Innholdsfortegnelse for January 11, 2023 i Autocar

The all-new Volkswagen ID 7 has been closely previewed by this camouflaged prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The ID 7, which had previously been known as Aero B in concept guise and during development, will be offered initially as a five-door liftback, with an estate model to follow. It is the sixth model to be launched in the ID range and will initially sit alongside the Arteon and Passat, the latter of which will be offered only as an estate in its next generation. In time, it will become VW’s sole offering in Europe’s shrinking D-segment because no further versions of the Arteon and Passat are due once the switch to EVs has been made. “It will launch in two-wheel-drive form followed by a 4WD GTX…

TRUCK MARQUE RAM has shown how it plans to “redefine” the electric pick-up segment with this bold-looking concept, revealed at CES in Las Vegas. Called the 1500 Revolution, the futuristic truck is the electric reimagining of the Ram 1500, itself the fifth iteration of the iconic Dodge Ram pick-up. It brims with innovation, such as an augmented reality head-up display, an extendable bed and third-row ‘jump seats’, which Stellantis-owned Ram claims to be an industry first. The STLA Frame-based 1500 Revolution also showcases the truck maker’s new-look front end, which introduces an animated logo. This will first be fitted to the concept’s production version, the Ram 1500 EV, due to launch in 2024. Other features that could make production include the extendable payload. This enables the 1500 Revolution to transport…

KIA SOLD MORE than 100,000 cars in the UK for the first time in 2022, more than tripling its volumes in the market from just 15 years ago and setting it on a path to further growth. In total, 100,191 Kia cars left showrooms, placing it sixth among all manufacturers, with a 6.2% market share. Its sales fell just 2000 units behind Toyota, in fifth place. The manufacturer cited the Sportage, Niro and Xceed crossovers as the source of its success. The Sportage and Niro combined for 44,000 sales by the end of the third quarter of the year. The Xceed, meanwhile, provided the brand with a late boost as the facelifted model arrived in showrooms as the year came to a close. Of the cars that Kia sold in…

End-of-life EVs are destined to be highly sought-after by End of Life Authorised Treatment Facilities. In anticipation of the roughly two million end-of-life EVs that the industry expects to receive annually by 2045, EMR, a major recycling group, has partnered with an organisation called Recovas to develop an end-of-life-EV supply chain for the industry. Roger Morton, managing director of technology and innovation at EMR, said: “Our aim is to create a circular supply chain for batteries and, in the process, reduce the cost for end-of-life disposal for the vehicle manufacturer or last owner of the car to zero. “By working in partnership with the Recovas consortium, EV manufacturers will develop simple design changes that greatly improve the potential to remanufacture, reuse or recycle their batteries at end of life. This…

TO bZ3 OR NOT TO bZ3 The new Toyota bZ3 is an attractive, high-tech rival to the Tesla Model 3 using radical long-range battery tech from BYD – but it’s not coming to the UK. Or is it? Asked about it, product boss Andrea Carlucci said: “Stay tuned.” With the similarly conceived Hyundai Ioniq 6, Nio ET5 and Volkswagen ID 7 due this year, perhaps Toyota could be persuaded to join the reinvigorated saloon segment. SIMPLY THE BEST “I knew [when] coming to Renault that Dacia was a big success,” said Renault engineering boss Gilles Le Borgne. “But when I saw the numbers, I said: ‘Come on!’ It’s a unique regime with frugal engineering, high volume, a good manufacturing footprint, very clever go-to-market appeal, no rebates and improved design. It’s…

TESTED 7.12.22, SHANGHAI, CHINA ON SALE NOVEMBER (UK) With the Funky Cat now on sale in Europe and the UK, Ora is no longer totally unknown outside of China. The nascent marque, owned by the giant Great Wall Motor company, is busy expanding its range of electric cars, all of them with feline names. This latest one, called the Lightning Cat at home but the Next Cat over here, is more grown-up than the MG 4 EV-rivalling Funky Cat, being a roughly Ford Mondeo-size saloon. While the Lightning Cat has quite a distinctive design, there’s obvious Porsche inspiration and the headlights look as if they’ve come straight off a Mini but, ultimately, the proportions just seem a bit off. The interior is even more memorable. Step inside and you’re shown…

