electric car

Colour me surprised as the Polestar 2 is dropped off at my garage. It is actually a good-looking animal. A solid, relatively low SUV come hatchback with sharp, carved haunches. It has a certain presence.

We toured around Surrey to fully appreciate its capabilities, taking in a very fine Gastro pub along the way, the Victoria Oxshott.

My colleague Darren Lynsdale and I toured the Mustang Mach-E around the South of England, taking in a lovely little cafe on the waterfront in Hove, exploring every beach around Shoreham and the River Adur, plus the country lanes of Sussex and the Surrey hills.

SPECS

The new Audi e-tron is first and foremost a monster electric car that appears ideal for touring. Part saloon, part SUV. It is the size of a Range Rover, yet perfectly proportioned as a saloon, or Sportback, as Audi call it. The scale is only revealed when parked next to other cars where it appears to have been blown up in photoshop. So there’s plenty of interior space and an imposing exterior. Do not confuse this with a small electric utility vehicle. It’s actually a hint of the electric Bentley GT to come and bears many similarities with its luxury petrol cousin.

So is the DES 3 Crossback E-Tense La Prèmiere a winner for the new DS brand? Before you get hooked by the looks you need to live with a car and get to know its personality and the longer I spent with the new DS the more I liked it.

The DS 3 La Prèmiere is the flagship model and a fine-looking all-electric compact SUV. It’s pretty much in a category of its own. If style and luxury are high on your list this is a great contender.

International Excellence Magazine chatted with Jack Lambert, Vehicle Dynamics Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, about the exciting developments of the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy and what it took to turn the production I-PACE into a street circuit racing, electric demon for the Formula E Challenge. Jack was a pleasure to chat with, charming and a complete expert in his field, speaking passionately about all aspects of racing the Jaguar I-PACE. We’ll be following the Jaguar eTrophy with great interest.
 
This is a faithful rendition of our conversation.

The Jaguar I-PACE SE was delivered in its own individual trailer by a very nice chap and we admired the grey and black styling together as he winched the impressive looking car onto my drive. It’s clearly not photogenic as it looks better in the flesh, much lower and sportier than you’d expect. It resembles a Paris Dakar rally car more than an SUV, so I was very much looking forward to taking this on a distance test the next day. A 200 mile hike up North to see if it has range enough to be practical as well as luxurious.