EV News Round-up: March 2024

Also this month: Lunez's upcycled bin lorries get the green light for London and the number of EVs registered in the UK hits 1 million.

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Volkswagen ID.7 tourer’s specs revealed

Following the announcement of the ID.7 Tourer in November, Volkswagen revealed the specs of their new upper mid-sized all-electric estate along with when you can expect to see it rolling onto UK roads.

Like its saloon counterpart, the ID.7 tourer will be available with two battery sizes (82kWh or 91kWh) and have an impressive range of up to 425 miles.

And in the unlikely event that you do need a top-up, the ID.7 tourer supports up to 200kW rapid charging, which will charge the battery from 10-80 per cent in less than 30 minutes.

Unlike its saloon counterpart however, the ID.7 Tourer offers an impressive boot size of 605 litres with the rear seats folded up and 1714 litres with the rear seats folded down, which is more than both of its closest rivals, the MG5 and BMW i5 xDrive Touring. 

Style-wise, the ID.7 tourer is designed to look like a fusion between VW’s Passat and the Arteon Shooting brake with the car sharing design cues from both. 

Pop inside the driver’s seat you’ll find that the driver is treated to VW’s latest AR heads-up display, which projects important information such as speed limits and directions into the driver's line of sight without distracting them. 

As for the rest of the cabin, passengers can soak up some sun thanks to the new smart glass sunroof which can switch between opaque and clear at the touch of a button.

Passengers and drivers alike will also be able to experience VW’s new in-car wellness app for the first time, which automatically controls functions such as background lighting, sound, air conditioning, seat air conditioning, seat massage, in-car lighting and infotainment screen according to three modes: Fresh up, Calm Down and Power break.

Prices are still yet to be announced however we can expect deliveries to start early this year.

Polestar hosts Hotwheels design contest

Polestar and Hot Wheels join forces to host the 2024 edition of their design contest, which invites designers to wow judges with vehicle design submissions propelled by the imagination of their youth.

The winning submission will have their design made into a Hot Wheels model to be sold across the world under the Hot Wheels x Polestar brand.

Mattel (the parent company of Hot Wheels) encourages entrants to be as imaginative as possible with the only rule being that the final design must be scalable into a 1:64 Hot Wheels design cast vehicle.

Maximilian Missoni, Polestar’s Head of Design, says: “Dreams have the power to inspire and transport us beyond what we thought possible.

This is a chance for all participating designers to really push that Polestar envelope and let their imagination run riot.”

The competition opens on the 5th of March with the deadline set to the 16th of April.

Winners will be announced in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Cupra’s hot hatch gets even hotter with the Born VZ

Cupra, Seat’s sporty sub-brand, unveils a new trim level of the Born which Cupra says will “take the advanced powertrain technology of the CUPRA Born and turn the dials up” 

Designed to go head-to-head with rivals like the MG4 XPower and the Abarth 500e, the Born VZ will have a 0-62mph time of 5.7 seconds and a power output of 240kW/545Nm making it the quickest car on VW group’s MEB platform.

Other additions to the Born VZ will be new CUP bucket seats, improved braking feel, more robust suspension and more responsive steering and pedal behaviour.

Pricing and release dates have yet to be announced. 

Dacia Spring hits the UK 

The Dacia Spring will be making its way onto our shores this March.

While its max range of just 143 miles won’t be winning any awards, the Spring’s small design will be perfect for small city runs, which is what this car is designed for.

The lack of range is made up in cost too, with an estimated price tag of less than £20k making the Spring the UK’s cheapest EV if not counting the Citroen Ami (which is actually a quadricycle).

Despite its cheap and cheerful price tag, the Spring will come with a decent bit of kit, which includes a cruise control, steering wheel radio controls, a media control system with a USB port, central locking with remote control, electric front windows, rear parking sensors, a 12v socket and most impressively a 7-inch digital drivers display.

Upgrade to the Spring Expression and you’ll even get manual air conditioning and 15-inch wheels.

