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THE WITNESS
JULY 11, 2019
WHEELS
www.witness.co.za
The ‘Beast of Turin’
New models
Ford has given the Everest a facelift, with more luxuries inside and an updated suspension. The Everest range now includes the option of Ford’s 2,0 bi-turbo matched to 10-speed automatic transmission alongside its 2,2 and 3,2 TDCi on selected models. All models get a better alarm and of note for pan-African travellers is the SYNC®3 with Navigation, which now includes Tracks4Africa, with maps of 20 countries in Africa updated annually for five years, while the text and voice guidance functions are available in a multitude of languages, from Afrikaans to Zulu. Prices for the six models start at R499 900 for the 2.2 TDCi XLS 6AT 4x2 and top out at R761 200 for the 2.0 BiT Limited 10AT 4x4. PHOTO: QUICKPIC Toyota had one of the first Hilux bakkies available to remind why the company can add “Legend 50” to the Hilux range. The latest Legend 50 sports a new grille and front bumper, new alloy wheels, larger multimedia display, keyless entry, pushbutton start, side steps and LEDs all round. The 2019 Legend 50 is sold in 13 models — in single cab, xtra cab or double cab configuration. Buyers can extend the 3-year/100 000 km warranty and service plans. PHOTO: MOTORPRESS
The beautifully restored Fiat S76 again thrilled at last week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK. Dubbbed ‘The Beast of Turin’, Fiat built the S76 in 1910 to break the landspeed record, which it mamaged to do on one run, clocking 213 km/h with hired American driver Arthur Duray at the helm, but then broke down before it could do a mandatory second run. The 28,3-litre engine has four cylinders making 210 kW at 1 900 rpm and a massive 2 711 Nm. PHOTO: GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
Future of mechanics Training to be a fixer of fossil fuel engines is still a good career path, argues ALWYN VILJOEN
An electric drive train basically comprises three units — a battery pack, an electric motor, and the computer that controls the power flow. The electric motor, which can provide a hypercar’s acceleration and a truck’s torque, are mounted on one or more axles like Tesla does, or fitted into the wheel hubs, like Rivian does. The modular nature of these parts makes highly customised models not only possible but the next trend, with many businesses seeing new opportunities to supply unique electric rides. Siemens is one of them, and showed its electric EcoBike chopper, designed and built by Orange County Choppers, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last week. PHOTO: GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
WE HAVE A LARGE VARIETY OF ENGINES AND GEARBOXES TO CHOOSE FROM
JULY saw the launch of two cars that can collect at least 50 km of range a day from the solar panels on their roofs. Dutch group Lightyear last week launched their Lightyear One family car in the Netherlands while Toyota is testing new voltaic cells on a Prius. Meanwhile research to power cargo ships with hydrogen fuel cells; trucks with liquefied natural gas (LNG), and hyper cars that recharge their batteries with mini turbines continues apace. What does this mean for current and aspiring mechanics — should they become electricians instead? A look at the numbers of SA’s fleet show that fossil fuel mechanics will have work for many years to come. The world has over 1,4 billion vehicles that still burn oil, compared to only some two million vehicles that do not burn fossiled plant material. In South Africa, where all the electric vehicles sold can park on a soccer field, there are over 12 million registered fossil fuel burning vehicles, according to the electronic National Administration Traffic Information System (eNatis). In KwaZulu-Natal, eNatis lists 1 596 340 licensed and 69 656 unlicensed vehicles in 2019. Arrive Alive, which hopes to get newer, safer cars on SA’s roads, lists the average age of all vehicles in South Africa at 10 years. This average breaks down to 13 years for minibuses, 11 years for buses and 12 years for trucks. The numbers thus show just in KZN there are over 1,6 million vehicles that need maintenance and fixing and they
drivetrains will be powered by electric batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, bio-diesel, LNG or even a combination of leg power and small motors in the case of small electric one seaters like the Elf.
