Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i TopGear Malaysia

Geely Holdings has officially launched the newest sub-brand underneath the group, an entirely new company called Geometry that focuses only on pure electric vehicle. By that we mean plug-in hybrids or battery hybrids will still be Geely auto products, but anything that has no combustion engine will be the work of Geometry. And unlike Volvo and Lotus (and Proton, although we don’t want to go there), Geometry is a new entity and fully initiated by Geely. Singapore was chosen as the global launch location as it is a global city and one that puts emphasis on the environment and sustainability. Also making its way to the event was Geometry’s first product, called the A. Yes, that naming system where Geometry is followed by a single alphabet does remind us of…

“It’s not even out yet and it’s already done more for the Honda brand than every Jazz and CR-V combined” There are plenty of people who doubt the future success of electric cars. Perfectly understandable, particularly if you’ve grown up on petrol or diesel. But I expect a huge shift in the way electric cars are perceived over the next few years. Why? Because of the levels of creativity being shown by designers thinking outside the traditional fossil-fuel box. There is now a slew of new EVs grabbing my attention in a way that I, a dyed-in-the-wool petrolhead, had never thought possible. And I’m not just talking about the fact I’m lusting after 1,900bhp electric hypercars like the Rimac C_Two or Pininfarina Battista. No, that’s easy; fast cars are fun,…

I’ve always had a soft spot for Volvos. Growing up, our favourite family car was a hulking beast of a Swede – the legendary 144GL. This car was everything that a comfortable family car needed to be. It had space in abundance, pace in relative sufficiency and most importantly, it was incredibly comfortable for those weekend jaunts to Penang from our home town in Kedah. And it didn’t hurt that it looked like a bloody tank, easily dwarfing the Morris 1300 and Ford Escort which were part of the family fleet back then. For a teenage kid with more than a passing interest in cars, size mattered. A lot. It still does, though that’s a story for another day. Fast-forward almost 40 years and Volvo has gone from an independent…

WE SAY: A JACKED-UP HATCH THAT DOESN’T FEEL CYNICAL? WELL DONE, VW Whether you like it or not, small crossover SUVs are a thing. Demand is strong; sales are good. Nobody wants ordinary hatchbacks anymore. That’s so 2004. It doesn’t matter that they can’t go off-road. As long as they look a bit funky and give their drivers an “I’m higher up and therefore definitely more important/stylish than you” vibe, all is well. You could accuse some carmakers of not making much of an effort when it comes to stuff like this. Of hastily cobbling cars together from existing bits and rushing them to market, keen for a slice of the action. The old style-over-substance cliche. Not VW. The T-Cross is late to the party, but it’s been thought through.…

Alpine A110 Legende Legende is the top-spec A110, priced at £50,805. It has electric seats and an uprated stereo that boost weight up to 1123kg. This colour is Abyss Blue. Don’t have it. It’s dark and hides contours. Standard retro wheels an acquired taste. Brown leather cabin great. This one was on winter tyres. They made quite a difference to the dynamics of our current sports car of the year. Woollier. But don’t worry, because the A110 remains about the best driving car on sale today. But you don’t need it in Legende trim. Engine 1798cc, 4cyl turbo, RWD, 249bhp, 320Nm Performance 0–100kph in 4.5secs, 249kph, 6.4L/100km, 156g/km CO2 Weight 1123kg Price £50,805 Merc S560 e L EQ Power AMG Quite literally the S-Class of PHEVs, 560e combines 367bhp of…

WE SAY: A 2.4-TONNE CABRIO THAT CAN HAVE A TWEED ROOF. JOB DONE There aren’t many differences between the Continental GT Convertible and the coupe on which it’s based. Except the roof, obviously, which is a Zfold fabric item that can be stowed or erected in 19 seconds at up to 30mph. Chassis strengthening in the form of much metalwork means it’s five per cent stiffer than before, while aluminium panels mean the body is 20 per cent lighter. And happily, better-looking. The old car was not unattractive, but this moves things on. The interior too – it’s a tremendously comfortable, brilliantly built place to sit. Quiet as the old coupe when the roof’s up, and with it down almost totally free of turbulence (so long as you use the…

