EV News Round-Up February 2024

This month we share details on Porsche's second EV, Girdserve's new Gatwick forecourt and much more.

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Gridserve electrifies Gatwick Airport

Gridserve opens its third electric forecourt at Gatwick Airport, making it the first large-scale charging hub opened at an international airport.  

Located on the ring road South approach to London Gatwick’s South Terminal, the new forecourt features 30 EV charging bays; 22 of which are Gridserve’s latest 350kW ultra-rapid chargers, which can add up to 100 miles of charge to an EV in just 5 minutes.  

Head inside the forecourt and you'll find a Costa Coffee, which features click-and-collect with the option to have your food and drink ordered to your charging bay if you don’t fancy getting out of your car while it’s charging.  

You will also find a Little Fresh convenience store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which allows you to tap your payment card at the entrance, pick up what you want to buy and walk out without needing to scan your items at checkout.  

Little Fresh will then bill any items you walk out with to the payment card you tapped in with.  

Visitors will also be able to access Gridserve’s Interactive EV experience where they can test their EV readiness and find out which EV suits them, alongside gaining impartial advice from one of Gridserve’s EV gurus.  

You’ll also be able to test drive the MG4 EV at the forecourt, with more EVs to follow in the near future. 

Unfamiliar with Gridserve? Be sure to check out our Gridserve charging guide. 

You can also read what Gridserve's CEO Toddington Harper has to say about the future of the company in our Plugged-In series.

BT to turn up to 60,000 old exchange boxes into EV chargers 

BT-backed EV charging infrastructure start-up, Etc, sets its sights on repurposing redundant copper exchange cabinets as the nation transitions to full-fibre.  

Presented at the consumer electronics show after being awarded an Innovation Honoree for outstanding design and engineering, the idea could see up to 60,000 old exchange boxes being turned into new EV chargers.  

The first exchange box to get the EV treatment will be one located in East Lothian in Scotland, with plans to have it operational in the coming weeks.  

Once done, trials on old exchange boxes around the country will begin, with Etc assessing them on:  

• Technical – cabinet location, power availability, customer accessibility, digital customer experience and engineering considerations  
• Civil planning – location, local council engagement, permissions and physical accessibility  
• Commercial – public funding options, private investment, partnership, and wider financial modelling to establish a route to commercial benefit for the Group  
• Operational – as a dedicated BT Group venture or in partnership with others  

Tom Guy, Managing Director at Etc says: “Our new charging solution is a huge step in bringing EV charging kerbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing. Working closely with local councils in Scotland and more widely across the UK, we are at a critical stage of our journey in tackling a very real customer problem that sits at the heart of our wider purpose to connect for good.”  

“This is a key step in our mission to build products and services right now that work for the future, with positive transformation at the heart.”

Sainsbury’s launches it’s charging network 

Named Smart Charge, the network will provide Sainsbury’s customers who own a fully electric vehicle with a place to charge whilst they do their shopping. 

The network currently has around 200 ultra-rapid charging bays available at just over 20 Sainsbury’s stores with plans to take this number to over 750 bays in more than 100 Sainsbury’s locations – A move that will put Smart Charge in the top 5 providers of ultra-rapid charging in the UK. 

All charging bays belonging to the network can charge an EV at a rate of 150kW with plans to add 300kW chargers at selected sites. 

The network will also be available 24 hours a day all year round, even if the adjacent Sainsbury’s store is closed. 

Sadly, there’s no mention of an AC charging option so most plug-in hybrids will have to go elsewhere if they want a recharge.

We've added Smart Charge to our Cost to charge tool so that you can see how their charging costs compare to other networks - Head over to the tool, select your vehicle and click "rapid charging" to see its costs.

Hyundai brings the N Line badge to the Kona Electric 

Hyundai announces that their most popular EV will be getting the N-line treatment for those looking for a sportier variant to the Korean car maker’s practical SUV. 

Performance figures have yet to be announced however we do know that the Kona electric N-Line will be available with a 65kWh battery that will come in two trim levels, the N-Line and N-Line S. 

