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Volkswagen ID.3 electric car (Image: Volkswagen.com)

Volkswagen ID.3 2020 review – a thoroughly good car that happens to be electric

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Volkswagen

Finally there’s a mainstream EV that takes advantage of its elements to be a thoroughly well engineered modern everyday vehicle

The ID.3 is an important car for VW. It’s the first model from a ground-up exercise in the creation of not just one battery electric model, but a whole range of different electric cars across the Volkswagen Group on its highly anticipated MEB architecture.

A Golf-sized, high-roof hatchback, the ID.3 will sit right in the middle of its eventual family. Volkswagen is keen to point out some similarities between its new arrival and the original Beetle, not least its rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, but also the notion that it too will mobilise the masses – only this time by electrical means.

Volkswagen ID.3 electric car (Image: Volkswagen.com)
Volkswagen ID.3 electric car (Image: Volkswagen.com)

Engine, transmission and 0-60 time
The ID.3’s powertrain comprises a single 201bhp synchronous electric motor mounted within the rear axle and driving the rear wheels via a single-speed gearbox. Torque is rated at 264lb ft and is available from zero rpm, so it’s not hard to tap into.

The motor draws power from a 58kWh (net) battery pack, although later ID.3 models will add 77kWh and 45kWh options. The batteries themselves are stored in a panel that sits underneath the entirety of the cabin, with the axles pushed right out to each corner of the chassis. Despite its Mk5 GTI-like power figure, the ID.3 is not a fast EV, with 62mph taking 7.3sec.

Claimed ranges are just that, claimed, with the 58kWh battery rated at 263 miles give or take a few miles based on wheel choice. The larger 77kWh option extends this to 331 miles, while the smaller 45kWh battery reduces it to 205 miles. The two larger battery options are also capable of up to 100kW charging where available.

Technical highlights
While the technical components of the ID.3 don’t sound especially different to those of most EVs, it’s the way Volkswagen has packaged the powertrain that makes all the difference. Almost every bit of the chassis is different from VW’s internal-combustion models, designed from the beginning to work exclusively with an electric powertrain and battery pack.

The interior’s impressive packaging is arguably the most advantageous bit for buyers, with a cavernous cabin considering the car’s Golf-like exterior dimensions. Space up front is vast, and the feeling is exaggerated by the compact dash, low scuttle and deep glazing that together totally transform what the ID.3 feels like to sit in. It’s superbly airy, and feels genuinely fresh and interesting.

Read more: evo

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Top 10 Best Family Electric Cars 2021

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment

Electric cars have been a long time in rising to prominence, but they’ve now well and truly arrived. There are more options to choose from than ever before, which helps to bring prices down, and smarter battery technology means you can travel further on a single charge, too.

Add in the fact that electric vehicles (EVs) let you travel in silence and produce zero emissions, are exempt from road tax and the London Congestion Charge, and (largely) qualify for a government grant to help make them more affordable and you get an idea of just how well placed they are to really assert themselves on the car-buying masses in the coming years. As the range between mains charges increases and the charging infrastructure improves, an EV becomes a more viable alternative to petrol- or diesel-fuelled models almost by the month.

Having first appeared around 10 years ago, the market’s first EVs were cars with around 80 miles of usable range and priced at a 50% premium over their petrol-fuelled counterparts. Today, in many cases, real-world range has more than doubled and that price premium has almost disappeared.

This is a list of our top 10 electric cars for families, compiled considering factors such as range, usability, driving dynamics and value for money. Some EVs are still subject to relatively high prices compared with combustion-engined cars, but their premiums can be offset against lower running costs.

1. Kia e-Niro
The Kia e-Niro redefines how much real-world range and family-friendly usability we should now expect from an EV towards the more affordable end of the price spectrum. For around £35,000, the car’s 64kWh battery pack enables it to comfortably travel 230 miles on a single charge; and further still if you stay off the motorway or around town. A few years ago, that would be the sort of range you’d be expecting from something far pricier, and probably with a Tesla badge on its nose.

