The Tesla Model 3 saloon is now available to order in the UK. The company’s most mainstream EV to date will see right-hand-drive deliveries from June, with customers who reserved a build slot first in line to receive their cars. Prices start from £38,900 for the entry-level Standard Range Plus model, which has a WLTP-estimated range of 258 miles. The dual-motor Long Range model starts from £47,900 and can reach 348 miles on a single charge, meaning it takes the lead in Europe as the EV with the longest official range. Both models come with aerodynamically optimised 18in alloy wheels as standard, with 19in alloys available as an option. Prices include the UK government plug-in car grant. The top-end Performance version, which has a 162mph top speed and can manage 0-62mph in 3.2sec, starts at £56,900. It rides on 20in alloy wheels and includes a Premium interior package, which includes satellite-view navigation with live traffic, a premium 14-speaker audio system and in-car music and media streaming. Tesla’s ‘full self-driving’ autonomous functionality, which is due to roll out later this year, can be added for an additional £4900. The system can be installed post-purchase for £6800. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously confirmed that UK orders would go live in a tweet, allowing UK customers to place an order before Tesla raises the price of its ‘full self-driving’ autonomous functionality. From 10 May, those placing orders in the US will need to pay an additional $1000 for the feature. The car maker launched its configurator in December for European customers who had already put down a deposit for a Model 3 saloon, which in the process revealed previously unconfirmed pricing and range details. The Model 3 went on show in UK dealerships for the first time at the beginning of the year, with demonstration models on display at Tesla’s London Park Royal and Manchester Stockport locations ahead of right-hand-drive models going on sale. Model 3 owners will not get free access to the Tesla Supercharger high-speed charging system, with the US company planning to charge for electricity as demand grows and it requires more investment to build up its charging network. Tesla’s latest results from the third quarter of 2018 showed that it hit production targets for the Model 3, building 53,239 units. This followed a tumultuous second quarter in which a temporary ‘tent’ was constructed outside the firm’s Californian plant containing another production line so as to increase output. Tesla revealed its Semi lorry in November last year, and this is expected to go into production in 2019. Its next model, the Model Y small SUV, was revealed in March. The highly anticipated Roadster, a sports car that is promised to hit 0-60mph in 1.9sec, is pegged to arrive in
Origin: Tesla Model 3 on sale in the UK from £38,900
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News Roundup Auto Show Edition: The most popular reveals from New York
2020 Toyota HighlanderDerek McNaughton / Driving The 2019 New York International Auto Show hasn’t been a record event in terms of bombastic reveals. There’s the Shanghai Motor Show happening at the same time; Genesis revealed its tiny, futuristic EV in NYC before the auto show for some reason; and BMW didn’t even bother attending at all this year. Well who needs BMW anyway?! Not only did our editors find plenty of new rides to nerd out on (and some to make fun of) down in the Big Apple, they also picked up on a handful of new vehicles that are, for one reason or another, considerably important in the grand scheme of things. Here are five of the most significant reveals from the 2019 NY Auto Show. VW forays into small-truck territory with the Tarok Concept The Tarok Concept is part SUV, part small truck and all gamble for Volkswagen. And as a concept, it’s a gamble they’ve yet to fully make, but we’re kind of hoping they do, because this functional unit with a reconfigurable cargo bed with more capacity than the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger or Jeep Gladiator, is bound to have its share of use cases. The powerplant is the same 147-hp turbo’d 1.4-litre 4-cylinder the Golf uses, and a solid rear axle is an unlikelihood at this point, but if you’re looking for a way to ease into a pickup truck, this segment-defying concept from VW could show you the way. The 2020 Toyota Highlander takes the high road with a full redesign Picking up on what the newly restyled RAV4 recently put down in terms of design language, the fully redone 2020 Toyota Highlander debuted in NYC looking fresh and ready to carry the next generation of North American middle class families wherever it is they need to go. The Highlander is riding on Toyota’s New Global Architecture Platform (TNGA-K), and contains a 295-horsepower V6 that’s paired to smooth 8-speed automatic. The new hybrid variant is more efficient than ever; 17 per cent more efficient than its predecessor, in fact, and it comes with the option for AWD or FWD. The 2020 Subaru Outback takes centre stage Subaru displayed its new 2020 Outback in a sort of terrarium it set up within the Javits Centre, showing off the car’s new style, new engines, and updated platform and tech. It may not be the main breadwinner, but the Outback epitomizes Subaru in many ways, and is an important vehicle for the brand in that sense. Power for the sixth-gen Outback comes from either the new direct-injected 2.5-litre Boxer four-cylinder, or a 2.4-litre turbo-four, the latter of which makes 260 horsepower and 277 lb.-ft. of torque. Other new tricks in the Subaru bag include its ability to send power to side-to-side with its new active torque-vectoring system; new modes for Snow/Dirt and Deep Snow/Mud; and Subaru’s DriverFocus Distraction Mitigation System that searches driver facial cues for signs of fatigue. Mercedes brought a rare and noteworthy product: a hot sedan 2019 Mercedes-AMG A35 Derek McNaughton / Driving The 2019 Mercedes-AMG A35 is a sedan. Remember those? But its rarity as a four-door car is just the hook here. It’s also something of a limited edition, and pretty speedy too. Inspired by its 2.0-litre turbo-four making 302 horsepower and 29295 lb.-ft. at just 3,000 rpm, the AMG A35 will do 0 to 100 in 4.8 seconds with Race Start launch activated, which is a tenth of a second quicker than the hatchback variant for some reason. Coming early 2020, but there’s no price yet, so maybe wait to place your order. Nissan honours the 240Z with the 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition Fifty years ago the Datsun 240Z debuted in New York. This year Nissan is celebrating the anniversary with a limited edition coupe featuring retro racing stripes a la BRE (Brock Racing Enterprises), a 332-horsepower 3.7-litre V6 engine, a 6-speed manual or 7-speed auto, and a bunch of unique badging and suede-trimmed details. We’re the Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition a bonafide future collectible right off the bat, especially with only 50 destined to arrive in Canada. And finally, here is our take on the best and worst of the New York Auto Show from our Editors:
