car

Elon Musk boasted of having created an “apocalypse-proof” car. Now the Tesla Cybertruck’s headlights are falling out

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Who doesn’t know a C15, prays to any Tesla Cybertruck with this title we headed this article in July 2024. We did it because on social networks it was already common to find comparisons between a Tesla Cybertruck which began selling just half a year before for a price close to $100,000 (sometimes much higher) with the car of “a Spanish farmer flying with three bags of fertilizer and a pregnant sheep in the trunk”, as this X user described. It was no wonder. Since it was first announcedElon Musk did not stop boasting that Tesla’s future electric car was nothing short of indestructible. A story that began crack when, live, the car glass itself could not resist the launch of a steel ball that, in theory, should not have caused any scratches. Now, less than two years after the car went on sale we know that the crack has been getting bigger and bigger. Because Tesla has recalled its Cybertruck for review. This time there have been 6,200 units. It is the tenth time in less than 24 months. Now, the headlights are going out. Indestructible, when it does not self-destruct Elon Musk boasted during the Tesla Cybertruck launch event about having a car “apocalypse proof”. He was talking, we assume, about real apocalypses, not metaphorical ones like the one they are experiencing Tesla sales in Europe. Beyond the jokes, what the owner of the company wanted to show is that he had something like a “armored street car”. In Xataka We already explained why a car that does not deform is a bad idea. If the car does not absorb the impact, it is the passenger who suffers the impact against himself. We are talking, of course, about cars that are on the street, working with all the guarantees. The problem for Tesla is that it keeps call cars for inspection. In the first year he had to do five calls for review. Today it has already been 10 and there are two full months of 2025 ahead, they collect in Electrek. While it is true that some of the problems have been solved with simple software updates, on other occasions they have had to go to the workshop because they were losing pieces in progress. The problem, everything indicates, is the same as on this occasion. The Tesla Cybertruck has some unusual headlights falling out, according to the American media. That is why the NHTSA has had to activate a recall so that 6,197 Tesla cars return to facilities. And Tesla sells headlights that can be installed on the roof of the vehicle as an accessory in its after-sales network, expanding the car’s off-road characteristics. The problem is that those headlights fall out. The glue simply cannot withstand their weight and in some circumstances it ends up expiring. This It hasn’t been the first time that Tesla has problems with the glue used, which has led to calls for review because, among other elements, the decorative molding of the A pillar, the one located on the side of the windshield, fell off. Beyond the possible fun of having an indestructible car that pieces are falling off while movingTesla is experiencing an ordeal with the electric off-roader. The company had the opportunity to make it a flagship, aspirational model and always sell it at a very high price but without aspirations of turning it into a mass product. like Mercedes does with its G-Class. However, it opted for the opposite and now finds itself unable to put the promised versions on the market at affordable prices. But, above all, it does not seem to be selling the expected numbers. And the company says it has a production line ready capable of produce 125,000 units each year. Musk even boasted that they expected sell more than 250,000 units annually. Electrek They point out that less than 65,000 units have been sold since November 2023. Photo | Josip Ivankovic In Xataka | In an attempt to improve sales of the Cybertruck, Elon Musk has found an unexpected buyer: himself

Toyota was determined to make hydrogen the perfect alternative to the electric car. Hyundai has just invested 563,800,000 euros

