EV news Round-up: August 2024

By Kyle Roache

Last updated: Nov 8th 2024

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The Dacia Spring rolls onto UK roads with a warm reception from reviewers and MG refreshes the HS SUV PHEV

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Ford brings the Capri (sun) back from the grave

Ford's electric revival of its legacy model names continues as it sets its sights on the iconic Capri.

Design-wise, the new Capri deviates from its fastback coupe grandfather by being a mid-sized SUV and upping its door count from two to four.

Whilst this might disappoint fans of the original design, the new design of the Capri does mean that you get more passenger room with five seats instead of four and a reasonable boot size of up to 572 litres with the rear seats up which extends to 1510 litres when you fold them down.

What's not changed from the original however is the focus on performance, as the fastest version of the new Capri can zoom from 0-62mph in under six seconds putting it on par with the single-motor Polestar 2 (which some critics have compared this car's resemblance to).

And speaking of versions, the Capri comes in two trim levels (capri and Capri premium) and two powertrain options: an extended range rear wheel drive version which houses an 82kWh battery with a range figure of up to 390 miles and an extended range all-wheel drive version which has a slightly bigger 84kWh battery with a range figure of up to 368 miles.

All versions will come with the ability to charge at a rate of 11kW when using a home or destination charger and a max DC charging rate of up to 185kW, which will power the car from 10-80% in less than half an hour.

Pricing has yet to be announced.

Fully Charged launches crowdfunding campaign 

Want to own a piece of the Fully Charged Show (including Everything Electric and Stop Burning Stuff)? Now you can, with their latest CrowdCube campaign. 

In a mission to tackle misinformation once and for all, Fully Charged intend to use the funding to build educational content and experiences that will bring more clarity to renewable energy technologies and promote sustainable practices. 

If you’re interested in investing in the Fully Charged Show, you can do so here. 

Scotland unveils the country's most powerful charging hub

SSE opens Scotland's most powerful charging hub near the Myrekirk Roundabout in Dundee.

Featuring eight 360kW ultra-rapid chargers and 16 150kW rapid chargers, the hub can top up the batteries of up to 24 vehicles and is the first publicly accessible hub in Scotland to feature charging units this powerful.

To enhance green credentials further, the hub's roofs will be populated with Sedum plants, which enhance biodiversity and improve air quality.

The opening of this mega hub follows swiftly after SSE opened a smaller charging hub less than three miles away in Kingsway West which features eight 150kW rapid chargers.

Neil Kirkby, managing director of SSE says: "SSE is playing a key role in decarbonising the UK and Ireland's transport system, with a commitment to roll-out 300 ultra-rapid charging hubs over the next 5 years. The opening of Scotland's most powerful charging hub at Myrekirk represents a key milestone on that journey, supporting progress on the commitment made by the City of Dundee to installing fast and reliable ultra rapid EV charging infrastructure for drivers and fleet owners."

The Dacia Spring lands in the UK

The first batch of Dacia Springs has landed in the hands of car reviewers and so far, all seems positive with an average score of around three to four stars out of five.

Starting at just under £15,000 for the base model, the Dacia Spring is the cheapest electric car in the UK, undercutting the Citreon e-C3 by around £6k and the upcoming Hyundai Inster by £7k.

While the low price tag might make you think that there's been a lot of corner-cutting when making the Dacia Spring, the top spec model has been well received by car reviewers with Autocar giving it a four out of five stars and concluding their review with "To heck with the one-star Euro NCAP rating, which Dacia says it's happy to live with until 2027, and so what if it can't go 200 miles on a tank of juice? The Spring is a budget car with a compelling 'matchy-matchy' finance scheme."

WhatCar reviewed the Spring in a similar manner, giving the EV a three out of five stars and stating that "If you live in a city and you want a brand-new electric car that is capable of getting you from door to door in relative comfort, the Spring is well worth considering."

Renault rakes in the awards

Renault grabs not one, not two but three awards this year, thanks to the Scenic E-Tech and Clio E-Tech Hybrid models. 

The awards were handed out by Diesel&EcoCar with judges being wowed particularly by the Renault Scenic E-Tech's usability, connectivity, use of sustainable materials and its spacious contemporary interior. So much so that the judges gave the car 1st place in the top 50 electrified cars of the year as well as the best medium SUV. Ian Robertson, Editor and Publisher of Diesel&EcoCar, said “Renault has reinvented its Scenic for 2024 and what a transformation it is. Instead of an MPV, the Scenic is now a stylish family five-seater that’s gently morphed into an SUV with very contemporary looks. Not only that, but it is also all change under the skin with a wholesome move to a pure electric E-Tech powertrain that offers an impressive range of up to 379 miles. 

“The modern features don’t end when you hop inside, because the Scenic boasts one of the best interiors we’ve ever seen in a Renault model. The use of sustainable fabric materials around the cabin adds to the plush ambience and there’s oodles of space. We also found the Android-based operating system responsive and easy to use, with lots of familiar smartphone-style apps that make it a joy to operate.” 

The Renault Clio E-Tech Hybrid was also well received by the judges, claiming the best hybrid small car award thanks to its “handsome French looks” and a hybrid powertrain that puts the “hardware in some larger cars to shame”. 

MG unveils HS SUV

MG unveils the facelifted HS SUV PHEV at the Goodwood festival of speed.

Whilst the old HS SUV didn't look too bad, MG have been working hard behind the scenes to give the new version a sleeker look.

From the front, the first thing you might notice is that the new HS SUV features slimmer headlights which gives the car a more aggressive look.

The grille has also been moved further down towards the bumper with the MG logo now being situated on the bonnet.

Spec-wise, the MG HS SUV features a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 154kW electric motor powered by a 24.7kWh battery, which can power the car in all-electric mode for up to 75 miles.

Prices for the HS SUV PHEV start at around £31,495 and are due to roll onto UK roads in September.

Citroen reveals the best beaches for EV drivers in the UK

Despite this summer being rather wet so far, Citreon is staying optimistic and has counted down the top ten best beaches for EV drivers in the UK.

The list was compiled based on how close the highest-rated beaches on Trip Advisor were to the ten most populated cities across the country.

Points were awarded to beaches that were within the 260-mile range figure of the Citreon e-C4.

So who was the winner? That would be Brighton Beach, due to it being reachable within all ten of the most populated cities and having an impressive count of 99 rapid charge points that are reachable within five miles of the beach.

There are even 61 accessible destination chargers located near the beach itself.

Coming in second was Bournemouth Beach which can be reached by nine of the ten most populous cities in the UK, has access to 62 rapid chargers within a five-mile radius and 98 fast chargers within the same radius.
In third place was Sandbank Beach which is within 260 miles of nine of the most populous cities and has access to 88 fast chargers and 41 rapid chargers within a five mile radius of the beach.