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The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Elon Musk's Tesla applies to supply energy to British households
Elon Musk's Tesla is plotting to enter the British energy market and supply households in the coming months. The company has sought approval for an energy licence from regulator Ofgem in order to take on energy supply giants including British Gas owner Centrica and Octopus Energy. It hopes to start supplying energy to homes and businesses in England, Scotland and Wales as soon as next year. Tesla Energy Ventures applied for the licence last month, according to a new filing published by Ofgem. The application was signed by Andrew Payne, director of the group's energy business in Europe. The electric car manufacturer, run by the world's richest man, also has a solar energy and battery storage business. It comes around two years after Tesla first started hiring for a head of operations to run its proposed energy supply business. Tesla has been involved in the UK energy market since 2020, when it was granted a licence to be an electricity generator. In the US, the group has been an electricity supplier in Texas for the past three years. It comes amid a backdrop of waning demand for Tesla's electric vehicles across Europe in recent months. Industry figures showed an almost 60% plunge in the number of new Tesla registrations in the UK in July, compared with a year earlier. Data showed that 987 new vehicles were registered in the UK in July compared with 2,462 in the same month a year earlier.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Overhaul of road safety laws ‘much overdue', experts say
Motoring groups have hailed Government plans to overhaul road safety laws as 'much overdue' and 'a step in the right direction'. Ministers are considering cutting the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and introducing mandatory eye tests for older drivers, according to The Times. The proposals, set to be published as part of a road safety strategy in the autumn, also include tougher penalties for uninsured driving and failing to wear a seatbelt. On Britain's roads last year, 1,633 people were killed and almost 28,000 seriously injured in traffic incidents, and numbers have remained relatively constant following a large fall between 2000 and 2010. Edmund King, AA president, said: 'The time has come for a bold and proactive approach to road safety. 'This strategy is much overdue as road deaths have plateaued over the last decade. 'We believe these new measures will not only modernise our approach to saving lives but also provide renewed momentum in making our roads safer for everyone.' Vision checks for older drivers and targeting drink and drug drivers are 'practical steps that can make a real difference', he said. But failing to introduce limits on new drivers transporting peer-age passengers for six months is 'a major oversight', he added. IAM RoadSmart director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes said: 'Given progress on reducing fatal and serious collisions has stalled in recent years, we welcome the UK Government's ambition to publish an updated road safety strategy with the reported measures being a step in the right direction. 'While many drivers over the age of 70 are safe and competent, health issues and confidence can have an impact on driving abilities, so it is sensible to review whether changes need to be made. 'We would also support reducing the drink-drive limit in England and Wales alongside measures to target drug-driving, however these would require significantly more backing for roads policing teams to effectively enforce new laws.' A Labour source said: 'At the end of the last Labour government, the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads was at a record low, but numbers have remained stubbornly high under successive Conservative governments. 'In no other circumstance would we accept 1,600 people dying, with thousands more seriously injured, costing the NHS more than £2 billion per year.' Meanwhile, the number of people killed in drink-driving incidents has risen over the past decade, reaching a 13-year high in 2022 and prompting concern that existing road safety measures are no longer working. Under the plans being considered by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, the drink-drive limit in England and Wales could be cut from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 22 micrograms. This figure would be in line with Scotland – which cut its drink-drive limit in 2014 – and the rest of Europe, where no other country has a limit as high as that in England and Wales. The UK is also one of only three European countries to rely on self-reporting of eyesight problems that affect driving, leading ministers to consider compulsory eye tests every three years for drivers aged over 70 and a driving ban for those who fail. Other proposals are reported to include allowing the police to bring prosecutions for drug-driving on the basis of roadside saliva tests rather than blood tests as increasing numbers of drivers are being caught with drugs in their system. The Labour source added: 'This Labour Government will deliver the first road safety strategy in a decade, imposing tougher penalties on those breaking the law, protecting road users and restoring order to our roads.' The strategy is due to be published in the autumn, and all proposals will be subject to consultation.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Drivers older than 70 will be forced to take eye tests every three years and banned if they fail, under new motoring law
Drivers older than 70 face taking eye tests every three years and could be banned if they fail them under planned new motoring laws. The radical proposals could also see the the drink-drive limit in England in Wales lowered from 35mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 22mg per 100ml, as it is in Scotland. The government's plans are expected to be published this autumn, with some insiders suggesting that the motoring shake-up could be as drastic as those brought in by Sir Tony Blair in 2008, when he announced the Road Safety Act. It could bring stricter punishments for uninsured drivers as well as motorists whose passengers fail to wear a seatbelt, if they already have points on their license. There could also be tests for medical conditions like dementia introduced to assess a person's fitness to drive. It comes just months after a leading coroner wrote to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to say that the UKs licensing rules were the 'laxest' in Europe. Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, issued a prevention of future deaths report after finding that four people had been killed by drivers with poor vision. An inquest in Preston heard Mary Cunningham, 79, Grace Foulds, 85, Anne Ferguson, 75, and Peter Westwell, 80, had all died in traffic collisions where the driver had defective eyesight. Dr Adeley stated in his report: 'The four fatalities shared the same feature that the driver's sight was well below the standard required to drive a car.' Tests for visual ability to drive have not changed since the 1930s – with the threshold remaining being able to read a registration plate from 20 metres away – or around 66ft. Audi driver Glyn Jones, 68, ploughed into friends Mrs Cunningham and Mrs Foulds as they crossed a road in Southport on November 30, 2021. He was unable to see due to a condition called severe 'bilateral keratoconus' but he ignored medical advice that his eyesight was too poor. Mrs Ferguson was killed by van driver Vernon Law, 72, who had been to an optician a month before the crash in Rochdale in July 2023 and was told he had cataracts in both eyes. Following her death, her husband took his own life. Pedestrian Mr Westwell was also struck and killed by a Honda Jazz driven by Neil Pemberton, 81, in Langho on March 17, 2022. Pemberton made no attempt to brake and was speeding at 48mph in 30mph zone. The inquest heard Pemberton had a long history of severe bilateral eye disease and was twice warned he should not drive before he began to inform optometrists he was a non-driver. He repeatedly failed to self-report his condition. In his prevention of future deaths notice, Dr Adeley told the Department of Transport (DfT): 'In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.' A government source told The Times that the latest initiatives were being brought in because ministers felt they had a 'responsibility' to start reduce instances of similar traffic accidents. They said: 'It cannot be right that one person is killed or seriously injured on our roads every 18 minutes. Just think of the impact on those people and their families. We cannot sit by and simply do nothing.' The move has been praised by motoring chiefs across the country, with AA president Edmund King telling the newspaper that the plans were 'long overdue'.
