German carmaker says move due to a potential problem with the braking system
Mercedes-Benz has announced it is immediately recalling nearly one million older vehicles worldwide due to a potential problem with the braking system.
Germany’s federal transport authority (KBA) said that the recall affected cars built between 2004 and 2015 of the SUV series ML and GL, and the R-Class luxury minivan.
Continue reading...Britain lagging behind in race to build vital large-scale and local battery factories
Britain is locked in a battle to hold on to production of Jaguar Land Rover’s future range of electric vehicles as concerns grow that the UK is falling behind in the race to build vital large-scale battery factories.
The company, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, said it continued to “explore all options” for battery supply amid reports it could build electric cars in eastern Europe.
Continue reading...Rosemary Penwarden says the vehicle, powered by home rooftop solar, has been running smoothly for three years and has thanked oil companies for the motivation
A New Zealand woman has converted a 29-year-old wreck into a homemade, electric vehicle, “to show it can be done”.
Rosemary Penwarden has been driving her converted vehicle around South Island roads for three years now. The project took her and a friend more than eight months of solid work and tinkering. “You do have to be a little bit mad,” she said. “I want to thank the oil companies for the motivation.”
Continue reading...Just Stop Oil says action will affect fuel availability at petrol pumps across south-east and Midlands
Clean energy campaigners claim to have disrupted supplies from three oil terminals in the Midlands and south-east of England, as motorists complain that some petrol stations are running short of fuel.
The government said only one terminal was out of action on Sunday afternoon as a result of the Just Stop Oil protests, and that local police forces were working with the industry to ensure that fuel supplies can be maintained.
Continue reading...New target comes after criticism of infrastructure rollout for failing to match surging vehicle sales
The UK government has set a new target to increase the number of electric car chargers more than ten times to 300,000 by 2030 after heavy criticism that the rollout of public infrastructure is too slow to match rapid growth in sales.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said it would invest an extra £450m to do so, alongside hefty sums of private capital. Sales of new cars and vans with petrol and diesel engines will be banned from 2030.
Continue reading...Energy watchdog says measures could help cut oil usage by 2.7m barrels a day within four months
Driving more slowly, turning down the air-conditioning, car free Sundays and working from home should be adopted as emergency measures to reduce the global demand for oil, according to a 10-point plan from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Such measures and changes to consumer behaviour would allow the world to cut its oil usage by 2.7m barrels per day (bpd) within four months – equivalent to more than half of Russia’s exports – the global energy watchdog said.
Reduce speed limits on highways by at least 10 km/h
Saves about 290,000 bpd of oil use from cars, and an additional 140,000 bpd if trucks also reduced their speed.
“A reduction in speed limits can be implemented by national governments; many countries did so during the 1973 oil crisis, including the United States and several European countries,” the IEA said.
Work from home up to three days a week where possible
One day a week saves about 170,000 bpd; three days saves about 500,000.
Pre-pandemic, the use of private vehicles to commute was responsible for about 2.7m barrels of oil use a day, the IEA said, yet about one-third of those jobs could be done from home.
Car-free Sundays in cities
Every Sunday saves about 380,000 bpd; one Sunday a month saves 95,000.
Switzerland, the Netherlands and West Germany did this during the 1973 oil crisis and some cities have used the measure to promote public health more recently. Benefits include cleaner air, reduced noise pollution and improved road safety, the IEA report said.
Make public transport cheaper and incentivise walking and cycling
Saves about 330,000 bpd.
New Zealand is halving public transport fares for the next three months in response to high fuel prices, while studies in the US have shown cheaper fares lead to greater use. Some governments have incentivised people to walk or subsidised bike purchases. All of this would require government subsidy.
Alternate private car access to roads in large cities (eg every other day)
Saves about 210,000 bpd.
For example, cars whose number plate ends with an odd number can drive on Monday and those with an even number can drive on Tuesdays. Such schemes have been deployed to tackle congestion and air pollution peaks in Athens, Madrid, Paris, Milan and Mexico City. Exceptions could be made for electric vehicles. One downside is that households with multiple cars could game the rules.
Increase car sharing and adopt practices to reduce fuel use
Saves about 470,000 bpd.
Carpooling has long been used as a way to save money and reduce emissions. Governments can incentivise this with dedicated traffic lanes and parking spaces, or by reducing road tolls on higher occupancy vehicles. Many smartphone apps exist to arrange ride-shares.
Promote efficient driving for freight trucks and delivery of goods
Saves about 320,000 bpd.
