G What? - 30 April 2024

FOLLOW UP: CONTINENTAL FINED $107M FOR DIESELGATEContinental, the automotive parts supplier, has been fined €100 million for its part in the dieselgate scandal. The fine was such due to the full cooperation of the company and changes they have subsequently made to their compliance structures. There are six weeks for Continental to pay the fine. Click this Reuters article for more information. STELLANTIS LASHES OUT AT EV MANDATESCarlos Tavares criticises the current UK EV mandates as “terrible”. He has met with the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, to discuss the situation and suggest alterations that will make it more workable for the industry. We are finding out that you cannot just manufacture demand, when reviewing the monthly SMMT registration figures. You can read more, via a Peter Campbell thread here. For another article, click here to view an Autocar article. LOTUS CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER IS LEAVINGMike Johnson, who is the chief commercial officer of Lotus and the public facing executive for the brand, will be leaving the company after only 18 months in role. He is said to be staying in automotive, but we will have to wait to find out where and when. If you wish to read more on this, click the Autocar article link here. RANSWOMWARE ATTACK IMPACTS STREET LIGHTSA ransomware attack on Leicester City Council has led street lights to “misbehave”. This should cause great concern as more and more systems are linked and accessible remotely. Hopefully, more important and safety critical systems are being looked at across the country so there is not a serious impact from such incidents. Click this BitDefender story link here, to read more.MERCEDES EACTROS 600 CHARGES AT 1MWMercedes-Benz are preparing for the Megawatt Charging System (MCS), that is due to be finalised in 2025, and have successfully charged an eActros 600 prototype at 1MW for the first time. Not details were given on how long the vehicle charged or even how long at 1MW. You can read more, by clicking this electrive article link here. SAMSUNG TEASES FASTER CHARGING LONG LIFE BATTERYAt the 37th Electric Vehicle Symposium & Exposition, in Seoul, Samsung revealed that they will start production of a new electric vehicle batteries that will charge to 80% in nine minutes and some will last 20 years. The plan is for production to start in 2026, but it being fitted to cars in 2029. That’s all a little way off, hopefully this isn’t like solid state batteries and just far enough ahead for us to forget the last date that was declared. Click this article link from The Register for more. If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Vauxhall GrandlandVauxhall have redesigned their range topping SUV, the Grandland, making it bigger thanks to the STLA Medium platform. There will be a mild hybrid, a PHEV and full EV versions. The maximum potential range will be 435 miles, for the top EV spec. If you wish to learn more including estimates for prices, click this Autocar link here. Mercedes-Benz G-Class electricMercedes have created an electric version of the long running G-Class model. Visually it is almost identical to the recent refresh, but has been apparently redesigned to increase aero efficiency. There are four electric motors, one for each wheel, to enable it to have excellent off road ability too. Maximum estimate of range is 292 miles. No confirmation of pricing has been revealed. Click this Autocar link to learn more. Lamborghini Urus SELamborghini have electrified the Urus, with the SE being a PHEV. That equates to 800hp and a maximum estimated electric only range of 37 miles. The looks have been tweaked to increase aero efficiency. Prices have been guessed to be above £209,000. You can read more, by clicking this Motoring Research article link, here. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: KABAN JOINS SAICJozef Kaban has been revealed as the vice president of design for SAIC, the Chinese car company that owns MG. He was last at VW until the shake up of the design team early last year. If you want to find out more, click this link to a Car Design News article. LUNCHTIME READ: ESTATE CAR EUPHEMISMSKeith WR Jones has a new site, The Joy of Specs, on which he has written about estate cars and how they have been named over the years. Click this link to enjoy this week’s recommendation. LIST OF THE WEEK: FORGOTTEN CARS OF THE 1980SThe options to pick from this week are US cars that have been forgotten. This includes models we will know but were renamed for that market. Do you agree with Alan’s choice? Let us know and if not what you would pick instead. Click this Autocar link to check out the options. AND FINALLY: ITS GRIPPED ITS SORTED LET’S OFFROADIn honour of Alan finishing his Land Cruiser RC, we are rounding out the show with a compilation of the best radio controlled rock crawlers. Click this YouTube link to enjoy the video.