Nicole Melillo Shaw has been at the helm since 2023 and has already seen many changes in the Swedish firm.
Hybrid engines play a ‘powerful’ role in helping drivers transition to electric power, according to Volvo’s UK boss.
Nicole Melillo Shaw, managing director of the Swedish brand’s UK arm, has stated that though the firm won’t produce solely petrol-powered vehicles anymore, hybrid power will continue to play a key role.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Shaw said that Volvo didn’t ‘have a plan to involve any more petrol, but hybrid and electrification is really critical to our emissions.
Nicole Melillo Shaw, Commercial Operations Director, Volvo Car UK
‘We’ve recognised that we’re in a really strong position because we’ve also got the hybrid if you’re not quite sure [about going electric]’.
Shaw added that the decision to bring its V90 and V60 models back on sale – following its initial decision to axe its estate models in August 2023 – came through feedback from customers who were ‘quite frustrated’ that there were no alternatives to an SUV.
‘We listen to that feedback and we’re bringing it back based on true customer demand. It’s a really great fleet car.’
However, Shaw stopped short of announcing a return of diesel power to Volvo’s range, adding that the brand would ‘definitely not’ bring the fuel back as it would be ‘literally be at odds with our ambition’.
Volvo recently introduced its new electric EX90 seven-seater SUV in the UK, while simultaneously refreshing its existing hybrid-only XC90 with an updated exterior design and more in-car technology.
The Rocket 3 Storm has a car-like engine underneath, but what else does it offer? Jack Evans finds out.
What is it?
There are three colourways to choose from
There are plenty of motorcycles that aim to deliver high levels of performance. From stripped-back street bikes to nimble cafe racers, there’s a model out there that’ll appeal to all different types of riders. This bike – the Triumph Rocket 3 Storm – appears to have been designed for riders who like to have the largest possible engine underneath them, all wrapped up in a classic cruiser-esque design.
But is the Rocket simply an ultra-large engine and little else or is there something more going on underneath the skin? We’ve been out on it to find out.
What’s new?
The Rocket 3 Storm is available in both R and GT specifications
The Rocket was updated for 2024 and is now available in two flavours – Storm GT and Storm R. As you might expect, the former brings a more relaxed, upswept riding position while the latter creates a more engaging, focused place to ride. The biggest difference between the two, however, is the footpeg placement; the R gets a sportier mid-mounted setup, while the GT favours feet-forward controls which more closely tie in to that cruiser feel.
There’s plenty of electronic wizardry going on, too. The Rocket 3 utilises lean-sensitive ABS and a special Torque Assist system which helps to make gearchanges as smooth as can be. There’s even cruise control to transform those long-distance journeys on the Rocket into something a little easier than you might expect.
What’s it powered by?
The engine is monstrous in its outputs
Anything called ‘Rocket’ needs an engine to match the same and that’s certainly the case on this Triumph. The enormous 2.5-litre engine powering the Rocket has the most amount of torque you’ll find on any production motorcycle – 225Nm, to be exact – while total power stands at a not-insignificant 180bhp, a 15bhp bump over the previous model. It’s more power than you’ll find on many medium-sized cars.
Up front on the Rocket you’ve got a 47mm Showa forked, while in the middle sits a monoshock from the same brand. Helping to bring the Rocket to a stop are beefy Brembo Stylema brake calipers with twin 320mm discs, while at the rear there’s a Brembo four-piston caliper with a powerful 300mm disc.
What’s it like to ride?
All bikes get lean-sensitive ABS
Riding the Rocket 3 takes a short period of recalibration. It’s a large and reasonably heavy bike so moving it about at slow speeds isn’t that easy – in fact, a reverse gear that you’ll find on many cruiser bikes could be quite helpful. However, its low seat height and welcoming bar angles mean that it’s easy to get aboard and comfortable once you’re there.
Of course, that engine dominates the character of the Rocket but it’s more nuanced than you might expect. At idle it brings a rich, meaty noise – but thankfully without too many vibrations – and at speed, it’s barely ticking over. In fact, when coupled with the standard-fit cruise control the Rocket tackles big stints admirably. Despite its cruiser look and feel it doesn’t fall apart when things get twisty, either, with the 2.5-litre engine’s sheer abundance of torque meaning that you can simply roll on the throttle – in any gear – and get loads of acceleration as and when you want it. Without any real forward wind protection, it’s a blustery affair but, after all, this is no touring bike.
