Electric Jeep is a sparky contender

Jeep Renegade 4xe road test by Steve Rogers

It feels like the world and his wife is joining the electric party with thousands giving themselves a Christmas present.

According to the motoring bible, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the best selling car in December was the electric Tesla Model 3 with its new rival the Volkswagen ID.3 fourth.

In a frantic year when Covid virus restrictions sent petrol and diesel sales into free fall the only winners were pure electric, up by more than 70,000 on 2019, and plug-in hybrids which jumped from 35,000 to nearly 67,000.

So despite everything 2020 was not a bad year for Jeep to launch a plug in hybrid version of the Renegade even if the company is a bit late to the electric party. Perhaps they were hanging on to get it right and to be fair they haven't done a bad job producing a sophisticated piece of kit.

May be we should cut through some of the jargon because I have been on the electric trail of late with a couple of self-charging hybrid Toyotas. These have a petrol engine and use braking resistance and deceleration to recharge the battery which powers an electric motor but cannot be charged from the mains.

A PHEV, aka the Renegade 4xe, is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle with a petrol engine and battery pack that can also be charged from the mains to power an electric motor. The advantage is that the Renegade can run for up to 26 miles on electric power only with zero emissions.

A self charging hybrid is at its best around town but will only manage about a mile on electric before the battery pack needs recharging.

Renegade made a big statement when it arrived in 2015 because it was different and funky. At the time I said it was a modern day version of its granddaddy, the Willys Jeep, the most recognisable vehicle of World War Two. Vertical grille, flat bonnet with the square jawed look that typified the Yank soldiers who drove the wartime jeep.

Six years on it might not turn as many heads but Renegade is still an SUV like no other and the plug-in hybrid model should be giving a much needed sales boost. Jeep has paired an 11.4kWh battery with two electric motors to give up to 26 miles travel without using the petrol engine at up to 81mph limit. This is why you can achieve between 123 and 134mpg. Once the battery power is spent the engine kicks in which is good for around 50mpg - that is the best I could manage.

As with most hybrids Renegade is quick off the mark thanks to the extra kick from the electric motor, and the turbocharged 1.3 litre performs well if a tad noisy when pushed.

Most of the driving is a mixture of petrol and electric with the option to switch to three driving modes including E-save which continues to harness battery power for the motors. Jeep engineers have pretty much thought of everything but it is worth studying the detail to get the best out of the car.

This is a good family car whether it's hybrid or not with the high roofline providing plenty of headroom while there is ample backseat legroom. Boot space is not the biggest in its class but it has two levels which I always find useful.

It is also well off for the luxuries we like and very strong on safety features.

Apart from a badly fitting fuel filler flap, which looked too small for the space, build quality is good with a nice feel to the dashboard trim. The layout for the instrument binnacle is logical which is more than can be said for the centre console which is a mish-mash of buttons and switches, some of which are too much of a stretch when driving.

One area where Renegade excels over the opposition is off road. This car is a master of mud, snow, sand - you name it. And there lies a potential drawback.

Renegade PHEV is expensive against some key rivals and you have to ask if hybrid drivers really need all this off road technology?

As part of the Chrysler dynasty the company has been on life support more than once and is entering a new chapter merging with the ever expanding Peugeot-Citroen empire under the name of Stellantis. Jeep celebrates its 80th anniversary this year and is no doubt hoping to survive a lot longer.

At least Renegade still puts a smile on your face. 

Need to know

Renegade 4xe Limited

£34,500 (starts £32,600)

6 speed automatic

1.3litre petrol; 130bhp+60bhp electric motor

0-62mph 7.5secs; 113mph

123-134mpg

49g/km. 1st tax £10

Insurance group 13

Boot: 330 litres

Chair gives update on 2020 scheme's progress

* The 2020 scheme proposes major changes in the town centre.

The chair of the group aiming to make major changes to traffic and parking in Llangollen claims the plan they are working on will give a £3 million boost to the town over 10 years - equivalent to 128 extra jobs.

In an update on the 2020 scheme for llanblogger, County Councillor Graham Timms also says his team expect to have "very good news" by the end of March this year, leading to construction work starting this autumn of 2021 with completion in early 2022.

