Innholdsfortegnelse for December 20/27, 2023 i Autocar

2017 Huracán Performante “It has strong suits and eye-poppingly strong suits – and in the few areas where it comes up short, it mostly does so in understandable, even embraceable, fashion.” 2020 Huracán Evo RWD “Capable of searing pace and with an engine to die for, it shows that even in the heights of the flamboyant, bombastic supercar class, less can still be more.” 2021 Huracán STO “Up there with the best – and this time, it’s not all down to that ludicrous yet life-affirming V10.” 2023 Huracán Sterrato “Intended to go off road but accidentally glorious on it. Lambo’s junior supercar is a congenital entertainer and never more so than in this form.”…

STELLANTIS IS WORKING on hydrogen combustion engines as part of a programme to diversify its powertrain offering in line with EU emissions rules. CEO Carlos Tavares (right) criticised European legislators’ “brutal” approach to decarbonisation and suggested that hydrogen combustion could emerge as “the best solution for the citizens”. He didn’t say which vehicles would be offered with hydrogen combustion engines, but Stellantis already sells its mid-sized vans – for example, the Vauxhall Vivaro – with a hydrogen fuel cell option.…

RIMAC HAS ALSO hinted at plans to experiment with cold gas thrusters, which apparently have the potential to cut a car’s 0-62mph time to less than one second. The technology wouldn’t necessarily be the preserve of runways and race tracks, either. Company boss Mate Rimac said that pedestrians “would only have to stand seven or eight metres back” if it were deployed in public. A cold gas thruster is a type of rocket engine that doesn’t burn any fuel. Instead, the force it exerts is derived from compressed gas being forced through a nozzle. Tesla’s Elon Musk famously said his firm would offer 10 small rocket thrusters on its Mk2 Roadster EV, suggesting they would be used to influence dynamics as well as acceleration, but that has yet to be…

The most unsettling moment of the Cupra Exponential Experience comes when you first step into the Urban Rebel. It’s a familiar racing car environment, with a minimal dash, a purposeful roll-cage and tight bucket seats into which a helpful Cupra mechanic implants you by yanking on a six-point harness seatbelt. But then the mechanic straps a set of VR goggles to your head. At first, the goggles allow you to see the real world – in this case, an empty long-stay car park at Girona airport. But imposed on it is a virtual gate that marks the start of the course. Trying to drive towards it while adjusting to the Urban Rebel’s stiff competition throttle and brakes is truly disconcerting. Then you reach the gate, and suddenly reality fades from…

The government has announced a £70 million pilot scheme to encourage the installation of ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargers at motorway services. However, it is still set to miss its target of having six such devices at each site in England by the end of 2023. The target for high-power-capable (150-350kW), open-access chargers was set out by the Department for Transport in May 2020. Research published by the RAC in May, using data from charger mapping service Zap-Map, found that several English motorway service stations didn’t have high-powered chargers: Barton Park on the A1(M), Carlisle Southwaite Northbound on the M6, Leicester Forest (both sides) on the M1, Strensham Southbound on the M5 and Tebay (both sides) on the M6. Carlisle Southwaite, Strensham and Tebay Northbound did at least have 50kW provision,…

The LBX may be the smallest Lexus yet, but it’s a big deal for the Japanese premium brand. In fact, its bold ambitions are hidden in plain sight in its name: LBX stands for Lexus Breakthrough Crossover. For now, let’s skip over the pedant-bothering detail that this car is therefore technically called the Lexus Lexus Breakthrough Crossover and instead focus on the ‘breakthrough’ element. This is the first compact premium car developed by the Toyota group (well, unless you count the Aston Martin Cygnet) and has a real focus on growing Lexus sales in Europe. The brand expects the LBX to account for around a third of its total sales volume in the UK next year, instantly becoming its best-selling model and playing a key role in breaking through the…

There’s something delightfully naughty about all of this. You get the sense, given the general trajectory of the market and prevailing public opinion, that something this large and loutish shouldn’t really exist in 2023. This hulking, imposing Goliath, all 2670kg, 5000cc and 5358mm of it, arrives as the latest in a long line of mammoth-engined, go-anywhere apocalypse wagons from Land Rover – a brand that in less than 12 months will be selling its first electric car. How’s that for diversity? The 130 V8 takes the Defender name into hitherto untapped territory, not just in terms of its heft and presence but also in its positioning in the heartland of the sporting luxury SUV sector – where it contends obviously with the Mercedes-AMG G63 but also indirectly with other V8…

Just one extended push of this Tesla’s throttle pedal is all you need to understand that the super-saloon state of play could be in for an upset. With more than 1000bhp to play with, the Model S Plaid was never going to be slow, but the eye-widening, bowel-loosening pace that it delivers is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. Your seat-of-the-pants accelerometer is backed-up by the data, because this is the fastest car to which we’ve yet strapped our timing gear. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport? Slower. McLaren P1? Tardy by comparison. Ferrari SF90 Stradale? You will see it in the Tesla’s rear-view mirror. On this evidence, how can the BMW i5 M60 and Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 hope to compete? Okay, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because there’s obviously a lot…

4 JANUARY Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ “Hot on comfort and tech; lacklustre on range, material quality and space” Price as tested £89,345 Power 288bhp Torque 417lb ft 0-60mph 6.0sec 30-70mph 5.5sec Economy 2.9mpkWh 11 JANUARY Citroën Ami Colour “Cleverly conceived but hard to recommend, given its capability” Price as tested £8095 Power 8bhp Torque 29lb ft 0-60mph na 30-70mph na Economy 7.1mpkWh 18 JANUARY Toyota bZ4X AWD Vision “A decent effort all round, but not exceptional in any way” Price as tested £54,975 Power 214bhp Torque 249lb ft 0-60mph 6.4sec 30-70mph 5.9sec Economy 3.1mpkWh 25 JANUARY BMW X1 xDrive23i M Sport “A decent, practical family crossover, but a poor BMW” Price as tested £51,270 Power 215bhp Torque 266lb ft 0-60mph 6.4sec 30-70mph 6.0sec Economy 36.2mpg…

