Indholdsfortegnelse for 1841 i Auto Express

Paul.Barker@carwow.co.uk @paulbarkerauto • Electric model due this year • Expect £30k+ starting price THE long-awaited family of Ford electric vehicles has the brand finally looking to the future, after a recent history more focused on the cars being dropped from production – Mondeo, Fiesta and Focus, for example – than ones reaching fruition. The new Puma Gen-E, arriving towards the end of this year and snapped testing by our spy photographers (above), will complete the initial phase of Ford’s EV line-up, joining the Mustang Mach-E, new Explorer and recently revealed Capri (right), as the brand attempts to catch up with more established electric-car players. “We’re at the point when we can look forward to what is coming,” Ford of Britain managing director Lisa Brankin told Auto Express recently. “Lots of…

THE auditor general for Wales has said that the failure of TVR’s proposed factory in the country could result in a multi-million-pound bill for taxpayers. Adrian Crompton, who oversees the audit of Welsh public-sector spending, has written to the country’s parliament after concerns were raised about the risk to public funds invested in the project. He stated that the Welsh Government spent over £14m in its failed attempt to attract TVRA (TVR Automotive) manufacturing to Wales. Earlier this year, TVR said that it would not lease the factory in Wales, and revealed that it was eyeing up a base in Hampshire. The letter claims the Welsh government decided in 2023 to sell the factory at a loss of £4.85m. However, no formal offers have been received for it.…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk • Base model offers up to 398 miles of range • Adaptive dampers standard on 4S TWO new variants have been added to the electric Porsche Macan line-up. Opening the range at £67,200 is the single-motor model simply called Macan, while the £75,400 4S sits above the existing Macan 4, thanks to a more potent set of motors. The Macan Turbo remains as the range flagship, while all editions are available to order now. Both new cars use the same 100kWh battery as the rest of the line-up, giving the base rear-drive car the longest range of the lot, with a combined WLTP figure of 398 miles – around 20 miles more than the dual-motor Macan 4. The powertrain runs on Porsche’s 800-volt electrical architecture and can be split…

AUDI will no longer fit its petrol cars with chintzy fake exhausts, the manufacturer has confirmed. The move comes after extensive customer feedback, with prospective owners turning their noses up at the current trend for tail-pipe trims. Speaking to Auto Express, an Audi spokesperson said: “All PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) cars will have ‘hot’ [functional] tailpipes.” While there’s no confirmation the new Audi “hot tailpipe” design policy will manifest itself on the maker’s smaller, MQB-based models, all of the larger PPCplatform Audis will get functional exhaust tips going forward. That starts with the A5 (below), and will include the new Q5, A7 and Q7, as well as any successor to the A8, which is likely to be badged A9. In a similar vein, the decision to remove the fake pipes from…

Tom_Jervis@autovia.co.uk @thomaswjervis THE UK motor industry has called for the new Labour Government to exempt electric vehicles from the so-called ‘luxurycar’ tax before they become liable next year. The news comes as Auto Express reveals that almost a third of new cars registered in 2023 were liable for the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) surcharge. Paid annually over and above the standard £190 VED rate in years two to five of ownership, the luxury-car tax was increased from £390 per year in 2023 to £410 in 2024. We submitted a Freedom of Information request to the DVLA and were told that 601,978 (roughly 31 per cent) of all cars first registered in 2023 will be liable for the additional VED supplement this year, showcasing not only the far-reaching nature of the…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk “By 1960, the car had evolved to the 40 Series we’re driving today – a generation that many will recognise as the origin of the Land Cruiser story” THERE’S a saying in Australia that goes ‘if you want to drive into the outback, take a Land Rover, but if you want to get back out again, you’ll need a Land Cruiser’. As an Aussie, I take no greater pleasure than stating this at any and every opportunity just to antagonise my British, Land Rover-loving friends and colleagues. But far from just being a throwaway comment; it’s one that’s built upon one of the greatest institutions of reliability, toughness and resilience – and that started right here with the original Toyota Land Cruiser. Just like other off-roading institutions such as…