MODEL TESTED COLOUR • Price £8095 • Power 8bhp • Torque 29lb ft • 0-60mph na • 30-70mph na • Economy 7.1mpkWh • CO2 emissions 0g/km • 70-0mph na As modern motoring diverges from the old norm of big traditional car makers making big traditional cars, we see this now and again: someone branching out here and there with something novel, taking a chance, a rare bet, a delve into ‘mobility’. What do, if we look back sufficiently far, the Sinclair C5, BMW C1 scooter, Reva G-Wiz and Renault Twizy all have in common? That’s right: they’re not offered here any more, and their manufacturers or importers don’t offer anything like them, either. So a prolonged first run and a commissioned second series is not a given as we welcome the…

To say the Mercedes-Benz SL has been conflicted over the years would be something of an understatement. Ever since making its debut in 1954, Mercedes’ performance flagship has pinballed from out-and-out sports car to sunshine-seeking boulevardier and back again and again. In fact, the first road car to receive the badge (it stands for Super Leicht, by the way) was arguably the most purebred sportster of them all and packed true motorsport pedigree. Essentially a rebodied version of 1952’s W194 300 SL racer (which won the gruelling 2000-mile Carrera Panamericana), complete with its 3.0-litre straight six, this was the iconic W198 300 SL ‘Gullwing’. In 1957, Mercedes chopped the roof off to create the 300 SL Roadster, which sat alongside the far cheaper 190 SL – a car that aimed…

Mate Rimac has notched up many achievements in 13 action-packed years, but his headline-grabber has been launching the Nevera, his advanced EV hypercar, five or six years ahead of McLaren, Ferrari and the rest. Indeed, it is the capability and credibility of the Nevera that has induced the Volkswagen Group to hand Rimac the running of its problematic Bugatti marque, a source of wonderful cars for 20 years but a project that has always needed large investments and struggled to earn profits. Mate Rimac sees the marques as different canvases. “Bugatti is about heritage, craftsmanship, pursuit of perfection and a hint of aristocracy,” he says. “Rimac is wild and crazy, with an enginee-ringtechnology focus.” Bugatti’s brand values are already well known, but Mate Rimac promises “technical, exciting stuff that’s really…

I’ve been a car lover since my early teens when I was given a grounding in mechanics by my uncle. As soon as I was old enough, I took my test, bought two Austin 1300s and made a good one out of them. A few rusty Austins followed until I was able to buy my first new car in 1984. Since then I’ve bought a new car every few years, always paying cash. Nothing fancy: Fiats, Vauxhalls, the odd Mazda, a Hyundai and a Seat. My Ibiza does everything I need it to. It’s quick enough, refined enough, frugal and very well equipped. Due to Covid and my retirement, it has done only 11,000 miles, so what to do when it’s time to change? I will probably keep it for…

MILEAGE 7754 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if Honda can save the everyday family hatchback Remember when Honda’s ad agency was on a roll? ‘Cog’ remains one of my favourite ads (give yourself a two-minute pick-meup by watching it again), but the one that really struck home at the time was ‘Impossible Dream’. That was the one where the chap rode/flew/drove/piloted most of Honda’s machinery across a series of landscapes. I’ve loved Japanese car brands for as long as I can remember but, boy, what a way to reinforce why. It’s their sheer breadth of capability, their never-ending ability to always offer something slightly daft or different. Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda – they’ve all got form. So to my current wheels. And also my 37-year-old wheels. They…

The hot hatchback hall of fame is sure to have a fair few Renaults in it, one of them being the Mk2 Mégane RS (confusingly based on the Mk3 Mégane). This fast and fun three-door arrived on UK shores in 2010 and spawned a plethora of variants, to the point that you can easily get in a muddle trying to differentiate them. At the beginning, there was the RS 250, which packs a 247bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. This was joined by a Cup version that gained some go-faster goodies, including a limited-slip differential and the stiffer, lighter Cup chassis (which was also available as an optional extra on the standard model). But like a fussy Hollywood director, Renault wanted to do many more takes. In 2011, it came out…