5 APRIL MG 4 EV Long Range SE “Good value, comfortable, useful and fun to drive to boot” Price as tested £29,495 Power 201bhp Torque 184lb ft 0-60mph 7.1sec 30-70mph 6.1sec Economy 3.0mpkWh 12 APRIL Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 “A creditable attempt at electric car thrills, although not quite fully formed” Price as tested £69,990 Power 469bhp Torque 502lb ft 0-60mph 4.5sec 30-70mph 3.4sec Economy 2.5mpkWh 19 APRIL Bentley Continental GTC V8 S “Sporty V8 execution adds vivacity to a car that makes you feel good” Price as tested £251,920 Power 542bhp Torque 568lb ft 0-60mph 3.6sec 30-70mph 3.2sec Economy 20.9mpg 26 APRIL DS 7 E-Tense 4x4 360 La Première “More focused and subtle gains, but powertrain and ride frustrate” Price as tested £59,785 Power 355bhp Torque 384lb ft…

5 JULY Kia Soul Urban “Not actually that cheap, but likeable and complete” Price as tested £33,440 Power 134bhp Torque 291lb ft 0-60mph 8.0sec 30-70mph 8.3sec Economy 3.8mpkWh 12 JULY BMW M2 Coupé Manual “Junior M car takes huge objective leaps but smaller subjective ones” Price as tested £75,915 Power 453bhp Torque 406lb ft 0-60mph 4.5sec 30-70mph 3.8sec Economy 26.5mpg 19 JULY Renault Austral E-Tech “Clever hybrid and pleasant cabin but let down by clumsy dynamics” Price as tested £40,945 Power 196bhp Torque na 0-60mph 8.5sec 30-70mph 6.9sec Economy 44.8mpg 26 JULY Mercedes-AMG SL 63 4Matic+ “Stonking V8 doesn’t quite redeem a car of as many sacrifices as gains” Price as tested £173,565 Power 577bhp Torque 590lb ft 0-60mph 3.5sec 30-70mph 2.8sec Economy 19.7mpg…

4 OCTOBER Kia EV6 GT “Lots of pace and usability for the money, but not enough driver appeal” Price as tested £63,320 Power 577bhp Torque 546lb ft 0-60mph 3.6sec 30-70mph 2.7sec Economy 2.7mpkWh 11 OCTOBER Peugeot 408 Hybrid 180 e-EAT8 GT “Novel Peugeot shows an alternative path for the family car” Price as tested £46,700 Power 178bhp Torque 266lb ft 0-60mph 8.2sec 30-70mph 7.3sec Economy 37.9mpg 18 OCTOBER Maserati Grecale Trofeo “A belting engine, but high-priced and not the best-driving Grecale” Price as tested £111,280 Power 523bhp Torque 457lb ft 0-60mph 3.6sec 30-70mph 3.2sec Economy 20.8mpg 25 OCTOBER Seat Ateca 1.5 Eco TSI DSG “Once-appealing Qashqai rival now shows some signs of neglect” Price as tested £37,000 Power 148bhp Torque 184lb ft 0-60mph 8.9sec 30-70mph 8.0sec Economy 40.9mpg…

“We’re going to be much pickier when it comes to deciding where we’re going to play and where we want to be in order to build a profitable business. Because at the end of the day, we’re a business. We have to make sure that we make money.” Ford’s European EV boss Martin Sander justifies Fiesta’s demise “Buttons on the steering wheel: crazy, right? You hear it and you hear it, and eventually you have to act on it. You can’t just leave it and say: ‘Oh well, they will get used to it.’ No.” Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer on fixing the firm’s “frustrating” car interiors “What we won’t worry about is being loved by everybody, because that’s the kiss of death. That’s what has put Jaguar where it is…

The workflow of the website is somewhat different from that of the mag. The transition from idea to article can all come from one person and rather quickly, but in most cases it passes through a network of people. News articles, the website’s bread and butter, will come from Felix Page and pass through me as digital editor for some search-engine optimisation, before possibly reaching another journalist and then going off to the sub-editors. Then it’s pumped out to our social media audiences. Breaking stories develop quickly and can be published instantly after the subs are happy with it. The mag and the website both need constant feeding, but in very different ways. Print is here today and gone tomorrow (unless you subscribe to the digital archive, of course!), whereas…

FORD MONDEO Good to drive, parts are everywhere and there’s the option of a massively capacious estate. Comprehensive specs, but best go for a relatively straightforward Mk3 powered by a strong petrol unit. A classy 2007 3.0 Ghia X V6 is £2995. TOYOTA HILUX Okay, it’s a commercial, but a Hilux will get you to the apocalypse and back with minimal fuss and worry. A 2014 3.0 D4D showing 70,000 miles will cost you £15,999. VOLKSWAGEN GOLF Still impressive, and the Mk5, 6 and 7s give old-fashioned ultra-reliability in petrol and diesel form. Performance-chipped TDIs get the best of all worlds, apart from ULEZ access: thrash it all day and get 60mpg. A 2007 1.6 FSI with 60,000 miles is £5295. ROVER 75 Odd, yes, but the stats say 75s…

MOTORING ISSUES WILL BE KEY IN THE ELECTION We don’t know exactly when, but there will be a general election within the next 12 months or so – and thanks to the good people of Uxbridge and South Ruislip, motoring issues could well become a key policy battleground. The Conservatives narrowly held the seat in a by-election this year, and their opposition to the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was cited as a key factor in that success. That has since prompted the government to introduce further ‘motorist-friendly’ policies, such as opposing blanket 20mph zones and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – although it hasn’t actually passed laws to enforce this. The government has also pushed back the ban on the sale of new combustion cars from 2030 to…

BUY A BANGER THAT CAN LIVE OUTSIDE AND YOU CAN TAKE TO CAR MEETS We haven’t yet reached the stage where modern cars are mere white goods, but they have undoubtedly reached the stage where it’s all but impossible to tinker under their bonnets. That’s not just a problem with electric cars: even modern petrol machines are commonly maintained through plugging in a laptop as much as turning a spanner. So there’s plenty of appeal in owning a fun older car alongside your daily driver. The thing is, owning a classic can be expensive and difficult: prices of widely desired cars are on the up, you will need to invest time and cash in maintenance, you will want somewhere dry and secure to stash it and you won’t want to…

Cropley will replace his Volkswagen California Regular listeners to our My Week In Cars podcast will know that Steve has been trying to work out what to replace his camper van with for the past year or more. Will the saga end in 2024? Probably not. If it does, my money is on a Tesla. MT Ford will revive the Fiesta We’re still not over Ford axing the Fiesta for reasons that seem ever more spurious as time passes. Ford is reviving old names for its EV era – why not that of Britain’s favourite car? I’m off to the classifieds again to look at nearly new ones… MT Euro NCAP will stop penalising lack of ADAS You would think prevailing public opinion and manufacturers’ cost-consciousness would have killed off…

ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA VISION Aston planned to revive Lagonda as a maker of ultra-premium cars that shunned the conventions of ‘old-world’ luxury. At least two production models were due in 2021 and would take the lead from this rakish lounge on wheels, which embodied designer Marek Reichman’s belief that EVs needn’t look like they have engines up front. We’re still waiting. PEUGEOT E-LEGEND “This car won’t be produced. It wasn’t developed for that.” Peugeot’s Philippe-Emmanuel Jean ripped our hearts in two as he showed us the stunning E-Legend in 2019. Maybe it was naive to think the beautiful 504 could return as a Tesla-rivalling EV, but hey, we could dream. And we still do. 1966 VAUXHALL XVR Oh, what might have been… This gorgeous two-seat coupé, inspired by Chevrolet’s contemporary…

MODEL TESTED SPECTRE Price £332,055 • Power 577bhp • Torque 660lb ft • 0-60mph 4.1sec • 30-70mph 3.1sec • Economy 2.4mpkWh • Max DC charging speed 194kW • 70-0mph 44.7m It’s a widely held misconception that electric cars are a modern phenomenon. At the beginning of the 20th century, just as fate was preparing the meeting of well-to-do autophile and car dealer Charles Rolls and mercurial engineer Henry Royce, EVs were very much in vogue. In 1899, the fastest car in the world was electric, central London was abuzz with electric carriages and in 1900 one-third of all new cars registered in the US were electric. One of Royce’s first briefs as car designer and co-proprietor of the newly formed Rolls-Royce Cars was to produce an urban combustion-engined vehicle that…

FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the Clio is the heir apparent to the Ford Fiesta’s ‘default buy’ throne “Apparently this complex gearbox feels more natural and engaging than a CVT” For so many years, the Ford Fiesta was the ‘default’ British car buy. Now that it’s dead and buried, which affordable small hatchback should take its place? Although the Vauxhall Corsa has since scaled the sales charts, it isn’t fun like the Fiesta was. Likewise Europe’s favourite car, the Peugeot 208. The Volkswagen Polo? Even the GTI version leaves me cold. Skoda Fabia? Dacia Sandero? Worthy but, like the Corsa, dull. Seat Ibiza? Hyundai i20? They’re strong contenders – as is the Renault Clio. Despite having been around for decades, the Clio always seems to get…

MILEAGE 6940 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if this old-school compact executive estate has new-world charms The number of times people have mistaken the Genesis for a Bentley is mounting. And curious, given Bentley doesn’t make a five-door estate car, but there must be something about the nose that does it. If there’s good news for Bentley in this, it’s that the frighteningly limited and expensive Batur, which I think it’s reasonable to admit the G70 Shooting Brake’s nose resembles, clearly entered the public’s consciousness to a healthy degree. To be honest, finding the two parked next to each other would be one of the UK’s rarer car park spots. Given Genesis’s rarity and that this car is a relative unknown in the marketplace, it’s also interesting to gauge…

NEW CAR SPECIAL Meet the class of 2024 Our indispensable guide to all the new machinery that will appear in UK showrooms over the coming 12 months DRIVEN Maserati Ghibli 334 Ultima Modena bids farewell to its V8 engine with a 207mph swansong ROAD TEST Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sixth generation of exec saloon tested across eight pages EVERY WEEK OUR CARS Jeep Avenger American firm’s genre-bending electric baby SUV joins the fleet USED GUIDE Kia Sportage Why this Korean family SUV makes a sound bargain buy SUBSCRIBE autocar.co.uk/subscribe or see p18…

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…

The successor to the Lamborghini Huracán will be revealed in the coming months as the final entrant into the Italian firm’s all-electrified model line-up, representing the most radical reinvention of its junior supercar since the Gallardo arrived in 2003. Due on sale by the end of 2024, Lamborghini’s next entry-level supercar will make the landmark switch from its trademark naturally aspirated V10 engine to a plug-in hybrid powertrain based around a new V8 that has been engineered in-house, rather than taken wholesale from sibling firm Audi. Visually, the new car will be clearly related to the flagship V12 PHEV Revuelto supercar launched earlier this year. It will have a dramatic silhouette that adheres to head of design Mitja Borkert’s ‘spaceship’ ethos, as well as a raft of cues that have…

MG will comprehensively upgrade its combustion car line-up during the first half of 2024 before launching a new electric SUV and updated versions of all its current EVs, the general manager of its business unit, Lu Jiajun, has revealed. Speaking at a recent event, Lu said: “MG’s plans roughly look like this: in the first half of the year, the existing fuel vehicle products will be strengthened; in the second half of the year, we will focus on electric models.” Lu confirmed that MG is heavily committed to both ICE and electric cars, saying the Chinese company will take two development paths in a bid to extend its sales volumes. “We will not give up the fuel vehicle market,” he said. “After all, many global markets still favour traditional vehicles.”…

Rimac will show a highly autonomous ‘robotaxi’ in early 2024 and plans for it to be in commercial operation by 2026. The Croatian company, maker of the 1877bhp Nevera electric hypercar and parent of Bugatti, is expanding into the mass-mobility market under the Project 3 Mobility banner. Rimac has revealed only a few details of the commercial plan for its robotaxi so far, but it has been announced that some backing will come from Kia. Founder and boss Mate Rimac told Autocar that the Nevera serves an important purpose as a halo product for Rimac but the robotaxi project aims to “change the lives of more people” by providing easy-access, electric urban transport. Details remain scarce ahead of its unveiling, but the robotaxi is understood to be capable of driving…

IN-WHEEL ELECTRIC motors have been on the cards for years and so have ‘dry’ electromechanical brake-by-wire systems that do away with hydraulics completely. Now two German companies, Continental and Deepdrive, are collaborating on a new product that combines the two technologies and is due to enter production in 2026. Deepdrive has its roots in the Technical University of Munich’s student motorsport team of 10 years ago. After gaining experience in the mainstream automotive industry, a group of those engineers got together to found the company in 2021. What they came up with is a dual-rotor, radial-flux motor that uses 50% less magnetic material, 80% less iron and no rare-earth materials in the magnets. Deepdrive says its new machine is quiet in use and economical to produce, at less than 30%…

