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UK electric motor maker YASA expands production 50-fold for EVs

LONDON — British electric motor manufacturer YASA said on Thursday it was increasing its production capacity from 2,000 to 100,000 units with a new factory to tap into growing demand from carmakers for greener technologies. Automakers are racing to build greener vehicles and improve charge times in a bid to meet rising customer demand and air quality targets but Britain lacks sufficient manufacturing capacity, an area the government is building up. Last year, the government picked a site in central England to house a new automotive battery development facility, which will develop the processes required to manufacture the latest battery advancements. On Thursday, YASA, based near the English city of Oxford, said it had raised another 15 million pounds ($21 million) as part of its expansion. "Our customers are looking to adopt innovative new technologies such as YASA's axial-flux electric motors and controllers in order to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding hybrid and pure electric automotive market," said Chief Executive Chris Harris. The firm exports 80 percent of production and has worked with companies including Britain's two biggest carmakers Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan as well as Aston Martin. JLR will decide this year whether to build electric cars in its home market, previously citing factors such as pilot testing and support from science and government as pre-requisites. Reporting by Costas PitasRelated Video:

Jaguar E-Type 60 Collection celebrates 1961 launch and The Decade of the Cat

The night before the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar PR man Bob Berry drove "flat out" from the English automaker's home base in Coventry to the city on the lake. Berry needed to be at the Parc des Eaux Vives in time to debut the car he was driving, a Jaguar E-Type coupe in Opalescent Gunmetal Grey with the number plate 9600 HP. Legend says he arrived at the Parc only minutes ahead of the appointed time for test drives. That morning hinted, and the decade of the 1960s would prove, that Berry also arrived driving a legend. The invited guests did so much clucking over the hardtop that Jaguar boss Sir William Lyons told famed company engineer Norman Dewis to "drop everything" and dispatch another cat to Geneva that very night. Dewis drove the roughly 700 miles in 11 hours to get a British Racing Green E-Type roadster with the number plate 77 RW to the show the following morning. To celebrate those two totems to Englishness and success, Jaguar Classic will build the E-Type 60 Collection — 12 cars sold only as six sets of two, with one coupe and one roadster in each set. All cars will be powered by rebuilt 3.8-liter straight-sixes with 265 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. That motor took the show cars from zero to 60 miles per hour in 6.9 seconds, on to a top speed of 150 mph. The coupes will be painted Flat Out Grey, the roadsters in Drop Everything Green, unique colors reserved for the collection. The dozen cars will also get special design details penned by Jaguar design director Julian Thompson. Jaguar Classic already has the 12 E-Type Series 1 donor cars in its possession, and plans to begin restorations in March 2021. Jaguar hasn't mentioned pricing, and likely won't unless you intend to purchase. Seeing as a Jaguar Classic E-Type Reborn was priced at $355,000 three years ago, multiply that by two and add a touch for inflation and exclusivity for an approximate base price. If you're still interested, the E-Type 60 Collection is available to order now, so contact Jaguar Classic. 

Here's today's round of auto plant closures in response to coronavirus

More automakers have shuttered factories, as businesses everywhere work to slow the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus — and as the pandemic slows sales and disrupts parts supply chains. On Friday, the following closures were announced: • Volvo will close its factories in Sweden and the United States from March 26 to April 14. Volvo's U.S. facility, in Charleston, South Carolina, makes the S60 sedan. Its assembly plant in Torslanda, Sweden, turns out the XC90, SC60, and V90. Other Swedish facilities make engines and component parts. A Volvo factory in Ghent, Belgium, that builds the XC40 and V60 closed earlier this week and is expected to remain offline until April 6. Volvo's four factories in China have been reopened after a shutdown earlier this year. • Jaguar Land Rover announced that it will suspend production at its assembly plants in the UK over the coming week. The shutdown is expected to last until April 20. Elsewhere, production continues at the company's factories in India and Brazil, and JLR's joint-venture plant in China reopened at the end of February. • Bentley is closing its factory in Crewe, England, for four weeks, effective today. • Bugatti has put its atelier in Molsheim, France, on hiatus. No date was given for when assembly of its supercars might resume. • Mercedes-Benz on Monday will shut down its SUV factory in Alabama and its van assembly plant in South Carolina. Both will remain closed for a minimum of two weeks. Tesla yesterday revealed that it will suspend operations at its Fremont, California, vehicle assembly plant next week, on order from local officials there. Yesterday's factory closure announcements also included the U.S. assembly plants for Toyota (until April 6), Volkswagen (through March 29), Subaru (through March 29), and Hyundai (no time period specified). They join GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, and Harley-Davidson, which earlier this week announced the suspension of production at their facilities. Plants/Manufacturing Bentley Bugatti Jaguar Land Rover Mercedes-Benz Volvo coronavirus