He says: "The Llangollen 2020 team is becoming confident that major work will begin later this year, after the summer season. 

"Whilst many projects have been delayed during the ongoing pandemic, the Llangollen 2020 group have been able to continue their work with Denbighshire County Council, Welsh Government and its other key stakeholders. 

"The final detailed plans for the scheme are being drawn up by urban architects and traffic engineers to make the town's ambitions become reality. 

"A financial package which will see more than £2 million invested in the town is in its final crucial stages of being put together with a number of major sources. 

"The team expect to have very good news by the end of March this year, leading to construction work taking place starting in the autumn of 2021 with completion in early 2022. 

"A staged approach to the development over the visitor low season will ensure that our businesses can remain open and disruption to the town is minimised by the construction work. 

"The project vision remains as it has from the start: to develop a safer and more attractive town centre that better meets the needs of residents, businesses and visitors. 

"The covid-19 pandemic and the need to have a town centre that provides increasing provision for active travel, alongside the climate change agenda have focused everyone's minds sharply on many of these issues."

Cllr Timms adds: "As it stands, the key changes the project will bring about are set out below: 

●       Widen footways / minimise carriageway width to maximise pedestrian space and slow traffic down

●       Install crossing points on Castle Street and across side roads to improve crossing safety, especially for those with disabilities and/or small children

●       Install delivery bays on Castle Street and Market Street

●       Slow vehicle speeds throughout town centre to 20mph(scheduled for 2023)

●       Implement raised bed crossings at major junctions on Castle Street

●       Implement a town centre residents’ parking scheme and 30 minutes free parking 

●       Improve signage to Pavilion and Mill Street car parks to reduce pressure on Market/East Street car parks (and traffic congestion when they’re full)

●       Provide dedicated parking for business owners and staff at Ysgol Dinas Bran for weekends/holidays

●       Declutter signage to improve town appearance 

●       Upgrade the traffic lights at A5/Castle Street junction and the Victoria Square junction to respond to real-time traffic volumes.

●       Provide better cycle and walking routes within the town

●       Provide cycle parking within town centre and electric car charging points in car parks. 

Benefits from these changes are anticipated to include: 

●       £3 million boost for the town over 10 years, equivalent to 128 additional jobs

●       Improved town centre safety

●       Improved town centre air pollution (currently fourth worst spot in North Wales)

●       Improved active travel options.

"One of the Llangollen 2020 proposals that may be a casualty at the design stage is the mini roundabout which was proposed for the Abbey Road/Castle Street junction. There is room for the mini roundabout but it would introduce a number of other significant problems. 

"Whilst it has been shown that it would increase traffic flow through the junction, the Welsh Government advise that it would make it more difficult for pedestrians to cross all roads leading to this junction. The topography of the area also makes it very difficult to introduce a mini roundabout without making substantial changes.

"There will be an opportunity to hear an update on the Llangollen 2020 project on a Cittaslow Community Conversation on 27^th January 2021. More information from townclerk@llangollentowncouncil.gov.uk."

County raises charge for green waste collection service

Denbighshire County Council is increasing the price of its fortnightly green waste collection service.

From January 18 subscription rates for the green bin garden waste service will rise "to bring the service closer to a self-financing model," says the council.

The new cost of the standard service will be £30 and the cost of the enhanced service will be £45.

These new charges will come into force on Monday, January 18 and will apply to all transactions made on or after that date.

Cllr Brian Jones, the council’s Lead member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “We have made the difficult decision to increase the subscription rates to move it towards a self-financing service as part of a wider need to identify budget savings within the Council.

“Moving to a self-financed service means garden waste collection is delivered under a fairer system where it is being paid for only by those using the service.

“Denbighshire will continue to offer a value for money service which operates all year round, with 26 collections a year. Garden waste can also be taken to the county’s household waste recycling centres for free throughout the year.”

Garden waste is not allowed in residents’ black bins and black bins containing garden waste will not be emptied.

Existing customers have had their subscription automatically extended after the stoppage of the garden waste service during the spring of 2020 due to coronavirus.

* Residents can renew expiring subscriptions and can check when their subscription is available to renew here: https://gardenwaste.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/Renewal/Renew

You can also renew your subscription by contacting the Council on 01824 706000.