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Time passes and the hydrogen car continues to be the great promise of clean mobility. The problem is that, little by little, time passes and hydrogen seems to be at the same point: challenges that seem impossible to solve and the eternal promise of revolutionizing transportation. Along the way, a good handful of companies said they were joining the hydrogen wave. Toyota has been one of those that has bet the most but, in the midst of a decline, it has been Hyundai that takes a new step. Reconversion. Hyundai has confirmed which has already laid the first stone of its new fuel cell and electrolyzer production plant in Ulsan (South Korea). The company has invested 930 billion won. That is, 563.8 million euros to convert the space and give it a new industrial use. According to the company, starting in 2027 they will be able to manufacture 30,000 fuel cell units per year in a space that extends across 43,000 m2. The intention is to produce systems for hydrogen-powered passenger cars but also for heavy transport services. a bet. Hyundai’s commitment to hydrogen is not new. The company has on the market the Nexusone of the few hydrogen cars that can be purchased and that has no competition since the Toyota Miraithe other great hydrogen car, is a sedan with a totally different approach. At the end of last year, Hyundai also presented Initiumthe preview of what should be a new hydrogen car that will arrive in 2025. However, the company has not launched the new model on the market. The Nexo has not been the first car powered by a Hyundai fuel cell but, for now, it is the last despite the fact that in 2021 they announced that we would have the entire range on the street with hydrogen versions in 2028. The promise. For years now, hydrogen has been proposed as the great alternative to the electric car. Although, really, it is an electric car. In its operation, a fuel cell car is a vehicle that carries out the electrolysis process inside to generate electricity that is stored in the batteries. In this process, the car does not generate CO2 and only expels water vapor through the exhaust pipe. The great advantage is that its carbon emissions are non-existent while it recharges the tanks in a few minutes to travel hundreds and hundreds of kilometers. The problems. There are many and they are difficult to remedy. When it comes to bringing hydrogen to a street car, the technical difficulties are enormous. First, because hydrogen occupies a large volume for the energy it can later generate. That’s why the Toyota Mirai is, almost everything, huge tanks. The latter is solved by turning the hydrogen into a liquid state but requires keeping it at -30ºC. It is a solution that has been designed to be used as fuel in a combustion engine and to remember the sensations of a combustion engine but generates very polluting particles such as NOx. That is, hydrogen requires huge tanks or a good amount of energy to keep it at a very low temperature. When this is achieved, it requires a complex system to carry out electrolysis or burn it in the engine itself (which generates very polluting particles). And all this without counting the complexity of producing and transporting it to the service station on duty. Non-viable. What happens at this point? That hydrogen is, at the moment, very expensive. As expensive as in Germany the cost of filling the tank was as expensive as filling it with diesel. It does not seem so strange that service stations are being dismantled in Germany and that although Stellantis offered to convert electric vans to hydrogen to gain autonomy, has ended up abandoning his plans. For now, on the way BMW too says it is developing hydrogen cars. Renault says to do the same. And Toyota continues investigating with burn hydrogen in combustion engines while turning his back on his Toyota Mirai in the United States where he faces a class action lawsuit from owners who they feel cheated. a light. In addition to light transportation, Hyundai says it wants to focus fuel cell production on heavy transportation. The company has its hopes that this type of transportation can find a true use for hydrogen. Heavy transport can find some advantages over electric transport. To charge an electric truck in a short time, enormous infrastructure is needed with chargers as fast and powerful as those from BYD. If hydrogen poles are created in dry ports or large distribution centers, it could make sense with less dispersed and therefore less costly distribution. Also the cost of filling the truck with huge tanks is lower because in percentage terms it would not eat up as much space as in a car. And, at the same time, recharging would be faster for less clean transportation than purely electric but much cleaner than current diesel engines. Photo | Hydrogen In Xataka | Renault is clear that the electric car is not the only way. Your proposal for the future: a hydrogen plug-in hybrid

The best-selling car in Spain is the Dacia Sandero. It is a completely irrelevant fact to understand Spain

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The Dacia Sandero was, in 2024, the best selling car in Spain. It was, in fact, in a total of five countries around the world. In addition to Spain, the Sandero repeated the throne in Bulgaria, Kosovo, Morocco and Portugal. This year we are on track to repeat it, with a Dacia Sandero that has added 28,765 units. Well above the MG ZS, the second best-selling car with 19,251 euros. The data tells us that among the best selling cars In our country the cheapest vehicles triumph. The Renault Clio is the third option. Despite having announced a new generation, it is still the third best-selling car in our country and can be found for prices starting at just over 16,000 euros. The Seat Ibiza is the fourth best-selling car and its starting price is just below the 15,000 euro border. Among the 10 best-selling cars we also find the Peugeot 208, which starts at 17,000 euros. Are we poor? This is what many responses on social networks affirm to each and every one of the lists of the best-selling cars in the world. The reactions compare us with the Nordic countries or Belgium, where the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car last year. But… what if the statistics were distorted? Simply looking at which is the best-selling car by country gives rise to some paradoxes. France has a salary average of 44,968 euros, while in our country we move at 31,698 euros, according to data collected by Expansion. Despite this, the best-selling car in France in 2024 was the Renault Clio… followed by the Peugeot 208 and the Dacia Sandero. Photography is not very different from that of our country. Finland has an average salary of 52,893 euros, double the 25,198 euros in Greece. Both, however, share that the best selling car in their countries last year it was the Toyota Yaris Cross. The same car that repeated as the best-selling in Poland. Now, we can understand that the photograph may be somewhat distorted. Bestseller just means “bestseller” “The fact that sales were concentrated on that type of car (the Dacia Sandero) or on its price level, that it was the best-seller did not say anything about our purchasing capacity” Who maintains this is Manuel HidalgoDoctor in Economics from the Pompeu Fabra University and professor at the Pablo de Olavide University (Seville). He did it with a tweet on According to his calculations: 33,251 euros. That is the average price of cars bought in Spain. And the data even has nuances that would raise this figure. We might think that a very expensive car will undoubtedly raise the average price. For example, a Dacia Sandero sells for less than 15,000 euros, so a car worth 150,000 euros is equivalent to the registration of ten of these cars. Source: Manuel Hidalgo But Hidalgo has also crossed the frequency with which these cars are purchased. And in the graph above you can see that, indeed, there is a good number of vehicles sold at the average price of a Dacia Sandero and then there is a spike when the graph approaches 20,000 euros. However, most cars sold In our country they stand at 30,000 euros, very close to the average of 33,251 euros. From here, there is a marked drop. The professor and Doctor in economics explains that to obtain the data he has taken the data of the best-selling cars in our country between January and September 2025 (latest data available) and has crossed them with the RRP of the price at which each and every one of the cars in our country are sold. These data show that six times more cars are sold at the 30,000 euro border than at the 14,000 euro border where the Sandero starts. The leadership of the latter is based on the fact that it is the market reference among the cheapest cars. The options in this price range are also much more limited, so at higher prices sales are diversified and, therefore, it is more difficult for a car to gain points to appear among the 10 best-selling cars in our country. But, as we said, it is very likely that the average price we pay for our car in Spain be taller. We asked Manuel Hidalgo about this possibility and he confirmed it. It must be taken into account that the data shown is obtained with the RRP of the car but not with the expenditure that the private client makes on equipment or superior mechanics. And the basic versions of a car are, in many cases and more so in cheap vehicles like the Dacia Sandero, focused on large fleets. This explains that if the car is segmented between individuals and legal entities, the curve shifts to the right. Source: Manuel Hidalgo According to the data collected by Manuel Hidalgo, the average of the car purchased by an individual is higher than the average of the legal entity. Specifically, an individual spends 33,982 euros per vehicle, while an individual spends 32,376 euros. Looking at the graph above, we see that it is common to buy cars for very low priced fleets. So much so that the graphs between individuals and companies do not equalize until both reach 20,000 euros. Among individuals, the frequency of purchases between 20,000 and 30,000 euros shoots up earlier and it is evident that the final average price is driven by a rebound in purchases between 50,000 and 60,000 euros. Among individuals, it is evident that there is a purchase for fleets and work vehicles where the cheapest cars are sought. Then, the frequency shoots up again at the border of 30,000 euros, showing that it is the segment preferred by companies for cars used by their employees or by self-employed people who can deduct part of the fees. That is, yes, in Spain the most purchased car is the Dacia Sandero but the variables that must be taken into account to analyze the … Read more