That genre-challenging relationship between range, usability and affordability isn’t the sole reason why the e-Niro now crowns this list. Indeed if it was, the Hyundai Kona would be right up there, too. Where e-Niro pulls ahead, though, is that it also remains a thoroughly practical, dynamically well-resolved and pleasant-to-drive EV. It’s roomier than almost every other EV at the price, and it rides and handles with a greater level of sophistication and accomplishment than many of its rivals. It may lack some of the accelerative potency of its rivals, but as a well-rounded, truly usable affordable EV, the e-Niro is going to take some beating.

2. Volkswagen ID 3
As Volkswagen looks to move on from the fallout of Dieselgate, the ID 3 is set to take centre stage as the marque’s environmentally friendly wunderkind. This Golf-sized hatchback also gets the new ID sub-brand off the mark and aims to do so with the kind of mass-market sophistication and class-leading usability for which Volkswagen is rightly famed.

Built on an entirely fresh rear-engined platform, the ID 3 benefits from a long wheelbase, boosting cabin space, and is powered by a rear-mounted motor with up to 201bhp and 229lb ft. Two battery sizes are currently available, depending on the specification you opt for. A 58kWh pack lends a WLTP range of 261 miles, while the larger, pricier 77kWh battery ups that to 340 miles.
It excels in terms of manoeuvrability and low-speed response and, although heavy by compact car standards and rolling on wheels as big as 20in in diameter, it would seem to hit the company’s high standards for ride sophistication, too. Handling is surprisingly agile, balanced and nimble.

Although early versions of the car cost close to £40,000, ID 3 prices now start at just under £30,000 for a car with range and performance comparable with electric superminis at that price point, but better packaging and first-rate urban manoeuvrability.

3. Kia Soul EV
Kia’s boxy compact crossover is back for a third generation, but this time around, the Soul will be offered exclusively as an electric vehicle in European markets.

While not particularly sporty, it rides well, performs strongly and doesn’t make too much of a point of its 1682kg kerb weight. And because it makes use of the same powertrain as the slightly bigger e-Niro, it promises a WLTP-certified range of 280 miles when equipped with a 64kWh battery.

UK prices start from £33,795 after the UK government incentive, so the car will be only a few thousand pounds cheaper than the Kia e-Niro, which offers slightly more in the way of practicality. It’s one of the more pricey compact EVs on the market, clearly, but has more alternative styling appeal than the e-Niro and should easily attract people who can afford to pay a premium and don’t need quite as much space as an e-Niro affords.

Read more: AUTOCAR

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Zappi 2018 EV Charge Point (Image: myEnergi)

How to charge your electric car at home

Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment

Wallbox charger or smart charger? And how do you install your charger once you’ve chosen it? We answer all your questions about charging your EV at home

Around 80 percent of all electric car charging takes place at home, which means it’s important to make sure you’ve got the right technology to make plugging in as painless, quick and cost effective as possible. To make the whole process as straightforward as possible we’ve pulled together this guide that will answer all your questions on the different methods of charging.

Are all electric car chargers the same?

There are effectively two options when it comes to home charging – you can either use the slow charger provided with the vehicle or have a wallbox installed. The former uses a standard 3-pin plug to take power from your domestic supply, plus is simple to use and extremely portable. However, with battery sizes increasing all the time these units can take over 24 hours to deliver a full charge and as a result manufacturers recommend they are only for ‘emergency use’. A better bet, especially if you’re committed to everyday EV use, is a wallbox charger. Installed on the side of your house or in a garage, it is capable of delivering faster charging times safely and reliable. It’s also easier to use and doesn’t require numerous cables running from the house.

What is a wallbox charger?
Essentially it’s a standalone charger that’s wired directly into your domestic electricity supply. As the name suggests, it’s mounted to the external wall of your property and allows you to quickly and easily plug your car in to charge. Better still, you can buy fast charging units that will slash the time it takes to replenish the battery, while there are also ‘smart’ units that you can programme remotely to only charge at certain times (such as when your electricity tariff is cheapest) and that can condition the battery to increase its lifespan.

Zappi 2018 EV Charge Point (Image: myEnergi)
Zappi 2018 EV Charge Point (Image: myEnergi)

Most wallbox units are fast chargers, delivering electricity at 7kW, although there are simpler and cheaper 3kW slow chargers available.
You’ll require a driveway, garage or some other form of off-street parking close to your house if you want a wallbox, as you can’t stretch the charging lead over a public footpath or road, plus it will need to be installed by a professional electrician.

