McLaren GT McLaren bosses say an SUV is (still) out of the question, but note there will be room in the lineup for new technologies, like hybrid hypercars capable of zero-to-96-km/h times under two-and-a-half seconds.When Car and Driver recently prodded him on the prospect of building an SUV, McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt says trucks are still a non-starter for the British brand.Why would we? he says. We dont have to.Wed never get a return on it, Flewitt says. The cost of designing a brand-new platform would cost well over $1 billion, and besides that, were all getting sick of thoroughbred supercar manufacturers building SUVs just to make a profit.Instead of trying to fit more people in the back of its vehicles, McLaren is trying to fit more power, and thats why there will definitely be another hybrid model, as well as a pure EV, although it is less keen on those. Flewitt says current batteries are too heavy, too expensive and not dense enough to meet the brands standards.As for the hybrid model, its already in the works. Riding on a next-generation platform set to be unveiled in the spring of 2020, the vehicle will rock a hybrid powertrain with all-wheel-drive.The target zero-to-60-mph (96 km/h) time is in the realm of 2.3 seconds, since launches will be aided by an electric front axle. The model will be the first of an eventual all-hybrid lineup, which will gradually subsume the gas-only car range over three or four
Origin: McLaren: no-go on SUVs, but yes to hybrids that do 96 km/h in 2.3 seconds
hybrids
James Ruppert: 4×4 Japanese hybrids are niche but they work
When it comes to what is and isn’t dependable, I do rely on you, dear reader, for feedback about your experiences out in the real world. I rather liked the Volkswagen Lupo and have driven loads, but apparently the gearboxes used to fail quite often under warranty. As the little thing is quite obsolete now, I presume the ones in circulation are okay. Anyway, I got a thumbs up from Gordon, a reader, when it comes to Toyota hybrids. He steers a 12-year-old Prius with almost 100,000 miles. There is nothing wrong with those. The trouble seems to be the state of the roads in the UK. So mechanically no issues, but structurally it is suspension parts that need to be replaced. By that level of reasoning, the perfect used vehicle is going to be a Japanese hybrid 4×4. Let’s buy one. I almost did. I looked in the metal at a whole bunch of Lexus RX 400h hybrids. They look a bit odd. I thought a reversing camera would be fun, but then I saw an RX with a £2000 bill for electronic repairs and went off the idea. The RX will do a solid six-figure mileage and there are plenty around with reassuring bills for cambelt replacement. So a 2005 one with full service history and in tidy condition will be around £3500. For a comfortable car with lots of kit, that should be worth buying. A 2008 SE model with a fraction of the miles and just as together would be £8995. Lexus owner Toyota also makes the RAV4 hybrid, of course, and a 2016 one with 70,000 miles and in Business Edition specification is around £15,995. Then there is a partly electric SUV in the shape of the Porsche Cayenne. Okay, it’s not Japanese but it’s very well engineered and a 2010 3.0 V6 Tiptronic S hybrid will cost £18,995 with 70,000-plus miles. It will do a reasonable 34mpg, officially anyway. Then if you go plug-in hybrid, there are other exciting possibilities. It brings into view Mitsubishi Outlanders, which, with gigantic mileages, are rather cheap. With £10,000 to spend, you should be able to get a private example with history from 2015 with just over 100,000 miles. If you want the reassurance of a dealer, then you will pay closer to £11,000. Owners seem to like these and there aren’t any issues. It simply gets on with the business of working in a very unflashy way. Here is a brand that just stands for doing off-road stuff and there is that small matter of 140mpg. Sort of. This could well be the best used car ever, based on our latest buying parameters. Until we all go and make up some more. What we almost bought this week It’s hard to think of a better and more reliable winter hack than an old Toyota Yaris. We found a 1999/T-reg with 115,000 miles and a year’s MOT for £550. The three-owner car has never missed a service, too, as the 20 stamps in the book testify. Twelve months’ motoring for the price of a month’s PCP. Tales from Ruppert’s garage You may not remember that the adorable Italian car would spontaneously wee out some coolant after a run. Rather worryingly, it sounded like a kettle. All I did was top up the coolant to the lowest level in the expansion tank. I stopped doing that and – you know what? – it packed up spilling coolant. I do worry that there isn’t enough in the system, but the temperature stays