65
‘The government advocated using nukes for creating an alternative to the Panama Canal’
Issue 6613 | Volume 320 | No 4
NEWS
Mercedes-AMG SUV 1000bhp-plus tech-rich new EV 4 Polestar 7 Bold successor to the 2 planned for 2027 8 Land Rover Defender Octa New V8, hardcore ethos 10 Ford Explorer EV now on sale in Europe from £40k 12 BYD Seagull £8k electric city car may come to UK 14 Toyota GR Yaris Hot hatch improved but now £44k 16
TESTED
Toyota Land Cruiser You still want that Defender? 22 Porsche Taycan Even better after ma jor upgrades 28 Nissan Juke Familiar outside, improved inside 32 Mazda 2 Hybrid Think of it as a Yaris in fancy dress 33 Jeep Renegade Welcome cabin tech improvements 33 BMW 550e xDrive M Sport Pro ROAD TEST 44
FEATURES Gernot Döllner Audi CEO on his biggest challenges 34 Watford Gap services Why they’ll be demolished 38 Tax-busting heroes 21 wallet-friendly used cars 40
OUR CARS BMW X5 Final verdict on our do-it-all plug-in hybrid 52 Smart #1 You’ll be surprised by who’s buying them 54 Ford Ranger Raptor More practical than an SUV? 55 Honda e:Ny1 Truth of real-world range discovered 56 Mazda MX-30 R-EV Tales from the rotary club 57
EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse Why Merc is now X-raying crash tests 13 Secret Source The engineer who told a CEO to diet 15 Matt Prior How much car is enough car for you? 17 Steve Cropley Brilliant Rolls-Royce Spectre driven 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Damien Smith Formula 1 action, on and off the track 21 Your Views Car-based vans; CD players; Elon Musk 58 From the archive The future’s bright: it’s nuclear 65 Slideshow Small Renaults you can’t help but love 74
DEALS
Second Chance Renault Twizy: EV fun from £4k 60 James Ruppert Most important car buy of the year 63 Road test index Track down that road test here 67 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenvo 68
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THIS WEEK
IMAGE
MERCEDES-AMG’S MIGHTY NEW SUPER-SUV 4
IS FIVE-STAR TAYCAN NOW EVEN BETTER? 28
BMW 550E PLUG-IN HYBRID ROAD TEST 44
C O V E R STORY
❝WE HAVE A RICH HERITAGE AND WILL USE THAT BUT IT’S AN ADD-ON – THE SPICE IN THE MEAL❞
CEO GERNOT DOLLNER SAYS AUDI’S LASER FOCUS IS ON INNOVATION AND NEW TECH 34
NEW TOYOTA LAND CRUISER: FIRST DRIVE 22
COMMENT
‘WE’LL BE EV-ONLY BY THEN, UNLESS WE AREN’T’
FACED WITH SLOWING sales for electric vehicles and uncertain regulations, some car firms are starting to row back on the dates they’ve given for ending sales of combustion-engined cars. We’re even seeing manufacturers fit petrol powertrains to cars originally intended to be EV-only. But when I asked Audi boss Gernot Döllner about its goal of becoming EV-only by 2033, he was adamant: “That’s our firm plan.”
Except, as you’ll read (p34), he then added that the company could be “flexible” about that date if there is demand for combustion powertrains in some regions. Contradictory? Well, Döllner prefers to suggest that “ it doesn’t make sense to be dogmatic”. And from Audi’s perspective, he’s right: if a powertrain is still legal and there is still demand, why not meet it?
It illustrates the narrow path car makers are having to navigate today, balancing investment in electric technolog y with the need to keep offering cars that customers demand. It’s made more complicated still by ever-changing regs in different regions.
In an ideal world, we’d have a clear roadmap for the future, one that Audi and others could follow with absolute certainty. But without that (and don’t hold your breath), you can’t blame car firms for keeping their options open. James Attwood Acting mag editor james.attwood@haymarket.com
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