Alastair_Crooks@autovia.co.uk @AllieCrooks Running costs 52.3mpg (official) £51 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 15.4 seconds/90mph WE don’t often talk about city cars any more. It’s a sector that’s in decline, as manufacturers look to electrify models in more profitable segments, such as SUVs and saloons. Indeed, there’s no more Volkswagen up!, Skoda Citigo or SEAT Mii, and the Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1 sister models were not revived alongside the latest Toyota Aygo X back in 2022. Keeping the flame alive are the dinky Kia Picanto and its Hyundai i10 sister car. And now the former has been treated to a mid-life facelift, which from the outside at least, looks pretty significant. The front end has a squarer look, with a similar lighting signature to the new EV9 – still with the…

MODEL TESTED: Grandland Hybrid e-DCT6 Ultimate PRICE: £38,335 POWERTRAIN: 1.2-litre 3cyl petrol mild hybrid, 134bhp 134bhp Powertrain 1.2 litre 3cyl mild hybrid 52.5 litres Fuel tank £76 fill up 9.7 seconds Performance 125mph 514 litres Seats up/down 1,682 litres AT £38,335, the Grandland is the least expensive car here – at least before finance discounts are taken into account. With its optional metallic paint, the total figure rises to £39,035. Tech highlights UNLIKE the other two cars here, the Grandland’s mid-life facelift has been around for some time – it arrived in 2021. Indeed, a new model was revealed in April that rides on a platform that will accommodate a range of internal combustion and electric powertrains. That hasn’t stopped Vauxhall from tweaking the formula for the current car, because…

Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk @rsp_ingram Running costs Official range/tax 248 miles/£0 Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 434/1,467 litres “The tractor’s noisy arrival brought the contrasts with my new Peugeot into sharp focus” YOU may have noticed more and more Auto Express staffers are taking their electric test cars on holiday. Only a few weeks ago (Issue 1,839) editor-at-large John McIlroy drove his Polestar 2 to France, proving there’s now very little to stop EV owners venturing further and further afield. So the fact that just days after taking delivery of our new Peugeot E-2008 I drove it to deepest Cornwall, isn’t that newsworthy. Indeed, I’ve driven upwards of 40,000 miles in various electric cars over the last five or six years – including the same trip to the West Country three summers on the…

NEW PRODUCT Miofive S1 Ultra Dual dash cams Price: £199.99 Contact: amazon.co.uk DUAL dash cam set-ups usually feature a lower resolution for the rear device, but this new offering from Miofive has Ultra 4K/4K Full HD at both ends. The manufacturer claims its newcomer sets a new benchmark for two-cam packages with the dual-4K video, which uses an 8MP sensor and shoots at 30fps. There is also a polariser to optimise exposure for clearer footage and enhanced details. Connectivity is via dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth, and the unit is designed to work with iOS and Android devices, providing access to downloads, HD video and management through an app. The Miofive app also has an online editing function to allow frame-by-frame viewing and zooming in on details. The front cam has a…

Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories Giles Chapman (The History Press, thehistorypress.co.uk) Price: £14.99 Rating: A COLLECTION of disparate car stories picked up over the author’s years as a writer. You won’t know every name, but all are interesting characters with a cool story to tell. It’s well paced and written, and the only shame is that the printing doesn’t do the photos justice. Silverstone and Formula 1 Anthony Meredith & Gordon Blackwell (Amberley, amberley-books.com) Price: £15.99 Rating: DOING the history of Silverstone in less than 100 pages was always going to be impossible and this presents a perfunctory overview – and not much more. What’s there is well written and punctuated by some good photos – period shots are complemented by photos of the…

CO2/tax 132-167g/km £180-£190 Running costs 40-47mpg (xDrive20d) £87 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 7.9 seconds/132mph BMW has never been afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to design, engineering or creating new niches. It was one of the first car makers to embrace the luxury SUV with the original X5 of 2000 – admittedly years after the original Range Rover and Jeep Wagoneer – but it showed where the market was going. Then, just as we all got comfortable with the concept of a full-sized SUV being a brilliant driver’s car, BMW did it again with the introduction of a coupé edition called the X6. That was in 2008, and when that car sold much better than expected, a smaller, more accessible edition was called for. That was the X4,…

