Innholdsfortegnelse for March 13, 2024 i Autocar

As Porsche reveals its most powerful EV yet (p4), the firm is preparing to electrify its longest-standing model line, the 911, with a hybrid due to join the line-up as part of a heavily updated 2025 car. Nearing the end of its two-year development programme, the ‘992.2’-generation 911 receives a host of mid-life revisions, including subtly altered exterior styling, a reworked interior and updated six-cylinder petrol engines. The changes are intended to sustain the 911’s appeal through to 2027, when an all-new ninth-generation model will join the increasingly electrified Porsche line-up. The most significant change to the 911 in its sixth decade of production, however, is the adoption of a unique petrol-electric hybrid system. Set to appear in a new four-wheel-drive model being revealed in the summer, it combines a…

JAGUAR WILL END production of the XE, XF and F-Type in June as its Castle Bromwich factory prepares to transition to producing body panels for an entirely new line of vehicles. The retirement of the brand’s two saloons, sole estate and flagship sports car means its line-up will become SUV-only, with just the I-Pace, E-Pace and F-Pace remaining on sale through 2024. Jaguar’s rebirth as a high-end EV brand will then occur in 2025 with the introduction of a 600bhp four-seat grand tourer in the vein of the Porsche Taycan, which is expected to be followed in 2026 by a Bentley Bentayga-style SUV and then a large luxury saloon. All will share Jaguar’s new and bespoke JEA platform, and be entirely unrelated to the current models. Customers can still order…

KOREA’S KGM COULD be the first to market in the UK with a four-wheel-drive electric pick-up next year. Codenamed the O100, the new truck is a close technical relation to the new Torres EVX electric SUV (driven, p29) but with a bump in battery capacity to offer a range of around 300 miles and a second motor on the rear axle to boost power and, crucially, torque. Other new models due from the firm formerly known as Ssangyong over the next two years include a hybrid version of the Torres, a retro-look Korando SUV, a new coupé-crossover and an electric MPV atop a new platform.…

THE EIGHTH-GENERATION Dodge Charger muscle car has been unveiled, dropping its long-running Hemi V8 engine for a choice of straight-six or battery-electric power. The new Charger Daytona is the first production car to use Stellantis’s STLA Large platform, which can accommodate combustion and EV power. The STLA Large platform is also destined to underpin the new Jeep Wagoneer S and range-topping models from Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Chrysler. The new Charger is available with two or four doors and its bold new look has been inspired by the 1960s original – right down to the ‘Fratzog’ logo last used by Dodge in 1976. The Charger’s petrol offering is a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre ‘Hurricane’ straight-six engine dubbed the Sixpack, which sends 420bhp (‘standard output’) or 550bhp (‘high output’) to all four wheels.…

IF YOU WANT to terrify the marketing department of a car company, mention the residual value (RV) setters. This group of experts predicts the future values of used cars by looking at all sorts of trends and can make or break a car even before its launch. How? Virtually all cars are bought on finance, which only covers the depreciation, so the figures the RV setters produce will determine the real-world monthly cost of the car. It’s why a boring hatchback might cost more per month on a lease or PCP than a pricier, desirable SUV. It means the marketing people will promise anything to get these RV experts to set a more favourable figure. During presentations, they’ll say they’ll steer clear of bulk sales to daily rental fleets and…

To my relief, it looks like the answer to the question “is it just me?” is no. Too many cars in recent times have had me despairing at the number of controls that have migrated away from physical buttons and onto touchscreens. In some cases, this is slightly annoying; in others, I believe it’s borderline dangerous. Now the influential car safety rating organisation Euro NCAP has decided that, from 2026, it will award five-star ratings only to cars that retain physical controls for key features. To qualify, a car must have buttons, stalks or dials for its indicators, windscreen wipers, hazard warning lights, horn and SOS function. This list of items is welcome but not as exhaustive as I would like. You would have to be some kind of psychopath…