BYD has built a megafactory in record time. And it’s not just a car factory: it’s a city

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The chinese automotive industry has one goal: flood the west with their cars. BYD is one of the companies that, while wanting to take over the national market, wants a good slice of the international pie. For this you have as many employees as a small countryand to carry out its vision it has the most beastly car factory you can imagine. This is the Zhengzhou plant, and more than a factory, it is a city. Gigafactory? Best Uberfactory. Everything that surrounds the Zhengzhou plant It is imposing. Starting with the times, BYD and the Henan government they signed the project in September 2021, in just one month the works began and less than two years later the factory began production. His ability It is imposing and, already in its first operational phase in April 2023, it demonstrated that it could have a ability 400,000 vehicles annually. Not only did they get it up and running in record time: its dimensions are also impressive. The plant is estimated to have an area of ​​10.68 square kilometers in factories alone, but when the project comes to completion, it will occupy about 130 km². Context. Ten times more than Tesla Gigafactory in Nevadawith its 12 km², and larger than the area of ​​the city of San Francisco (it is approximately 120 km²). It is not unusual for large technology companies to have “cities” under their control and, without leaving China, Huawei has a similar campus (and another that copy different European cities). But BYD is overwhelming. More than cars. The factory is a “living” project of which four phases have been completed so far. The first two have focused on the production of cars, but as we said, we are talking about a factory that goes beyond vehicles. The third phase launched a plant for the battery manufacturing and the fourth has the necessary facilities for the production of semiconductors. They are underway new phases to expand production to two million vehicles annually and it is estimated that the facility generates a complete vehicle every 50 seconds. Technology. This is achieved thanks to an automation rate of 98%, one of the highest in the automotive industry worldwide. For example, the welding process is carried out with 91% robot labor and there are hundreds of them operating in other sectors, such as assembly or logistics. It is not due to a lack of human work, since the factory currently employs about 60,000 people, 90% of them coming from Zhengzhou or its surroundings and there are plans to reach up to 200,000 employees in 2026. Imagine all of Salamanca working in the same factory. Independent Republic of BYD. That is why we are not just talking about a factory: it also has housing and everything necessary is being built to make it a full-fledged city. Apart from housing blocks for employees, the megafactory has canteens, commercial areas, recreational facilities such as soccer fields and other areas for playing sports, as well as an internal transportation system. It also has additional facilities to carry out tests on their vehicles, such as a 1,758 meter circuit with nine curves, sand dunes to carry out off-road tests, a 70 meter pool (this is where you can see the Yangwang U8 in action) and multifunctional areas to carry out braking, acceleration and other more specific tests, such as autonomous parking. Apart from testing, it is like an amusement park for those who want to see the benefits of the brand’s EV cars. International connection. In the end, it is a mix between ambition and space (something that is abundant in China), which gives rise to a city focused on a single task: producing new energy cars with which China is setting the standard globally. In addition, it is an economic engine for the region and such a strategic element that, in 2024, Zhengzhou inaugurated the International Land Port with a one kilometer railway line to the BYD base. In this way, BYD can produce cars and instantly send them by train to the international market. It is also easier to load them into RO-RO boats with capacity for reach Europe in three or four weeks. Such is the importance of Zhengzhou for the company that its seventh ship car carrier was named after the city. Images | BYD In Xataka | Volkswagen is determined to copy China to make its electric cars attractive in Europe: put a gasoline engine in them

