Table of contents for 1851 in Auto Express

LAST week’s speech to the Labour Party conference by transport secretary Louise Haigh was notable for what wasn’t there, more than what was. A year ago as shadow transport secretary, she promised action on “rip-off prices at the petrol pump” and a crackdown on “unfair car insurance fees hitting people hard”. But a year on and now in power, the minister in charge of the UK’s roads left drivers on the hard shoulder in her conference speech. Yes, there was some good stuff that, if it comes to fruition, has the potential to help reduce congestion by getting public transport working, but it was some cause for concern that the nation’s drivers didn’t even get a passing mention. Although I’m sure drivers won’t be ignored at the end of this…

IN the past year, UK police forces have confiscated almost 1,000 electric bikes, many of which have been illegally modified. A Freedom of Information request by PA Media revealed that police have confiscated hundreds of what have been described as “death traps”, of which the “vast majority” are used for deliveries. Data showed that in the year leading up to August 2024, 27 forces seized 937 e-bikes – a huge leap up from 511 in the preceding 12 months. Under UK law, electric bikes, also known as e-bikes, must not have a power output exceeding 250 watts and cannot exceed 15.5mph. But forces are now regularly confiscating bikes that have been modified to travel a lot faster than the law permits; one seized by the City of London Police could reach…

Richard.Ingram@autoexpress.co.uk KIA is gearing up to launch a series of electric commercial vehicles from 2025, alongside which will sit a choice of practical people movers designed to hit models like the long-wheelbase Volkswagen ID. Buzz exactly where it hurts. The first of these will be the MPV version of the PV5, which we recently caught testing ahead of its launch next year. Our exclusive image shows how the vehicle could look, with a few notable differences from the concept version revealed back in January. We can see from the spy images that the van’s proportions won’t change dramatically. Dimensions are unknown, but it’s understood Kia has had feedback from fleet operators to ensure it offers generous capacity and a low total cost of ownership. As such, expect the PV5 to…

THE Paris Motor Show is just around the corner, and among the debuts will be the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida. This hybrid-powered crossover will sit alongside its electric equivalent. The model – which uses the same mild-hybrid powertrain as the Peugeot 2008 and Jeep Avenger – hasn’t yet been confirmed for the UK. However, we’d be very surprised if the Junior Ibrida doesn’t arrive here sometime in 2025. Its hybrid set-up matches a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine with a small battery and an electric motor, developing a combined 134bhp. Expect 0-62mph in under 11 seconds, and more than 55mpg. The introduction of a hybrid option could lower the Junior line-up’s entry point to below £30,000. The mild-hybrid Jeep Avenger costs £9,000 less than the EV model, so a starting price…

Jordan.Katsianis@autoexpress.co.uk IF you’re looking for an efficient, family-sized seven-seat SUV, there really is no shortage of options in 2024. The challenge for them is how to stand out; while many models try to achieve this, they often don’t quite hit the mark. Mazda is pretty adept at going its own way, though, and it’s done so again with its first seven-seat SUV for the UK. There are multiple reasons for this, which we’ll get into, but for now the new Mazda CX-80 joins a class that includes the very fresh-looking Hyundai Santa Fe, the Kia Sorento, and slightly smaller rivals such as the Skoda Kodiaq, SEAT Tarraco and Nissan X-Trail. In the case of the Korean pair, the Mazda undercuts both, with a starting price of £48,920. This is for…

Thomas.jervis@autoexpress.co.uk WHEN you bought your car, you were probably made aware of its Euro NCAP rating. The star-rating system accurately represents each model’s level of safety, and despite its European-sounding name, it actually originated in the UK in the mid-nineties as a project led by the Department for Transport. In the three decades since, testing has become more stringent, with Euro NCAP introducing what it described as its “most exacting test ever” in 2020. To see it in action, Auto Express was given exclusive access to the nation’s brand-new frontal car-to-car impact test lab at HORIBA MIRA in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, for a ‘crash course’ in how the UK intends to re-establish itself at the forefront of car safety. The crash testing laboratory at the facility opened in 1993 and has…