Government fund to help Covid-hit tourism and hospitality sector opens

The Welsh Government’s latest £180m Economic Resilience Fund package to support tourism, hospitality and leisure businesses affected by coronavirus restrictions will open for applications at 12pm tomorrow, Wednesday January 13. 

The funding, announced in December, is part of a live £450m package of support that the, hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors as well as their supply chain can access and will provide vital support to thousands of firms impacted by alert level 3 and 4 restrictions. 

The £180m is in addition to a £270m support package for businesses that pay non-domestic rates, which includes non-essential retail businesses, and is being delivered via Local Authorities.

The Welsh Government estimates that under the package of support a typical hospitality business in Wales with the equivalent of six full-time staff could be eligible to receive between £12,000 and £14,000 in total, making it the most generous offer in the UK.

Economy Minister Ken Skates said: “Accelerating coronavirus rates meant we have had to make difficult but necessary decisions to protect people’s health and save lives. We know these decisions have a knock-on effect on our businesses and there is no doubt that latest restrictions mean very real challenges for firms who have already had to deal with so much.

“We are committed to doing all we can to protect our businesses during this very challenging time. Our package of support is the most generous in the UK and since the beginning of the pandemic more than £1.6bn of Welsh Government financial assistance has reached businesses.

“Many hospitality, tourism, leisure and non-essential retail businesses have already received payments of £3,000 or £5,000 in the last month and this additional funding will be absolutely crucial in supporting eligible businesses through the difficult weeks ahead.”

The amount a company can claim from the £180m sector specific fund will be calculated based on staff count and turnover. 

The fund is expected to support up to 8,000 hospitality, tourism and leisure firms impacted by the restrictions and potentially a further 2,000 in related supply chains.

An eligibility checker and calculator has been live on Business Wales since December to help businesses work out what support they can expect to qualify for in total and the detail they will need to make an application. Further guidance was also issued last week.

Since the end of October alone, more than 69,000 offers of support worth in excess of £230m have been made to businesses across Wales through the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund.

Welsh Government support has already protected more than 125,000 jobs that might otherwise have been lost.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “We are fully aware, not least from our hospitality stakeholder group, of the impact of the restrictions that we have had to bring in. This was not the Christmas period that any of us had hoped for, but I would urge businesses to take advantage of the help available.

“We will continue to do everything we can to support our firms and our people through to the other side of this dreadful pandemic.”

* Further information and details on how to make an application for the package of business support is available on the Business Wales website.  The fund will remain open for 2 weeks or until funds are fully committed.

Police boss calls for crackdown on Covid rule-breakers

* North Wales PCC Arfon Jones.

A police boss says a new get tough approach is essential to crack down on Covid rule-breakers who are putting lives at risk.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones spoke out after “selfish” people flouted the regulations  and flocked to beauty spots across the region.

On Friday, two people had to be rescued North East Wales Search and Rescue (NEWSAR) team after becoming "disorientated" in severe weather conditions during a walk up Moel Famau on the Flintshire border.

The pair had gone for a walk from home but they raised the alarm by phoning the policing after losing their bearings as conditions deteriorated rapidly due to snow and poor visibility.

By Saturday lunchtime more than 100 cars had been turned away from Moel Famau, with some driving past "road closed" signs.

Meanwhile, in Snowdonia car parks have been closed to deter visitors.

Until now the police response has been guided by the so-called four Es, to engage and find out why the rules were being broken, explain the rules and rise, encourage people to behave responsibly and to only take enforcement action as a last resort.

The regulations allow for fixed penalty notices can be issued with fines ranging from £60 to £10,000.

According to Mr Jones, a former police inspector, it was now time for a tougher approach from the police and other agencies.

He said: “I would like to commend most people for behaving responsibly at this difficult time but those who choose not to can expect to be held to account.

“Unfortunately, there are far too many selfish people who are flouting the guidelines and they are turbo-charging the spread of this deadly virus.

“Their actions are totally irresponsible and life-threatening. If they have no regard for their own health, they should think of their loved ones.

“It is now time to forget  the mantra of Engage, Encourage and Educate and focus on Enforcement so we can clamp down on the Covid rule breakers and prevent this reckless behaviour.