Break out Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture: Porsche is officially back after claiming victory in the coincidentally named Qatar 1812km 10-hour enduro at Losail. As Max Verstappen droned to yet another grand prix win just across the water in Bahrain, briefly giving Formula 1 something more grey and predictable to talk about than his team boss’s personal conduct, the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship exploded into life with a bombast befitting of the Russian composer’s most famous work. What an occasion. Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche and Toyota now joined in the Hypercar class by Alpine, BMW, Lamborghini and the revived Isotta Fraschini, plus a new LMGT3 class boasting a rich tally of – count ’em – nine car makers. Then there was the cast of drivers: Jenson Button, Mick Schumacher, Valentino Rossi……

Notice anything off about those cornering shots? Yes, that’s a 2.4-tonne saloon being hooned around a track yet exhibiting virtually no body roll. No, it’s not CGI, it’s PAR: Porsche Active Ride. The Panamera Turbo – the range-topper for the time being – is now a plug-in hybrid by default. That brings with it a whole load of weight but also a powerful 400V electrical system that can be employed for more than just propulsion. Forget active ones: PAR does away with anti-roll bars entirely. Instead, there are four motor-driven hydraulic pumps that build up the necessary pressure for actuators in the air springs to harden, soften, lift or lower each corner of the car independently, thus enabling all manner of magic tricks. Porsche had a static demonstrator that could…

Adventure starts here,” says KGM, and for the avoidance of any doubt has named its new crossover after the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile and describes its own modus operandi as ‘powered by toughness’. “ Sorry, KGM? It stands for Korea Green Mobility or Korea Genuinely Made, depending on who you ask, and it’s Ssangyong reincarnated. Korea’s perennially overlooked car maker was bought out yet again last year after a long period of uncertainty and underinvestment under Mahindra, and it apparently faces a bright future as a vendor of smartly styled and electrified SUVs. The revolution starts with the five-seat Torres, which at 4700mm long slots between the Korando and Rexton. It’s on sale now as a front-driven petrol in K30 and K40 trims, and it will soon…

Not since the Tesla Model 3 arrived in 2017 have I been so taken aback by the cabin of a car (at least the sensible ones, so not counting any Paganis) – and I mean that in a positive sense. In the case of the Tesla, the sheer minimalism was of major ergonomic concern but the light-filled ambience was superb. The new Mini Countryman, with its bezel-less touchscreen and lack of an instrument binnacle, takes clear inspiration from the American EV, but as for materials and design, its ethos is contrastingly maximalist yet every bit as compelling. Some highlights: the monolithic, swept-back dash, with its portrait-oriented vents, is very Mercedes S-Class and pleasing to the eye; the circular screen has a spectacular floating effect; the rust-on-petrol, open-weave knit adorning the…

The new Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon that will make its debut later this year will be the first in a new generation of compact cars built on a bespoke EV platform. Until then, the company is trying to maximise the potential of its existing electric models. The EQA crossover is built on a multi-powertrain platform that it shares with the combustion-engined GLA, and it has failed to shine among a crowd of rivals based on EV-specific architectures. Now it has received the same raft of upgrades as the closely related EQB we tested last week, including low-rolling-resistance tyres and an infotainment function that advises you how to maximise your range. That has increased the range of the 250+ Premium Plus model tested here by only four miles (to 314), but the…

While running an EV in the desert is a challenge, it can be done: one Skoda Enyaq has driven the length of Africa and back. Maarten van Pel and Renske Cox spent 13 months driving 23,600 miles from their home in the Netherlands to South Africa and back in an EV. The sustainability enthusiasts drive a Tesla at home, but having decided that was “too divisive”, they settled on a Skoda. The secret? Patience. The pair would generally travel around 100-150 miles a day and then spend a day charging. That required ingenuity: they would wire the Enyaq into the mains, rather than rely on wonky wall sockets, and also used the sun. The Enyaq was fitted with solar panels that could gently top it up, but they also had…

1 VOLKSWAGEN ID 7 PRO MATCH Not hugely exciting, but tidy in dynamic terms, and otherwise a complete package, with space, usability, comfort and plenty of range. A convincing electric VW. 2 TESLA MODEL 3 LONG RANGE Visual changes aside, Tesla’s ‘Highland’ update improves build and materials quality, making the Model 3 even more enjoyable company. Very good value too. 3 BMW i4 eDRIVE35 SPORT Lacks the Volkswagen’s versatility and comfort, but has more deft, engaging handling and a more luxurious, characterful cabin. 4 POLESTAR 2 LONG RANGE DUAL MOTOR Makes up for its lack of interior space with kerb appeal and prodigious pace. Agile, but not as sweet to drive as the BMW. 5 HYUNDAI IONIQ 6 ULTIMATE Interesting and likeable, but a compromised ride and questionable packaging prevent…