normal, which is 90 on the gauge. I should attend to a bit of ‘dieseling’. It isn’t the new spark plugs and it could be all sorts of tired A-Series engine issues. Reader’s ride Al Horsman pops onto these pages occasionally and here is his revived Puma: “It was a real find, but the paintwork on it was a bit tired looking. I’ve finally got round to bringing it back to its former glory. I think you’ll agree it was worth the effort and a little expense! “The roof had deteriorated the most – it was parked under a tree – and the rest of the car was detailed to match the roof as best as possible. I had the headlights refurbished, too. They’re much clearer now and safer for the coming dark evenings. Also, given the 1.7 engine is really quite a modern powerplant, I tried using Shell super-unleaded, particularly before a long journey, and that has really made the car quieter on motorways. (I think the engine needed a proper clean out.) That’s welcome because the car is really too highly geared for motorway driving.” Readers’ questions Question: I think I’ve just been ‘zapped’ by a policeman with a speed gun when I was driving at 33mph in a 30mph zone. Will he let it pass because of the 10% rule? Josh Brown, via email Answer: What 10% rule? It’s true that police chiefs suggest that a 10% allowance above the speed limit for speedo error is okay but it’s only a suggestion and not a rule, much less a law. You’re at the mercy of the traffic officer, I’m afraid. John Evans Question: Now it’s autumn and getting colder and wetter, what’s the point of a car’s air conditioning system and can I just leave it switched off? David Wright, Belfast Answer: An air-con system works by passing the air in your car’s cabin over cold
Origin: James Ruppert: 4×4 Japanese hybrids are niche but they work
The most affordable hybrids that will save you money
2020 Toyota Corolla HybridHandout / Toyota Electrification, thanks to Tesla and Toyota, has become mainstream. What was once futuristic and Jetsonian — i.e. the incredibly awkward Honda Insight of the 1999 — has now become commonplace — as in the goofy, bulbous profile of the Prius. Instead of being asked “Why did you buy a hybrid?” you’re now more likely to be pressed as to why you didn’t. In other words, what was once unique has become conventional.What hasn’t changed is that hybrids still command a premium. Oh, the price bump isn’t as big as it used to be, but with extra electric motors, batteries and gearboxes, it’s little wonder you have to pay more for their fuel-sipping ways.How much of a premium you need to pay then is the question. So Driving.ca investigated the most cost-effective electrified vehicles sold in Canada, taking into account everything from MSRP to long-term fuel cost savings to pricing compared with their non-electrified siblings. Here then are the most cost-effective hybrids (and I don’t think we need to post a spoiler alert regarding the fact that Toyota figures prominently).Overall best valueIt’s hard to go wrong with a Corolla, the world’s best selling car of all time, and it’s equally hard to find serious fault with Toyota hybrids, so the combination of the two would seem pretty hard to beat. At $24,790, the new Corolla Hybrid is the simple grafting of the Prius powertrain to compact Corolla, lending a mainstream look to a futuristic technology. As for a value comparison, conventional Corollas start at $18,990, but that’s hardly a fair contrast since base gas versions — powered by a 132 horsepower, 1.8-litre four — come with a manual transmission. Comparing apples to apples, the Hybrid is a $4,000 uptick from the Corolla L CVT. What one gets from that four grand is a combination of 1.8-litre Atkinson-cycle four and an electric motor that’s good for 121-hp, a combined 4.5L/100 km in highway and urban cycles all of which will cost you, according to Transport Canada, $1,170 a year in fuel. Compare that with the aforementioned Corolla L — 7.1 L/100 km and $1,846 annual fuel costs — and you have a payback period of around six years. If that seems like a long time, it might help being reminded that the Hybrid is actually closer to the LE CVT in trim bits. Said gas-powered LE costs $21,790 and the Hybrid would require a four-and-a-half year payback if you opted for it over the mid-priced conventional version. One thing’s for sure, this electrified Corolla, like other Toyota hybrids, will last a lot longer than that.Quickest payback periodIn terms of smallest increase in price over its conventional gas-powered, or the shortest amount of time needed to payback the premium paid for hybridization, it’s tough to beat Toyota’s RAV4. A 2.5-litre LE AWD RAV4 will set you back some $30,690, for instance, while the Hybrid version of the same LE AWD package costs $32,090. That’s a paltry $1,400, which, considering all the hardware