Long car journeys with the kids can now become A Matter of Loaf and Death thanks to a new TomTom App for iPhone and iPad that incorporates the voice of Wallace from the highly successful and much commercialised Wallace and Gromit BBC TV series.

A recent global survey commissioned by TomTom, found that Aussie kids get restless on long car journeys faster than any other nation in the world, which is little wonder with the average holiday drive coming in at around five hours.

So TomTom reckons that adding the boring Lancashire vowels of Wallace to the in-car din will make all the difference….like NO…however it may be an improvement on the extremely annoying monotone that lets you know you’ve just missed an important right or left turn.

Wallace joins the growing, eclectic collection of premium character voices that TomTom already offers including Bert and Ernie, SpongeBob SquarePants and Marge Simpson.

“We know that Aussie kids get bored in the car quickly and that as a parent, sometimes it can be a real challenge.

“Making time together in the car fun, and enjoying the journey, is close to our hearts at TomTom so we’re really pleased to be able to bring such an entertaining and well-loved character to our customers”, says Valerie Cross, PR manager TomTom Asia Pacific.

“Eeh, Valerie, cracking idea that. Let’s have a nice hot cup of tea, hmm?”

There’s nothing like turning on a celebration, especially when it’s anything to do with a century of some sort or other. So it’s no surprise that Burson Auto Parts is rolling out the red carpet and a few other things, to celebrate the opening of its 100th store.

According to the company, it couldn’t have done it without the support of its loyal customers, which is a bit obvious, but never mind, especially as there is $100,000 worth of prizes on offer in an exciting new trade promotion taking place during June and July.

Incidentially, have you ever thought about where the name of this impressive little company came from? Probably not…so we’re not going to tell you right now*

Just over 40 years ago, Garry Johnson and Ron Burgoine (that’s a clue) opened a store in the Victorian suburb of Braybrook and it then took more than a decade of hard work before the first interstate state outlet was open in Albury (NSW) in 1984 after which the pace picked up considerably with 15 new stores in just three years.

The burst of ‘openings’ was then followed by a period of consolidation during which time Burson Auto Parts built up a reputation for trusted brands, excellent value for money, timely delivery and knowledgeable telephone and personal service.

An excellent base for growth. And grow the company did with 25, 50, 60 ‘national’ milestones being passed in relative quick succession, leading in 2005 to the opening of a new purpose-built head office and distribution centre.

But sustained growth eats up a lot of capital, so it was a major step forward when, last year, Quadrant Private Equity acquired the company, with a stated goal of making Burson Auto Parts the number one national trade aftermarket supplier.

With new money in the tin, the company quickly acquired a number of smaller operators, one of whom had five stores on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and lead to the whole point of this story: passing the 100 store milestone.

According to Burson Auto Parts’ CEO Darryl Abotomey, this milestone is extremely special to everyone involved in the company.

“The loyalty and support from our trade customers across the nation has enabled us to grow the business while maintaining the principles of excellent service and technical knowledge that were the hallmarks of the establishment of the company’s first store all the way back in 1971.

“We have a team of talented and dedicated employees who truly care about their customers, which has enabled us to grow and to continue this growth well into the future.”

A long-serving ‘veteran’ of the auto parts retail wars, Andrew began his 34 year long career as assistant store manager at that first store in Braybrook.

“To think that all those years ago an assistant manager would become the chief operating officer of a company overseeing 100 stores is something that I never imagined,” he said.

“But none of this could have been achieved without having solid business foundations and stepping stones laid for us along the way. We have an excellent team culture at Burson Auto Parts, as the nucleus of our team is a group of 20 year-plus employees whose dedication and hard work has contributed enormously on our journey to reaching this milestone,” he said.

Part of which is the  $100,000 Giveaway trade promotion mentioned earlier. Each $100 spent on participating brands by a trade account customer during June and July earns one entry into the draw to win one of ten $5000 home entertainment packages and one of 100 Apple i-Pads-one allocated to each of the 100 Burson Auto Parts stores (cute, eh).