Famed Swiss-based British premium watchmakers Graham took centre stage at this year’s Baselworld 2019 expo by showcasing its Chronofighter Grand Vintage “Graffiti” and the returning Swordfish timepiece collections. Starting with the Graham Chronofighter Grand Vintage Graffiti, it seems the writing is on the wall for the rigid codes of horology. This offering shakes things up by integrating edgy urban street art into Swiss precision timekeeping. The series feature five iterations of the Graham Chronofighter Grand Vintage Ltd watches that set a dynamic new scene for personalisation. As always, their strong starting point is a 47mm steel case with an iconic start-stop trigger on the left-hand side. Standing out clearly against the black dial are white Arabic numerals, a playful reference to the faithful school blackboard and chalk. Each member of…

On March 21, 1999, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones safely landed their Breitling Orbiter 3 in a remote region of the Egyptian desert. In doing so, they became the first aviators to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a balloon. Twenty years later, the occasion is being commemorated with the release of the Cockpit B50 Orbiter Limited Edition. Crafted from striking black carbon-coated titanium, this piece is limited to just 213 pieces worldwide. The number was chosen to commemorate the date the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon landed in Egypt – 21.3. – 20 days after it had taken off from Chaâteau-d’Œx in the Swiss Alps. The watch is powered by the Breitling Manufacture Caliber B50, which is an in-house designed thermocompensated SuperQuartz analogue and digital display movement that delivers 10…

Ridiculously, people still think that hydrogen is somehow still related to the Hindenburg, and volatile enough to explode if you cough next to it. But while the delivery system is tasked to about 700bar (10k psi) and would definitely clear your sinuses should you be near one that breaks, the carbon/Kevlar tanks that hold the hydrogen in a Nexo are rated into the stratosphere, and are themselves sleeved within crash structures. The chances of puncturing one are on the far side of negligible, and you certainly wouldn’t survive a crash hard enough to pop one. The other thing to remember is that hydrogen disperses skywards pretty rapidly if you spill it. Unlike petrol, which hangs about at ground level. And you’ve never really worried about having a tank of highly…

Flights to Oslo Gardermoen from a variety of UK airports generally come in at under £100 (beware the very cheap ones that run via Brussels). Norway is relatively expensive for UK visitors, but £1 equals roughly 11 Norwegian Krone (not euro, obviously), so don’t panic when you see big prices! At the airport, for the full Norwegian experience, you can actually hire a Tesla – Hertz has Model Sup for rental at a not-exactly-cheap £131.02 per day from the terminal, and you won’t have a problem finding charging. Roads are generally well scrubbed, but be aware in winter that you will need snow tyres (a legal requirement), especially on the backroads and ‘Historic routes’. Norwegian police are not keen on speeding. Stay at the Bergen Floating House for something a little different…

Q: Will the power stations and grid be able to cope? Britain’s electricity system can generate enough energy to drive all the electric cars anyone expects. Strangely enough, UK overall demand is falling, because of things like energy efficiency in houses and industry – all those LED light bulbs you’ve got. The Government has just launched measures to generate a third of our electricity from offshore wind by 2030, about four times as much as now. Predictions say that nearly three-quarters of UK electricity will be low-carbon by that date. Offshore wind is expected to be cheaper than fossil fuel generation as soon as 2020. Other green sources are also growing fast because they make economic sense too. Solar, even unsubsidised, is now one of the cheapest sources of all.…

