Auto Express 1555

IT probably hasn’t escaped your notice that over the past six months, the number of electric cars featuring in the pages and on the cover of Auto Express has increased dramatically. This week, for example, we have a twin test of electrified executive saloons promising CO2 emissions as low as 49g/km, a prototype drive of Volkswagen’s all-electric I.D. hatch and an early verdict on Audi’s dramatic e-tron GT concept (above). Oh, and we’ve also met up with the first Tesla Model 3 in the UK and asked the people waiting for their examples to be delivered why they’re being so patient. Electric vehicles aren’t for everyone, of course. There are those customers whose lifestyles and charging availability simply aren’t compatible with current EVs. There are some who just bemoan what…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods ● SUVs, EVs, commercial vehicles and flagship hypercar on the way in firm’s biggest product expansion ever “The marque’s latest SUV design language will be repackaged into a small and boxy shape” MERCEDES is in line for a bumper 2019 and will reveal a host of new models next year, plus its first all-electric cars under the new EQ nameplate. Continuing the most rapid product offensive in the company’s history, a total of 15 all-new, new-generation or facelifted Mercedes products will emerge before the end of 2021. They will range from commercial vehicles and new SUVs to electric models and a flagship hybrid-powered hypercar. Ultimately, the biggest news coming in 2019 will be the unveiling of a brand new member of the brand’s SUV family. Likely to be…

NEW CLA Early 2019 Second-generation CLA lands as rakish alternative to A-Class saloon V-CLASS FACELIFT Early 2019 Popular minivan is due a slight design refresh and upgraded technology NEW CLA SHOOTING BRAKE Spring 2019 Swoopy new CLA estate will be brand’s most practical small car on sale GLC FACELIFT Spring 2019 Audi Q5 rival to be revised inside and out; gets plug-in hybrid tech as well GLC COUPE FACELIFT Spring 2019 Coupé-bodied mid-size SUV to arrive alongside refreshed regular version of GLC NEW GLS Spring 2019 Largest model in SUV range could appear on stage at April’s New York show ALL-NEW GLB SUV Summer 2019 Brand new member of the family will take the fight to BMW X1 and Audi Q3…

GLE COUPE Autumn 2019 Mercedes is set to continue matching BMW coupé-SUVs; Mk3 X6 rival is coming E-CLASS FACELIFT Late 2019 Big-selling exec saloon to get tech and styling updates towards end of the year ALL-NEW MAYBACH SUV Late 2019 Maybach brand to move beyond limousines with this Rolls-Royce Cullinan rival NEW GLA Early 2020 GLA will continue as rugged, raised alternative to A-Class, despite arrival of GLB ALL-NEW AMG ONE 2020 Formula One-engined hybrid hypercar will lock horns with McLaren Senna NEW S-CLASS 2020 Flagship limo will be reinvented in 2020, with coupé and cabriolet set to follow later ALL-NEW EQA 2020 Compact EV to lead onslaught of EQ-branded electric vehicles from 2021 NEW C-CLASS 2021 BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 fighter to enter its fifth generation early…

HIDDEN beneath the dizzying disguise is arguably one of the most important cars Volkswagen has ever produced. It doesn’t yet have an official name, but internally it’s currently known as Neo, and it will be the first car in showrooms from the brand’s new all-electric I.D. family of vehicles. As such, the I.D. carries with it the levels of importance that accompanied the Beetle and Golf when they were launched; it will take the manufacturer into a new era of ‘electric mobility’. And ahead of the covers coming off the final car at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, Auto Express has been invited for an exclusive drive of a prototype. We’re joined by Frank Welsch, VW’s development director on the board, who is sitting in the passenger seat. “We…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn AUDI’S upcoming e-tron GT will have silently whirred its way into showrooms by the end of 2020. But the German brand is so keen to see its Tesla Model S rival out in the wild that Auto Express has been invited to take a closer look and get behind the wheel of the concept that previews it. The e-tron GT will be the marque’s new ‘hero’ car, according to its design team, and by and large the concept you see here is what the finished model will look like. Audi’s head of exterior design Andeas Mindt told us: “The whole concept is very close to what you’ll see in showrooms – about 95 per cent, but the production model will be a five-seater.” Away from the bright lights…