Welcome once again to Fast News Friday, Foxtrot Papa’s weekly round-up of automotive news with a focus on the industry’s associated content. This week we enjoyed a truly modern and beautiful film from Renault, a curious hypercar press release from Japan and an announcement based on Brexit uncertainty from Mr Tesla himself, Elon Musk. Explore these stories and more in the post below.
1. Moving Renault film celebrates 30 years of the Clio
Who can remember Renault’s ‘Papa et Nicole’ ads from the 90s? The story of two hopeless romantics sneaking around one another’s backs in order to partake in clichéd love affairs may have had the desired effect back then, but it wouldn’t wash today. Thankfully, things have moved on since then, and if the latest film for the Clio supermini is anything to go by, it seems Renault has too. Cue moving story about two young friends who eventually become partners and parents themselves. The fact that this is one of the most beautifully shot films we’ve seen this year only adds to its impact. Bravo Renault!
2. Morris’ commercial van is back… and it’s electric!
Fans of all things retro will no doubt be delighted with the arrival of the new Morris Commercial JE, an electric van with a design that is straight out of the 1940s. The company has recently re-formed with unnamed UK and European financial backing. Inspired by the original Morris J-Type van that was last produced in the early 1960s (and with more than a passing resemblance to the Citroen H van), the JE has a 200-mile range, a 1,000kg payload and a 2.5-tonne gross weight. Due on sale in 2021 priced at around £60,000, the vehicle is designed, engineered and built in the UK. With styling as adorable as this, we expect to see them at all popular music festivals in the near future, converted to sell coffee, ice cream and gourmet burgers.
3. Aspark claims numerous world firsts in bizarrely-worded press release
New and rather strange details have been published surrounding the Aspark Owl, an electric hypercar from Japan that seems to be after the Lotus Evija’s power and performance crown. Claiming to not only be the fastest accelerating car in the world with a 0-60mph time of just 1.69 seconds; the Owl’s makers also claim it to be the world’s most powerful electric hypercar with 2,012 hp or 1480 kW in electric money. It’s also ‘probably’ the lowest according to Aspark, at 99cm. There’s something else, too – some of the language used seems to have been slightly lost-in-translation; the press release states that the Owl’s exterior design is based on ‘elegance, beauty and femininity’. Yes, you read that correctly, femininity. Read the press release and see how many other, slightly inappropriate words you can find.
4. Ford leaks details on new Mustang-inspired electric SUV
In what seems to be a rather embarrassing case of ‘closing the stable door after the horse has bolted’ (not our one-liner, we hasten to add), Ford’s own website has leaked what appears to be official images and facts of its hotly anticipated Mustang Mach E. Swiftly removed, but not before a set of screengrabs were taken that reveal the new model’s interior and exterior design, Ford’s new electric SUV appears to be priced from $43,895 to $60,500 in the US with driving ranges from 235 to 300 miles (378km to 482km). Given this pony car’s ability to accelerate from 0-60mph in as little as 3.5 seconds, perhaps it’s no wonder it got away from Ford’s website operators.
5. UK ‘too risky’ for Tesla gigafactory, says Musk
We were frustrated to learn this week that Tesla founder Elon Musk announced the company would build its first European gigafactory on the outskirts of Berlin, adding that the UK missed out on the opportunity because of uncertainties surrounding, you guessed it, Brexit. On opting for Germany, Musk, speaking at Auto Express’ sister title Auto Bild’s Golden Steering Wheel Awards said: “Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding and that’s part of the reason we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany”. Sigh.