How much does it cost to install an electric car home charger?
This depends on your desired charging speed and the ‘smart’ features you want from your charger. Basic 3kW slow chargers start at around £100 or so, while you’ll need around £300 for a faster 7kW unit. ‘Smart’ units that feature wireless control via a smartphone app are anything between £450 and £1,000. On the whole the cost of fitting is included in the price, but there may be an extra charge if significant changes need to be made to your household wiring. Better still, some manufacturers are currently offering a free wallbox and fitting when you purchase one of its EVs, so it’s worth looking at what offers are out there.

What is the wallbox grant?
To encourage drivers to switch to EV, the Government is offering financial incentives through its OLEV (Office of Low Emissions Vehicles) department. If you buy a new EV, then you’ll currently qualify for a grant that pays for 75 percent of the price and installation cost of a wallbox, up to a maximum of £350. Currently you can apply for a grant for each EV you own, although this is limited to just two vehicles.

How to get an electric car charging point installed at home

The most straightforward way is to arrange the installation through the company selling the wallbox. The price of fitting is often included in the purchase price with the wallbox provider having its own approved installers. If you buy the unit on its own then you can choose your own technician, but they will need to have accreditation from the manufacturer of your chosen device.

It’s worth being aware that the fitter will probably need to check your preferred location for fitting and your home’s electrical circuitry before going ahead. And if you want the wallbox fitted a long way from your fuse box or your wiring needs upgrading, then be prepared to pay a bit more for installation.

Read more: AUTOCAR

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IONITY rapid charge points at Leeds Skelton Lake Services (Image: IONITY)

AMAZON-OWNED ZOOX UNVEILS SELF-DRIVING ‘ROBOTAXI’ WITH 16-HOUR RUNTIME BETWEEN CHARGES

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment

‘Bi-directional’ car can seat four and has 75mph top speed

ZOOX, the autonomous taxi company owned by online marketplace Amazon, has unveiled its self-driving vehicle.

The “Robotaxi” is 3.63 metres in length, making it only slightly longer than a Fiat 500 city car, but is designed to seat four adults in comfort. With no steering wheel or controls, passengers sit facing each other in the pod.

This completely symmetrical design makes the vehicle “bidirectional”, meaning that the car can move in either direction without the need for a reverse gear — making it the perfect vehicle for urban environments, according to Zoox.

Other features that add to the robotaxi’s urban credentials include four-wheel steering, as well as a network of cameras and sensors that offer a 270º view of the car, eliminating blind spots and making it easier to track cyclists and pedestrians travelling beside it.

IONITY rapid charge points at Leeds Skelton Lake Services (Image: IONITY)
IONITY rapid charge points at Leeds Skelton Lake Services (Image: IONITY)

It is fully electric with a 133kWh battery, one of the largest-capacity units available in any electric car — for comparison, a standard Nissan Leaf uses a 40kWh battery and the largest Tesla batteries are thought to be around 100kWh. According to Zoox, the Robotaxi’s large battery pack will enable it to operate continuously for 16 hours without having to stop and recharge.

A 75mph top speed indicates that Zoox intends for its Robotaxi to be able to travel on motorways and other high-speed roads, as well as around town.

Zoox has heavily emphasised the safety credentials of its electric vehicle, claiming it has “more than 100 safety innovations not found in conventional cars”. Its press release did not expand further on this claim except to say that one of the hundred safety innovations includes an airbag system that is designed exclusively for bi-directional vehicles, and that the four-seat carriage layout envelops passengers, making it equal to “five-star crash safety protections for all four seats”.

The Robotaxi, which will be manufactured in the USA, where Amazon is based, has reportedly passed key parts of the American Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards test.

It was reported in June this year that Amazon would buy Zoox in a deal worth more than $1bn (£750m). The company, which was founded in 2014, still operates as a standalone subsidiary and is testing its vehicles in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Foster City, California. It has not been revealed when the company’s Robotaxis are intended for wider release.

Aicha Evans, CEO of Zoox, commented: “Revealing our functioning and driving vehicle is an exciting milestone in our company’s history and marks an important step on our journey towards deploying an autonomous ride-hailing service. We are transforming the rider experience to provide superior mobility-as-a-service for cities.