MILEAGE 18,666 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To find out if this hybrid can strike the sweet spot between a car and a van The rule when you run a van as a long-termer on a car magazine is that, before you know it, people will come out of the woodwork asking to borrow it because they need to move house. Indeed, I’d been the custodian of the Corolla for less than a month when in came an email from Damon Cogman, art editor on our sibling title Classic & Sports Car. Because I’m keen to give the Corolla the chance to fulfil its destiny as a van, I duly handed over the keys. I thought he might complain about how small it was, but it turns out the Corolla was…

FEATURE Testing in a winter wonderland Manufacturers usually head north to evaluate new cars, so what does one learn driving on ice? We find out in a sideways Volvo EX30 FIRST DRIVE Skoda Superb Czech family car gets major upgrades and new PHEV powertrain for fourth generation INSIGHT Silence S04 How maker of Citroën Ami-rivalling electric quadricycle aims to make noise in the UK EVERY WEEK ROAD TEST BMW X6 M Competition Does this M-honed SUV-coupé have the bite to match its bark? USED GUIDE Ford Edge Big SUV only lasted four years in the UK. Time to give it a second chance 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 recalibrated push-to-pass function provides a 161bhp uplift in power for 10 seconds at a time” The new Taycan Turbo GT is Porsche’s most powerful road car yet – and it has already set lap records at two of the world’s most prestigious race tracks. Available as a two-seater and featuring a wide-reaching overhaul of the chassis and powertrain, it is the first electric car from Porsche’s storied GT division and one of the fastest four-door cars on the market. It swaps the recently facelifted Taycan’s rear motor for one with a silicon-carbide inverter, which reduces energy losses as the transistors switch from the on to off state. This allows for a greater maximum current of 900A, significantly boosting maximum power. As such, the Turbo GT is capable of putting…

COOL IT, DUDE To boost cooling for the front-mounted radiators and brakes, Porsche has given the new front bumper distinctive air ducts that house five vertical louvres in place of the three horizontal louvres on each side of the existing model. It is most likely that they will incorporate some sort of active operation to better balance cooling and aerodynamic drag. There is also a larger central air duct book-ended by additional cooling channels on either side. LIGHT SHOW Instead of being housed within the top section of the bumper insert, the indicators are now integrated into revised headlight assemblies that feature a new graphic design. As with the units used by the facelifted Cayenne, the new headlights are expected to offer HD matrix LED functionality with more than 32,000…

NISSAN IS REPORTEDLY in talks to invest $400 million (£316m) in ailing electric car start-up Fisker. The US-based car firm recently announced it had paused development of its affordable compact EV, the Pear, having made a loss of $463.6m (£366m) during the fourth quarter of 2023. CEO and founder Henrik Fisker said the company was seeking a collaboration with another car firm to generate cash or reduce costs. He said: “Fisker is in negotiations with a large auto maker for a potential transaction, which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms and North America manufacturing.” Reuters and Bloomberg have now reported that the manufacturer in question is Nissan, citing anonymous sources who are familiar with the matter. Reuters added that the talks…

American EV maker Rivian is gearing up to enter Europe with a brace of strikingly styled electric crossovers called the R2 and R3 – the latter of which will spawn a rally-inspired performance model. The unexpected addition to the R2 unveiling event last week, dubbed the R3X, was confirmed to pack a tri-motor powertrain – a configuration used by the 1000bhp-plus Lucid Air Sapphire and Tesla Model S super-saloons. It wears thick-walled off-road tyres that sit prouder of the body than on the regular R3, hinting that its dynamic character will be more like that of the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato than a conventional hot crossover. The R3X was unveiled beside the regular R3 and the larger R2 crossover, which will be the first of the three new Rivian models to…

