Motability has announced that it will be pausing the ‘Drive Smart’ scheme that included fitting a black box to cars owned by those under the age of 30 leasing a car from them. Unfortunately they are not cancelling it but will amend it and try again. This discriminates against disabled drivers rather than helping them be more independent and live as active a life as possible. Click this article link here, from Disability News Service, for more.

The Treasury Department stood firm in the face of calls, by ministers, to drop the VAT rate for public EV chargers to 5%. HMRC is appealing the tax tribunal that agreed it should be cut due to their own criterial making it clear it should not be charged at 20%. To read more, click this article link from Europe Says.

Last week the Government announced that it will be extending the fuel duty cut to the end of the year, thanks to the idiocy in the Middle East. Whilst this sounds like it should help people, there are lots of evidence that shows those who need such help the most are disproportionately affected in times like these meaning they stop driving. For personal car usage this helps only the wealthy, however in the wider transportation ecosystem this will help to keep some costs down and not add to the impact the crisis is already having. For more on the news item, click this article link from Transport News.

Stellantis and Dongfeng have signed another deal, this time for the Chinese firm to build their cars in European factories with spare capacity. You can read more, by clicking this Autocar article link here.

There is also a link to a Top Gear article here, that goes into detail about if Stellantis’s new plan is in fact new, that we think you might find interesting.

Two years ago, security researcher Neiko Rivera, found some shocking API vulnerabilities in Kia and Nissan apps that allows easy access to vehicles he did not own. He has now followed that up, to see if improvements have been made, some have but mostly not and there’s new ones that are easily exploited and should wake the industry up (especially if combined with last week’s story about the MyAudi app). Click this YouTube link to his talk explaining what he has done and found.

The internet erupted this week following Ferrari revealing their first EV, the Luce. Designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, the finished product has caused quite the stir. The chaps discuss this and wonder what about it makes it a Ferrari. Click this EVO article link to read more.

Last week Mercedes-AMG revealed their electric four door car, which also garnered a lot of attention, most of it negative. There is some impressive sounding tech dotted around the car, but that does require one to want to see beyond the looks, which is a big ask. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more.

Now for something more reflective of what people want at a price that can be afforded, the Skoda Epiq. From £24,090, this is the smallest electric SUV the brand offers. Expect typically VW Group interior with Skoda touches and decent exterior looks. Click this Motoring Research article link to read more.

Friend of the show, Nir Kahn, has written an interesting piece on predominately defence vehicles but the trap many fall into with fixating on one aspect and ignoring others meaning opportunities go begging to make a better product. To read more, click this LinkedIn article link here.

This week Andrew takes a major psychological step forward and agrees to have a list that covers Rover. He has refrained for all this time because the worst car he has ever owned was a Rover and it has left deep, deep scars. Check out the Classic & Sports Car article link and see which you would have.

James takes classic and iconic moments in motorsport and others, but removes the background giving that moment even more pop and power. Check out this Classic & Sports Car article link to see more, including a link to his website. Wonderful work.

EuroNCAP has called on customers with MG3s to get the free fix to their seats, following the failure under testing in September 2025. A front crash test exposed the issue with one side of the driver’s seat moving forward 111.5mm, mid impact. MG has an approved solution. For more on this story, click this Carscoops article link here.

JLR posted a loss of £244 million, for the last financial year. The company was impacted by the cyber attack, tariffs, a dwindling Chinese market for Western cars and the transition of Jaguar. The company has also stated that it will be seeking to cut around £1.7 million in costs over the next two years. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here.

Jaguar has named the electric GT due to be launched this year, the Type 01. Apparently, this ties into their heritage, for example the D-Type and E-Type. If you wish to read more, including the incredibly incisive comment from Hyfrith, click this Autocar article link here.

Aston Martin had to seek more emergency funding, just two weeks ago, as it received £50 million from the consortium led by Lawrence Stroll. This is the eighth time they have had to do so, since the company launched it’s IPO in 2018. Click this Carscoops article link here for more.

