From 7 July this year, all newly registered vehicles in the European Union must comply with the second tranche of rules known as the ‘General Safety Regulation’ (“GSR II”). These regulations will require all new road vehicles to be installed with more advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) which employ some of the latest innovations being made at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence. These include systems for intelligent speed assistance; reversing detection with cameras and/or sensors; attention warnings in case of driver drowsiness or distraction; event data recorders; and emergency stop signals.

The importance of fire suppression systems in vehicles can be seen first-hand in January this year, with an electric double-decker bus catching fire in Wimbledon, UK.

European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has elected Harald Seidel (President of DAF Trucks), as Chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Board for 2024. Seidel will work alongside the ACEA President, Luca de Meo (CEO of Groupe Renault) who is serving in his second one-year term and has been in close consultation with EU policymakers over the now proposed, Euro VII legislation.

According to the Department for Transport, all new sales of cars and vans powered solely by an internal combustion engine (ICE) will be banned by 2035, with heavy-goods vehicles following suit in 2040. This has now become law in the UK, as part of the country's Net Zero Strategy.

Luca de Meo recently unveiled a roadmap for developing a competitive European green mobility ecosystem, co-signed by the heads of Europe’s largest commercial vehicle OEMs. The roadmap, submitted to the EU Parliament and Commission is premised on three pillars of supply, production and demand, encompassing views of all relevant industry stakeholders.

The European Council proposes lowering the emission limits for commercial vehicles slightly adjusting their test conditions.

The company now aims to acquire certificates from FMVSS, as well as the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency, before the end of the year, making its ‘P7’ vehicles roadworthy and eligible for incentives.

Proposal is for mandatory fitment of AC systems in new trucks from 2025.

Testing adduced a volumetric score of 32.82 cubic metres, the highest ever achieved by a vehicle assessed for the Direct Vision Standard (the second-best score being 22 cubic metres).

A Report from the 2023 Renault Trucks UK media event. Carlos Rodrigues (Managing Director of Renault Trucks UK and Ireland) gave the keynote speech where he said that the company had been consistently growing its market share in the UK and Ireland market over the last 5 years.

After trying out the driver monitoring system at a stand at Euro Bus Expo last November, T&BB reached out to the Australian tech firm to find out more about its product and its goal to eliminate accidents caused by driver inattentiveness.

In the past year, Phoenix Mobility has rebranded itself as ‘Tolv’ and attained UTAC and CNRV certification for the conversion of Renault mid-sized vans to electric power.