That's courageous - 24 October 2023

CALLS FOR RULES OF ORIGIN AGREEMENT STRENGTHENED

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has reinforced its call for an agreement to be reached between the EU and UK over rules of origin delay. The SMMT has outlined what the average price increase would be for vehicles coming into or out of the UK and EU. You can read more about the potential impact by clicking this link to an SMMT article.

The UK Government has stated that if a satisfactory agreement with the EU cannot be reached over rules of origin it would just make their own rules up. That have not clarified what these would be, nor how they expect them to help UK based companies. Click this Autocar article to read more.

CHINA EXPORT TARIFFS APPLIED TO GRAPHITE

China will be imposing an export tariff on certain grades of graphite, which is used in the manufacture of electric car batteries. This will mean that homegrown batteries will be cheaper than, those built using the material abroad. To learn more, click this electrive link here.

£200M NET ZERO DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

The UK Government has set aside £200 million of the net zero funding to enable four demonstration projects for the viability of electric HGVs. This is a move to help encourage and demonstrate the positives of moving to the UK haulage industry. In order to read more, click this link here to a Current News article.

UK GOVERNMENT URGED TO IMPROVE ROADS OUTSIDE THE SOUTH

A report from the National Infrastructure Commission has called on the Government to improve on the amount of money allocated to the Road Investment Strategy being spent on the Midlands and the North of England. Only 22% goes to projects outside the South, which looks bad but there are a few reasons for why this is the case. To read more, click this article link from Autocar.

VOLTA TRUCKS ENTERS BANKRUPTCY

Following supplier Proterra going into administration and an inability to raise more funding, Volta Trucks has entered bankruptcy in Sweden, with it following suite soon in the UK too. Management are trying to find a buyer to take it on as a going concern. Click here to read more, via Autocar.

JLR’S HUGE REPAIRS PARTS SHORTAGE

Car Dealer Magazine has an exclusive report on 10,000 JLR vehicles being affected by the company’s huge parts shortage issue. Digging into the problem, it is clear the situation has been made so much worse with a huge consolidation project that combined a number of warehouse facilities into a new single site, changing parts supplier and combining a number of legacy systems into a new one. As Alan, who’s day job is just this sort of thing states, “that’s courageous”. If you would like to read more, click this link to the original scoop here.

ALPINA FOUNDER PASSES AWAY

Burkard Bovensiepen, who was the founder of ALPINA, has sadly passed away at the age of 87. He helped create an incredible...

CALLS FOR RULES OF ORIGIN AGREEMENT STRENGTHENED

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has reinforced its call for an agreement to be reached between the EU and UK over rules of origin delay. The SMMT has outlined what the average price increase would be for vehicles coming into or out of the UK and EU. You can read more about the potential impact by clicking this link to an SMMT article.

The UK Government has stated that if a satisfactory agreement with the EU cannot be reached over rules of origin it would just make their own rules up. That have not clarified what these would be, nor how they expect them to help UK based companies. Click this Autocar article to read more.

CHINA EXPORT TARIFFS APPLIED TO GRAPHITE

China will be imposing an export tariff on certain grades of graphite, which is used in the manufacture of electric car batteries. This will mean that homegrown batteries will be cheaper than, those built using the material abroad. To learn more, click this electrive link here.

£200M NET ZERO DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

The UK Government has set aside £200 million of the net zero funding to enable four demonstration projects for the viability of electric HGVs. This is a move to help encourage and demonstrate the positives of moving to the UK haulage industry. In order to read more, click this link here to a Current News article.

UK GOVERNMENT URGED TO IMPROVE ROADS OUTSIDE THE SOUTH

A report from the National Infrastructure Commission has called on the Government to improve on the amount of money allocated to the Road Investment Strategy being spent on the Midlands and the North of England. Only 22% goes to projects outside the South, which looks bad but there are a few reasons for why this is the case. To read more, click this article link from Autocar.

VOLTA TRUCKS ENTERS BANKRUPTCY

Following supplier Proterra going into administration and an inability to raise more funding, Volta Trucks has entered bankruptcy in Sweden, with it following suite soon in the UK too. Management are trying to find a buyer to take it on as a going concern. Click here to read more, via Autocar.