Stellantis has signed a deal with Dongfeng to build two new Peugeot and two new Jeep vehicles in China, for the local market as well as export. This is the first step on the company’s new strategy of building partnerships in markets to help expand globally. For more on this, click the Autocar article link here.

Xpeng is the latest Chinese brand to seek to buy a European factory from a local market manufacturer, this time via Volkswagen. The two companies already work with each other, as VW is using Xpeng’s software-defined platform for their Chinese market vehicles. To read more about this story, click this EV Powered article link here.

The Government has changed rules for EV vans plated to 4.25 tonnes, which aligns the requirements for running them to those of a 3.5 tonne vehicle. This removes the need for a yearly MOT, the use of tachographs by drivers and more. You can find out more, by clicking this Professional Van article link here.

The myAudi app and service has been found to be using the VIN of cars as the unique identifier for authorisation purposes. This means anyone who can read the VIN, which is displayed for all to see, can gain access to that vehicle via the app and mobile service. There are more issues as well, but CARIAD has addressed some of them. However, they have not acknowledged the work of the researcher or paid them a bounty which is unacceptable behaviour from a company like the Volkswagen Group. You can read more, by clicking Andrea Pierini’s blog post on what he found here.

VW has revealed the ID Polo GTI, including specifications. Recognisable as a Polo this will come with 52kWh battery, giving 223bhp via a single motor, meaning a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds and topping out at 109mph. The price is expected to start around £33,500. Click this Autocar article to read more.

VW are updating the ID Buzz in line with the rest of their range in terms of the interior, infotainment and the return of physical buttons. Additionally, one pedal driving is now possible. The battery and drivetrain specifications remain the same. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more.

You get an extra bonus this week as there were two announcements from Renault, for their 4. One you will be able to buy, whilst the other is a cool concept. Apologies for Andrew murdering the pronunciation of Plein Sud, but ignoring that it is essentially a full length canvas sunroof harking back to the time when manufacturers made such things. Looks great and will add some fun to the ownership. Click this Motoring Research article link here for more.

The JP4x4 concept is a sort of beach buggy pick-up mashup. Looks fun and cool and it is great to see a brand experimenting like this, especially considering the market conditions at this time. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.

For a change our recommendation to you is not an adventure or something whimsical but an interview with the new European head of design for Stellantis, Gilles Vidal. He talks at about the challenges that Stellantis have and how he hopes to help shape their future. We have, particularly in the last few weeks, discussed the company and how it can drag itself out of the mire it is in, therefore we thought it would be interesting for you to read what one of the most important people they have think they can. Click this Autocar article link here for more.

Once again we bring you a slideshow that might cause you to refuse to believe in the passage of time, as Classic & Sports Car has 25 cars that hit 60 years old this year. Click the link here to see what your options are.

In New York there is a competition for firefighters that includes a sort of drag racing car and tasks by the firefighters clinging onto the side and back of these crazy looking vehicles. It has to be seen to be believed. Click this link here from The Autopian for more.

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned that there will be a delay of unknown time frame and even the potential for the finance mis-selling scheme to be cancelled, thanks to the appeals lodged. For more information on this, click this Autocar article link here.

April 2026 had the most registrations, since 2019. All except diesel market share went up, with BEV being the most impressive and ending up with an April market share of 26.2% meaning it is at 23.1% for the year so far. Once again Fleet is doing a lot of heavy lifting, although Private rose taking the year to date up to 40.1%. You can find out more, by clicking this SMMT article link here.

Michael Doyle replaces Rebecca Adamson, who moves to head up Customer Engagement for Honda Motor Europe. Doyle is coming from Honda Motor Southern Africa, where he was Vice President. Click this MotorTrader article link here, for more.

Nissan is consolidating production lines into one over the next year, at their Sunderland facility. This will apparently not lead to any job losses at the site. Production numbers in 2025 was nearly half that of 2019. For more on this story, click this link to read an electrive article.