The N-Line will start at £40,395 offering unique front and rear bumpers with sporty-styled side skirts, dedicated 19-inch wheels and the iconic N-Line badging scattered numerously around the body. 

Inside the cabin, you’ll find aluminium pedals, N-Line cloth interior with heated seats in the front and rear as well as ambient lighting, a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging pads and a power-opening tailgate. 

Upgrade to the N-Line S starting at £43,095 and the cloth seats will be swapped for an Eco Alcantara & Leather combination material which are both adjustably heated and ventilated, a seven-speaker Bose sound system and full-width centre daytime running lights with LED headlamps. 

Production begins this February with the first N-line Kona EVs expected to roll onto European roads by the Spring.

Porsche Macan EV sheds its camouflage 

Porche’s second EV is finally here and this time around we get an electrified Macan, also making it the brand’s first all-electric SUV. 

Going head-to-head with the likes of the Lotus Electre and the BMW iX, the Porsche Macan comes with a 100kWh battery as standard, has a range of up to 381 miles and a blisteringly quick 0-62mph time of up to 3.3 seconds. 

Looks-wise, the Macan takes a giant step away from the styling of its first-gen counterpart by dropping the grill completely and swapping the circular headlights for rectangular ones which don’t look dissimilar to the headlights found on Porche’s other EV, the Taycan. 

Similarities to the Taycan don’t stop at the front either as the Macan also shares the same clean-looking rear with a full-width light bar and an interior that has a curved digital driver’s display, a central infotainment screen and an optional third touchscreen for your front passenger. 

Those who want to get their hands on a Macan for themselves will have a choice of two trim levels both of which will offer drivers up to 540 litres of boot storage (which expands to 1,348 litres with the seats down) as well as a 84-litre ‘froot’ on the front. 

The Macan 4 trim is the most affordable starting at £69,800 and offers the highest range of up to 381 miles.

The Macan Turbo sacrifices its range to 367 miles in exchange for the speedy 3.3 second 0-62mph time mentioned above and will cost around £95,000. 

Deliveries will start in September 2024.

Fifth Gear partners with Hypervolt 

Fifth Gear announces that Hypervolt will be sponsoring its YouTube channel. 

The collaboration comes as the number of electric vehicle owners stands close to one million with Hypervolt using their partnership with Fifth Gear to flaunt their cutting-edge charging technology. 

Grace Webb, who we’ve interviewed on Plugged-in, has kicked off the sponsorship by showcasing HyperVolt’s state-of-the-art Home 3 Pro and all of its features. 

A review of the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro is coming soon so be sure to check back and subscribe to our newsletter.

In the meantime however, be sure to check out our thoughts of the Hypervolt Home 3 in our review!

KGM Motors announces their new model line-up 

Ssangyong, now KGM Motors, announces that not one but two new vehicles following their rebrand and their decision to ditch their ‘value for money’ approach to car making in favour of a ‘powered by toughness’ image. 

Named the Torres and Torres EVX, the former will be petrol-powered while the latter will be a fully electric SUV. 

Whilst both share the same name, the two vehicles actually look very different from one another with the EVX having thin headlights which gives it a futuristic appearance whilst the petrol-powered Torrex has a look which doesn’t look dissimilar from some Jeep models. 

Specs have yet to be announced but we can expect both models to be launched later this year.

Volkswagen puts AI in its vehicles 

volkswagen announces that it will be integrating its IDA voice assistant with A.I platform ChatGPT later this year, giving drivers access to a plethora of exciting new features. 

Vehicles to get the A.I treatment first will be the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7, the new Tiguan, the new Passat and the Mk9 Golf. 

Drivers of the vehicles above can currently control basic in-car functions with their voice such as infotainment, navigation and air conditioning as well as getting answers to general questions simply by saying “Hey IDA” or pressing the voice assistance button. 

The new ChatGPT integration however will take this to the next level by being able to pick up more natural conversation queues. For example, the driver might be able to say “take me home” and the integrated ChatGPT will automatically set the navigation to the driver’s home address. 

And for those worrying about their personal information being uploaded to ChatGPT’s database needn’t worry as the software has no access to any vehicle data and questions and answers are deleted immediately.