Category Archives: Motoring

Safety and space at risk as SUVs reach 30% of car market in English cities, researchers warn

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Campaigners call for Paris-style parking charges amid fears big vehicles are taking up excessive public space

The number of giant cars in England’s cities has increased tenfold in recent years, according to researchers, who warn the vehicles are taking up excessive public space and posing a threat to public safety.

Analysis published by Clean Cities has found SUVs have gone from 3% to 30% of existing cars in the past two decades. In London, the number of SUVs has increased from about 80,000 in 2002 to about 800,000 in 2023.

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UK ministers urged to do more to protect new drivers in road safety overhaul

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Motoring groups welcome plan to ban over-70s who fail eye tests but call for young drivers to face passenger restrictions

Motoring groups have welcomed government plans to overhaul road safety laws that could result in over-70s being banned if they fail eyesight tests but have implored ministers to go further with measures they believe could protect younger drivers and their passengers.

Ministers are considering cutting the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and introducing mandatory eye tests for older drivers, the Times reported on Monday. The proposals also reportedly include tougher penalties for uninsured driving and failing to wear a seatbelt – but not measures to stop inexperienced drivers being responsible for the safety of groups of their friends.

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Some electric cars fall short of claimed range by up to 23%, Australian motoring group finds

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The Australian Automobile Association tested vehicles from Tesla, BYD, Kia and Smart in bid to give consumers more accurate information

A government-funded program to test the true performance of vehicles has found the driving range of five popular electric cars is between 5% and 23% lower than results from laboratory testing.

The Australian Automobile Association tested vehicles from Tesla, BYD, Kia and Smart – the first EVs to be put through its four-year, federally funded Real World Testing Program to give consumers more accurate information on vehicle performance.

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Millions in line for payouts from £18bn car loan compensation scheme

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City regulator says motorists should start to get payments in 2026 with ‘most payouts likely to be under £950’

Millions of drivers could be handed a share of a multibillion-pound compensation package after the City regulator said it would open a redress scheme for consumers affected by the car finance scandal.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will consult on the redress scheme, which could cost banks between £9bn and £18bn when it begins paying consumers compensation next year.

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Chancellor’s attempt to intervene in car finance scandal branded ‘disgraceful’

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Defending industry over consumers sends ‘really bad message’, says Treasury committee member Bobby Dean

Rachel Reeves’ efforts to intervene in the supreme court case on the car finance scandal were “unprecedented and disgraceful” and send a “really bad message” to consumers that the government is willing to defend wrongdoing by banks, Treasury committee member and Lib Dem MP Bobby Dean has said.

While the supreme court largely sided with finance companies on Friday – helping lenders avoid a £44bn compensation bill – Dean said the chancellor had gone too far to show she was on the side of business.

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Chancellor’s attempt to intervene in car finance scandal branded ‘disgraceful’

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Defending industry over consumers sends ‘really bad message’, says Treasury committee member Bobby Dean

Rachel Reeves’ efforts to intervene in the supreme court case on the car finance scandal were “unprecedented and disgraceful” and send a “really bad message” to consumers that the government is willing to defend wrongdoing by banks, Treasury committee member and Lib Dem MP Bobby Dean has said.

While the supreme court largely sided with finance companies on Friday – helping lenders avoid a £44bn compensation bill – Dean said the chancellor had gone too far to show she was on the side of business.

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Tesla’s European sales slump as Musk warns of ‘rough quarters’ ahead

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Electric carmaker struggles to emerge from sales rut on continent despite updating its bestselling Model Y

Tesla sales in Europe have collapsed by one-third this year, data shows, after Elon Musk warned the electric carmaker faced “a few rough quarters” ahead.

According to the figures published on Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), sales of Tesla vehicles in Europe slumped by 33% to 110,000 in the first half of 2025, compared with 165,000 in the first half of 2024.

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Jaguar Land Rover delays launch of new Range Rover Electric

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Exclusive: Customers are told the carmaker is allowing more time for testing and for demand to pick up

Britain’s largest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, has delayed the planned launches of its new electric Range Rover and electric Jaguar models to give it time for more testing and for demand to pick up, the Guardian can reveal.

JLR has written to customers waiting for the Range Rover Electric to inform them that deliveries of the new version of the model will not start until next year, after initially aiming for late 2025.

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English councils urged to install pavement gullies for home charging of electric cars

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Scheme aims to stop cables trailing across pavements and encourage drivers to switch to electric vehicles

Local councils in England will be encouraged to install pavement gullies that link houses to the kerbside so that electric cars owners can charge their cars from home if they do not have a driveway.

The new government scheme hopes to stop cables trailing across pavements, as EV owners in built up areas where off-street parking is scarce, try to charge their cars. The Department for Transport has said it will put £25m towards “cross-pavement” charging – essentially a narrow cable channel with a cover on top.

