Automotive News NZ

Energy bigwig targets Toyota for being ‘so behind on EVs’

December 17 | Comments Off
Ford seeks broader audience for 2022 work/play Ranger ute

November 30 | Comments Off
New PHEV Mitsi Outlander will go further on electricity alone

November 19 | Comments Off
All-electric Toyota points to future of solid-state batteries

November 5 | Comments Off
Hardcore Benz G-Wagen gets emergency ‘escape’ switch

October 30 | Comments Off
Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at least 2045, says Opec

October 14 | Comments Off
Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over 100% this year

October 8 | Comments Off
EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference

September 21 | Comments Off
New 2022 Subaru WRX: it’s the same but very different

September 12 | Comments Off
Under brakes at 190km/h – where Nigel Mansell is doing 300km/h

September 10 | Comments Off

Solid-state batteries the ‘holy grail’ for EVs …
NZ$7000 deposit for flying car with four seats …
Study into battery-electric ferries …
The shooting brake Porsche Taycan …
Volvo crash tests – from the air …
Solar cells in ute cover for work and play...
Meet Luca, the EV built from recycled trash
Lister’s go-faster Jaguar F-Pace …

Solid-state batteries the ‘holy grail’ for EVs …

November 5, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Toyota and Panasonic are among the front-runners in the race to deliver smaller batteries with a longer life and more range …...

NZ$7000 deposit for flying car with four seats …

May 6, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

A startup company in California is planning to build limited-edition models of a four-seater flying car, each one costing around NZ$1.1million, including pilot training...

Study into battery-electric ferries …

April 28, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

A computer-generated study in Germany imagines a time when commuters on the country’s Kiel Fjord waterway will be carried by zero-emissions ferries...

The shooting brake Porsche Taycan …

February 24, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Less than a year after going into production, and with over 20,000 units sold worldwide, the next version of Porsche’s Taycan EV is getting close to production. It is the Taycan Cross Turismo, a four-door with a shooting brake-style body, increased ride height, and revamped suspension and driving modes. In this video, Taycan model...

Volvo crash tests – from the air …

November 16, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Volvo Cars has dropped several new models from a height of 30m in a crash test first designed to help rescue services save lives. Volvo says the test helps to simulate forces that erupt in the most extreme crashes, beyond what can be simulated with traditional crash tests in controlled environments. Watch it here …...

Solar cells in ute cover for work and play …

November 2, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Canadian company Worksport has developed a folding tonneau cover for pick-up trucks that contains a cutting-edge solar charging and storage system...

Meet Luca, the EV built from recycled trash

October 20, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

It took 18 months to build and has a range of 220km …...

Lister’s go-faster Jaguar F-Pace …

August 28, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Former Fifth Gear motoring show host and Formula One driver Tiff Needell gets behind the wheel of the Stealth, Lister’s limited-edition version of the Jaguar F-Pace &#...

Energy bigwig targets Toyota for being ‘so behind on...
Ford seeks broader audience for 2022 work/play Ranger ute
New PHEV Mitsi Outlander will go further on electricity...
All-electric Toyota points to future of solid-state batteries
Hardcore Benz G-Wagen gets emergency ‘escape’ switch
Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at...
Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over...
EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference

Energy bigwig targets Toyota for being ‘so behind on EVs’

December 17, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

An energy supply company executive accused Toyota NZ of not being ready to meet the market for electric vehicles (EVs). “What’s that mean?” company CEO Neeraj Lala asked the woman. She replied: ‘Why are you so behind on EVs?’ Lala told the story at the launch – via the online Zoom platform – of Lexus’ [&hellip...

Ford seeks broader audience for 2022 work/play Ranger ute

November 30, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The new Ford Ranger line-up due next year has been designed to further reflect the changing role of utes in New Zealand, from work-only vehicles to family carry-alls. It was something Mitsubishi identified with the fourth-generation Triton ute 16 years ago. Japanese executives forecast huge growth in the ute sector beyond 2005 and wanted...

New PHEV Mitsi Outlander will go further on electricity alone

November 19, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Mitsubishi has given the powertrain in its 2022 PHEV Outlander more of everything, including boosting by 52.7 per cent the electric-only range of the SUV, from a maximum 55km to 84km. The extra range in electric mode comes from a 20kWh battery pack, a capacity 45 per cent greater than the outgoing model’s 13.8kWh. The [&hellip...