SOME of my best friends are tech geeks and eco freaks. As for little ol’ me, I’m a bit more old school. Along with the overwhelming majority of buyers, I still love petrol-powered cars. But I also consider myself a hybrid head. And I’m a cautiously optimistic fan of pure-EVs. Although my diesel diehard days are over, I know and fully understand that for high-mileage drivers of commercial vehicles, taxis and workhorse cars, it’s their much-preferred fuel. For others it’s LPG and hydrogen. There’s no such thing as the right and wrong fuels. For the time being at least, buyers can and should do what’s best for their budgets and journey needs. Finding the right tool for the job and at the right price means freedom of choice – and…

Jordan_Katsianis@autovia.co.uk • SUV and a coupé variant are scheduled to arrive next year • Models will be based on enlarged Grande Panda platform WE’VE seen how Fiat is planning to reinvent its iconic Panda to sit alongside the 500 and 600 in the small-car market. But the Italian giant is also going to bring fresh offerings to family-car customers – specifically with two all-new C-segment SUVs that will battle big-selling models such as the Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Karoq and Hyundai Tucson. At Fiat’s 125th anniversary event, where the firm also revealed new information on the upcoming Panda (Issue 1,840), brand CEO Olivier François confirmed that his team is working on returning to the C-segment with two, “affordable, spacious and desirable” new models. But rather than focusing on a simple hatchback…

Ellis_Hyde@autovia.co.uk @EllisDrives • New Octa edition tackles Goodwood hillclimb • Upgraded suspension uses McLaren-like tech STANDING tall among the hypercars at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed was the new Land Rover Defender Octa. The “high-performance, all-terrain hero” was revealed a few weeks ago and raring to take on the 1.16-mile hillclimb, with Auto Express along for the ride. Not only does the Octa look different to a regular Defender, it also has a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 producing 626bhp and up to 750Nm of torque – making this the most powerful Defender ever. It gets upgraded brakes and faster steering, plus specially developed all-terrain tyres as well. As we sit alongside Shaun Birch, Senior Manager of Vehicle Dynamics, we notice changes to the interior, too, such as carbon-fibre trim and…

Chris_rosamond@autovia.co.uk • Longer ‘as-new’ performance • Will save 6.6m tonnes of CO2 DRIVERS in the EU can now buy tyres knowing they’ll meet regulatory minimum performance standards for wet-weather braking, even when worn to the minimum legal tread depth. Thanks to the adoption of a new EU regulation (R117-04), tyres sold across The Channel and beyond must be tested to ensure they meet the same minimum wet-weather braking requirement when worn to the lawful minimum tread of 1.6mm, as they do when brand new. Previously, the regulations only stipulated minimum braking performance when tyres were new. While there’s no sign as yet of UK authorities mandating compliance with the new standard, drivers will still reap the benefits as manufacturers supply standardised products across all markets. The new measure hasn’t just…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk @AutoExpress Robotaxi approval is 20,000 leagues away FROM: Philip Mason THE Verne robo taxi (Issue 1,840) is luxurious inside with great tech, but even by its launch in 2026, will its self-driving mode be 100 per cent reliable and not result in accidents? That’s not to mention how hard the accreditation and certification will be to achieve! Speed warnings ring with the changes FROM: Roger Tuffin WITH the implementation of Intelligent Speed Assist, the mention of the irritating warning noise is conspicuously absent from road tests. What many prospective owners will want to know is how easy it is to turn the wretched noise off, given it returns on start-up. Are buyers ignoring journalists’ advice? FROM: Joe A’Lee WE are told by Mike Rutherford in Back chat that the…