“The stay home and stay safe message is all more important because the new mutant strain of Covid-19 is even more infectious.

“This has inevitably ramped up the threat of community transmission, with 70 per cent of cases in North Wales linked the new variant.

“As a consequence, the people of North Wales are at risk like never before.

“Being a police officer can be a difficult and dangerous at the best of times but North Police is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic.

“The last thing our officers need is for their time be wasted by selfish people who think they are above the law.

“It is totally unacceptable that our brave and selfless officers are themselves being put unnecessarily at risk as we have seen with examples of them getting stuck in the snow trying to come to the rescue of these foolish people.”

A Welsh Government spokesman  reinforced the message, saying: "Cases of coronavirus are very high in Wales at the moment and there is a new strain of the virus circulating, which is highly infectious and moving quickly.

"At alert level four, exercise should always be undertaken from home, unless you have special circumstances which requires some flexibility - such as disability or autism.

"The more people gather, the greater the risk of spreading or catching the virus."

Health Minister sets out Wales' vaccination strategy

Health Minister Vaughan Gething (pictured) has this afternoon published the Welsh Government's Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy, which sets out three key milestones.

It comes as the latest figures show more than 86,000 people have received the vaccine. Wales will publish daily vaccine figures from today.

The three milestones set out in the plan are:

• By mid-February – all care home residents and staff; frontline health and social care staff; everyone over 70 and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable will have been offered vaccination.
• By the Spring – vaccination will have been offered to all the other phase one priority groups. This is everyone over 50 and everyone who is at-risk because they have an underlying health condition.
• By the autumn – vaccination will have been offered to all other eligible adults in Wales, in line with any guidance issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

In total, around 2.5m people throughout Wales could be offered Covid vaccines by September, depending on further advice from the JCVI.

The strategy depends on sufficient and regular supplies of the vaccines being delivered. It will be kept under review in line with supply of the vaccine and any further advice from the JCVI.

Mr Gething said: "The Covid vaccines offer our best hope of a return to the normality we are looking forward to after such a difficult year, which has turned all our lives upside down.

“Delivering this vaccination programme to the people in Wales is a huge task but an enormous amount of work is going on to make it a success.

“We are making good progress with thousands more people being vaccinated every day.

“Over the coming week we will see the programme pick up further speed with more clinics opening and the first vaccines to be given by pharmacists.” 

To reach as many people as safely and as quickly as possible, we are continuing to accelerate the vaccination programme as more supplies of the two vaccines become available.

This includes:

• The number of mass vaccination centres increasing to 35 over the coming weeks, with at least one in each county. We started with seven, five weeks ago.
• Military support in the mass vaccination centres – there are 14 immunisers and 70 other personnel providing support.
• 100 GP practices providing clinics by the end of this week.
• The first pharmacies to provide the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will start vaccinating in North Wales in the next week.
• 14 mobile units, run by community nurses, which are taking the vaccine to care homes.
• Text message vaccination appointment reminders.

Dr Gillian Richardson, who leads the Covid vaccination programme in Wales, said: "This is the biggest vaccination programme Wales has ever seen and the NHS is working incredibly hard to get the vaccine to as many people as possible, safely and as quickly as we can. 

"People will be invited to come and have a vaccination at a clinic close to their home or at one of the mass vaccination centres. I know everyone is really keen to get their jab but please wait until you are contacted for your turn.

“Vaccination will give us a path out of this pandemic but it will take us a little while to protect all the people in Wales who need it – this is why it’s so important everyone continues to take steps to protect themselves and their families from coronavirus."

Data for the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Wales will be available every week day from today.

The daily release accounts for the total number of vaccines given until 10pm the previous day, which have been recorded on the COVID-19 Welsh Immunisation System. Actual figures will be higher due to ongoing data entry.

Police confirm man's body found at canal in Chirk

Leader Live is reporting this morning that police have confirmed the body of a man was found in Chirk over the weekend.

The story says: "North Wales Police was alerted to the discovery shortly before midday on Sunday.

"A spokesman for the force confirmed today: 'We were called at 11.55am, January 10, to reports of a body of a man was sadly found at the canal in Chirk.'" 

* To see the story, go to: https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/19001596.body-found-canal-chirk-police-confirm/