The Elf is a $5 495 trike that has a solar-charged electric motor to assist the person pedalling it, and its makers claim its battery can be completely recharged in about eight hours of direct sunlight. While trikes like this are future in congested European cities where fossil fuel engines face a total ban, South Africa’s mechanics need not worry about rides like this replacing our fossil fuel burners in the next decade. PHOTO: ELF will be needing these services for another 13 years at least. While the demand for petrol and diesel mechanics are therefore assured for the next decade, this does not mean the spanner swingers should not learn now how to fix “alternative” drive trains. In a recent statement from the Retail
Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), an umbrella organisation for mechanics, CEO Jakkie Olivier said there is a growing sense of urgency in the automotive industry that more needs to be done to curtail dependency on fossil fuels and to reduce harmful CO2 emissions. “Original Equipment Manufac-
turers (OEM) are channelling ever more resources into developing lowcarbon vehicles, aimed at addressing the issues of CO2 emissions, and the soaring cost of petrol and diesel,” Olivier stated. He admitted, however, that there is still no consensus as to whether future
Jaguar Land Rover plans all-electric
MANY PERFORMANCE ENGINES AVAILABLE
QUALITY USED LOW MILEAGE ENGINES, GEARBOXES & PARTS
Lexus Spares 1UZ-FE - Full Gasket set - Water Pumps - Cam Belts - Flywheel - Plug Lead set - Coils - Fan Belts - Starters - Dizzy Caps - Airflow Meters - Engine Mountings - Gearbox Mountings - Cam Belt Pulleys - Alternators
Other Engine Spares - Cylinder Heards for most makes of LDV’s - Replacement Turbos for most makes of LDV’s - Bell Housing Big/ Small - Gearboxes - Diffs
ENGINES, GEARBOXES, HEADS, TURBOS, DIFFS, LEXUS SPARES We have in-house Workshop for Engine Exchange and Fitments
WE OFFER DELIVERIES INTO DURBAN AND SURROUNDING AREAS ON ALL ENGINE AND GEARBOX PURCHASES.
With over 200 carpool apps listed on Google Play, there is no longer an excuse not to find people who want to pool the time and costs of a ride.
Carpooling — the sensible way to avoid peak hour ALWYN VILJOEN TRAFFIC is getting worse around the world, with many hours and much goodwill wasted every day on gridlocked roads. The cause of the problem is obvious — one person in a four-seater car, each driver taking up about 10 metres of the road. Traffic engineers say removing even one percent of the cars from traffic prevents gridlock. Carpooling, or sharing a car and its costs, is an easy way to remove many more than cars than one percent of the traffic. The diffculty to date has been finding someone in your suburb who goes in your direction, at the same time as you, and whose company you can at least tolerate.
But carpool apps have come of age, with over 200 carpool apps listed on Google Play to help find people who want to pool the costs and time of a ride, be it for students, sports teams or office workers. Among them, Tanzania Carpooling and Zimride will catch the eye of many South Africans. Tanzania Car Pooling is now in version 1.2.9, which allows the user to add a photo and added a Swahili translation of the original English text. We would like to think if it works in the log jam caused by Dar es Salaam’s taxis, it will work in Msanzi. Zimride does not have anything to do with Zimbabwe. Instead it is an app for ad hoc trips that establish driverpassenger trust by requiring passen-
gers to create profiles that include information like musical preferences, interests, and past feedback. A driver has 24 hours to accept a request from a passenger. Once the request is accepted, PayPal bills the passenger. An app that caught the eye of the Wheels staff is Wheels, but this app, which was funded by the Dubai government through the Expo 2020 Innovation programme, is aimed at Dubai citizens who want to share the costs of an Uber, metered taxi, or Careem ride. The Toyota Finance Carpooling app inspired the most confidence. This app states it enables users to create a carpool in minutes, connecting colleagues with matching commutes through its route matching technolo-
gy. It also simplifies any payments through digital wallets. The message on the website, howerer, is: “Toyota Carpooling service is being updated and will be available again soon.” While potential car poolers have to see which app works best for them, Trees for Cars comes highly recommended. It was designed by a homeless man named Leo Grand, who received free coding lessons from a software engineer. Grand’s app makes ridesharing easier to decrease CO2 emissions and save the trees — hence the quirky name. The hope is that software engineers in South Africa will follow Grand’s example and adapt a carpool app like Tanzania Car Pool or Hitch for use in local conditions.