Tesla Model 3 IF electric cars succumb to the VED surcharge next year, the Tesla Model 3 could be one of the most prudent ways to avoid it. Starting at just a tenner shy of £40,000, the Tesla Model 3 RWD is packed with tech and can do over 300 miles on a single charge. Just don’t pick any colour except white, because this will push you over the VED threshold. Volvo XC40 PROOF that premium doesn’t have to have a luxury price tag, the Volvo XC40 is a practical, comfortable and desirable family SUV. For less than £40k, you can bag a B4 Plus model with the 194bhp mild-hybrid petrol engine, as well as an expanded list of standard kit featuring posh suede and leatherette upholstery, and safety tech…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk Running costs 23.5mpg (official) £87 fill-up Performance 0-62mph/top speed 5.2 seconds/155mph IN truth, there isn’t all that much to distinguish the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse over and above the excellent seventh-generation GT model – the car on which it’s unashamedly based. You get an uprated version of the same heavily revised Coyote 5.0-litre V8 engine, while the GT’s optional MagneRide dampers are standard on the Dark Horse. The suspension and gearbox are beefed up to be more track-orientated, and it wears a set of stickier Pirelli tyres. But we’re not talking about a radically different machine here – at least not on paper. Yet in reality, and in the flesh especially, the Dark Horse looks and feels like it’s from a different gene pool beside the regular GT…

MODEL TESTED: Tucson Hybrid Ultimate PRICE: £40,640 POWERTRAIN: 1.6-litre 4cyl petrol hybrid, 212bhp 212bhp Powertrain 1.6 litre 4cyl hybrid 45 litres Fuel tank £65 fill up 8.2 seconds Performance 116mph 616 litres Seats up/down 1,795 litres WE’RE testing the high ranking versions of each of these cars – not necessarily the ones that make the most financial sense, but ones that showcase just how much tech is available in today’s family SUVs. In the case of the Tucson, we’re trying the top-spec Ultimate model, which comes to £41,340 when you include the optional Jupiter Orange metallic paint at £700. Tech highlights MANY of the changes to the latest Tucson are subtly cosmetic, but there are some minor revisions to the powertrain. Whether you go for mild, full, or plug-in hybrid,…

ADD up all the associated costs for running each of these cars, including fuel, servicing, VED and a three-year PCP agreement with a £5,000 deposit, and the Vauxhall is the cheapest, at £30,801. The Tucson comes to £664 more, with the Kuga the most pricey at £33,587. Both the Ford and Hyundai tested here narrowly breach the £40,000 mark, so are subject to the £410 luxury-car VED surcharge. For that reason, we’d drop lower in the range for both. In the case of the Ford, the front-wheel-drive ST Line saves £820 in VED plus £50 a month in PCP costs when compared with the four-wheel-drive Active, bringing the three-year cost down to £30,987 – only £186 more than the Grandland. The range-topping Tucson costs less than the Vauxhall based purely…

Andy_Pringle@autovia.co.uk Running costs Official range on test 3.9mi/kWh Practicality Boot (seats up/down) 345/1,310 litres OUR BYD wasted no time slotting into the Pringle family’s generally urban life, but over the past few months the time came for the Dolphin to face some tougher tests. In particular, that meant the car spreading its wings (yes, this Dolphin has wings), and heading out of suburban southwest London, onto the M25 and beyond. I’d expected my main concerns to be about a reduced range at motorway speeds and possibly having to use public charge points, but in fact neither was an issue. Instead, there was a bigger problem: noise. It was something that was immediately obvious the first time I headed up the slip road onto the M3 on my way out of…

£10k prize for UK’s best van conversion AFTER a successful debut, eBay has brought back its Van Conversion of the Year awards. Searching for the best executed, most space-efficient and intelligent van conversion will be TV presenter and architect George Clarke. eBay has even revealed its own project vehicle – the eBay lounge (above), a Ford Transit Mk1 turned into a multi-purpose camper. Entries for the awards close at midnight on 11 August, with a prize of £10,000 for the winner. Search for the awards on Google to find out more. Get a grip if you plan to upgrade brakes IF you want to upgrade your car’s brakes, be warned. Brake Engineering tested three brands of calipers and found they failed to meet car makers’ standards. All three also used…

“We can go larger and wider [with Smart Car], but not smaller. The Italians would be vocal if we built 500 on it, but 600? Who knows?” Q So far, there have been no four-wheel-drive models on the Smart Car platform. Does that mean there is no new Panda 4x4 in the plan? A “People only seemed to notice we built a Panda 4x4 when we stopped building it. It’s only three to four per cent of sales, so it’s very small. It is an important part of the image of Panda, and people love it – but there’s a difference between people loving it and buying it. “The [new] Panda is designed for a particular purpose: practicality, functionality and roominess, with a contained price point and relevant tech. This…