The “best mechanic in Spain” says that leaving the car parked for a long time causes “irreversible damage.” It’s not as terrible as it seems

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Any object that uses mechanical components is something that should be used from time to time. Although we are talking about cars here, it is not exclusive to cars. If you have one bicyclesome automatic watch either photo cameras old, it is something that you most likely have in mind. And the thing is that, with the passage of time, the liquids dry out or become stuck and the components can begin to suffer from corrosion. That’s exactly what happens to a car. When a vehicle is not movingthe moving parts lose lubrication and the liquids always remain in the same places. It is also easier for corrosion to appear. In short, it is the same case as the previous ones. With the difference that a car is an object that usually weighs between one and two tons and is designed to move at high speeds on the road, leaving aside its maintenance clearly puts our health and that of the rest of the drivers we meet on the road at risk. But what should we fear and what can we not worry about? For the best mechanic in Spain in 2023, the problem is obvious: “irreversible damage may occur.” a long, long time In 2023, Javier Sendín, from Talleres Cardiocar de Salamanca, was chosen as best mechanic of Spain for The Official Workshop Community. This award delivered annually and over the years it has brought together more than a thousand participants. The winner is chosen after online tests in which theoretical questions are presented and, phase by phase, it ends up deciding who is the best in Spain. In The Vanguard They have contacted Sendín to ask him about some risks that we should not overlook when maintaining our car. Whoever was the best mechanic in Spain has remembered the importance of not forgetting of a vehicle because we cannot expect that after a long time without starting, the car will be in perfect condition. “Although it may not seem like it (leaving the car still for weeks), this can be harmful. Components such as the suspension are affected, since the silentblocks and other rubber pieces tend to dry out or warp when left in the same position for weeks or months. It is also very negative for the battery, both in thermal vehicles and, especially, in hybrids and electric vehicles (…) there is a risk of irreversible damage.” What “the best mechanic in Spain 2023” claims is undoubted. The question is how much time has to pass for the damage to be especially noticeable. The truth is that if a car remains stationary for a few weeks, the damage is still minor. For example, it is not good for tires spend a lot of time supporting the weight of the car in the same position as deformities may arise. Despite this, in less than a month you will not notice substantial changes. Of course, keep an eye on its pressure so that when you get going again everything is in the best state. The battery is the other problem that can appear when the car has not moved for a long time. Especially if its useful life is already on its last legs, it is not a good idea to leave the car stationary for a long time. Yes indeed, if only a few weeks passthe worst that can happen is that the battery is completely discharged. However, if the battery is in good condition, may take more than two months to download. If we contemplate this happening, a good idea is to unplug the battery completely. So, when should we start paying real attention to our car? The American Automobile Association recommends that we put more emphasis on car care when they pass more than 45 days immobile. In that case, you should try to keep the car indoors and in a dry place. In this way, the car is more protected from corrosion and components that suffer from changes in temperature and humidity, such as tires, are more protected. Among the advice given from RACE There is checking the levels of the car’s fluids: brakes, coolant or oil. And with the passage of time, part of them may evaporate or have dried out in some specific points. Keep in mind, however, that again we are talking about months with the car stopped and not a few weeks. In that case, do not force the mechanics excessively when putting the car back into operation since we will not be risking any breakage. In fact, it is estimated that until after three months Since the car came to a complete stop, the components will not start to cause real problems. That is why possible damage from having the car stopped is not the most common case. Yes indeed, from the RACC They also recommend paying close attention to gasoline. First of all, we should not rush the tank to the maximum since impurities always remain at the bottom of it and it is easier for them to end up damaging a component such as the spark plugs. But if the car has been stopped for a long time it is not good to leave it loaded with fuel either. Over time, it loses properties. If we have a classic car that we use a few times a year, it is best to leave some gasoline in the tank but renew it shortly after we get going. You don’t have to use up the tank but you also don’t have to leave the car forgotten with a full tank. We talked, once again, about leaving the car sitting for months. Photo | Felix Neudecker and Sten Rademaker In Xataka | The “one minute rule” or how to always keep your car ready and avoid breakdowns worth 3,000 euros

The best-selling car in Spain is the Dacia Sandero. And we are teaming up with France to defend the jump to electric cars

