PG Carz World

Lorry vehicle makers are backing a range of technologies from gas to battery electric to cut UK’s carbon footprint on the roads “Just be careful where your back end is going,” says the instructor as this reporter nervously steers a 44-tonne articulated Volvo lorry on a roundabout. It is good advice at roundabouts, as in life. The trailer rolls past the safety barrier with a barely visible gap, to the relief of everyone involved. It is a manoeuvre played out across the world countless times each day as lorries lug the goods required for modern life from factory to consumer. However, this truck is slightly different: instead of a diesel engine, it is running on natural gas. Continue reading...

Carmaker’s shares fell this week over concerns CEO would offload stock to help fund takeover of platform Elon Musk has sold almost $4bn-worth (£3.2bn) of Tesla shares since securing his $44bn deal to take control of Twitter . Musk, the electric carmaker’s chief executive, sold the stock on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing. Continue reading...

Fears that carmaker’s CEO may have to sell shares to fund $44bn acquisition of social network Investors have wiped $126bn (£100bn) off Tesla’s value amid concern that Elon Musk may have to sell shares in the electric carmaker to fund his personal contribution to his $44bn acquisition of Twitter . Tesla stock has been targeted despite the company not being involved in the bid but Musk, its chief executive and largest shareholder, is part-funding the Twitter deal with $21bn of his own equity and a further $12.5bn loan secured against his Tesla stake. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research finds fuel price surge due to war in Ukraine means it now costs £600 less to drive an electric car for a year Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates Driving an electric car for a year costs almost £600 less than its petrol equivalent after fuel prices surged more than electricity costs, research by the comparison website Compare the Market has found. Electric vehicles were already cheaper to run, according to figures shared with the Guardian, but the gap has widened significantly amid turmoil in global energy markets caused by the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Electric vehicle maker Arrival is gambling that small sites, a ‘Lego-block’ manufacturing system and lots of robots will bring it success The last year has been tricky for electric vehicle startups. After a burst of investment mania in which companies raised billions on the mere promise of battery propulsion, valuations have come back down to earth. One of the loudest thuds has come from Arrival, the closest to what could be called a British electric vehicle champion. Its market value on the Nasdaq has fallen from $15bn (£11.6bn) in March 2021, when it first completed a merger with a listed cash shell , to about $1.75bn. Continue reading...

The Department for Transport’s breezy predictions about driverless cars transforming Britain into a ‘global science superpower’ are both premature and optimistic “Britain moves closer to a self-driving revolution,” said a perky message from the Department for Transport that popped into my inbox on Wednesday morning. The purpose of the message was to let us know that the government is changing the Highway Code to “ensure the first self-driving vehicles are introduced safely on UK roads” and to “clarify drivers’ responsibilities in self-driving vehicles, including when a driver must be ready to take back control”. The changes will specify that while travelling in self-driving mode, motorists must be ready to resume control in a timely way if they are prompted to, such as when they approach motorway exits. They also signal a puzzling change to current regulations, allowing drivers “to view content that is not related to driving on built-in display screens while the self-driving vehicl...

Huge payout follows electric car giant topping share price goals and performance milestones Tesla has another record quarter Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and the world’s richest person, is set to collect a $23bn (£17.6bn) bonus after the Californian electric car company’s first-quarter results exceeded performance targets. Musk, who is already sitting on an estimated $249bn fortune, is in line for the bonus share payout after Tesla hit share price and financial growth milestones in its earnings on Wednesday night . Continue reading...

DfT has proposed some measures to smooth way for adoption of autonomous vehicles on British roads Self-driving cars could lead to drivers being allowed to watch films on the motorway , under changes to the Highway Code proposed by the Department for Transport The planned updates are intended to smooth the way for adoption of autonomous vehicles on British roads. But they have sparked concern from some, who fear that new regulations may be introduced before the technology is there to support them. Continue reading...

Proposed interim measures include making insurance companies liable for accidents in self-driving vehicles Users of self-driving cars will be able to watch films on the motorway under planned changes to the Highway Code, although it will remain illegal to use mobile phones. The update, proposed by the Department for Transport (DfT), will allow those in the driver’s seat to use a car’s built-in screens to watch movies and TV programmes. Continue reading...

Break into male-dominated public-transport helps tackle city’s pollution crisis and safety concerns Monika Devi is thrilled to be driving her autorickshaw. The 35-year-old has two reasons to be particularly proud as she winds her way through New Delhi’s insanely congested streets. She is one of the first women to be driving one of the three-wheeled taxis that swarm the roads of the Indian capital. And she is driving one of Delhi’s first e-rickshaws – part of the city’s drive to tackle its notoriously filthy air . Continue reading...

