News

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric bus orders in Europe more than doubled to 1,031 units in 2017; ~9% share of new registrations

• Date: 09-11-18
• Category: ELECTRIC VEHICLES
• Source: Green Car Congress

The number of battery-electric buses ordered in Europe more than doubled in 2017 compared to 2016, reaching 1,031 vehicles, according to a new analysis by environmental NGO Transport & Environment. T&E estimates this to be equivalent to around 9% market share of new registrations in 2018.

MICRO MOBILITY: Ford buys electric scooter start-up Spin in a bid to take on Bird and Lime

• Date: 08-11-18
• Category: MICRO MOBILITY
• Source: The Telegraph

Ford will become the first major carmaker to launch its own fleet of electric scooters after securing a deal to buy California start-up Spin.

EMISSIONS: Mazda Plans Electric Push to Avoid EU Emission Penalties in 2021

• Date: 08-11-18
• Category: EMISSIONS
• Source: Bloomberg

Mazda Motor Corp. is accelerating a push into electrified vehicles, planning a slew of introductions by 2021 to help avoid European Union fines for failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

AUTO SALES: Fuel types of new cars: diesel -18.2%, petrol +15.2%, electric +30.0% in third quarter of 2018

• Date: 08-11-18
• Category: AUTO SALES
• Source: ACEA

Brussels, 8 November 2018 – In the third quarter of 2018, almost 58% of all new passenger cars sold in the EU ran on petrol, while roughly one third was fuelled by diesel. All alternatively-powered vehicles (APV) combined accounted for 7.8% of the market, and just 2% of cars registered across the EU during the third quarter of 2018 was electrically-chargeable.

JEWELLERY: Hong Kong jewellery retail performance slows

• Date: 07-11-18
• Category: JEWELLERY
• Source: Jewellery Net

The China-US trade war has hit Hong Kong's retail industry. According to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, the total retail sales in Hong Kong in September was 36.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, up only 2.4% year-on-year, the lowest growth since June last year. Retail sales of jewellery, watches and clocks and valuable gifts have slowed sharply, with an increase of only 2.2%, a decrease of 18.6% from August.

FUEL CELLS: Nikola Motor introduces Nikola Tre heavy-duty hydrogen-electric truck for Europe

• Date: 06-11-18
• Category: FUEL CELLS
• Source: Green Car Congress

In response what it said is widespread interest from European customers, Nikola Motor Company has designed a hydrogen-electric truck for European markets. Reservations for the Nikola Tre (means “Three” in Norwegian) are now open. Guests at Nikola World in Phoenix in April 2019 will be able to view a prototype display of the Nikola Tre, along with other new zero-emission products from Nikola including the production intent Nikola Two.

AUTO SALES: West European car market down 7.3% in October

• Date: 06-11-18
• Category: AUTO SALES
• Source: just-auto.com

Data from LMC Automotive shows that the West European car market stayed firmly in reverse gear in October as the effects of the new WLTP emissions testing standard continued to be felt (in September, WLTP effects sent the market down by 23%).

AUTONOMY: Addison Lee and Oxbotica want fully autonomous vehicles by 2021

• Date: 06-11-18
• Category: AUTONOMY
• Source: Fleet News

Addison Lee and UK autonomous driving tech company Oxbotica will be ready to put fully autonomous vehicles on the road in London by 2021, but UK legislation needs to move forward to make it possible.

The ambitious co-operation project between Addison Lee and Oxbotica will see the former’s fleet of around 4,800 vehicles in the capital gradually transitioning to feature more autonomous vehicle (AV) technology.