How does it look?
The front lights are powerful thanks to LED tech
The Rocket 3 makes a big impression wherever it goes. As we’ve come to expect from Triumph the general fit and finish of this motorcycle is excellent with everything having a reassuringly solid feel to it. As with other models within this brand’s stable you’ve got a good range of accessories to choose from in order to tailor the bike to your needs. Highlights include upgraded rider and pillion seats, additional styling parts to change the look of the bike and extra touring options for taking more equipment with you on long-distance rides.
There are three colourways available on both GT and R specifications, too, but both get the same blacked-out detailing and coated exhaust section.
What’s the spec like?
All bikes get a clear TFT readout
Prices for the Rocket 3 Storm start from £23,195 for the R, or £23,895 for the GT – so as well as the car-like power outputs this motorcycle costs nearly the same as one too. Naturally, much of that cost is reflected by the sheer amount of engineering going on with this motorcycle but, as previously mentioned, it’s all tied together with a lovely finish too.
All bikes include a handy TFT multi-view instrument readout, too, where you’ll find key information such as speed and revs and trip details. Plus, all models have ultra-bright LEDs, with powerful LEDs in the front and rear lights, indicators, and number plate illumination to ensure you’re as visible as possible at night.
Verdict
The Triumph Rocket 3 Storm is unlikely to be for everyone. It’s relatively heavy, quite relaxed and a far cry from the stripped-back bikes that we’ve seen released lately. However, it’s more capable than its looks may lead you to believe and there’s an inherent silliness to having this size of engine available on something with two wheels.
It’s expensive, for sure, but the Rocket 3 Storm is so well executed that it’s unlikely to disappoint those after a fast and capable cruiser.
The Design Edition grade will sit between the SE Edition and SE L Edition trim levels.
Skoda has added a new Design Edition specification to its smallest SUV, the Kamiq.
The Kamiq acts as a rival to cars like the Nissan Juke, Seat Arona and Volkswagen T-Cross and acts as an entry point to the firm’s range of SUVs.
This new Design Edition comes as standard with the same level of equipment as the existing SE Edition model but adds in 17-inch alloy wheels, black roof and door mirrors and privacy glass. On the inside, the car utilises front sports seats, cloth and microsuede upholstery, a three-spoke sports steering wheel, and red trim on the dashboard.
Ambient lighting and sports seats come as standard. (Skoda)
Furthermore, ambient lighting, black headlining, and aluminium pedals are also standard for this new trim level.
A choice of two engines are available including the entry-level 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with a choice of power outputs of either 94bhp or 114bhp.
All versions come as standard with a manual gearbox, however, if you opt for the higher-powered 114bhp unit, there is the choice of a seven-speed DSG automatic transmission, too.
The Design Edition features 17-inch alloy wheels, a black roof and privacy glass. (Skoda)
Prices start at £25,855 for the lesser powered model and rise to £28,185 for the higher powered unit with the DSG automatic gearbox.
Order books for the Kamiq Design Edition open on January 16 with first deliveries expected to commence in the spring of this year.
An unfortunate inner-city incident has put the Ibiza’s safety to the test. What else has Jack Williams been discovering about it?
Who would win in a fight: Superman or Spiderman? Robocop or The Terminator? A Seat Ibiza or a Tesla Model 3? These are surely all questions which have fascinated generations of school children and recently I had the misfortune of finding out the answer to one.
No, I have not been watching superhero films – because I’m above the age of 14 and I don’t like Monster energy drink – I am in fact very sad to report that my little Seat Ibiza has been in the wars since my last update.
Attempting to emerge from a junction I was hit hard on the driver’s side door by a Tesla Model 3, which was thundering its way up the outside lane from a horribly placed blind spot. Cue much apologising to Seat for crashing the car they very kindly lent me!