Using real-world data, we rank the most successful measures European cities have introduced Getting cars out of cities has become an international focus. But city officials, planners and citizens still do not have a clear, evidence-based answer to the question: what works to reduce car use in cities? We screened almost 800 peer-reviewed reports and case studies from throughout Europe published since 2010, and used real world data to rank the 12 most effective measures that European cities have introduced. Continue reading...

Can an electric car really drive 380 miles on one charge and how long will its battery last? Find out all you need to know before buying an EV Electric vehicles are on the rise – more electric cars were registered in the UK in 2021 than in the previous five years combined, and in December they accounted for one in every four cars sold, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. If you’re yet to be convinced, here’s what you need to know before you join the EV club … Can an electric car really be driven 3 80 miles on one charge? Potentially, yes. The new BMW all-electric iX 50 M Sport, for instance, has a WLTP-tested range (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) of up to 380 miles *. This range could cover your weekly commute and leave enough charge for running around at the weekend. Continue reading...

The commonly used phrase ‘the devil’s in the details’ doesn’t always hold true. When it comes to the latest fully electric cars, it’s the hidden details that make all the difference It’s approaching 10 public-transport-reliant years since I last got behind the wheel of a car. Maybe it was because it took three attempts – and a heated exchange with a driving examiner – for me to finally clutch my driver’s licence that my ambition to actually use it withered. Instead, I crossed oceans to experience life on foreign soil, followed by exploring new countries, landing in new continents to then settle in London five years ago, a city where you can get by without a car. But here’s the thing: I feel like I’ve missed out on an adventure. Yes, I’ve done the coming-of-age backpacking trips – I did the Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam-Laos route before it became cliche, OK? Yes, I’ve left my hometown of Glasgow to climb the career ladder in one of the biggest, most bustling cities in the world. But wha...

Clip prompts amusement online as car stops, then drives across an intersection, leaving police behind A video recently posted online shows what happens when police try to apprehend an autonomous vehicle – only to find nobody inside. Police in San Francisco stopped a vehicle operated by Cruise, an autonomous car company backed by General Motors, in a video posted on 1 April . Officers approached the car, which had been driving without headlights, only to find it was empty. Continue reading...

Pam Lunn is not impressed by the environmental credentials of the all-electric version of the supersized pickup truck Electric vehicles are not climate-friendly, but merely somewhat less climate-unfriendly than petrol or diesel ones. There are carbon emissions from manufacturing the vehicle, and from generating electricity to charge the battery. The wider environmental damage includes pollution from mining and processing battery components, particulate air pollution from tyres and brakes, and pollution from the disposal of batteries. The very idea of a climate-friendly Hummer is a kind of Orwellian doublethink ( I test-drove the all-electric Hummer. Can it win over America’s EV skeptics?, 7 April ). Pam Lunn Kenilworth, Warwickshire • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication. Continue reading...

Speedcam Anywhere allows anyone to submit evidence of drivers speeding The developers of a new app that uses AI to estimate the speed of a passing car say they have been forced into anonymity by the vicious response from drivers. The app, Speedcam Anywhere , is the product of a team of AI scientists with backgrounds in Silicon Valley companies and top UK universities. Its creators hope it will encourage police to take speeding more seriously and enable residents, pedestrians and cyclists to document traffic crimes in their area. A user of the app opens it when they hear a speeding car approaching and films the car passing. The app uses the number plate of the passing car to search the DVLA’s public registration database to find the make and model of the car. From there, it determines the distance between the axles of the car, and compares it with the footage to calculate the speed. The user then has the option of saving the video, or generating a report from it to share with the ...

Husbands, wives and children: there was something for everyone at the Earl’s Court Motor Show that year ‘Probably the safest place to drive a car in Britain now is in the middle of a Scottish loch,’ is the arresting beginning of the Observer Magazine of 16 October 1966, a special issue to coincide with the Motor Show at Earl’s Court, London (‘Living with your car’). This state of affairs was ‘a sad reflection on the crowded state of our roads, with their jams and their queues, their narrowness and their parking meters’ – newly arrived horrors clearly. Continue reading...

A climate-friendly version of the macho, gas-guzzling pickup is aimed at obdurate devotees of US’s supersized car culture It is the weight of an elephant, can move like a crab and in a previous life was reviled by environmentalists. The Hummer, that avatar of gas-guzzling machismo, has returned as an electric vehicle with an unlikely billing as an ally in the effort to avert the worsening climate crisis. The reincarnation of the hulking pickup truck, test-driven by the Guardian in the searing heat of Arizona, has been lauded by manufacturer General Motors (GM) as proof that electric vehicles (EVs) can now reach even middle America’s most obdurate devotees of supersized car culture. Continue reading...