Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/5/2017 i Autocar

Despite being 13 years old, the current Continental continues to do well for Bentley. In Europe, the model peaked in 2012 when Bentley sold 1837 units, but in 2016, it still managed to sell a very respectable 1705 models. The new Continental will only bolster the premium brand’s growing success, which is largely due to its Bentayga SUV, introduced last year. The firm was expecting to sell 3600 Bentaygas globally in 2016, but instead it sold around 5600, which is about half of its total sales. It’s unsurprising, then, that last year was Bentley’s most successful yet, with more than 11,000 models sold worldwide. That performance came after a hiccup in its upward path, when sales dropped from 11,020 cars in 2014 to just 10,100 cars in 2015. That was…

MCLAREN IS IN the process of building a full-electric vehicle. “In engineering terms, electric cars are beautiful,” said Mark Vinnels, executive director for programme development, citing their relatively straightforward layouts, how easy it is to achieve an exceptionally low centre of gravity and the simplicity of their powertrains. The EV is purely a test bed, partly to help McLaren with its drive towards its stated aim of 50% hybrid cars by 2022 as part of its Track 22 strategy announced last year, but also to prepare the company for the long-term future, when EVs will increasingly become the norm. However, Vinnels said the prospect of a production McLaren EV remains distant at best because of ongoing issues with range and determining how an EV can communicate on the emotional level…

A SCRAPPAGE SCHEME for older vehicles has been proposed alongside changes to speed limits and more so-called Clean Air Zones in a government report addressing air quality issues in the UK. The proposals for scrapping older, more polluting diesel and petrol cars stipulates that they must be replaced with a fully electric vehicle that “aligns with wider government ambition to support Ultra Low Emission Vehicles”. It would offer an owner who opted to scrap such a car for an EV a grant incentive of £6000, plus £2000 to cover the residual value of their vehicle. However, the proposal said this was only one way in which a scrappage scheme could be designed. It said other approaches include targeting vehicles from a specific sector, targeting by geography, and narrowing the individuals…

MG WILL EXTEND its SUV line-up in the next few years by offering both a baby SUV to sit below the newly revealed XS and a seven-seat GS. Currently, the GS is a five-seat Nissan Qashqai rival, but the model will be overhauled in 2019, according to MG’s UK sales and marketing boss, Matthew Cheyne, and it will also be offered with seven seats. The new SUVs will help swell the MG line-up to six models, with the 3 supermini, the upcoming 6 saloon replacement and finally the E-Motion electric sports car, which will be the flagship in the model range. The E-motion aside, the line-up will include plug-in hybrid and electric variants. The first will be a plug-in hybrid XS, before a full-electric XS arrives in 18 months to…

More than a year after the launch of the F-Pace, Jaguar has finally plugged the gap in the model’s line-up for a small-capacity petrol engine with this, the new 2.0-litre Ingenium-powered variant. Offering 247bhp and 269lb ft along with a claimed 38.2mpg combined, the new entry-level petrol is aimed squarely at Porsche’s four-cylinder Macan. It brings the F-Pace’s weight down to 1760kg, too, although that hardly makes it a featherweight. Along with the new engine, the revised F-Pace also gets Jaguar’s optional but very good InControl Touch Pro infotainment system. In its top spec, combined with a Meridian audio system, it costs – gulp – £2670, but comes with 12.3in TFT digital instrument cluster and a 10.1in central touchscreen. The car’s standard system uses an 8in screen and older software,…

“The Merc will have to negotiate each duel before it can prove itself the ultimate super-saloon” Nobody’s ever asked me if I’ve contemplated ‘taking on an Ironman’. Mercifully, I think they know what the answer would be. In my head, of course, that contest would involve a very short and one-sided arm wrestle with Robert Downey Jnr (he’s only 5ft 8in, you know…) embarked upon, on ‘winner takes all’ terms, for the rocket-propelled contents of his underground lair. According to some of my friends, the other ‘Ironman’ is a particularly gruelling triathlon only ever undertaken, presumably, as part of a drunken bet: 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and then a marathon chucked in for good measure. All in the same day. Even if I’d inadvertently insulted Downey Jnr’s mum and…