The alloy also caught some of the blow
Thankfully nobody was injured and everything was ironed out within a few weeks but I couldn’t help but be impressed by just how well the Ibiza took the blow. The Tesla was travelling at a good lick when it smashed into the side of the car but half an hour later you would have struggled to notice the damage! It turns out the Ibiza is made of stern stuff and the only battle scars it had to prove its punch up with nearly two tonnes of American EV was a microscopic dent and graze on the door and a fairly scuffed alloy – which was no worse than most of the cars you see parked around most cities on a daily basis.
The Tesla on the other hand, with its five-star safety ratings and £40,000 price tag, suffered a shattered front bumper in the collision. As I said, nobody was hurt and all damage has since been repaired but I was incredibly impressed by the Seat’s toughness in what was a fairly hefty inner-city collision.
Thankfully, the damage was minimal
Thankfully, that’s as far as the Demolition Derby stories go for this report and for the most part, recent weeks have seen the Ibiza churn up the miles. First up was a trip to Cardiff from the south coast to watch what could loosely be described as football. As a Portsmouth FC fan that midweek night was one I’d rather forget (if our players ran half as well as the Seat Ibiza they’d be in a lot less trouble!) but the Ibiza proved comfortable, economical and completely drama-free on what turned out to be a pretty bleak 300-mile round trip in the end.
There was also the small and relaxing matter of a drive into Central London for a work event. Anyone who lives within about 10,000 miles of the capital knows that driving to its centre is a hellish experience at the best of times but the Ibiza’s compact size and agility at least gave us a fighting chance of weaving through the endless traffic. That trip also provided a test for the Seat’s boot, with two large boxes of trophies to carry as part of an awards night. The two cardboard boxes took up pretty much the entirety of the boot space, meaning the rest of our luggage was consigned to the back seats, which did need folding down in order to accommodate the cargo.
The Ibiza’s backlit vents are a little distracting in the winter
Overall, I’ve really settled into life with the Ibiza and almost found myself pining for it while it was back with Seat having its war wounds patched up. During that time, I was largely driving a borrowed Hyundai i10 – an awful tin box of a car which pierces your eardrums if you dare to go above 50mph – and the return of the infinitely superior Seat was a blessed relief (thank you to my mother for letting me use her awful Hyundai).
The only real issue I have had with it of late is the backlit air vents, which shine red once night has fallen. Over the summer, when it didn’t get dark until 10pm, these didn’t really create much of a problem – other than the fact the translucent plastic looks like offcuts from old milk cartons – now however, with darkness setting in early, they are proving something of a safety hazard.
The problem is that the lights shine directly onto the windows and then reflect right in front of the wing mirrors. The impact of this when driving on an unlit road is that you have absolutely no view of what is coming behind you because all you can see is a haze of red lights, like walking down some dodgy street in Amsterdam.
Illicit lighting aside though, the Ibiza is a cracking little car. Around town, it’s nimble and light. Out in the open, it’s comfortable and genuinely fun to drive. No, it’s not perfect but with its return date rapidly approaching, I’m going to be very sad to see it go.
The 5N is one of the most talked-about electric cars of the year, but how has Jon Reay found it?
I’ve never been much of a believer in magic. By that I mean both the Harry Potter and David Blaine varieties – neither a flying broomstick, nor a sleight of hand with a deck of cards does much for me. But what I think we have here is the car industry’s first stab at a proper ‘illusion’, and for once it’s actually got my attention.
Electric cars, we’re constantly reminded, are never going to be as good as petrol ones. Aside from the usual arguments about charging infrastructure, cobalt mining, range anxiety and so on, the world is full of car enthusiasts that like the sound and feel of burning carbon – and they’re not prepared to accept anything less.
(PA)
Enter Hyundai: a rather surprising saviour to car enthusiasts the world over. For the last few years its engineers have been blazing trails in two totally different directions. Their range of electric cars, like the Ioniq 5, are about as good as it gets in the EV world. Then there’s its range of N-badged hot hatches – giant killers that seemed to come almost out of nowhere when they appeared on the scene a few years ago.
Strangely, it’s taken Hyundai until now to realise that those two teams don’t have to be sequestered away in different bits of the engineering centre – and if this car is the proof of what they can do when working together, perhaps it should’ve combined them a bit sooner.