The whole point of the concept car is to push the boundaries of design and technology. But sometimes a car maker or design house doesn’t know when to stop. These are the concepts that were so over the top they were never going to reach the road in any form. Some have become legends but others were soon forgotten – the best thing that could have happened to them. Renault EZ-Ultimo 2018 The term ‘living room on wheels’ has been with us for a long time, but with this car the description is for once bang on the money. Better still, the EZ-Ultimo could drive itself, allowing you all to party en route to your, er, next party. Revelry had its limits, however, as there was only room for three…

“The head-up display unit is capable of projecting information across the full width of the windscreen” Aradical tech-focused future beckons for the BMW 3 Series, as previewed by the new i Vision Dee electric concept car, described by the German marque as the “next level of human-machine interaction”. Due to reach production in 2025, the UK-bound four-door saloon was revealed in concept form at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It is based on BMW’s Neue Klasse platform, an all-new structure that is set to underpin a wide range of future internal-combustion-engined, plug-in hybrid and electricpowered BMW models. The i Vision Dee’s key features include a range of new digital functions, such as a head-up display unit capable of projecting information across the full width of the windscreen…

THE NEXT-GENERATION Toyota C-HR is primed to take on the likes of the Kia Niro, moving upmarket by adding a plug-in hybrid powertrain to its ranks – and new images appear to show an electric variant is also on the cards. Due on sale by 2024, the Mk2 C-HR will be a close sibling to the new Toyota Prius. It will be underpinned by the same TNGA platform and offered with the same mix of parallel-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains. The C-HR may also gain a battery-electric variant, placing it in direct competition with the triple-powertrain Niro line-up. Autocar’s spy photographer said this test car is a pure-EV proposition, suggesting Toyota’s Small SU EV concept from 2021 – itself almost identical to the more recent C-HR concept (pictured, right) –…

SONY HONDA MOBILITY (SHM), the joint venture formed between the two Japanese industrial giants, has revealed the name of its new electric vehicle brand and shown off its very first prototype. The EV brand will be called Afeela and it represents “a new relationship between people and mobility”, according to SHM CEO Yasuhide Mizuno. The exact name of the first Afeela prototype, a four-door fastback saloon, has yet to be revealed, but SHM did confirm that it will be available for pre-order in the first half of 2025, before sales start at the end of that year. Deliveries are slated for spring 2026 in North America. Inside, where there’s enough space for five occupants, digital screens are positioned on the back of each seat and across the dashboard. The steering…

AS THE WILL-IT-WON’T-IT story of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) continues to ramble on, BMW and Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK both announced new plans for FCEVs in early December. BMW has started producing a limited run of its iX5 Hydrogen, which will be used as technology demonstrators. Meanwhile, a consortium led by Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK is starting work on a project funded by the UK government, via the Advanced Propulsion Centre, to migrate the second-generation fuel cell system (as used in the Mirai) into a Hilux pick-up. Since the global industry set out in the late 1990s to make fuel cell vehicles more or less mainstream by 2004, then singly failed, technology has moved on a lot. The obvious development is the arrival and fast maturing of automotive-scale lithium…

There’s a criticism levelled at concept cars. Imagine, say, going to a hi-fi show where a major electronics maker displays a stereo that can not only play music but also make you tea, clean the floor and do your kids’ homework. It will arrive in three years’ time, you’re told, only when it does, it won’t brew, sweep or write. A little frustrating. As such, Tesla boss Elon Musk once labelled concepts “lame” – although given that in 2017 he claimed the new Roadster would be available in 2020, do take his critique with whatever seriousness you deem appropriate. So to the BMW i Vision Dee concept, which will have been confounding the ‘i’ component of commentators’ autocorrect functions since it was unveiled last week at the Consumer Electronics Show…

