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Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVs Drivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data. The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers switch from petrol to electric vehicles. Continue reading...

AI romance | Giving thanks | Hotting up in bed | £2 coins | Pub queues Confirmation that the world has gone mad: I got into my car, a Smart #1, on Saturday, and before it did anything else, the car said “Love is in the air” and wished me a happy Valentine’s Day. As a matter of principle, I refused to speak to it for the rest of the day. Ray Woodhams Cawthorne, South Yorkshire • I tried to avoid saying thank you for a whole day and ended up feeling miserable and ungrateful ( The hill I will die on: Britons love saying thank you – I think we should ban the phrase, 7 February ). I feel much better now that I have gone back to saying it whenever I feel grateful for something someone has done. Roger Mears London Continue reading...

Mergers and acquisitions will shrink number of operators from more than 100 to five or six, says Be.EV co-founder British electric charger companies are asking rivals to buy them as they run out of cash amid rising costs and intense competition, according to industry bosses. A wave of mergers and acquisitions is likely to shrink the number of charge point operators from as many as 150 to a market dominated by five or six players, said Asif Ghafoor, a co-founder of Be.EV, a charging company backed by Octopus Energy. Continue reading...

I understand the appeal of avoiding all human contact. Still, good old-fashioned taxis have so much to offer It’s Super Bowl weekend here in America, which means a few things: copious amounts of gut-busting food, controversial half-time show performances, extravagant commercials, and occasionally a bit of football. For the tens of thousands rich enough to afford tickets to the Big Game, transportation to and from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, will be paramount. Thankfully, our robotic saviors are here to rescue the throng from the indignity of sharing a ride with an actual human being. This year’s Super Bowl is a test of the driverless taxi industry , currently lorded over by Waymo – a company that’s about to get a $16bn cash injection to further expand its business to cities all around the world. Smaller American metro areas like Sacramento and Nashville are next up to get Waymo service, as are global capitals like London and Tokyo. Fleets of robotaxis are seeming mo...

Data shows 29 hybrid and 98 diesel cars also sold, while the figure for battery electric vehicles was more than 2,000 Just seven new petrol cars were sold in Norway last month, data shows. The country, which is the frontrunner in the uptake of electric vehicles, shifted a record low number of new fossil-fuel cars in January, information from the Norwegian Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) reveals. Continue reading...

Carmaker, which owns marques including Peugeot and Jeep, will also sell stake in battery joint venture Business live – latest updates The carmaker Stellantis has said it will take a €22bn (£19.1bn) charge and sell a stake in its battery joint venture after admitting that it “overestimated” the pace of the shift to electric vehicles. The European-based carmaker, which owns marques including Peugeot, Fiat, Jeep and Citroën, said that the move was part of a reset of its business as it also admitted “poor operational execution”. Continue reading...