JAGUAR E-TYPE CONCEPT ZERO As seen at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Bet Jag was pleased it didn’t break down. Curiously, Jaguar aimed to make its own EV powertrain conversion fully reversible, but totally changed the interior to feature a modern touchscreen and digital instrument clockfaces. A 150-mile range and 0–100kph in under 7.0secs is claimed. Majestic. SWIND E MINI But going electric suits city cars, right? So, here’s what happens when you smack the utimate city car with the EV stick. Wiltshire-based Swind will sell you a zero-emission Mini for £79,000. It’s got 107bhp, makes it to 100kph in 9.2secs and tops out at 128kph. Range matches the Honda E’s 201km. Binning the fuel tank ups bootspace by 200 litres. Practical! ICON MERCURY COUPE DERELICT We were set…

Lagonda appears to have gone for the scatter-gun approach when it comes to naming design influences for its All-Terrain Concept, with everything from super yachts to Mars exploration via the “planetary forces of gravity fields” all attributed to the car’s aesthetics. But it’s going to get made, and it will look more like this concept than you’d expect, even that elongated tail. An SUV will be the first production car from new-age Lagonda (because what else do you launch a brand with these days?) though little is divulged about what powers the All-Terrain at the moment, save for it being fully electric.…

Meet the Q4 e-tron concept, it’s a compact four-door SUV that’ll arrive after the e-tron, e-tron Sportback, Q2L e-tron for China and the e-tron GT coupe have all gone on sale. A rival for the electric BMW X3 and Tesla Model Y, it’ll be the company’s fifth electric model when it goes on sale by the end of 2020. Two motors, 302bhp and four-wheel drive mean a 0–100kph sprint in 6.3 seconds and a limited top speed of 179kph. Range? 450km. Unremarkable really, proof of how quickly EVs are infiltrating the mainstream.…

Piëch Mark Zero Ferdinand Piëch was a colossus of the industry. Now his son, Anton, has launched an electric coupe weighing less than 1,800kg with a 499-km range. That’s my boy Aston Martin AM-RB 003 Think near-Valkyrie performance (albeit from a twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain, not a screaming V12), a sliver more usability and a bargain basement price tag of £1m SEAT el-Born A VW ID with a Spanish hat on and a silly name. Lots of space, 201bhp, 0–100kph in 7.5 seconds and a 418-km range… the age of the modular mass-market EV is here Lynk & Co 03 Cyan concept A collab with Cyan Racing, the 03 uses a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turboed up to a faintly ridiculous 528bhp… all sent to the front wheels. Torque steer, anyone? Mercedes…

My first car was a Volkswagen Beetle with about 50 horsepower. It was very reliable – it never broke down. In fact, it was actually so slow to break down that I had to kill it myself in order to get on to the next one. After that I bought a Golf GTI 16v, the MkII. I pimped it up, put black rims on it, leather seats inside, and then sold it. That meant I could afford a crashed Golf G60 which I repaired. It never went straight but it looked spectacular! Then I changed from the G60 to a Seat and started racing in the Seat Ibiza Cup. I couldn’t afford another car at the time so I had to use it as my road car too. It only…

Toyota’s going to the Moon. The company says it will help build a self-driving electric six-wheel Moon buggy for Japan’s purported 2029 mission to land humans on our nearest celestial body. That’s going to be one heck of an Uber bill. Thought all sense of good taste was lost at BMW? Good news! The company has reportedly admitted there’s not enough demand for a faster version of the goppingly hideous X7 SUV, so there’ll be no X7 M. Maybe they’ll kill the X4 next. We can dream. The next Fiat 500 will be electric. Fiat’s confirmed the new retro EV will be revealed in March 2020. Not ready to go full EV? Don’t worry – they’re keeping the old petrol one on sale at the same time, for a while.…

WE SAY: MAZDA’S NEW 3: LOW ON EXCITEMENT, HIGH ON QUIET SATISFACTION Look, a bang on rival for the Toyota Corolla, on p37 Indeed, and another one that makes great claims about its looks and driver appeal. And fulfils them better. Underneath there’s an all-new platform and clean Skyactiv engines, the firm talks about reducing ‘visual noise’ in the cabin and harmonising the quality of the ambient lighting. Stuff that doesn’t make headlines, but is appreciated. Nice bit of design, too Isn’t it? Hints of Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the profile, strong shapes, clean lines. The big C-pillar does make it dark in the back, and it’s not that roomy, either. The boot is modest, and you’ll almost certainly bang your head getting into the back seats. The driving environment…