Porsche has announced it will close three subsidiary companies with 500 jobs going as a consequence. Cellforce Group, battery tech; Porsche eBike, electric drives for bicycles; and Cetitec GmbH, software for data communications are to be shut down. The company will now “refocus on its core business”. If you want to read more, click this Yahoo!Finance article link here.

Ford is looking to sell part of their Valencia plant to Geely, which currently only makes the Kuga. This would be Geely’s first European production based. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here.

The Volkswagen Group has upped its stake in Rivian from 8.6% to 15.9%, making it the largest single investor in the company. This moves Amazon to second. Rivian has been hitting the milestones the original deal required, which has meant they have received $3 billion from the German company since the announcement of the investment. You can read more, by clicking this TechCrunch article link here.

Nissan revealed their new X-Trail, a few weeks back. The company is aiming at the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Sorento and Peugeot 5008 with this vehicle. No technical specifications have been revealed. Click this Autocar article link to see more.

Lexus has released images of the TZ, an electric six seat SUV aimed at the Volvo EX90. The vehicle is based on the RZ platform and will have an 96kWh battery enabling a range of up to 330 miles in perfect conditions. The TZ is coming to the UK in 2027 but there are no details as to the price or final specifications. Click this Autocar article link, for more.

Morgan has revealed the Supersport 400 which takes the Supersport and makes its more. The retuned B58 twin-turbo straight-six engine will produce 402bhp, bringing down the 0-62 to 3.6 seconds which is 0.2 seconds quicker than the normal version. On the road price starts at £138,883.00. Click this EVO article link here to read more.

Longtime listeners will have heard Alan bemoan how awful American car dealerships and the business model are. He has explained how the price is never the price you first see. But to show how really bad it is we are recommending a Wendover Productions video explaining just how dreadful they are, click this YouTube link to see more.

Autocar have a large slideshow dedicated the cars that helped bring mobility to the world. Do you agree with the choices made? What would you pick? Click this link here to see what options you have to select from.

A British Engineer, Dave Collins, has created a Lego copy of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E and submitted it to Lego to be considered for making into a model the company sells. Submitted on the 15 April this has already received 8,199 votes (at the time of recording). Click this Top Gear article to read more.

To go see the page on Lego Ideas and vote, click this link here.

Following the deadline passing for appealing against the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) plans for compensation following the car finance industry breaking the law, there are now three lenders fighting back. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services join VW Financial Servcices and CA Auto Finance. The companies have declined to clarify to the public why they have made the move. To find out more, click this link from MoneySavingExpert.

Toyota has announced that their suppliers have already begun to state they are feeling the effect of the Iran crisis with warnings that parts will not be delivered at the time expected. Toyota and their suppliers have already downgraded their expectations on 2026 production numbers. Click this CBT News article link here for more.

Fermín Soneira is leaving heading up of AUDI, the Chinese only off-shoot of Audi, to take up the role as Chief Technology Officer for Lamborghini. Fred Schulze will replace Soneira. For more on this story, click the electrive article link here.

At BlackHat Asia, a large cybersecurity and research conference, the vulnerable nature of EV charging networks and shared e-bikes was demonstrated. Companies are being accused of putting customer convenience ahead of security. One possible scenario is the ability to remotely disable an entire city’s EV charging network. You can learn more by clicking this link, from The Register, here.

MG has chosen Spain as the location for their European car factory, over Hungary. By doing this they should avoid any tariffs or agreed minimum price requirements that are to apply with cars coming to Europe from China. Click this EVPowered article link here, to read more.

The Chinese car maker, Hongqi, is in discussions with Stellantis about using capacity at their Spanish factory to build their cars in Europe, also taking advantage of avoiding extra financial penalties. Both parties are tight lipped on the matter. If you wish to find out more, click this Carscoops article link here.