As with private cars, freight trucks can be driven more efficiently, including the use of so-called “eco-driving” techniques such as reducing excess weight and not slowing down or speeding up abruptly. Loads should also be optimised to avoid journeys with empty vehicles.
Using high-speed and night trains instead of planes
Saves about 40,000 bpd.
Based on existing high-speed rail infrastructure, about 2% of flights in advanced economies could be shifted to trains, according to the IEA. Almost all of this involves flights of less than 800km.
Avoid business air travel where alternative options exist
Saves about 260,000 bpd.
The IEA recommends virtual meetings where possible and points out that firms such as HSBC, Zurich Insurance and S&P Global plan to cut their business travel emissions by as much as 70%.
Reinforce the adoption of electric and more efficient vehicles
Saves about 100,000 bpd.
By the end of last year, 8.4m electrical vehicles (EVs) were on the road in advanced economies but the IEA urged faster adoption. “Actions taken now to hasten the adoption of electric vehicles will have a sustained effect in the future,” it said.
Continue reading...In Saltash, Cornwall, drivers were astonished to see parking bays half the size of a normal car – but elsewhere the problem may well be that cars are being supersized
Name: Parking spaces.
Age: Los Angeles got its first car park – possibly the first car park – in 1922.
Continue reading...The NGO Nana is upending gender norms in conservative Sokoto state, where one in 20 girls finish secondary school
The green-and-red Nana Female Mechanic Garage sign is visible from the main road into Sokoto city. Behind its sliding iron gate, Zainab Dayyabu stomps around in heavy work boots and a blue jumpsuit, her hands callused and oily.
“I love the job I’m doing,” says the 23-year-old, as she opens the bonnet of a Peugeot van to test its battery.
Continue reading...After one too many rainy nights waiting for the bus, I decide to face my ultimate fear. Can I learn to drive, despite a disastrous attempt in my teens?
It has been 10 years since I last stalled a car. I was 18 and drifting across several lanes of an A-road roundabout while my driving test examiner gripped his seat. It was my second attempt at taking the test and my brain had turned into sweaty spaghetti. As I casually cut in front of an HGV, the examiner gasped and demanded I take the next exit. I mirrored, signalled and manoeuvred, found a safe space to pull up, and promptly stalled metres from the curb.
I failed – of course I did – and didn’t get back in the driver’s seat in a hurry. I finished school and went to university, always deferring the prospect of booking another test. Years passed, priorities shifted, and even though I kept telling myself that driving is a scourge on the environment, a decade of scrounging lifts from my friends and family has taken its toll.
Continue reading...For bikers, combustive power is one of the thrills of a long-haul trip. But flat batteries and charging points will just become part of exciting new journeys
A full tank of gas, a twist of the wrist, the roar of the exhaust as you speed towards the horizon … These are the visceral touchstones of the motorcycling experience, and all are a direct product of petrol-fuelled power, as is much of the biker’s lexicon: “open it up”, “give it some gas”, “go full throttle”. For a motorcycle rider, as opposed to the modern car driver, the journey is a full-body communication game, constantly applying judgment, skill and nerve to control the thousands of explosions that are happening between your thighs in order to transport yourself, upright and in one piece, to your destination.
Yet the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered. By 2050 the European Commission aims to have cut transport emissions by 90%, and electric vehicle technology is striding ahead for cars, trucks, buses and even aircraft. But where does this leave the motorcycle? Can this romantic form of transport and its subcultures survive the end of the petrol age?
Continue reading...EVs are seen as key in transition to low-carbon economy, but as their human and environmental costs become clearer, can new tech help?
While the journey to a low-carbon economy is well under way, the best route to get there remains up for debate. But, amid the slew of “pathways” and “roadmaps”, one broad consensus exists: “clean” technology will play a vital role.
Nowhere is this truer than for transport. To cut vehicle emissions, an alternative to the combustion engine is required.
Continue reading...Chinese companies dominate mining, battery and manufacturing sectors, and amid human rights concerns, Europe and the US are struggling to keep pace
Think of an electric car and the first name that comes to mind will probably be Tesla. The California company makes the world’s bestselling electric car and was recently valued at $1tn. But behind this US success story is a tale of China’s manufacturing might.
Tesla’s factory in Shanghai now produces more cars than its plant in California. Some of the batteries that drive them are Chinese-made and the minerals that power the batteries are largely refined and mined by Chinese companies.