Read more: Driving

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Ford Mustang Mach-E (Image: Ford.co.uk)

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Is Not a Real Mustang

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment

The electric Mach-E is competent, cool, and composed, an excellent car to drive. But it’s not a Mustang, and Ford’s decision to portray it as such is a head-scratcher.

Despite an epic media blitz, a gallimaufry of tacked-on design elements, and a 0-60 time that trounces some of its two-door equine cohorts, the all-new, battery-powered Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV is not a real Mustang. Before you accuse me of being a pedant or a purist, know that I love brand experimentation, even when it overreaches. I’m a devotee of front-engined Porsches, of convertible trucks, of stick-shift EVs, of Honda pickups. I don’t even really like pony cars—they’re generally noisy, flashy, and cheap, and thus remind me too much of myself. So I don’t have a horse in this race.

But a Mustang is supposed to be exuberant, unbridled. (It is, after all, a wild horse.) It’s supposed to make driving an occasion of joy. And while the Mach-E Premium AWD that I tested is a very competent and well-constructed electric crossover with some features that offer minor delight, the experience of driving it around the streets and parkways, interstates and beachfront back roads of New York City and Long Island was about as exhilarating as shopping for chest freezers.

Mustangs are meant to draw attention. Despite its Rapid red metallic paint, glistering 19-inch wheels, and galloping pony emblem up front, my passenger noted, a little sadly, “No one is even looking at us.”

Ford Mustang Mach-E (Image: Ford.co.uk)
Ford Mustang Mach-E (Image: Ford.co.uk)

The Mach-E is a smooth operator, especially in its tamest “Whisper” mode. This is true for its acceleration and ride, which feels expeditious and well-damped, as well as its slippery-yet-muscular shape. The smooth profile is aided by trick doors that open with the touch of a button on the B- or C-pillar, obviating the need for bulky door handles. (There is a little plastic finger-hook on each door, which almost feels designed to snap off.) The vegan interior—no leather or animal-derived products here—is high quality, with the same sort of nubbly, near-luxury, Pendleton-esque finishes first seen in the BMW i3. It is handsome for a crossover, a form factor that’s about as easy to make alluring as a burlap sack of yams. Its mesomorphic sculpturality is aided by its clever roof, which simulates a coupe-like fastback silhouette while hiding additional rear-seat headroom under a second-level roofline that’s painted black for visual camouflage.

This winking chicanery extends to the interior. Select the highest-performance drive mode—named “Unbridled,” we kid you not—and electric drivetrain whinge is piped in over the excellent B&O sound system. Since humans tend to associate speed with sound, and are terrified of silence (and wind howl and tire slap), I’m not opposed to some Eno ambiance in the cabin. But does every electric car have to sound like a spaceship gargling a milkshake? The other two drive modes, Whisper and Engage, offer enhanced quietude and improved balance, respectively, toning down the intergalactic hamburgling while also reducing the regenerative braking. This diminishes the capacity for one-pedal driving, one of the proclaimed joys of driving an EV, at least among those who find slowing down joyous.

Not that adding range is so much of an issue. Ford claims that the AWD Premium Mach-E will go 270 miles on a charge; the RWD version is said to hit 300. In our days of galavanting around NYC and the North Shore of Long Island, I never worried about juicing up. Clear and accurate range graphics, access to a broad national charging network, and a handy “Charge” button on the nav system to find the closest electron juice stations alleviated any concerns about being stranded.

I was, however, a bit enervated by the black-fronted plastic box that sits atop the steering column, looking like a pill-minder attempting to sneak into a nightclub. None of the operator’s manuals explained its purpose, and I couldn’t find anything online to explain it, so I had to text a Ford public relations representative. “It’s the Active Drive Assist camera for eye gaze monitoring when driving hands free,” he wrote back, as read aloud to me wirelessly via Apple CarPlay and my wirelessly-charging iPhone. “Monitors head position too, to make sure you’re paying attention to the road.”

Read more: Road and Track

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2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)

The Internal Combustion Engine Apocalypse Is On The European Horizon

e-208, Electric Cars, ID.3, Model 3, Model Y, News, Reviews and Comment, Peugeot, Renault, Tesla, Volkswagen, ZOE

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to clients on Friday that global EV sales will grow 50% or more next year, while sales of internal combustion engine vehicles are expected to grow 2% to 5%. He also predicted that global EV penetration will rise from 4% to 31% by 2030.