WHAT A WAY to finish the endurance rallying season. Hero-Era’s annual Land’s End to John O’Groats Reliability Trial for Historic and Classic Cars (better known as LeJog) once again proved how some classic car enthusiasts are a glutton for punishment, as an international cast of crews completed a gruelling schedule to make it to from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland. A total of 1300 miles were logged over five days, made up of 33 regularity stages and 17 tests, with the final legs being held over 26 hours – with just a two-hour break in between. The route this time ran up our island’s west side, past the gateway to the Scottish islands and across the rugged terrain of the northern Highlands. Twelve medals were awarded…

Very few cars better symbolise how electrification is affecting car design and opening up the art of the possible than the single-motor Volvo C40 Recharge. Having joined the dual-motor C40 in production midway through last year, it’s broadly what you would expect. It costs a bit less, it has one driven axle rather than two and it has a slightly smaller battery. But dig a little deeper and you will find one key technical point that would have made a 20th-century product planner’s eyes roll. While the 2023-model-year C40 (tested here, having just joined Volvo UK’s press fleet) has its motor on its front axle, the 2024-model-year C40 (which you’re more likely to get if you put down a deposit today, production being due to start this summer) will have…

How many of us are looking at downsizing our cars right now? Among my default recommendations to anyone who wants a small, affordable, versatile car with room inside it and some character without remains the one that has just been delivered to my driveway: the Suzuki Ignis. MONDAY, 10.23AM I’m regularly telling people how much more useful these clever little cars are than you might imagine. Now it’s time to prove it. For the next seven days, this 3.7-metre-long, 1.2-litre city car will be the Saunders family’s only means of transport. Anywhere we need to go, we will go in this, and anything we need to carry will go in the boot – or it won’t be going. The office commute, the school run, the supermarket shop and the weekend…

Time was when the most difficult question a manufacturer could expect at the launch of a new car would have been along the lines of: “What’ll it do?” Today, things have moved on and one of the key questions asked is: “What’s it made of?” In the past decade, a new thread has emerged in the shape of the ethicality and sustainability surrounding the use of animal products. Greater awareness of these issues has added numerous layers of complexity to the business of making cars in the sense that reducing the carbon footprint and ethical considerations are becoming interwoven and possibly confused. Campaigning by US charity Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others has led to closer scrutiny of the animal products used in cars, for the…

TWIN TEST Alfa Romeo Tonale vs Audi Q3 Turin is betting big on its compact SUV, but can it beat the German premium establishment? Matt Saunders delivers the verdict FIRST DRIVE Citroën ë-C4 X Unconventional new electric fastback with 222 miles of range hits the road FEATURE Lambo’s V12 legacy As the fabled engine departs in its purest form, we meet the people behind it EVERY WEEK CULT HERO Mercedes-Benz CL Upstaged two-door sibling of the S-Class goes for as little as £3500 ROAD TEST Toyota bZ4X Toyota has come late to the batteryelectric party. Was it worth the wait? SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p20…

MILEAGE 4220 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Mazda’s largest and priciest car is also its first PHEV. Does it make any sense? We like the Mazda CX-5 for its impressive dynamics, lavish interior and handsome styling, but there’s no denying the economic pitfalls of its naturally aspirated, large-capacity petrol engine. The larger, heavier CX-60 uses that same thirsty 2.5-litre motor but because it’s a PHEV, you might assume this wouldn’t be a massive problem, because it can get you from A to B without needing the engine at all. Or it could, if it were able to muster up anywhere near as much EV range as it says it will do on a charge, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to rely on plug-in power as much as I was hoping…

The first-generation Evoque was such a handsome beast it would have sold by the bucketload even if it had handled like a shopping trolley. As it turned out, it didn’t handle like one, but it did gain a bit of a reputation for poor reliability. Unsurprisingly, this second-gen car didn’t mess with the visual formula. It was a gentle but neat styling evolution of the first, while underneath it introduced a range of more powerful and efficient engines and some upgraded tech. It’s a lovely car, but guess what? You still might find yourself on first-name terms with your local Land Rover service manager. Don’t write it off, though, because there is plenty to like here. To begin with, there were three power grades for both 2.0-litre petrol and diesel…

