Windshield Replacement

Future growth in driverless vehicles and shared ownership spurs UK’s biggest carmaker

Britain’s biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover, has emerged as a potential contender to buy the private hire firm Addison Lee.

The move would be the latest attempt by a traditional car manufacturer to position itself for a possible future of shared ownership and driverless cars.

It may be a niche interest, but there are few things more pleasurably weird than driving a car into the sea

Dutton Surf Price £22,000 MPG 30 Top speed 85mph On sea 6mph (timdutton.com)

Is it a boat? Is it a car? Actually, it’s the best of both – an amphibious vehicle. It’s the ideal solution for anyone who fancies driving to the coast and then… well, motoring out to sea. For the past 50 years, Tim Dutton has been at the helm of his eponymous firm. He started out in 1969 and is justly proud of the fact Dutton is the oldest car company in the world still wholly owned by its founder. He is based in a workshop in the pretty village of Littlehampton where he has his own slipway into the River Arun. Visitors can take a Surf out for a test drive/cruise. You won’t be surprised to hear that owning a dinky Dutton is a niche interest – Tim sells about a dozen a year. Most drivers/captains just want to have fun – who wouldn’t in a vehicle that looks like a cross between a sports car and a rubber duck? – but there are more serious applications, too. Tim’s sold some to the military, and sailors love them as they can simply drive straight out to their yacht’s mooring. If you want to see one of these floating cars – and congratulate Tim on his half-century in the business – he’ll be at National Kit Car Show next weekend and at the Southampton Boat Show in September.

Carmaker becomes latest firm to face scrutiny by authorities over pollution tests

The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Ford’s emissions certification process.

Ford said on Friday it was fully cooperating with government agencies, as it became the latest car manufacturer to be investigated over emissions.

Right-hand drive version of more affordable electric car will be available to order on 1 or 2 May

Tesla’s latest and more affordable electric car, the Model 3, will finally be available to order in the UK from early May, according to the firm’s chief executive Elon Musk.

More than 18 months since deliveries of the smaller electric saloon car began in the US, Musk announced that UK orders could be placed from next week, on 1 or 2 May. Those with reservations, which require a £1,000 deposit, will have first access.

Carmaker says man trespassed on factory in California and drove at security guard

Tesla has been granted a temporary restraining order to prevent an alleged harasser from approaching the carmaker’s California factory.

The electric carmaker claimed in its application for the order that the man had repeatedly harassed its employees. He allegedly controls a Twitter account which frequently claimsthat Tesla engages in fraud and which claims to be betting that Tesla shares will fall.

The all-new Cupra Ateca is a scorchingly fast SUV that will appeal to anyone who grew up loving performance cars

Cupra Ateca Price £35,915 0-62mph 5.2 seconds Top speed 154 mph MPG 38 CO2 168g/km

The fastest-growing sector of the British population is people over 100 years old. It’s estimated there are now 15,000 centenarians in the UK. One of the youngest members of this group of “elite agers” is my Great Aunt Eve. She moved smoothly into triple figures last month. She’s remarkable. Laughing, chatting and even making a speech at her birthday party. She declined to tell us the secret of a long life, but it may have had something to do with the double whisky she was sipping. The celebration was in Eastbourne and we drove down in a car at the other end of the age spectrum: factory fresh and scorchingly fast, the Cupra Ateca is leading the charge in a new micro-category of sizzling-hot SUVs. “Whatever you do,” said Dad, “do not offer Eve a lift. It might finish her off…”

US firm received $1bn from consortium including Toyota and Saudi Arabia

Uber’s self-driving car unit has been valued at $7.3bn (£5.6bn), after receiving $1bn of investment by a consortium including Toyota and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

With weeks to go until the loss-making San Francisco firm’s stock market float, expected to value the company at up to $100bn, Uber said it had secured new financial backing for its plans to develop autonomous vehicles.

Museum will feature 15 vehicles from the Ford Model T to the Patent-Motorwagen No 3

One is a rackety motorised horseless carriage with a top speed about the same as a fit human runner, the other purports to be a “self-driving, self-flying” taxi which some would like to believe will be the future of cars.