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Rarely can it be said that France and Spain are teaming up to achieve the same objective. At the same time They torpedo themselves as much as they can on the high speed railway or what they face each other directly because of the energetic connectionsthe electric car seems to have united the two countries. At the same time that the European Union seems to be cracking regarding its positions on the electric car, France and Spain have not hesitated in positioning itself to defend possible modifications to a regulation led by Germany. The Germans are pushing to open the door to combustion engines and countries like Italy seem convinced that it is the way to go. However, from Spain we have put many efforts to electrify our industrywe are embracing a good part of the models that should power Europeans in the coming years. France has also done everything possible to embrace the technology that, until recently, almost all of Europe defended as the best for the future. What is being played? The eternal and convoluted European bureaucracy In 2023, European countries They voted to ban combustion engines from 2035. The ban left almost any technology that did not rely on electric or hydrogen out of play. First of all, we must understand what the European Union roadmap is. The plan is to drastically reduce the volume of emissions from heavy and light transport. Among the measures proposed, 2025 should be the year from which manufacturers would receive a fine of 95 euros for each car sold and for each gram of CO2/km exceeded in their average emissions at the end of the year. This has not been fulfilled and the manufacturers, who They expected billion-dollar fineswill be accountable in 2027 taking as reference the average emissions for the period 2025-2027. That is, if everything remains the same, whoever does not comply in this year 2025 must compensate in the coming years. From 2030, the emissions limit is drastically reduced. The 49.5 gr/km of CO2 raised They leave any car with a combustion engine that is not highly electrified in the lurch. In fact, with the changes approved for plug-in hybrids, their sale is not a great guarantee when it comes to lowering emissions. Reducing these involves, yes or yes, selling electric cars. And when 2035 arrives, cars with combustion engines that emit CO2 will not be able to be sold. This is important. The original wording spoke of “polluting emissions” and was finally changed to “CO2 emissions”. This makes sense because a fuel cell car can generate some polluting emissions in its electrolysis process but does not emit CO2. The first draft left everything that was not electric out of the market. Finally, it was approved that cars with combustion engines will be prohibited from emitting CO2. But also the door was left open to e-fuels or synthetic fuels. These fuels trap CO2 for their production, so it is considered that the emissions produced in the engine are being compensated. Europe still has to debate whether to finally approve the proposal that would allow these cars to be sold. The intention is that, if approved, these cars They will only be able to circulate with e-fuels and they must have sensors to prevent them from operating with traditional fuels or a mixture of synthetic and traditional fuels. But, in addition, the 2023 approval in which the ban on selling cars with combustion engines was confirmed already included the obligation to present a report before December 31, 2026 by the European Commission reporting on the progress that was being made. This report has been brought forward to 2025 and it is being studied. It will depend on him whether, finally, any type of modification is carried out. Europe divided Faced with this situation, Europe is divided. Despite the votes and the fact that the regulations should be firm, countries such as Germany and Italy and manufacturers are pushing for the current ban on combustion engines not to be maintained as drafted in 2035. Spain and France have presented a document in which they reaffirm their position in defense of the current prohibitions. This comes after the European Commission confirmed that will advance the review at the end of this year of the current state of the regulations, which can open the door to modifications and more lax regulations. In it document They reject favoring the use of plug-in hybrids since they consider that they emit more polluting particles than those reflected in the current tests and assure that “subterfuges should not be enabled that allow us to escape the ‘zero emissions’ objective for 2035”, in words collected by EFE. The document is, as we said, the response to the pressure that countries like Germany and Italy are exerting. The Germans have even asked, directly, that the ban on selling cars with combustion engines be eliminated. They assure that allowing synthetic fuels will leave us with “cleaner mobility”. Italy is the other big obstacle that the French and Spanish are encountering. Since Giorgia Meloni came to power has pointed out the regulations as wrong already approved that should prohibit the sale of engines that generate CO2. Like France and Spain, Germany and Italy also go hand in hand but in this case they have signed a document in which they consider that the current emissions regulations contemplate “disproportionate penalties.” And here comes what can change everything. In Germany and Italy they believe that the volume of emissions must be taken into account “throughout the entire value chain or through the use of renewable fuels.” That is, each brand should be analyzed taking into account how many emissions it produces not only during the burning of the fuel in its engines, but also during its production. The final objective seems clear: if the manufacturer saves on emissions during its production, the engines should have room to expel that CO2 that the brand is already compensating during its production. That is, … Read more

The DGT has a fine of 200 euros for those who carry the bicycle in any way in the car: this way you can avoid it

