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Volvo, Daimler, Traton join forces to build electric truck charging network

Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and Volkswagen's AG heavy-truck business the Traton Group announced on Monday a non-binding agreement to build a network of high-performance public charging stations for electric heavy-duty long-haul trucks and buses around Europe. The news was first reported by Reuters. The three major European automakers will invest ˆ500 million (~$593 million USD) to install and operate 1,700 charging points in strategic locations and close to highways. They intend to finalize the agreement by the end of this year and start operations next year, with the hopes of increasing the number of charge points significantly as the companies seek additional partners for the future joint venture. The venture is meant to be a catalyst to prepare for the European Union's goals of carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050. One of the main deterrents for both individuals and freight companies for switching to EVs has historically been a lack of charging infrastructure. By building that infrastructure, Volvo, Daimler and Traton can also expect to boost their own sales of electric trucks and buses. “It is the joint aim of EuropeÂ’s truck manufacturers to achieve climate neutrality by 2050," Martin Daum, CEO Daimler Truck, said in a statement.  "However, it is vital that building up the right infrastructure goes hand in hand with putting CO2-neutral trucks on the road. Together with Volvo Group and the Traton Group, we are therefore very excited to take this pioneering step to establish a high-performance charging network across Europe.” The partnership between Volvo and Daimler isn't unprecedented. In May, the two competitors teamed up to produce hydrogen fuel cells for long-haul trucks to lower development costs and boost production volumes. This latest venture is another signal that major companies are banding together to solve climate-related issues in the industry. European car industry association ACEA has called for up to 50,000 high-performance charging points by 2030. Traton CEO Matthias Gruendler told Reuters that roughly 10 billion euros would be needed to build out Europe's infrastructure to be fully electrified by 2050. According to a statement released by Volvo, this venture is also a call to action for others with a stake in the industry, like automakers or governments, to work together to ensure the rapid expansion needed to reach climate goals.

Highlights from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, including the McLaren P1 and a Ford Transit running the hill

The sole purpose of this post is as a time-waster, and since you shouldn't have to work to waste time, we've done it for you. In the numerous videos below you'll find cars that have lately been in the news tramping all over the grounds of Lord March's estate in Goodwood, England.
There's the McLaren P1 heading up the hill, the Jaguar Project 7, then a casually-driven Porsche 917 followed by an even-more-casually-driven Porsche 956, topped off by a Porsche 936 that is anything but casually driven. The next round is the flame-spitting Peugeot 405 T16 Pikes Peak from Climb Dance, a camera mounted on the Peugeot RCZ R after it showing you what the whole, uninterrupted run up the hill looks like. For a real head-turner, we couldn't embed it but there's Andy Reid blasting up the hill in a Ford Transit Supervan with a Cosworth 3000 V6 engine.
The modern racing contingent has Allan McNish doing the hill in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro he used to win Le Mans and Lewis Hamilton making lots of tire smoke in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas MGP-W02. For comparison, that's followed by Nick Heidfeld's record-setting run up the hill in 1999 in the McLaren MP4/14 . The classic racing contingent is headlined by 71-year-old Giacomo Agostini on an MV Agusta.

Mercedes-AMG once again joins forces with Cigarette Racing

Any time there's a new loins-quaking Mercedes-AMG introduced, you need to keep your eye on the aquatic horizon around the time of the Miami International Boat Show for the Cigarette tie-in to come roaring into port. The SLS AMG had its 2,700-horsepower, 46-foot Rider, the C63 AMG Black Series got a 1,350-hp, 50-foot Marauder, the G63 AMG got a 1,750-hp, 43-foot Huntress, and the SLS AMG E-Cell got a matching wild yellow 2,200-hp, 38-foot electric concept boat. Now that we're in 2015 with another AMG and another boat show, we have another Cigarette. Mercedes hasn't dropped the goods on this one yet, but it will be twins with the AMG GT. After that, we're guessing it will have a can't-miss-it paint job, be in the 40-foot range, and have something like 2,000 hp. The show is February 12-16, we'll have all the info for you then. Featured Gallery Mercedes-AMG and Cigarette Racing Auto News Mercedes-Benz Coupe Luxury Performance mercedes-amg mercedes-amg gt