Dr. Andy Palmer

My apprenticeship gave me some of the best days of my life & equipped me with the skills needed to lead businesses at the forefront of the auto industry. For employers & employees alike, apprenticeships add huge value. Find out more in this film with @TheTimes & @BizSupportGovUK.

Indeed - worth noting that 717 people viewed my survey and 143 voted - statistically reasonable although my following might be skewed. 73% prefer ADAS is default off or doesn’t exist. Much higher than I would imagine which means we aren’t doing it right. This may also sit at the heart of Thatchams break with NCAP where it would seem they prefer real world use being prioritised over lab testing and feature ticking. I can’t disagree with you about driving standard decline - they have. But I also think that if we apply technology to override the driver, then it had better work properly 100% of the time.

@AndyatAuto One of the biggest issues is driving standards. Think of driving miss daisy on one end of a scale and white van man on the other. If you err towards white van man the ADAS functions will activate more. I have been involved with testing ADAs for over 20 yrs

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are electronic, sensor-based technologies that are designed to increase vehicle safety and improve the driving experience by reducing human error. Using cameras, radar, LiDAR, and ultrasonic sensors, these systems monitor surroundings for hazards, providing alerts or taking automatic corrective action, such as emergency braking or steering assistance. Today my car performed a phantom emergency stop, which is not uncommon. The car industry has a love/hate with this technology which is largely mandated on them. It adds cost and weight and reduces reliability; on the other hand it’s part of the roadmap to autonomous cars. I’m interested in your view point - should we?

True

It had a Borg & Beck clutch and my early years were spent in AP designing clutches, brakes and auto transmissions Other notable memory joggers 1) Rear-mid engine on a detachable subframe 2) Independent suspension - a steel monocoque chassis, but the engine + gearbox + rear suspension sit on a tubular rear subframe Bit nerdy!

@LUDENClassics Maserati Merak

I've broken one of the most important rules of buying cars and bought one unseen from an auction I've never dealt with. Can you guess what it is?

There’s never been a better time to switch to an EV – just ask this reformed petrolhead With fuel costs climbing formered petrolhead shares why now is the perfect time to consider the switch from petrol to electric. independent.co.uk/cars/electric-…

Daily Mail forced to correct lies about EVs. Coincidentally, the Daily Mail owned by Lord Rothermere who has 10s of £millions invested in fossil fuels ... bylinetimes.com/2026/03/16/dai…

Photo: MOTIONRATIOMEDIA A weekend at Cadwell Park; the first time I’ve driven there. A technical circuit with the fame of “the mountain”. Flat through Coppice, but not quite brave enough through Charlies. Look forward to racing there later in the season with @caterhamcars

@rjwilliams90 @AntiEVidiots @ghq2001 My apologies, I didn’t mean to cause offence. My point was that you cannot have an economy based on only service - you need manufacturing as well - Yin and Yang

@AndyatAuto @AntiEVidiots @ghq2001 Not sure why you added that last sentence about the service economy. I’ve worked in it all my life. I’ve exported my knowledge and experience to Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, Russia and all over Europe. Service industries are as real and relevant as manufacturing.

Andy changes sides. 46 years in the auto business. Now he's in the renewables business. Follow the money.

Passenger cars sold in Europe must comply with UNECE Regulation No. 125, For vehicles with higher driving positions (e.g., SUVs, MPVs, vans), the regulation requires that: •A cylindrical object representing a pedestrian •1.2 m tall •300 mm diameter There is also an automatic braking Reg - UN Regulation No. 152, an international vehicle safety regulation that defines requirements for Advanced Emergency Braking Systems (AEBS) in passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. This uses an obstacle height of 1.1m tall R125 → 1.1 m dummy = visibility reference object for driver line-of-sight. R152 → pedestrian targets = realistic human sizes for AEB detection. To the best of my knowledge, Defender complies with both regulations.