Audi is recalling 96,180 e-tron quattros and Q8 e-trons, due to a potential brake issue. The fault is a lose screw that may prevent full braking ability in cars built from the 2 February 2018 until 11 June 2024. To read more, click this electrive article link here.

JRL and Chery have revealed their first concept from their joint-venture for the Freelander brand. Unsurprisingly, this is an electric SUV with a hint or two of the original Freelander and some of the JLR back catalogue. Initially this will be launched in China but then to other international markets, including the UK. We don’t really know much about the specs or what the final look will be. Click this Autocar article link to learn more.

For information on timings of the Freelander hitting markets outside of China, click this EV Powered article link here.

BMW have given the 7 Series a facelift. Specs have improved with a longer range possible. The interior has also had a spruce up. For more on this, click this Autocar link here.

The car formally known as the GWM Ora Funky Cat is no longer going to be sold in the UK. Never a big seller, whether it was the looks or name that put people off. GWM is reviewing their strategy in the UK and are looking to bring more offerings here. Click this electrive article link here for more.

Not big enough to be a List of the Week it is still a fab article to have a read through and check out some designer’s work where they competed against their own designs. Click here to read the Hagerty article.

Classic & Sports Car provide the slideshow this week, all around the theme of space related car names. Click this link here to see if you agree with the choices made on the show. Thank you to listener, Damien Scully for sending the link our way, very much appreciated.

The racing game Forza Horizon 6 is about to launch on the Xbox and PC, with Playstation following later in the year. This iteration is set on the roads of Japan and include a lot of JDM cars. In a collaboration with the British Motor Museum there will be a Horizon Festival on 23 May 2026 on site, where there will be live music, food trucks, gaming vans (to try out the game) and drifting demonstrations. Click this Motoring Research article to find out more, including how to book your tickets.

Alan was invited to the BYD Sealion DM-i launch. In this episode he tells us all about his first impressions of the car as well as give us some background on the company.

Consumer Voice, a consumer group, is to appeal against the FCA car finance miss-selling redress scheme. Their argument is that the way the compensation has been calculated does not reflect the real world and those affected will not be paid what they are actually owed. To find out more on this matter, click this Motor Trader article link here.

HMRC has decided it will appeal against the tribunal ruling that found that VAT on public chargers should have a VAT rate the same as those who can charge their EVs at home. Apparently the specific definition of “a month” and “premises” is the focal point of their case. Once again the Government manages to miss an open goal by announcing that they are dropping the VAT rate. For more on this, click the EV Powered link here.

The Government has announced that they will be brining in rules that will make the installation cross-pavement charging gullies permitted development, meaning residents no longer have to seek planning permission for them. This will speed up and cut costs for households. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more.

Additionally, following a Freedom of Information request from Vauxhall, which councils already allow cross-pavement charging gullies to be fitted and how they go about that has been established. Only four out of ten do permit, with some giving financial aid and others have a fee of £1000 for the work to be completed. Click this Motoring Research article link for more.

A survey of used car dealers has found that six out of ten believe a European car brand will cease to exist within ten years. On top of that, nearly fifty percent believe that Japanese and Korean car makers are under the same pressure from Chinese companies. The transition to electrification and cheaper products from China are cited as the major reasons. If you want to read more on this, click here for a Motor Trader article link.

Porsche is selling their 21 percent stake in the Rimac Group, enabling them to focus on their “core business”. Rumours have been swirling about tensions between the two companies for over a year now. The venture capital group, HOF Capital, are buying the shares. Click this electrive article link here, to read more.

22 out of 24 police authorities have responded to a Freedom of Information request, confirming that they have had an increase in the number of speeding penalties from 2024 to 2025. London was, by far, the area with the most and double that of West Yorkshire in second. If you want to find out more, click this Motoring Research article link here.

Riversimple has, with a group of other companies, been awarded £1.7 million to develop a vehicle for the Zero Emission Lightweight Long Range (ZELLOR) project. The aim of this is to produce a vehicle that has zero emissions, is light weight and a com,es with a 400-mile range. They will be converting two Audi A2s to demonstrate the technology that is being developed. You can read more by clicking this FuelCellWorks article link here.