WE SAY: NEW-GEN 911, SAME OLD STORY. ALMOST ANNOYINGLY COMPLETE “The first Porsche sports car ever had no roof, don’t-you-know”, points out the company, before diving deep into monologues about how stiff the new 992 Cabriolet is (very) how clever the mostly aluminium body is to keep the paunch in check (only 70kg heavier than the coupe) and how swiftly the roof does origami (12 seconds from cocooned to sunburnt, at up to 50kph). Never does anyone note that sports cars are supposed to be pretty, and I’m sorry, but open 911s are never the most elegant of convertibles, with all that literal and visual mass lurking about the backside. The new 992, with its widescreen light sabre and phat haunches, looks awfully tall and flabby from some angles. “Robot…

The iconic Omega Seamaster Diver 300M series welcomes a darker new Ceramic Titanium form for 2019. Aptly, this bold new model is built from black ceramic and titanium. This edgy combination delivers good looks as well as strength, which certainly add an exciting new choice within an already attractive timepiece range. Sized at 43.5mm, the watch is distinguished by its polished/brushed black ceramic case and grade 5 titanium caseback. The same material base is also used to form the bezel. Included here too is a black ceramic ring with a diving scale in white enamel. Featured on the brushed black ceramic dial are the Diver 300M’s famous laser-engraved waves. Unlike what’s seen in the core collection, these waves are raised from the surface in a “positive relief” to create a…

Teaming up with the Fossil Group, renowned premium automaker BMW will be releasing a special timepiece series in time for summer this year. Effectively, the collection can be distinguished in two main design themes or ‘collections’ – BMW and BMW M Motorsport. Besides classic BMW symbols present such as the propeller logo subtly accent the dial, the cases play with aerodynamic forms and visually dynamic features, which are modelled after the brand’s most recognisable cars and shaped to perfection. Beginning with the BMW Collection, it proves that there’s no limit to style thanks to strikingly iconic colours and versatile designs they sport. The timepieces in this line will be available in three-link stainless steel bracelets and premium leather straps. Additionally, its subtly shaded dials feature the brand’s iconic blue or…

The bluffer’s guide goes something like this: a proton exchange membrane fuel cell uses compressed hydrogen and oxygen from the air to produce electricity. Hydrogen goes in one end (anode), while oxygen goes in the other (cathode) and a platinum catalyst on the anode side splits the hydrogen into positive protons and negatively charged electrons. The PEM bounces only the positive ions, while the electrons are fed into a circuit to make electricity, which drives an electric motor and makes your car go. At the cathode, the positive ions combine with oxygen from the air again to make H2O… or water. Which drips out of the tailpipe in a state you could conceivably drink, if you fancied quaffing a shot of tailpipe juice.…

Q:How green is an electric car, really? It’s the first rock lobbed at electric cars, so let’s deal with it first. Electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, so how can you ignore that CO2? Well, we’re not ignoring it, we’re factoring it in. Power stations are more efficient than car engines, so if you transmit that electricity over the grid, put it into an EV (and they are very efficient, actually), then your EV is responsible for half the CO2 per mile than even an economical petrol or diesel car. Both those numbers include extraction and refining and distribution inefficiencies for the petroleum – well-to-wheel in the jargon. And on a summer’s day, the UK actually gets all its electricity from renewables. Yes, in winter the UK uses some fossil-fuel…