WHEN A NEW member of staff joins the events team at a certain big car maker, they will see ‘point #1’ in the training manual is underlined, highlighted and in capitals. It just says ‘MINIBARS’. This follows a hard lesson learned during the launch of a mainstream model. As usual, a large five-star hotel had been booked out solely for the use of the company. Corporate flags were raised, a car was put on a plinth and a glitzy unveiling took place in the ballroom in front of hundreds of dealers. During the planning phase for the event, the experienced organiser had asked the hotel rep if the minibars could be emptied and was told that this wasn’t a problem. However, although they had been told it was possible, it…

THE INDUSTRY TREND towards “heavier, more powerful and taller cars” risks the safety of other drivers, according to Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen. He rejected the notion that the safety testing organisation has been responsible for the increased mass of cars over the past two decades. “That was never really the case, and the increase in vehicle weight we see nowadays is certainly not safety-related,” he said. “It’s down to consumer preference for larger vehicles and to electrification, with ever bigger batteries being used to quell consumers’ range anxiety.” Van Ratingen added: “There is a safety concern when those two types of vehicles collide or, worse, when vulnerable road users are involved.” Euro NCAP’s final round of testing for 2023 included seven SUVs and 14 five-star awards. Among…

MONDAY What do you think of the Tesla Cybertruck? Making that decision strikes me as a helluva way to start the new year! Vocal critics across the pond seem to be lining up to criticise its lateness, the 50% hike from the promised price, the fact that it will probably attract enthusiasts rather than working tradesmen and practically anything else they can think of – including the controversial persona of Tesla boss Elon Musk. Me? I love the thing for its boldness, and if I could drive one around (provided it would fit down our streets), I would definitely do so. How it drives might be the decider, rather than how it looks. Like many, I’ve spent time over the years bleating about how slowly car styling moves and how…

The idea for the LBX came from Toyota president Akio Toyoda – and chief engineer Kunihiko Endo admits that the prospect made him nervous: “My first impression was ‘wow, that’s quite a challenge’. It’s not easy to make a small premium car. But there was a real push to challenge the conventional luxury of big cars with something compact.” The development philosophy was ‘a class above’, with features traditionally reserved for larger cars. These include a braking control system taken from the LM MPV that uses front and rear regulators to adjust the distribution of the braking force to keep the car balanced, making it pitch forward initially before shifting force rearward, and a Predictive Efficient Drive system that uses sat-nav and driver data to add extra regenerative braking approaching…

It’s a measure of how far both the car market and Kia have come that the new EV9 will cost £75,995 when it goes on sale in the UK early next year in top-spec four-wheel-drive form. Driven here in the UK for the first time, the EV9 is a six- or seven-seat large SUV, electrically powered, with a range of up to 313 miles. (A front-wheel-drive entry-level car will come in the spring, with a 349-mile range, but it’s still £64,995.) Ours was one of the first test cars in the UK, but two EV9s have been here since the spring, visiting every Kia dealership for staff training and customer previews. At the latter, says Kia UK boss Paul Philpott, the car parks were particularly heavily laden with Land Rovers,…

We’ve concentrated on the driver appeal of our go-faster threesome, but how do they fare as straight EVs? It’s probably no surprise to find the Tesla trumps its rivals. Its 97kWh battery is the biggest here, although not by a significant amount (the Mercedes packs 90.6kWh, the BMW 81.2kWh), but the firm’s mastery of cell chemistry and technology means it delivers by far the best official range, at 373 miles, and it comes close to matching that in the real world. Moreover, it was the most efficient of our trio, returning 3.0mpkWh over the course of our test. It was also the only one that didn’t need any interaction with the National Grid during a hard day’s driving (the BMW and Mercedes required two top-ups each). Neither of the German…

1 MARCH Toyota Hilux 2.8 D-4D GR Sport “Gazoo-branded Raptor rival is formidable but lacks fun factor” Price as tested £50,629 Power 201bhp Torque 369lb ft 0-60mph 10.0sec 30-70mph 9.5sec Economy 28.9mpg 8 MARCH Volkswagen Multivan 1.4 eHybrid Style “Latest VW ’bus combines the best bits of both car and van” Price as tested £66,169 Power 215bhp Torque 295lb ft 0-60mph 8.4sec 30-70mph 7.1sec Economy 38.0mpg 15 MARCH Subaru Solterra AWD Touring “A hint of Subaru-typical capability doesn’t take this EV quite far enough” Price as tested £53,545 Power 215bhp Torque 248lb ft 0-60mph 6.7sec 30-70mph 6.2sec Economy 2.6mpkWh 22 MARCH Lexus RX 500h F Sport “Classy and luxurious, but that might not be enough for keener drivers” Price as tested £75,200 Power 366bhp Torque 406lb ft 0-60mph 6.1sec 30-70mph…

7 JUNE Hyundai Ioniq 6 RWD Ultimate “Usable, rangy and innovative EV let down by cabin packaging and ride” Price as tested £51,425 Power 225bhp Torque 258lb ft 0-60mph 7.2sec 30-70mph 6.2sec Economy 3.4mpkWh 14 JUNE Ford Ranger 2.0L TD EcoBlue 205PS “Practical, car-like to drive and generally hard to fault” Price as tested £53,111 Power 202bhp Torque 369lb ft 0-60mph 9.8sec 30-70mph 9.9sec Economy 28.9mpg 21 JUNE Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance “Rocket-ship GT with astonishing powertrain but still lacking driver reward” Price as tested £178,800 Power 831bhp Torque 1084lb ft 0-60mph 2.9sec 30-70mph 2.5sec Economy 21.3mpg 28 JUNE Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2.0T 280 Veloce “Short on premium refinement, but meets its discreetly sporty brief well” Price as tested £56,740 Power 276bhp Torque 295lb ft 0-60mph 5.7sec 30-70mph…

6 SEPTEMBER Hyundai Kona 1.0 120PS Advance “Hyundai brings some cheer, value and space to the crossover class” Price as tested £25,725 Power 118bhp Torque 127lb ft 0-60mph 10.4sec 30-70mph 10.3sec Economy 43.8mpg 13 SEPTEMBER Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4Matic “Shines in places but doesn’t notably elevate the GLC proposition” Price as tested £64,535 Power 255bhp Torque 295lb ft 0-60mph 6.5sec 30-70mph 6.0sec Economy 34.6mpg 20 SEPTEMBER Ineos Grenadier 3.0 T Fieldmaster “Unquestionably a serious proposition but maybe lacking in innovation” Price as tested £80,027 Power 282bhp Torque 332lb ft 0-60mph 8.0sec 30-70mph 8.1sec Economy 17.9mpg 27 SEPTEMBER Subaru Outback 2.5i Lineartronic “A pretty good answer to a question only a few people asked” Price as tested £43,085 Power 167bhp Torque 186lb ft 0-60mph 9.3sec 30-70mph 8.7sec Economy 29.3mpg…