What we have here is the first electric car that actually – properly – feels like a petrol-powered one. It sounds like one. It accelerates like one. It changes ‘gear’ – and hangs on the rev limiter – just like one too. If this is all sounding a bit cheesy, well, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking so. We’ve been here before with fake engine noises and electric cars. But this is a next level trick – think David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear.
(PA)
Plonk someone behind the wheel of the Ioniq 5 N, and – without telling them – I’m sure they’d be none the wiser that the petrol engine under the bonnet is 100% imaginary.
So how is the trick done? Software – a lot of software. Like a PlayStation game, the Ioniq is just doing an extremely good impression of a conventional car: copying the sounds, the throttle response, the torque curves and more. The whole act goes so far that, should you find yourself in the wrong ‘gear’ and hit the throttle, there’s a little delay factored in while the imaginary gearbox pretends to shuffle its cogs around to get you a lower ratio. At some point, there must’ve been a conversation about that: just how long should a shift from 6th to 3rd take? ‘Musn’t make it too quick – has to feel believable’.
(PA)
In a way, it’s sort of madness. Volkswagen probably spends millions of euros trying to make its DSG automatic gearboxes shift even a tenth of second faster than the last generation did – and then here’s Hyundai, deliberately engineering in the exact opposite.
Logic dicates that you should drive the 5 N with all this trickery turned off: an electric car trying to be a petrol car is never going to be as quick as one unburdened by such things. But speed is just one part of the experience.
Hyundai hasn’t simply ramped up the power output and called it a day, of course. There’s four-wheel drive to help apply that to the road, some pretty beefy brakes to stop the two and a quarter tons of metal from flying off the edge of a Welsh B-road. Special mention must also go to the springs and adaptive dampers Hyundai has fitted: quite how a car of this size can handle so well without breaking any passengers’ spines is beyond me.
(PA)
That’s the thing with the 5 N: it’s only a monster when you actually want it to be. Family-oriented performance cars always need some duality of purpose – and lots of them do, to some degree. But whether you put your Audi RS4 into ‘Comfort’ mode or not, it’s still going to wake the neighbours when you start it up at six in the morning.
On the flip side, the Ioniq lets you potter around town in serene, silent comfort much like any other electric car. You can plug it into your house overnight and get 200 miles of range for a fiver. Perhaps most compellingly, it’s even available on a salary sacrifice scheme.
Amusingly though, it’s not for any of these reasons that the Hyundai finds itself here in Wales. Our little team of EV advocates, agnostics and sceptics were all united by one thing: we all thought the Ioniq was an absolute riot to drive, no matter what happens to be hiding under its duck egg blue bonnet.
With any luck, this is the start of something bigger. Perhaps this is what proper petrolheads were looking for from an electric car: put simply, something that’s pretending not to be one.
Illusion or not though, Hyundai has created something properly magical with this car – because here, in a rainy layby in Wales, a group of people saw what the future of performance cars looked like. And for once, they didn’t hate it.
A week with a Vauxhall Astra hybrid was great but it made James Batchelor long for his electric version.
One of the things I like most about the Vauxhall Astra Electric is that it’s just so ordinary. An odd thing to say, I’ll admit, but hear me out.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been driving several EVs, and I’ve noticed that most have tried to be wilfully different from each other. Some have very streamlined styling to improve the car’s electric driving range, while others have fancy lights and interesting interiors. But with the Astra, there’s none of this.
I like that. Apart from the tiny ‘e’ badge on the tailgate, the green stripe on the number plates, and the slightly different alloy wheels design, the Astra Electric looks just like any other Vauxhall Astra. This is no bad thing as I think the current car is one of the best-looking hatchbacks on sale – never have I said about a Vauxhall Astra in the past.
There’s a very good reason for this, though. Unlike Volkswagen and its ID-badged EVs, Vauxhall doesn’t want to make a big thing about having a pure-electric range of models. So, you can have a Corsa, a Mokka and the new Frontera and Grandland SUVs with petrol or electric power. The Astra can also be a petrol plug-in hybrid. Same car, different power.
