Seat has announced UK pricing for the Mii Electric, its first zero-emissions model, will begin at £19,300, making it one of the cheapest mainstream electric cars available in the UK. Seat is also offering the first 300 buyers fitment of a wall-mounted home charger, a three-pin home charging cable, three years servicing and roadside assistance free of charge. The supermini’s sub-£20,000 price tag is lower than that of its Vauxhall Corsa-e, Peugeot e-208, Mini Electric and Honda e rivals. The new Renault Zoe is available from £18,670 under the firm’s battery leasing scheme, but monthly costs have yet to be revealed. As part of Seat’s ‘easyMOVE’ range simplification strategy, only one trim is available from launch. Standard equipment includes metallic paint, lane assist, fast charging capabilities, 16in alloy wheels, air conditioning and automatic windscreen wipers. Owners can also make use of an associated smartphone app, which allows the climate control, lights and locks to be activated remotely, and gives information on journey times and the car’s location. The Mii Electric shares its drivetrain with the recently revealed Skoda Citigo-e iV and replaces the petrol-engined Mii, which went out of production in July. With an 82bhp electric motor mated to a single-speed transmission, the Mii Electric produces 156lb ft torque, enabling it to accelerate from 0-31mph in 3.9sec and onto a limited top speed of 81mph. A 36.8kWh battery pack gives a WLTP-certified range of 162 miles. That’s 2 miles less than the 164 miles offered by the Citigo-e iV but 79 more than the ageing Volkswagen e-Up. Styling changes over the outgoing Mii are subtle, limited to 16in alloy wheels and the addition of illuminated badging to the back and sides. Unlike the Citigo-e iV, the Mii retains the mesh grille fitted to the petrol car. Inside, the Mii Electric sports a redesigned dashboard, heated, ‘performance-inspired’ seats and a leather steering wheel, handbrake and gear selector. Boot space is unchanged, at 251 litres. The Mii Electric is aimed squarely at “those who spend the majority of their time traversing metropolitan and suburban streets”, says Seat. It can be charged in around four hours to 80% capacity from a 7.2kW home wallbox or one hour from a 40kW public fast charger. Seat said the Mii’s shift to electric power will help prepare its dealerships for the arrival of the el-Born in 2020. Company president Luca de Meo said: “In Europe, the electric vehicle market grew by 46% in the first four months of the year. Moving forward, we expect electrified vehicles to play an important role within our range. “The Mii Electric is the start of that journey and at the same time brings to the market an affordable electric car.” The Mii Electric is the production version of the 2017 e-Mii concept, of which five examples have been used in a car-sharing trial scheme in Barcelona, Spain as part of the new car’s development programme. Production of the Mii Electric will begin at Skoda’s plant in Bratislava, Slovakia later this year, with customer deliveries scheduled to begin in early 2020. The launch of the Mii electric comes as Seat gears up to introduce the el-Born EV, a plug-in hybrid variant of the next Leon and the plug-in hybrid Cupra Formentor sports
Origin: New Seat Mii electric priced from £19,300 in UK
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New Skoda Kamiq crossover priced from £17,700
The Skoda Kamiq, revealed at Geneva motor show and on roads this November, will be priced from £17,700. The smallest SUV in Skoda’s line-up, the Kamiq range comprises four trim levels, S, SE, SE L and Monte Carlo, the latter of which will be available later this year. Of the three trims available to order now, prices range from £17,700 to £25,130. Rival, the new Nissan Juke, starts from £17,395. The entry-level S trim includes 16-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail lights, air conditioning, infotainment system with DAB and a 6.5-inch touchscreen display. The mid-range SE model, from £19,135, adds 17-inch alloy wheels, 8-inch touchscreen display, Apple CarPlay, rear parking sensors and cruise control. The Kamiq, which completes Skoda’s European SUV range, will offer class-leading space and features, claims the Czech firm. The Juke rival, first shown at the Geneva show, sits underneath its Karoq and Kodiaq siblings. The Kamiq is based on the Vision X concept shown at last year’s Geneva show and is the first Skoda to show the influence of new design chief Oliver Stefani. While it takes styling cues from both the Karoq and Kodiaq to ensure a ‘family’ resemblance between Skoda’s SUV offerings, the Kamiq has several distinctive features, including a more upright grille and optional narrow LED running lights. The latter feature animated ‘dynamic’ indicators and sit above the main headlights. As with the new Scala, the boot displays the Skoda name in letters, instead of the firm’s logo. The Kamiq will be offered in front-wheel drive only. Although aimed primarily at a family market in urban areas, it will deliver “sporty” handling, according to project manager Emil Nikolov. The Kamiq is available with optional Sport Chassis Control, which makes the car sit 10mm lower than standard and includes adjustable shock absorbers. Three petrol engines and one diesel are offered in the UK. There are two 1.0 TSI petrol options, with 94bhp and 113bhp respectively; and a 1.5 TSI petrol with 148bhp. The diesel offering is a 1.6 TDI with 113bhp. In certain European markets, a CNG powertrain will be offered, although this version won’t come to the UK. There is a choice of a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The Kamiq is built on the