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More than 35 million electric vehicles (EV) will be on the world’s roads by 2022, according to a new report from Navigant Research. “With gasoline prices remaining high, acquiring an EV is becoming an economic decision for many consumers,” says Scott Shepard, research analyst with Navigant Research. “The initial purchase price premiums for EVs, compared to conventional gasoline and diesel-powered internal combustion engines, are substantial. Yet, operational cost savings due to reduced refuelling and maint

TrafficLand, the largest authorised aggregator of live traffic video in the United States, and global aerospace and defense firm Exelis, have teamed up to deliver “game-changing” real-time information to motorists about hyperlocal weather conditions. The Helios environmental intelligence platform uses proprietary algorithms that give users the ability to monitor current conditions and detect changes in visibility, precipitation and road surface conditions at a hyperlocal, or street scale. Helios can then i

JCB’s John Patterson CBE, who rose through the ranks from field service engineer to Group chief executive, has retired after 43 years’ service. Arjun Mirdha is the new president and CEO of JCB in North America, where Patterson had led operations as chairman and CEO since 2008. After joining JCB in 1971, Patterson went on to work in Canada and America before returning to the UK in 1988 as managing director of JCB Service. In 1993, he was appointed managing director of JCB Sales before becoming Group CEO –

The Brazilian Government looks set to finance work to upgrade key highways in the country. This move comes although the highways were privatised in the 1990s, according to a report by Business News Americas. The work looks likely to cost as much as US$1.7 billion and will be carried out on highways that are operated by CCR and Triunfo Participações e Investimentos (TPI). Although the routes were privatised, the Brazilian Government will finance necessary upgrades as this includes highway expansion work not

A man in the English city of Liverpool is still allowed behind the wheel despite having accumulated 45 licence penalty points on his licence. This worrying fact was uncovered by the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) following a freedom of information request to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The points were all for failing to disclose the identity of the driver or exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road, between October 2012 and June 2013. This worryingly high number beats the

LiuGong Machinery now has a new management team. Wang Xiaohua, will retire from the post of chairman of LiuGong Machinery after having served LiuGong Machinery for 43 years, of which 15 years as chairman. The firm says that his contribution to LiuGong’s development has been instrumental in the firm’s drive towards globalisation. Wang will remain chairman of Guangxi LiuGong Group, the parent company of LiuGong Machinery. With Wang’s retirement, Zeng Guang’an will take over the position of chairman of LiuGong

Italy's motorway tolls have been increase by an average of 3.9% for 2014. The motorway stretches managed by Autostrade per l'Italia, covering 60% of the total motorway network in Italy, have seen their tolls rise by an average of 4.34%. And the average national rise does not reflect marked percentage increase differences in some parts of the country. Motorway tolls for the Asti-Cuneo, Messina-Catania, Autostrade Meridionali and Messina-Palermo stretches have seen no increase, and tolls for the Brescia-Pad

The Australian state of New South Wales last year saw its lowest number of pedestrian road deaths since annual records began in 1928. There were 42 pedestrian fatalities in the state during 2013 - down 24% compared to 2012, according to NSW Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay. There was also a 40% year-on-year fall in passenger deaths to 49, but motorcycle fatalities rose from 61 in 2012 to 71 in 2013. Cyclist fatalities also doubled in 2013 to 14. Overall, there were 339 road deaths in NSW in 2013 - down

The first ‘green’ road in the Middle East will reportedly be built in the United Arab Emirates. The construction of the 5km road is scheduled to start in Q1 2015. The project sees the Department of Transport teaming up with the UAE-based renewable energy firm Masdar, the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi and the Urban Planning Council Estidama Programme Team. Environmental-friendly construction material like scrap rubber tyres and recycled asphalt/concrete aggregates will be used for the construction of the

Poland is set to get around 1,800kms of new roads by 2020 as part of a continuation of the country’s highways development boom. GDDKiA, the Polish motorways and roads authority, is reported to be already advertising tenders for over 700kms of new motorways and dual carriageways. More than €17.81 billion (PLN 74 billion) was spent building Polish roads from 2007-2013, with €11.04 billion (PLN 46 billion) of that amount coming from the EU. At the end of 2013, the overall length of motorways in the country

The World Bank has made available US$160 million of credit for the Rajasthan Road Sector Modernisation Project in west India. Scheduled to finish in December 2018, the ambitious project aims to improve rural connectivity, as well as improving road safety and management in Rajasthan state. In recent years Rajasthan, India’s largest state by area and home to more than 68 million people, is said by the World Bank to have made considerable progress with developing its rural roads under the Prime Minister’s Gra

The significance of this year’s Bauma China exhibition in Shanghai has been highlighted by new figures showing that China invested US$220.27 billion (RMB 1.346 trillion) in civil engineering and infrastructure projects in the first six months of 2013 – with the National Bureau of Statistics of China claiming a year-on-year increase of more than 21%. The largest share of H1 2013 investment went into road-building, with Bernd Schaaf of Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany’s economic development agency, rep

Zoomlion has announced the formal acquisition of dry-mixed mortar equipment manufacturer M-TEC. A spokesperson for Zoomlion said the move for Neuenbürg, Germany-based M-TEC strengthens the Chinese construction equipment manufacturing giant’s “top brand position” in the concrete machinery field. The latest concrete sector company acquisition by Zoomlion follows the group’s acquisition of leading Italian concrete machinery manufacturer CIFA in 2008.