Weekly Roundup: 8th-14th October
- Karachi to get hybrid buses & Green Line buses to start operations in November
- German railway company unveils first self-driving train
- Kawasaki, Honda hope to go completely electric in the next decade
An Electrified Future:
Pakistan can save $2bn in less than 10 yrs by switching to EVs, Senate body told
By switching to Electric Vehicles, Pakistan can save up to $2 Billion in less than 10 years, the Ministry of Industries and Production briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change this week. The Committee recommended setting up EV battery charging stations by PSO stations across the country. Read more!
Kawasaki announces its motorcycles to go all-electric by 2035
Kawasaki Motorcycles Heavy Industries announced that it will only sell electric vehicles for markets in developed countries by 2035. The company plans to have more than 10 electric models on the market by 2025 and is working on developing hybrid, all-electric, and hydrogen motorcycles. Read more!
Honda announces all new models will be electric after 2030 in China
EV sales are expected to grow rapidly in China as Honda announces details of a comprehensive electrification strategy. The Japanese automaker plans to introduce 10 Honda-brand EV models in the next five years, but only in China. Previously, the company shared its goals to have 100% electric sales by 2040 including Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles. Read more!
XPeng Celebrates the Production of its 100,000th Electric Vehicle
China’s Xpeng Motors celebrated the production of its 100,000th vehicle, emerging as one of the country’s top electric vehicle startups and a strong challenger to Tesla in the world’s biggest auto market. The company achieved this milestone 6 years after the launch whereas it took Tesla 12 years to do so. Check it out!
Mercedes-Benz EQS Gets 350 Miles Of EPA Range
Mercedes-Benz has announced that their all-electric flagship model EQS will have a range of up to 350 miles. The EQS model will enter the U.S market later this year at the price of $102,310. However, the model falls short in range as compared to Tesla Model S & Lucid Air. Read more!
Regional Cooperation:
First NLC truck from Pakistan reaches Istanbul under TIR
In a major development, the first truck carrying commodities from Pakistan has reached Turkey under the Transport Internationaux Routiers (TIR) convention. The NLC truck left Karachi on September 28 and reached Istanbul on October 7, covering a distance of 5,300 kilometers. Read more!
Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul road corridor begins operations
The Turkish Trade Ministry held a welcoming ceremony in Istanbul to mark the successful arrival of commercial cargo that used the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Road Transport Corridor. The trucks departed the Pakistani port city of Karachi on September 27 and reached Istanbul on Thursday, completing their 5,300 kilometer (3,293 miles) trip. Read more!
Expanding Market:
Europe: Toyota Sold Over 8,000 Plug-Ins In Q3 2021
Toyota Motors Europe has reported selling more than 8000 plug-in cars in Q3. The sales increased more than 21% year-over-year. The brand has expanded its market share and quickly increased sales of rechargeable cars. Since more and more plug-in models are in the pipeline, the numbers will soon grow even faster. Read more here.
New vehicles import hits all-time high in FY21
Pakistan has witnessed an all time high import of vehicles in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. The jump has been observed after record breaking foreign exchange spending. For the first time, 390 new Electric Vehicles and 19 used EVs were imported besides 10,513 units of new cars, jeeps, vans, pickups, two-wheelers and buses. Read more.
Public Transit in Focus:
New bus Project In Sindh; 250 hybrid buses to reach Karachi soon
Sindh Transport Minister Owais Qadir Shah announced that 250 diesel hybrid buses will reach Karachi in the next four months under a new bus project. He added that the first phase of the project will run across seven routes, and four bus depots will be allotted in Karachi. Check it out!
Green Line Project to start next month in Karachi
The Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited said the Green Line bus project is towards the final stages of completion and will be ready to operate in November with 40 buses. The SIDCL experts further added that the Orange Line project is also near completion. Read more!
On Clean Fuels:
Toyota Mirai Sets Guinness World Record: 845 Miles On Single Tank Hydrogen
The Toyota Mirai has broken more ground as the champion of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles as it sets a Guinness World Record with an astounding 845-mile drive along Southern California on a single tank of hydrogen. The car consumed 5.65 kg of hydrogen during the drive. Check out more about this here.
Volvo Group unveils vehicle made with 3,000 kilos of ‘fossil-free’ steel
A couple of months ago, Volvo teamed up with SSAB, a Swedish steel producer to develop a steel that does not use fossil fuel for its vehicles. Now, the company has revealed that it has successfully made a four wheeled fully electric load carrier made of fossil-free steel. The vehicle is autonomous and has no greenhouse gas emission. Read more here.
Move to Automation:
HERE unveils advanced real-time traffic service
HERE Technologies has announced the launch of HERE Advanced Real-Time Traffic service. HERE is a multinational group dealing with mapping, location data, and related automotive services. The real-time traffic introduces new lane level information and expanding inner-city coverage to help drivers reach their destinations efficiently and stress-free. Check it out here.
Germany unveils first self-driving train
German railway company Deutsche Bahn collaborated with industrial group Siemens on Monday to unveil the world’s first automated driverless train. The train claims to be more punctual and energy-efficient compared to traditional man-driven ones. Read more on this here.
Tesla officially starts its ‘wider release’ of Full Self-Driving Beta in the US
Tesla finally took its Full Self-Driving car mode out of the early access program, widening its availability to Tesla car owners with a perfect safety score. The program consists of about 2,000 people – mostly employees and some owners Tesla chose. Read more.
In Other News:
Shell Eco-Marathon 2021, Students drive self-made vehicles in Islamabad
Shell Pakistan organized an event titled “Shell Eco-Marathon 2021” in Islamabad where students from leading universities of Pakistan demonstrated their engineering skills and engaged in a marathon with vehicles they made themselves. The students exhibited vehicles from two categories; Prototype (Battery powered) and Urban Concept (Gasoline Run). Read it here.
K2 Airways all set to begin operations in Pakistan
A new airline is all set to start operations in Pakistan. K2 Airways – the new entrant will begin scheduled passenger flights later this year. The airline intends to serve at numerous domestic destinations across Pakistan including Islamabad, Skardu, and Chitral for now but intends to go international soon. Read it here.