Innholdsfortegnelse for Aug 2023 i What Car?

The latest new car sales figures show that seven of the top 10 most popular models so far in 2023 are SUVs. And these high-riding machines are even more dominant on whatcar.com, making up nine of our 10 most frequently read reviews. ‘With so many SUVs to pick from, finding the right one for you can be hard’ Still, it’s easy to see why. Where once SUVs were expensive to run and crude to drive, today the best combine style with efficiency and are as comfortable as they are practical. What’s more, there’s now a vast number to choose from. Here’s the paradox, though: while this means there’s more chance that someone is selling exactly what you want, finding it can be that much harder. So, this month we’ve not…

AS PART OF the annual What Car? Awards, our readers can nominate the upcoming model that they’re most looking forward to seeing in showrooms. This year, they voted overwhelmingly for the new Kia EV9 electric luxury SUV. As Kia’s flagship model, the EV9 is intended to build on the success of the smaller EV6, which was our overall Car of the Year in 2022. On paper, it looks promising. Two versions are available: a 201bhp rear-wheel-drive model with an official range of 308 miles, and a 378bhp four-wheel-drive version that promises 336 miles between charges. Both come with seven seats as standard (or six if you opt for the top-spec GT-Line S), and a 235kW maximum charging rate means a 10-80% battery top-up can take just 25 minutes. On top…

YOU CAN NEVER have too much of a good thing, as the saying goes, and the Volkswagen ID Buzz LWB follows just that wisdom. It’s a bigger, more practical version of the existing ID Buzz electric MPV – our 2023 Car of the Year. The LWB (for long wheelbase) is 250mm longer than the regular ID Buzz, allowing for a more spacious interior. Unlike the regular car (which is offered solely with five seats), the LWB can be had with five, six or seven seats, making it ideal if you regularly carry lots of people or luggage. It’s not just the car itself that’s bigger, though. The ID Buzz LWB comes with a more powerful, 282bhp electric motor and a larger, 85kWh (usable) battery that should give an official range…

WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING at is the most significant hot hatch since the Simca 1100TI kick-started the genre back in 1973. It’s called the Abarth 500e and it’s arguably the world’s first proper electric hot hatch. We say ‘arguably’ because Spanish brand Cupra would very much like you to think its sporty-looking Born is a hot hatch, but in reality it’s little more than a sportier-looking Volkswagen ID 3. And that’s fine if you’re in the market for a stylish hatchback, but the 500e has a bigger point to prove. Chiefly, it seeks to convince driving enthusiasts that electric cars can be just as fun as their petrol-powered counterparts. To help it achieve that aim, the 500e has a more muscular motor than the one found in the Fiat 500 Electric…

WHEN A CAR is updated, we often refer to those changes as a ‘facelift’, but in the case of the 2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia, that metaphor might be a touch too strong. Perhaps ‘makeover’ would be more appropriate? After all, you have to look pretty closely at the revised Giulia to notice that it now features a slightly more aggressive front grille, new adaptive Matrix LED headlights and more angular rear lights. Even the interior changes are tiny, the most noticeable being an all-new 12.3in digital instrument cluster. With three display modes, it’s good, but it isn’t as customisable as Audi’s Virtual Cockpit set-up. There are now just three Giulia trim levels to choose from. Sprint is the entry point and gets the essentials, while top-specification Competizione benefits from luxuries…

Use your phone to scan the code by the car you like, or search for it on whatcar.com and click the ‘Get best price’ button. We’ll alert dealers in your area so they can compete for your business without you having to make an effort to shop around. You can request quotes on as many cars as you like, and your ‘My offers’ page lets you view them all in one place. While our Target PCP price allows direct finance comparisons, you can also request personalised finance quotes.…

List price £28,370 Target Price £26,385 Kerb weight 1280kg 85% match 1088kg Max towing weight 1250kg Towball limit 75kg SKODA HAS BEEN a regular winner at the Tow Car Awards, and this year the Skoda Kamiq earns it yet another trophy with a class win. This small SUV punches above its weight as a tow car, easily coping with a caravan ballasted to 85% of the car’s kerb weight. At the 60mph speed limit for towing, the Kamiq pulled straight and true, and it could go 10mph faster at the test track without any sign of the caravan wandering. What’s more, with a 30-60mph acceleration time of 10.7sec, the Kamiq and its caravan can easily get up to speed by the end of a motorway slip road, although there isn’t…