“AS TO THE VERY FUTURE OF THE BUSINESS ITSELF, BRACE YOURSELF” Mate Rimac – it’s pronounced Matty Rimats – can’t keep up. His company is expanding so rapidly that the HQ, in an industrial area 20 minutes outside Zagreb, resembles one of those miraculously ever-evolving buildings in Minecraft. During a whistle-stop tour, it’s impossible not to lose your bearings as one department gives way to another, each containing roomfuls of bright young things rewiring the future. Some have compared Rimac with Elon Musk, but following him through the endless doorways, an image pops into my mind: he has the spry charisma of Gene Wilder’s original take on Willy Wonka. Substitute electricity for chocolate. Rimac now employs 500 people, of 29 nationalities. There are coders, software engineers, designers, and CFD (computational…

Imagine you had the chance to start a car company from scratch. What would it look like? Unmoored from an industry that says you have to build your cars like this, and sell them like that, would you have the nerve to be different or stay close to the pack? A little over three years ago, in the space I’m standing in – a giant echo chamber of polished concrete, white pillars and glass – Volvo made the call. “Sometimes in life it’s funny how click, click, click, a lot of things happen at the same time and yes, electrification came in.” That’s Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s new CEO, who’s also senior vice president of design at Volvo. Busy chap. “Founding a new car brand, I mean, Jesus, what a crazy…

You’d like Paul. When he’s not dedicating himself to fastidiously re-engineering Astons without upsetting the ultrabeards (much), he’s working on his oddball car collection. “I’ve just sold my V8 Vantage, so I’m between Astons. I’ve got a left-hand drive Mercedes SLK320, a 2000 Jeep Wrangler, a 1991 Rolls Silver Spirit II… there’s never one car that does everything! I’ve also got a 1944 Willys Jeep, which served in the British Army at Arnhem. I feel very humble thinking of the brave men and women who served and drove that car, so exposed.”…

Q: What about the disruptors – tax and technology? Electric cars will soon cost the same to own as petrol ones – dearer to buy, cheaper to run. But range will still be a bit less and charging a bit slower. So people go looking for game-changers in those fields. Solid-state batteries get a lot of airtime. Small wonder. They replace the wet electrolyte in today’s lithium-ion batteries with a solid. Because they’re simpler they could be a lot cheaper, and lighter, and they won’t need liquid cooling. They should also be longer-lasting and fireproof. Possibly much faster-charging too – provided you can find an outlet much more powerful than the 350kW top-end jobs of today. This isn’t crazy car-runs-on-tap-water nonsense. It’s been done in the lab. Dyson has staked…

When Ducati first rolled out the Scrambler to the masses in 2015, it proved to be an instant winner for the Italian powerhouse. Effectively, the Scrambler marked Ducati’s proper re-entry into the modern retro segment, presenting it as the ideal tool for the hip and cool to get around. Unlike its other offerings, which took a more serious route driven by performance and tech, the Scrambler saw Ducatitake on a different approach altogether. Simply put, it was serious on fun and style instead, with Ducati infusing a bit of its renowned performance magic and much celebrated heritage. Well, the result speaks for itself, with Ducati rolling out a myriad of variations and special versions along the way. Of course, being Italian, the original Scrambler did miss the mark in a…

Track day regulars rejoice. There is a new tyre in town aimed at enthusiasts and its name is Toyo Proxes TR1. The Japanese manufacturer’s new UHP (ultra-high performance) offering replaces the Proxes T1R – confusing we know – with bolder treads you can spot from a mile away. Interestingly, this new asymmetric pattern incorporates elements from the outgoing Proxes T1R and Proxes Sport (which is still officially on sale). Toyo claims that this improves wet handling and braking performance by 16 percent when compared to the T1R. The tyre compound itself is also improved, with ‘Super Active Polymers’ and a high silica content among the touted highlights. Despite being a performance-oriented tyre, the Toyo Proxes TR1 is priced in a budget-friendly bracket ranging between RM199 to RM800 per tyre. This…