WINNER Kia EV9 Air KIA is breaking new ground with such a lofty price point for the EV9, but it’s managed to pull it off. Here is a seven-seat SUV that looks like nothing else on the road, drives superbly, is huge inside and is packed with standard kit, wearing a price tag that should give premium rivals such as the XC90 a lot to think about. When you factor in its fully electric powertrain – which, thanks to its incredible charging speeds and 300-mile plus real-world range, makes it incredibly easy to live with – then it’s a hugely appealing proposition. INTERESTED? Scan the code for further information RUNNER-UP Volvo XC90 B5 MHEV Core IT may finish second here, but the XC90 still deserves a huge amount of praise,…

RENAULT SCENIC THE latest arrival on our fleet is the Renault Scenic, another familiar name that’s been attached to a new car that’s far removed from its ancestors. Our car is in flagship Iconic trim with a Long Range 87kWh battery and costs around £46,000. At that level it faces some tough competition, but the Scenic has slick Google-based infotainment and party-piece features that should help it. We’re looking forward to getting to grips with it. STEVE WALKER POLESTAR 2 CALCULATIONS indicated our London congestion charge-exempt Polestar 2 would cost £2 in off-peak electricity to drive to the Towcar of the Year Awards last month, plus £20 for parking in Mayfair. Driving my diesel Merc would have cost £27.50 in ULEZ and Congestion Charge fees, plus around £15 in fuel,…

The Car Lover’s Guide To London Chris Randall Pen and Sword pen-and-sword.co.uk Price: £14.99 Rating: WITH the congestion charge, ULEZ, general traffic issues and all manner of other things, London isn’t really known as a petrolhead Mecca – at least not when it comes to actually driving through it. But the nation’s capital has a lot of history surrounding the motor car, from old factories or showrooms, to the iconic Royal Automobile Club. This is a guide to those buildings that remain, mostly used for different purposes these days. There are a few well worth visiting, and the history lesson is well written. The Sardinian Job Eddie Lancaster Kindle Edition amazon.co.uk Price: £2.99 Rating: THE Italian Job reimagined as a Black Country motor factor who discovers a hoard of rare…

NO matter how much jet washing you try, eventually you’re going to have to clean your car with a bucket and wash mitt. And that requires a car shampoo to help preserve the paint and any protective coatings you’ve already applied. Our favourite in the big multitests over recent years has been Bilt-Hamber’s Auto-Wash. Here it faces two newcomers – Wash-It from VP, and an innovative, eco-friendly option from GCHEM called Biosuds. Each was rated for its ability to cut through dirt, lubricate the surface of the paint to prevent micro scratches, and encourage water beading. The Biosuds is admirable but too expensive to compete here. The Auto-Wash and new Wash-It were closely matched on performance; the big cost advantage and ease of use means the VP takes the win.…

DOES Volkswagen’s Golf have a premium image it struggles to live up to? Driver Power respondents appear to be less than enamoured with this latest edition, which came last in this year’s New Car survey. It doesn’t bode well when its best-performing score – for boot capacity – is 29th, while servicing costs are three points behind. But beyond that, there’s a long list of poor results. The hi-tech cabin is at least part of the problem; the car finishes last overall for the user-friendliness of its controls, including for its heating and ventilation, while navigation and phone connectivity also come 50th. The problems don’t end there though, because the VW also places last for value for money, and driving pleasure; within the latter section is a 49th place for…

Paul.Barker@autoexpress.co.uk SKODA is going strong on value with its second all-electric car, the Elroq. Pictured here for the first time and slotting into the range below the successful and highly rated Enyaq, the Elroq goes on sale later this month ahead of cars arriving in the UK in spring 2025. The Elroq sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which underpins a range of models including the Enyaq. It will be offered with three battery options across four trim levels, starting at £31,500 and topping out at £41,600. Base cars can do “more than 230 miles”, while flagship models top out at 360 miles. With prices at this level, the new car undercuts those of core rivals such as the Hyundai Kona (which has similar range figures) and the Renault…

THE third-generation Audi Q5 mid-size SUV is available to order now, priced from £49,950. There are three trim levels on offer – Sport, S line and the bells-and-whistles Edition 1. Audi says the Q5 is “extensively equipped in all its forms”, with every version featuring at least 19-inch wheels, a powered tailgate and LED lights front and rear. As previously seen on the Q8 e-tron, Audi offers an over-the-air (OTA) matrix-LED upgrade, which can be switched on and off, on demand, for a fee. Inside, Sport models get heated leather seats, three-zone climate control, ambient lighting and dual screens for the instruments and infotainment. As is now expected, there is a full suite of safety kit. Step up to S line (from £52,550) and your Q5 comes with red badges,…