LABOUR missed an opportunity to inject some certainty into the future of the UK car market after its plan to reinstate the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars was notably absent from its first King’s Speech. The ban was originally pushed back to 2035 by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative administration, but the new Labour government told Auto Express it remains “committed to delivering greener transport by supporting the transition to electric vehicles” and will “set out further details [on the 2030 ban] in due course”. Still, this hasn’t stopped the UK motor industry calling for Keir Starmer’s new government to implement “urgent measures” to address the “concerns on affordability and infrastructure”. Inflated prices for EVs mean 57 per cent of Brits are not planning to make…

AUTO Express’s 2021 Car of the Year, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, has received a facelift to help keep it competitive in the electric family-car sector. Tweaks include a new look, bigger batteries and a sub-£40k price. Central to the Ioniq 5’s changes is an increase in battery capacity from 77.4kWh to 84kWh, allowing for a maximum range of up to 354 miles. The smaller 58kWh battery has also been replaced by a 63kWh unit, which in Advance trim (£39,990) has a claimed range of up to 273 miles. Base cars get new 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, body-coloured door mirrors, tinted windows, a heated leather steering wheel and heated seats, dual 12.3-inch screens with sat-nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus dual-zone climate control. Above Advance sits Premium, N…

ID. Buzz GTX set to spawn van derivative A NEW Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo (above) is on the way with the same powertrain as the recently revealed GTX MPV. With 335bhp and four-wheel drive, it’s expected to have a 0-62mph time of just over six seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating commercial vehicle on the market. The main reason for the van derivative is an increased towing capacity of 1,800kg. Expect the ID. Buzz Cargo GTX to carry a premium of around £10,000 over the standard version. F-Pace flying solo as Jaguar axes models JAGUAR has confirmed that it will end production of its E-Pace small SUV and electric I-Pace in December as it prepares to move upmarket and go all EV in 2025. Existing stocks should keep both models in…

Legal AA: 0345 850 1130 (m) RAC: 0330 159 1446 (m) Citizens Advice Consumer helpline: 03454 040506 Local Trading Standards Local Citizens Advice Bureau Used car inspections AA: 0800 056 8040 RAC: 0330 159 0720 Technical advice AA: 0370 142 0002 (m) Driving licences DVLA: 0300 790 6801 Car registration/history HPI: 0113 222 2010 AA: 0800 316 3564 DVLA: 0300 790 6802 RAC: 0808 164 1923 Traffic information AA: 0906 888 4322 RAC: 09003 444999 (p) Problems with dealers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Consumer Ombudsman: www.consumer-ombudsman.org RMIF: 0845 305 4230 Scottish Motor Trade Assoc. 0131 331 5510 Problems with makers The Motor Ombudsman: 0345 241 3008 Financial problems Financial Ombudsman: 0800 023 4567 Safety concerns/recalls www.check-mot.service.gov.uk…

Alfa Romeo Giulia THE Alfa Romeo Giulia is arguably one of the best-looking saloon cars on sale in the UK, but following a recent facelift, even the base Sprint model comes in at £600 over the £40k mark. That’s a shame, because all Giulias get a punchy 276bhp petrol engine and glorious metal gearshift paddles behind the steering wheel. Renault Scenic THE Renault Scenic starts from under £40,000, but this only nets you the ‘Comfort Range’ model with a 260-mile range. While this should be fine for the school run and popping to the shops, many buyers may prefer the £40k+ ‘Long Range’ with its 379-mile maximum and more potent electric motor if they plan to go on the motorway frequently. Kia Sportage PHEV THE hugely popular Kia Sportage is…

John_McIlroy@autovia.co.uk @johnmcilroy Performance 0-62mph/top speed 8.4 seconds/138mph Running costs 52.6mpg (official) £73 fill-up VOLKSWAGEN is pushing ahead with its plans for all-electric vehicles, but the German brand can’t afford to forget the bread-and-butter models needed to keep sales figures up in the meantime. They don’t come any more ‘core’ than the Golf, which has received a nip and a tuck to nudge it from Mk8 to Mk8.5, timed to coincide with the car’s 50th birthday. And boy, are the stakes high with this one – because it’s widely accepted that VW made a few key errors with the eighth generation in certain areas, such as usability, that have been central to the model’s DNA over the past five decades. So there’s probably never been an iteration of the iconic hatch…