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is being used for some alarming things (creating fake videos, for instance), but some positive purposes for it are emerging as well. For instance, Falken’s parent company, Sumito Rubber Industries, is using AI as part of a tool called Tyre Aerodynamic Simulation, with which it aims to reduce the aerodynamic drag caused by even the smallest surface details on a tyre, and the results will be used in the development of a next-generation, low-energy-consumption tyre due to be launched in 2027. Tread design, the formulation of tyre compounds and sidewall design already play a large role in reducing the rolling resistance of tyres, both for EVs and ICE vehicles. Hysteresis caused by the tyre consuming energy when it deforms while rolling along the road and then some of…

The revised Audi A3 line-up will feature a new SUV-inspired Allstreet variant – although there are currently no plans to offer it in the UK. The new variant adopts styling elements derived from Audi’s SUV line-up, including a chunkier grille, a skid plate-inspired lip spoiler and chunky wheel arches. It also sits on 17in wheels as standard (one inch larger than the regular A3’s) and up to 19in versions will be offered as an option. The soft-roader’s suspension has been raised by 15mm over the standard A3’s, which, combined with bigger wheels, means the Allstreet has 30mm more ground clearance than the regular model.…

Millions of pounds of compensation payments are being readied by lenders after an investigation was launched into the mis-selling of car finance over more than a decade. The issue concerns so-called discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs), sold between 2007 and 2020, that allowed dealers and brokers to adjust lenders’ interest rates to reward themselves with commission payments on hire purchase and personal contract purchase deals. DCAs were banned in January 2021 by the FCA, which claimed consumers would collectively save £165 million a year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which launched the probe, believes that up to three-quarters of deals were on a DCA basis. Up to 10,000 customers had complained about DCAs and two cases had been upheld by the time the FCA called a halt to more appeals while…

Porsche calls this new Panamera the G3. In other words, it’s supposedly the third entirely new generation of the big saloon. You might say that’s overselling things, since it still builds on the one that came out in 2016. It doesn’t really matter, though, because that Panamera was still a very compelling car and this updated one has some serious technical tricks up its sleeve that might make you think twice about ordering that Taycan. Visually, it’s still very obviously a Panamera, but the front bumper has been entirely redesigned, being given new air inlets, and the front wings have been raised to create a bigger height difference to the bonnet, giving the driver more of that 911-typical sensation of peering between the two headlight ‘tunnels’. The rear quarter-light has…

“It felt more alert more often and I didn’t notice increased understeer on corner entry” The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio could head towards retirement without receiving any amendments at all and we would still like it as much as when we road tested it in 2017. There are newer rivals, of course. But the Mercedes-AMG C63 has four fewer cylinders than it did and the BMW M3 is now extra aggressive, both moving away from the supple, well-rounded niche that the Quadrifoglio made for itself. In the super-saloon stakes, this still rules. Still, it has been revised again. Nothing serious. You will know these are mild tweaks when I say that chief among them is the adoption of a conventional mechanical limited-slip differential in place of the old active torque-vectoring…

Happily, it seems the extra weight of a chunky 73.4kWh drive battery has gone some way to improving the Torres’s rolling refinement in the electric EVX variant. It’s far less jittery, even on the appallingly finished rural back roads of my Turkish test route, and much less crashy over bumps and potholes. Quieter, too, and not just in the obvious sense: wind noise and road roar at a cruise seem greatly diminished, even without the thrash of the four-banger to drown them out. There’s a fair bit more wallowing to contend with over rolling roads, but overall the EVX feels much more composed in a straight line. And although the steering is fairly vague and unresponsive, body roll is impressively kept in check, even in hard cornering. Not that you…

The Toyota Yaris has been given a mid-life update for 2024, the supermini gaining a larger infotainment touchscreen, a more configurable digital dash and a more powerful version of its 1.5-litre petrol hybrid powertrain. The standard system, matching an Atkinson-cycle three-cylinder petrol engine to a 0.76kWh lithium ion battery and a hybrid transaxle containing two electric motor-generators, one small and one large, produces 114bhp. Thanks to a more potent motor (83bhp, up from 79bhp), a revised transaxle and some software tweaks, it now can be had with 129bhp, shaving 0.5sec off the standard car’s 0-62mph time of 9.7sec. So equipped, the Yaris does feel slightly faster than usual. There’s a good measure of linear initial acceleration and strong step-off on electric power. Under load, however, the e-CVT behaves much the…

