EV News Round-up: June 2024

June brings us the landing of Skywell in the UK car market, Polestar's record breaking charging speeds and Renault slashing the price of its Megane electric.

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Kia unveils the EV3

Say hello to the Kia EV3, Kia's third dedicated electric vehicle and the Korean car manufacturer's answer to the Smart #1 and Renault's Megane E-Tech (more on that later).

Just like the aforementioned cars above, the EV3 is a compact SUV and takes a lot of styling queues from its EV9and Niro EV siblings with the added black paneling across all sides of the car to give it a more rugged appearance.

Range-wise, the Kia EV3 comes with a choice of two battery options, 58.3kWh and 81.4kWh the latter of which has a claimed range of 372 miles (the range of the smaller battery has yet to be announced).

Hop inside the cabin and you'll see that the borrowing from the EV9 continues, with both cars sharing the same dual 12.3 inch driver and infotainment screens and dashboard that's made of recycled materials.

What's new to the EV3 however is the addition of a pop out table for the driver and front passenger.

Prices have yet to be announced but we can expect the EV3 to be priced at around £30,000.

Skywell BE11 unveiled at the Everything Electric Show North

Chinese car manufacturer Skywell unveils the BE11 at the Everything Electric Show North in Harrogate, a mid sized electric SUV that claims to be affordable when released.

As standard, the BE11 comes with razor LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels and Skywell-embossed full-width rear head lights.

Inside the cabin, you get a 12.8 inch touchscreen, panoramic sunroof, keyless entry and start, an electric tailgate and 360 degree round-view monitor system as standard.

Upgrade to the ADAS package and the list of equipment expands to include intelligent cruise assist, traffic sign recognition and blind spot detection.

Spec-wise, the BE11 comes with either a 72kWh or 86kWh battery which can power the car for up to 248 or 304 miles respectively.

No matter which battery size you go for, all models are powered by a 204PS/320nm motor which can send the car from 0 to 62mph in just under 10 seconds.

A release date has yet to be announced.

StoreDot and Polestar charge an EV in under 10 minutes

Polestar joins forces with the fast charging experts at Storedot to charge their upcoming Polestar 5 from 10-80% in just under 10 minutes.

The blisteringly fast charging time was achieved using a fully drivable prototype of the Polestar 5 fitted with a 77kWh battery pack containing StoreDot's silicon-dominant battery cells, which have a unique ability to stick within operating temperature targets whilst charging at speeds of up to 370kW.

Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar said: "By eliminating charging times that were previously an obstacle, StoreDot's XFC battery cells combined with our cutting-edge product development and battery engineering have unlocked new frontiers for electric mobility.

This technology will reshape consumer expectations and accelerate mass EV adoption by making EV ownership a seamless experience for the mass market."

What's more, Polestar states that the new battery technology is compatible with today's ultra-rapid chargers.

Andersen announces the A3

Andersen launches the A3, a smaller and more colourful version of its premium A2 EV charger.

When launched, the Andersen A3 will be one of the most customisable home EV chargers on the market with over 240 colour options to choose from including a limited edition front panel designed by automotive designers Callum Designs.

The A3 will be more compact too, coming in at 20% smaller than the A2.

Despite being smaller however, the Andersen A3 still manages to cram in new features including improved solar energy management, a presence sensor which activates a convenience light on the underside of the unit when you approach it and a theatre light that highlights the cable when you lift the lid covering the cable gun holster.

Unlike the A2 however, the Andersen A3 will be single phase only and come with a 5.5m cable with no option to expand to a longer length.

Renault Megane E-Tech electric adds more tech for less money

Are you eyeing up the Renault Megane E-Tech Electric? Well now it can be yours with more equipment for less money!

Renault has been busy tweaking their electric SUV to include a heat pump across the entire trim range, a piece of kit that regulates temperatures in the battery so that you don't loose too much of that 280 mile range during the cold winter months.

Buyers looking at the Techno and Iconic trim levels will also be happy to know that they come with a 12-inch multimedia display and contectual adaptive cruise control as part of the standard specification.

Best of all, Renault has done all of this whilst knocking £500 off the asking price bringing the car down to a starting price of £33,995.

Thinking about salary sacrifice? See how much you can save on the Renault Megane E-Tech Electric through salary sacrifice.

IONITY announces price decrease and expansion across the UK 

Multinational charging network IONITY announces it will be cutting prices in selected countries as well as introducing two new paid subscriptions.

Sadly, the UK is not on the list of countries that are getting a price cut however, those who are planning a road trip to Sweden, Slovakia, Norway, Latvia, Ireland, Estonia, Denmark, Croatia or Belgium will be pleased to know that they can now get an ultra-rapid top up at an Ionity charge point for less.

For those of you who use IONITY regularly, there are now two monthly payment options available, Passport motion and passport power.

Passport Motion costs £3.88 for the first month (£5.49 a month thereafter) and will lower the price per kWh from 74p to 53p. Passport Power costs £7.00 for the first month (£10.50 a month thereafter) and lowers the price per kWh from 74p to 43p.