I’m not sure- Opel/Vauxhall frequently have cars topping the sales figures. They’re not as big as the VW Group, that’s for certain, but they’ve never been insignificant. Vauxhall was the 5th most popular brand in the UK in 2019 (everything went weird after that so kind of tricky to tell), ahead of brands like Toyota,…

Mine was a basic 1.2 VW Polo. It was 7 years old when I got it, and the most basic of base spec- no central locking, hand crank windows, no A/C. The only modern tech weirdly was electrically adjustable mirrors. Would definitely have preferred central locking over that, but there we go. It was known as Rex, as the…

The VW Group MEB platform cars have drum brakes on the rear which are sealed units and supposed to last the life of the car. Of course we’ll see how well that pans out, but they’re saying that disk brakes will be more costly and require more maintenance than drums because they will hardly be used because of the regen.

Re the vent windows- I wouldn’t be surprised if unless you’re driving very slowly, the extra drag caused by it being open would offset the reduced engine load by not having the A/C on. And at that point... the nice breeze from the vent window isn’t exactly going to be doing much to cool you, so on a properly hot day…

I was going to point out the Mercedes S-Class and E-Class coupes as having no b-pillar, but no- they’re both discontinued. Damn shame.

I feel like anything involving BL is automatically going to have problems at the very least, and more likely, be a complete POS that never works!

I test drove a Polestar 2 (and I’m probably going to get one when I change job in August) and the Android Automotive system was great. Having proper Google Maps right there in the dash cluster, and everything controlled via Google Assistant, was just awesome. I think Renault are starting to use the system too,…

Thankfully Android Automotive is becoming a thing. I test drove a Polestar 2 recently, and that system is great.

It’s their first ground up EV crossover, but yeah. EQC and EQA are both on sale and popular in Europe. I see them all the time in the UK. Then there’s the EQB that’s about to arrive. 

A very new Vauxhall Vivaro Combi van/minibus.

It wasn’t just the legroom, I felt like my head was through the roof. I was definitely glad it was just him dropping me at the station 10 mins away!

I first thought it was that Sony EV concept they showed a few years ago when I saw the pic at the top of the article!

The Renault Zoe has sold very well, although it’s now fairly tired and Renault’s decision to remove curtain airbags in the recent facelift is baffling. Stellantis have some great small EVs too- the e-208 and Corsa-e for example, both have about 250km real world range and aren’t really compromised compared to their ICE…

I’m not convinced it is though. At least here in the UK, the vast majority of new car buyers are buying/leasing with finance. My parents have just got a Skoda Enyaq (basically an ID.4), and were comparing it to the Skoda Karoq, which is a similar ish size although slightly smaller. The Enyaq has a higher monthly lease…

I’m the same sort of height, and I really struggled in the passenger seat of my old housemates’s ND. Not even as if I’m not used to small cars- I drive a Seat Ibiza which is Fiesta sized. 

My old housemate has an ND MX-5. He gave me a lift once, and I could barely get in the car. Even with the seat all the way back. I’m not small - 188cm and 105kg (6'2 and 230lb) but I’m not abnormally tall and I’m more muscular not fat. He drove me to the train station about 10 mins away, and I was struggling with…

The disconnect though is in how much more expensive the battery powertrain is though.

It all depends on market. In China, a small EV makes sense due to cost, congestion, etc etc etc. The same applies to their ICE cars too. Yes big vehicles do sell, but a lot of small cars sell well in China, whereas the same cannot be said for the US.

That would be the ID.3.

Maybe she’s scared of taking too much of her heart medication?