“There’s always a Drift mode, of course — and the E63 drifts sensationally well” And so to the last hurdle. We’ve established that the new E63 is our king of noise and that the car’s new 4.0-litre V8 (different from the one in the C63 in that it has twin-scroll turbochargers, new pistons and a revised induction system) can combine with its nine-speed auto ’box and new all-corner drivetrain to outsprint a mighty RS7. Now our attention turns to what the E63 stood to lose by moving away from the simplicity of steel suspension and two-wheel drive: the balance and communicativeness of its handling. The one absolutely undeniable and unmissable truth about this new E63 is that its new air suspension set-up hasn’t made it a more comfortable-riding car. I…

CONNECTIVITY VS SECURITY Cars can already be operated via a mobile phone, or have their specifications changed through over-the-air (OTA) software upgrades. But increasing connectivity to other vehicles and infrastructure increases the risk of your family transport being hacked, so car makers are working with suppliers, such as Harman and Magna, to ensure that cyber security doesn’t become a problem for connected cars. New software will not only mitigate an attack but also log the details so manufacturers can spot patterns and fix any weak spots via OTA updates. COMMUNICATION IS KEY Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication via DSRC roadside units will require cars to interact with infrastructure such as traffic lights and junctions. A combination of V2I and V2V (see below) could eliminate collisions at blind junctions, for example. By integrating…

Advanced software originally developed for gaming is now being used to help designers and engineers use virtual reality to create the next generation of in-car displays. Behind every great video game, whether it be on an Xbox, Playstation or PC, lies a software ‘engine’ on which images are created in real time, 90 times a second, rather than decided upon in advance and then stored for later use. It’s this technology that makes today’s computer games so compelling and dynamic. Software company Unreal Engine Enterprises has made the jump from gaming to automotive. Using its technology, BMW has developed ‘mixed reality’ environments using virtual reality headsets to overlay images on basic 3D-printed models of car interiors. What users touch may be a simple and quickly produced rendition, but what they…

“The Jimny is the oldest production car on sale” Car firms are increasingly clinical about replacing aging models, releasing their successors every four to seven years regardless of today’s proliferation of models and niches. But some cars manage to dodge these rigid product plans – and the guillotine. Sometimes this is because their maker doesn’t have the budget to launch new models, or because they have little else in their product range to offer, or because there’s no replacement planned but still some profit in continuing with production. Here are 12 survivors worth looking at – and you might be surprised by which ones are still hanging on in there. ALFA ROMEO MITO Launched 2008 It still looks good but it has been a dynamically troubled premium supermini from day…

USED SPECIAL Half-price heroes James Ruppert’s pick of the second-hand cars that now cost half of what they did when they were new DRIVEN New BMW M5 We try the new all-wheel-drive 600bhp-plus super-saloon DRIVEN New Ford GT Matt Prior drives the fastest, most powerful, most expensive Ford yet EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST Suzuki Swift Ford Fiesta rival is funkier than ever to look at, but is it still good to drive? DRIVEN Hyundai i30 N Hyundai’s first performance hatch driven. Is it a match for the Golf GTI? USED GUIDE Renault Sport Mégane How to bag the best hot hatch of its generation for a bargain price SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p22…

A COLLEAGUE WITH a contact on the BMW board recently shared a fact he’d heard – that one pound in every four that BMW makes is from the 5 Series. Now I know you’re not reading about a 5 Series here, but given the 3 Series is hardly a rare sight on our roads, the point is that even in a world of SUVs, crossovers, SUV crossovers, crossover SUVcoupes or whatever SUV-shaped niche has been filled that week, the humble saloon remains of immense importance to premium car makers. This tallies with my own experience of life with the 3 Series. I’ve not cast one envious eye towards any kind of crossover since I’ve had the BMW. Maybe it’s just the familiarity of the breed, maybe it’s the quality of…

Alex Smith found this 2002 Fiat Stilo with an MOT in the local paper for £150. “I became the third owner of this Italian beast, called Freddie the Fiat,” he says. “I have been running cars for years on tiny budgets and always try to fix them rather than take the easy way out by scrapping them. The MOT on the car was very short, and when I put it in for the test, I feared the worst. It did fail, but only because it needed a set of wipers. The only advisory was a slight discolouration of two indicator bulbs. Now that is Bangernomics!” SEND YOUR USED CAR TALES TO ✉ james@bangernomics.com…

