FOLLOW UP: OLIVER SCHMIDT TO FINISH SENTENCE IN GERMANY

Former VW executive, Oliver Schmidt, has been granted permission by a Detroit judge to complete the rest of his sentence in a German prison. To read more, click the Reuters article here.

FOLLOW UP: AUDI TO RUN SOFTWARE ARM OF VW

Dirk Hilgenberg will replace Christain Senger as the head of VW Group’s Car.Software division. This will also coincide with the main office of the division moving to Ingolstadt and Audi. To read more, click the Reuters article here.

FOLLOW UP: E-SCOOTERS STOPPED ON A19

Less than a week after the e-scooter trial opened in the Tees Vally, teenagers were stopped and escorted from the A19 dual carriageway, where they were found travelling at 12mph. Some are questioning if they have broken any laws, although rental and trial rules state they should not be ridden on roads with a limit of more than 40mph. To read more, click the Independent article here.

ELLESMERE PORT REOPENS FOR PRODUCTION

Positive news from Vauxhall, as they announce that Ellesmere Port will be reopening to production from 17 August, in a gradual and controlled manner. To read more, including some of the measures they’re putting in place to be safe, click the Vauxhall press release here.

DVLA WARNS OF DELAYS FOR MOTORISTS

Due to the pandemic, the DVLA is warning motorists of delays to processing their requests. This is particularly concerned with paper application of driving licenses, logbook changes and the likes. We are all being encouraged to use the digital processes, to help speed matters along. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

CAR FINANCE ASSISTANCE EXTENDED

The Financial Conduct Authority has announced that help for those struggling to pay their car finance will have assistance packages extended a further three months. This is in line with the help announced for mortgages. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

CAR-SHARING LIKELY CAUSE IN LOCAL SPIKE

A spike of Covid-19 cases, in Northampton and Kettering, is being put down to car-sharing by local health experts. This does raise the concern, for Richard and Andrew, is how much at risk driving instructors are too, due to the confined nature of their working day? To read more, click the Northamptonshire Telegraph here.

TFL FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER CONGESTION CHARGE

Following the recent ‘temporary’ increase in the Congestion Charge, TfL is being taken to court. From the 22 June, the rate increased to £15, runs for longer during the day and now is in place seven days a week. That there was an increase was conditional to their bailout funding from the Government, however, the extent of it was at the discretion of the Mayor of London and TfL. To read more, click the FleetWorld article here.

For an insight into the man now running Transport for London, click on the Evening Standard article here. Not great news if you own a car.

DECARBONISING WALES REPORT RELEASED

The Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, of the Welsh Parliament, has released their report into the plans to decarbonise Welsh transport. As has become a regular theme, the private car is not seen as the future, with only grudging acceptance it must be mentioned at all. This seems a particularly strange act considering how little of the country is served by public transport and good road networks. To read more, click the report here.

MOTO TRIALING MOTORWAY PETROL PRICE CUTS

Motorway service station operator, Moto, is trialling reduced fuel prices across three sites, to evaluate the viability of doing so across its entire network. If successful, Moto will reduce fuel prices to the local average. To read more, click the Motoring Research article here.

RENAULT ZOE VAN REVEALED

Renault has revealed a commercial vehicle variant of their small EV, the Zoe. Whilst the doors remain, along with the 245-mile range, the windows will be tinted, rear seats removed and a rubber flooring put in place. As Andrew and Richard discuss, this seems like a cracking vehicle for the tricky ‘last-mile’ issue we are constantly told needs to be addressed. To read more, click the Autocar article here.

MODERN CLASSICS MAGAZINE FOLDS

There is the sad news that Modern Classics magazine has now published its last edition. A deal for a new buyer could not be finalised, and so after four years and 52 excellent editions, the publication has come to an end. We wish all the staff affected by this the best of luck in finding work quickly. To read more, click the Press Gazzette article here.

This does act as a reminder to us all though if you like an outlet that produces content you enjoy, find a way to financially support them if you can. We cannot expect excellent articles, films and stories for us to read, watch and hear to be free.

If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST

FORMULA E: HARTLEY PARTS WITH DRAGON

Brendon Hartley has suddenly left Dragon Formula E team. Very few details are available but Hartley was not having a good debut season, with a lack of pace from the car not helping matters. To read more, click The Race article here.

WRC: COMPRESSED CALENDAR REVEALED

WRC has revealed the new compressed 2020 calendar. The reduction in events combined with them being held at new times in the year will further complicate the race engineer’s plans. To read more, click the official WRC article here.

TV RECOMMENDATIONS: AN UPDATE

Richard is recommending a couple of TV series you may have missed, which are worth catching up on. The first is a Channel 4 series called “How to Build”, with five episodes being currently available. To select one of those, click the Channel 4 link here.

The second is Vintage Voltage, from Quest, which follows the efforts to convert classic cars to electric-only drive-trains. To watch those, click the Quest link here.

LUNCHTIME READ: THE BEST UK ROADS FOR CAR-TUNING, ACCORDING TO CHASSIS EXPERTS

The Lunchtime Read is an interesting take on the ‘best driving roads in the UK’ as Autocar speak to real car dynamic experts. Included in this is David Pook, who was a guest on episode 69 of Rear View. To find out the roads that help develop some of the finest cars there are, click the link here.

LIST OF THE WEEK: THE MOST INSPIRING PEOPLE IN THE CAR INDUSTRY

Another list from Autocar, this time from the keyboard of Steve Cropley, when he suggests people are inspiring we should all sit up and take note. To run through the list, click the link here.

AND FINALLY: STELLANTIS IS BORN

The merging of PSA and FCA will create a new group called Stellantis, which is apparently derived from Latin and is quite silly really. How often anyone will actually say the name will be seen. To see the official explanation, click the tweet here.

AND FINALLY: ZOOM ZOOMERS CALL

Alan takes part in a gathering of folks from the motoring world, on a Monday night, run by Damien Cross. If you would like to see last Monday’s meet up please click the YouTube link here.

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