List price £45,310 Target Price £42,447 Kerb weight 1880kg 85% match 1598kg Max towing weight 1800kg* Towball limit 100kg *1650kg at gross vehicle weight SOMETIMES, IT PAYS to be different, and the Nissan X-Trail’s highly unusual hybrid set-up helps to make it a very capable tow car. The X-Trail uses a 1.5-litre petrol engine, but it never powers the wheels directly; it acts as a generator, with the wheels driven by electric motors. In the case of e-4orce models, like the one we tested, there’s a motor for each axle, so the X-Trail has four-wheel drive. Hill starts proved easy, as they should be in a 4x4. The electronic parking brake released cleanly and the X-Trail pulled over the hill without fuss. Alternatively, if you need to overtake dawdling traffic,…

List price £51,745 Target Price £51,108 Kerb weight 2090kg 85% match Above max weight Max towing weight 1600kg Towball limit 100kg FOR THE SECOND year in a row, the Kia EV6 is our favourite electric tow car. Why? Well, for starters, a 30-60mph time of just 5.7sec with a caravan on the back means the EV6 has power to spare. You can drive with a light right foot and still easily keep up with traffic. Some electric cars suffer from low towing limits relative to their size and weight (Volkswagen Group, we’re looking at you), but that’s not a problem with the EV6; its 1600kg limit brings a broad choice of caravans into play. Even towing such a heavy ’van, the EV6 is reassuringly stable. A kerb weight of more…

It may look like a vision of the distant future, designed to get tongues wagging at motor shows, but you’ll notice there’s no badge on this car’s nose. That’s because, rather than being the work of a car maker’s designers, it’s the product of artificial intelligence (AI). You’ve probably heard a lot about AI in 2023. This super-smart computer technology has the potential to impact every part of our lives; it’s able to digest huge swathes of information, it can mimic a person’s speech or writing, and it can even be used to predict the future. That last point is what you see here. We asked an AI program not only what the car of 2035 will look like, but also what features it will offer. Unsurprisingly, the car of…

Mileage 3081 List price £26,545 Target Price £25,202 Price as tested £25,431 Test economy 54.9mpg ONE OF THE major selling points of a hybrid – such as my Toyota Yaris Cross – is that you get some electric car benefits but are less likely to suffer range anxiety. I say ‘less likely’ because when I took delivery of my car, I was still a little apprehensive about tackling long journeys in it, due to its modest, 36-litre fuel tank. However, when I needed to travel to Edinburgh to test the new Mazda CX-60 diesel, it seemed like a good opportunity to find out what the Yaris Cross is like on a long trip. I’d been given the choice of flying, driving or taking the train to Scotland. I’d ruled out…

FLOOD, FIRE, FAMINE and pestilence. Well, okay, my Mazda CX-60 and I haven’t encountered all the Biblical excesses, but we have made it through torrential rain, flooded and icy roads, thick snow and deep mud over the past few months. I wanted a vehicle that would be suitable for rural life during the winter and spring, and since I took delivery, the CX-60 has proved to be a good choice. It’s the automotive equivalent of a pair of Hunter wellies and a Barbour jacket – exactly what I needed to see me through the colder season. The CX-60’s countryside-friendly features include four-wheel drive, decent ground clearance and an off-road mode that helps it to cope off the Tarmac and in on-road conditions that would halt more conventional cars. Yet the…

Mileage 4560 List price £39,495 Target Price £37,849 Price as tested £40,445 Test range 198 miles SOME PEOPLE SAY electric cars are boring to drive. I say the Renault Megane E-Tech proves them wrong. Okay, it doesn’t have the seat-of-the-pants characteristics of a hot hatch, even though it has a 0-30mph time to match them (around 3.7sec), but it can make even the most mundane commute a pleasure. A large part of that is down to the immediate and highly controllable acceleration it delivers; opt for Sport mode and accelerator response is wonderfully sharp. That might suggest I’m advocating driving it quickly; far from it. In fact, the real benefit is that it allows you to not only stay ahead of most other city traffic but also modulate your speed…

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE Range Rover flavour: Evoque, Velar, Sport or original? They all have their strengths, but we reckon it’s the Sport that’s the best all-rounder. Why? Well, for starters, it does everything the full-size Range Rover can, but for around £20k less. And that includes pampering the driver and passengers to such a degree that we named it our 2023 Luxury Car of the Year. It offers throne-like seats and an elevated view out, plus everything is beautifully constructed and the standard air suspension helps deliver superb ride comfort. The spacious interior is generally hushed at all speeds, too. Performance ranges from ‘brisk’ (0-62mph in 6.6sec) to ‘breathtaking’ (3.8sec), depending on which engine you pick. Indeed, we think the entry-level D300 diesel is all private buyers need; it has…

