Car news

Kiwi Rodin Cars’ FZed single-seater blazes around Donington

Donington Park is no stranger to the screams of racing engines, but it recently echoed to the glorious howls of a naturally aspirated 675hp (503kW) Cosworth GPV8. Working up to 10,000rpm, the operatic notes from the V8 engine signalled the first laps on UK soil for the Rodin FZed single-seat track car.

“It was great to be back in the Rodin FZed,” says Liam Lawson, Red Bull Junior in FIA Formula 2 and DTM. “I’d forgotten just how fast the car is but straight away I felt comfortable and realised how manageable the car is to drive close to the limit. I didn’t want to stop and nearly did more laps than I was allowed.”

The Rodin FZed has been painstakingly developed by the team at Rodin Cars, led by CEO and founder David Dicker. “After years of development and thousands of kilometres of testing on Rodin’s own circuits in New Zealand, we’ve established the Rodin FZed as one of the fastest open-wheel race cars in the world,” says Dicker. “More than that, we’ve also ensured that it’s easy to run, giving amateur drivers a true taste of top-level, open-wheel motorsport.”

Both Liam Lawson and Jamie Chadwick (Williams Formula 1 [F1] test driver) have tested the Rodin FZed and proclaimed it to be among the fastest open-wheel race cars in the world.

Weighing just 609kg, the Rodin FZed is powered by a 3.8-litre Cosworth GPV8 engine that produces that aforemenetioned 675hp (503kW) at 9600rpm, and 490Nm at 7600rpm. To give the Rodin FZed’s outputs some perspective, its 826kW per tonne power-to-weight ratio embarrasses that of a Bugatti Chiron (553kW per tonne), or even a big sports bike such as a Yamaha R1 (735kW per tonne). Indeed, to find a more impressive powerto-weight ratio, you need to look at a current LMP1 racer or F1 car.

Beyond the 0–160kph time of five seconds, or the 300kph top speed or, indeed, the blistering lap times, perhaps the Rodin FZed’s most impressive aspect is its reliability. Despite a screaming 10,000rpm ceiling, the engine is capable of 3100 miles (5000km) on 98-octane fuel before it requires a tear-down inspection. That is 3175 laps of Donington Park.

In addition to outright performance, David Dicker and the team at Rodin Cars also sought to ensure that the Rodin FZed is enjoyable and exploitable at more moderate speeds, allowing customers to build confidence and remove the fear factor in driving the ultimate track car. Lawson said: It’s always good to drive a car faster than you race.” He expected it would help him at the next round of the Formula 2 championship at Silverstone in July, where he finished seventh in the feature race.

Liam Lawson’s Hitech GP team is a powerhouse operation, running teams in both Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships. Of the Rodin FZed, Hitech GP director Oliver Oakes says, “It’s a very cool car. It’s how real race cars should be. It’s exciting to see what David has put together into a customer car and being able to be involved with Rodin Cars and their test at Donington Park has been amazing. The quality of the Rodin FZed is clear to see and we look forward to working with Rodin Cars in the future.”

The FZed is based on the Lotus T125, a nearF1-spec racer that Hethel unveiled back in 2011 with the promise of selling it to customers. It’s believed that only a handful were ever built and Rodin has decided to take one of them and create its own version.

Prices start at a cool $650K — cheap for F1 performance.

Top tech Caddy wins van award

The new Volkswagen Caddy has won the Technology Award in the UK’s Company Van Today Awards 2021, and was praised for its pioneering combination of connectivity, safety, and all-round functionality.

The fifth-generation Caddy offers a digital cockpit, voice control, wireless smartphone charging, and driver-assistance systems to enhance safety.

The Caddy was highly commended in the light-van category. Company Van Today editor Tom Webster said the latest Caddy’s range of advanced technology made it a light-van pioneer in terms of connectivity, safety, and all-round clever functionality.

“The Caddy is one of the few light commercials that can match up to passenger cars in terms of the latestgeneration kit, and [it’s] great to see van drivers so well catered for.”

Three vans win yet again

Three badge-engineered electric vans that have scooped other van awards this year are back in the winner’s circle.