Thomas.Jervis@autoexpress.co.uk THE head of one of the UK’s leading cross-pavement charging firms has told Auto Express that urgent changes need to be made around planning permission and government subsidies for the installation of wallbox chargers. In an exclusive interview with Auto Express, the founder and CEO of Kerbo Charge, Michael Goulden, said: “At the moment you need planning permission to install a wallbox charger [on your property], unless you have a driveway. We want to change that”. Goulden said that while councils are “mostly supportive” of the installation of EV chargers and have often scrapped the need for planning permission if an applicant uses a council-approved cross-pavement solution, a simpler process is needed to make the installation of such systems easier. This is essential, Goulden claims, because only 40 per…

Jordan.Katsianis@autoexpress.co.uk BENTLEY’S first bespoke luxury coupé under Volkswagen ownership – the Continental GT – arrived in 2003, but 21 years on, the latest version represents its biggest leap so far. Based on an updated third-generation Continental, the newcomer not only introduces fresh technology and styling, but also a change of powertrain that brings this most traditional of models into the 21st century. At the heart of the new GT Speed is a 584bhp, twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, assisted by a 187bhp electric motor mounted within the transmission casing. It draws energy from a 25.9kWh battery under the boot, and is capable of driving on electric power alone for up to 50 miles. Plus it also claims to improve performance as much as efficiency. On start-up, a default ‘B’ setting will run…

Jordan.Katsianis@autoexpress.co.uk HOW times change. It feels like only yesterday that people were climbing over barbed wire fences to get a hold of an electric car. But now, not only are waiting times coming down, but there’s also a knock-on effect of lowering prices in the rapidly growing used EV market. With this in mind, the question of whether it’s a good idea to take the plunge on a secondhand example is becoming more relevant. But how can we find out? Well, as one of the biggest-selling EV brands in Europe over the last few years, Tesla is a great place to start, and with its Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicle service now operational, it’s a chance for us to see what sort of service the firm offers. Our 69-plate Model 3…

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BACK in the mid-eighties, before Auto Express was born, I served as an Economist Intelligence Unit writer in South Korea, a country that somehow seemed much further away then than it does today. Surprise, surprise, the distance between the UK and the Land of Morning Calm is the same now as it was then: around 5,500 miles by air or 7,400 by road. But these days you can fly there direct, minus those previously essential refuelling stops in Hong Kong or Alaska. And I know – because I recently did it in a Merc – that driving across mainland Europe, through all of Kazakhstan, the outskirts of Mongolia and the breadth of China to Beijing (before a final-leg ferry crossing on the Yellow Sea to the Korean peninsula) is doable,…

Alastair.Crooks@autoexpress.co.uk RATHER than fight against the might of the Chinese automotive industry, Stellantis – parent company to the likes of Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Peugeot and Vauxhall – has decided to buy into a piece of it. The piece in question is Leapmotor – of which 20 per cent is now owned by the European powerhouse. The two companies launched Leapmotor International earlier this summer, with Stellantis taking the majority shareholding and a lot of sales responsibility as a result. Considering Leapmotor itself only launched in its home market in 2015, the firm’s rapid rise has been something to behold. In 2019, the company achieved just over 1,000 sales, but by 2023 it was selling closer to 144,000. This year, it projects to sell 250,000 units worldwide. The Leapmotor International arm…

Chris.Rosamond@autoexpress.co.uk CAR insurance group ratings are being replaced with a system that assesses cars across five characteristics – performance, damageability, repairability, safety and security. Under the new Vehicle Risk Rating (VRR) scheme, every car that has gone on sale in the UK from 1 August this year will be rated in each of the five categories above. Just nine new models have been assessed so far, but Thatcham Research, the data intelligence company behind the changes, says it must build a critical mass of data before car buyers get to see it – potentially as soon as early 2025. “Vehicle Risk Rating (VRR), which represents an evolution from the current 1-50 group-rating system, aims to transition the industry towards a more granular modelling approach for insurance,” said a Thatcham spokesman.…