An expert’s view MATTHEW ASHMORE, SELECT MOTORSPORT “It really does a great job of keeping alive the RS spirit – the kind you get with some of the older, rawer models – while offering some comfort and good low-down torque to help with everyday driving. This is the main attraction to these cars, because they make good daily drivers. And with a few light modifications, they go extremely well on track. We work with them most days, taking them from standard road cars to modified track/race cars. Cambelts are pretty labour-intensive and it really pays to take them to a garage that’s familiar with them. It’s all too common to see timing issues resulting in lower power and economy/efficiency.” Buyer beware… ENGINE Check the cambelt and water pump were changed…

The extraordinary new Inception concept “heralds a new era” for future Peugeot electric cars, which will make dramatic technological leaps and feature radically different designs from the company’s current offering. Revealed at CES in Las Vegas – unusually for Peugeot, which left the US market in 1991 – the Inception is the first concept from recently appointed design boss Matthias Hossann and provides a mission statement for the brand’s future production vehicles. The firm will launch five new EVs in the next two years and go allelectric by 2030 in Europe. Hossann told Autocar recently that upcoming Peugeot cars will take the lead from the new 408 saloon-SUV in “challenging conventional silhouettes”. Certainly, the Inception bears no obvious relation to anything in the current Peugeot stable. Sitting low to the…

Five months of consecutive growth at the end of 2022 could not prevent UK new car sales falling to their lowest ebb in 30 years, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The decline – blamed primarily on supply chain shortages, especially of semiconductors – left total sales at 1.61 million units, 2.0% lower than 2021’s Covidaffected levels and around 700,000 lower than the figure for 2019, the most recent ‘normal’ year. Despite the full year’s weakness, there was an 18% improvement in December sales (which totalled 181,000 cars). This was the latest gain in a trend the SMMT believes will lead to a 15% improvement in 2023 sales to about 1.8 million vehicles. The extra 190,000 vehicles will be worth around £8.4 billion, it estimates. Despite the…

Rising used car prices are pushing those that would have previously been written off or scrapped back onto the roads, with many vehicles being repaired by insurers rather than crushed – and this has left the salvage sector searching for aid. As a direct result of reduced new car supply and sluggish registrations, bangers that would normally be destined for the crusher are now worth more than scrappers had previously been willing to pay, meaning many cars are getting a second chance. Covid has also contributed to the shortage of scrap cars: fewer cars being driven during the lockdowns meant fewer were crashed and scrapped. And the consequences of the pandemic linger on, with far fewer vehicles being written off today than were written off before the virus struck. As…

MONDAY A big discussion point among my friends over Christmas concerned what new names manufacturers can apply to tomorrow’s cars, given that all the traditional bird/wind/weapon/city/animal/explosion handles have been picked clean and that the ‘LxV62R’ solution (currently espoused by the likes of Toyota) is no better than a passport to confusion. What stopped me in my tracks was the strong and consistent case made by one pal for the likes of Ora Funky Cat, which I had previously derided for a disastrous lack of gravitas. My friend’s point was that this name totally avoids the built-in confusion of others, leaves no doubt about modernity and opens a whole new seam of name supply. My remaining Funky Cat problem concerns how such new-think labels will play with people who don’t know…

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Pagani Huayra R might be the most gloriously unnecessary car in the world. The Italian company’s previous creations are hardly likely to be used as daily drivers, but at least they can be used on public roads. The Huayra R is both a track-only special and a piece of automotive art, a hypercar that feels frankly too beautiful to be risked in the environment it’s designed for. Its otherworldliness is quickly proved when I arrive at the Vallelunga circuit near Rome in a rented Fiat Panda. The first thing I hear is what seems to be an old V12 Formula 1 race car on track, a howling, yowling exhaust note echoing around the empty grandstands. Are we sharing the track with a Ferrari…

Don’t even think the C-word. The LMC MKII FIA isn’t an AC/Shelby Cobra, regardless of what your eyes are telling you. This puts it in fine company, the Cobra being one of the most copied cars in history, with rival rights holders having sued at points over official status. But although this car – sold by Le Mans Coupes of West Sussex – isn’t a sanctioned continuation, it offers a very similar driving experience to the original. The Cobra was born from the marriage of light British bodywork and brutal American power, but it had to evolve throughout its life as it struggled to stay competitive on track, which is why LMC offers cars corresponding with different eras. You can buy a replica of the early ‘slab-side’ car, a MKIII…