All-electric Toyota points to future of solid-state batteries

November 5, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Toyota bZ4X, the Japanese carmaker’s first battery-electric vehicle (BEV), ushers in the evolutionary next stage of electric automotive power: solid-state batteries (SSB). The bZ4X SUV won’t have SSB power on board when it lands in New Zealand later next year. Instead it will be powered by a conventional liquid-cooled lithium ion...

Mercredes-Benz AG, World Premiere BR 464 and Defence Vehicle Experience 2021

Hardcore Benz G-Wagen gets emergency ‘escape’ switch

October 30, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

A variant of the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen that is unlikely to find a role in New Zealand comes with an electronic emergency device designed to hustle the vehicle and its occupants away from life-threatening situations. It’s called the Emergency Override Switch, a panic button, of sorts. M-B isn’t saying how it works exactly. Nor does it...

Offshore Industry oil and gas production petroleum pipeline.

Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at least 2045, says Opec

October 14, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Opec oil cartel has issued a reminder that crude will continue to be the world’s leading source of energy for decades, driven by less-wealthy countries seeking higher economic growth and improved standards of living. Opec’s bullish pronouncement comes as nations prepare to gather for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to discuss...

2022_mitsubishi_outlander_4dr-suv_se-launch-edition_fq_oem_1_1600

Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over 100% this year

October 8, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Mitsubishi’s strong SUV line-up is largely responsible for its galloping growth in 2021, where its registrations at the end of September were up more than 100% on the same time last year. The nameplate’s rapid rise has propelled it to No. 2 on the charts, a position it hasn’t held for yonks but one it [&hellip...

EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference

September 21, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The CO2 carbon footprint of a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) running on power generated by fossil fuels only – coal, oil, gas – is roughly the same over its lifetime as a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE). But run a BEV on electricity from a mix of fossil fuels and renewables – coal and [&hellip...

Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as...
Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota...
Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales...
HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado...
Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel...
Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures
At the wheel: an open and shut case in...
Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste...

Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as two jet skis

April 23, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The jet ski might indeed be one of the best watersport toys going round, but it has nothing on the lightweight Nemo submersible from U-Boat Worx, a specialist company in The Netherlands. Both craft do have one thing in common, however – they can be towed by the family station wagon or SUV, although Nemo [&hellip...

Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota ZR Hybrid Corolla

January 2, 2019 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The new Toyota Corolla didn’t make the cut in mainstream 2018 car of the year awards in New Zealand, mainly because it arrived late in the year and didn’t meet judging deadlines. But I spent enough time behind the wheel of both the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.8-litre petrol-electric Corollas to choose the ZR Hybrid Corolla [&hellip...

Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales year

January 18, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

If you believe the public relations guff, every distributor in New Zealand last year sold record numbers of new vehicles. But that wasn’t the case. Okay, it was an overall record year, with 159,871 new vehicle registrations. But quite a few brands didn’t do as well as the PR people claim. Press releases saying this [&hellip...

HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado truck

December 8, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Chevrolet badge returns to New Zealand next year on the bonnet of the all-American Camaro sports car and Silverado pick-up truck. Both vehicles will be converted to right-hand drive by Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) at its new 28,000 square-metre plant in Melbourne. It’s where HSV will also prepare two versions of the Holden...

Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel is the devil’

September 13, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Jaguar Land Rover has defended its diesel engine technology after criticism of the fuel from the founder and director of Clean Air London, Simon Birkett. “Diesel is the devil, and we do need to ban it,” Birkett told a panel of automotive experts at the inaugural Jaguar Land Rover Tech Fest, a three-day event in [&hellip...

Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures

September 6, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Registrations of traditional passenger sedans and hatchbacks have tumbled over the past five years, as New Zealanders move towards SUVs and utes. In August 2013, for instance, the Holden Commodore sat at No. 5 on the top 15 list. Last month it was No. 10. A month earlier it was No. 11. Five years ago [&hellip...

At the wheel: an open and shut case in top-down Merc

May 29, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Hard-charging Kiwi motorcycle great Graeme Crosby tells the story of racing in the Isle of Man TT for the first time in 1979. He sort of ‘smelled’ his way round the 48km circuit. “It’s such a long way that it’s hard sometimes to remember exactly where your are,” he once told me. “There is one [&hellip...

Holden New Zealand - Astra RSV 2017, 15 February 2017

Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste of Kiwi’

March 3, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Holden has tasked its award-winning advertising agency, Special Group, to change how Holden is perceived in New Zealand. It wants the agency to help transform the brand, give it a taste of Kiwi, point it more towards premium space. It’s not that Holden has gone away; just that, over time, the brand has lost its [&hellip...

September 26, 2015 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

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