The most exciting trim level, and the one we predict most will opt for, is the Extreme.

This adds interior and exterior copper finishes, power rear mirrors and windows, 2 USB ports and a 10-inch infotainment display that has two USB ports and wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

Another edition the Extreme adds is vehicle-to-load technology, which allows you to use the Spring’s battery to charge a laptop or power a kettle via an adaptor that plugs into the car’s charging port.

Lunaz’s upcycled electric bin lorries get the green light

Lunaz’s upcycled electric vehicles (UEVs) achieve the highest direct vision standard for driver visibility, meaning that they are permitted to enter service in London without any documents of modifications. 

The first UEVs from Lunaz to hit London’s streets will be their electric refuse lorries, which are upcycled from diesel trucks that have reached the end of their life.

Lunaz’s founder, David Lorenz says “From the outset, we’ve built our upcycled electric refuse trucks to meet the DVS five-star standard for driver visibility - the highest available.

This accreditation enables operators to obtain an HGV permit from London boroughs without any further documentary evidence or vehicle modifications.

It’s also in line with [London] Mayor Sadiq Khan’s pledge to eliminate road deaths in London by 2041.

Having our UEVs fully prepared for operation in the capital is an important step towards widespread adoption.

They’re cheaper and better-equipped than their all-new electric equivalents, representing greater value for money for local taxpayers, alongside the environmental benefits of our clean-air technology and upcycling process.

It also means we’re heading into 2024 in a strong position to continue our journey towards a projected production capacity of 1,100 vehicles a year.” 

UK hits the 1 million EV mark

Britain past the 1 million EVs registered mark this January according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The growth was entirely driven by the uptake of fleet vehicles, which rose by 29.9 per cent while private retail fell by –15.8 per cent.

The fall in the private sector could be due to the volatility in the EV supply as well as a probable lapse in consumer confidence coming after the government’s decision to postpone the ban on petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035.

SMMT went on to state that the UK is now the only major market to combine a 2035 end-of-sale date with a mandated zero-emission vehicle market share but without any significant consumer incentives.

Yet it is increasingly clear that private buyers need more support to switch.

Alpine test their new electric hot hatch 

Alpine’s upcoming all-electric hot hatch, the A290, has been spotted again, this time in Sweden’s Lapland where temperatures hit as low as –30c.

Sporting distinctive a-arrow camouflage with Alpine’s blue colour scheme, the A290 will have various characteristics put to the test including its low grip capabilities, engine responsiveness, driving precision and agility in conditions which Alpine’s engineering team say are impossible to emulate in a technical setting.

Other equipment to receive the extreme cold test on the Alpine A290 is its heating system, the quality of its defogging and defrosting abilities and the ESC (electronic stability control) on snow.

For those who want to see the Alpine A290 without camouflage, you’ll have to wait until June this year.

House of Lords urges the Government to remove barriers preventing people from going electric

The House of Lords urges that more action must be taken by the government to increase consumer confidence in going electric as private registration of EVs fell by –15 per cent compared to the same time last year.

Citing that some people are being put off by higher purchase costs, insufficient charging infrastructure and mixed messaging, a report from the Environment and Climate Change Committee urged ministers to instil confidence in consumers to ditch petrol and diesel cars.

One solution suggested was to incentivise purchases of used EVs by creating an industry-standard assessment of the condition and likely degradation of their batteries.

Other suggestions included removing the outdated regulations preventing the rollout of EV charging infrastructure and taking action to fight misinformation.

Baroness Parminter, who chaired the inquiry, said: “Surface transport is the UK’s highest emitting sector for CO2, with passenger cars responsible for over half those emissions.

“The evidence we received shows the Government must do more – and quickly – to get people to adopt EVs.

If it fails to heed our recommendations, the UK won’t reap the significant benefits of better air quality and will lag in the slow lane for tackling climate change.”

They also went on to say that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to delay the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 was an example of “emphasising the costs while failing to stress the benefits”.