People like Timo Nordheim have been embellishing the Mercedes-Benz SL story since the early 1990s, piping habanero sauce into dishes that you would never expect to blow your head off. As engine builders at AMG, for them it’s all part of a day’s work. Nordheim and his many forebears have been behind the rortiest, the most unhinged (hello, Black Series) and occasionally the most sublime SLs, as was the case when the debonair R129 was loaded with the 518bhp 7.3-litre V12 that AMG later supplied to Pagani. There has been so much to love, and yet in SL lore AMG was never more than a mere flavour. Then, last year, big changes. The launch of the R232 SL signalled to the world that custodianship of the model name, not to…

The frustration of trying to report the life and times of Mate Rimac, 35-year-old Croatian-born inventor of the acclaimed Nevera EV hypercar and architect of a forthcoming Bugatti renaissance, is that by the time he gets around to announcing something, it’s already half-finished. We meet in Rimac Technology’s temporary office in an industrial estate outside Warwick, ostensibly to talk about his plan to expand into the UK. But to do it, we have to squeeze into a small room off the entrance hall – because the surrounding spaces are crammed with the 51 beavering British engineers he’s hired already. Ten miles away at Wellesbourne (we learn), there are “about 100” more engineers working on an autonomous project called P3 Mobility, whose existence Rimac hasn’t even officially confirmed. Anyone who meets…

Here since day one? Vicky Parrott looks so young, so I was amazed when I read in her response to receiving a Caterham Super Seven 600 from James Disdale (‘Oh, you shouldn’t have’, 7/14 December 2022) that she “first drove a three-cylinder Caterham 160 years ago”. It just goes to show how looks can be deceiving. I really think she shouldn’t drive too fast at her age! Michael Blackstein Via email Although Vicky is a very experienced automotive journalist, I would guess that was meant to say 16 years! – KC Return to the dark ages Having grown up in the era of postwar austerity, when everything in Britain was black and depressing (black cars, black telephones, black-and-white movies) while everything in America was bright and cheerful (various coloured cars,…

We meet one of history’s greatest innovators LANCIA HAS OFTEN been highly innovative, and its 1922 Lambda torpedo tourer is among the most forward-thinking cars ever made. It had a load-carrying unitary body, not a separate chassis, for much better rigidity; it scored a first with independent front suspension; it was a pioneer of braking all four wheels; and its 48bhp overhead-cam V4 was very potent for its small size of 2120cc. We met the Lambda 99 years ago, saying: “Being a thoroughly unconventional car, it is fitting that it should have a most unusual performance. Acceleration, together with a set of excellent brakes, enables one to average a surprising speed. Over 30mph can be kept up in perfect safety. “The engine is very smooth, has a most healthy power…

“It didn’t take long with our Born to discover that there is a bit of magic at work here” WHY WE RAN IT To see whether the Cupra is a new EV contender or just a gussied-up VW ID 3 That the Volkswagen ID 3 has become so ubiquitous so quickly should come as no great surprise. In a brave new world where everybody wants to buy an EV but few know which one to go for, it’s natural to trust the world’s best-selling car maker to get it right. And there’s nothing wrong in that, especially when the car in question is so capable. For keen drivers, though, it’s just a bit… well, vanilla. So it hardly seemed the obvious place for Cupra, the VW Group’s hot-headed Spanish arm,…

A road test in any other magazine might well be a short, subjective summary of a new car produced under almost any circumstances, but the Autocar road test is different. Specific, rigorous and detailed, it’s the closest examination we can give of any new model. It appears over at least eight pages and is close to 50 man-hours in the making every week. Most of what the road test process entails is designed to be strictly repeatable and fair. We benchmark standing-start and in-gear acceleration at a purpose-built test facility every week. We carry out both subjective and objective handling tests on both road and track, on the latter up to and beyond the limit of grip, so as to fully assess stability, drivability and limit handling appeal. And while…