Stay In Your Furrow - 17 January 2023

FOLLOW UP: DFT WITHDRAWS APPEAL AGAINST FOI REQUESTDr Greg Marsden has confirmed that the Department for Transport has withdrawn their appeal over the Freedom of Information requirement for the justification of the Government’s plans for decarbonisation of transport. He has even been supplied with the answers to his three questions. Click here to see his Tweet about this. Now we wait on the analysis of said information. FOLLOW UP: BRITISHVOLT RESCUE PACKAGE SLASHES VALUATIONBritishvolts has entered administration, you can find out more by clicking this link to Peter Campbell’s Twitter thread. Just last year Britishvolt was valued in excess of $775 million, now there are rescue packages which state the company is worth $39 million. There are, reportedly, two consortiums bidding. To read more, click this Automotive News Europe article here. For more context around battery factories and how the UK appears to be sinking behind others, click this article from The Guardian. ENVIRONMENT AUDIT COMMITTEE RECOMMEND IEA PLAN TO UKThe Environment Audit Committee, from Parliament, has recommended the UK Government implement the ideas from the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s ten-point plan to reduce oil usage. Some of the suggestions are reducing the speed limits by at least 10km/h, allowing cars to enter cities on alternate days of the week, encouraging working from home and more. Click here to read the article on Autocar. For the IEA plan, click this link here. FUEL STILL TOO EXPENSIVEWhilst the wholesale price of oil has dropped, particularly in December, the retail price has not matched the same pace. This comes as no surprise to anyone, mind you. There has been seemingly constant calls on the big retailers, including supermarkets, to drop their prices more than they have, but to no avail. Click here to learn more, from a Motoring Research article. POTHOLE DAMAGE UP 34% SINCE 2016In another piece of news that is not surprising in any shape or form, we find out that damage to cars from potholes has risen 34% since 2016. The suggestion is that due to the cold and the wet, which this winter has treated the UK to, the quality of roads will deteriorate further, meaning even more claims. Sunday was ‘National Pothole Day’, as promoted by Admiral insurance. Click here for more, from Motoring Research. UNMARKED SPEED CAMERA VANS TRIALEDNorthamptonshire Police are trialling the use of unmarked speed camera vans, in an effort to see if they deter excessive speeding and phone use behind the wheel. The force are at pains to explain they do not financially gain anything, bar an admin fee, for any tickets issues. They also explain that drivers do change behaviour when they see marked cars, so this is a tad confusing. Click this link to an EVO article for more information. RIGHT TO REPAIR FIGHT WON IN USThe long running and bitter fight between John Deere and those wanting to be able to repair their own equipment has come to an end, with John Deere relenting over most points. The Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by both John Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation means that farmers can choose how they want their equipment fixed. Whilst it isn’t legal the hope is it will be abided by both sides. This is important as manufacturers of all equipment in the US have been waiting to see if they could force owners to only use their service centres, including car companies. Click here to see more, from The Autopian. BRITISH HGV START UP TEVVA BUILDS 7.5T LORRYFollowing European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval (ECWVTA), Tevva a UK zero emissions HGV company plans to mass produce their 7.5t lorry. With customers such as Travis Perkins and Royal Mail, which they have started to deliver to, they appear to have a sustainable business. The 7.5t lorry has a range of 140 miles and is for last mile and urban deliveries. Click this Move Electric article link 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 WRC: OUR COVERAGE WILL NOT CONTINUEWe will no longer be covering the WRC, unfortunately. We have felt for some time we are not doing the amazing sport justice and rather than give you a sub par segment we won’t be discussing it any more. To make sure you don’t miss out, we are recommending the following sites and people to follow;For overall top quality coverage, DirtFish. Click here for their site link. Colin Clark is brilliant and you should follow him on Twitter, by clicking this link. Also, for those who wish to geek out on details, we recommend the WRC Wings Twitter account, which again you can find by clicking this link. NEW NEW CAR NEWS:Mazda MX-30 R-EV - Mazda has unveiled a range extender plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30. The battery pack gives a maximum all electric range of 53 miles, but when combined with the rotary engine and 50l fuel tank that means an overall range of 370 miles. Prices start at £31,250, which is the same as the EV version. WLTP figure is 282.5mpg, but the reality will be very different. To read more, click this Motoring Research article link here. DESIGNERS MOOD BOARD: MATTHEW HILL NEW HEAD OF INTERNAL DESIGN AT LOTUSMatthew Hill has been promoted by Lotus to head up their Interior Design after leading the team who created the Eletre’s interior. Previously Matthew has worked at Lotus, then Aston Martin and Ford Advanced. For more about this, click the link here to the Lotus Drivers Club article. LUNCHTIME READ: CULTURAL LENS ON ROBOTSDrew Smith, one half of Looking Out whom we regularly point you towards, has written a thought provoking piece on robotics, personal digital assistants and cars. As ever he draws on his own experiences as a consultant and research to dig below the surface of a topic and make us think better. Click here to read the article from his website StudioPhro. LIST OF THE WEEK: THE MOST RECALLED CARS IN EUROPEAutocar has compiled the list of the most recalled cars from across Europe, in 2022. This is not the list any of the manufacturers want to be on. Click the link here to see the offending OEMs. Don’t forget to let the chaps know if you agree with their choices of the most surprising brand to be on this list. AND FINALLY: THE AMAZING AND MYSTERIOUS CITROËN DS TAILLIGHTS The Autopian brings you the And Finally this week. In their semi-regular posts about taillights they tackle the story behind the DS ones. And it is quite the story. Click here to enjoy and be educated at the same time.