Participating brands include NGK, KYB, Ryco, Bendix, Narva , Dayco, Clutch Industries, DBA, etc., so it won’t be that difficult to rack up the entries.

*Oh, and by the way, the Burson name was derived from the first half of Ron’s surname and the second half of Garry’s

Having been responsible for countless dead pets and injured children, 4wd drivers are to at long last get some reliable technology to assist them reverse with safety.

The Nissan Dualis Ti-L and X-Trail Ti model variants will now come fitted with Around View Monitor, a technology that makes parking easier and enhances rear vision for safety.

Until now, this technology, which has usually featured on more expensive luxury vehicles, uses four separate cameras with the monitor displaying an image of the vehicle from above. This helps the driver to visually confirm the vehicle’s relation to the lines around the parking space, the kerbside, surrounding parked cars (pets and children).

Click here for the video.

Intelligent vehicles, through embedded connectivity, will be directly responsible for creating revenues of $14.4 billion by 2016, as existing telematics players extend to new geographical markets and expand their service models in the next five years, says a UK report.

All of which adds weight to the celebrations by ITS Australia following the announcement that the international body will hold its Intelligent Transport Systems World congress in Melbourne in 2016.

More than 6000 delegates are expected to attend the congress, somewhat grandly entitled: ITS-Enhancing Liveable Cities and Communities.

According to Andrew Cox, the author of the UK report, intelligent vehicles can now be equipped with features including safety, security, navigation and emergency service access under the same subscription.

“The integration of the smartphone into consumer vehicles will become all but standard on new models by 2016 thanks to new protocols that will result in more than 92 million internet-connected vehicles on the road, featuring technology to integrate the smartphone into the head-unit,” he said.

In the commercial telematics market, Juniper Research observes an increasing level of sophistication as fleet managers use telematics to increase fleet efficiency, comply with regulation and monitor driver behaviour.

“Players are also leveraging the power of the cloud and internet portals to enhance the service they offer,” said Andrew.

"They shouldn't allow humans to drive" (or come up with event logos)

Whether you love it or hate it, you now have a great opportunity to not just rabbit on to your partner, mates at the pub or the girls at the gym but to so something positive.

Thanks to a new Australian employer review website you now have the opportunity to voice anonymous opinions and ratings, based on real life experiences.

www.WorkplaceFit.com.au provides an in-depth look at Australian companies and workplace culture through anonymous employee reviews. It’s useful not only for disgruntled employees, but also for those who love their job and want to share their experiences.

WorkplaceFit allows employees to rate the company on their benefits and culture. It gives employees the chance to talk about their job security, their thoughts on their management and other important issues such as start and finish time and length of lunch breaks.

“Prior to WorkplaceFit, employees had no way to preview a workplace and its culture, except from discussions directly with employers and recruiters, whom naturally have biased views” said Keryn Donald, co-founder of the new site.

Ultimately, the site is intended to be a source for future employees to find out about the current culture and employee benefits at a workplace they may be looking to move to.

“For employers, WorkplaceFit provides a chance to really understand how happy their employees are in their company as the

website gives a unique vantage point into what people really want.

It also helps employers promote their brand, and identifies what they do well, and what they can do better, through open, constructive feedback.

“People need to know they can talk about their workplace without fear of reprisal, and WorkplaceFit provides this by keeping things anonymous”, said Keryn.

So dig in the boot, or sing your company’s praise and at the same leverage the power of the anonymous WorkplaceFit community.

Apparently not happy with collecting over 40 world driving fuel economy records, the husband and wife team of John and Helen Taylor – also known as “the world’s most fuel efficient couple” – have been back on the road to claim the world record for the longest distance traveled on a single tank of fuel, writes gizmag’s Darren Quick.

The record 1626.1 mile (2,616.95 km) journey was achieved in a stock 2012 Volkswagen Passat powered by a 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel inline four-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual transmission.