1 Porsche 718 Cayman From £39,878 Scalpel-blade incisiveness, supreme balance and outstanding driver involvement. A practical two-seater, too. 2 Mazda MX-5 From £18,495 Brilliantly packaged, brilliantly priced and even more vibrant and perfectly poised to drive than the original. 3 Toyota GT86 From £26,410 Who knew Toyota had another dynamic masterstroke in it after the Lexus LFA? Almost as fun as you can buy on a limited budget. 4 BMW M240i From £35,100 Towers over most German rivals. Outstanding engine, characterful handling, strong usability. 5 Lotus Elise Sport From £30,800 If you want a delicate, vivid and unfettered drive, none does it better. If you want a daily driver, shop elsewhere.…

“New underpinnings provide scope for both rear and four-wheel-drive versions of the coupé” The next Bentley Continental GT will be comprehensively re-engineered to give the traditional coupé renewed impetus and appeal as the British car maker readies itself for its biggest year of sales yet. The forthcoming second-generation Continental GT, depicted here by our artist based on our information about the styling, will be given its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September. The new coupé is not based on the original Continental GT’s platform. Instead, it has been developed from the ground up as part of a joint project with Porsche and shares its underpinnings with the latest Panamera. The new Continental GT will also be made as an open-top GTC. Such is the level of technology…

Aston Martin is to build 28 examples of the Zagato Speedster, each costing about £1.3m, Autocar has learned. The limited-run V12 model will use a naturally aspirated 5.9-litre engine that produces 592bhp — 27bhp more than the regular Vanquish. The model follows the Vanquish Zagato coupé and Volante, which were revealed last year. Both the existing Volante and forthcoming Speedster are open-top. However, the Speedster will be more limited in volume — 28 units compared with 99 — and will not have a roof, in a similar vein to the Aston Martin DB AR1 of 2003 (see separate story, right). The Zagato Volante can cover 0-60mph in 3.7sec, but losing the convertible roof will make the Speedster even quicker. Top speed will be close to 197mph. Like the Vanquish Zagato…

THE PUSH TO develop ever smaller, downsized engines to meet emissions regulations has peaked, according to Volkswagen brand boss Herbert Diess. For more than a decade, manufacturers have focused on developing smaller engines, including families of new, turbo and non-turbo three-cylinder engines, in order to meet laboratory-based emissions regulations. However, Diess believes the cost of developing even smaller engines, coupled with the onset of better real-world economy testing, means the current status quo on engine sizes is likely to be maintained. “The reduction in the number of cylinders has achieved its goals,” he said. “Whether it is moving from four cylinders to three or six to four, then we have achieved efficiency benefits while retaining the qualities of driveability. That trend made a lot of sense — but it comes…

“It was purely based on frustration with Exile, in the middle of summer 2016. I thought it would be nice to have a toy to play with,” said Lee Noble, talking about creating the Bug:R — a beach buggy kit car not unlike the Volkswagen beach buggies of old. Noble’s Bug:R is based on the platform of a Mk3 Ford Mondeo. Parts are cheap, reliable and plentiful, said Noble, and a fully assembled car can be had for around £18,000 — the same price as a low-end Vauxhall Astra. Any motor could be installed in the car’s mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive set-up, but a four-cylinder petrol will be the most common choice, said Noble. He’d like to see a V6 used, but demand would be low. Noble expects to shift around 20-30…

“Heat in the rear tyres and 4100rpm is just right, thanks very much” The HSV GTSR W1 will go down in history as the fastest, most powerful and most expensive car Australia ever produced – because the country’s industry shuts up shop this October when Holden and Toyota close their factory doors, a year after Ford did the same. Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) is the fast-car division of General Motors’ Aussie outpost Holden. Contrary to perception, it’s a separate company to Holden, owned by Ryan Walkinshaw, who took over from his father, the late Tom Walkinshaw, Scottish race driver, team owner and businessman. This year is the company’s 30th anniversary. HSV has strong support from Holden and General Motors in Detroit, which gets the final sign-off on the engineering changes…

“Never before has Mercedes-AMG packed so much motorsport technology into a production vehicle.” Quite a claim, for all sorts of reasons – and it’s to be found in the opening paragraph of the press material for the subject of this week’s road test: the Mercedes-AMG GT R. Let’s take a moment to pick that sentence apart. Mercedes-AMG could reasonably claim motorsport involvement and success unknown to most car makers or factory performance tuners. Since 2012 it has been a key part of the Mercedes Formula 1 effort, it has had more success in German DTM touring car racing than any other team and since 2010 it has been selling customer racing cars. When it comes to selling track-ready, six-figure sports cars in this new GT R’s mould, of course, Affalterbach…

