Need want and desire - 14 November 2023

FOLLOW UP: RENAULT FINALLY CREATES AMPERERenault has finally announced the creation of Ampere, the new division responsible for developing their EVs, circular economy and software for the Group. At the time of recording there was no mention of the IPO that was discussed when first announcing the entity. Click this electrive article to read more. FOLLOW UP: RIVIAN ENDS EXCLUSIVITY DEAL WITH AMAZONRivian and Amazon have announced that the exclusive deal to supply the retail giant with electric vans is no more. Amazon were pulling down far fewer vehicles than expected, therefore Rivian needs to open its books up to more companies to ensure the business is viable. To read more, click this link here to an electrive article. AUTOMATED VEHICLE BILL ANNOUNCED IN KING’S SPEECHDuring the opening of Parliament, King Charles III’s speech announced the plan to introduce the automated vehicle bill. This has taken several years and multiple public consultations. Key elements will be who is held responsible and in which situations, along with companies being held responsible for exaggerating their system’s capabilities. The devil will be in the detail, however. If you would like to learn more or possibly just read some utter tripe quoted, click firstly this link to an Autocar article and then try this link from Top Gear. BMW TO LAUNCH UK ‘HANDS FREE EYES ON’ SYSTEM IN 2024BMW is bringing a system that humans cannot handle, with their Level 2+ ‘Motorway Assist’. This is, similar to Ford’s BlueCruise, that requires the driver to continue to watch the road even though they are not holding the steering wheel. To repeat ourselves, there are many studies that show humans cannot manage this task, but that is not stopping the deployment and that the driver will still be help responsible for something they are being set up to fail. To read more on this, click on this Autocar link here. UK TESLA OWNER REIMBURSED FOR FAILED FSD PROMISES Using the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Ed Butler claimed that Tesla had breached their contract with him in not producing the promised Full Self Driving enhancements after he paid extra for the package. Tesla settled out of court, paying the original sum plus interest and legal costs. Click here to read more, from InsideEVs. ASTON MARTIN INVESTOR INCREASES STAKE IN COMPANYSaudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has returned to being the number two investor in Aston Martin, just ahead of Shufu Li, Geely Chairman. This continues the incremental increases from the three major shareholders, who all appear locked in some sort of bizarre game. You can learn more by clicking this link to an Automotive News Europe article. EDINBURGH BANS PAVEMENT PARKINGEdinburgh Council are bringing in a new rule to ban pavement parking, even though there is a law that makes it illegal to obstruct a pavement already. We are unsure how adding a new rule to something that isn’t...