IF TWO EQUALLY talented chefs opened restaurants next door to each other, the one with the more diverse menu would probably do the best. And that, in a manner of speaking, is why the Hyundai Santa Fe gets the nod over the closely related Kia Sorento in our SUV rankings. In fact, both models follow very similar recipes, each offering a diesel engine as well as a variety of petrol hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. However, while the Sorento’s dish is only served up with four-wheel drive and all the trimmings, the Santa Fe gives you a front-wheel drive option and a choice of two trim levels, so you can dine according to your budget. And, really, it’s not like you’re missing out on much by going for the cheaper…

THINK OF THE Ford Puma ST as the jalapeño of the sports SUV world: it may not be the hottest, but that just means you can enjoy its spiciness more of the time. You see, while most cars in this class are so powerful that they’ll hit the speed limit before you know it, you can rev the turbocharged 1.5-litre engine in the Puma ST hard through the gears without ever putting your driving licence at risk. Besides, 0-62mph in 6.7sec isn’t remotely slow, and the Puma has sharper accelerator response than its closest rival, the Hyundai Kona N. Its handling is more playful, too. If you back off the accelerator mid-corner, the Puma ST will pivot progressively around its front wheels, allowing you to position it perfectly to exit…

WHAT DO ELON Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook all have in common? Well, aside from eye-wateringly large bank accounts, they’re all the figureheads of the companies they represent. If their firms ever have an all-company dinner, they’d sit at the head of the table. And the new Renault Rafale will occupy the same position for the French brand. This all-new range-topping coupé SUV shares its underpinnings with Renault’s new Austral family SUV but, at 4.7 metres long, is larger and more upmarket than its sibling. It’s aimed squarely at models such as the Citroën C5 X, Cupra Formentor and Peugeot 408. The Rafale’s looks might well turn a few CEOs’ heads. The distinctive front grille looks like it’s backlit in bright blue and its appearance changes depending on the…

IT MUST BE an exciting time to work at Aston Martin; the firm recently saw a healthy boost in financial investment, and it’s itching to be less reliant on other manufacturers for hardware. You see, recently its cars have shared parts with Mercedes-Benz; that’s by no means bad in itself, but it’s hard to say that your cars are unique when many of their controls can be found in an old C-Class. The new DB12, then, demonstrates what the firm is able to do when given the opportunity to be more self-sufficient – and it does it with some style. True, one significant element is still sourced from Mercedes’ AMG performance division: the twin-turbo 4.0-litre petrol V8 that’s the sole engine choice in the DB12. However, even this has been…

AMONG THOSE IN the antiques trade, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate has long been a favoured workhorse. But while this new model will no doubt prove adept at lugging valuable curios around, it’s not stuck in the past. Quite the opposite, in fact. From nose to tail, it bristles with technology, and it needs to. After all, a brand new BMW 5 Series Touring rival is just around the corner, and there’s strong competition from the Audi A6 Avant, too. Like the saloon model, the new E-Class Estate offers petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) engine options. At launch, mild hybrid four-cylinder engines dominate the menu, with six-cylinder units arriving in due course. Every E-Class Estate will have a nine-speed automatic gearbox as standard. Available from the outset, the PHEV version…

REMEMBER BEACH BUGGIES? With no doors and only a rudimentary roof, if any at all, they were a hit among fun-loving sun worshippers wherever the sea met the sand. And now they’re back. Well, kind of. It’s easy to imagine the new Fiat Topolino on a beachfront promenade, with its occupants catching a few rays. But while the buggies of old left stinky petrol fumes behind them, the Topolino doesn’t; it’s based on the all-electric underpinnings of the tiny Citroën Ami. Classed as quadricycles, the Ami and Topolino are limited to 28mph, and that means 16-year-old AM (50cc moped) licence holders can drive them; you don’t need a full car licence. Fiat hasn’t yet released official details about the Topolino’s battery or electric motor, but it’s expected to share the…

