In this week's round-up of automotive gossip, we find out why Gridserve is called Gridserve, how BMW and Mini are eying Brexit and how plastic recycling is helping Audi's factories become carbon-neutral.
What's in a name?
Toddington Harper, CEO of Gridserve – the firm behind the UK’s first bespoke EV charging forecourt – doesn’t share his name with one of the country’s biggest service stations by mere coincidence. “My father, Brian, was building petrol stations 60 years ago and decided to name his children after the first service station on the M4 (Heston) and the first on the M1,” he explained. Harper’s middle name? Warwick. As an odd aside, Gridserve’s first charging customer was called Brian, and his father also built petrol stations.
BMW prepare for turbulence
BMW and Mini are “prepared for any turbulence” next year as Brexit threatens to affect the flow of parts from Germany to the UK, according to production board member Milan Nedeljkovic. Countering many car firms’ views, he doesn’t expect a no-deal outcome to be “trying”, with preparations for the economic impact already made.
Plastic underpins Audi green goal
Audi has taken another step towards its goal of making all of its factories carbon-neutral by exploring a way to chemically recycle ‘mixed’ plastics. Instead of recycling different types of plastic waste (such as fuel tanks, wheel trim parts and radiator grilles) mechanically, Audi and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology will seek to convert them into pyrolysis oil, which can be used to make new plastic for cars, saving energy and cost. Audi’s head of procurement strategy, Marco Philippi, said: “We want to make efficient use of resources, and chemical recycling has great potential for this.”
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And my name is Michael Wood. Named before the services though
@Citytiger,
What would be of more interest instead of this pointless article would be some old fashioned investigative journalism. For example, is there any truth in the rumor BMW will take over the Honda Swindon plant to expand production of MINI and FWD BMW models. The MINI body panels come from their pressings plant (once Pressed Steel Fisher) in Swindon.
What a complete non story article. BMW doesnt think a no deal Brexit will be a problem - er hello we have a deal, and Audi are going to turn plastic into oil to make more plastic, how thrilling.