March 4, 2021
THE WITNESS
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11
WHEELS
www.witness.co.za
OX to get electric motor Gordon Murray’s affordable little truck for developing markets now a ‘social impact start-up’ with big plans ALWYN VILJOEN
CRUISER 78 BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Toyota South Africa is pleased to announce the re-introduction of the Land Cruiser Wagon 78 following what the company termed “some specific market requests for this type of vehicle”. The wagon will be made to order for R716 000, and Toyota expects quite a few orders. The Land Cruiser 70-series enjoys an enviable reputation among farmers and companies who have to carry heavy loads over rough terrains. The 70-series was initially sold as a bakkie (the 79), a station wagon (the 76) or a wagon (the 78). Due to reduced demand, the 78 was dropped from the line-up in August 2015, but those “specific market requests” have now seen its return. Toyota is famous for not fixing what is ain’t broke, and kept the specifications of the previously-offered 78 model. In fact, the engineers at Prospecton went even more old school, by a replacing the disk brakes at the rear with drum brakes, as their test showed drums last longer on dirt roads than disks. Under the hood Toyota’s proven 1HZ 4,2-litre inline-6 diesel engine’s 96kW at 3800rpm and it’s 285Nm at 2200rpm is on par with Ford’s 2,2-litre, naturally aspirated diesel and far below what other turbo-charged 2-litre diesel engines can produce these days. Cruiser owners, however, do not believe in turbos in the bush, where fewer moving parts are always better. The LC 78 comes with the proven heavy-duty 5-speed manual transmission with low range. The wagon rides on heavy-duty steel wheels shod with 7.50R16C tyres and is available in two exterior colours only – Ivory White and Sand Beige. It comes with Toyota’s three-year or 100 000 km factory warranty, with service intervals being at a short 5 000 km. Customers can buy warranty extensions from Toyota dealers.
The cute-as-abutton Honda e (pictured) has been named the best electric vehicle by the Women’s World Car of the Year (WWCOTY), who have announced winners in nine categories ahead of choosing their Best Car of the Year, The overall winner will be announced on International Women’s Day on March 8. The jury comprised a team of 50 female motoring journalists from 38 countries spanning five continents, with South Africa represented by motoring journalist Charleen Clarke. They judged the cars in terms of the best value, of safety, comfort and technology. The new Peugeot 208 won the Best Urban Car category and the Peugeot 2008 the Best Urban SUV. In the popular sport utility class, the Land Rover Defender won the Best Medium SUV, while the Kia Sorento took the Best Large SUV award. The jury’s best family car is a model not sold in South Africa — the Skoda Oktavia, while the Ferrari F8 Spider was rated the Best Sport Car.
When Witness Wheels first published news of the OX back in 2016, readers showed a lot of interest in this “made Africa tough” vehicle. The tough little OX truck was penned by Durban-born supercar designer Gordon Murray after he was co-opted by philanthropist Sir Torquil Norman, who founded the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT) to design “cost-effective mobility” for people in the developing markets. We reported on Murray saying of all the vehicles he designed, he is proudest of the OX, and with good reason, for he managed to build a small truck that goes on two driven wheels where few 4x4 SUVs can follow. Murray, who is famously averse to adding weight to his designs, used balance, high ground clearance and his patented fully independent OXGlide suspension to ensure excellent off-road capability for the truck. Murray said the OX provides three times the capacity and twice the payload of comparably sized light commercial vehicles, and proved this with durability and reliability trials at the renowned Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire in the UK as well as at the IDIADA Test Facility in Catalonia, Spain, and finally, with a journey across India. The truck is designed with a multi-purpose load bin than can carry 1 900 kg or comfortably seat up to 13 people, or fit eight 166-litre (44-gallon) drums, or three Euro-pallets. The OX’s cabin provides spacious accommodation for three people, and the driver is seated centrally to allow the OX to be driven on left- and right-hand drive roads. ‘Maas’ instead of sales In the five years since, the OX project has virtually gone underground — until Tuesday, when the Warwickshire-based “social impact start-up” released a flurry of tweets to update on all the recent developments with the OX. Apart from having grown from one member to 13 who call themselves “OX Delivers”, the start-up has in the past four months secured three grants with a total project value of £1,2 million (over R24 million) to work on separate
The 4x2 OX truck is designed to traverse rough terrains in developing markets with heavy loads and boasts innovative features like a tailgate that doubles as a sturdy loading ramp, The little truck will next get an electric drivetrain to also provide zero-emission transport. projects with Potenza Technology and Penso to fast track the delivery of the world’s first clean transport ecosystem. “Clean transport” means doing away with the fossil-fuel burning engine from a Ford Transit and making the OX all electric. While electric vehicles are cheap to run and maintain, the high sales price of battery packs has kept sales low in Africa. This poses no problem for the OX start-up, which looks to fractional ownership instead of selling the truck, with a pilot project starting in Rwanda. “Vehicle ownership in emerging markets is rare and expensive. Therefore, OX will primarily be operating as a Mobility-as-a-Service (Maas) platform,” OX Delivers tweeted. It explained the aim is to set up mobile plat-
forms that will enable small business owners to request the services of an OX, using a 2G phone, which comprise 80% of all mobile phones in Rwanda. The new staff at OX Delivers are currently working feverishly to assemble a demonstration electric OX for the Cenex LCV event, billed as the UK’s premier low carbon vehicle event, from September 17. OX Delivers said in a statement “a new affordable zero-emission truck could form the basis of an Uber-style ‘transport ecosystem’ in emerging markets”. As well as being zero-emission, the small electric truck is forecast to be 30% cheaper to run per ton over 20 years than a diesel drivetrain with similar power.