Before we get moving, we’ll break out the Autocar noise meter, which looks a bit like a prop from Tomorrow’s World. Shame I don’t look more like Maggie Philbin. The back end of the 470bhp GS F, meanwhile, looks more like the business end of a 300-year-old church pipe organ, its quad exhausts stacked diagonally. In theory, the Lexus should have the advantage here in terms of sonorous quality, without any turbos to muffle or disguise its combustion repertoire. But then it wouldn’t be like AMG to decline to make up in quantity of noise what the car’s V8 soundtrack may lack in quality. Our test car also has AMG’s £1000 optional performance exhaust, which ought to ramp the decibels up a few notches. When you’re driving the Lexus, the…

BMW will be reading this comparison with interest, given that its own super-saloon, the M5, is also adopting four-wheel drive in its next generation. That a sliver of engagement has been removed from the E63 S in making the switch will have been noted in Munich. Then again, the current M5 isn’t the most engaging tool to start with, even with the pricey Competition Pack upgrade. BMW has less to lose in making the switch to four-wheel drive. Indeed, it has a reputation to win back from the M5’s glory days. We’ll be seeing the new M5 very soon, and driving it even sooner. In these pages next week, we’ll have an early taste of the new car under camouflage as we join BMW’s test and development team. For now,…

“With Racemo, we set out to design not just a car, but also a customer experience” When an exclusive new two-seat sports car is built entirely for driving pleasure, with radical styling, butterfly doors, a carbonfibre backbone chassis, race-bred double-wishbone suspension and a highly tuned, mid-mounted engine, you can bet your mortgage it will turn out to be very large and very expensive. This is the immutable law of the supercar, established over decades, and you’ll search in vain for anything European that breaks it. However, a brand-new mid-engined sports car from India’s biggest car maker, Tata Motors, kicks the established rules into touch. It is cheap to buy but exclusive. It is cheap to build but sophisticated. It is imposing and spacious inside but shorter than a Mini. Called…

There could be economy and premium versions of Sedric in different sizes. Favourite is a 2+2 for two people or one with luggage. Designers deliberately avoided making Sedric’s interior look like the inside of a bus or train, opting for a ‘living room’ look instead. Sedric pods could be private or public. Public pods could be identified when they arrive by colour and audio, so the visually impaired can use them. An array of sensors includes a 360deg Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR), camera and radar sensors. The system gives ‘triple redundancy,’ each method covering the other in case of confusion or failure. The Sedric is the Volkswagen Group’s self-driving car of the future. The concept itself won’t make production but much of the technology will – in around 10…

In the next two to three years most premium cars going on sale will be 48V mild hybrids, and the lower echelons of the market are likely to follow suit. These 48V systems will also help to meet the increasing demand for connected car and infotainment features, more advanced driver assistance systems, electric superchargers and autonomous technology. The Audi SQ7 is the first production car with a 48V electrical system and electrically powered compressor (EPC). The 48V technology is relatively simple and cheap to add to existing vehicle architectures and integrate with 12V electrics. A belt-integrated starter-generator (BiSG) can be bolted to the engine in place of the existing 12V generator. The addition of a beefier drive belt means it can provide a smoother, faster-acting stop-start function and also feed…

“I’ve already had some of the best drives of recent years in this car” Cheerio, then, because this is it: the last of the old-school Aston Martins. It has been quite the journey since the lineage of ‘Vertical-Horizontal’-architectured cars began with the DB9 in 2004, when the Aston world was Ford Premier Automotive Group’s and contained the prospect of a new dawn. Since then has come the new Vantage, independence, charismatic gaffer Ulrich Bez (who, I’m told, used to ride a Segway around the office and wouldn’t race a car during darkness), and racing. Lots and lots of racing. Meantime, the VH architecture has been creeping onwards. Shorn of a deep-pocketed global conglomerate backing it (although, if managed properly, I can’t help thinking Ford’s Premier Automotive Group portfolio could be…