Those predictions may or may not come true, but one thing is certain and that is 2021 is shaping up to be a critical year for EV adoption. Mercedes-Benz just announced its Tuscaloosa plant will build large, electric SUVs starting from 2022 as part of what it calls its electric-vehicle “fireworks display”. Aiming to take the lead in premium EVs from Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Mercedes-Benz announced plans to deliver eight new all-electric models starting from early 2022.

But near-term, Europe remains the most fertile EV ground. Stricter emission regulations and government subsidies that make these vehicles much more affordable are speeding up the de-adoption of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Here are six electric vehicles that could bring on the “ICEpocalypse” to European roads.

Volkswagen’s ID.3 And ID.4

Volkswagen’s (Pink: VWAGY) ID3 was the top-selling EV in Europe only one month after being launched. But Europe has been shifting toward larger vehicles, so the ID.4 should grow in popularity quickly and, with its highly competitive price considering the range and specs, it should give the ID.3 a run for its money.

Renault ZOE

ZOE (Pink: RNLSY) has been the top-selling electric vehicle on the continent in most of the last decade. As it continues to improve and range increases, the ZOE should replace the Clio, which sold 230,000 units in Europe during the first 10 months of the year. Although the ZOE, which was the top-selling EV in Europe until the ID3 came along and took its throne in October, was at 73,403 units, it’s only a matter of time before it reaches 100,000 in European sales per year. But it needs to fend off the competition and grow a backbone.

2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
The improved Renault Zoe has a longer range and posher interior (Image: Renault)

Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y

Tesla’s Model 3 is the top selling EV in the world. In Europe, it is second on the top-selling list. It’s not exactly on track to beat 100,000 sales in 2020, but Tesla is determined to win over Europe considering its ambitious developments at its upcoming Berlin factory. However, it has been ordered again to suspend its preparations due to a successful court injunction by environmentalists. This time round, Tesla was stopped by snakes and lizards. But its Model Y will arrive to Europe eventually and it is probably going to sell considerably better than the Model 3, due to its features and an overall preference for its class of vehicle.

Peugeot e-208

Peugeot’s (Pink: PUGOY) 208 was the 7th best-selling vehicles in the first 10 months of the year. So, while the e-208 had only about 25,000 sales in that time period, it could gradually rise up the rankings as tech improves, range increases, and cost drops in the coming year. It is considered by many as one of the best European EV offerings on the market, a testament to Peugeot’s upswing.

Read more: yahoo!finance

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2020: When electric vehicle excitement kicked into high gear

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Tesla

Washington, DC (CNN)Tesla’s fortunes have made quite a journey since April 2018, when CEO Elon Musk posted a photo on Twitter of himself apparently asleep, lying on a Model 3, holding a ragged cardboard sign that read “Bankwupt!”

“There are many chapters of bankruptcy and, as critics so rightly pointed out, Tesla has them *all*” Musk tweeted, in an apparent April Fools Joke.

But at the time, Tesla’s finances were nothing to laugh about. Tesla came within about a month of bankruptcy when bringing the Model 3 to mass production, Musk said last month.

Tesla persevered through the dark stretch and begin reporting a string of profitable quarters in 2019, even ending the year with a slight profit. Tesla’s 2020 on its own has been a roller coaster. Its stock began to surge in early 2020, before plummeting to its low for the year on March 18, as the pandemic hit and the world’s economy unraveled.

On the same day that Tesla’s stock bottomed in March, Nio, a Chinese electric vehicle company, warned for the second time in three months that it was running out of cash to operate in the future. It had just lost $1.6 billion in 2019.

Tesla Model S

But those low moments appear to be forgotten as the stock prices of Tesla and Nio have sky-rocketed. Tesla became the world’s most valuable automaker this summer, and is now worth more than Toyota, VW, Daimler, Ford, GM and Honda combined. Tesla’s stock has surged more than 600% this year even as it sold about 1% of the vehicles those automakers sold in 2019.

And Nio’s stock rallied this summer, too. It’s grown roughly 1200% this year, and it is now worth nearly as much as General Motors.

Electric vehicle experts say that excitement and energy around the industry hit a new peak in 2020. The stock prices and fundraising fortunes of electric vehicle companies worldwide have thrived in stark contrast to businesses that have generally stumbled through 2020’s pandemic.