There’s loads of space in the back of this estate
I had a taste of this recently as I was planning on taking my partner away for her birthday. Knowing that the (hugely expensive, if she’s reading this) country hotel was in a part of the country where EV charging was a little thin on the ground, I decided not to take my Astra Electric. I know, I know… But while I quite enjoy hunting around for EV charging points and commenting on how many pence-per-kWh I’m being charged, others don’t you see – not least my girlfriend.
I could have borrowed a flash German limo, but due to my dedication to living with a Vauxhall and writing reports about it, I thought the perfect substitute for my car was another Astra. The one which was delivered for this romantic getaway was a Sports Tourer (estate, in other words) in identical Ultimate specification. But instead of my car’s 154bhp electric motor and 54kWh battery pack, this one was powered by a 1.2-litre hybrid petrol engine.
It was a nice thing to whisk down to Dorset. It was amazingly refined for a three-cylinder petrol, and I like how it slipped into electric power mode pretty often – that’s not always a given with a hybrid. The geek in me noticed how the central cubby under the armrest is much bigger, and (I’m pretty sure about this and it wasn’t my imagination) how the driver’s seat could be lowered further. Both things are possible, presumably, because there wasn’t a whacking great big battery underneath them.
Plugging in and charging has been proving easy
But, hand on heart, despite having the extra flexibility of not having to find a roadside charger and fill it up, I longed to get back into my electric-powered hatch. I just preferred the silence that comes from the electric motor, and in comparison to my car the hybrid felt coarse (it’s actually pretty refined for a three-cylinder engine, so still the comparison stands). It’s the first time I have ever been in a petrol-powered car and preferred it if it ran on electricity – that’s quite a decisive moment for me. But is the serenity of EV power worth the several thousand pounds extra over the already-excellent hybrid? I’m still trying to work that out and haven’t made up my mind yet.
Aside from this brief dalliance with petrol power, I have been piling on the miles in the Astra Electric recently. There have been numerous runs to the airport, playing taxi driver for my friends, and the car’s practicality credentials were tested to the max when I moved my childhood collection of car magazines from my parent’s house to mine.
The petrol engine in this Astra was surprisingly smooth for a smaller unit
Despite being lucky in having test cars available to me much of the time, I have been driving the Astra far more than I thought I would. Thanks to having a home charger, I have really gotten used to walking out of my house every morning to a car that is fully charged. I say that, but thanks to the car’s high efficiency – I’m regularly getting 4.5 miles per kWh on most journeys – I’m probably only charging it twice a week.
I like the scheduled charging feature (you select the time you want the car to start charging through the touchscreen, and when plugging in you press the ‘clock’ button by the charging port) which allows me to charge the car when the energy tariff is cheaper, but I wish the remote heating function – which allows me to set the car’s interior temperature from the comfort of my bed before leaving in the mornings – wasn’t a pricey subscription package. But, then again, why should owners get this convenience feature free of charge?
BG73 ASV is rapidly homing in on 5,000 miles so it might have to have a service in the coming weeks, and the time when the Astra is picked up and returned to Vauxhall for good is also approaching. I shall be trying to complete as many journeys before that day comes.
Facts at a glance
Model: Vauxhall Astra Electric Ultimate
Price as tested: £43,960 (correct at time of delivery)
The GR Yaris feels ideally suited to the wet Welsh weather, but what else is there to explore? James Baggott finds out.
It’s a grim, grey and damp day when I finally get thrown the keys to the Toyota GR Yaris – a car I’ve been waiting four long years to get behind the wheel of.
I must be the only motoring journalist not to have had a go in Toyota’s rally-inspired four-wheel drive hot hatch, but now the day has finally come and… it’s pouring down.
Usually that would be somewhat of a disappointment, but Toyota’s sprightly hot hatch is made for days like these. Its raucous 1.6-litre turbocharged engine has a huge spread of power and the competent four wheel drive system inspires confidence.
(PA)
My first drive is on slippery Welsh roads, peppered with suicidal sheep and greasy mountain runoffs that would unsettle most performance cars. Not this Yaris.
It picks up its tail and scarpers up the twisting and tight mountain passes. For this test, it’s up against positive supercar rivals and electric cars with more than double its power.