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UK carmakers on track to meet EV sales target despite intense lobbying to lower quota

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Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in first half of 2025, only just below the effective 22% share needed to meet rules

Carmakers are on track to meet existing UK electric car sales targets despite having successfully lobbied the government to water them down.

Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in the first half of 2025, only marginally below the 22.06% share needed to meet existing rules once concessions are taken into account, according to an analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank.

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Labour scraps £950m EV rapid charging fund first announced by Conservatives

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£400m to be set aside for on-street charging points instead of motorways after RCF was mired in delays

Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a £950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points.

The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to the grid so that more electric vehicles could be rapidly charged at the same time.

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UK petrol prices poised to rise as Israel-Iran conflict pushes up cost of oil

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Oil price increase likely to add 5p to petrol and diesel over the next couple of months, expert says

Britons are braced for higher prices at the pumps, after a rise in oil prices caused by the conflict between Israel and Iran in recent days.

Oil prices climbed again on Monday, as traders worried about the risks of a broader regional military conflict, which could disrupt supplies. Iran is a big oil producer, and accounts for about 3% of global supplies.

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BYD launches cheapest UK model in bid to overtake Tesla as biggest electric carmaker

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Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650 – among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain

The Chinese manufacturer BYD has launched its cheapest model in the UK, in the latest stage of its efforts to overtake Tesla as the world’s biggest electric carmaker.

The Dolphin Surf will start at £18,650, a price that puts it among the cheapest new vehicles on sale in Britain.

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UK travellers face road and rail disruption over bank holiday weekend

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Motoring organisations warn of heavy traffic, and delays and cancellations will hit two rail routes out of London

The bank holiday getaway is likely to be a tricky one, with transport analysts predicting congested roads and the year’s busiest day so far for departing airports, while long-distance rail passengers dodge the start of more engineering work.

Motoring organisations forecast traffic to be at its worst on Friday, with many drivers surveyed apparently taking an extra day off before the long weekend and half-term break for most schools in England and Wales.

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UK petrol prices poised to fall further as oil production may be stepped up

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Global oil prices tumble after reports that Opec+ is ready to raise output despite weaker demand for fossil fuels

Global oil prices have tumbled by more than $1 a barrel in a sign that pressure on households at the petrol pumps could ease further.

The price of Brent crude fell to $63.86 a barrel on Thursday following reports that the Opec oil cartel and its allies may increase their production for July, despite weaker global demand for fossil fuels.

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Weakening of UK EV sales rules ‘likely to result in significantly more carbon emissions’

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Analysis suggests there could be 500,000 additional plug-in hybrid electric cars on Britain’s roads by 2030

The UK government’s weakening of rules on electric car sales is likely to result in significantly more carbon emissions as sales of plug-in hybrids rise, according to analysis.

Relaxed rules could result in as many as 500,000 additional plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) on UK roads by 2030, according to modelling by T&E, a campaign group on transport and the environment. PHEVs combine a small battery with a polluting petrol engine and tend to be much more profitable than pure battery electric cars.

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Coalition’s claim that fuel efficiency standard would raise prices based on car no longer on sale

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Questions arise over election proposal to axe penalties for high-emitting cars after revelations Toyota RAV4 model used in analysis has been discontinued

The Coalition’s claim cars will be more expensive as a result of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) has come under scrutiny because at least one of the opposition’s headline figures is based on a car no longer on sale.

The revelation casts doubt on a key Coalition election proposal to eliminate penalties for cars that emit CO2 beyond regulated limits, to ensure “Australians save thousands when buying a new car”.

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German police crack down on illegal street car tuning as season begins

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Enthusiasts gathering on Good Friday – renamed Carfreitag – face curbs on unauthorised tuning, illegal races and pollution

Police in Germany have announced a crackdown on illegal racing and the unauthorised modification of cars as members of the so-called tuning scene meet across the country for the start of their annual season.

The Good Friday holiday marking Christ’s death on the cross, called Karfreitag in German – from the Old High German word kara, meaning sorrow – is otherwise known by the extreme car enthusiasts as Carfreitag (car Friday) for its unofficial gathering of the “tuners” and “car posers”.

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Price of parking rises steeply due to English councils’ clean-air surcharges

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AA says ‘cash-guzzling’ councils are adding clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits

Drivers are being caught out by hefty price rises to park their cars, as councils across England impose parking surcharges on petrol and diesel vehicles.

An estimated one in five councils now add clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits to deter polluting vehicles.

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Labour: changes to EV rules will have ‘negligible’ impact on UK emissions

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Transport secretary says overhaul in response to Trump tariffs supports car firms and climate goals

Labour’s changes to electric vehicle (EV) rules in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs will have a negligible impact on emissions, the transport secretary has said.

Keir Starmer has confirmed plans to boost manufacturers, including reinstating the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

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