@neilchristiex @cudaplumcrazy Also, that's wrong ref the Defender. Ask @AndyatAuto

Every pedestrian death is carefully recorded. Perhaps they might issue a list of death by vehicle type. Otherwise this 'figures' are simply theoretical. Does a higher driving position allow a driver a better all-round view?

@KathrynPorter26 @cicero6666 @DeborahMeaden - Non-carbon / low-carbon: ~65–67% - Carbon (fossil fuels): ~29–33%

No, it's not as you would know if you knew the first thing about energy 1. Renewables only produce electricity which is less than 20% of UK energy demand 2. It's impossible to electrify millions of homes, cars, trucks and industry in a few years... It will take over a decade if ever 3. Miliband only plans to decarbonise electricity in 2030...his strategy is to hope nothing bad happens in the meantime AND we can electrify in an unfeasibly short time 4. The REALITY is we will continue to need oil and gas for decades. Even the CCC doesn't think we'll have stopped by 2050. So we should maximise our own production 5. And we should NOT rush to build renewables because they are extremely expensive. Only at the height of the gas crisis in 2022 were they cheaper at the wholesale level (see charts). Their intermittency and low energy density make them uneconomic. Trying to rush deployment only makes them more so

THIS is the appropriate response ..it is the fastest, cheapest way to a more secure energy source.

@JeffNor50595241 And you?

@AndyatAuto How does that give you any more facility to exhort about climate change? Did your course work include thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, instrumentation, statistics, ...?

Austrian glaciers disintegrating due to climate change, say scientists. And yet X tells me it’s just trace gas, and global warming is a myth. We need to wake up to the crisis that is upon us. Myths from oil industry funded lobbyists won’t fix the damage bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@JeffNor50595241 Yes

@TufferB @RichardWellings @grok @astonmartin Actually quite a lot - RapidE, Lagonda etc. EV was 2 of the 7 cars in the Second Century Plan. drive.com.au/news/aston-mar…

@AndyatAuto @RichardWellings Hey @grok how many times did @AndyatAuto post about electric vehicles during his time as CEO of @astonmartin during the period 2014 - 2020?

Millions more squandered on brand new electric buses when they can't even fill in potholes. Note the continuing deception that they're "zero emission", despite the pollution during manufacturing and power generation.

@JeffNor50595241 Oh and a Level 4 in Electronics (but back in the day when machine code was a thing)

@AndyatAuto I don't know many sales people who need to use it in their pitch. Is "engineering management" what you claim it is? What was your thesis on?

@walrusface9 @DGinCheshire @AllisonPearson @faisalislam Nicely and intelligently put! Well apart from the spelling of course - you can’t argue with stupid!

@AndyatAuto @DGinCheshire @AllisonPearson @faisalislam You're full of shit and you know it . Oil prices are dictated by oil production. The amount used bearly changes only someone with an agenda would say otherwise .

Why did Faisal Islam not ask Miliband why we pay Norway up to £40 BILLION a year for oil and gas they drill from the North Sea? Norway’s oil fields are next to the UK’s. We are still using fossil fuels. Just not our own. Madness. @faisalislam

Firstly I think you’ll find it’s a soul! Secondly I led the creation and execution of the Nissan LEAF before I joined Aston. Thirdly, I agree DB11 is brilliant. Actually Aston is one of the most sustainable car companies on earth because over 90% of the Astons ever made, still exist. You’ll recall the second century plan for Aston has Astons moving to hybrids and synthetic fuels including a new 3l V6 and Lagonda as an EV brand.

Yes DB11 is by far the best car. Shame @AndyatAuto sold his sole, What is confusing is why sell a green product from a place that has the highest pollution? Make it make sense!

@walrusface9 @DGinCheshire @AllisonPearson @faisalislam I’m afraid you’re not correct, but it’s probably not worth trying to explain again to you how the global pricing mechanism works!

@DGinCheshire @AllisonPearson @AndyatAuto @faisalislam If you produce more, the price drops . It's a basic business plan clown .