This Week In The News

NEWS IN SHORT

CITROËN C3 AND DS3 MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 2009 AND 2019 REQUIRE URGENT AIRBAG REPLACEMENT

• Customers are urged to stop driving these vehicles immediately
• Replacement is made immediately and is free-of-charge
• Contact your nearest dealer today to schedule the replacement
• This measure does not affect the recently launched Citroën C3
  
  
• SOUTH AFRICA, Johannesburg, Vehicle sales in South Africa continued their downward trend in September, with total sales of 44,081 units, slightly down from the same period last year. “However, there was a modest increase in passenger car sales, offering hope that the market may be slowly turning,” commented Brandon Cohen, National Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), after studying last month’s sales data.
  
  
• Eskom diesel use soared in September. Eskom has been using diesel-fueled auxiliary turbines extensively to stave off power cuts.
  
  
• A car’s tyre contributes to almost a third of its fuel economy, with factors such as pressure, tread, alignment, and weight all playing a role in how quickly your vehicle burns propellant. Investing in energy-efficient tyres, also known as ‘eco-tyres’ or ‘green tyres’, is one great way to choose the right tyres for better fuel economy.

• Uber launched its newest offering in South Africa this week, enabling travelers to call the e-hailing service to take them on a safari ride.

• There has been a dramatic uptick in hijackings aimed at e-hailing and delivery app drivers in South Africa. In June this year, road freight hijackings were as high as 65 cases per day, compared to 20 cases one year prior. The RFA reported similar figures in August, which experienced roughly 50 incidents per day.

• Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has stated that Formula 1 (F1) is “definitely coming to South Africa.” McKenzie said a racetrack is currently under construction in Cape Town adjacent to the Fisantekraal airport, which is being purpose-built to host F1.

• The Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa is hauling government to court over its new waste tyre management plan, which it states is primed for failure.

• October 9, 2024: Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, a global leader in the automotive industry, today marks twenty years of success, innovation and growth in the South African automotive industry.

• For the third year in a row, leading short-term insurer Old Mutual Insure will be the headline sponsor of South Africa's most prestigious motoring competition, the Car of the Year (COTY) for 2025,

• Chery is outselling 18 different brands in South Africa despite having only been on
  the market for three years.

• Elon Musk went all-in to get robo-taxis onto roads. When Musk finally unveiled autonomous taxi prototypes late on Thursday, he promised nothing short of a new era for transportation, in which Teslas with empty driver seats zip around with paying passengers, making money for their owners while they’re asleep or at work.

• South Africa’s car industry, which accounts for more than 5% of GDP and employs over 116 000 people, is in danger of being left behind by the global switch to EVs, especially in its biggest export market, the EU.

• VW has unveiled the all-new Tayron, which will replace the popular seven-seater Tiguan Allspace. VW South Africa confirmed that the Tayron is heading to our shores, with the first units to arrive between July and September 2025. 

• Hout Bay’s siblings Holly and Ryley Smith have been crowned Ocean Racing World. The siblings both competed in the Ocean Racing World Championship held in Madeira, Portugal, where they would both come home and be splashed with victory as the Mixed Doubles U18 World Champions.

 

Good news for BMW buyers in South Africa.

BMW has been on a drive to localise content in the new X3, which should contribute to more competitive prices in the future. The latest step in this endeavor has seen Yanfeng Plastic Omnium (YFPO), an automotive component producer with strong ties to BMW, setting up a component manufacturing facility on South African soil.

 

McLaren’s new R37-million supercar-W1

Pricing on the car starts at $2.1 million (R37 million). 

The 1,399kg W1 is the fastest road-legal McLaren ever, with a zero-to-200km/h sprint time of 5.8 seconds and zero-to-300km/h in 12.7 seconds. That’s quicker than the Speedtail.

Zero to 97km/h is 2.7 seconds; top speed is 350km/h.
Aaahh please

 

Day one of a four-day, 2 200km road trip in electric cars from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Day one of a four-day, 2 200km road trip in electric cars from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The Pantry in Rosebank, Johannesburg was the Thursday, 3.30am meeting point. It got off to a smooth start on day one, before running into trouble late in the afternoon.

The road trip is aimed at bringing a focus to the challenges that might face EV owners doing long-distance road trips in South Africa

The vehicles being used on the road trip are :
• Volvo XC40 (available in South Africa)
• BMW iX (available in South Africa)
• Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 (available in South Africa)
• VW ID.4 (not launched in South Africa)
• BYD Seal (in the launch phase in South Africa)

The day started well enough, until they reached Colesberg, a small town about 620km from Johannesburg and a popular stopover for motorists on the N1 as it is roughly halfway between Gauteng and the Western Cape.

On the way they reached Ventersburg, at 7.20am, where they topped up on a GridCars-operated 60kW DC fast-charger, giving them an estimated range of just over 200km. Another quick top-up in Bloemfontein, also at a DC charger, would take them on to Gariep Dam for lunch, and then onto Colesberg.

At at Gariep Dam while having (a very good) lunch — they topped up the battery from 23% to 32% at a charge rate of 11kW. Unfortunately, when they were ready to leave, the AC charger refused to release the charging cable from the Volvo, and a team from the hotel had to be called to open up the charging station with a screwdriver in order to release it

On to Colesberg

 

On the eastern side of town (on the approach from Gariep Dam), an Astron filling station promised two DC fast chargers, but both were on the blink when they arrived. The RFID authentication on the display of the charging unit was giving an “invalid card” error.

Leaving two of the vehicles at Astron (the BMW and the Mercedes) to try to solve the problem, the other cars – the Volvo, VW and BYD – proceeded to the Engen 1-Stop on the other side of town, where the slower AC charger worked but the only DC charger, which they needed for the onward journey, refused to initiate the charge with any of the vehicles, even though it authenticated their charging cards.

After a lengthy call with GridCars customer support, they were unable to resolve the issue and returned – with the batteries now running close to empty – to Astron on the other side of town, where GridCars had found a workaround with the two DC chargers. The solution was to provide a one-time Pin to bypass the card authentication error.

But with a queue of EVs and only two charging stations available, it turned into a lengthy wait – and the prospect of an after-dark drive to Nieu-Bethesda down the N9. It did, however, offer the correspondents the opportunity to write their articles and publish it.

A long evening still lies ahead. More will follow in Friday’s update after they (hopefully) had a good night’s rest in Nieu-Bethesda. Their next leg will take them through Graaff-Reinet and on to Gqeberha.
© 2024 NewsCentral Media 

“Hopefully, the trip will only get better as they continue their “trek” embracing the true pioneering spirit.”

 

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