Another year has passed and that means another 49 cars have met our timing gear. There was a Class A tall ship as well, but the logistics of getting that to Millbrook Proving Ground were sadly beyond us. Put another way, that’s 95 tonnes and £3,881,735 of car (let’s forget the ship for now). The 2022 performance hero was the Ferrari 296 GTB, whose hybridised V6 let it leave behind everything else in a straight line – and in the corners, for that matter. However, 2023’s fastest-accelerating car bettered that, and every other car we’ve ever tested. With its three electric motors putting out a total of 1020bhp, the Tesla Model S Plaid managed to accelerate to 60mph in a shorter time (2.39sec) than it took to stop from 60mph…

ZEV MANDATE From 1 January, 22% of all volume brands’ sales in the UK must be zero-emission vehicles. JLR ELECTRIFIES The man with the Reimagine plan is no longer in the picture, but Thierry Bolloré’s radical transformation vision for JLR will bear fruit in 2024 with the reveal of the first new-age Jaguar and an electric Range Rover. We will also hear more about parent firm Tata’s new Somerset battery factory, and the future of JLR’s UK factories should start to take shape. SWAP SHOPS OPEN At last, it looks like Nio is firming up arrangements for its long-mooted UK launch, with an arrival by 2025 looking increasingly likely. That means the Chinese EV maker’s battery-swap stations could finally be coming to a motorway service station near you, giving Nio…

New cars aren’t just for the lease period. No, for buyers of used bangers, that’s where a car’s life begins. But how long will it last? That can be down to you, because it genuinely is possible to future-proof a car and make it last at least until you find yourself in a care home. You’ll save a fortune in the meantime, too. Obsolescence can come courtesy of legislation (see ULEZ and 2035 ban) as much as an inability to find spares or mechanics with the skills to fix them, but there’s usually a way. Here, then, is how to make your car last longer – and how to pick the right one in the first place. WHICH CARS ARE FUTURE-PROOF? The truth is your future-proofed motor won’t have to…

NIO WILL SHOW UP ON YOUR RADAR Many new Chinese car brands are launching in the UK, but few intrigue as much as Nio. Its EVs are desirable and good to drive and it will join Tesla in having its own proprietary charging network, thanks to its battery-swapping stations. That latter point will be a key differentiator. Expect Nio’s UK launch in 2025 to be confirmed this year. MT WE WILL ALL FALL IN LOVE WITH RENAULT Luca de Meo has turned around Renault’s financial position while still working with the same showroom of solid if unspectacular models. Now we’re about to see what the CEO can do when the company launches some cars of real character and innovation. The 5, 4 and Mk1 Twingo will all be revived for…

Watch the Ferrari movie The only thing that tops seeing cars in action on the big screen is hearing them. With that in mind, a feature-length Ferrari movie on its glorious 1957 Mille Miglia victory should be an incredible sensory experience. It’s actually out in cinemas as you read this. And even if the film is bobbins, we can still ogle at the cars. MT Stay up for a full 24-hour race You know how cricket fans say Test matches are the best, purest version of the sport? The same is true of 24-hour races. The result isn’t decided in the opening corners; instead, it’s a long, winding battle that pushes drivers to their limits from morning to night. It’s about witnessing tired, enthralling tussles that occur in the early…

31 DECEMBER 2023 Elon Musk makes a New Year’s resolution not to do anything at all notable, newsworthy or controversial during 2024. In response, his public relations chief books the year off and orders a crate of champagne. JANUARY 2024 Musk wakes up on New Year’s Day with a plan to replace all of Tesla’s production line staff with cyborg robots – and then decides against it, puts down his phone and goes for a very long walk instead. FEBRUARY With a general election looming, PM Rishi Sunak unveils more ‘motorist-friendly’ policies, including a pledge to remove the red and amber signals from all traffic lights. “We’re committed to going green,” says Sunak. “This is just a different way of doing it.” ● After a positive reaction to its prototype…

Irrespective of their commercial importance or notional production-readiness, concept cars tend to be constructed from wood, clay and glassfibre – materials that require no specialist factory tooling to shape and which can be moulded into a suitably show-stopping silhouette at short notice and minimal cost. But that’s not to say less care goes into their construction than it does for any production car; far from it, in fact. A few months before Caterham unwrapped the internet-rousing Project V concept at Goodwood, I went out to Italdesign’s headquarters in Turin to see how the project was coming along. At this point – just a few weeks out from the Festival of Speed – the car didn’t exist as a physical entity, but I was able to ‘sit inside’ and take a…

MILEAGE 7825 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see how well Alfa’s new PHEV small SUV balances rationality and emotion One of my colleagues described an early Tonale as “the worst car I’ve driven in years”, in reference predominantly to its plug-in hybrid powertrain. It was flippant, intended to get a laugh, but there was some truth in there too. Road test editor Matt Saunders was kinder than that writer, who shall remain unnamed, when he said in our long-term ‘hello’ report: “The Alfa’s slightly noisy combustion engine and a note of underlying uncouthness of its hybrid powertrain both disappointed me. But it takes practice to engineer in the kind of slickness that the best purveyors of PHEVs can now conjure, and Alfa hasn’t had much experience.” I’ve been living with…

Give new Capri a chance My first new car, back in 1972, was a Daytona Yellow Ford Capri 1.6 XL, with a black vinyl roof and Rostyle wheels. My dealer painted the rear panel black and I then did the same with the front grille, so it looked very smart, more like the GT model. Therefore your news that a Ford EV called Capri will arrive soon (22 November) triggered an emotional response in me, remembering the great feeling I had when first handed the keys to my lovely Capri all those years ago. And it drove so well, despite its simple mechanical make-up, which included a superb four-speed manual gearbox. On the one hand, it’s good that the name Capri is coming back into motoring use. On the other,…

