PETALING JAYA: You know what day it is today, right?
It's the day to not take everything seriously and see the lighter side of life as we know it.
A number of car and auto-related companies have announced a few developments that will only exist in the cheeky recesses of the mind.
Honda
Honda has launched a brand-new range of front passenger seats for pets, the Pet Co-Pilot Front Seat.
On sale from today, the Dog Co-Pilot Front Seat will be available first, joined later in the year by variants for cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits and fish. A multi-storey seat for gerbils will follow in spring 2023.
Designed specifically for pets, each seat will ensure animals can get the best view in the car with a full view of the world around them, while being within a paw’s or fin’s reach of their human parent.
The seats will be available either as a factory-fitted option or a retrospective purchase for cars built between April 2017 and March 2022, available through Honda’s dealer network.
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) has today announced a new addition to its vehicle line up, with the TX Spring Edition.
The TX’s instantly recognisable silhouette remains unchanged, but has been updated with a brand new palette. Drawing inspiration from the new season’s colours, the TX Spring Edition sees pink, purple, yellow and green combined together to create a striking effect.
LEVC spokesman Paul Yaleg said: “Our famous electric black taxi is loved the world over and instantly recognisable. But it was time to take a fresh approach for spring and create a bold new look for the TX to brighten up the city streets. Our TX Spring Edition will be on the roads soon and we’re confident that it will attract plenty of attention.”
Although the TX Spring Edition’s appearance may have changed, it still offers a pure EV range of more than 100km, plus a total range-extended capacity of 511km.
Those wishing to enjoy the new look TX can rest assured that it remains completely accessible for customers, with a built-in wheelchair ramp, hearing loop and braille. The large panoramic roof ensures that the TX Spring Edition is the perfect place to see the city sights in comfort while dazzling passers-by with a bold new look.
Isuzu UK has announced the Limited Edition D-Max Street, a short-wheelbase, Single Cab pick-up specifically designed for inner-city areas.
The all-new Limited Edition D-Max Street Single Cab short-wheelbase pick-up will only be available for a very limited time and is available in any colour the customer chooses, provided it is blue.
Perfect for the tight and narrow city confines, the D-Max Street has an impressively tight turning circle, which enables greater manoeuvrability, and is also incredibly easy to park in small spaces, thanks to its compact dimensions.
With the ability to carry one passenger and with an impressive, albeit compact load area, the D-Max Street’s coupe-like appeal is certain to turn heads.
Fitted with 18-inch alloy wheels, condensed side steps and chrome front grille, mirror covers and door handles, the D-Max Street is certain to stand out amongst the pick-up crowd.
An Isuzu UK spokesman said “This innovative new single-cab short-wheel base pick-up may have its shortcomings, but it is ideal for use on city streets and in urban areas. With the new D-Max Street, Isuzu UK is looking to corner the urban pick-up market.”
The D-Max Street will only be available to order until noon on April 1.
Caterham has announced the long-awaited next step in its brand evolution: the launch of a DIY snack kit.
Developed to keep avid Seven enthusiasts fuelled throughout the course of their build, powered during a race weekend, or topped-up on a road trip, Cater-ham Sevenses strip the needless faff away from the eating experience, allowing buyers to enjoy the pure, unalloyed exhilaration of ham, cheese and crackers.
While the average Caterham kit car can contain over 870 separate parts, a pack of Cater-ham Sevenses needs just three.
All ingredients are locally sourced from supermarkets within a two-mile radius of Caterham’s Dartford production facility, before being hand-stamped into the shape of the iconic Seven sportscar and repackaged by a team of dedicated Cater-ham workers.
While burning one litre of petrol produces around thirty-five Megajoules of energy, lab tests revealed a single 95g pack of Cater-ham Sevenses to contain enough calories to power an adult human for 24 hours straight.
“There’s little chance of a pack of Sevenses adding lightness to anyone who consumes it,” said Graham Macdonald, Caterham’s chief executive officer, “but by simplifying the snacking needs of our customers we leave them with more time to build and drive their beloved Caterham cars.”
The initial Cater-ham offering of ham and cheddar echoes the brand’s classic British heritage, though future offerings will reflect the diverse cuisines of some of Caterham’s most significant export markets.
French buyers can look forward to ham and brie, Dutch customers to ham and gouda, Japanese owners to ham and Sakura and, in due course, shoppers in the USA will be able to buy Cater-ham with a mini can of artificially flavoured spray cheese.
“The launch of Cater-ham has been a long time coming. By finally branching out to cater ham to Caterham’s loyal customer base, we are capitalising on a highly lucrative market segment, the proceeds of which will be invested directly back into the development of an entire range of ham-based ventures,” said Caterham’s chief commercial officer David Ridley with a straight face.
British EV charger installer Andersen EV has launched the first home electric vehicle (EV) charger that will match the wall box to the exterior design of its user’s house.
On sale today for £9,999 (RM56,000), the Andersen-2-Invisible (A-2-I) comes with in-built camouflage technology in the box’s panels, bestowing it with chameleon-like qualities.
With the luxury EV wall box manufacturer already offering 96 different colour options across its current range, its latest offering takes the concept of stylish yet discreet charge points to the next level.
For consumers it’s simple, all they need to do is take a picture of the wall they want to affix the charge point to prior to installation. Then once the wall box is installed by an accredited Andersen engineer, they upload the picture to Andersen’s Konnect+ app and activate camouflage mode.
The camouflage technology, which are high-definition 4K mini screens built into the front and side panels of the A-2-1, then mimics the pattern of the wall behind it.
The beauty of the A-2-1 wall box is that when camouflage mode is turned off, customers can enjoy the original, high-end design of the Andersen wall box.
