EV News Round-up: May 2024

Osprey installs its 1000th charge point, Connected Kerb brings off-peak pricing to its chargers and Maserati unveils the first luxury electric convertible.

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Alfa Romeo unveils its first EV

The maker of “true driver’s cars” announces their entrance into the electric vehicle with this, the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica.

Sporting a 54kWh battery which is capable of rapid charging at up to 100kW and a range figure of up to 250 miles, the Junior Elettrica promises not to compromise on the “typical driving pleasure” Alfa Romeo fans expect from the brand, which it does by being the lightest EV in its class, offering fast direct steering, lower suspension, beefed-up front and rear anti-roll bars and a choice of two power outputs; 156hp or 240hp.

Practicality-wise, the Junior Elettrica will feature a reasonable 400-litre boot size with a cable organiser under the bonnet, a 10.25-inch driver-facing infotainment screen with a user-customisable interface and built-in satellite navigation software which automatically calculates charging stops based on travel distance, real-time traffic, driving style and battery percentage.

Order books open early this summer with prices yet to be announced.

Construction begins for Gridserve’s fifth electric forecourt

Left: Concept of what the Markham Vale site will look like once finished. Right: The Gridserve team heading the project.

Located near junction 29A in Derbyshire’s historic coal mining area, Gridserve’s latest forecourt will provide EV drivers travelling up and down the M1 access to up to 30 high-power charging bays.

Taking design cues from Gridserve’s Norwich and Gatwick forecourts, the Markham Vale site will feature an elevated building with all the charging bays underneath it to maximise space. Whilst their EVs are charging, drivers will be able to grab a coffee, enjoy free WiFi and freshen up their EV knowledge at the EV educational space, which aims to increase understanding and awareness around electric vehicles.

The site is expected to open this winter just after the opening of Gridserve’s fourth electric forecourt in Stevenage.

Maserati unveils the GranCabrio Folgore

Maserati unveiled the GranCabrio Folgore at the Made in Thunder show, bringing the world the first luxury electric convertible.

Equipped with a 92.5kWh battery, three 300kW motors (one on the front axel and two in the rear wheels), the GranCabrio Folgore has a claimed range of up to 277 miles whilst outputting up to 750hp with the potential to go up to 1200hp once Maserati upgrades the battery’s power output. Still though, even with the limited horsepower, Maserati’s EV convertible can accelerate from 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and has a top speed of 180mph.

Hop inside the cabin of the GranCabrio Folgore and you will find an interior lined in a material called Econyl, which is made using recycled nylon. The seats also include neck heaters for keeping occupants warm when the top is down in cold weather. And speaking of the top, it’s fabric only, folds up and down in under 14 seconds at the touch of a button and comes in a choice of five colours: Nero; Blue Marine; Titan Grey; Greige and Granata.

At the front of the cabin, the driver and passenger are treated to a gorgeous dual-screen infotainment with a digital version of Maserati’s signature dashboard clock above it. There’s also a dedicated artificial engine noise speaker, which emulates the sound of a Maserati V6 engine both inside and outside of the cabin.

Order books are open now with pricing starting at around £180,000.

Osprey Charging hits 1000 public charge points milestone

Osprey's flagship hub: located at the Tescos in Leicester 

Headed by Ian Johnston, Osprey Charging hit its 1000 installed charge point milestone this month anchoring itself as the third largest rapid charge point network according to Zap-map.

Over the past year, Osprey has been busy building ‘flagship’ charging hubs in key areas including Devon, Cumbria, Essex, Dunbartonshire, Carmarthenshire and Nottinghamshire. All of which have contributed to a growth of over 150%.

Ian Johnston, Osprey Charging CEO, commented: “With over 1,000 public rapid EV chargers now available on the Osprey network, we are providing the essential infrastructure that drivers and industry are calling for to support the electric vehicle revolution. The rate of growth is matched by the highest standards of service offered to our drivers, through a reliable and easy-to-use nationwide network.

“Recent findings from the House of Lords have highlighted the need to speed up the roll-out of charging infrastructure by tackling delays for funding and planning regulations, as well as the equalisation of VAT rates between domestic and public charging. Both recommendations are welcomed by Osprey as they will ultimately help deliver an improved customer experience for EV drivers.”