Volkswagen Group MQB A0 platform used by the Seat Arona and Volkswagen T-Cross but has more interior space than both. The new compact SUV is 4241mm long with a wheelbase of 2651mm, both of which are 85mm longer than the Arona. That also makes the Kamiq 106mm longer than the Juke, with a 121mm-longer wheelbase. Skoda says extending the wheelbase has allowed it to maximise interior space, claiming more rear leg room than in the Octavia and Karoq. It has a boot capacity of 400 litres, identical to the Arona’s and 46 litres bigger than the Juke’s. The Kamiq’s boot can be accessed using an electric tailgate and expands to 1395 litres with the rear seats folder. The interior features a similar layout to the recently launched Scala, including the option of a 9.2in free-standing infotainment touchscreen that sits above a hand-rest ‘shelf’ and an optional 10.25in virtual cockpit. The air vents have been pushed to the side of the dashboard in a bid to increase space and ambient lighting is offered in three colours. Options include heated front and rear seats. Skoda claims more than 20 of its ‘Simply Clever’ features are available, including a removable LED torch in the boot. The Kamiq will be offered with a permanent internet connection and a number of connected features, such as remote vehicle access via an app. The car comes with Front Assist and Lane Assist as standard, with optional safety features that include Park Assist, Rear Traffic Alert and a rear-view camera. The Kamiq is unrelated to the Chinese-market SUV of the same name. That machine is larger and built on an older platform, but Skoda has used the same name because they are the smallest SUVs it offers in each market. As with the Karoq and Kodiaq, the Kamiq name is based on a word from the Inuit language. It “embodied something in which you can feel comfortable in any situation and that has its own character,” according to Skoda sales boss Alain
Origin: New Skoda Kamiq crossover priced from £17,700
News Roundup: Boat on highway causes waves of puns, 2020 Shelby GT500 gets priced, and Rivian keeps on poaching
Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.A police photo of a boat blocking a Toronto highway has turned into a national caption contestCaption? This boat ended up on #Hwy407 at Dixie Rd tonight. No one hurt. #HappyCanadaDay pic.twitter.com/rDU3sePzJ7 Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) July 2, 2019When Ontario police got a call about a boat blocking a lane-and-a-half of traffic on the GTA’s 407 ETR Highway on Canada Day, they knew just what to do: Snap a photo and post it to Twitter, obviously. The OPP’s official Twitter account shipped out a photo of the mid-size motorboat beached in the left lane, calling for the public to caption it. And the public, Driving.ca’s commenters included, did not disappoint. There were a ship-ton of boat puns, some fun Photoshop work, and a few solid references to Gilligan’s Island, which it turns out is still the most relevant piece of nautically-themed pop culture. The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500’s price tag nears six digitsFord has released pricing for the upcoming Mustang Shelby GT500, the most powerful Mustang ever made. The 2020 Shelby GT500 will go for $94,675 in Canada, which isn’t what the kids would call ‘el cheapo’. However, it’s a lot of car, with “the most torque-dense V8 ever,” according to the brand, good for 625 lb.-ft. of torque alongside 760 horses. Should you care to spend even more on mechanized muscle, Ford is happy to accommodate. There’s the Carbon Fibre Track Package that adds bare carbon-fibre 20-inch wheels and racing tires, a GT4 adjustable wing and more; or, for a little less, the Handling Package with a Gurney flap rear spoiler and front splitters. A hearse driver with a corpse in back argues right to use HOV laneA headline out of Nevada is serving as a reminder to funeral employees that if you’re going to use the HOV lane, your passenger has to have a pulse. When Nevada highway patrol pulled over a Dodge Grand Caravan traveling in the HOV lane with what appeared to be a sole occupant in the vehicle, they were met with an interesting argument by its driver. There was a passenger, the local funeral home employee told the officer—they just weren’t in a seat, rather in a casket in the back. Clever, but not technically legal. The driver was let off with a warning.What do truck nuts really say about a driver? There are many offensive and unnecessary ways to decorate your car, from the classic bumper sticker to gawd-awful accessories like headlight eyelashes, but king among them in terms of outrageousness are the truck testicles, a.k.a. TruckNutz. Now, columnist Lorraine Sommerfeld isn’t a fan of most car decorations, believing decor should be saved for the home, but she’s especially turned off by the dropping sacks that adorn the rear hitch of some of the world’s least discerning driver’s vehicles. So, if you own a set of TruckNutz and have an actual good reason why you feel the need to set them swinging from your F-150 – other than “balls, tee hee” – she wants to hear from you. We all do. Rivian can’t stop, won’t stop poaching employeesThe race to the world’s first long-range electric pickup truck is a hungry one. In an attempt to fight to the top of the pile, EV startup Rivian has been steadily leeching employees from automotive and tech competitors like Tesla, Ford, McLaren and especially Faraday Future. Since last spring, the Michigan-based company has doubled its number of staff, with nearly 50 engineers and other staff coming over from the struggling EV brand Faraday Future, many of whom had been furloughed by the company. The latest big hire