When I heard that some relatives who’ve recently become grandparents for the second time needed to change their much-loved 2004 Audi A3 for a more practical model, I offered to show them the Q2. Diane and Gary were considering a Q3 because they’ve been so impressed with the brand that they want to stay with it, but needed four doors instead of two and better access to the rear seats so they could take both grandchildren out. Although the Q2 didn’t offer as much rear seat space as a Q3, they liked the high seating position, especially in the back compared with their A3, and found the 1.4-litre petrol engine surprisingly responsive compared with their current 2.0-litre diesel. Their A3 has fairly stiff S line sports suspension, so they also…

XF with more extras than Hollywood This is a mightily tempting Jaguar: a 2014 XF 3.0-litre V6 diesel in R Sport trim with 47,000 miles. It seems to have a heap of additional equipment, never mind the 20in gloss black alloy wheels and half-black-leather, half-Alcantara interior with piano black inlays. This is a one-owner car, too, and apparently all the extras add up to a whopping £5000. Price: £18,999. Big Honda is ready for Civic duties We love the Honda Civic and don’t think the Tourer gets enough high fives. Just look at its satisfyingly complicated design. This one has ABS, EBD and Brake Assist; vehicle stability assist; Bluetooth hands-free phone connection; power steering; intelligent multi-information display; body-coloured, electrically adjustable, heated door mirrors and six speakers. It’s a 2016 1.8…

With only around 600 on the roads and another 350 SORNed in lock-ups keeping dry, if any much-praised 1990s sports saloon has the whiff of future classic status around it, it’s the Honda Accord Type R of 1999 to 2003. Note: ‘future’. Although excited owners claim to have spotted prices stirring, you can still pick up a well-maintained 2002 example with around 130,000 miles for between £2500 and £3000. Even a same-age, sub-100,000-mile car with a good history is unlikely to be much more than £4500. But those are cars for sale, and there aren’t many of them. The best ones are in the care of people in no hurry to sell, and with an eye on future returns. They’re confident because the Accord Type R is so good. Its…

1 Ford Focus RS From £32,265 Simply the most exciting hot hatchback money can buy right now — and at a bargain price. 2 Volkswagen Golf R From £32,000 Blends the formerly unblendable: VW sophistication meets frenzied driver appeal. Fantastic value for money. 3 Mercedes-AMG A45 From £40,700 Engine is short on character but makes up for it with massive grunt. Chassis does the same with grip and balance. 4 Audi RS3 From £40 000 Colossal price made to look worse by cheaper Golf R. Frenzied five-pot makes it brutal, though, and not a little addictive. 5 BMW M140i From £32,200 Endowing a hatchback with a six-cylinder engine still makes for fun; the rear-drive chassis isn’t quite the entertainer it should be.…

NEW CAR SALES in the UK fell by almost 20% in April, largely due to changes in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates, according to industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Registrations dropped 19.8% to 152,076 in April compared with 189,505 cars sold in April 2016. It was also the first month in 47 in which there was a downturn in demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles. That is also attributed to the higher VED rates affecting hybrid models. Demand for petrol cars dropped 13.1%, but the most notable decline was for diesel cars, down 27.3%. However, despite falling sales, the market share for diesel rose. Diesel accounted for 43.4% of sales in March and 44.9% in April. Overall, the market is up 1.1% for the year to…

Lee Noble, the founder of Noble Automotive, is launching his own line-up of cars under the Specialised Sporting Vehicles banner, starting with a 515bhp track car called the Exile. Currently being tested in prototype form, the Exile uses a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 Ford engine and will be launched by the end of this year. Packing 515bhp per tonne — just 10bhp less than the BAC Mono — the Exile is, in Noble’s words, “bloody quick” and has a top speed of 180-190mph. Acceleration hasn’t been measured yet, but Noble is aiming for a 0-60mph time of between 2.4sec and 2.9sec, which would make it one of the fastest-accelerating cars available. “McLaren territory,” said Noble. Further down the line, there could be plans to set a lap time at the Nürburgring.…

SKODA HAS LAUNCHED a digital showroom that will allow interested customers to be shown around models in a live presentation via internet video streaming. Described as being like a “one-way Skype call”, website visitors can click a button to request an instant video call back. Then a so-called product host will show the person the car using a mix of static cameras and a smartphone camera and answer questions. At the end of the video call, the host will ask whether the person wants to be referred to a local Skoda dealer, and if so, will take the person’s details. The new service does not offer the option of completing a car purchase online, unlike those of some car makers such as Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover and Smart. Jonathan Harris,…

