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State-owned SAIC, parent of the British brand MG, was responsible for biggest jump in sales in June Business live – latest updates Chinese carmakers secured a record 11% of the European electric vehicle market in June, as buyers raced to beat EU tariffs on imported EVs that came into force this month . The figures, which include the UK, show that about 23,000 battery electric vehicles were registered in June, up 72% on the previous month as consumers raced to beat the price hike in the EU. Continue reading...

The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s interest is more geopolitical than environmental When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government. “It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said. Continue reading...

Environment experts call for bold action as party attempts to revamp creaking infrastructure to hit net zero UK politics live – latest updates Business live – latest updates Bolster bus services, build cycle paths, impose frequent flyer levies and reopen old railway lines to decarbonise the UK transport system, environment experts are urging, as the Labour party begins to lay out its plans. The government’s proposals for rail nationalisation are likely to feature in the king’s speech on Wednesday – but experts warn far bolder steps will be needed to overhaul the UK’s creaking infrastructure to meet the net zero carbon goal. Continue reading...

Electric vehicle industry says spring data shows installations are keeping pace with rising battery sales There are now almost 1m electric car chargers in the UK, according to data, a figure that the industry argues is proof that installations are keeping pace with increasing sales of battery vehicles. There were 930,000 UK chargers at the end of June, according to ChargeUK, a lobby group, but the majority of these have been installed in homes and business premises, with only about 65,000 public chargers available. Continue reading...

Electric vehicles are ‘batteries on wheels’ that can put energy back into the National Grid when solar panels and windfarms do not provide much power Electric cars make some people afraid of the dark. While the batteries produce much less carbon, they require much more electricity to run. This has prompted ominous warnings that Great Britain and other wealthy countries set on banning new petrol and diesel cars risk plunging their populations into darkness. In recent months British net zero-sceptical newspapers have warned that the shift to EVs would “risk overwhelming the grid, and threaten catastrophic blackouts” when intermittent sun and wind fail to provide the necessary power. Another article claimed: “It won’t take an enemy power to put us all in the dark – just energy customers doing normal things on a normal winter’s evening.” Continue reading...

Architectural photographer Daniel Hopkinson and architect John Piercy Holroyd realised they had a shared passion for modernist buildings and car design when they separately turned up to photograph a building, both driving an Alfa Romeo 159. From there began a two-year collaboration entitled A Time a Place , which pairs every European Car of the Year over the past 60 years with a building of the same vintage. “The project aims to present everyday vehicles that used to be a common sight on our roads but have now all but disappeared, against architecture that has survived,” says Holroyd. Beginning with the 1964 Rover P6 outside the Crystal Palace sports centre, it includes a Fiat 124 in front of a Coventry tower block and a Porsche 928 outside the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. “That first shoot was a real test for us both,” says Hopkinson. “It was a constant challenge to persuade members of the public to not park in front of the building.” A Time a Place Volume 1 , covering 1964-82, is...

Despite being told there was ‘no crossing to be paid’, a driver received 23 penalty notices In November I had to start using my boss’s car for work. After making my first journey across the Dartford crossing on the M25, I tried to pay the Dart charge. I typed in the car’s details but the website clearly stated there was “no crossing to be paid”. I presumed that this meant my boss had the car on his own Dart account. As a result, I did not add it to my own account. Continue reading...

Social media content and AI training data are processed in outsource centres in the global south, where long hours, low pay and exposure to disturbing material are the norm James Muldoon, Mark Graham and Callum Cant: ‘AI feeds off the work of human beings’ Mercy craned forward, took a deep breath and loaded another task on her computer. One after another, disturbing images and videos appeared on her screen. As a Meta content moderator working at an outsourced office in Nairobi, Mercy was expected to action one “ticket” every 55 seconds during her 10-hour shift. This particular video was of a fatal car crash. Someone had filmed the scene and uploaded it to Facebook, where it had been flagged by a user. Mercy’s job was to determine whether it had breached any of the company’s guidelines that prohibit particularly violent or graphic content. She looked closer at the video as the person filming zoomed in on the crash. She began to recognise one of the faces on the screen just before it...

All new cars must have the devices from 7 July, adding fuel economy as well as safety. Will mpg become the new mph? In the highway code and the law courts, there is no doubt what those big numbers in red circles mean. As a quick trip up any urban street or motorway with no enforcement cameras makes clear though, many drivers still regard speed signs as an aspiration rather than a limit. Technology that will be required across Europe from this weekend may change that culture, because from 7 July all new cars sold in the EU and in Northern Ireland must have a range of technical safety features fitted as standard. The most notable of these is intelligent speed assistance – or colloquially, a speed limiter. Continue reading...

Higher levies on Chinese EV imports to come into force despite carmakers’ fears of retaliation Business live – latest updates The EU’s top trade official, Valdis Dombrovskis, has brushed aside concerns of trade-war retaliation from Beijing against European business, after the European Commission imposed duties on Chinese electric vehicles. Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, told Bloomberg Television that talks with China were ongoing, adding: “We are not seeing the basis for retaliation as what we are conducting is indeed in line with WTO [World Trade Organization] rules.” Continue reading...

Figures are a relief for the recovering industry but the growth is almost entirely business and fleet buyers Carmakers have sold more than a million cars in the UK in the first half of the year for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic as the sector gradually recovers from years of turmoil. Sales in the first six months of 2024 rose by 6% to just over 1m, compared with 949,000 in the same period last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the UK industry’s lobby group. Continue reading...

Company blames delay on weak demand and confusion over government policies on ‘tariffs, timings, and taxation’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos has delayed the launch of its Fusilier electric SUV, blaming weak consumer demand and uncertainty about government policies. Ratcliffe only unveiled plans to produce the low-emission vehicles in February, with production expected to begin in 2027. Continue reading...

Electric automaker’s quarterly deliveries fell for two straight quarters for the first time ever Tesla’s global sales fell for the second straight quarter despite price cuts and low-interest financing offers, another sign of weakening demand for the company’s products and electric vehicles overall. The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that it sold 436,956 vehicles from April through June, down 4.8% from 466,140 sold the same period a year ago. The sales were better than the 436,000 figure that analysts had expected. Continue reading...