Alastair.Crooks@autoexpress.co.uk LAND Rover has built six special-edition ‘Eivissa’ Defenders to celebrate the Spanish island of Ibiza. Two versions are offered, which are based on the 90 and 110 bodystyles with bespoke badging and colours. The Defender is known for its robustness and off-road ability, but while you might find a few classic soft-top Defenders on Ibiza, there’s only a tenuous link between the current version and the island. Defender Eivissas (the Catalan name for Ibiza) “are inspired by the Ibizan lifestyle and its unique atmosphere,” according to Land Rover. “Ibiza is known for its vibrant nightlife and deep connection to nature – reflecting the many facets of Defender.” Land Rover claims the Defender 90 Eivissa Noontide is the “ideal companion for sunny days in Ibiza”. It is inspired by the…

MCLAREN has revealed the name of its next Ultimate Series model, calling it the W1. It will join a storied lineage of groundbreaking hypercars that started with the iconic F1 in the early nineties, followed by the P1 in 2013. The new car will be revealed in full on 6 October. The W1 name is derived from the company’s success in the Formula One World Championship, aligning with the 50th anniversary of the team’s first title win in 1974. McLaren’s CEO, Michael Leiters, said: “The McLaren W1 is defined by real supercar principles and is the ultimate expression of a McLaren supercar.” We know little else about the new model as yet. However, given that the P1 launched the company’s hybrid journey over a decade ago, the latest ‘1’ car…

mail@autoexpress.co.uk “The front end looks like a Daytona wearing Daft Punk shades. The profile is classic front-engined, rear-drive GT car” HOWEVER exciting you think the Ferrari 12Cilindri might be to drive, think again, double it, and add another couple of zeros. That’s how mind-bendingly brilliant the successor to the fantastic 812 Superfast really is. At its core – in the nose but positioned so far back in the rear-drive chassis that Ferrari refers to the car as front-mid-engined – sits an almighty 6.5-litre V12 engine. One that produces 819bhp and can rev to a mind-splitting 9,500rpm – enough to catapult the 12Cilindri to 62mph in just 2.9 seconds. Attached to this is a new eight-speed dual clutch gearbox that can change gear faster than you can think, up or down;…

Alex.Ingram@autoexpress.co.uk THIS is the new Subaru Forester, and the sixth generation of the brand’s rugged family SUV finds itself walking a fine line. On the one hand it needs to appeal to fiercely loyal Subaru customers, many of whom have bought the brand’s products for years. However, those buyers are also ageing, with 39 per cent of them between 60 and 69 years old. So changes are needed to attract a new audience and steal sales from more mainstream alternatives such as the Volkswagen Tiguan and Hyundai Tucson. The first steps towards a wider appeal come on the outside, where the new model gets a much cleaner, more modern face than its predecessor. There’s a smart design at the rear, too, with shallower bumpers that are designed to make boot…

Paul.Barker@autoexpress.co.uk OUR ID. Buzz spent most of the summer having various stuff chucked in the back of it as the Barker family’s fun-filled weekends headed off in different directions. And never did it prove more useful than on a long-weekend camping trip. Normally when we camp, we’ve got to the point where we have to take two cars, such is the amount of (what I’m assured is entirely essential) stuff we’ve collected in recent years – especially the huge tent. But there was no problem with fitting everything into the big VW. Admittedly, it was a bit of a heave to lift a weighty tent up into the boot with the Multiflex floor in place. But on the other hand it allowed items such as folding chairs to be slid…

PRODUCING limited or special-edition models can be something of a dark art. This sales tactic has given us some truly great cars. They can celebrate all manner of things, such as motorsport success (the Mitsubishi Evo VI Tommi Makinen), a film (the Ford Mustang Bullitt) or in the case of the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport 45, even the car itself. There are also limited-run versions, which are sometimes reserved for supercars or models that are difficult to produce, such as the Mercedes G 63 6x6. Most of these cars have strong residual values, helped by their low numbers compared with standard production-run versions. That typically creates demand, which often results in a long waiting list. But what of the ‘special editions’ of fairly regular cars that don’t require you to…