WHILE I HAVE fond memories of clambering up a stack of scrapped cars to unbolt a part from one to go on my old motor, that was many years ago, and these days I’m far more cash rich, time poor and too risk averse to go hunting for parts in an oily scrapyard. I’d much rather order a replacement part online and have it delivered to my door the next day. Luckily for me and millions of other motorists, the secondhand parts sector has largely gone online, so I can still save money by choosing a recycled or reconditioned part instead of a new one. As the UK’s biggest automotive parts marketplace, eBay is where many car owners and repairers go for replacement parts. However, it hasn’t been considered as…

List price £37,645 Target Price £34,025 Kerb weight 1514kg 85% match 1287kg Max towing weight 1900kg Towball limit 88kg IT’S BEEN AROUND for a few years now, but the Seat Ateca is still one of the best family SUVs on sale, whether you need to tow or not. When pulling a caravan or trailer, the Ateca’s chief strength is stability. At motorway speeds or in emergency manoeuvres, it takes firm charge of the caravan and doesn’t let go. Even if the latter is caught by a gust of wind, it only leads to slight movements that rarely require any steering corrections. Meanwhile, leave the caravan behind and the Ateca is more fun than a tall vehicle like this has any right to be. It corners with balance and poise, although…

List price £51,620 Target Price £47,930 Kerb weight 2064kg 85% match 1764kg Max towing weight 2000kg Towball limit 100kg *Car pictured in Ultimate trim THE VOLVO V60 was recently updated, although you’ll struggle to notice from the outside. Climb behind the wheel and you might spot the new Google-embracing infotainment system, but the headline news is the uprated plug-in hybrid technology. A usable battery capacity increase to 14.9kWh gives the T6 an excellent official electric range of up to 55 miles and CO2 emissions of just 18-25g/km. That means low tax bills for company car drivers, and low running costs if you regularly charge the battery. Volvo has also made the rear motor more powerful; there’s now a total of 345bhp, shared between all four wheels. Having so much power…

YEARS AGO, WHEN Hadrian’s Wall was still under warranty, I passed my driving test in a 1994 Honda Civic. I remember it fondly, aside from one thing: it didn’t have a rev counter, so – when practising three-point turns as a learner driver – I had to train my ears to detect when a stall was imminent. Today’s Civic, though, is a hell of a lot more sophisticated. Not for nothing did we declare it our Family Car of the Year at the 2023 What Car? Awards. We called it well equipped, economical and great to drive, and that’s pretty much a full house on my ‘what I want from a car’ bingo card. And better still, now that it’s been around for a year, there are savings to be…

THE TERM ‘FASHIONABLY late’ has a double meaning when it’s applied to the Skoda Enyaq Coupé iV. This swoopy-roofed version of Skoda’s large electric SUV is the most style-conscious model so far from the Czech brand, sacrificing a little practicality for eye-catching looks. Skoda is also relatively late to the coupé SUV party, when you consider that the BMW X6 has been around since 2008 and has inspired everything from the small, affordable Volkswagen Taigo to the monstrously powerful and expensive Porsche Cayenne Coupé. Still, that tardiness is understandable from a brand better known for the value for money and practicality of its offerings. The Enyaq Coupé breaks more new ground by being the first electric Skoda to wear the performance-focused vRS badge; in fact, it was launched in this…

In production 2016-present Price from £8000 Our favourite version 1.5 Cooper Pepper Pack THE ABILITY TO fold down the roof of your car so you can enjoy the feeling of the wind in your hair as you’re driving is an indulgence that’s often the preserve of pricey upmarket models, but the Mini Convertible is an exception. This small four-seat drop-top delivers open-air exuberance and no small amount of style for a very affordable price. Based on the brand’s popular three-door hatchback, the Mini Convertible shares its sibling’s range of excellent petrol engines. There was a diesel option at first, but this was dropped from the convertible in 2018, and there’s no electric version. Entry-level Cooper models came with all the essentials, and initially there were several desirable option packs that…

STAR RATINGS TARGET PRICE The What Car? Target Price is the maximum you should pay for a new car and is set by our mystery shoppers. It’s updated each month and most of our approved dealers will match it. However, in a lot of cases they can save you even more: just visit whatcar.com/new-car-deals or call 03302 216207 between 9am and 5pm (standard network fees apply). All Target Prices are correct at the time of going to press. TARGET PCP The Target PCP is a fair monthly fee if you’re taking out a personal contract purchase (PCP) finance deal, also set by our mystery shoppers. Most are over 48 months with a 15% deposit and an 8000-mile annual limit. Those marked with an asterisk are over 36 months and those…