Having shared the development and production of the Galaxy MPV with the Volkswagen Group and its VW Sharan and Seat Alhambra siblings, Ford chose to go it alone with the Mk2, launched in 2006. That meant no more Galaxys with VR6 engines or Golf instruments and, being produced on a dedicated line, no more of the reliability and quality issues that had plagued the earlier car (or that was the theory). Instead, Ford had free rein to design and engineer the seven-seat Galaxy it believed its customers wanted: one that was larger and, thanks to its Mk3 Mondeo underpinnings, better to drive and be driven in. Larger but more versatile, too, thanks to the fitting of the new Fold Flat System that provides as many as 32 seating permutations. Pull…

FORD FIESTA ST PERFORMANCE EDITION 2019, 20,000 miles, £19,795 The ultimate Ecoboost Fiesta adds a limited-slip diff, adjustable coilovers and special alloys to the ST-3. Worth the extra over a regular ST if you’re manic about fast Fords. FORD MONDEO 1.0 ECOBOOST ZETEC 2016, 51,000 miles, £9995 The tiny engine isn’t as overwhelmed here as you might expect and can deliver more than 50mpg if driven gently. A decent option if you’re looking for a cheap but spacious family hauler. FORD PUMA 1.0 ECOBOOST 2020, 21,000 miles, £14,411 The Puma’s popularity means some good deals are starting to crop up on the second-hand market. This three-year-old example costs about £10,000 less than an equivalent brand-new one, and it flew through its first MOT. FORD GT 2021, 30 miles, £829,000 Here’s…

Bond and Christmas are closely associated, due to reruns of often ancient films that nonetheless reliably do the numbers for ITV, being entertainment that a whole family can reasonably enjoy while dozing off after a heavy roast Cars are a crucial part of any 007 movie, and while we all remember the Aston Martins, what about his lesser-known wheels? Renault 11 TXE A View to a Kill Roger Moore’s final Bond outing has a Marmite taste these days, but it includes plenty of fun moments with cars. Cubby Broccoli’s own 1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II puts in a major appearance – although a replica is used when it’s drowned. But a lowly Renault taxi steals the show when Bond robs it to chase the villainous May Day, who has just…

POTENTIAL BUYERS OF the pivotal new Range Rover Electric can now sign up to a waiting list for the new model – which, JLR bosses have vowed, will offer similar performance to the existing V8-powered flagship. The first battery-electric Range Rover will be based on the existing combustion-engined model and JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) product engineering boss Thomas Müller has claimed it will be “the quietest and most refined Range Rover ever”. The firm had originally indicated that order books for the model would open before the end of this year, but the new waiting list falls a little short of that: people who sign up to it will be given the first opportunity to pre-order a model when formal sales begin at some point in 2024. The Range…

RIMAC’S NEXT SUPERCAR might not be powered only by batteries, as the company is looking into the viability of a radical new technology that generates electricity using liquid fuels like diesel. Speaking to Autocar recently, founder and boss Mate Rimac gave hints at what the next steps might look like for the Croatian brand, which is well under way with production of its second car, the 1877bhp Nevera EV. “Rimac isn’t exclusively electric – it’s doing whatever is most exciting at the time,” he said, revealing that it’s “working on” a programme that will determine if so-called nanotubes can be an effective source of energy for a vehicle. In essence, the idea is to superheat “chemically different” liquid fuels to generate electricity that could then be used to power an…

Cupra’s new Exponential Experience – which allows people to drive a real electric racing car around a digital course seen using virtual reality (VR) goggles – has “huge potential to do things that nobody has done before” in both real and virtual motorsport, and elsewhere. That’s according to former World Touring Car Championship racer Jordi Gené, who helped Cupra’s motorsport division develop the ‘phygital’ – merging physical and digital – system. The Exponential Experience is built around the 430bhp Urban Rebel concept, which previews the forthcoming 2025 entry-level Raval hatchback but is in effect a purpose-built electric racing car. “Cupra has developed the concept to serve as a way to merge real and digital motorsport in future” While it can be driven normally, the car is also fitted with a…

The SMMT’s forecast for 2023 UK car sales is 1.89 million. That’s a 17% improvement on last year, although it would still only take the market back to where it was in 1994. ALFA ROMEO 2022 share: 0.10% 2023 share: 0.08% The Tonale crossover arrived to give sales a big boost, but all that happened is Giulia and Stelvio sales fell accordingly. ALPINE 2022 share: 0.02% 2023 share: 0.02% Alpine is bravely keeping the flame alive for lightweight, driver-focused sports cars, but the torrents of SUVs and EVs aren’t helping. ASTON MARTIN 2022 share: 0.07% 2023 share: 0.05%* Given that the DBX SUV is now fully established, Aston should be doing better. It’s still losing money, while DB12 production difficulties are limiting sales. AUDI 2022 share: 6.82% 2023 share: 7.26%…

Lights are twinkling in windows, Jona Lewie is on the radio and my notebook still has a load of column ideas in it that I haven’t yet managed to write about this year. Some of those I’d like to get ticked off before 2024. Such as: “What’s the point of a car with a long range?” That’s what I was asked after I wrote about my Alpina D3 S Touring and how I could get 628 miles out of its diesel tank. “But surely you’d have to stop at some point during that distance anyway, wouldn’t you?” Of course. But there’s something about the choice of stopping when you want to, rather than when you have to, that makes a long road trip roll by more pleasantly. A healthy range…

My personal motorsport highlight in 2023? The season peaked when I took a stroll between 4am and 6am on Sunday 11 June. It’s not typical weekend behaviour, I can assure you. But at the 100th-anniversary running of the Le Mans 24 Hours, a spot of fresh air and exercise at such an ungodly time seemed entirely sane and natural. Such was the racing duel playing out that fatigue became irrelevant. This had been the most hyped Le Mans for years, not only because of Ferrari’s return to the premier class for a first proper crack at the race in half a century but also because of the sheer number of top-line manufacturers lured in by the clever Hypercar regulations. Toyota’s Cologne-based squad, bidding for a sixth consecutive win, faced not…

Ah, Portugal. I remember it well. A warm Atlantic breeze scudding around the hills above Estoril. Dry roads, then off to an ex-Formula 1 track with not a drop of rain in the pit lane and even an instructor in the passenger seat to save me from myself. That was McLaren’s environment – one chosen as carefully as can be to show off the strengths of its latest remarkable toy. Fair enough. But this is my environment, and it could scarcely be more different. The roads are cold, often damp, frosting nicely at the edges and with always just that frisson of additional excitement that there might be ice about. As if a 740bhp, rear-driven McLaren was somehow not already exciting enough. Welcome to Wales. I love that McLaren’s mid-life…