Both vehicles will be part of a major exhibition staged later this year telling the story of the automobile, the V&A has announced.

Hailed as the AirBnB for cars, BookAclassic gives you the chance to drive a beautiful car – if only for a day

MG TD Hire £122 per hour, including insurance bookaclassic.co.uk

Last month, when Charles and Camilla visited Cuba, the couple were seen soaking up the sunshine in a beautifully restored 66-year-old MG TD, a rare sight on an island where many still prefer to drive rusting Cadillacs, Chevrolets and Dodges. Cuba is well known for its love of retro cars and the Prince has had a life-long love affair with racy roadsters, so it was no wonder he gave the chauffeur the day off and drove the MG himself. He told onlookers who gathered to watch the couple arrive that the car ‘has an incredibly powerful accelerator. It is close to the brake so you have to be careful you don’t press the wrong one.’

Transition to electric vehicles to cut carbon emissions has dominated climate policy debate in the Australian election campaign

One in two Australians would support shifting all sales of new cars to electric vehicles by 2025, according to polling by the Australia Institute.

The progressive thinktank surveyed a nationally representative sample 0f 1,536 Australians about their attitudes to electric vehicles. It found support was similar across all states and territories, including 52% in Victoria and Western Australia, 49% in Queensland and 48% in New South Wales.

Clash plays out live on air on day one of the 2019 federal election campaign. Plus: who farted?

The clash between the frontline Sky News journalists who anchor the daytime schedule and the rightwing Sky After Dark commentators was played out live on screen on day one of the election campaign.

The Sky News chief political reporter, Kieran Gilbert, had been on air since the early hours of the morning when Scott Morrison called the election, when Paul Murray joined him on set.

Scott Morrison says ‘Bill Shorten can’t explain what his policies mean to Australians’, but car manufacturers are all moving towards electric vehicles

Hyundai Motor Group says it will sell every electric vehicle it brings to Australia and has “no fear” of the market changing in order to cut carbon pollution.

The carmaker has responded to the political commentary of recent days, which included the prime minister Scott Morrison claiming Labor’s electric vehicle target was a threat to Australians who like to drive SUVs.

The ads use Facebook functionality to target users with an interest in particular car brands

The Liberal party is using targeted Facebook ads to falsely claim Bill Shorten wants to tax popular car brands including Holdens, Toyota Hiluxes and other utility vehicles.

The ads – which appeared on Monday – use Facebook ad functionality to target users with an interest in particular vehicle types to make the false claim about Labor’s policy, which includes vehicle emissions standards and a target of 50% of new car sales being electric vehicles by 2030.

Labor’s 50% target for new car sales ‘is ‘very achievable’ and not ambitious, Australian tech billionaire says

Mike Cannon-Brookes says the Coalition has tied itself in knots over Labor’s electric vehicles policy and that the 50% target for electric vehicle sales by 2030 is “very achievable” and not ambitious.

The billionaire co-founder and chief executive of Australian software company Atlassian is announcing on Wednesday the company will become 100% renewable by 2025.

Electric vehicles have been subject to some wild claims in the Australian election campaign, even before it is called. Here’s the reality

A more pertinent question might be: why weren’t we talking about them earlier? The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, tried to start a discussion in January 2018, when he was responsible for environment and energy, comparing the expected trajectory of EVs to that of the iPhone. He said changes in battery technology and recharging infrastructure were gaining momentum in Europe, Asia and North America that would inevitably be replicated in Australia, and predicted people that who mocked EVs would one day be driving them.

Removal of hard shoulder on hundreds of miles of road could endanger drivers, it says

The AA has expressed safety concerns about a plan to remove the hard shoulder from hundreds of miles of motorway over the next six years.

A network of so-called smart motorways will be without the traditional emergency lane, while emergency laybys will be closer together.

British Heart Foundation says Ulez will help reduce 36,000 annual UK pollution deaths

The ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) across London will help reduce the 36,000 deaths caused in the UK every year by outdoor pollution, the British Heart Foundation said as it welcomed the new vehicle charging zone that will launch on Monday.

According to the leading heart charity, a significant proportion of air pollution-related deaths are in the capital, where pollution levels are often at their highest.