Lexus LBX Hopes are high for Lexus’s first small SUV; after all, the bigger NX holds our five-star rating, and the fact that the LBX shares hybrid underpinnings with the Toyota Yaris Cross means it ought to be extremely fuel-efficient. Expect front-wheel drive at first, with four-wheel-drive models arriving later. Price from £35,000 (est) SMALL AND FAMILY SUVs Alfa Romeo ‘Urban SUV’ Autumn 2023 Italian brand’s yet-unnamed first all-electric car will be closely related to the Jeep Avenger. Cupra Raval Summer 2024 Baby EV will be joined by near-twins from Skoda and Volkswagen. Key: Electric car Fiat Panda Early 2024 Boxy small car undergoes reincarnation, coming back as a small electric SUV. Mini Countryman Late 2023 Borrows engines from the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, including a 322bhp plug-in hybrid.…

SCI-FI WRITER ARTHUR C Clarke foresaw everything from communications satellites to remote working – but he also said we’d have bioengineered monkey servants. Yes, predicting the future is hard, but if we were to have a crack, we’d suggest that this new BMW M2 is likely to be a safe place to put your money. Why? Well, for starters, it slots in as the most compact car in BMW’s current M performance range, and if you look at the division’s back catalogue, you see that the smaller models tend to be among the most revered; the original M3, the Z3 M Coupé and the 1M Coupé are all bonafide classics. In addition, the M2 continues to feature rear-wheel drive and the option of a manual gearbox (an eight-speed automatic is…

THE TROUBLE WITH ‘one size fits all’ is that it rarely does, and Toyota appears to have recognised that with the new, second-generation C-HR family SUV. You see, the outgoing model has long been available only as a conventional hybrid. But while that’s great if you want something efficient that you never have to plug in, it also means you’re very limited in how far you can go purely on electric power. For this new C-HR, though, the conventional hybrid versions are joined by a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with a much longer electric range, as well as a lower benefit-in-kind tax rating that makes it a more appealing compay car choice. This new C-HR PHEV borrows the 147bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine and 158bhp electric motor from the latest Prius PHEV,…

THE KIA PICANTO has always been a straightforward, no-fuss small car, if never one that stands out from a crowd. But that’s about to change. Gone is the butter-wouldn’t-melt face of old, replaced by one that’s far more aggressive, while a new light bar links a reshaped pair of rear lights at the other end, for a high-tech look. Aesthetics aside, the updated Picanto also gets a new line-up of 1.0-litre three-cylinder and 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engines. As with the current car, all versions are available with a five-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed automatic. While there are no official performance or fuel economy figures yet, we expect the new Picanto to be efficient but not particularly quick. The current car officially manages up to 60mpg, but even the fastest…

‘In the softest Comfort mode, the Tiguan rides serenely and quietly over rough roads’ IF IT AIN’T broke, don’t fix it, or so they say. That tatty pair of jeans you wear to mow the lawn? Still going strong. Your nan’s ancient oven dish that you used to make lasagne last night? Good as new. And then there’s the Volkswagen Tiguan – the brand’s best-selling car since 2018 and still competitive in terms of performance, efficiency, equipment and practicality. It’s not exactly screaming out for a makeover, and we’d have understood if Volkswagen was too busy working on its all-new electric line-up to worry too much about freshening up its combustion-powered family SUV. But that’s not the case. A new-generation Tiguan is due in June next year, and we’ve already…

The Target Price is what we consider to be a fair price for your new car. It’s set by our team of mystery shoppers, who spend all day haggling to see what deals are available. Most of our dealers will match this price if you use our New Car Buying service, and in a lot of cases you can save even more. Target PCP This is how much our Target Price mystery shoppers think you should expect to pay per month if you buy a car on PCP finance. Each deal is for a 48-month term with a 15% deposit and an 8000-mile annual mileage limit, unless stated otherwise…

Welcome to the What Car? Tow Car Awards. Over the next few pages, we’ll reveal the top new cars for taking on the unique demands of towing; if you own a caravan, horsebox or boat trailer, you should find your next new car right here. What’s more, for 2023 we’ve looked back over the hundreds of cars we’ve tested over the years and named the one we’d most recommend for a used car buyer. We’ve been holding these awards since 2007, working with the experts at The Camping and Caravanning Club. And for the third year in a row, Adria – one of Europe’s top caravan manufacturers – provided a fleet of caravans for us to use in our tests. Every caravan was ballasted to the equivalent of 85% of…