Ouarzazate is known as the gateway to the Sahara – and the driveway to that gate is Morocco’s N9 highway. The road winds from Marrakesh through the High Atlas mountains, where barren, sun-parched, rocky landscapes meet snow-covered peaks. At the dizzying Tizi n’Tichka pass, it practically folds in on itself. Just 200 miles south-west from here is the vast nothingness of the Sahara desert. And that’s where I’ve just come from – driving a Skoda Enyaq Coupé 85x. The challenge was to find out how an electric car coped in a desert climate, but also to consider a wider question: if EVs are the future, how challenging will it be to introduce them everywhere? After all, when buyers are put off EVs because the north of England is considered a…

At a Sunday morning car meet recently, I was about to tuck into a bacon sandwich when a small yellow box purred by, doing around 15mph. Turning in to the car park, it came to a stop in front of the assorted Stags, Esprits, Mustangs and other relics drawing the usual crowd. One side of it then opened to reveal the driver, who, unfolding herself into a standing position, effortlessly pushed what I now realised was a three-wheeled microcar backwards to join the other vehicles, where it quickly attracted the curious and amused. Only very small cars can inspire these reactions. Mention Jeremy Clarkson and an elevator and everyone knows you’re talking about a Peel P50, the microcar that the presenter toured BBC Television Centre in. Cue much chortling, followed…

MODEL TESTED PRO MATCH Price £51,550 • Power 282bhp • Torque 402lb ft • 0-60mph 6.1sec • 30-70mph 5.1sec • Economy 3.1mpkWh • Max DC charging speed 182kW • 70-0mph 44.9m Car makers have typically deployed big and expensive saloons in order to make a statement, and this is no different in the case of the new, five-metre-long Volkswagen ID 7. However, the longest executive car conceived in Wolfsburg since the magnificent but unloved Phaeton of 2003 is less about technological one-upmanship and conspicuous luxury than your typical range-topping German limo, and more about simply saying: ‘Look, here at VW we can in fact build you a truly great electric car.’ The fact that such a statement still needs to be made when the ID 7 is not the first…

WRITE TO autocar@haymarket.com Of their own accord We’ve all been there: non-car-loving friends asking: “What should I buy?” Like Steve Cropley, my answer is almost always “something Japanese” (My Week In Cars, 21 February), the logic being that they want the least possible hassle from their daily driver. Maybe 15 years ago, dear friends of mine asked the question. They’re a lovely couple, each of them fond of labels and fancy items – the source of some mild ribbing from me. They had just had a second child and needed something a bit bigger than their Volkswagen Golf. Stock starter: Honda Accord Tourer. Fine-dining alternative: Lexus IS 300 Sportcross. After a couple of weeks of looking around, they reported: “The Accord looks like a hearse and we can’t find a Lexus,…

Most cars are born out of a desire to plug a gap in the market, but the Type 937 Alfa Romeo GT was conceived to plug a gap in a factory’s production line. The factory was that of Bertone in Turin. Fiat Punto Cabriolet production had ceased and the coachbuilder needed something for its staff to do, so it approached Alfa with the idea of a practical four-seat coupé based on the 147 hatchback and 156 saloon. Although Alfa already had the GTV coupé and was planning its Brera replacement, it fell for the idea of the GT – but not in the way that Bertone had intended. Having invested heavily to improve quality at its plant near Naples, Alfa decided to build the GT there beside the 147. Not…

AUDI CABRIOLET 2.3 E 1992, 42,000 miles, £1500 This looks like a fantastic restoration prospect, having done minimal miles with the same family from new. The history is only partial, the bodywork is bruised and the roof is torn, but at that price those are all mere niggles. SAAB 9-3 2.8 V6 AERO CONVERTIBLE 2007, 107,000 miles, £2000 This is an incredibly tidy example of a handsome, practical drop-top that has had the same owner since new and has a full service history. It also packs the punch of the 250bhp petrol V6. VOLKSWAGEN EOS 1.4 TSI SPORT 2008, 65,000 miles, £3050 The Golf-based Eos was a cut above the Vauxhall Astra TwinTop and Peugeot 307 CC back in the day yet never really took off, which means bargains like…