made by Rivian, however, was of an Apple employee. Mike Bell, who helped bring the first-gen iPhone to market, will serve as Rivian’s first CTO. The 2019 Mazda MX-5 is the same old Miata we love, only now with more powerFun. That’s the Mazda MX-5 Miata’s modus operandi. Always has been. That’s why, when the previous-gen MX-5 (aka the NC) hit roads with a bigger body and a less powerful engine, some fans were… we won’t say disappointed, but confused. This year, though, Mazda has decided to clear things up with a return to the nimble nature and a boost of 26 horsepower. The 2019 MX-5 Miata once again plays to its strengths with a spirited four-cylinder engine, spot-on chassis and a host of other performance upgrades that make this generation one of the G.O.A.T.s. As reviewer Nick Tragianis notes, “On a tight, serpentine road, the Miata is more of the same, but better.”The 2019 Ford Ranger narrowly misses Top Safety Pick award at IIHS crash testsIt was the darned headlights. Thanks to a “marginal” rating given to the lamps, the 2019 Ford Ranger just missed the Top Safety Pick at this year’s IIHS safety tests. But it still did pretty well, earning a “superior” for front crash prevention, “good” for five
Origin: News Roundup: Boat on highway causes waves of puns, 2020 Shelby GT500 gets priced, and Rivian keeps on poaching
New Ford Focus ST priced from under £30,000 in UK
The new Ford Focus ST will be available from £29,495 in the UK, with first customer deliveries due to begin next month. Sources say that the entry-level variant will be the ST hatch in 187bhp 2.0-litre Ecoblue guise, the most powerful diesel powertrain ever available with the Focus. In estate form, the diesel ST starts from £30,595. The 276bhp 2.3-litre Ecoboost petrol-powered variant will be available from £31,995, rising to £33,095 for the estate version. The 2019 Focus will no longer be available in ST-2 and ST-3 forms, but high-spec ST-Line trim can be paired with a 1.5-litre Ecoboost petrol engine producing 180bhp, from £23,500. Ford says the latest iteration of its Volkswagen Golf GTI rival will offer “the most responsive and agile Focus ST driving experience ever, on road and track”, thanks to the model’s new C2 platform and a host of new technology derived from halo models such as the Ford GT supercar and the Mustang. It is the first front-wheel-drive Ford to get an electronic limited-slip differential (eLSD), intended to enhance cornering stability. Rev-matching technology is available with the six-speed manual gearbox. A seven-speed automatic is also available. Selectable drive modes are another first for the Focus ST. They comprise Slippery/Wet, Normal and Sport, plus a Track mode for versions equipped with the Performance pack. The drive modes adjust various parameters, including the ST’s electric steering, which is Ford’s fastest yet and 15% faster than a standard Focus’s. There is also continuously controlled damping (CCD), standard on five-door petrol variants, which monitors suspension, steering and braking inputs to adjust damping responses every two milliseconds and promises “ultimate refinement”. Leo Roeks, Ford Performance boss in Europe, said: “Technologies like eLSD and CCD make the Focus ST the most ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ yet, able to switch from refined tourer to focused performance car at the push of a button. “We’ve incorporated learnings from programmes including the Ford GT and Focus RS to develop a mid-size performance car with a degree of flexibility that’s unique in its segment.” Ford’s 2.3-litre Ecoboost petrol engine is the most powerful yet offered in an ST. In the 276bhp range-topping variant, it produces 310lb ft from 3000rpm to 4000rpmm, and is claimed to be the most free-revving Focus ST engine yet. The benchmark sprint of 0-62mph is said to take less than 6.0sec, making it at least 0.5sec quicker than the outgoing equivalent model. Anti-lag technology, developed for the GT supercar originally, is intended to provide immediate power delivery in Sport and Track drive modes. The tech keeps the throttle open slightly when the driver comes off the accelerator, easing the reversal of airflow and allowing boost pressure to build faster on demand. Meanwhile, the diesel ST delivers peak power at 3500rpm and 295lb ft between 2000rpm and 3000rpm. The model produces 10% more power than and over twice as much torque as the original ST170. Ford says the ST’s six-speed manual transmission aids “more urgent gearchanges and… a sportier feel”, thanks to a shift-throw reduction of 7% compared with the standard Focus. Revmatching technology, first seen on the Mustang, is also introduced as part of the optional Performance pack for Ecoboost manual models. While the petrol-powered Focus ST receives Ford’s new electronic limited-slip differential, the diesel Focus gets torque vectoring control technology, which reduces understeer by applying brake force to the inside front wheel when cornering. Exterior tweaks over the standard model are subtle: there are unique alloy wheels, a revised grille for increased cooling and changes to the low wing and air curtains to improve aerodynamics. At the rear, there is a spoiler and twin tailpipes. The Performance pack adds red brake calipers. Inside, the Focus ST receives Recaro front seats, a sports steering wheel and a host of ST-embossed features, and engine and exhaust noise is amplified in Sport and Track modes. Equipment upgrades over the ST-Line X include a rear-view parking camera, adaptive cruise control, a Bang and Olufsen sound system and heated steering
Origin: New Ford Focus ST priced from under £30,000 in UK
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