That $257 million Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said National would spend over the next four years to build 10,000 chargers for electric vehicles? What happens to it now that sales of EVs have collapsed? Sales went through the roof with the taxpayer-funded Clean Car Discount (CCD). Now, three months into 2024, they’ve fallen through the floor without it. Any effect the imposition of Road User Charges on April 1 might have will be known later. The collapse wasn’t unexpected, once the National government axed CCD on December 31. But it makes it clear everywhere that EVs – more so those that r ..read more

Electric vehicles (EVs) could turn out to be a technology too far, just as the supersonic Concorde passenger aircraft proved to be, writes a New Zealand Cambridge University professor. Concorde was “soon recognised as a beautiful piece of engineering that could never be a commercial success,” says Michael Kelly, Emeritus Professor of Engineering at the UK institution. “The situation (with EVs) now is akin to that of Concorde in its first years of service.” Wellington-born Kelly, 74, writes in London daily The Telegraph that the costs were so high during Concorde’s operation that only ..read more

Six billion people would perish inside 12 months if energy from fossil fuels was suddenly switched off all around the world. That’s the nightmare scenario author and former Bank of England economist Neil Record pictures for the planet if overnight the Just Stop Oil protestors got their way. “I am going to assume the ‘oil’ in Just Stop Oil means fossil fuels – so oil, gas and coal,” Record writes in London daily The Telegraph. “I am also going to assume that we have today’s technological knowledge and infrastructure, so we are talking about stopping fossil fuels now, not at some unspecifie ..read more

It’s pretty much a sure bet that New Zealand won’t get the ‘greenest’ powertrain in the new Toyota LandCruiser Prado 4×4 range. It’s a petrol-electric hybrid that, had it been available, would have made more palatable Toyota NZ’s frequent references to cutting exhaust emissions. Instead, the 2024 Prado – the first all-new Prado in 14 years – gets the same turbocharged 2.8-litre diesel engine in use in the current Prado and Hilux. The new hard-working 70-series gets it too, although its torque delivery has changed. More on the workhorse 70 down the page. For Prado, Toyota has given the four-cy ..read more

Road damage analysis using the ‘fourth power formula’ has surfaced as the National Party stokes its election campaign with a proposed $500 million fund to repair New Zealand’s crumbling road surfaces.  The formula – a common mathematical equation – is used by highways engineers to assess the damage caused to roads by heavier vehicles. It means that if weight on a vehicle’s axle is doubled, it does 16 times the damage to the road. National Party transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says more than 54,000 potholes needed repairs last year. In 2018, says Transport Minister David Parker, almost ..read more

Two celebrated car designers have collaborated with UK battery technology company Nyobolt to deliver a Lotus-lookalike electric sports car that can be fully charged from zero capacity in six minutes. The accelerated charge time is one of the benefits of advanced tungsten anode technology, which delivers 10 times more charging power than a conventional battery, says the company. ”We are pioneering battery technologies that achieve record-breaking ultrafast charging and high power density,” Nyobolt says on its website.  “This solves a critical need that other battery innovations, such ..read more

Highlighting 100 years of BMW motorcycles this year is an R 18 boxer customised by former European motocross champion Dirk Oehlerking’s company Kingston Custom.  It’s been designed as a unique take on streamliner bikes of the 1930s. Oehlerking and BMW call the bike The Crown.  Aside from the overall shape, the most striking feature of The Crown is the front suspension. Oehlerking engineered a custom front swingarm, eliminating the traditional telescoping fork, a feature seen on other BMW motorcycles over the years.  The bodywork is hand formed in aluminum sheet, with tight-fitt ..read more

Two celebrated car designers have collaborated with UK battery technology company Nyobolt to deliver a Lotus-lookalike electric sports car that can be fully charged from zero capacity in six minutes. The accelerated charge time is one of the benefits of advanced tungsten anode technology, which delivers 10 times more charging power than a conventional battery, says the company. ”We are pioneering battery technologies that achieve record-breaking ultrafast charging and high power density,” Nyobolt says on its website.  “This solves a critical need that other battery innovations, such ..read more

Toyota is fast-tracking its electric vehicle programme around next-generation battery technology and a dedicated assembly line where cars would power up and drive themselves through the production process. It’s all part of the carmaker’s aim be the world leader in batteries for BEVs, all while cutting developing times and production costs of EVs themselves by using special casting machines to make them simpler to put together. It promises further improvements in aerodynamics, too. “What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs,” Takero Kato, president of new Toyota EV unit BEV ..read more

Toyota is fast-tracking its electric vehicle programme around next-generation battery technology and a dedicated assembly line where cars would power up and drive themselves through the production process. It’s all part of the carmaker’s aim be the world leader in batteries for BEVs, all while cutting developing times and production costs of EVs themselves by using special casting machines to make them simpler to put together. It promises further improvements in aerodynamics, too. “What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs,” Takero Kato, president of new Toyota EV unit BEV ..read more