So many car engines have been created over the past 140 years that it’s virtually impossible to keep track of them all. Some, like the Chevrolet small-block V8, Ford Kent four and Porsche flat six, will stay in the public memory for a long time, but others are known today by only a select few enthusiasts. Here are some of our favourites – and congratulations if you know them all. Daimler 2.5-litre V8 Rover’s Buick-derived engine is easily the longest-lived and most common British small-block V8 and has completely eclipsed the slightly earlier unit of the same layout produced by Daimler. This engine was designed by Edward Turner, who is rather more famous for his many Triumph motorcycle designs. His V8 was used from 1959 in the SP250 sports car…

The Mercedes-AMG E53 has been reinvented as a potent plug-in hybrid with an aggressive new look, a wide-reaching chassis makeover and as much power as the old V8-propelled E63. The hot four-wheel-drive E-Class model, introduced in 2016 to sit below the range-topping E63 super-saloon, keeps its 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged straight six but receives a chunky power boost from a new electric motor. In total, the new E53 packs up to 603bhp and is as quick off the mark as the Audi RS4 Avant. On its own, the engine produces 442bhp, having been tweaked to make 19bhp more than before. Up to 161bhp comes from the electric motor, which is integrated into the nine-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox. In normal running, the combined output is 577bhp and 553lb ft, making it more powerful…

An electric Range Rover prototype has been spotted testing for the first time as Land Rover prepares to reveal its maiden EV in the coming months. It is believed to be a test car for the electric successor to the Range Rover Velar, which has a similarly sleek and low-slung profile, and is taxed and insured as such. The electric version of the flagship Range Rover, which has yet to be seen but is due on sale first, is set to more closely resemble today’s upright, high-riding SUV. The roof profile, window line and ground-hugging suspension of this prototype are strong clues that this is our first look at Land Rover’s Porsche Macan EV rival, which is due to be one of three electric SUVs built at Halewood atop the…

THE DACIA SPRING EV will go on sale in the UK priced at £14,995, which is less than Renault’s petrol-engined Clio. The baby hatchback was recently confirmed for a UK launch after a wide-reaching visual and technical overhaul aimed at sustaining its strong sales figures in Europe. Dacia had been tight-lipped about pricing, but since it is now accepting pre-orders ahead of deliveries starting in October, the firm has confirmed it will undercut the UK’s cheapest electric cars – the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, MG 4 EV and BYD Dolphin – by as much as £12,000. In fact, the Spring is actually one of the UK’s cheapest new cars overall, with just the Fiat Panda, Kia Picanto and Dacia’s own Sandero costing less. The headline price gets you the basic 44bhp…

The Audi A3 has followed its Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia platform-mates in receiving a wide-reaching refresh for 2024, with a fresh interior, trick new lights and a more powerful S3 among the headlines. Offered in the UK in both Sportback and saloon forms, the revamped A3 will initially go on sale with a choice of two powertrains: the 35 TFSI 1.5-litre mild-hybrid petrol and the 35 TDI 2.0-litre diesel. Both units offer an unchanged 148bhp. A revamped plug-in hybrid is among the other engine options that will be launched later this year. The focus of a relatively subtle exterior makeover has been to make the car look more dynamic. There is a revamped, wider hexagonal grille at the front, with the Audi rings now protruding from the top rather…

A group of environmental activists claimed responsibility for a fire that put Tesla’s Berlin factory out of action last week. Production was stopped and workers were sent home after a nearby electricity pylon burned down, shutting off the plant’s power supply. In a letter published online, activists calling themselves the Volcano Group said they carried out the sabotage act as a “gift”, because Tesla “eats up earth, resources, people, labour and spits out 6000 SUVs, killing machines and monster trucks per week”. Tesla CEO Elon Musk called those responsible “either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth” or “puppets for those who don’t have good environmental goals”. He added: “Stopping production of electric vehicles rather than fossil fuel vehicles ist extrem dumm.”…