Racing: Pepper claws out a top 10, Aqil off to Italy 13 BETASTRAAL RICHARDS BAY ALTON TEL: 035 789 0464 / 035 789 0754 CELL: 084 357 1082 CRAIGH CELL: 062 633 4755 NTUTHUKO SALES@EASTCOASTENGINES.CO.ZA
CV Joint speCialists
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Gas looms big for SA Among the many options, local mechanics will do well if they focus on LNG engines. Natural gas produces considerably lower exhaust emissions than diesel or petrol and South Africa and Mozambique are developing more gas pipelines in order to meet the increasing demand for LNG in both countries. The lower prices for LNG compared to diesel should convince most fleet owners to convert their engines to combust gas instead of oil. There are already some 47 million vehicles around the world fitted with gas combusting engines, mostly in heavy vehicles, but taxi fleets are fast moving to this cheaper, cleaner fuel source and private cars are sure to follow. Bearing in mind that South Africa new vehicle sales tally up to less than one percent of global vehicle sales, this move may yet result in local car owners keeping their vehicles even longer, but running on gas, instead of fossil fuel. Hence converting existing petrol or diesel burning engines to burn liquefied gas instead looks likely to become a big industry in SA. Which is all good news for existing mechanics and youngsters who want to make a career out of fixing people’s rides, as well as the factories that build these rides. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za.
for CV joints, ball joints, tie rod ends, wheel bearings.
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SA’s only racer in the W-Series, Tasmin Pepper, showed what she is made of by overcoming a difficult qualifying and driving smart to bring home her fourth W Series Women’s World Championship top 10 finish against the odds at Germany’s unforgiving Norisring street race on Saturday. Pepper was delighted to redeem some points from a weekend
that showed so much promise, but ultimately proved a pretty tough. Johannesburg kart racer Aqil Alibhai, meanwhile, hopes to do better than Pepper when he represents South Africa in his second Rotax Junior Max Grand Finals on the trot in Italy in October. The 11-year-old fom Ormonde overcame the finest under-15 high school racers in
the country to deliver a masterful win in the Open in Vereeniging on July 7. “We’re off to Italy to race in the world championship of Rotax Max karting in October and with last year’s experience under my belt, I’m really looking forward to making the best of this opportunity,” he said. — WR. Brad Binder to GP — Page 18
JAGUAR Land Rover has revealed plans to manufacture a range of new electrified vehicles at its manufacturing plant in Castle Bromwich, UK. The announcement is the next significant step in delivering on the company’s commitment to offer customers electrified options for all new Jaguar and Land Rover models from 2020. Professor Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover, said: “The future of mobility is electric and, as a visionary British company, we are committed to making our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the UK. We are co-locating our electric vehicle manufacture, electronic drive units and battery assembly to create a powerhouse of electrification in the Midlands.” The first new electric car to be produced at the plant will be Jaguar’s flagship luxury sedan, the XJ. The XJ is designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK and has been exported to more than 120 countries. The news was confirmed to workers at Castle Bromwich as production of the current XJ came to an end. The new all-electric model will be created by the same expert team of designers and product development specialists responsible for delivering the world’s first premium electric SUV, and 2019 World Car of the Year, the Jaguar I-PACE. The announcement safeguards several thousand jobs in the UK alongside new jobs at a battery and electric drive unit (EDU) assembly plant to be built at Hams Hall in the British Midlands, operational next year. In South Africa, Jaguar’s I-Pace was the first electric car to complete a long-distance journey from Johannesburg to Durban, using its Powerway charging network in an all-electric I-Pace. — Wheels Reporter.