We’ve driven the new W214 Mercedes-Benz E-Class abroad in European launch specification, but what’s it like on British roads, shorn of air suspension, four-wheel steering and advanced semi-autonomous driving technology that isn’t yet legal here? I’ll keep it brief here because we’ll have a full road test in early January, but in short: one could be forgiven for expecting nothing but an excellent ride in this new Mercedes, but this is not the case. Actually, that’s a line from our 1985 road test of the W124 Mercedes 300E, but it’s still accurate. As is the following paragraph – well, apart from the outdated Ford reference and the implication that only men buy cars: “Overall levels of refinement are comparable to the top-level Granada. In other words, they are good, but…

1 FEBRUARY Ora Funky Cat 48kWh First Edition “Decent value and funky looks but a mediocre experience overall” Price as tested £32,790 Power 169bhp Torque 184lb ft 0-60mph 7.7sec 30-70mph 7.2sec Economy 3.1mpkWh 8 FEBRUARY Volkswagen ID Buzz SWB 77kWh Style Pro “It costs plenty but offers versatility and luxury accomplishments” Price as tested £69,265 Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft 0-60mph 9.5sec 30-70mph 9.1sec Economy 2.4mpkWh 15 FEBRUARY BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport “Has taken huge strides as a luxury car – and still drives like a BMW” Price as tested £150,145 Power 536bhp Torque 549lb ft 0-60mph 4.5sec 30-70mph 3.4sec Economy 2.6mpkWh 22 FEBRUARY Nissan X-Trail e-Power e-4orce AWD “Capable all-rounder that deals easily with everyday life” Price as tested £47,170 Power 210bhp Torque 387lb ft 0-60mph 6.6sec 30-70mph…

3 MAY Citroën ë-C4 X Shine “EV motoring done differently, with value, but some qualified successes” Price as tested £36,115 Power 134bhp Torque 192lb ft 0-60mph 9.7sec 30-70mph 8.8sec Economy 3.5mpkWh 10 MAY Mazda CX-60 e-Skyactiv D 3.3 RWD “Old-school in all the best ways, but the ride is difficult to overlook” Price as tested £46,960 Power 197bhp Torque 332lb ft 0-60mph 7.6sec 30-70mph 7.2sec Economy 46.2mpg 17 MAY Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum “Huge utility with appealing range, but size and price will put many off” Price as tested $100,090 (North America) Power 563bhp Torque 775lb ft 0-60mph 4.5sec 30-70mph 3.7sec Economy 2.2mpkWh 24 MAY Mercedes-Benz A200 AMG Line Executive “Significant progress for a keen-handling and efficient premium hatch” Price as tested £36,155 Power 161bhp Torque 199lb ft 0-60mph 7.8sec…

2 AUGUST Tesla Model S Plaid “Astonishing pace but not a fully rounded performance saloon” Price as tested £131,530 Power 1020bhp Torque na 0-60mph 2.4sec 30-70mph 1.7sec Economy 3.1mpkWh 9 AUGUST Abarth 500e Turismo “A stylish and entertaining pint-sized EV, but pricey and needs refining” Price as tested £38,795 Power 152bhp Torque 173lb ft 0-60mph 6.9sec 30-70mph 6.4sec Economy 3.8mpkWh 16 AUGUST Chevrolet Corvette Z06 3LZ Coupé “Incredible engine and chassis makeover, but the price has to be right” Price as tested $160,720 (US) Power 637bhp Torque 439lb ft 0-60mph 3.1sec 30-70mph 2.4sec Economy 20.9mpg 23 AUGUST LEVC TX Vista Comfort Plus “Whaddya think, guv’nor? Likely to be the most complete taxi on the planet” Price as tested £67,129 Power 148bhp Torque 184lb ft 0-60mph 12.7sec 30-70mph 11.8sec Economy 24.4mpg…

1 NOVEMBER Honda e:Ny1 Advance “Charming in some ways, but too little substance to justify the price” Price as tested £47,845 Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft 0-60mph 8.6sec 30-70mph 6.9sec Economy 3.4mpkWh 8 NOVEMBER Smart #1 Premium “Drivability frustrations mar an otherwise agreeable experience” Price as tested £38,950 Power 268bhp Torque 253lb ft 0-60mph 5.6sec 30-70mph 4.6sec Economy 3.7mpkWh 15 NOVEMBER Alpine A110 R “Hardcore A110 has its lures, but probably not enough of them for £96k” Price as tested £103,685 Power 296bhp Torque 251lb ft 0-60mph 4.2sec 30-70mph 3.5sec Economy 34.5mpg 22 NOVEMBER Porsche 911 GT3 RS “Esoteric even by hardcore 911 standards but simply monumental” Price as tested £235,007 Power 518bhp Torque 343lb ft 0-60mph 3.2sec 30-70mph 2.5sec Economy 18.5mpg 29 NOVEMBER BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport Pro…

So, 2023: the year we forgot about Covid, electric cars slipped inconspicuously into the mainstream and we could barely move for enormous piles of worthless semiconductors – a world away from the turbulence and uncertainty of 2022. Well, not quite. While the past 12 months felt relatively stable and established a sense of optimism within the car industry going into 2024, it was the direct opposite of uneventful, and it will surely be written into the history books as a transformative year for motoring. Since the dawn of the car, there has surely never been less of a divide between the industry and the wider news agenda, nor has the car ever been so central to popular discourse, not to mention politics at national and global levels. HILLINGDON TO DIE…

Provenance is one of those curious human obsessions that we’re pre-programmed to value. Take wristwatches, for example. Digital ones provide all the functionality you need, yet they are orders of magnitude less expensive than analogue and hand-made ones. Should the latter hail from Switzerland, go ahead and add another zero to its value. Much like Swiss watchmakers, we at Autocar are rather proud of our heritage, this being the world’s oldest motoring title. But while our focus has stayed the same since 1895, the process of creating the actual magazine has changed a lot. Filling more than 70 pages in five days is a tall task, but it all begins with the stories. Some, like long-awaited new-model unveilings or drives, will be pencilled into the calendar well ahead of time.…