Those in the know claim that the practice of manipulating interest rates to earn commission goes much further back than 2007, the FCA’s investigation cut-off date. One dealer, who asked not to be named, told Autocar: “As far back as the 1980s, we were jacking up customers’ interest rates such that we often earned more in finance commission than we did on the cars we sold. It was easy. “The finance company gave us each an electronic tablet into which we entered the deal figures. We adjusted the rate of interest by pressing different letters on the keyboard. You’d start the customer at the highest rate and, if they didn’t like it, press another letter and reduce it until they were happy. Fortunately, no one complained.”…

TUESDAY We can be pretty certain that legendary UK volume car builders Herbert Austin and William Morris – serious rivals in their pre-war heyday – rarely got together for a friendly chinwag. To fix this, and mark the fact that the British Motor Museum has opened a superb new exhibit that places the offices of these great men side by side, Matt Prior and I met this week at Gaydon to make our My Week In Cars podcast inside Austin’s impressive panelled office. Never mind that we had to gain access by crawling through the fireplace, the ambience was amazing. Even more surprising was how the two offices lay bare the contrasting characters of their incumbents: Austin, the correct and conventional businessman; Morris, the hypochondriac philanthropist who gave today’s equivalent…

Ever wondered what the difference is between single-, two- and three-chamber air suspension? As a general rule, the more air that an air spring contains, the more it can compress and the softer it will be. Manufacturers then add chambers, because they can be opened or closed off in order to decrease or increase the spring rates. In other words, if you have three chambers, you can have three stiffness settings. The Panamera appears to take a step back by going from three chambers to two or, in the case of Porsche Active Ride (pictured), just one. The engineers say that even in the standard suspension, the adaptive dampers (now with separate valves to independently control bump and rebound) are now sophisticated enough that they can compensate for the loss…

When driving an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, I get a similar feeling as I do when driving a Ford Puma ST. In the Ford’s case: this is all very nice, but wouldn’t it be nicer if it were a Fiesta? In the Alfa’s case: this is great, but it’s not a Giulia. But I get it. The Giulia is a compact executive car with a saloon boot. The Stelvio is a far more practical, more mature and more broadly able mid-sized SUV. In this Quadrifoglio form, it argues with the Porsche Macan GTS to be the most fun not-£200k SUV on sale, and it’s a generously accommodating one too, given that it’s ‘only’ 4.7 metres long. Besides, as one reader noted, its wheels are more impervious to Britain’s potholes than…

Everybody knows electric cars remain stubbornly expensive for manufacturers (especially European ones) to make and therefore for the public to buy. Even so, some of the prices are still jaw-dropping – not least in the case of dear BMW. Take, for example, the new i5 saloon. It starts at £68k, compared with £51k for a petrol 5 Series. Even the iX3, the mid-size electric SUV based on the big-selling X3, is at least £65k. The days of the £35k i3 feel like ancient history – although admittedly the carbonfibre-tubbed city car was far less profitable than BMW would have liked. These days, for fanciers of the German marque, going electric will cost plenty. With the arrival of a new entry-level iX1, it will still cost you all right, but just…

Editor Tisshaw is not prone to dispensing unfounded praise. When he returned from France a fortnight ago seemingly unable to hold a conversation without blurting out how “bloody good” the BMW 550e he had driven was, it meant the top-ranking new 5 Series possibly wasn’t rubbish. We will rubber-stamp (or otherwise) the G60 saloon’s brilliance in the coming weeks, putting the £77,000, 482bhp plug-in hybrid 550e xDrive M Sport under the road test microscope in the UK. In the meantime, we’ve had a go in its understudy, the 530e M Sport. The differences are that where the 550e has six cylinders, the 530e has four (still longitudinally aligned), and instead of both axles being driven, here only the rear one is. Both PHEVs use the same 19.4kWh battery, which for…