Continue reading...Dozen of motorists report error as company’s CEO, Elon Musk, apologises on Twitter
Hundreds of Tesla drivers were locked out of their cars at the start of the weekend after the manufacturer’s mobile app suffered an outage – and dozens voiced their complaints on social media.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, said on Friday that the company’s mobile application was coming back online after the app server outage. Musk was responding to a Tesla owner’s tweet, who said that he was experiencing a “500 server error” to connect his Model 3 through the iOS app in Seoul, South Korea.
Continue reading...Volkswagen embraces the future with €35bn investment, including in its Zwickau plant
Two bronze statues that guard the entrance to Zwickau train station in Saxony tell the tale of Germany’s struggle to wean itself off fossil fuels.
A crouching miner cradles a lamp in a nod to the lignite, a particularly dirty form of coal, that was dug from this part of former East Germany, fuelling its factories and power stations. His companion, an engineer, represents the car industry that dominates Germany’s industrial heartland.
Continue reading...Abandoning of polluting vehicles has accelerated since expansion of ultra-low emission zone announced
Drivers in London have abandoned diesel cars six times faster than those in the rest of the UK since Sadiq Khan announced plans for a massive expansion of the London’s clean air zone.
Research released days before London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) is rolled out across the capital shows there are about 128,000 fewer diesel cars on the city’s roads than in 2017, when the mayor announced plans to create one of the biggest clean air zones in Europe.
Continue reading...Dutch team designed and built two-person van with kitchen, bed, shower, loo and range of up to 450 miles a day
A team of students from the Netherlands are due to complete an 1,800-mile (3,000km) road trip across western Europe in a solar-powered camper van that they designed and built themselves.
The Stella Vita is designed for two passengers and has a kitchen, sitting area, bed, shower and toilet. Using solar energy alone, the vehicle can cover up to 450 miles on a sunny day, reaching a top speed of 75mph, as well as powering all the inside amenities, a TV and a laptop.
Continue reading...Hailing end to toxic fuel additive, Guterres says same commitment is needed to eliminate other pollutants
The UN secretary general and environmentalists have welcomed a declaration by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on the end of leaded petrol in the face of years of “underhand” opposition.
As Algeria became the last country to stop selling the toxic fuel last month, the two-decade campaign to ban it has been called a “milestone for multilateralism”.
Continue reading...To every age dogged with pollution, accidents and congestion, the transport solution for the next generation seems obvious – but the same problems keep coming back
In the 1890s, the biggest cities of the western world faced a mounting problem. Horse-drawn vehicles had been in use for thousands of years, and it was hard to imagine life without them. But as the number of such vehicles increased during the 19th century, the drawbacks of using horses in densely populated cities were becoming ever more apparent.
In particular, the accumulation of horse manure on the streets, and the associated stench, were impossible to miss. By the 1890s, about 300,000 horses were working on the streets of London, and more than 150,000 in New York City. Each of these horses produced an average of 10kg of manure a day, plus about a litre of urine. Collecting and removing thousands of tonnes of waste from stables and streets proved increasingly difficult.
Continue reading...The defining car mogul’s ego and criminality are explored in the eye-opening new Netflix docuseries Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean
In Northern Ireland, many still revere the automotive magnate John DeLorean as a local hero for situating his car factory in Belfast at the height of the Troubles, a time of extreme economic deprivation during which the influx of jobs came as a godsend. Others – his family, his personal confidantes, his colleagues, the FBI officials responsible for his eventual arrest – remember the business tycoon as a greedy, flagrantly unethical megalomaniac. The new miniseries Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean triangulates the truth in hiding somewhere between these two characterizations.
Related: Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean review – how years of lies felled an automotive giant
Continue reading...New petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK from 2030, and sales of electric vehicles are rising fast. But with drivers reliant on charging points how practical is the greener option? One writer finds out
Range anxiety hits hard on the A9 in the Highlands of Scotland. For the uninitiated, this is the fear that an electric vehicle (EV) won’t reach its destination before running out of power. I’m driving through some of Britain’s loveliest landscape – mountains, rivers, lochs and firths – but I hardly notice. I’m focused hard – on the road in front, but mainly on two numbers on the dashboard. One is how far it is in miles to where I’m going; the other is the range in miles remaining in the battery. Sometimes, especially on downhill stretches when what is known as “regenerative braking” means the battery is getting charged, I tell myself it’s going to be OK, I’ll make it. But going uphill the range plummets. Squeaky bum time.
Plus, I’ve read Michel Faber’s Under the Skin. I know what happens to men stranded on the A9. To range anxiety add the fear of being processed and eaten by aliens.
Continue reading...