2023
The German support for e-fuels in new cars could leave the average German driver paying €210 to fill up their tank, a new analysis by NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) shows. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in a stand-off with the EU over his insistence that cars powered by e-fuel can be sold after […]