Dean_Gibson@autovia.co.uk @DeanGbsn THE UK’s pick-up truck market is small, but that means the Isuzu D-Max is in with a shout of challenging the class leaders when it comes to sales. To enhance its chances, Isuzu offers plenty of variety within the line-up and a long list of accessories so that buyers can tailor the truck to their needs. To showcase exactly what’s possible, Isuzu has built the Mudmaster, a dedicated off-road model that is loaded with the kind of kit that will help you battle through the toughest terrain. It’s based on top-spec V-Cross trim, which is already well prepared for off-road use. There’s switchable two or four-wheel drive, and a low-range setting that’s easily selectable via a rotary controller on the centre console. It’s quick to swap between modes,…

MODEL TESTED: Kuga FHEV AWD Active PRICE: £40,865 POWERTRAIN: 2.5-litre 4cyl hybrid petrol, 180bhp 180bhp Powertrain 2.5 litre 4cyl hybrid 54 litres Fuel tank £78 fill up 8.3 seconds Performance 122mph 395-536 litres Seats up/down 1,517 litres AT £40,865, the Kuga is the most expensive car here, but unlike its rivals it features four-wheel drive. That price also comes before options; a range of extras brings the total price of the car you see in these pictures to £45,765. Tech highlights IN true US style, Ford has gone for displacement over turbocharging for the Kuga’s powertrain. A naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine has more than double the capacity of the Vauxhall’s engine, which in theory means that it shouldn’t have to work as hard to deliver its performance –…

WINNER Hyundai Tucson THE Tucson has received only minor improvements in its mid-life facelift, but they’re enough to keep it at the top of the class. Spacious, comfortable, safe and distinctive to look at, it puts ticks in so many family-car boxes, while the strong performance is a bonus, too. Best of all, it’s very competitively priced on PCP finance deals currently, especially considering the massive list of standard kit on even the lower trim levels. 1st ● Interior space● Value for money ● Rough engine note● Average fuel economy RUNNER-UP Ford Kuga SUPERBLY spacious for passengers and fantastic to drive, the Kuga still ranks among the class best in a few key areas. The new infotainment system is a massive step up – it’s just a shame that the…

Got a query? products@autoexpress.co.uk IF you get your car regularly serviced at a main dealer, changing the cabin or pollen filter will be part of the schedule. In effect, you can forget about it, unless you start to spot the tell-tale signs that the filter needs replacing. These warnings are a blower system that seems to lack the punch it once had, or a musty smell when getting in the car after it has been standing for a while, particularly in hot weather. The filter could still need replacing even if you experience none of these signs, especially if you have no record of when the job was last done. It is also recommended that you change the filter if you have run an antibacterial cleaner through the air-conditioning system.…

HAVING a cordless inflator to boost your tyre pressures when necessary makes it much easier to stay safe and save money. They’ve been around for a while, but the new breed is mini inflators, which are just the right size for a glovebox. They’re made for a quick top-up rather than heavy-duty inflating, and to find the best we pitted our previous champ, Ring’s RTC4000, against two new Michelin units. We topped up a 15-inch tyre from 20-30 psi and a spacesaver from 55-60psi, logging how long it took, the accuracy of the gauges, and aspects such as adaptors, LED lights, ease of use, the quality of the instructions, and hose length. They got quite warm, especially around hose fittings, and each one registered about 74dB max noise, with an…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk THE Tesla Model 3 has been a runaway success ever since it was revealed back in 2016. The best part of a decade has passed since then, but owners haven’t lost any enthusiasm for their cars. Pulling in a trio of category wins for its powertrain, safety features and running costs, the Model 3 clearly delivers against all of the established EV virtues. In fact it sweeps the board here, with first places in many of the relevant sub-categories. The Tesla’s scores for practicality are also pretty good. But by contrast, the Model 3 comes last (50th) for the standard of its exterior finish and materials, and 44th for the interior quality, while ride comfort (40th) doesn’t impress either. WE SAID “The Model 3 is one of the best…