‘Significant’ empowerment’ The start-up hopes the electric OX and Maas system will lead to “significant opportunities to empower businesses and individuals”, such as providing farmers in rural areas with an economical way to transport and sell crops for higher prices in cities. They said the demand for such empowerment is huge, with some three billion people lacking access to basic transport provision in developing markets around the world. The pilot project in Rwanda starts in April and the OX team will work with local communities to gain an understanding of customer needs and demand. Part of the R24 million grant will be used in the UK to redevelop the basic truck cabin
to meet UK legislation to also offer the cheap truck to UK’s infamous van drivers. Murray had designed the OX with three seats and a central steering wheel to enable driving on either side of the road. Penso’s specialist engineering team will lead redesign and market certification of the truck to meet strict British legislation. Potenza Technology will develop the battery pack for the truck, which will have to function in monsoon floods, over deep, muddy roads and in hot, humid conditions. And to answer the two questions most Wheels readers asked — “how much?” and “where to order?” — the OX is still not for sale, but potential buyers can register their interest on oxdelivers.com.
Crossland delivers balance between dynamic driving and advanced safety Opel South Africa, a subsidiary of Stellantis, introduced the new facelifted Crossland SUV (pictured) which features a striking new front-end design called the Opel Vizor. Enthusiastic drivers will especially enjoy the improvements Opel has made to the new Crossland’s chassis. The engineers in Rüsselsheim have developed new damper tuning for the McPherson strut front suspension and the torsion-beam rear axle giving the Opel Crossland a distinctly ‘Opel’ ride and handling. Combined with an improved steering position which offers Opel’s renowned precise handling and quick gear changes, the Crossland’s chassis delivers the optimum balance of between comfort and agility as well as stability when navigating the country’s highways. The Crossland comes with a raft of safety features, which include forward collision alert
with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection. This feature operates at speeds above walking pace, or 5km/h. If a vehicle or pedestrian ahead is approached too quickly, the system sounds a warning and displays a message in the Driver information Centre. If collision is imminent, the braking system is prepared and if necessary, emergency braking is deployed to minimise the effects of a potential collision. Below 30km/h the system can also bring the Crossland to a complete stop. If speed exceeds 30km/h, speed is reduced, and the driver must actively brake. The system uses the front camera and in conditions where the visibility is poor it may not respond. Other driver aids are buzzers to warn of lane departures and a driver drowsiness alert, which evaluates the driver’s fatigue level
through the driving style and alerts the driver if braking is necessary. The 410-litre boot space increases to 1 255 litres when the back seats are flipped down. The Crossland SUV line-up includes the Crossland Edition 1.2 60kW 55-speed Manual, and 1.2 Turbo 81kW 6-speed Automatic and the Crossland Elegance 1.2 Turbo 81kW 6-speed Auto. The 1.2 naturally aspirated engine mated to a 5-speed manual shifter is offered on the Edition model. The more powerful 1.2 litre turbo petrol engine, coupled to a 6-speed automatic gearbox is offered on both the Edition and Elegance models. Crossland prices: 1,2 Edition R324 900 1,2T Edition R374 900 1,2T Elegance R399 900
Changes to RAF The latest budget review stated government will table long awaited legislation to replace the Road Accident Fund (RAF) read this year. The new law will based on the Road Accident Benefit Scheme, which Treasury last year said “aims to reform the RAF to a no-fault system that would provide equitable, sustainable and affordable support” to accident victims”. The RAF is government’s largest contingent liability. “The RAF’s accumulated deficit is projected to rise from R322 billion in 2019/20 to R518,7 billion by 2023/24,” the budget review read. Cash payouts by the RAF are expected to increase from R36,5 billion in 2021/22 to R42,9 billion in 2023/24 — with claims filed by road accident victims projected to increase from R86,8 billion to R102,9 billion. — WR.
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Ford is testing electronic high visibility panels used in aviation on the rear doors of its vans to help alert drivers of stationary vehicles ahead. The red stripes are illuminated by electricity passing through a thin layer of phosphorus gas — technology which is already used in aeroplane cockpits and on screens for medical and military equipment. Ford is testing the panels in collaboration with Northumbrian Water Group in the UK, and they are monitoring their effectiveness of the panels in real-world road scenarios and to gauge the benefits of panels that light up even when other drivers neglect to activate their headlights. Ford said it will next explore opportunities to make the high viz electronic panels available in other European countries, where sales of Transit and Transit Custom vans last year totalled 203 074 units.
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