Search Results for: cars

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SHAPE of the European Commission’s rescue package for the European Union (EU) automobile industry has become much clearer: a Euro 40 billion soft loan pushed through the European Investment Bank (EIB).

This was revealed by EU industry Commissioner Günter Verheugen after a meeting with European auto sector executives, including France’s Peugeot-Citroën and Germany’s Daimler, under the umbrella of the EU’s CARS 21 reform initiative.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) heads of government have told the European Commission to draft by December 11 major funding plan to help the EU’s automobile manufacturing industry cope with the current recession and re-tool for low emissions models. French president Nicolas Sarkozy said later: "Can we ask the European car industry to produce clean cars…without giving them a helping hand?"…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINDSCREENS are not such something to look through, say European Union (EU) scientists: they also act as loud speakers, attracting and magnifying noise created by a car, reflecting the racket back at drivers and passengers alike. This has made researchers in the EU-funded InMAR (‘Intelligent Materials for Active Noise Reduction’) project consider how make windscreens absorb noise rather than amplify it.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

OVERWHELMING support for a European Union (EU)-wide technical standard for hydrogen vehicles has been secured at the European Parliament. MEPs voted yesterday (2/9) by 644 votes-to-two approving a European Commission proposed set of rules for building these next generation vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POTENTIAL obstacle holding up the commercial release of hydrogen-fuelled cars onto the European Union (EU) market has been cleared with the European Parliament approving an EU-wide technical standard for hydrogen vehicles. MEPs were concerned that without such rules, each 27 EU member government might approve contrasting standards, preventing hydrogen models from being sold across Europe.…

By Alan Osborn

The European Commission has launched a major consultation about the development of information and communications technology (ICT) in the EU following indications that Europe is slipping further behind in the global technology race.

The consultation runs until 7th November (see http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=ICTRDI)…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CONTINENTAL European countries have started making major pushes to increase the amount of electric cars in operation. The initiatives mirror efforts by the UK government, with prime minister Gordon Brown recently promising GBPounds 90 million to support the development of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE KEY European Parliament committees drafting the fine-print of the proposed European Union (EU) cap on carbon dioxide emissions for passenger cars are clashing over the obligations that should be imposed on the EU auto industry.

Members of the EP’s environment committee have now voted to make the cap’s rules tougher that that proposed by the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EFFORTS are being made at the European Parliament to delay for three years the introduction of the proposed European Union (EU)-wide cap on CO2 emissions for new cars of 120kg/km. If successful, these manoeuvres would allow fleets to continue buying existing models, which could become more expensive if improved with new emissions reduction technology.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INNOVATIVE combined transport road-rail service helping keep key Alpine passes free of congestion will receive an additional Euro 44 million in subsidies from the Italian and French governments to keep operating. The European Commission approved the handout for the Autoroute Ferroviaire Alpine roll-on-roll-off motorway service taking lorries and trailers by rail between Aiton, France and Orbassano, Italy.…