This time, the all-electric Vauxhall Vivaro-e, Citroën ë-Dispatch, and Peugeot e-Expert — all products of the PSA group — won the Green Award as well as the Overall Van of the Year award from Company Van Today.

The trio had already scooped up both the Van of the Year award and its category, the Best EV Van, in the 2021 Van Fleet World Awards.

And that followed success in the What Car? Van of the Year, International Van of the Year, and DrivingElectric awards.

The judges in all three competitions approved of their zero-emissions range of up to 205 miles, low running costs, and payload capacity of up to 1226kg.

The verdict called for some extra effort for the chief judge who came up with separate comments for each, for essentially the same van. He said that the Citroën — and its siblings — had “opened the door to electrification for fleets that require a van that can match a diesel powertrain for practicality and usability. It will help kick-start the migration to electric light commercials”.

Credit to him. The judge in the Van Fleet world awards simply cut and pasted his comments — which is fair enough too.

Another PSA product, the larger Vauxhall Combo / Citroën Berlingo / Peugeot Partner, also took home the Light Van Award at the Company Van Today 2021 Awards.

Suzuki ranked top

The UK’s Institute of Customer Service’s barometer of satisfaction for July 2021 puts Suzuki joint third out of more than 260 organisations and top car companies.

The index is a gauge of customer satisfaction measuring sentiment across the country. It asks over 10,000 consumers to rate their experiences of dealing with more than 260 different companies across 13 sectors. The survey received 45,000 responses in the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) across all industries, with 3000 of those from the automotive sector.

Online bank First Direct, John Lewis, amazon.co.uk, and Suzuki topped the table. The automotive industry sector average UKCSI score was 79.1 points measured across 26 brands. Suzuki ranked first with 84.0 and was 25 places ahead of its closest automotive rival.

Suzuki also ranked first with a net promoter score (NPS) of 54.1, against an automotive average of 29.8, and an average of 23.5 across all organisations measured. The NPS is a calculation of the ratio of respondents that would likely recommend a brand to others.

Volkswagen Group builds up battery-cell production at home

Volkswagen has announced Chinese batterycell-maker Gotion High-Tech as the technology partner for its planned cell factory at Volkswagen Group Components’ plant at Salzgitter.

Based on a substantial shareholding announced in May 2020, the Wolfsburg-based automobile company has entered a strategic cooperation framework with the major Chinese battery producer headquartered at Hefei. The goals of both partners are to industrialise battery-cell production at Volkswagen Group Components’ former traditional engine plant at Salzgitter. The plant will become a group-wide battery-cell centre of excellence with extensive cell laboratories, a pilot line for cell production, and a pilot plant for battery recycling as a foundation for the construction of the cell factory, with production scheduled to start in 2025.

They also agreed that Gotion High-Tech will develop the first generation of unified cells for the volume segment.

In Europe alone, Volkswagen Group will establish six gigafactories with a total production capacity of 240GWh together with partners to secure battery-cell supply and achieve large economies of scale implementing the unified-cell concept, as well as numerous production innovations.

The Volkswagen ‘unified-cell’ concept refers to a prismatic cell format adaptable to various chemistry mixes available today, or market-ready at a later point in time. The unified cell is compatible with all major upcoming innovations in both product and production technology.

Gotion High-Tech is in the process of becoming a certified Volkswagen Group battery supplier in China, including supplies for local MEB vehicles. The ‘MEB’ is a modular electric-vehicle platform of the Volkswagen Group.

World’s fastest pickup truck begins production

Texas-based hyper car manufacturer Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) has begun production of the world’s most powerful pickup truck, the Hennessey Mammoth 1000 TRX, with its upgraded 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat V8 boasting 1012hp (755kW).

Based on the 702hp (523kW) Dodge Ram 1500 TRX pick-up truck, the Hennessey tweaks cut the 0–60mph (96.5kph) time to just 3.2 seconds — the quickest in the world — while torque grows to 969lb·ft (1313Nm). With modifications including a high-flow 2.65-litre supercharger, fuel injectors, and high-flow induction system alongside performance-boosting calibration, the 6.2-litre V8 truck can hit an 11.4-second quarter-mile at over 120mph (193kph).