The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex features four separate solar plants, but only one (Noor IV) uses ‘traditional’ photovoltaic panels. The catch: it has no energy storage. The other three sites are concentrated solar plants and use huge mirrors that concentrate the sun’s rays. Noor I and II feature parabolic mirrors that focus the light to heat pipes filled with industrial oil, which is then used to heat water into steam to drive an electricity-generation turbine. The HTF (heat transfer fluid) is also used to heat up a special blend of salt into a molten state. Yes, heat salt to 392deg C and it’s a brilliant way of storing energy that can then be used to keep generating steam to drive the turbine. Noor III features 7400 mirrors, each the size…

Cars die quietly. Their ‘look’ lasts six or seven years with mid-life changes, while their underbits generally go twice as long because they’re by far the most expensive components to change. Sales typically peak a couple of years before the end, and by the time the Grim Reaper arrives, the manufacturing company has long stopped talking about the outgoing model and is well down the road with noise about its replacement. So it is with the Zoe, Renault’s pioneering volume EV. Production officially ceased last month (though in reality it stopped well before Christmas), with about 400,000 units sold across Europe. Renault has been publicising the Zoe’s replacement, officially called the Renault 5 E-Tech, since 2021 when it appeared as a concept to herald the all-change ‘Renaulution’ plan devised by…

Historically, hatchbacks such as the Polo and Golf, rather than large executive saloons, have been the bread and butter of the Volkswagen product portfolio. However, in an era when multiple types of machine can be spun off one modular electric platform, the world’s second-largest car maker has sensed an opportunity. The ID 7 is cleverly positioned in that on the one hand it offers more space and more rolling refinement than many of its direct rivals, yet on the other hand it dramatically undercuts similarly sized but more outwardly premium competitors in terms of price. Prospective buyers of everything from BYD’s Seal to the Mercedes EQE will find appeal in the VW. What’s more, this car delivers in the real world. It rides very nicely indeed, handles with an intuitive…

MILEAGE 5154 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if a bright future lies ahead for the Smart brand reinvented under Geely There has been a tirade of negative stories about EVs in the mainstream media recently, about how they’re ‘damaging the British economy’, how they’re ‘actually not economical at all’ and how they’re causing ‘petrol cars to be banned’. These stories, which have been dubbed a ‘vocal anti-EV campaign’ by a House of Lords report, have been harming public confidence as we move towards the end of new ICE car sales in 2035 – and manufacturers, politicians and environmentalists have been fighting back with facts. While such stories are dubious, they do highlight how much of an adjustment going electric requires. Certainly in my experience, EVs need to get better…

It was worrying to read that Steve Cropley had heard rumours about the faltering revival of the Geneva motor show also being the final one (My Week In Cars, 28 February). Since the demise of the British motor show, Geneva has become my local one – not as daft as it sounds with a cheap day return from Luton airport. I know manufacturers think that motor shows don’t give adequate return in the internet age. However, I made decisions on my last three purchases after seeing the cars in the flesh, overturning thoughts I had beforehand. This year, I think the show did the best it could with poor support from the industry, and it turned out to be quite an enjoyable day. Usefully, I added two cars to my…

An owner’s view COLIN CROWTHER “I’ve owned my 2007-reg GT 1.9 JTDm Lusso for three years. It has done 75,000 miles and suffered few problems. The only serious one – and it was serious – was when the body control module failed. I had it replaced along with the ECU, so that both components could talk to each other. I’ve also had to replace a suspension part last winter, but that wasn’t the car’s fault: I hit a pothole. There’s no corrosion and it’s still returning more than 50mpg. Apart from the fact that rear passenger access is a little awkward, I can think of no good reason to sell it.” Buyer beware… ▪ ENGINE The 2.0 JTS needs a fresh cambelt every 36,000 miles, but few owners realise this.…

“THE ELECTRIC CAR’s problem is the battery, and that’s why I think it will be difficult for it to be an alternative to the combustion engine. It may be that soon the industry can produce a battery with more power and a greater range. But I think electric cars will always be limited to use in towns. “Electric cars may be a specific solution in a specific area, but they won’t solve the ecology problem at a global level, because you have to generate power for their batteries.” No, not another sceptical letter from an Autocar reader in 2024 but quotes from Fiat R&D boss Giancarlo Michellone in 1990. Hardly what you would expect to hear from a man who had just created his employer’s first electric car powertrain –…