Volkswagen e-Golf has a 200km range
Volkswagen's new e-Golf (pictured) will offer a "real-world" driving range of 200km. With 100kW and 290Nm, it hits 100kmh in 9.6 seconds and promises a low consumption of 12.7 kWh/100km. It will be made at Volkswagen's "transparent factory" in Dresden, Germany, previously used to assemble the VW Phaeton limo.
The company will be investing more than €20 million (S$30.2 million) to transform the factory into a "Centre of Future Mobility". Production will resume at the beginning of April next year.
Chinese electric car logs new record
Chinese electric carmaker NextEV has unveiled the Nio EP9 (pictured), which it claims to be the world's fastest battery-powered car. The e-supercar went on the Nurburgring Nordschliefe on Oct 12 and clocked 7min 5.12s on a 20.8km lap - the fastest for an EV. On Nov 4, it smashed the EV record at Circuit Paul Ricard in France, recording a time of 1min 52.78s, eclipsing the previous record of 2min 40s.
With four high-performance motors and four individual gearboxes, the EP9 delivers 1MV of power, equivalent to 1,360bhp. It goes from 0 to 200kmh in 7.1 seconds and has a top speed of 313kmh. With an interchangeable battery system, the EP9 is designed to be charged in 45 minutes and has a range of 427km.
Women in Singapore more likely to use their phones while driving
The majority of drivers in Singapore use their mobile phones while driving, according to data collected by Liberty Insurance. Real-time data collected by the insurer from its DriveWell app used in a safe driving challenge indicate that 67 per cent of the 850 participants use their mobile phones at least once while driving.
The data also showed that women were more likely to use their mobile phones, with 74 per cent of women participants using their phones at least once while driving, compared with 64 per cent of men.
The data was collected from Sept 30 to Nov 4 and covered 1.2 million km or 90,000 trips. Women aged 35 to 40 were the most likely to use their phones (90 per cent), while men aged 40 to 45 were the least likely to use their phones (62 per cent).
Mini enters Dakar Rally
This is the Mini John Cooper Works Rally (pictured), the marque's first competitive entrant for next year's Dakar Rally.
Aside from its carbon-kevlar body and raised suspension, the extreme Mini boasts a six-cylinder turbodiesel designed with endurance competition in mind. The 3-litre dry sump engine produces 340bhp and about 800Nm from 1,850rpm.
Lotus Exige Sport 380 is the quickest and lightest iteration
Lotus has unveiled its most potent Exige yet. The Exige Sport 380 (pictured) has 375bhp powering a weight of 1,100kg, allowing it to hit 100kmh in about 3.8 seconds. It boasts an extensive use of carbon components.
Its uprated 3.5-litre supercharged V6 generates 410Nm of torque at 5,000rpm.
The same engine is found in the track-focused Lotus 3-Eleven and the recently revealed Evora Sport 410.
Volvo's concierge service will refuel and wash your car for you
Volvo Cars is promising that you will never have to stop at a petrol station, go to a car wash or even take your car in for servicing ever again, with the launch of a range of concierge services that will become an integrated part of the Volvo On Call mobile platform.
A pilot programme in San Francisco, targeting folks driving the XC90 SUV and S90 luxury saloon, has just been launched.
Research by Volvo has shown that more than 70 per cent of customers want fuelling services at their fingertips, while 56 per cent want their car picked up for routine maintenance, and 49 per cent would like to be able to have their car moved to another location when desired.
Continental partners Oxford for AI research
An artificial intelligence (AI) research programme by German components maker Continental and Oxford University has kicked off.
The partnership will focus on the possible uses and development of AI algorithms, which have the potential to further enhance future mobility applications. These deep- learning algorithms look set to optimise visual object detection and human-machine interface.
New three-row Subaru SUV on the cards
Subaru has unveiled an updated version of its Viziv-7 SUV concept. The biggest Subaru yet, the seven-seater (pictured) hints strongly at a new three-row SUV to be introduced to the North American market in early 2018.
