The 2018 Toyota C-HR Compact SUV 1.8 Hybrid… …Tried and tested by David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). The Toyota C-HR (Coupé-High Rider) is a compact five door SUV with 1.2T petrol or 1.8 petrol electric hybrid powertrains, the latter underpins the latest Prius hybrid, and the C-HR uses the same new Global Architecture platform as the Prius as well. Unlike the blandly styled Prius the … [Read more...]
Toyota – 25 years of UK manufacturing, and latest Auris Hybrid Road Test
Auris hybrid GB25 celebrates 25 years of Toyota building cars in the UK. By David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). Toyota started building cars in the UK 25 years ago for our domestic market, Europe and wider afield. Their first model, the Carina E, came off the Burnaston production line in Derbyshire in 1992. Since then over four million vehicles have come from this production facility, the … [Read more...]
Hyundai Ioniq hybrid – Road Test
Robin Roberts (Miles Better News Agency) assesses the new Hyundai Ioniq hybrid Premium SE 1.6 GDI. There has been a headlong rush towards hybrids, and one-time minnow Hyundai is now a big fish… Hyundai showed us the fuel cell ix35 over a year ago and probably more significantly it launched the Ioniq five door mid-sized hatchback in the UK last autumn as the first car with three powertrains, a … [Read more...]
Kia Niro Hybrid – Road Test
Keith Ward test drives Kia’s first hybrid, in the form of the Niro… While accelerating sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) in the UK have eased with the gearing down of Government support grants, reaching 89,000 last year out of a record total of nearly 2.7m cars, they were still up by more than 20 per cent, according to official SMMT trade figures. They include petrol-electric … [Read more...]
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Road Test
Hybrid becomes the most popular power source in the Toyota RAV4 range. David Miles (Miles Better News Agency) explains… The RAV4 mid-sized SUV was first introduced in 1994 and billed by Toyota as the first compact 4WD SUV. Since then there has been a continual supply of new and updated models. The latest major change has been the introduction of petrol electric Hybrid two and four wheel drive … [Read more...]
Kia Optima PHEV Hybrid Saloon Road Test – plus news on crucial changes from April 2017 to road tax and BIK tax
Kia’s Optima PHEV Plug-in Hybrid Family Saloon… Assessed by David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). With significant tax changes due for all new cars bought from 1 April next year, both in terms of VED road tax and Benefit-in-Kind company car tax, sales of ‘Alternatively Fuelled Vehicles’ (AFVs) in the UK will only continue to grow. The choice is also getting better with more and more … [Read more...]
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Road Test
Fourth Generation Toyota RAV4 SUV Range includes Hybrid Versions By David Miles (Miles Better News Agency) For the first time in its history Toyota’s mid-sized, five door RAV4 SUV range includes a petrol/electric hybrid power source option in its line up of two and four wheel drive, petrol and diesel models. The 2016 range now includes a new 2.0 litre D-4D 141 bhp turbodiesel engine for 2WD … [Read more...]
BMW X5 xDrive 40e First Impressions
New BMW X5 xDrive 40e joins the UK's fast-growing plug-in hybrid market. By David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). With a record year of UK sales behind them in 2015, when they replaced Audi as the best selling premium brand, and their centenary in front of them in 2016, BMW look fully charged to have a good year. First of their new models to be handed to the UK’s motoring media at the … [Read more...]
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – Best Of Both Worlds?
A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Sports Utility Vehicle? What a good idea… Kim Henson test-drives Mitsubishi’s innovative 4x4 Outlander PHEV... It takes some doing to combine, within a single Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), electric propulsion (primarily for local runs), a petrol engine, four wheel drive, true practicality in a range of roles, and cost-effective operation. However, with their already … [Read more...]
Citroën DS5 Hybrid 200 DSport
Tom Scanlan tries Citroën’s range-topping diesel-electric executive express... In its white pearlescent paint, with polished metal blade-like embellishments, this big Citroën certainly cuts a dash. Then you get inside and it’s ‘Blimey! I need a Private Pilot’s Licence to operate this thing!’ There are so many controls, switches, knobs, levers and buttons around and above you that the proper … [Read more...]