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There are those who would leave their own child at home if in exchange they could put the bicycle in the trunk of the car. I know what I’m talking about, I know some practical cases. And beyond opening the debate on whether we should call the officials in charge of ensuring the care of minors, we can guarantee that the DGT is not going to have so many concerns. And that’s what to wear a bicycle incorrectly placed in the car is grounds for a fine. Specifically, a penalty of 200 euros for carrying the cargo poorly packaged, as stated in article 76 of the Traffic Law. Although beyond the possible fine, carry the bike correctly It is also essential to guarantee the safety of the passengers themselves. It must be taken into account that objects that are not properly secured can become real projectiles and in the case of a bicycle, which usually requires the seats to be folded down, it can be much more dangerous. To give us an idea, it is calculated that at 50 km/h an object multiplies its weight by 50 when thrown into the void. These are data from the DGT that are scary and that should make us think if we have the car seats folded down to carry the bicycle in any way inside. Having said all this, let’s review what the alternatives are. What can I do to carry a bicycle in the car? As the colleagues of Motorpassionnot everything goes when transporting a bicycle because we will be risking a good fine and our own integrity. In that case, there are three solutions that we must take into account to choose the one that best suits us. If what we want is carry the bicycle inside the carThe most effective thing is to use anchors. To do this we must have adjustable straps that attach to the vehicle’s fixing points that we can find on the vehicle seats themselves. In any case, they are points that are not always in the same places. However, if you can’t find these points or they are not entirely practical, you can always find some bike fixing kits that are sold for the interior of passenger cars. Of course, it is important to look at the size because they are often designed for vans. Another option is to mount the bike on top of the vehicle, on the roof. It is not the most recommended because the car will consume more but, above all, we will be more exposed to side wind, making the mobility of the vehicle difficult. Of course, regarding the regulations, we can rest assured because the General Vehicle Regulations allows the load to reach a maximum of four meters high. In this case we will need a roof rack or roof bars previously installed on the car. The kits to take advantage of this possibility are diverse. There are those that fix the bicycle frame, others in which we can mount the bicycle with both wheels on and, in the last case, turn it over and hold it by the saddle and handlebars, with the wheels facing up. In any case, it is very important to ensure that the bicycle is securely fixed. The last and most recommended option, but also more expensive, is to opt for a bike rack. There are those that are installed on the tailgate and, in this way, are easily dismantled and assembled and there are those that are hitched like a trailer. In this case, it must be reflected in the vehicle’s technical sheet and pass the ITV when installing the modification if the original vehicle did not have the tow ball. Despite this, if you regularly use the bicycle and want get the most out of the trunkis still the best option. However, keep in mind that the load cannot protrude across the width of the vehicle and lengthwise it cannot extend more than 10% of its total length if the load is divisible and 15% if it is not. Furthermore, in this last case you have to mount one of V-20 signal. If the load occupies the entire width of the vehicle, two signs of this type must be mounted (one at each end) and in no case can the car’s license plate be covered. It must be taken into account that driving with a poorly legible license plate can also result in a fine of 200 euros. Photo | Motorpassion and Gabe Pierce In Xataka | This titanium bike looks spectacular. It is also the first 3D printed that can be purchased

If the question is whether we can have a cheap electric car in the short term, Skoda’s answer is clear: “no”

