At one time, when mention was made of an ‘electric vehicle’, the perception was that it was going to be boring to drive. This was because decades ago, EV technology was still not developed enough and performance was not a priority. There were many other issues to overcome – like range anxiety – in order to make EVs more widely accepted.
But over the past 10 years, perceptions have changed and many carmakers have developed – and even started selling – EVs with sportscar performance. With the inherent peak torque generated almost from standstill, an EV can accelerate a lot quicker than a car with a combustion engine, and sportscar makers have exploited this character.
Drifting a vehicle is a demonstration of supreme car control that impresses and fascinates. When done by professionals, it is like automotive ballet with the car (or cars) sliding around in precise movements. The skill these drivers possess can be seen when they can drift just centimetres away from a wall as their tyres smoke while fighting for grip.
The skill can be learnt though it takes time and lots of practice. Once a driver has gained sufficient skill and confidence, there are places where drifting can be enjoyed (but should not be done on public roads) and also events where drivers compete.
The Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) has declared that the minimum age requirement for taxis and e-hailing vehicles has been raised to 15 from the previous 10 years.
As of January 1, all vehicles in the taxi and e-hailing classes across the country that have completed their maximum service life of 10 years will be subject to this, according to Apad.
The Takata airbag-related recalls have been ongoing since the early 2000s and millions of vehicles of numerous brands have had their airbag inflator modules replaced. The replacement was urgent as there were many cases where the inflator module broke up during inflation of the airbag. With the broken metal pieces shooting at the driver (or front passenger) at up to 200 km/h, serious injuries and deaths occurred in the vehicles.
The dangerous inflator modules were installed in the early 2000s and though it is now over 20 years later, there are still many vehicles in use which may not have had the module replaced. As it is quite a long period of time, the vehicles may also have changed ownership so the authorised distributors (who are primarily responsible for handling recalls) may be unable to inform the actual owners of the vehicle at present as they may not have contact information.
In this case, those who own affected vehicles should contact the authorised distributor of the brand for assistance if they are aware of a recall. Representatives of brands in Malaysia would be obliged to assist in such critical matters.
After more than a month of testing, ChargEV has finally opened its fastest DC chargers at Berjaya Times Square. These are Kempower machines with two nozzles that can supply the 225kW listed maximum output.
Instead of a time-based system, these chargers will calculate how much to charge EVs depending on the number of kWh supplied.
The widely used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies, which let users bypass a car’s infotainment system, will gradually be phased out by General Motors (GM), who will instead switch to built-in infotainment systems created with Google for future electric vehicles.
The new built-in infotainment system will be featured in the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer. According to GM, with this system, they will be able to capture data on how users drive and charge EVs.
Viral clips on social media of dashcam-recorded incidents where people do utterly dumb things like jump in front of a moving car and blame the driver just to see if they are lucky enough to claim some cash are popular things nowadays.
However, it had allegedly turned into a method for one couple in Southern California who were facing felony charges of insurance fraud and child endangerment. All it took was for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s close supervision and the dash camera footage posted on the couple’s YouTube channel.
20 years ago, Proton established a second factory in the Tg. Malim area of Perak with a plan to develop a ‘Proton City’. This was to be an automotive zone with suppliers nearby to provide parts and systems directly to the factory. Parts of that original plan were realised but not to the grand plan envisaged as a production hub.
But the idea has not been forgotten and a year ago, DRB-HICOM announced its intention to develop an Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV) in the Tg. Malim area with the aim of becoming an industry hub for the ASEAN region.
Besides supporting Proton, the AHTV is expected to attract businesses which are involved in new technologies and systems relevant to the global automotive industry. These would include electrification, Artificial Intelligence, autonomous technologies and advanced connectivity.
With no rain likely, the Australian GP was expected to have just one stop for most teams, with tyres switched from starting mediums to hards. The first cars were expected to start coming in around lap 15 of the 58-laps of the Albert Park Street Circuit,
Max Verstappen rocketed off from his pole position, but Mercedes-AMG’S George Russell was close as Turn 1 came up and got through the turn first. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton also moved forward together and somehow, after getting ahead of the Aston Martin driver, Hamilton also slipped past Verstappen.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent visit to China was a successful one by any measure.
According to reports, 19 Memorandum Of Understanding related to various sectors were signed. And the total amount of that sums up to RM170 billion!
Some of those sectors were MOU’s were signed include electronic vehicle’s, electronics, big data and digitalisation.
The automotive sector too was involved and one of it involves Chinese car maker, Chery.
Soon after the visit to China ended, Chery sent out a statement to the local media stating that Chery executives were involved in an “in-depth conversation” with the Minister of International Trader and Industry of Malaysia, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Part of the discussions included an investment plan and development direction in Malaysia.
Soon after that discussion, the executives from Chery International were also invited to participate in a round table conference with the Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim and Malaysia-China Business Forum.
Chery has also previously mentioned the setting up of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia, which according to an official statement, is due to be unveiled in the second quarter of this year.
Now all of this could be seen as journalistic fluff meant to drum up the Prime Minister’s visit to China.
But considering the success of Chinese automotive makers GWM and BYD in the Malaysian EV market, it won’t be too far fetched to assume that Chery may be considering local assembly of certain Chery models.
And why not? GWM and BYD have already proven that the local market is warming up to Chinese carmakers already.
Local assembly would make sense since this will almost certainly allow Chery to price their cars competitively and also create a strong network of dealers with strong spare parts availability.
The only thing that remains to be seen though is who will Chery’s assembly partner be since setting up its own assembly plant would almost certainly be too costly.