The world first saw it at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year in March, and now the Ferrari F8 Tributo has been launched in Malaysia. You can make quite a few of us jealous by putting your order in – it’s priced at RM1,068,000 before duties and options – but deliveries may take a while. 2020 is the earliest delivery date we’re told. Will the wait be worth it? Well, the F8 boasts the most powerful series production V8 ever built by Ferrari. This multiple Best Engine award winner cranks out 720cv (that’s Italian/Ferrari talk for 710hp) at a screaming 8,000rpm and 770Nm from 3,250Nm. This output hauls the car’s 1,330kg of (dry) mass from 0-100kph in just 2.9 seconds. Zero to 200kph takes 7.8 seconds while top speed…

Acertain way to inject plenty of action in a racing series with two or more drivers per car is to mix their skill levels. Take for example the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, where the driver pairing may consist of a professional and gentleman driver in one team. So once the green lights go off – and also once the pitstops are all done with – the racing order will change as quickly as the cars go. That’s exactly what happened again during the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia 2019 opening round at Sepang. Pirelli was gracious enough to extend an invite and it sure didn’t disappoint. There were some ‘stars’ among the drivers, one in specific being Chris van der Drift from the Australian Supercar series. Let’s not forget Malaysia’s own…

Over half a century ago, Bruce Meyers decided to re-body a VW Beetle with a lightweight plastic body and steel rollover bars. Now VW wants to bring it all back, although instead of a four-cylinder boxer engine out the back, it features a 62kWh battery and 201bhp electric motor that’s good for 249km on a single charge. The new-age drivetrain is all integrated in Volkswagen’s MEB platform, which has now spawned five ID concepts – hatch, saloon, SUV, microbus and this. The Buggy might be the least sensible for Blighty, but it’s the one we want the most.…

Imagine being paid to rifle through the Bugatti back catalogue before choosing a car to completely re-imagine in a manner appropriate for the 2020s. But while Ettore and his son Jean Bugatti were responsible for a truly outrageous group of cars, there is one that nudges above the others – the 1936 Type 57 Atlantic. ‘La Voiture Noire’ is the result, an extraordinary-looking machine that uses the Chiron as its basis, with the 1479bhp, 8.0-litre, quad-turbocharged, 16-cylinder underneath that majestically reworked rear end. There’s one other thing: this one-off has set its new owner back £12 million, making it the most expensive new car ever. Sheesh. The Type 57 Atlantic is the guv’nor because only four were made between 1936 and 1938. Three are still in existence, one owned by…

“When I drive an EV that exceeds the capabilities of an ICE equivalent, I’ll happily celebrate them” The e-Golf arrived late because the nice man delivering it could only locate a fast charger miles from his intended route, and then found it was already being used. So he had to wait. This didn’t really bother me. The sun was shining and the mid-February temperature was a record-breaking 20°C, allegedly because of all the selfish people not driving electric Golfs. I was in no hurry. I am regularly accused of being an electric-car hater, but I’m not. When I drive one that exceeds the capabilities of an internal-combustion-engined equivalent, I’ll happily celebrate them. But most people drive a car for one reason only: convenient travel. I’m one of a minority who…

ROVER’S JET ADVENTURE Rover’s JET1 broke speed records, achieving 244kph in 1952. Despite producing, ahem, 100bhp at 55,000rpm, the noise, heat and fuel consumption of 40-47 litres/100km meant jet-powered Rovers remained one-off prototypes. Predictably. ASTON LAGONDA DASHBOARD Another ambitious British car that brought its maker to its knees, the Lagonda’s digital LED dashboard and touch-sensitive switchgear were majorly ahead of their time. They were also hopelessly unreliable. But just look at it! TVR SPEED SIX ENGINE UK carmakers can’t help themselves when it comes to developing bespoke engines. TVR’s was the most powerful nat-asp straight-six ever. But it liked to bleed oil, wrecking pistons and causing pricey rebuilds. TRIUMPH STAG V8 The Stag looked good. It had a cool name. And waiting in the wings to power it was Rover’s…

