Motoring News
Today, 22 October 2015Nissan pressures government for electric vehicle road signs
Nissan and Ecotricity challenge UK government to provide official signage for EV drivers to help them to find charging stations more easily
Nissan and green energy company Ecotricity have launched a campaign to persuade the government to create and install road signs to aid electric vehicle drivers in finding charging points.Lack of infrastructure has long been a concern of electric vehicle suppliers and buyers alike. The campaign aims to better this by adding EV-specific signage to the roads in order to provide the same directions to refuelling facilities as there is for conventionally powered vehicle drivers, as well as alerting non-EV drivers that the infrastructure is in place, should they want to make the change to an electric car.The campaign aims to catch the attention of the Department for Transport and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, by rallying the support of other stakeholders in the automotive and sustainability sectors. The network of over 9000 electric vehicle charging points across the country currently has no official signage; the campaign’s aim is to introduce a family of symbols and signs to clearly signpost types of chargers, such as rapid or standard chargers.Ecotricity boss Dale Vince called time on the lack of official signage, saying: “It’s time to introduce charging point road signs in Britain. They’ll provide necessary direction for the thousands of electric car drivers in Britain, as well as increasing public awareness that the infrastructure is ready.”Jimi BeckwithGet the latest car news, reviews and galleries from Autocar direct to your inbox
read moreToyota Mirai: chicken or egg, hydrogen cars are finally here
At last the talking can stop about whether or not hydrogen cars can ever work as Toyota begins to test the theory for real with the fantastic new Mirai
Philosophy is not a strong point of mine. It’s not really a point of mine at all, to be honest; I can’t tell you whether the chicken or the egg came first, let alone offer anything thoughtful on the subject.The chicken or the egg phrase is one I remember being repeatedly used at the World Future Energy Summit I attended in Abu Dhabi back in 2011, as various eggheads (or chickenheads) debated whether or not hydrogen fuel cells would ever become a viable propulsion method in future cars.Neither the cars nor the infrastructure existed at that point, and it wasn’t clear if either was going to be forthcoming in the short or medium term after the pioneering Honda FCX Clarity had already been and gone.Today, at last, we now have both the chicken and the egg in the UK. For I’ve just driven the Toyota Mirai on a shiny new 65-plate, one of 30 or so Mirais that will be in the UK by the end of 2016. By that point there will be nine places in the UK you can fill it up, up from the three sites currently open.Around 3000 Mirais will be produced in total by the end of 2017. The Mirai will be joined by, among other hydrogen cars, a new fuel-cell vehicle from Honda that's due to be revealed at next week’s Tokyo motor show, plus likely efforts from Nissan, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, who are making more noises about the technology. Japan and Germany are getting serious about creating infrastructures, too.So make no
read moreNew Vauxhall Astra versus Ford Focus and Seat Leon - comparison
Vauxhall has transformed the Astra from also-ran to real contender. But is it now good enough to take a pop at the Ford Focus or Seat Leon?
The industry’s most competitive segment: that’s how we’ve often described the family hatchback class. It receives massive investment, deals in colossal volume, is filled with household names and populates more driveways than dandelions.However, for the past few years, critically speaking, the market has been about as competitive as the Scottish Premiership. There are plenty of also-rans, for sure, but our advice, based on fitness for purpose and driving pleasure, has monotonously circled the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus.By the end of its lifecycle, Vauxhall’s entrant, the big-selling old Astra, was way down the field. Over-engineered, a spokesperson termed it in hindsight recently. Overweight and developmentally undernourished would be more accurate. Had it been built by another manufacturer, it might have sunk further from view, but Vauxhall, as it enjoys reminding us, is still plugged intravenously into the public’s buying cortex, and the Astra shifted even in the face of superior competition.Now, though – as confirmed by last week’s road test – the Astra is suddenly back in the reckoning. Underpinned by a new platform, the model has been transformed from company car booby prize to a contender worthy of challenging its rivals’ virtual hegemony of our affections. Previ
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