“People are betting that this is a new soda pop market, and Tesla represents Coca-Cola, the dominant name brand,” said Reilly Brennan, a venture capitalist at Trucks VC, which invests in transportation startups.

Some view the electric vehicle excitement as overzealous and resembling a mania, as unproven and unprofitable companies have enjoyed soaring stock prices and raised huge sums of cash.
Electric vehicle companies have raised more than $10 billion this year in fundraising rounds, initial public offerings, and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), which offer companies an alternative way to go public by merging with an existing company, and which some investors say is an easy way for flawed companies to go public and avoid the scrutiny of a traditional initial public offering.

Read more: CNN BUSINESS

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Tax most polluting cars to speed up transition to electric vehicles, experts say

Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Sales

Covid has caused a slump in new car sales that could slow the switch to electric vehicles, pushing up emissions

The Government should slap a 50 per cent tax on the most polluting cars from next year to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles over the next decade, experts have said.

New analysis from the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) suggests the dramatic slump in car sales during the pandemic could have worrying consequences for transport emissions over the next decade and beyond unless the government takes radical action.

Sales of new cars this September were the worst in a century, as the financial impact of Covid-19 began to take its toll. UKERC analysis suggests the slowdown in the car market could last until 2025, keeping older, more polluting cars on the road for longer.

Meanwhile people who put off buying a new car in 2020 or 2021 may buy a similar model later in the decade, delaying the date they make a switch to electric, UKERC added. Manufacturers may also try and offload stock of petrol and diesel models ahead of the 2030 ban on their sale.

Higher emissions
Such a scenario could lead to an extra seven million tonnes of tailpipe CO2 emissions between 2021 and 2030, UKERC’s director Professor Rob Gross told i.
“You might think that people not buying cars is a good thing for the environment. But it’s not a good thing if they delay buying a relatively inefficient car, and that car is still being used for longer,” he said.
Those cumulative emissions matter, he said: “Every gram of CO2 that enters the atmosphere stays there, potentially for hundreds of years.”

Tax polluting cars
UKERC says more must be done to make polluting cars less attractive to buyers. It proposes imposing a 50 per cent levy on the purchase price of the most polluting vehicles. The tax would start in 2021 with the highest emitting cars, such as performance SUVs and sports cars. It would gradually tighten over the decade until only zero emission cars were exempt.

New cars with high tailpipe emissions already pay a higher rate of tax under the Vehicle Excise Duty, but only for the first year. After that, petrol and diesel motors face a flat charge regardless of their emissions.

“As the car market recovers we think the government needs to strongly steer it towards cleaner vehicles, not just by providing subsidies for electric vehicles but also strongly steering people away from relatively inefficient models,” Professor Gross said.

Relatively cheaper
UKERC’s proposals are similar to Norway’s system, where all non-electric cars are subject to a tax on their purchase price based on their tailpipe emissions.

The system makes most EV models cheaper to buy compared to a similar petrol model, even if the import price for the EVs is much higher.

Read more: inews

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Renault ZOE Van (Image: Renault)

Renault Zoe Is Europe’s Best-Selling EV With More Than 84,000 Units Delivered Year-to-Date

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Sales, ZOE

The Renault Zoe has managed to beat every other electric model in the market so far and is the best-selling EV in Europe year-to-date.

According to the numbers posted by the French automaker, the zero-emission supermini accounted for over 84,000 units from January to November 2020, almost twice as many compared to the same period of last year.

The Zoe was also the best-selling electric passenger vehicle in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Ever since production started back in 2012, Renault has managed to shift more than 268,000 units of the model in Europe.

Renault ZOE Van (Image: Renault)
Renault ZOE Van (Image: Renault)

Almost one third of the electric vans sold in the Old Continent year-to-date was a Kangoo Z.E., so Renault also holds the crown for the best-selling electric light commercial vehicle (LCV), with 8,498 units. 57,595 units have been sold since the Kangoo Z.E. was launched in Europe 10 years ago.

In addition to the Zoe and Kangoo Z.E., Renault’s zero-emission portfolio also includes the tiny Twizy and the Master Z.E. van with a payload of up to 3.5 tons (7,716 lbs).

