Skip to main content

Posts

Recent posts

Delhi plans to ban petrol rickshaws and scooters in effort to cut toxic fumes

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed by some as ‘gamechanger’ The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end of the decade. Continue reading...

‘Fork in the road’: CEO of Amazon-backed Rivian on why carmakers need to invest in EVs

RJ Scaringe says firms focused on selling fossil fuel engines risk being ‘woefully behind’ on technology by end of decade Carmakers that focus on selling fossil fuel engines are at risk of being “woefully behind” on technology by the end of the decade, according to the boss of Rivian, an Amazon-backed US electric carmaker. RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and chief executive, said the car industry has reached a “fork in the road” in the choice between short-term profits and the heavy investments, particularly in software, that will be required to survive. Continue reading...

I was wary of driverless cars and their tech overlords – but they could give me a different future | Gabriel Stewart

For those of us who can’t drive due to disabilities, the drawbacks of these vehicles are vastly outweighed by the possibilities they offer The robotaxis are coming! The robotaxis are coming! Well, actually, they’re already here. Until now they’ve been the stuff of science fiction, but this summer London’s streets have seen Silicon Valley-based company Waymo testing out self-driving cars. It hasn’t been the smoothest of introductions – from cars getting stuck in a cul-de-sac and repeatedly waking up the residents of Shoreditch to one driving into a crime scene , after a double stabbing in Harlesden. The automated vehicles (AVs) have so far had trained drivers waiting behind the wheel to take control if needed, but will soon be shedding their human minders. Waymo and British rival Wayve are hoping to launch driverless minicabs in the capital this year, subject to approval from the British government and Transport for London, among others. A subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, Waymo c...

‘Carspreading’ could lead to extra 2,600 crash deaths a year by 2040, study finds

Analysis shows cars in Europe have grown longer, taller and wider every year since 2000 Cars have grown 1.2cm longer, 0.5cm taller and 0.5cm wider each year on average since 2000, analysis of new vehicles sold in Europe has found, in what green groups call “relentless carspreading”. The increase in size, which leaves people more likely to be killed in a crash and increases emissions that hurt lungs and heat the planet , has progressed at a roughly steady rate for two and half decades even as family sizes have fallen, the campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) found. Continue reading...

Nissan ‘shelves all-electric Qashqai plans’ as it cuts costs

Firm has been developing full EV version of its top-selling model in Europe at its plant in Sunderland Business live – latest updates Nissan has reportedly stopped developing a fully electric version of its Qashqai, its top-selling model in Europe, as the Japanese carmaker looks to cut a fifth of its models and slash costs. The carmaker quietly halted development of a full EV version of the Qashqai at Sunderland, the site of the UK’s largest car factory, last year, according to a report by Reuters. Continue reading...

How Europe’s EV makers shrank their product to challenge the bloated SUVs

Smaller, cheaper cars built for narrow city streets are becoming more stylish – but require careful design decisions The winding backstreets of London, Paris and Rome are a large part of their charm. But they are also a problem for electric carmakers. For a long time, squeezing big batteries into smaller, cheaper cars to fit European streets was too much of a problem, so manufacturers focused on bloated SUVs instead. But that is finally changing. Battery technology has improved and Europe’s carmakers havecut manufacturing costs enough that they can now sell cars that might have a chance of fitting down a medieval lane or two. Continue reading...