Not that any of that phases this wonderfully competent performance car. While you might be used to seeing a Yaris troubling trollies in the local supermarket car park, this version is more at home nipping at the heels of some of the most competent cars on sale today.
(PA)
The GR now comes with an automatic gearbox option and some minor tweaks, including a near-20bhp upgrade to the engine. It’s now producing 276bhp and is capable of hitting 60mph in five seconds. There’s 30Nm more torque too over the previous model. This is a rapid machine and feels far faster than these figures suggest.
What I really love about the GR is its linear power delivery. Yes, the auto gearbox is a little agricultural in operation, but I actually really rather liked it. I’d go as far as to say it is endearing. Colleagues who’ve driven the manual version say they preferred that cog swapper, but with the UK’s roads as congested as they are, for me, an auto really is a far better option.
(PA)
The gearbox in no way dulls the enjoyment of the car and with one less thing to worry about you can concentrate on enjoying the incredibly direct, feelsome steering and the superb handling. The four wheel drive system on this car is astonishing too. It finds grip where few others would in bends and the way the nose dips and the car tucks into bends is down right addictive.
Toyota took inspiration from its World Rally Championship experience to hone the Yaris GR and it ripples through the veins of this car. The manufacturer called upon its Gazoo Racing arm to fine tune the Yaris – if you hadn’t guessed it, that’s where the ‘GR’ name comes from. In turn, the tuning arm called on their WRC drivers, Jari Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke, to provide feedback during development.
The pair were so pleased with the results they described it as being ‘pretty close’ to the car they’d been campaigning around the world’s rally stages, especially in terms of handling and throttle response.
(PA)
That similarity also comes down to simple things like the control panel and displays that are titled 15 degrees toward the driver for improved visibility, which add perfectly to the rally theme. All it’s missing is a dash-mounted sequential gear lever and a stick for the handbrake – but maybe that would be a bit much…
Back on the road, that rally inspiration is obvious from every turn of the wheel. It’s so involving to drive, so easy to push hard, and has a turn of speed that means very little would keep up with it on damp roads like these.
As the sun sets on our photoshoot I find myself back behind the wheel of the Yaris for the long drive back to our hotel. I follow my colleague in a Porsche ST, the GT3 RS-engined monster, and I’m snapping at his bumper the entire way home. Jack Russell-like in its tenacity, it manages to put its power down without a hint of a scrabble, bothering the £245,000 Porsche at the entry and exit to every corner.
(PA)
It’s sometimes hard to believe the hype when you read road tests of cars like these – I certainly doubted it could be quite as good as my peers had proclaimed. But, honestly, it shocked me quite how impressive this little car is.
The term future classic is also bandied around all too often, but it’s a richly deserved moniker for the GR Yaris. Whether you choose a manual or auto gearbox is really down to personal preference, but after a series of incredible drives on some of the finest roads Wales has to offer, I could find little to fault this car, or the auto box.
The £45,750 price tag might be a little rich to swallow, but don’t look at this as a pepped-up city car. This is really a modern day Ford Escort Cosworth – a car undeniably as special as that iconic classic.
The GR Yaris is a car I’d make space for in my garage tomorrow. It fills every drive with joy and excitement thanks to a near-perfect combination of involvement and performance. It’s very special indeed.
The 2 Hybrid is one of Mazda’s smallest models, but does it offer a big-car experience? Jon Reay finds out.
I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for our Mazda 2 Hybrid. After a whole year of driving Mazda’s poshest, biggest and most expensive (at the moment) car – the CX-60 – suddenly swapping into its second cheapest model was always going to be an eye opening experience. And indeed, it has been – but not for the reasons you might expect.
Our dearly departed CX-60 was a bit of a bruiser in every way: size, power, weight, and even price. By comparison, the 2 Hybrid couldn’t be more different. One third of the power, nearly half the weight, and pretty much half the price too – assuming you’re up for twisting the salesman’s arm a bit.
It would be understandable to find that this turns out to be half the car the CX-60 is, then. But surprisingly, it seems to do a lot of things just as well – and in lots of cases, better even.
