Search Results for: cars

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DAIMLER is lining up Euro 400 million in backing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a major research and development programme to develop new electric and hybrid vehicles. The German carmaker is planning to spend Euro 1.7 billion on creating new battery and fuel cell cars, and new electric power engine trains, including batteries for hybrids (and plug-in hybrids) with an extended driving range.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

STANDARDIZATION for electric vehicles and, crucially, the batteries that power them has taken a key step forward with the official topping out ceremony [NOTE: US STYLE MIGHT USE ‘GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY’ – IT’S THE CEREMONY WHERE SOMEONE TURNS THE FIRST SPADEFUL AT THE VERY START OF CONSTRUCTION.]…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) rules preventing auto retailers hoodwinking clients into thinking their cars are green, when they are dirty carbon belchers, are to be developed by the European Commission. It has promised to "develop rules to avoid misleading environmental claims", when selling supposedly green vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AUTO manufacturers have long worried about the growth of counterfeiting in their industry, especially of vehicle part copies that might not perform. They have also complained about their designs being copied by rival car makers, especially in emerging markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NON-FERROUS metal industry of Bosnia & Herzegovina has been highlighted in a World Bank report as a bedrock of the country’s economic recovery after the 1990s war that shattered its society. Released by the trade and integration team of the World Bank development research group, the report declared the country’s "industrial restructuring, as seen through the lenses of foreign trade performance and its sustainability, has taken off.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has signalled its support for electric and hybrid cars as the technology that will green Europe’s transport systems, with a detailed policy statement that says little about biofuels.

This ‘Communication’ released by new EU industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani includes a shopping list of measures Brussels intends to take to promote electric and hybrid vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

OFFICIALS from the European Union’s (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF have revealed to just-drinks how an international EU customs operation seized 6,400 litres of counterfeit and smuggled alcohol. OLAF said the Matthew II operation was organised by the Czech Republic, working closely with Poland and OLAF: all EU countries were invited to participate.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has signalled it is unlikely to intervene to prevent the proposed takeover of Ukraine’s gas pipeline network by Russia’s Gazprom. Displaying his relatively relaxed attitude to closer energy links with Moscow, new German EU energy Commissioner Günter Oettinger told a press conference: "The decision has to come between Kiev and Moscow and not in Brussels."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PROBLEM with hybrid and electric cars is that they have to drag their clunky batteries along with them, wasting energy as they go – limiting their range and power. But what if the roof, doors, floor and spare-wheel well of the car could store energy safely and feed it to the engine?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ROADWORTHINESS tests that all vehicles must undertake to drive on European Union (EU) roads just got tougher. The EU Council of Ministers – the 27 country union’s senior legislative body – has agreed changes to the relevant legislation – directive 2009/40/EC, which lays down minimum standards for such examinations.…