To find out more about Osprey Charging and their CEO Ian Johnston, be sure to check out our plugged-in interview.

Mercedes upgrades the EQS

Mercedes's all-electric flagshipcar gets an update which includes new hardware as well as a slight design refresh.

Starting with the exterior, fans will notice that the front now comes with a brand new radiator trim which features chrome accents and the return of the famous upright star.

Inside the cabin, want-to-be buyers will be pleased to hear that Mercedes has now standardised the famous MBUX Hyperscreen, which covers almost all of the front dashboard. Buyers will also be able to opt for the rear-comfort pack, which adds a slanted footrest on the rear right side, a backrest that can be adjusted to up to 38 degrees and optional seat heating which includes heating elements for the neck and shoulders.

Hardware-wise, Mercedes has been busy making the incredibly long range of the EQS even longer by swapping the 108.4kWh battery for a 118kWh one which adds an additional 50 miles of range, standardising the heat-pump on all models and improving the level of recuperation on the regenerative brakes.

Also included in the new EQS is software which periodically switches between regenerative brakes and disc brakes so as to avoid degradation due to non-use.

Launch dates have yet to be announced however buyers will be able to enjoy free electricity from IONITY chargers with every purchase.

Mini pulls an Ace out its sleeve

Mini revels the new all-electric Aceman, a small SUV for those looking for a car that sits nicely in size between the new Mini Cooper and Countryman.

In keeping with Mini’s new styling, the new Aceman shares many design queues with its larger sibling, the Countryman including the boxy silhouette, rhombus shaped headlights and customisable LED taillights. It does however borrow the blanked off grille seen on the upcoming Mini Cooper.

Inside the cabin you will find that style mirroring continues with the Aceman sharing the same gorgeous 9 inch circular OLED screen and patterned fabric panelling on the dashboard and door cards. Practicality wise, the Aceman can carry up to five people  and has a reasonable boot capacity of 300 litres which can be expanded to 1005 litres when the rear seats are folded down.

When released this November, buyers will have a choice of two powertrains – the E and SE, which have a 42.5kWh battery with 192 miles of range and a 54.2kWh battery with 252 miles of range respectively. You’ll also get a choice of three trim levels Classic, Exclusive and Sport. Classic offers three paint options, silver highlighting elements, a black high-gloss grille, jet black contrasting roof and two wheel designs on 17 inch rims. Step-up to the exclusive trim and you’ll get an additional three paint options, a silver grille and three more wheel designs on a choice of 18 or 19 inch rims. Go all out with the Sport trim to get a unique steering wheel, JCW badged sports seats and red and black theming throughout the cabin.

Order books are open now with prices starting at £31,800. Unlike the other two electric Minis mentioned above, the Aceman will be exclusively electric.

Connected Kerb introduces off-peak pricing

Drivers looking to charge using Connected Kerb's EV chargers will soon be able to enjoy cheaper charging at 45p per kWh (down from 52p per kWh during peak times) between midnight and 7 am thanks to the introduction of off-peak pricing.

Currently enabled at over 6,000 Connected Kerb charge points with 4,000 more planned this year, off-peak pricing is accessible via the newly re-designed Connected Kerb app which allows users to set schedules as well as monitor their charging session.

With off-peak charging being mostly exclusive to home charger users, Connected Kerb’s new scheme aims to act as a blueprint for “levelling the playing field” between public and home charging whilst saving EV drivers over 1.5 billion a year on charging costs collectively.

Find out more about Connected Kerb using our dedicated guide or read about their CEO Chris Pateman-Jones via his feature in our plugged-in series.

VW announces pricing for the ID.7 Tourer

VW fans looking to get behind the wheel of the brand’s first all-electric estate will now know how much it will cost them, and that is £52,240.

And that’s just for entry-level Tourer Pro Match, which comes with a 77kWh battery with 175kW charging capacity, has a range of 374 miles and is on sale now.

If you want to spec up to the Tourer Pro S which has a bigger 86kWh battery with an upgraded charging capacity of 200kW, you’ll have to wait until summer with pricing yet to be announced.

VW also announced a GTX performance version of the ID.7 Tourer but the only details we have currently is that it will have a 77kWh battery and four-wheel drive.