JLR’S HUGE REPAIRS PARTS SHORTAGE

Car Dealer Magazine has an exclusive report on 10,000 JLR vehicles being affected by the company’s huge parts shortage issue. Digging into the problem, it is clear the situation has been made so much worse with a huge consolidation project that combined a number of warehouse facilities into a new single site, changing parts supplier and combining a number of legacy systems into a new one. As Alan, who’s day job is just this sort of thing states, “that’s courageous”. If you would like to read more, click this link to the original scoop here.

ALPINA FOUNDER PASSES AWAY

Burkard Bovensiepen, who was the founder of ALPINA, has sadly passed away at the age of 87. He helped create an incredible company that was involved in not just making BMWs so very special. To learn more about his life and what he helped build, click this TopGear link here.

GREENWICH COUNCIL LOSES EVERY PENALTY CHARGE APPEAL

From July 2022 until September 2023, Greenwich council entered “no evidence” to all appeals against traffic penalty notices issued by them. This meant it was an automatic win for those appealing. The reason given was said to be a lack of staff, but this has now been rectified. However, if you are in London you have nearly a 50% change of winning any appeal. To read more, click this BBC News article link here.

STUDENT INVENTS AFFORDABLE EV CONVERSION KIT

Australian student, Alexander Burton, has won an award for his idea of helping make almost any internal combustion engined car become a hybrid. Behind each wheel there would be an electric motor fitted that would power the vehicle. We chat through this and question the sums quoted and practicality of it all, as we struggle to see how it could be built and installed for what he claims. However, that is not to say we don’t admire the thinking. Click this dezeen link here to see more.

PILOT FOR WIRELESS CHARGING AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS

The northwestern part of Kashiwa city, not far from Tokyo, will be trialling wireless EV charging by placing them on sections of the roads that traffic has to slow down to run on, such as traffic lights. The idea being frequent and short charging will help boost an EVs range. You can learn more by clicking this link from The Register.

If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Citroën e-C3

Citroën has shown us the e-C3, the replacement for the C3, which will be an electric SUV with a starting price of £23,000. This is to be aplauded! Finally, an EV that doesn’t cost in excess of £30K and be called “affordable”. What is less encouraging though, is the looks. Click here to view the concept Oli, from Citroën’s own article. Now compare that to the e-C3, which you can do here by clicking the link from CAR. Where’s the funky and fun on the e-C3? How is that “Citroën”?

Delage D12

This week’s ridiculous and questionable car, comes from Delage, the long dead French car brand. A V12 hybrid hypercar that looks more at home in a computer game than the road, this £1.7 million car is one of a number of models planned. We’ll be amazed if any actually get made and bought. Click this Autocar link here to read more.

Jaguar F-Type ZP Edition

The F-Type is bowing out in expensive style. Costing from £134,925, the special edition will only have 150 car built, with only 10 of those slated for the UK. At that price, one is deep into Porsche 911 territory. To learn more about the details, click this EVO article link here.

Mercedes-AMG GLA45 S

The top of the range GLA is being refreshed next year, with no changes to the performance, but there is to the looks and the headlight technology. Yes, really. Also expect to pay closer to £70,000 for one too, or whatever that translates to for PCP. If, for some reason, you wish to learn more, click here to read about it via EVO.

Audi A4

In 2024 the A4 will be going all electric, with an expected range close to 400 miles. There will also be an ICE version, but this will be named A5, thanks to the recent naming convention change from Audi. No real details yet, but if you’d like to look at what Autocar think it will look like, click this link here.

LUNCHTIME READ: KKANGOO JAMBOREE

Every year thousands of Japanese Renault Kangoo fans meet up to share their passion for the French car. This year was the fourteenth anniversary of the event. Click here to see Renault’s own press release.

Click here for the CarThrottle article, that includes the livestream link you can watch.

LIST OF THE WEEK: NINE OF THE BEST CAR INTERIORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Top Gear once again bring us a list worthy of sharing with you. This time it is all about the interiors, and to be frank there are no bad choices here. Click this link to view the options and don’t forget to tell the chaps what you’d like to own.

AND FINALLY: DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE RIMAC FACTORY

A one-shot fly through of the Rimac factory, including the production line, is a wonderful way to round out this week’s show. Click here to see more, thanks to Design News.