The Taylors’ three-day trip started from Houston, Texas, on May 3, and took them through nine states before the tank of ultra-low sulphur diesel fuel ran dry in Sterling, Virginia, on May 5. Over the three-day journey, they averaged 84.1 miles per gallon (2.79 L/100 km), and outdid the previous record of 1526.6 miles (2456.82 km) on a single tank of diesel achieved by a VW Passat 1.6 BlueMotion diesel in Europe.

In an effort to conduct the world record attempt under real world driving conditions, the couple packed 120 lbs (54.4 kg) of luggage and drove during daylight hours. They also took turns driving and travelled a maximum of 14 hours per day.

The Passat’s speedometer and odometer were calibrated by a state certified testing station in Houston, with law enforcement officers on hand to validate mileage, fuel fill-up, and gas tank sealing before the Taylor’s set out. Upon reaching Sterling, Virginia Sheriff’s Deputy verified the car’s mileage before removing the fuel tank seal.

A list of John and Helen’s latest driving records, along with tips to maximize fuel economy, can be seen on their Eco2Driving website.

Driveline specialist ZF has recently unveiled the world’s first seven-speed manual transmission for passenger cars, which will be standard for Porsche’s new 911 models.

Based on the seven-speed dual clutch transmission, also designed for Porsche, it has fast gear shift with the additional seventh gear saving fuel and higher gearing achieving a sporty cruising speed at low engine revs and an automatic start-stop system.

Despite similar construction systems of the seven-speed dual clutch transmission and the seven-speed manual transmission the gears are arranged differently compared to a standard H-type shift system.

As a result ZF developed converted shifting actuators for the manual version of the transmission so that the classical H-type shift pattern successfully operates with the dual clutch gear sets.

A patented system is said to avoid incorrect gearshifts with the seventh gear only engaging when directly following the fifth or sixth gear.
 ZF options include a seven-speed dual clutch transmission, lightweight pedals made of plastics and suspension bearings for damping vibrations in the Porsche 911.

Despite the unrelenting rise of the internet it seems there is still a place in this world for a well designed, comprehensive, hard-copy parts catalogue.

Drawing on more than 30 years experience as a supplier to the engine rebuilding trade, Nason Engine Parts, has released what it says is the most comprehensive Timing Components and Seal Catalogue.

Covering passenger and light commercials vehicles up to six litres, the catalogue lists vehicle models alphabetically by marque and an alpha/numeric index by the engine manufacturer’s series.

Each page layout is colour coded showing a white column for the belt, and a light green column for timing chain models. Where a chain model has both a single and double row variable the double row is shown in dark green.

In applications where a timing belt varies by model, the belt length, teeth and width are specified to assist with the correct selection. For the first time all the seals required in the timing area of the engine are listed with high heat resistant seals to OEM application. Alternative original equipment NOK seals are also available and these are marked with a hash (#) symbol.

The Obama administration’s latest EV rallying cry is said to be more about setting a positive mood than any likelihood of reaching his bold targets. It is a commendable goal but one that might only be achieved with the help of a magic wand, writes EV Updates Sam Phipps.

That’s the consensus on the EV-Everywhere Challenge recently announced by the US president when he invited scientists, engineers and young people to make electric vehicles “more affordable and convenient to own than today’s gasoline-powered vehicles” within the next decade.

However, like his ambitious target of one million EVs on US roads by 2015, declared a few years ago, the EV-Everywhere Challenge should help focus innovators’ minds in a sector that has seen both setbacks and advances lately.

The idea is to bring industry and government together so that technological gains can improve performance and cut costs, particularly when it comes to the key issue of batteries, but also motors, power electronics, lightweight structures and fast charging infrastructure.

This, the logic goes, could create the tipping point that finally makes EVs part of the mainstream, i.e. affordable to “the average American family”, according to the US State Department’s stated aims.

It is part of a wider strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions and protect US consumers from high oil and gas prices, also reducing dependence on foreign oil.