In other Renault related news, the automaker wants to reinvent the compact hatchback with the introduction of a new vehicle next year, which was previewed by the Megane eVision Concept and will rival the likes of the Volkswagen ID.3.

Based on the CMF-EV platform, shared with the Nissan Ariya, the concept uses an electric motor that generates 217 HP and 221 lb-ft (300 Nm) of torque. It’s powered by a 60 kWh battery that supports fast charging of up to 130 kW and can hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in less than 8 seconds from a standstill.

Read more: CARSCOOPS

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Volvo Polestar 2 (Image: Volvocars.com)

Top 5 EV Trends Of 2020: The Year Electric Cars Came Of Age

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Tesla, Volkswagen

Although 2020 will be primarily remembered for the pandemic, it has also been a watershed moment for electric vehicles. The rest of the car industry has seen massive drops in sales every month during the worst months of COVID-19, but the EV market has continued to grow. In the UK, by November, 162% more battery electric vehicles had been sold over the year compared to 2019. This was echoed across Europe, with EVs (including hybrids) outselling diesels in September and every month since. Here are the important events that have helped to make 2020 the year EVs came of age.

VW Takes The EV Market Seriously
After Dieselgate, Volkswagen has clearly felt the need to make amends, and is now the German carmaker with the most mainstream EV plans. The ID.4 SUV sold out overnight on launch in the USA, and in Europe the ID.3 compact was already the bestselling EV in October, just a few months after launch, surpassing the ever-popular Renault Zoe and leaving Tesla’s Model 3 in its dust. Considering VW’s heritage of taking cars to the masses – “people’s car” is what the word Volkswagen means, after all – the fact that the Teutonic giant is now going for the mainstream electric market really means something. VW is aiming to sell 28 million electric cars by 2028. Putting that in perspective, that would be three quarters of all cars currently on UK roads, and around 10% of current US motor vehicle registrations. It’s highly ambitious, but the ID.3 is great start despite software glitches in early vehicles. Volkswagen clearly sees how big EVs are going to be, very soon.

Tesla Promises $25,000 Car
Tesla hasn’t actually released a $25,000 car in 2020, but the company’s Battery Day 2020 showed in great detail how it was about to enter the battery business in a big way, potentially more than halving costs by 2023/24. Batteries are the most expensive component of an EV, costing as much as a third of the entire sticker price. Halving the costs of these would mean electric cars hit cost parity with fossil fuel ones, and then start becoming cheaper. This led Musk to promise a “fully autonomous $25,000 small Tesla” around 2023/24, which would mean from then on that fossil fuel cars would become the more expensive option. But VW is already discounting the ID.3 to this kind of level in some countries, MG has an SUV and a station wagon around the equivalent of this price, and in France the Renault Zoe can be had for as little as 20,000 Euros ($24,000) with all the discounts available. So the $25,000 Tesla by 2023/24 is no pipe dream. It may even be cheaper than that, and there will certainly be even less expensive options by then too.

Volvo Polestar 2 (Image: Volvocars.com)
Volvo Polestar 2 (Image: Volvocars.com)

Polestar 2 Challenges Tesla Model 3
Tesla has a huge technological lead over its competitors, and a teardown of one of the company’s cars in February by Nikkei Business Publications put it six years ahead. It’s no surprise, therefore, that most other companies entering the EV market have chosen to target sectors Tesla isn’t currently in. Even the luxury electric SUVs from Mercedes, Jaguar and Audi aren’t directly competing with the Model X, and VW has clearly aimed its ID.3 at a European mass market that Tesla won’t be entering until it releases the much-vaunted $25,000 “Model 2” mentioned above. But one company has had the courage to go head-to-head with Tesla: Polestar. The Polestar 2 is priced and specified to go directly against the Tesla Model 3 Long Range. In fact, in the UK, it’s £90 ($120) cheaper. It doesn’t have the latest 2021 Model 3 Long Range’s massive 360 miles of WLTP range, and it’s not quite so fast either. But its 292-mile WLTP range and some great design features show that there will be some serious competition for the American giant, and likely sooner than in six years. Most telling of all is the fact that Polestar is part of Geely – a Chinese company that also owns Volvo, the LEVC taxi company, Malaysian carmaker Proton, and Lotus. So the Polestar 2 is just the beginning of the EVs we will see coming out of China very soon.

Read more: Forbes

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