List price £42,925 Target Price £41,270 Kerb weight 1660kg 85% match 1411kg Max towing weight 1600kg Towball limit 75kg FEW CARS CAN match the BMW 3 Series Touring for high-speed stability, making this a really confidence-inspiring tow car. Our test drivers were more than happy at the legal limit (and beyond at the test track), with only the slightest of movements, even in breezy weather. What’s more, in the emergency lane change test, the 3 Series was happy at all three speeds. Even when the caravan began to slide behind it, the car pulled it straight again with minimal fuss. The rear-wheel-drive 3 Series also handled the one-in-six slope with ease in the dry, with no sign of wheelspin or any rolling back when the electronic parking brake was released.…

List price £91,825 Target Price £91,825 Kerb weight 2613kg 85% match 2221kg Max towing weight 3500kg Towball limit 150kg IF YOU HAVE VERY deep pockets, the Land Rover Defender plug-in hybrid is the car we’d recommend for towing a luxury tourer. We’ve been hugely impressed with the diesel Defender’s towing ability in the past, and the petrol plug-in hybrid is just as capable, but with the potential for lower running costs and emissions if you can recharge regularly. True, its 30-mile official all-electric range is shorter than some plug-in hybrid SUVs achieve, but that’s still enough to cover some folks’ daily commute and contributes to a 104.1mpg official average economy figure. The Defender is quick as well as efficient. Pulling the heaviest test caravan loaded to its maximum, it went…

‘In the end, the Volvo V60 Recharge T6 has done more to elevate class standards than any other car on test’ List price £51,620 Target Price £47,930 Kerb weight 2064kg 85% match 1764kg Max towing weight 2000kg Towball limit 100kg *Car pictured in Ultimate trim It’s never straightforward choosing one outstanding model from so many. After all, how do you judge a punchy diesel against a tax-efficient electric car, or pick between a small SUV or a much bigger one? In the end, though, it comes down to which of the class winners has elevated the class standards in the most areas. And this year, that car is the Volvo V60 Recharge T6. With more power and a bigger battery than before, the V60 offers an excellent all-electric range and…

Mileage 6436 List price £42,105 Target Price £41,286 Price as tested £47,495 Test economy 37.8mpg USING MY BMW X1’s infotainment system reminds me of how photographers like me tend to be very loyal to a specific brand of camera. How so? Well, I’m a Nikon man, and switching to a Canon or a Sony would probably have me confused and disorientated; I’d have to get used to controls not being where I’ve grown accustomed to finding them. And likewise, in a BMW, I’m used to having the brand’s iDrive rotary controller nestled between the front seats, but the X1 does without this. Initially, I found its absence really off-putting. However, while I’m not at the point where I can see why BMW decided the X1 didn’t need a rotary controller…

Mileage 4733 List price £113,120 Target Price £113,120 Price as tested £122,770 Test economy 30.6mpg MANOEUVRING MY RANGE Rover into the multi-storey car park near the What Car? office recently led to a meeting of minds. You see, the same day, staff writer George Hill brought in his own Range Rover – a 2005 example – and it was very interesting to see my car lined up next to its ancestor. The family resemblance between the two is clear, but the technical progress between then and now is remarkable. For instance, my car’s diesel engine develops more power than the 4.4-litre petrol V8 in George’s, despite having two fewer cylinders and a comparatively modest 3.0-litre capacity. Plus, while George recently faced a rather large repair bill to fix some issues…

Mileage 3428 List price £77,495 Target Price £74,033 Price as tested £84,035 Test range 222 miles BACK IN 2018, a survey found that 42% of British motorists weren’t sure if electric cars (EVs) could be put through an automatic car wash. And while it seems unlikely that this percentage would be anywhere near as high if the same question were asked today, for the avoidance of any doubt, yes, they absolutely can. That said – and at the risk of muddying the waters – I actually did run into problems the other week after getting my Jaguar I-Pace jet washed; I found that the doors would no longer lock, either via the plipper or the lock buttons on the door handles. This would usually mean that either the power was…

Abarth 500e Convertible Price from £37,195 Data fact Small electric soft-top can carry 185 litres of luggage BMW i5 Price from £74,105 Data fact Electric sister to the next-gen BMW 5 Series has an official range of up to 357 miles Fisker Ocean Price from £60,935 Data fact Large electric SUV seats five and can officially sprint from 0-62mph in just 4.0sec SUB-£30k ELECTRIC CARS WITH THE LONGEST OFFICIAL RANGES…