So how does the EV-Everywhere Challenge stack up?

“If the objective is to try and get everybody to drive an electric car tomorrow, well, hello, we can’t achieve that,” said Brian Wynne, president of the electric drive transportation association (EDTA), the trade organisation in the US.

“We need to look at the context in which the President is speaking. It’s aspirational. We want to electrify transportation over time. That’s a long-term objective, the game is to accelerate it.

“Facilitating greater collaboration between government and industry is absolutely required, and that’s exactly what this EV-Everywhere Challenge is about.”

Obama’s vision includes a battery that costs half the price of today’s units and has a range of 300 miles on one charge. If the second part of that goal is still a dream, the first has perhaps come a big step closer with a battery developed by Envia Systems.

In February Envia, whose investors include General Motors, said its batteries were tested at 400 watt-hours per kilogramme at a projected cost of $125 per kilowatt hour – far more energy dense than most batteries and less than half what car makers are paying today, according to the company.

Envia uses a new manganese based cathode, with a mix of metals produced in such a way to create surface properties for better capacity and long life.

Brake on demand
Andrew Jackson, car analyst at Datamonitor in London, said this could be a significant breakthrough in the next three to five years but even so, its likely effect on the market as a whole was uncertain, partly because of GM’s role.

“The key caveat is that GM has funded the work so you can bet that they’re going to have some form of exclusivity rights. Obviously if they can sell at a tangibly lower price than their competitors they can corner the market and that’s going to inhibit overall growth in the sector.”

Either way, the high purchase price of EVs is likely to continue to limit demand in the near to medium term, according to analysts, who repeatedly cite cost above range anxiety as the main deterrent to consumers.

Lux Research forecasts fewer than 200,000 EVs on roads in the States by 2015.
The Chevy Volt starts at about $39,000, the Nissan Leaf $35,000 and Ford’s Focus Electric just under $40,000. A full $7500 tax credit is available per car, which Obama wants to raise to $10,000, but with US presidential elections due in November this year it is unsure how long even the current boost will continue.

Generational factor
A run of bad news preceded the Envia announcement, namely, weak sales of the Volt, investigation of the same model for possible battery fires, though federal investigators concluded the car posed no bigger risk of fire than petrol or diesel cars and financial problems at several EV related start-ups.
As for charging infrastructure, Jackson said utilities were often waiting to see what vehicle manufacturers are planning to do, and vice versa.

“Pure plug-in EVs are always going to be limited in low density population areas, unless the likes of EDF and E.ON can see some form of commercial relevance.”
However, EVs will become increasingly acceptable over time, he argues.

“It’s essentially a generational issue. Consumers have grown up with the internal combustion engine so there’s an addiction if you will, or at least better the devil you know. I would imagine that people growing up now would be far more compliant about buying an EV when they are old enough to afford it, if they can afford it.”

Likewise, Wynne of the EDTA talks of the pleasant surprise drivers get when they first sit at the wheel of an electric car. “We call it the EV smile. It’s almost infectious and very predictable. The more people we get in there, the more it will take off.”

 NSW Motor Accidents Authority has upgraded its online Green Slip calculator that is now expected to attract an additional 50,000 motorists to the service and according to the Authority’s Andrew Nicholls enable small businesses to save money on their purchases.

“The upgrades will enable motorists who use their vehicle for business purposes to calculate CTP prices taking into consideration GST input tax credit adjustments. “This is good news that will benefit thousands of small businesses that now do not have to waste time contacting insurers directly for quotations for CTP insurance.”

With around 110,000 vehicle owners each month, the calculator is said to be one of the most extensively used tools on the government website but has been limited to private-use cars, motorbikes and light goods vehicle.

There are seven licensed insurers offering CTP insurance in NSW.

“Prices vary between insurers so it’s important motorists shop around to get the best deal on their Green Slip.

“The average motorist might be able to save up to $70 by shopping around,” said Andrew.

More details: http://www.greenslips.nsw.gov.au