Welcome to Overdrive, a program that ponders the particulars of motoring and transport.
- Hyundai Kona Electric earns ANCAP 5-star safety rating in first-ever EV crash tested in Australia and the results are good. (1:33)
- Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot working out a merger (2:16)
- Brabham automotive announces BT62 competition specification (3:06)
- Lightyear One: the car built to perform on energy efficiency (4:05)
- Estonian police offer ‘road breaks’ for first-time speeders (5:00)
- Motoring minute – Road Safety Courtesy (5:50)
- Rob Fraser and David Brown discuss the new Audi A1 (7:05)
- Motoring minute – Autonomous vehicles – no nirvana yet, if ever (12:26)
- Marc Pizzi from Monash University talks about the student racing team that is now into autonomous cars (13:40)
- Motoring minute – Quality SUVs (19:49)
- Quirky news – Cars doing things for you, you don’t want (20:55)
Kona Electric earns ANCAP 5-star safety rating in first-ever EV crash test in Australia
Kona Electric has become the first-ever electric vehicle to be crash tested in Australia.
The test was only the frontal offset crash test, but when combined with previous tests of the petrol Kona this represents a five-star crash test rating.
Earlier this month Hyundai NEXO became the first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle tested by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), earning a TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. Prior to this, NEXO was also the first fuel cell electric vehicle to achieve a maximum five-star overall rating in Euro NCAP’s safety test.
Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot owner ‘on verge of’ merger
Soon after the rumours started the PSA Group, the French owner of Peugeot, and its US-Italian rival Fiat Chrysler confirmed that are intend to merge the two companies.
A deal between the two carmakers would create a business with a combined market value of nearly approx. $72 billion in Australian dollars with current sales of 8.7 millions cars a year.
The companies say that they are joining forces to build a world leader for a new era in sustainable mobility.
The news comes four months after a proposal to create a tie-up between Fiat Chrysler and French carmaker Renault collapsed. The French Government, which owns 15% of Renault, thought a merger was too risky because of the current tensions between existing partners Renault and Nissan.
Brabham automotive announces bt62 competition specification
The return of the Brabham name to vehicle construction and racing continues to develop.
Brabham’s BT62, their one car to date, will now be released in a Competition specification.
It will be used for the company’s endurance racing debut at Brands Hatch in early November.
Brabham Automotive customers now have three variants to choose from:
- Ultimate Track Car
- Competition spec, and
- Road Compliant Conversion
The Competition retains the Ultimate Track Car Brabham 5.4 litre, naturally aspirated V8 engine delivering 700hp (522 kw) mated to a 6-speed sequential gearbox.
It will cost $1.4 mill Aus dollars (plus tax).
Brabham will only be building a total of 70 BT62s spread across the three specifications
Lightyear One: the car built to perform on energy efficiency
Dutch solar car company Lightyear says it has achieved a record score for aerodynamics for its 5-seater Lightyear One while undergoing wind tunnel tests in Turin, Italy.
The lower the coefficient of drag the better. Most modern production cars are around a figure of about 0.3 while the Light year one is 0.2.
As a world record it needs to be clarified. It is the best result so far for a five-seater car.
GMs now defunct EV1, was the most aerodynamic car ever sold in America, at 0.195.
The limited production Volkswagen XL1 had a CD of 0.186, but was only offered in Europe.
Lightyear’s other claim to fame is that they put a solar panel in the roof of their vehicle.
Estonian police offer ‘road breaks’ for first-time speeders
Police in Estonia have been offering drivers caught speeding with a choice between taking a break from the road instead of paying a fine.
A report by ERR.ee the English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting says drivers exceeding the speed limit by 20 km/h must wait 45 minutes in a parking area next to the road and 60 minutes if they drive between 21 and 40 km/h over the limit.
This approach is only being used with drivers with no previous traffic offences travelling on the Tallinn-Rapla road.
It is hoped that an immediate impact that you have to face, is better than a fine.
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Originally broadcast 2 November 2019 across Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and Torque Radio affiliated commercial radio channels.