John Hennessey, company founder and CEO, says: “The Ram TRX already boasts the highest horsepower of any vehicle manufacturer’s pickup, so our performance, styling, and off-road enhancements make this the most formidable new truck you can buy. We’ve already sold more than 100 trucks, with each answering one big question — why have a 1000-horsepower pick-up truck? Because we can!”

Measuring 228.9 inches (5.8m) long, 82.1 inches (2.1m) wide, and 77.6 inches (2m) high, the hyper truck makes a statement on the road. It can carry six adults in comfort, with a payload exceeding 2300 pounds (1043kg), and tow more than 7700 pounds (3493kg).

Owners opting for the Mammoth 1000 will typically pay in the region of US$150K for their build. Just 200 will be produced in 2021 for customers across the US and around the world.

Calculating the electric advantage

Pro Fit by E-Ducato has been created to allow businesses to compare their current fleet of commercial vehicles with the performance and running costs of an electric alternative, utilising the all-electric E-Ducato range. By running a real-world simulation modelled specifically on their exact fleet, businesses are able to discover the economic and ecological advantages of this new kind of electric vehicle (EV)–based mobility.

A business can build a simulation by entering its current fleet of commercial vehicles (with internal-combustion engines), indicating the type of vehicle it uses (body, wheelbase, height), and selecting the usage (route, mileage, operating temperature, etc.) for each one.

When the simulation has been set up, Pro Fit will recommend the most suitable E-Ducato configurations available, and indicate each one’s expected performance against business requirements. It provides insight into whether the range is sufficient, the extent of annual savings, whether the charging slots indicated are consistent with each vehicle’s mission, and more.

Businesses can also activate tracking their fleet of existing vehicles from a smartphone. All a business needs to do is have its drivers download the dedicated Pro Fit by E-Ducato app, available free of charge from the App Store and Google Play.

Once a business has configured its fleet in the web tool, drivers simply activate the Pro Fit app in each vehicle, which sends mission data to the web tool of the same name. Real-world data are then gathered using GPS and the accelerometer in the smartphone and immediately saved in the back-end of the website. Using this information, Pro Fit processes the data and provides a list of the electric solutions recommended, with estimates of financial savings.

Richard Chamberlain, Fiat Professional UK country manager, says: “Crucially, this tool allows businesses to be reassured of their decision to move electric before even stepping behind the wheel of the E-Ducato. With hundreds of configurations and two battery options, there’s an E-Ducato to suit any business and Pro Fit will be able to show businesses this in real time.”

If a Ford Mustang Mach-E can do it …

Ford’s latest all-electric car, the Mustang Mach-E, set an official Guinness World Record for fuel economy in a trip from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, effectively the end-to-end length of the UK.

Independently verified data showed that the Ford Mustang Mach-E travelled over 6.5 miles (10.5km) per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electrical energy.

With 88kWh of available battery capacity, the efficiency achieved reflects well over 500 miles (805km) of range, adding more than 120 miles (193km) to the Mustang Mach-E’s official 379mile (610km) range — and trebling the miles per kWh target set by Guinness World Records for this new electric-vehicle (EV) record.

The record-breaking performance on Britain’s most lengthy journey necessitated stopping for under 45 minutes of charging. Leaving John o’ Groats on full charge, the 840 miles (1351km) to Land’s End required only two main charging stops at Wigan, in northwest England, and Cullompton, Devon, the county next door to the journey’s end in Cornwall.

As the UK’s Highway Code recommends a break from driving of at least 15 minutes every two hours, the record feat shows that safetyconscious drivers pause journeys longer to refresh than charge their vehicles.

Driving team members Fergal McGrath and Kevin Booker, who already hold petrol- and diesel-economy records, and Paul Clifton, said: “This record is about demonstrating that electric cars are now viable for everyone. Not just for short urban trips to work or the shops, or as a second car, but for real-world use on long cross-country journeys. We’ve proved that, with this car, the tipping-point has been reached.”