The 2 Hybrid is made in collaboration with Toyota
Let’s get the obvious differences out of the way first: you’re not getting a spacious load-lugger here. Even as superminis go, the 2 Hybrid is pretty compact: sneaking in at under 4 metres in length. Thanks to its rather bulbous roofline, that doesn’t mean a claustrophobic cabin – but don’t expect long-legged adults to be comfortable in the back for too long. The boot is far from the biggest in its class too, but perfectly fine for a bit of shopping.
With that said, it’s surprising how much stuff you can squeeze into the 2 Hybrid given a bit of Tetris-style manoeuvring. If we’re honest too, this isn’t the size and shape of car you’d expect to be regularly carting four adults around in. For the odd occasion though, it’s more than spacious enough.
Next up, let’s talk performance. Waving goodbye to the CX-60 and its 3.3-litre diesel, the 2 Hybrid couldn’t be more different on paper. Its engine is less than half the size, has half the number of cylinders, and comes with – gasp – a CVT automatic gearbox, rather than its bigger brother’s dual-clutch one.
Stylish headlights add some flair
And yet, in lots of ways the 2 Hybrid feels far more sprightly than its bigger brother. The clever hybrid system means you take off at a surprising rate from a standstill – thanks to an electric motor doing most of the work. There’s quite an adjustment going from a conventional car into a hybrid like this: you quickly realise you can nip out of junctions much faster than you’re expecting, for example.
As for that often-dreaded CVT gearbox, it seems that Mazda – or rather Toyota, who actually developed it – has finally got the hang of making the experience not completely miserable. It helps that the 1.5-litre, three cylinder petrol engine almost sounds sort of sporty, but the real secret is letting that 79bhp electric motor to take care of most of the power delivery.
The interior is made with lots of hard-wearing materials
The result is a very unstressed, almost serene driving experience, with the petrol engine barely noticeable half the time. It’s also extremely smooth: no clunky gear changes (because there are no ‘gears’ as such), no awkward jumps between electric and petrol power, and a completely linear feel to how it accelerates.
In fact, after a few weeks behind the wheel, jumping back into a more conventional petrol or diesel car can feel like going back in time. Cars like the 2 Hybrid are about as close as you can get to an electric car, without having to plug it in at night.
The compact screen has all the features you need
So what are we missing from the decidedly posh CX-60, then? Well, the 2 Hybrid certainly isn’t as luxurious inside. Mazda’s trademark premium-feeling interior is missing in action here – partially because this is a cheaper car, but mostly because this is actually a Toyota in disguise (did we mention that?).
And while it’s far from being short of standard equipment, a few things have curiously fallen off the options list. There’s no way of getting heated seats or steering wheel, for example – which is a bit odd given that the older, cheaper, non-hybrid Mazda 2 has had both available for a while now.
Beyond that though, there’s very little to fault about the 2 Hybrid. In fact I’m amazed how well it’s fitted into performing the same routine as the CX-60: piloting me up and down various bits of motorway for three to four hours at a time without inducing any back ache. It’s even doing baffling levels of fuel economy: despite my heavy right foot, I’m managing around 62mpg on average.
So there you have it: perhaps you don’t need that luxurious, enormous, £50,000 SUV after all.
Some refinements have made the Polestar 2 even better with its energy, but what is it like to live with? Jack Evans finds out.
It’s funny what a little extra range will do for the electric car experience, isn’t it? In the case of the Polestar 2 – which I’m lucky enough to be looking after for the next few months – more range is coming thick and fast.
Back in 2023, Polestar announced that it would be refining its 2 fastback. New electric motors were introduced and the 2 switched to rear-wheel-drive for the first time, having been front-wheel-drive since its introduction. Throw in some tweaks to the batteries and the 2 became an even longer-range EV, having been pretty good in this department already.
In fact, the changes added an additional 52 miles of plug-power to the 2 in single motor, long-range specification – like the one I’m looking at here – bringing a range of between 372 and 408 miles. It’s an impressive amount of range, in fact, and makes the 2 one of the best cars for long-distance trips in the entire EV segment.