Origin: News Roundup Auto Show Edition: The most popular reveals from New York
4 Key crossover introductions from the New York Auto Show
Welcome to New York City and the annual auto show held in Hell’s Kitchen. While there were some beautifully fast cars like the Audi TT RS along with sexy concepts — notably the Genesis Mint EV — the thrust remained, as it has at the past few auto shows, the all-conquering crossover and its brutish SUV sibling that ruled the floor space. It is not a particularly well-kept secret that crossovers and SUVs are what makes the auto business go round at this moment in time — Ford and GM are basically getting out of the car business while Mercedes-Benz proclaimed 2020 the Year of the SUV and proceeded to launch more crossovers than a couple of manufacturers combined. Here, in no particular order, are four of the key introductions: Lincoln finally got around to replacing the MKC with the Corsair, based on the all-new Escape, and also brings its new naming strategy more into line; Subaru presented its take on a crossover alternative, the extremely popular Outback; Hyundai added yet another small crossover to its growing arsenal, this one named Venue and slated to be Hyundai’s most affordable crossover; and Toyota launched a redesigned eight-seat Highlander with an average fuel economy of 6.9 L/100 km in hybrid trim – that’s better than many compact
Origin: 4 Key crossover introductions from the New York Auto Show
Four key crossover introductions from the New York Auto Show
Welcome to New York City and the annual auto show held in Hell’s Kitchen. While there were some beautifully fast cars like the Audi TT RS along sexy concepts — notably the Genesis Mint EV — the thrust remained, as it has at the past few auto shows, the all-conquering crossover and its brutish SUV sibling that ruled the floor space. It is not a particularly well-kept secret that crossovers and SUVs are what makes the auto business go round at this moment in time — Ford and GM are basically getting out of the car business while Mercedes-Benz proclaimed 2020 the Year of the SUV and proceeded to launch more crossovers than a couple of manufacturers combined. Here, in no particular order, are four of the key introductions: Lincoln finally got around to replacing the MKC with the Corsair, based on the all-new Escape, and also brings its new naming strategy more into line; Subaru presented its take on a crossover alternative, the extremely popular Outback; Hyundai added yet another small crossover to its growing arsenal, this one named Venue and slated to be Hyundai’s most affordable crossover; and Toyota launched a redesigned eight-seat Highlander with an average fuel economy of 6.9 L/100 km in hybrid trim – that’s better than many compact
Origin: Four key crossover introductions from the New York Auto Show
Our hits and misses from the 2019 New York auto show
There were, admittedly, not too many blow-me-away supercar reveals, flashy performance models or boutique sports cars being shown off. Sure, Porsche showed us a 911 Speedster; and Nissan a 600-horsepower GT-R. But all in all, the 2019 New York International Auto Show may have seen the most practical range of new-car debuts in recent memory, with a large part of the schedule dedicated to crossover unveilings. Nevertheless, our team on the floor of the Javits Center have picked apart the lot of close to two dozen new-car reveals and concepts, and come up with a list of the ones that we thought deserve the biggest thumbs up, and the fattest thumbs down, too. Our chief editor Jonathan Yarkony is understandably getting excited for a new Volkswagen truck that may or may not come to the Canadian market, the Tarok; however, the Hyundai fan in him can’t see anything but redundancy in the brand’s new Venue. Speaking of redundancy, Nick Tragianis admits to falling for the new Toyota Yaris, basically because it’s a clone of the Mazda2 with a different automaker’s badge on it. His miss of the show is the Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition for being an ancient sports car with little more than a retro throwback sticker package. If you ask our classic-car-loving videographer Clayton Seams, it’s hard to top the Nissan 370Z 50th Anniversary Edition, a wonderfully ancient sports car that needs little more than a retro throwback sticker package to set it apart. If only Cadillac would similarly consider taking a step back to its styling from two or three years ago, away from the frumpy direction the new CT5 seems to be pointing the marque, he says. The ever-practical Graeme Fletcher has high praise for Toyotas High-lander and its low, low fuel consumption rating; the car was a hit not only among the Driving editors, but among readers, too. His least favourite was also an SUV, the Atlas Basecamp Concept from Volkswagen, an off-road utility that he can’t quite see many owners taking off-pavement at all. Call him biased – he does own a classic Datsun roadster – but Alex Reid is giving his props to Nissan’s entire heritage-inspired New York display, and specifically it’s GT-R. On the other hand, he’s shaking his head at the Mazda CX-5 diesel—apparently the Japanese brand hasn’t heard diesel is out. Last but not least, Derek McNaughton has a love-hate relationship with the Porsche 911 Speedster. We think he’d be all over it, though, if the German automaker would just leave one in his driveway with a bow on
Origin: Our hits and misses from the 2019 New York auto show
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