If time, money and opportunity are not issues, a dream collection can be assembled from the classifieds. While predominately classics, these are vehicles you can enjoy owning for the rest of your motoring days – and the over-40 historics magically grant open access to low-emission areas. LAND ROVER DEFENDER A Defender is the obvious one, including the early Series models, for the simple reason that you can get almost every single nut and bolt mail order, and even average spanner-wranglers like me can fix them. Expect to pay £22k for a ‘refurbished’ canvas-backed 1980 example. LEXUS LS 400 If you want to be comfortable, then a Lexus LS 400 is the clever way to do it. An alt-universe S-Class that is still expensive to fix, but a looked-after one won’t…

Do a long drive in Britain without touching a motorway I learned this one on a gloomy evening when a closed M40 meant I had to go the back way from Oxford to Birmingham. It took twice as long, of course, but I saw much more of our (generally quite agreeable) countryside, learned a lot more about the car I was in and didn’t have to brave a stinking motorway service station when I fancied a break. FP Master the art of hypermiling Petrol and diesel cars are still astronomically expensive to run and the EV charging network remains a work in progress, so all drivers stand to benefit from learning how to get more miles out of every top-up. You can leave the duct tape at home, though: just…

VERSTAPPEN WILL EQUAL PROST AND VETTEL Why wouldn’t we expect Max Verstappen to win a fourth Formula 1 world title, thereby equalling the achievements of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel? Such is Red Bull’s advantage that it seems inconceivable that it won’t start the new season with a performance edge. But we will also predict that the opposition, led by Mercedes-AMG, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin (but not necessarily in that order!), will be closer than they were in 2023. They need to be. TOYOTA WILL AVENGE ITS LE MANS DEFEAT We felt certain Toyota would win a sixth consecutive Le Mans in 2023 – but we couldn’t predict a pre-race blindside from the Balance of Performance rules. Its GR010 Hybrid hypercar won every other round of the World Endurance…

THE GENEVA MOTOR SHOW WILL MAKE A SUCCESSFUL RETURN We haven’t had a Geneva motor show since 2019, the Covid pandemic taking out the subsequent three and then last year a lack of support from manufacturers leading to the postponement of its comeback. A Geneva show next year now seems an inevitability as organisers claim to have the required manufacturer backing to go ahead. This is good news. Geneva is the best annual motor show in the world (Tokyo tops it overall for sheer variety, but that’s only every other year): it has always felt like one of the year’s biggest car events and a real meeting point for the industry. It’s the most equitable motor show too, being staged on ‘neutral’ ground, without native car makers taking it over…

ALFA ROMEO 2UETTOTTANTA Catchy, no? Well, ‘2uettottanta’ might roll off the tongue more smoothly if you’re from Turin. Pininfarina’s 80th birthday present to itself in 2010 imagined a reborn Duetto, giving an enticing vision of what an Alfa MX-5 rival could look like. Too good to be true? Yes, but we got the 4C three years later, and that was just as beautiful. BENTLEY JAVA A more affordable ‘baby’ Bentley with a thumping V8 engine and a removable roof? Not so outlandish a concept in 2023 given that the Continental GT’s strong sales have kept the lights on in Crewe for two decades now. But back in 1994 the very idea was almost unfathomable–until the reveal of the Java. This imposing luxury cabriolet was the headline act at that year’s…

PORSCHE 911 SPORT CLASSIC Porsche is currently hooked on the hard stuff: the rare-groove special editions every manufacturer of note seems to be purveying as though their existence depended on it. (Maybe it does?) It’s obvious why. These creations delight the engineering teams, but so too do they have the bean-counters positively frothing at the mouth, such is the willingness to swallow outrageous prices. It’s easy to see these projects as cynical. And then you meet the cars first hand. The 911 Dakar? Silly car, silly price, but truly, superbly fine company in the real world and an instant classic. The new 911 S/T? Hugely contrived, despicably expensive, but probably the most intoxicating yet usable supercar Porsche has ever made. Sublime. Which brings us to the 911 Sport Classic, which…

FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 9432 WHY WE RAN IT To see if BMW’s entry-level EV is as impressive as its iX range-topper The iX1 has hauled me along for 7000 miles over the past six months: having been as far south as the Lizard in Cornwall and as far north as Keswick, Cumbria, it has literally taken me from one end of England to another. It was a rocky start, but living with the iX1 soon revealed its practical, attractive qualities in day-to-day driving. For the many long journeys we enjoyed together, the iX1 proved that its trump card is its brilliant powertrain. While it does fall short in the range department, it tackled pretty much any challenge with ease. Step on the accelerator in any drive mode – from the…

MILEAGE 10,071 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT It took Nissan 11 years to give us a second EV. Was it worth the wait? The term ‘range anxiety’ first entered the Oxford English Dictionary more than a decade ago and, according to the de facto authority on the language, its usage dates way back to the 1990s. Even after all this time, many people are still living with a sense of disquietude, fearful that their electric car doesn’t have enough charge to get them to where they want to go. I know of EV drivers who charge their cars every night, even when their batteries are at 50-80%. My dad, who is from Glasgow but now lives in the Midlands, says he wouldn’t buy an electric car in case he suddenly needed…

Referring to Matt Prior’s totally justifiable hammering of the ergonomics of the Volvo EX30 and the subsequent letters of support (22 November), nobody has commented on the real reason car makers, with their usual level of self-justifying hypocrisy, are moving to touchscreen or ‘gesture’ controls: they’re cheap. It has nothing to do with the rubbish their marketing departments spout. It’s about cheapness, pure and simple, and it needs to stop. Andrew Montague missed the point in his response: yes, you can do a lot of these things before you set off, but the point is that you used to be able to do them any time without distraction, and what if you want to change something while on the move? They aren’t safe! The other thing that needs to stop…

An owner’s view JULIETTE CUMMINGS “We’ve had our Galaxy 2.0 TDCi 140 auto for five years. It was registered in 2013 and has done 60,000 miles, mainly around town. It has been super-reliable but for one thing: three years ago, we had to have the gearbox replaced. It just stopped working! The new one cost £2500. People asked me why I didn’t just sell the car, but it was cheaper to replace the gearbox. It has been fine since and now we make sure it’s serviced.” Buyer beware… ■ ENGINE Short journeys can gum up the 2.0 TDCi’s exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve. A warning light will come on. A 20-mile blast up the motorway should clear the blockage. Camshaft oil seals can fail prematurely, which is why a cambelt…