As growth accelerates in the electric car market, some traditional manufacturers like SEAT are refining and introducing new sub-brands. The sector has pulled in completely new brands from China alongside off-shoots of European and Asian manufacturers who all want a piece of this increasingly important “green” branch of the high earning business. SEAT first launched its sporting Cupra sub-brand … [Read more...]
First Drives
Weekend roadtest: Volkswagen ID.Buzz Pro
Move over supercars, there’s a new head turner on the road, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz. Talked about for a few years and on sale last year in Britain, the very retro Buzz is one of the rare newcomers that manages to break with modern convention by being old-school conventional. Borrowing styling cues from the famous VW dubs of a few decades ago yet sweeping up the latest technology along the way … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: KIA Soul Urban EV
KIA sales are soaring in Britain and to keep ahead it has seemingly taken a step back with the latest generation of the popular Soul EV. KIA Soul was launched in 2008 after the company looked to its Californian styling studio for a new model to appeal to the 18-35 year old American buyer market and its concept creation debuted at the Detroit motor show in 2006. The production model broke cover … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: McLaren Artura
Exclusive sports car maker McLaren has turned the corner. A huge multi-million pound investment, new management with encouragement for a brand which has uncompromisingly delivered drivers' cars, has now enabled, embraced and enriched the latest hybrid powertrain technology. But, of course, being McLaren it always does things a differently, distinctively - the McLaren way - and the new Artura … [Read more...]
Weekend roadtest: GWM Funky Cat 1st Edition
The UK’s electric car revolution is becoming a bloody affair. From initially resisting the new technology on cost grounds including writing off established investments in petrol and diesel engine technology and having to develop hybrid or pure electric powertrains, along with making tens of thousands of workers redundant, manufacturers have struggled to convince buyers into showrooms or on-line … [Read more...]
New chapter opens for Genesis
When I test drove a number of Genesis ‘luxury’ vehicles late last year and in the spring of 2022, the firm was new to the U.K. and at that stage all their cars were petrol or diesel powered as the Genesis name and brand were introduced to British motorists. I was very impressed by the way in which all these models drove and performed, the careful attention paid to clever details and the inherent … [Read more...]
First drive: Suzuki S Cross Full Hybrid
Suzuki has passed another milestone on its road to future mobility with the arrival in UK showrooms of the latest Full Hybrid S Cross SUV. Using the same powertrain from its Vitara stablemate, the S Cross Full Hybrid is a logical development of the mild-hybrid S Cross introduced at the end of 2021. That has been a runaway success for Suzuki despite constraints imposed by this year’s … [Read more...]
First drive special: New generation EVs are charging into showrooms
A whole new cell of cars is being created for our electric future and some of them were lined up at the annual SMMT driving day for motoring writers last week. We have seen hybrid adaptations of some familiar models and they have been joined by pure electric derivatives but these are about to be replaced by a completely new generation from the world’s car-makers. After Tesla broke new ground … [Read more...]
Testing times for industry and writers
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders recently held its annual regional Test Days in the north and south of the country which are always much-liked and useful events on the calendar of many motoring scribes. An annual event that provides new cars galore on offer for motoring writers to road test in the same locality on the same day, always seems a very good idea to me. It also gives the … [Read more...]
First drive: Mazda CX-60 SUV
The new Mazda CX-60 now going on sale is the most powerful model ever from the company. The range-topping SUV is Mazda's first plug-in hybrid and it combines their acclaimed Skyactiv-G 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a 100 kW electric motor and a 17.8 kWh high-capacity battery. Together these produce 327ps and use an eight-speed automatic transmission to put down power to all four … [Read more...]
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