The incentives to buy an electric car in the UK may have been reduced, but more and more people are still making the switch away from conventionally powered vehicles. So far this year, sales of ‘alternatively fuelled’ vehicles have accounted for around 4% of all new car registrations. Britain is western Europe’s third-largest market for electrified cars, behind the Netherlands and Norway, where incentives are substantial, but the global trend tells a similar story. March this year was the third-best month for electrified car sales in Europe, behind only December 2015 and 2016, when financial inducements peaked. The new Renault Zoe and the Nissan Leaf were the standard-bearers, chased by the plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander. Electrified car sales average around 1% of total sales across the region. In the US,…

Mini has joined the plug-in hybrid crowd. This car, the £31,585 Countryman Cooper S E All4, is its first petrol-electric plug-in and it follows the launch of the mechanically identical, £33,025 225xe Sport Active Tourer of Mini’s parent, BMW. In fact, the fundamentals of the Cooper S E’s hybrid driveline first appeared on the BMW i8, although they’ve been turned 180deg for this new high-riding five-seater. The petrol engine is mounted transversely up front and the electric motor is sited within the axle assembly at the rear. The turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine delivers 134bhp, and 162lb ft at a low 1250rpm, while the brushless electric motor serves up 87bhp and 122lb ft. All up, they give a combined maximum of 221bhp and 284lb ft. By comparison, the £28,025 Cooper…

It remains a slightly unusual car, the AMG GT R. Most cars, when they become track-focused specials, ramp down the weight and ramp up the interaction. The thing about the GT R – and it’s quite a nice thing – is that the theatre and drama that comes with the regular car isn’t just present, it’s also amplified. What’s unusual, then, is that the levels of engagement, while rising, don’t increase to the top-most tier of analogue involvement. If you’re looking for the outright focus of, say, a Porsche 911 GT3, or the brutal feedback of a Nissan GT-R Nismo, you’ll not find it. Yes, the GT R is harder than a regular GT, but the additional kicks come from the angrier looks, the lashings of Alcantara and the splendid…

 This head-to-head won’t be as easy. The previous E63 would have been absolutely destroyed by the 597bhp, quattro-driven RS7 on standing-start acceleration and, right now, I can’t honestly believe the new one can make such a titanic step up. “Sitting in the Audi, you can’t believe the Mercedes-AMG stands a chance” It only was this generation of Audi’s RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback that finally took the 0-62mph benchmark for big, luxury, four-seat super-saloon/estate cars under 4.0sec. Even before Neckarsulm revised the cars with its Performance editions last year, both were capable of hitting 60mph from rest in three-point-something thanks to an engine good enough to have become the motor of choice (as far as we’re concerned) in a 2.5-tonne Bentley Continental GT. Now, in revised and more powerful form,…

Like a Monster Raving Loony Party candidate standing alongside grey-suited politicians on election night, AMG has long provided comic relief in the oh-so-serious performance car world. Mercedes’ fast car arm may have traded its clown shoes for brogues in recent years, with downsized turbo engines and ultra-sophisticated chassis tech, but for two decades the brand stood for monstrous engines, raving soundtracks and loony handling characteristics. AMG has a long history as Mercedes’ performance division, and that means plenty of choice for the car enthusiast with an eye for a bargain. You don’t necessarily have to spend £88k on the latest E63; as our used picks from AMG’s hall of fame show, there is fun for every budget to be found if you scour the classifieds. 2003 CLK55 AMG Most AMG…

Can the EV ever replace petrol and diesel cars, or will they only work for short journeys? Dave Greenwood, professor of advanced propulsion at the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), also heads battery development at the Advanced Propulsion Centre. He thinks that expecting the EV to one day match the range of a petrol or diesel car may be unnecessary for most drivers. “Ninety eight percent of journeys are less than 50 miles,” he says. “If we continue the race for range with EVs then very few journeys would take advantage of that. The cost of increasing the range of an EV from 100 miles to 200 miles would double.” Based on today’s prices, that would mean a jump in battery price from £5000 to £10,000 for a car the size…

Hydrogen fuel cells combine hydrogen and airborne oxygen to make electricity, with only water and heat as by-products. A fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) is simply an EV that uses a fuel cell as its source of electricity. The fuel cell’s hydrogen supply can be replenished at a pump in about the same time as it takes to refuel a conventional car, and fuel cells could take over as the favourite power source for EVs beyond 2025. Experts are split over the benefits, arguing that producing hydrogen, compressing or liquefying it, transporting it then filling a car with it all consumes too much energy to be efficient. There is a compelling argument for hydrogen, though. It is the most abundant element in the Universe, it can be made sustainably, it…