The interior is stripped-back but well made
You might remember that I previously looked after a BMW iX2, a car which I really enjoyed. It would manage around 270 miles of range in the summertime, dropping closer to around 220 miles when things got colder. But it must be the Scandinavian influence helping the 2’s efficiency as, during the recent cold snap, it has still been showing well over 300 miles of range on a single charge. In fact, at present, the 2 is returning up to 330 miles on a full charge which though some way off claimed, isn’t bad for the depths of winter.
It’s remarkable how having well over 300 miles of range changes the whole EV experience. I’m lucky enough to have a home charger so I know that I can always set off with a full ‘tank’ and I’ve yet to come close to scratching close to the Polestar’s charging limits. A few work-related events saw me driving to Gatwick from my home near Portsmouth, and then onwards to Maidenhead, before driving around there for a decent amount of time and returning back again. I didn’t even have to think about charging; the 2 never came close to running out of juice.
Fortunately, all of this time spent behind the wheel has given me a good opportunity to find out more about the 2. It was the car which properly launched Polestar in the UK and, though the brand has since introduced a number of other models, the 2 is the one that you see most of all on our roads.
The 2 sits alongside a new friend
The driving experience is good. The 2 is quiet, refined and reasonably comfortable – though its low-speed ride is simply too firm for me. That said, the control weights are good and you can toggle through the level of brake regeneration you’d like via the main screen, though I’d rather have paddles to do this on the fly. A 0-60mph time of 5.7 seconds is more than sprightly enough for a car of this type, too, and I’ve very rarely felt like it needed more power.
There have been a few foibles so far. The speed limit warning system is a bit too sensitive and often gets confused by other roadside markers; quite often I’ll be travelling on a national speed limit road and the car will ‘pick up’ a 30mph sign on a slipway, leaving it to bong annoyingly. Thankfully, it quietens down after a few alerts.
The other issue might be a case of ‘first world problems’, but I think a car costing over £48,000 should have wireless Apple CarPlay. You can connect using a cable, of course, but given that the new Dacia Spring – which costs under £20,000 – offers this function, I think it should be included on the 2. Surely it could be fixed via an over-the-air update, too?
The 2 offers plenty of range
I also think that Polestar could liven up the colour options on the 2. It’s very Tesla-esque to offer a limited number of subdued colours, but I think that the 2’s blocky dimensions could pull off some brighter shades. The jazziest is currently the rose gold-esque ‘Jupiter’, but aside from this, it’s largely greys, blacks and a single navy colour. Consider too that you can only get black or grey interior colours and it’s all left feeling a little sad.
But colours aside, I can’t fault the way that the Polestar 2 gets everyday driving done. I’ve also got to give a big thumbs up to the associated app; it’s got loads of information, allows you to remotely lock and unlock the car and makes it dead-easy to remotely set the car’s heating and ventilation. The 2 also has one of the fiercest heated steering wheels that I’ve ever encountered – but then those Gothenburg winters must get far chillier than ours do here in the UK.
Facts at a glance
Model as tested: Polestar 2 Long range single motor
Lightweight sports car is set to feature a new engine variant from 2026
AC Cars will introduce a new engine and gearbox option for its lightweight Cobra GT Roadster and GT Coupe vehicles to provide a new entry point to the range.
Sitting alongside the naturally aspirated and supercharged V8 versions which have already been created, the new 2.0-litre petrol engine will join the existing powertrain options in 2026.
The new AC Cobra engine is designed to provide a lightweight entry to the range
Despite being smaller in capacity than the existing setups, the new engine will still be ‘performance-orientated’, according to AC Cars, and will be available in two states of tune depending on the model of car. While the brand has yet to announce full performance figures, it has stated that the new engine could produce ‘up to 390bhp’ – slightly less than the 654bhp you’ll get from range-topping V8-powered models.
In addition, the new engine variant will be available with a new dual-clutch automatic gearbox, as well as a more traditional six-speed manual.
(AC Cars)
David Conza, CEO of AC Cars, said: “This is a key step in our programme of growth, yet allows us to stay true to what define us. Offering clients a wider choice of performance engines will broaden the appeal for our exclusive sports cars, and means we can reach the markets that impose higher taxation of large displacement engines.”
AC Cars has yet to announce full specifications for the upcoming variant but has stated that prices are expected to start from £235,000. Interested parties can already reserve a car via the AC Cars website.
