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Tesla

WHEN Elon Musk was asked last year whether the factory Tesla was constructing in Germany would deplete the area’s water supply, he broke out in bellowing laughter and called the notion “completely wrong”.

Six months later, water is one of the primary reasons the plant still isn’t producing vehicles.

The region is suffering from falling groundwater levels and prolonged droughts due to climate change.

Ramping up the factory in the eastern state of Brandenburg is key to Tesla’s global ambitions. The carmaker needs a manufacturing base in Europe.

Merc EV F1 Make-over

| IOL Motoring

| Bloomberg

MERCEDES-BENZ expects to have factories producing exclusively electric vehicles (EVs) by the second half of the decade but will steer clear of building EVonly plants, instead keeping production lines flexible in line with market demand.

The carmaker foresees some of its production lines within factories switching fully to electric even sooner, production chief Joerg Burzer said in an interview.

“Building a whole new battery-electric vehicle factory takes time. We have taken another approach,” Burzer said. “We will have some lines producing only Evs in the next few years ... we also see whole factories switching to electric.” | Reuters

FERRARI drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz backed the FIA’s restructuring of Formula One’s race control operation in response to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that resulted in Michael Masi being replaced as race director by Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas who will alternate as race directors.

“I actually like what I see,” Sainz said at the launch of Ferrari’s 2022 car.

“I also welcome the new race directors and I’m sure they will have a very difficult task to complete like we saw the last few years in Formula One.

“It’s a very difficult role, especially filling in the shoes of the late Charlie that we all definitely miss.”

| IOL Motoring

ALTHOUGH renowned for its practicality and overall quality, the Honda CR-V has never been regarded as a particularly good-looking vehicle, at least in the past few generations. But that could change with the release of the next-generation model in 2023.

An image posted on Instagram by Kurdistan Automotive Blog is said to be an official rendering sent to the patent office by Honda. It shows a more squat shape, as well as slim headlights and a larger grille, while C-pillar-mounted tail lights continue to feature at the back end.

Honda hasn’t said much about the new CR-V.

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