The European Parliament in Brussels has agreed improved Weights and Dimensions Directive rules, moving from an initial 40-tonne heavy-goods gross vehicle weight limit to 44-tonnes. The caveat, however, is that after 2034, these weight exemptions will only apply to zero-emission vehicles.

For the first time, the legislation covers cars, vans, and heavy-duty vehicles in one single piece of legislation. The above-mentioned agreement retains the Euro 6 emissions limits for cars and vans but adds stricter limits for buses and trucks, whilst introducing new limits for particles emitted from the exhaust, tyres and brakes.

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.

While the city of Jakarta commits to being fully electric by 2030, the Indonesian and South Korean governments have signed a bilateral cooperation agreement to develop a public transportation network using battery-powered buses across cities in Indonesia.

The money will finance the construction of a 72,000-square-foot extension, which will expand the total size of the facility to 352,000 square feet.

Through the 'Low- or No-Emission' and 'Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities' programmes, the government is offering USD1.1m and USD390,000 in grant money respectively.

At the show, Hyvia presented a Renault Master van with fuel cell electric driveline which was converted into a workshop vehicle by Kollé of Santeny.

Specific testing will evaluate the electric and thermal performance of the HFC in real-world conditions. Ultimately, this is another step in bringing this product to market.

Hexagon has supplied Ford Trucks with a complete hydrogen fuel storage system for the development of a fuel-cell electric-powered truck (F-Max FCEV) prototype. As a partner in the project, Ford Trucks will develop and deliver the F-Max FCEV, which will operate as part of a larger fleet of zero-emission trucks collecting data from around Europe.

The project’s explicit goal is to “reduce the overall time and cost of battery production by at least 20%, in addition to lowering the number of physical experiments required and reducing material costs.” This will ultimately increase the competitiveness of the European battery industry.  

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.

Initially, the self-driving shuttle will transport passengers around the campus, before being incorporated later in the year into the service to and from the NRG station.