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Nissan Sakura/Mitsubishi eK Minivehicle Wins 2022-2023 Japan Car Of The Year Title

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors share the 2022-2023 Japan Car of the Year (JCOTY) award with the Nissan Sakura/Mitsubishi eK X EV being awarded the title this year. Besides being the second consecutive year for Nissan, this is the sixth time that a model of the brand has won the overall title which has been annually awarded since 1980. For Mitsubishi Motors, it is the fourth time receiving a JCOTY award.

The minivehicle was among 11 finalists (one more than usual as there was a tie) from 48 nominees. This year, among the Best 11 Cars, 4 models were from foreign brands – the BMW iX, Hyundai IONIQ 5, Range Rover and Renault Arkana. The Japanese models were the Suzuki Alto, Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Fairlady Z, Mazda CX-60 e-SKYACTIV-D, Toyota Crown, Nissan Sakura/Mitsubishi eK, and Honda Civic e:HEV/Civic Type R.

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BYD Enters EV Market In Malaysia With ATTO 3 SUV, Priced From RM149,800

With the surge in introduction of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as the government is providing tax exemption for a few years, we’ve been seeing a number of brands from China coming into the Malaysian market. It coincides with the increased export activity by the Chinese companies in recent years, particularly with EVs as the country has the largest market in the world.

The latest is BYD Auto which officially made its debut today with the launch of its first model, the ATTO 3 SUV. Its commencement of business has been exceptionally quick as the distributorship agreement with Sime Darby Motors (SDM) was inked only in September this year. Clearly, the two companies had already been having earlier discussions and had plans in place by the time the agreement was signed and announced.

With products from BYD Auto, now among the top 5 BEV companies in the world, SDM has another brand of electrified products to offer. From starting with just the electrified models of BMW and MINI, it now has BEVs from Porsche, Hyundai and Volvo which are sold by its various units. BYD and Hyundai are likely to provide the entry-level models in coming years while the other brands cater to customers further upmarket.

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Maserati Unveils Gen3 Racing Car For Formula E

Maserati is no stranger to motorsport, having been present in touring, GT and even Formula 1 (from 1950 to 1957) so competition is in its high-performance DNA. Next year, the Italian carmaker will enter the ABB Formula E World Championship, the all-electric series which will be in its ninth season.

It will enter as the Maserati MSG (Monaco Sports Group) Racing with the Maserati Tipo Folgore Gen3 – the first fully electric racing car in the history of the brand which is also the first Italian carmaker to enter Formula E. It is the second brand in the Stellantis Group to participate in Formula E, the other being DS from the Citroen affiliate which has been racing since 2018.

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Munro MK_1 – The World’s Most Capable All-Electric 4×4

Someday, the internal combustion engine will be gone and cars will be propelled only by electric motors. It’s still a long way off but it will eventually happen. While roadgoing cars will be fully electric, what then will happen to off-road vehicles? These vehicles travel long distances over very rough terrain where charging stations are unlikely to be set up. What will be the future of such vehicles?

Munro Vehicles, Scotland’s only volume production motor vehicle company, is already developing a fully electric off-road vehicle, the Munro MK_1, which it says is ‘the world’s most capable all-electric 4×4’. Capable of effortlessly transporting a crew of 5 to the most rugged locations, accommodating an 1000-kg payload and 3500-kg towing capacity, the Munro represents the ultimate, sustainable, utilitarian, off-road workhorse.

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Big Changes For Season 9 Of Formula E In 2023

Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship – the series for all-electric single-seaters – will see big changes when it starts in January 2023. Not only will the new Gen3 racing cars be used for the first time but there will also be new teams, new sporting formats, new venues – and even a new Formula E sound.

The inaugural championship was run in 2014/2015 with the first race held in Beijing, China. As more venues were added with each season and the series had met the criteria of having 4 manufacturer competitors and races on 3 continents, it was granted World Championship status by the FIA.

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4 years After Launch, the VW ID.3 Will Start Its Second Generation

It used to be that a model would be in production for around 5 years before a new generation succeeded it. That is the norm but some manufacturers may shorten or lengthen that period depending on various circumstances. With increased competition and technologies being improved at a faster pace, especially for electric vehicles (EVs), the 5-year cycle might be too long.

It was in 2019 that Volkswagen introduced its new ID designation for a new family of battery electric vehicles, with the first model being the ID.3 which was launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Now, after just 3 years, the carmaker is preparing to launch the second generation of the model in early 2023.

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BMW Group Malaysia Continues To Grow Charging Network For Its EV Customers

With the government helping to promote the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) by exempting them from as well as providing some other incentives, the car companies are also doing their part by participating in the development of the charging network nationwide. After all, if they want people to buy their EVs and enjoy using them, then enabling owners to travel far is necessary as part of ‘aftersales’

BMW Group Malaysia, having been among the early pioneers in electric mobility in Malaysia, is one of the companies that has been helping to grow the number of charging stations. Besides having such facilities at its dealerships, it has now introduced BMW Charging to gives its EV customers peace of mind when they wish to go on long journeys.

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Gentari Sets Up 350 kWh Super Charger For EVs In X Park Sunway Serene, Selangor

Gentari Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of PETRONAS which offers clean energy solutions, has set up Southeast Asia’s first 350kW charging station for electric vehicles (EVs). The high-speed charger is one of the stations at the EV Charging Hub located at X Park Sunway Serene in the Sungai Way Free Trade Industrial Zone, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

The facility has been set up in partnership with EV Connection Sdn Bhd (EVC) and besides the 350 kW super charger – the fastest public charger in Southeast Asia – there are also two DC fast chargers (180 kW), and five AC chargers (22 kW and 7 kW).

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Mercedes-Benz Will Increase The Performance Of Its EVs If You Pay An Annual Fee

Since the 1980s, electronic systems have been slowly taking control of the car and with electric vehicles (EVs), there is the feeling that cars have become ‘computers on wheels’. And as we move slowly towards autonomous motoring when a car can operate itself without human control, the computer will have taken over everything (shades of ‘Skynet’!).

Like the computer or smartphone you use daily, the electronic systems in cars operate with software that has millions of lines of code. As microprocessors have quickly improved in capacity and speed, the software has become more sophisticated and able to handle many different processes simultaneously – at speeds fast enough to activate the brakes if a collision is imminent.

In recent years, some companies have also started to incorporate into the software ‘paywalls’ that restrict certain features until a code is provided by the car owner. The approach is the same as what the computer software industry has been doing for decades. For example, if you purchase or renew Kaspersky’s anti-virus software, you will need to pay them and then get a code which will allow activation or renewal of the software. If you don’t, the software will either deactivate or have reduced functionality and make your device more vulnerable to virus attacks.

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Lewis Hamilton’s X44 Vida Carbon Racing Team Wins Extreme E Series in Uruguay

It was a fight to the finish in the Uruguay Natural Energy X Prix, final round of the Extreme E series for purpose-built electric rallycars. With championship contenders ACCIONA | SAINZ XE Team and No.99 GMC HUMMER EV Chip Ganassi Racing already ruled out of the Final, only Rosberg X Racing and X44 Vida Carbon racing remained in contention to win this year’s Extreme E title.

And it was X44 Vida Carbon Racing which took championship glory although it finished third, with ABT CUPRA XE securing a maiden X Prix victory. X44, Lewis Hamilton’s outfit, had entered a Final that was missing three of the top four teams in the championship standings, including leaders RXR.

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