Lightness In Your Heart - 15 February 2022

FOLLOW UP: MANCHESTER CAZ “PAUSED’Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced that the Government has agreed on a delay for the region hitting clean air requirements, until 2026. Burnham has argued that due to the pandemic there is a problem in sourcing the zero emission vehicles needed by commercial and private hire companies. To read more, click the YesAuto article here. FUEL PRICES CONTINUE TO RISEA new record average price was hit over the weekend for both petrol and diesel, at £148.02 and £151.57 respectively. Crude oil nearly at $100 per barrel the retailers are quick, as ever, to pass that straight onto drivers. For more depressing information about this story, click here for the Autocar article. NEW ELECTRICITY RULES TO PREVENT STRAIN ON NETWORKThe Government is introducing new rules, which includes residential EV charging points, that must be able to prioritise charging when demand is lowest or renewable energy production is high. Included in the changes is the need for security and provision of information for users. To find out more, click the YesAuto story here. TESCO STARTS USING ELECTRIC ONLY LORRIESThe supermarket brand Tesco has started using electric only lorries between two distribution centres in South Wales. The company said whilst the technology is not suitable for long distances yet, they wished to understand how best to utilise it so are trying it now. For more on this, click the BBC News link here. LOTUS ANNOUNCES NEW DIVISION Ex-Aston Martin Q boss, Simon Lane, will be the head of Lotus’s new Advanced Performance division, which will be a special projects arm of the company. This is being termed as a ‘blank sheet of paper’ team where they are to create the “most exciting and exclusive Lotus cars”. To learn more about this, click here for the Autocar article. VOLVO UPGRADING TORSLANDA PLANTVolvo will be investing around £800 million in their Torsldana site in Sweden, as it steps up efforts to be EV only by 2030. They will be introducing meg-casting, where they combine many separatly created parts with a system that makes it all in one go, such as casting the rear floor plan which currently involves 100 pieces. For additional information on this story, click the Autocar article link here. KOENIGSEGG FACTORY EXPANSION Koenigsegg has revealed plans of their factory expansion which will allow them to increase production capacity as well as other aspects of the business. The new four set Gemera hyper-GT will be produced within the factory space but also allow space dedicated to customers. To learn more, click the Autocar link here. RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC DROPSIn 2021, figures show that rush hour traffic dropped by an average of 35% on 2019 levels, across the UK. Some towns, such as Reading had falls over 50%. Whilst it is acknowledged much of this occurred because we were working from home, as the Government’s plan to ‘live with Covid’ is due to be announced the expectation is for traffic levels to increase again. Click here, for the YesAuto story, to learn more. GREENFEILD HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS ADD MORE CAR JOURNEYSGreenfield housing developments rely on cars as the main mode of transport, thus add to the congestion on the roads, according to a Transport for New Homes report. Surprising no one, but there are usually no shops, schools or other expected amenities within safe walking and cycling distances. To read more, click the BBC News article here. ——————————————————————————-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: Alfa Romeo Tonale - Alfa Romeo has revealed their new, compact SUV, called the Tonale, which is expected to go up against the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. This was delayed from last year as the new boss said it just wasn’t good enough. The powertrains offered will be mild hybrids, plug-in hybrid, diesel and petrol engines. Prices are expected to start around £35,000 rising up to £45,000. The exterior is a clean and good looking car, with a return of three lights to each headlight cluster. The interior is familiar to anyone who has experienced an Alfa in recent years. To learn more, click the EVO link here. Vauxhall AstraThis is the first Stellantis platformed Astra, which is based heavily on the current Peugeot 308 underpinnings. This has lead to a lowering, widening and overall lengthening of the car, but it seems the interior is less practical with the lowered roofline and seating position. The front end is very good looking, but then you can see the resemblance with the 308 moving further back. The interior is a big improvement and much more upmarket. Power trains will be a either a choice of petrol, one diesel, plug-in hybrid or wait for a full EV. Prices start at around £27,000 for the petrol engine but there is a £4000 increase for plug-in models. To learn more, click the Autocar article here. Audi A8There is a new Audi A8, although you will be hard pressed to spot the difference with the old one and, dare we say it, an A6, however Alan explains just what to look out for when adding it to your spotters notebook! For more helpful information, click here to go to the Autocar article. LUNCHTIME READ: THE ASSISTIVE DRIVING TECH IDEALAlistair Dabbs, writing in The Register, has a poke at the hype and messaging around assistive and autonomous driving technology. He has spotted a theme in the way the obstacles to the technology are portrayed by those pushing for them. Click the link here to read this excellent article. LIST OF THE WEEK: DID YOU KNOW THE HISTORIES OF THESE 12 CAR BADGESTop Gear has dug into the history of 12 car badges and helped us to learn more about them. Click here for this week’s educational segment! AND FINALLY: PICTURES BRICK MAZDASIn the continuing adventures of infotainment software really isn’t great, a Seattle based radio station added images to their radio stream but did not include the file extension. This caused the effected units to try to reboot but without success, bricking them so they went blank but the station was stuck on KUOW 94.9. Mazda has announced it will replace the units free of charge. To learn more, click the ArsTechnica article here.