needed to convert from gas to hybrid propulsion, is a pittance. Meanwhile, Natural Resources Canada says you’ll spend $1,693 fueling the gas-powered version but only $1,224 for the hybrid. Do the math and that’s but a three-year payback period, an amazing bargain for any kind of electrification. The electrified RAV4 proves an even more impressive bargain when you consider that Hybrid is actually more powerful — 219 horses versus 203-hp — than the gas car. No wonder Toyota Canada says that they had sold 9,591 RAV4 Hybrids so far in 2019, fully 22 per cent of all its RAV4 sales being electrified. Most cost-effective family of electricsThe reason I like the Kia Niro is that, not only is the Kia’s cute little electrified crossover cheap but it’s offered in three flavours — traditional hybrid, plug-in PHEV and, at the top of the range, a fully battery-powered EV. The base hybrid starts at $25,495 and, for less than a grand more than the Corolla Hybrid, you get a larger cargo area and 139 horses while sipping just 4.8 litres of gas every 100 kilometres. Move up to the plug-in version and Natural resources Canada says the Niro’s annual fuel costs will be but a paltry $753, making it the most frugal of hybrid crossovers. That’s not necessarily a bargain, though, since it starts at $33,965, that’s an $8,500 jump for a $206 annual savings compared with the bare bones Niro Hybrid. However, considering what the competition charges for similar vehicles, that should not be considered so much a slag against the PHEV, but as a compliment to the base Hybrid. And if completely eliminating greenhouse gasses is your foal — and yes, I do remember that this is supposed to be a hybrid comparison — the Niro EV offer 385 kilometres of electric-only range for $44,495, still competitive amongst battery-powered offerings.The people’s choiceNow, considering its $43,498 base price, Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV may seem an odd choice for an “affordable” hybrid. But the electrified SUV is
Origin: The most affordable hybrids that will save you money
Analysis: Why new car buyers are ditching diesel for hybrids and EVs
It’s hard to believe that just two years ago, almost half of the new cars sold in the UK were diesel. In May 2017, in the first of a series of powertrain studies done for Autocar, market research firm Simpson Carpenter forecast that within three years diesel sales would fall to 23% of the total new car market – a prediction that was met with some scepticism at the time. But now, two years on, diesel sales in the first quarter of 2019 have fallen to just 27% of the new car market. So far, the main beneficiary has been petrol. While buyers expressed an intent to buy hybrid or electric, the relative shortage of available models has limited alternatively fuelled vehicles to just 6% of new car sales. Simpson Carpenter’s most recent research for Autocar suggests the move away from diesel will continue, with just 18% of car buyers – new and used – now expecting their next car to be diesel. The main shift from diesel is in the new car market, where the proportion of people intending to buy diesel next time is down from 23% in 2017 to just 14%. During the same period, the number of new car buyers expecting to buy a hybrid or electric car has risen from fewer than one in four to more than one in three – growth likely to continue as the choice of models increases. Even in the used car market, diesel’s popularity continues to wane. Only 21% now intend to buy a diesel next time – just 2% more than those who say they’ll opt for a hybrid or electric car. The very small number of used hybrids and electric cars on the market means a big imbalance between supply and demand for different powertrains. However, petrol car sales are likely to remain healthy for some time. Although one in five of those with petrol-engined cars say they will defect to hybrid or electric next time round, these losses will be largely mitigated by almost one in three diesel owners who plan to switch to petrol. Another nail in diesel’s coffin is the increase in the numbers of current owners who reject the fuel outright. One in five diesel owners now reject the fuel and will no longer even consider it for their next car. These gradually increasing levels of rejection continue to be driven by two core concerns: the environmental effects of diesel and concern over future resale values of diesel cars. The only area in which diesel seems likely to retain a significant foothold is with larger cars. Among owners with cars that have engines of 2.0 litres or more, over half will consider diesel next time, with more than a third picking it as the engine type they’re most likely to buy. Conversely, there seems to be no future for diesel among smaller cars. Why are car buyers turning their back on diesel?