1900 At the World’s Fair in Paris, Rudolf Diesel presents his prototype diesel engine. Possibly mishearing the brief to create an engine that’ll cost ‘peanuts to run’, Diesel’s economical creation is powered by actual peanuts. 1931 In his Cummins ‘Diesel Special’ race car, American driver Dave Evans becomes the first driver to complete the Indy 500 race without making a single pit stop. On the down side, Evans finishes nowhere near the podium. On the up side, his fuel bill for race weekend is very reasonable. 1936 Mercedes introduces the first diesel-powered taxi. The 260D makes barely 40 horsepower, returns 14.1 litres/100km and coughs out huge amounts of particulates, thus making it faster and cleaner than most diesel taxis running around London today. 1978 In response to rocketing European sales…

In case you didn’t know, Father’s Day is just around the corner, more specifically on the third Sunday of June. With that in mind, the folks at Omega are certainly poised at becoming a top choice for gifts on this special day. More specifically, it’s the marque’s signature and iconic Seamaster Diver 300M. The dark-natured Ceramic Titanium special, the Seamaster Diver 300M, has undergone a revolutionary makeover in recent years. Some things do remain, like the Seamaster Diver 300M’s signature 42mm dial size, lazer-engraved waves, as well as ceramic bezels with distinctive diving scales in white enamel. Matching all that underneath is the Omega Master Chronometer Calibre 8800. Tested and certified at the industry’s highest standard of precision, performance and magnetic-resistance, this is one heart that any adventurous Dad can…

Volkswagen and Uniqlo have announced a collaborative effort which sees the two producing a special series of T-shirts that proudly bear a few of the German automaker’s icons from yesteryear. More specifically, the collaborative effort sees the expansion in the Uniqlo T-shirts (UT) Collection for Men. Launched under ‘The BRANDS’ range, eight quirky designs featuring the classic Beetle, the cool Kombi van and the renowned Golf GTI hot hatch are up for grabs. For Uniqlo, the T-shirt is a direct expression of individuality, and the company selectively curates authentic cultural content that transcends time and genre from around the world for its popular UT Collection. It also reflects Volkswagen’s own rich heritage spanning over 80 years, combined with a strong product line-up of various models that have stood the test…

ICE internal combustion engine (traditional petrol/diesel/LPG) EV electric vehicle (a vehicle that runs on electricity and doesn’t have an ICE – this encompasses hydrogen electric as well as battery) HYBRID a combo of electric and ICE, usually with very limited EV-only range, no external charging PHEV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (as above, but can be plugged into a charger to get extra, if limited, EV-only running) ZEV zero emissions vehicle (catch-all term for a car that doesn’t produce GHG) BEV battery electric vehicle (does what it says on the tin) FCEV fuel cell electric vehicle (hydrogen-powered with a fuel cell and tanks instead of a big battery. Still has a battery – just a smaller one than a BEV PEM proton exchange membrane (the basic bit of a fuel cell)…

Q:Should I rapid or home charge? And what if I live in a flat? Most people who are contemplating an EV labour under the petrol station mindset. It’s entirely understandable, because that’s how we’ve always driven. When the tank’s empty, we stop at a station, or even drive specially to one, and fill up. So when thinking about EVs, we worry about how long it takes to charge en-route, and how many chargers there are, and whether they’ll be occupied when we get there. But once they’ve had an EV for a while, owners flip right out of that mindset. Only about three per cent of UK charging is done on roadside rapid chargers. That’s tiny. Here’s why. You’ve plugged in overnight at home. If your petrol tank was magically…

In its 100 years, Citroen has come up with some of the most brilliant and inventive cars ever. So, for the first of two concepts it’ll show to celebrate that centenary, the company is trying to channel its forward-looking spirit. This is how to use history: a direction, not a reflection. I’m not sure whether it’ll be immediately liked. A bit of well-turned visual retro would au contraire have been a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, as it was with sister Peugeot’s e-Legend concept’s 504 Coupe echoes. But Peugeot has always been the conservative one, Citroen the innovator. Some of history’s innovative Citroens were grand and beautiful, but others were small and cheap and, heck, ugly. The 1961 Ami was one of the latter, and Citroen has reprised its name here, because Ami…