Author: Robin Roberts

Volkswagen’s ID.3 is their first purpose-built electric car and it’s good. About the same size as a Golf, the new modular electric drive matrix powertrain and floorpan gives it the interior space of the larger Passat. The flexibility of the floorpan is mirrored by the range of batteries and motors that can be chosen to power it in a handful of specifications, Pure 45kWh, Pro 58kWh and Pro S 77kWh. There at Life, Style, Family, Tech, Max and single Tour trims, and others will follow as VW wants to boost take-up. Some models come in below the UK Government’s PiVG…

Small Italian cars are always exciting, but sixty years after Carlo Abarth created his iconic pocket rocket the latest 595 Competizione version from Fiat lifts that to a new level. When he started tinkering with the diminutive baby Fiat a pint of beer in Britain cost the equivalent of 8½p, petrol was 5p a litre and the Beatles launched themselves at The Cavern Club, Liverpool. The rest, as we say, is history and while prices have changed some popular things endure, including the Abarth brand owned by Fiat. As the sporting brand of Fiat, the Abarth name and its famous…

Executive cars behind their familiar badges and dark windows can be anonymous but that is never the case with the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Launched in 2016 as the latest four-door saloon from the AR stable it has won numerous European styling and performance awards and it led to the development of the Stelvio SUV as well. The Giulia range in the UK is fairly small but significant with rear wheel drive and four-wheel-drive models for everyday and enthusiastic owners. Our mid-range Giulia benefitted from the recent upgrade to an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, full wi-fi function with remote phone charging…

The gradual return to city living and commuting will give a boost to the new generation of environmentally friendly small cars, and few makers have as much experience as Fiat. The Italian brand built its reputation on baby cars, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, and it’s looking towards the future with the latest electric versions of its best selling 500 series, itself a successor to the famous Topolino baby car. Fiat 500 models have been evolving for over three decades and today’s electric models resemble the familiar rounded body-style but underneath it has a pure-electric powertrain.…

Form flows into function with the Audi Q4 e-tron as the German executive brand shapes up its first compact SUV in the pure battery battle. The Q4 e-tron is available with a choice of power units, 125, 150 or 220kW outputs from two battery capacities, rear or all-wheel-drive and four trim levels. Depending on the battery pack chosen and charging facilities the Q4 e-tron can be boosted from low to 80 miles range in ten minutes and in under 40 minutes up to 80% energy is packed in for approximately 245 miles range. Its body-shape follows the desire to use…

Asians reputably love gambling, which goes some way to explain why the Kia Niro is available with three power options including an all-battery version. But it’s not so much of a gamble to introduce and sell the e-Niro BEV because it’s one of the best of its kind. A new generation of electric cars is coming on line to take over from the petrol-powered models as Governments around the world state their aim to end the reliance on fossil-fuels and take us down the electric road. But that is still a little way over the horizon to it makes sense…

Two decades after the first model went on UK sale it still provides unrivalled practicality and versatility. It’s the Tardis of transport thanks to its really clever Magic Seats which take three passengers in the rear but can also completely flip flat to turn it into a van-like carrier, or their bases can be folded up to take tall items lodged in the footwells. No other rival can do that. The latest Mk4 version comes in five models, three trim levels and standard or slightly taller Crosstar body from around £19,000 to £24,600. Wisely, Honda has chosen to build on…

The head-turning Cupra Formentor e-Hybrid is a genuinely new model in the booming family SUV sector where its stablemate SEAT brand has done so well. Formentor’s the first model designed and developed for the brand and this spring picked up the highly valued five-star safety award from Europe’s toughest crash testers. This new brand formerly launched with the Formentor last December as the prestigious performance range from SEAT and its’ gone from strength to strength. The latest e-Hybrids arrived in the Spring to join the initial five-engined, highly specified five trim levels sharing a common large five-door body. The Plug-in…

Individuals are getting larger and so are our cars, so it was the right time for the Toyota Highlander to be introduced to the UK market. Highlander is the company’s largest SUV and has been brought to European showrooms for the first time after 20-years on sale in Japan and America, brimming with fourth generation self-charging hybrid system to maximise emission-free driving without restricting its ability to go off-road or tow up to two tonnes. Our test car only had a pearlescent paint option at £925 but the slightly more expensive Highlander Excel Premium costs about £2,000 more. The Excel…

A successor introduced in 2019 to the smaller Lexus GS series, it has the advanced petrol & electric powertrain developed by parent Toyota over some 25 years. Lexus has been setting the standard as its engineering enters its third decade and passed two-million global ev sales in May while some car makers are only now coming to terms with hybrid power. A strong four-cylinder petrol engine and 120bhp electric motor optimise economy, lower emissions in urban situations as well as give a dramatic punch to performance when required by a driver. Displays on the comprehensive instruments show what is working…