Today one of the most powerful EV batteries ‘fuelling’ the £129,400 Tesla Model S P100D is the size of a queen-size mattress, weighs more than half a tonne and stores 100kWh of energy. The battery would be too big and too expensive for use in a small EV. The price of lithium ion batteries has fallen over the past five years but still stands at around £200 per kWh, so the approximate cost of a 100kWh battery is £20,000. Compared like for like, there’s still a yawning chasm between the weight, space and cost efficiency of battery energy storage compared to that petrol or diesel, especially when it comes to small, non-premium cars. Experts say this is improving, though. How about the cost of the energy? At the moment, electricity…

Today’s purchaser of a pure-electric vehicle is fortunate: they receive a £4500 discount on a new car, pay no VED and can recharge from the cheapest off-peak electricity tariffs. Not to mention, of course, a mere 5% tax on the energy charges. The petrol/diesel driver opts to be so because, perhaps, he has no access to recharging, tows a large trailer, owns a motorhome or needs long-distance capability. Not for him a purchase discount; instead a hefty VED charge (especially if he chooses a £40k-plus motor), and – wow! – taxation on fuel at a cool 200%. The bubble must burst, however. The cheap overnight tariffs will disappear when everyone is plugging in EVs, electricity prices will rise when the oil industry’s retail operation is transferred to the National Grid…

The Passat has been busy recently, mostly because I’ve moved house. This means the way I use the VW has changed in the short term. The most significant difference is that there’s no way I’m plugging an EV into the dodgy electrics in my new place. One mains socket melted when I was using a vacuum cleaner to clean out the Passat and another blew up my microwave, so for now I have a strict ‘one on, one off’ policy with appliances – and I’m not charging the car. The upshot is that I’ve gone from doing around 65% of driving on battery power to barely 25%. I’ve also reversed what was becoming a rapid degentrification of the interior. Following the move, the VW took on the role of builder’s…

I did think for a while that it was old age and basic feebleness that meant every time I shut the Lorry’s driver’s door, it didn’t actually close. If I was stationary, I thought I had caught the seatbelt. If I was on the move, I would have to open the door and really slam it shut, after hearing the rattles as I went along. So I looked into it, and although there is a screw on the lock that undoes itself, that isn’t the issue. The door is starting to drop. I think this might be related to the mild steel rusty bits, so I might as well try to rehang the door.…

1 Volkswagen Up From £8995 VW’s city car is no revolution, just a trademarked effort to beat its rivals on finish, refinement and economy. 2 Hyundai i10 From £9250 The latest i10 prioritises maturity over its former liveliness, but the refined result is still a first-rate city car. 3 Suzuki Celerio From £6999 Pleasing to drive, cheap to buy and decent to sit in, the Celerio is a no-nonsense option — and very likeable for it. 4 Fiat Panda From £9245 The Panda may not have quite kept pace with its rivals but it still sells robust, practical charm better than any. 5 Vauxhall Viva From £9175 A derivative and charisma-free take on the modern city car but not devoid of usability or space. Cabin is decent, too.…

KIA STONIC, HYUNDAI KONA | OCTOBER The South Korean sister brands each have a Nissan Juke-rivaling small SUV on the way. The Stonic and Kona use the structure of the latest Kia Rio hatchback. Engines are 1.4-litre petrol and diesels, plus the 1.6-litre diesel of lesser Kia Sportages. Both front and four-wheel drive will be available. Price£15,500 (est) MAY Alpina B3 S, B4 S, D4, Audi A5 Cabriolet, David Brown Mini Remastered, Kia Picanto, Lamborghini Aventador S (right), Huracán Performante, Lotus Elise 250 Cup, Exige Cup 380, Exige Race 380, McLaren 720S, 720S MSO, Noble M600 Speedster, Renault Mégane Hybrid Assist, Grand Scenic Hybrid Assist, Scenic Hybrid Assist, Seat Ateca FR, Skoda Citigo update, Rapid and Rapid Spaceback updates, Subaru Levorg update, Volkswagen e-Golf update, Golf update, Golf Hybrid JUNE Audi…