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‘Ifyou haveapowercut, youcan fire up the microwave with theHonda E’

Issue6439 | Volume306 | No 10

NEWS

Volkswagen ID blitz ID 5, hotID4,Microbusand more 6 Mini hatch Newthree-door and bold line-upchanges 11 F-Pace SVR Jagisfaster, moreagile,morerefined 12 UK road pricing Warningsoverplantobolster taxes 14 Free EV chargers Charityhas donated700 so far 16

TESTED

Fiat 500 All-newelectric-only city cardriveninUK 20 Toyota Mirai Hydrogen cargains better powertrain 24 SkodaOctavia vRSEstate Golf GTIinXLclothing 27 Volkswagen GolfGTE Golf GTIinPHEVclothing 29 RenaultMégane 140TCe Facelifted.Can’t youtell? 29 BMWM5Competition 616bhp, 190mph,£100,000 31 Mercedes-BenzC300e Estate PHEV beefsupEVkit 31 Seat Leon eHybridFR ROAD TEST 32

FEATURES Take five Famous Mazdas driven to mark 100th year 42 LetusFrey We visitMazda’samazing Frey Museum 48 Best used Mazdas Topdriver’scars and what to pay 52 Under theRaeder Porscheengineersdream of this 54 Sign language Carsignwritersreveal trade secrets 60 Guilty! HowBTCCjudgesdeal with ‘naughty’drivers 65

OURCARS Volkswagen T-RocR High-risehot hatchfinal report 70 HondaE We doademolition derby in this chic EV 73

EVERYWEEK JesseCrosse Induction course forelectric motors 15 Jim Holder Should Astonscrap F1,buildLagondas? 17 Steve Cropley ID 3, Landiethefts, DriversofChange 19 Subscribe Save moneyand getexclusive benefits 40 Damien Smith What next forUK’s’Vettevet racer? 62 Motorsport round-up F1, WRC, Extreme E, WEC 63 Your Views Bring on theLotus SUV, plus EVs, B3 68 Matt Prior Keep thenoise down,you uttermaniacs 90

DEALS

James Ruppert £1500touring cars (not that type) 74 As good as new MercedesA-Class:smart waytobuy 77 Spiedinthe classifieds Panamera forunder £20k 78 Used buying guide HowtobagaMk2 Toyota MR2 80 NewcarsA-Z Keycar stats, from Abarth to Zenos 82 Road test index Trackdownthatroadtesthere 89

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100

MAZDAMAZDA

THIS WEEK

WE CELEBRATE MAZDA’SCENTENARY IN STYLE 42

BRUSHUPONTHE ARTOFSIGNWRITING 60

SEAT LEON eHYBRIDFR: FULL ROAD TEST 32

COVER STORY

❝YOUHAVETOASK IF ASTONSHOULD HAVE POURED ITS F1 MONEY INTO ITS LAGONDAEVs❞

JIM HOLDER ASSESSES THEPLIGHTOF ASTONMARTININ2020 ANDBEYOND 17

IMAGE

REVEALED: VOLKSWAGEN’SFUTURE ID MODELS 6

COMMENT

WILL VOLKSWAGEN’S EV PLAN KILL OFFTHE GOLF?

IF YOUWEREinany doubtas to howseriously Volkswagen is taking itspush into electric cars,thenlook no furtherthanour coverstory (p6). Thefirm will launchadedicated electric carinmostmajor segments alongsideconventional-powered offerings and, in doingso, attach an entirelynew nameplatetoeachone. VW’s modelnames have considerable equity,built up over many years– decadeseven. If VW sticks with this strategy,it’sentirelyplausible to think that by thetimethe banonnon-electric cars arrivesin2030, there’ll be no Golf, Polo, Passat,Californiaand others, but insteadthe rather soulless switch to thealphanumericalIDbadging.

Bold,yes,but notwithout precedent: who’deverhavethought ofaVW rangewithoutaBeetlefor much of the company’sexistence? Yetnow,the stakes feel higher.Unlike some brands, VW comesatelectric cars fromarealpositionofstrengthin thesecoresegments; the Golfnameisn’t broken,and norare anyofthe others. Thestrategyisdirectlyatoddswith othersinthe industry,mostnotably the PSAGroup,which hasmadeelectric simply another choiceina Peugeot, Citroën, DS or Vauxhall model’srange alongsidepetroland diesel. Electric becomesasoftersellhere, versus theall-inofV W. Whether VW’s bold move is alsoawise oneisone of many intriguing sub-plots on theroadto2030. Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com

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