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The cheap electric car is, at the moment, a mythological being. At least if we want it to offer us the same autonomy performance as a combustion car. And that variable continues to be what puts manufacturers back when they have to electrify their access versions. The last to make it clear: Skoda. “That’s for sure”. These are the words of Klaus Zellmer, CEO of Skoda, who has confirmed that “we will not electrify our basic models, such as the Fabia, the Kamiq or the Scala” in an interview with Automobilwoche. He then noted that they will keep them as mild hybrid models but “we will not launch them as purely electric vehicles, that’s for sure.” Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? What Zellmer is not clear about, he explains in the interview, is that there is enough potential customer to make this cheap electric car a sufficiently profitable product. “But…”. The “buts” are the big problem with the low-cost electric car. And that big but is, without a doubt, autonomy. Yesterday we explained that an electric car can be much cheaper than a combustion one if the type of use accompanies it. This “cheaper” is more pronounced in cities where electric cars gain in consumption, in the price of electricity compared to fuel and maintenance (due to having a lower risk of breakdowns). The problem is that when the driver wants to go on a long trip he has to accept some discomfort. And not everyone is willing to do so. Does it make little sense to define your purchase by two long trips a year? Maybe, but here each one must evaluate How much is your time and money worth? Many people are still not compensated. The strategy. For now, we know that Skoda will have its own version of a 25,000 euro electric car but it will not be released below this price. That is, he will have a brother Volkswagen ID.2 either Pole ID but he will not put on the market a brother of the Volkswagen ID.1the electric version that the German company will have in the range of 20,000 euros. The movement makes a lot of sense. The Volkswagen Group uses the pull of the Volkswagen brand to champion the electrification of the automobile conglomerate. Launching an electric Skoda would force it to place it below its German brother due to the positioning of both companies in the market and they do not believe that there is sufficient demand to keep two models alive. There is another detail to take into account, Renault has demonstrated with the Five that can sell many units of an electric car for between 25,000 and 30,000 euros. But it has done so with a very strong commitment to design and care, positioning it as a perfect car for the urban environment but also positioning it as the second beautiful, practical and cheap car in a home. sell a lot. This is what a manufacturer needs if they want amortize the investment in an electric car low price. And the profit margins have narrowed in that segment given that the price of the battery continues to represent a very high cost in relation to the final price of the vehicle. To this we must add the safety obligations of the European Union, which have also made the survival of this type of automobile difficult. Although the price of the battery has been falling (and is expected to continue doing so in the futureThe truth is that making a low-priced electric car profitable is very complicated. It is necessary to adapt production lines, have an adequate supply of batteries and, if you want to achieve maximum performance in autonomy and behavior, design your own platform. That is why some manufacturers have chosen to share platforms (like Volkswagen and Ford) or renew cars that were becoming obsolete with a profound update to reposition them in the market as a new car, trying to amortize the initial investment, as in the case of the Dacia Spring. Run before walking. What they defend at Skoda is that the transition has been done too quickly and that it is impossible for manufacturers to meet the given deadlines. We may more or less agree with this statement but the truth is that the public is not buying electric cars at the expected rate. And those cars worth between 20,000 and 25,000 euros are testimonials. In fact, of the 10 best-selling electric cars in Europeonly the Renault 5… and the Skoda Elroq are sold for less than 30,000 euros. Of course, for now the threats of multimillion-dollar fines remain. first with a term that ends in 2027. Those who exceed an average of 93.6 gr/km of CO2 in their fleet sold since 2025 will be punished with a fine of 95 euros per gram of CO2 exceeded and car sold. That is, if the fleet of cars sold is one million and the average has been exceeded by one gram/km of CO2, we are talking about a fine of 95 million euros. In 2030, that limit should be cut in half, leaving virtually everything that not be an electrified carthat’s why at Skoda they talk about maintaining their access models “until the end of the decade.” From there, 2035 should be the year in which cars with combustion engines will not be sold. Something that is in the air at night pressure from big manufacturers and countries like Germany o Italy with a large automobile related industry. Photo | Skoda In Xataka | Denmark wants to make the electric car its only path. And it has done so by punishing those who buy cheap gasoline cars

An electric car is 54% cheaper to maintain than a combustion car. And it may not compensate because the data has a trick

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The cost of a car is not what you pay for it, it is the sum of many other factors. It is what it costs you to fill the tank, what it costs you to repair it and, why not, what you get back once you have decided to get rid of it. Are there reasons to go electric? Yes, many. Also to stay in the combustion. It depends on what you value. The data. An electric car saves up to 54% in maintenance compared to an equivalent gasoline car. Those are the accounts of Autobild that are spreading in recent days among the media. His comparison pointed to a Volkswagen ID.3 with a Volkswagen Golf VII 1.6 TDI from 2016 and a Volkswagen e-Golf, also from 2016. Why does an electric car have less autonomy than advertised? The result is that maintaining the electric car was between 40 and 54% cheaper than versions with combustion engines. According to their calculations, the revisions for the diesel version ranged from 393 euros to 547 euros. The plug-in hybrid had a price in its reviews of between 161 euros and 275 euros. The electric maintenance book required maintenance of between 200 and 300 euros. Of course, the stops were less frequent and, according to their calculations, as the kilometers passed, the pure electric was between 40 and 54% cheaper than its combustion “brothers.” Because? They give several reasons. First of all, as we have seen, because the reviews They are less expensive and less common. Fewer components have to be replaced in them, so it is necessary to invest less money. Among his accounts are oil changes (almost non-existent among electric cars), the total absence of possible breakdowns of a combustion engine and also the replacement of wear elements: timing belts, spark plugs, particle filter… In addition, they pointed out that some elements suffer less wear over the years and kilometers. For example, they predict a longer useful life for disc brakes because, especially in the city, most of the braking is absorbed by regenerative braking. and the day to day. There is another invariable fact: on a day-to-day basis, an electric car is almost always cheaper than a gasoline car. In the city, the electric car consumes less than a gasoline or diesel car. This, in addition, is exposed to a greater number of breakdowns with switching on and off every few kilometers. But if you want to do the math. An electric car in the city can easily move at 10-15 kWh/100 kilometers. That means that, with a domestic charge at 10 cents/kWhwe are talking about between one euro and one and a half euros per 100 kilometers. In the city, compared to a hybrid that consumes 4 liters/100 km we are talking about more than five euros difference per day. If it is a gasoline that moves at around 7 l/100 km in the urban environment, the difference goes up to nine euros. It is in long-distance getaways where the circumstances are equal. If an electric car consumes 18-20 kWh/100 km and refuels at 0.50 euros/kWh, we are talking about between 9 and 10 euros to travel 100 kilometers, figures very similar to gasoline. Charged in an ultra-fast plug at about 0.80 euros, we are talking about gasoline or diesel winning by a lot. Yes, but. That is to say, electric car is cheaper. Almost always, but not always. First, because that first comparison that has gone viral has something of a trick: the data is from 2021. The electricity figures posted above, for example, are current and less favorable to the electric car. However, as we have seen, those who use the car in the urban environment are very likely to find it worth opting for this technology. Of course, the latest data that are collected from ADAC (the German RACE) are not so optimistic. In that case they talk about a saving of between 20 and 30% in favor of the electric car. That is, they continue winning but the margin is narrowing. And if…? Calculating what one saves with an electric car is not entirely simple. For example, right now you can calculate how much money you would save in regulated parking areas in those cities where there are discounts on parking. And you can do the math thinking that the MOVES III Plan but, in some autonomous communities, this is not entirely safe. But not only that, when calculating what a car costs we can keep in mind its selling price, whether there is a premium for the electric version, the expected savings with our type of use and the kilometers to be traveled… but, What happens if we want to sell the car? In that case, the electric car seems to lose out. At this time, it is a technology that devalues ​​quickly because batteries degrade over time (range is reduced) and innovations are making cars obsolete in a very short time while new models reduce their prices. That is to say, the second-hand market has everything to continue losing money with the electric car. So what do I do? The first thing we recommend in Xataka is that you have very clear what kind of use you are going to make the vehicle. Be as rational as possible or, at least, be very clear about what you value above all else. If you like a passionate car and money doesn’t matter to youget the vehicle that you like the most. Here, however, we are here to talk about money. If you want a adjusted car, calculate the daily kilometers you travel, the types of outings you do and make calculations of the battery size you need. Of course, if a small car with 50-60 kWh capacity is enough, keep in mind that you will have to make concessions when you travel. In that case, only you set the price for your time. With all this in mind, do the following math: Cost … Read more