Origin: Analysis: Why new car buyers are ditching diesel for hybrids and EVs
Autocar confidential: Volvo’s views on saloons, Lexus holds on to hybrids and more
In this week’s stroll through motoring’s backstage area, we hear how Volkswagen plans to revolutionise online car buying, why Lexus thinks hybrids are still so important and more. Volkswagen’s quick click Volkswagen aims to introduce a new car-buying experience with the ID 3 EV, which will be launched in September, with sales boss Jürgen Stackmann saying the firm plans to enable “10 clicks to a finished car” when ordering one. But although it is moving towards online buying, he said dealerships will still be key: “In China, people do everything on their phone – except buy cars. You still need to touch and test a car.” Honda looks forward with the e The Honda e features a classic bonnet design, despite lacking an internal combustion engine – and that’s because it’s the best shape for visibility. Designer Ken Sahara said of the EV: “At first, we tried to make it more futuristic and did several sketches with a shorter front. But from a functional perspective, a (steeply raked) A-pillar just makes bad visibility, so we used the two-box shape.” Volvo can handle saloon buyers A stronger focus on an engaging driving experience is now a “prerequisite” for any new mid-sized saloon, reckons Volvo’s UK operations director, David Baddeley. “The segment has moved in a more dynamic direction,” he said. “If driving dynamics aren’t a big need for you, you’re much more likely to end up in an SUV. The market has differentiated and now you need dynamics.” Lexus hybrid-ges the gap Lexus thinks that traditional hybrids are just as worthy as the new breed of plug-in hybrids from rivals. UK boss Ewan Shepherd said: “We believe hybrid is the tech for now. It is much more practical for someone coming out of a diesel or petrol. The infrastructure in cities is not there yet to make electric and plug-in hybrid
Origin: Autocar confidential: Volvo’s views on saloons, Lexus holds on to hybrids and more
Land Rover Defender and Range Rover Velar hybrids spotted
It’s the first time that we’ve seen a prototype for the new Defender without diesel power. Autocar understands that it will be offered with both mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines in 2020, although with no visible charging port seen through the disguise, it’s likely that we have the former here. There is no indication of the engine size, power and efficiency offered by the new powerplant. However, it could make use of Jaguar Land Rover’s 2.0-litre turbcharged Ingenium petrol unit, one of the firm’s biggest sellers since the diesel market has suffered huge losses. Land Rover is keen to silence sceptics, particularly when it comes to the issue of electrified propulsion being used in a supposedly back-to-basics 4×4. However, the company insists that an electric motor allows maximum torque from step-off, and the torque delivery is more controllable, meaning a hybrid would perform better off road. At the same time, a similarly petrol-electric test mule for the Range Rover Velar has been spotted. It’s predicted that Land Rover will launch the luxury SUV with the same ‘P400e’ powertrain – mating a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with an electric motor for nearly 400bhp – as found in the Sport and full-size Range Rover. However, as with the Defender, the images don’t reveal a charging port, suggesting it’s either hidden from view or we’re looking at a forthcoming Velar with mild-hybrid system upgrades
Origin: Land Rover Defender and Range Rover Velar hybrids spotted
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