The question now is why the car was not opened.

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A Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has caught fire after a serious accident on Tianfu Avenue in Chengdu, the largest city in western China. The accident, which took place around 3:16 AM on October 13, has ended the life of the driver, a 31-year-old man who was trapped inside the vehicle while the flames consumed it. The images of the event have once again generated an intense debate on the safety of electronic handles in electric cars, a topic that It became popular after the first Tesla to incorporate this feature and that they have adopted a good part of the vehicles in the premium segment. China is about to change this regulation. What happened. The driver, identified by authoritieshit another sedan, crossed the median of the road and the car immediately caught fire. Several drivers passing by the area stopped to try to help him. The videos show how they tried to break the windows by hitting them with their elbows and shoes, without success. They then used a fire extinguisher, but the flames and intense heat prevented them from getting closer. After the firefighters arrived, who put out the fire, only the chassis remained: they had to use hammers and electric saws to cut the doors, which could not be opened manually. Why didn’t the doors open? local police confirmed that the driver was allegedly under the influence of alcohol. However, the focus of the controversy has focused in the vehicle’s electronic handles, which allegedly remained locked throughout the fire. Although some users on social networks they speculate Since the locking system was activated after the impact, the Chengdu and Xiaomi Auto authorities have not yet issued an official statement in this regard. This type of handles, popularized by Tesla a decade ago with the Model S, they depend on electrical energy to function, and in the event of a loss of power after an accident, they can prevent the occupants from exiting. The impact on Xiaomi. Xiaomi shares in Hong Kong fell up to 9% during the day on Monday, closing with a loss of 5.71%. It was the worst day for the company since April. This is not the first fatal accident involving a vehicle from the Chinese brand: at the end of March, an SU7 that was traveling in intelligent driving mode hit an obstacleburned and killed three university students. That event led Xiaomi to announce in September the software update of its driving assistance system in almost 116,900 SU7 units, after the Chinese regulator warned that the system could fail to detect certain scenarios. A problem that goes beyond Xiaomi. The safety of electronic door handles is part of a hot debate that involves the entire electric vehicle industry. In September, the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation on Tesla for the handles of the Model Y manufactured since 2021, after it was learned that several people were injured or died when they could not open the doors when power was lost, especially after accidents. In another case earlier this month, a wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the Cybertruck’s door handle system caught a 19-year-old young man inside the burning vehicle. Also Rivian is redesigning the doors of its upcoming R2 SUV to include a more visible manual opening system following concerns from its employees. What does Chinese regulations say? The country has a public consultation phase your new standards security. These standards also include changes that are specifically aimed at the use of electronic door handles in vehicles. These changes are expected to come into effect soon, so they should put even more pressure on automakers to develop these types of levers. Cover image | Xiaomi and Weibo In Xataka | Chinese laptops are less and less imitating other people’s successes: the latest from Anbernic is identical to a Nintendo DS

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