Mercedes has revealed the looks and specifications for the new electric C-Class. Coming with 800v hardware, enabling quicker charging where conditions allow, a 94.5kWh battery pack and at launch the dual motor 400 4Matic powertrain. Combined this will produce 483bhp and 590lb ft of the torques, which enables a 0-62mph time of 4.1 seconds. Range is significantly down on the recently revealed BMW i3, with a 472 miles maximum. Prices are indicated to start below £60,000. The interior can come with the very silly full width screen, lots of mood lighting which also includes being in the panoramic roof. Click this Autocar article to learn more.

Smart are brining back the Fourtwo, although it will be known as the #2. Full details will not be known until October, during the Paris Motor Show, but what has been revealed is a maximum range up to 186 miles and a 10-80% charging potential of 20 minutes. The brand is aiming for a more premium product. Click this Autocar article to learn more.

Farizon has launched a new compact electric van, called the V7E. This will be priced from £28,000 on the road (that is without VAT and any Government grant). There will be two battery options, 50.23kWh and 67.67kWh, which have a claimed maximum range of 149 miles and 204 miles, repectivley. The company is pushing the value for moeny aspects of this vehicle. Click this Proffessional Van article link to learn more.

Paranjay Dutt, via Hagerty, brings you our recommendation to read over your sandwiches. He is discussing the BMW 02 Series, the one that lead to the 3-Series. We have linked to both articles Paranjay has written as they are both excellent and linked. Click here for Part One. To read Part Two, click here.

Autocar are back providing the slideshow for you to check out, this time all about rear spoilers. They have selected some of the most memorable for you to choose from. Click this link to see what your options are.

Do you have a lot of Hot Wheels sized model cars taking up space in your house? Are you at a loss to know how to store and display them? Fear not, Fun-Tech Labs has a solution, the Parksible, the world’s first smart die-cast model car park. This is a model sized version of the automated parking lots that move the car to the correct space without human intevention. Yes, really! This is currently a Kickstarter campaign. Click this Design News article link here to read more and see a video.

We held our first ever live Question and Answer session, where you the listener supplied the topics you wanted to hear us discuss. This is the audio of that conversation, as a result the audio has not been edited for content in order for our real reactions to be heard.

We hope you enjoy it and do let us know your feedback, what can we do to improve it, do you want this to be a regular thing, all respectful comments will be considered.

We last covered this story on the episode Its talcum powder - 10 March 2026, but more have noticed the huge threat the ‘Made in Europe’ element is to the UK automotive industry. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has become increasingly vocal in its warnings. As it stands cars and parts made in the UK would not receive the incentives those made in the EU would. To read more, click this EV Powered article link here.

Autocar held their Great Women 2026 event last week, where the winners were announced for a variety of categories showcasing the breadth and depth of the talent, quality and excellence that is brought to the automotive world. Lisa Brankin, Managing Director and Chair of Ford UK & Ireland, won the overall award. Click this link here, to find out more about the event. Then click this link here, to see all the categories, nominees and winners.

Arnold Clark suffered a cyber attack in 2022 that resulted in customer data being available to anyone on the internet. The company has tried to argue that it should not face a claim in a Scottish court as they were already doing so in England. The highest court in Scotland rejected this argument as people had bought their cars in Scotland and this case was not connected to England. You can find out more, by clicking this Yahoo!News article link here.

Stellantis has announced that it will be winding down car production at it’s Poissy factory, in France, from 2028. Once this is completed the site will still make parts for other Group sites. To read more, click this electrive article link here.

Volkswagen has had to write-down $500 million due to the cancellation of the production of the ID.4 at their Chattanooga factory, in the US. This comes after pausing the production line when the US Government cancelled the previous administration’s EV subsidies, causing sales to plummet. If you wish to find out more, click this article link from electrive, here.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant is running at about 50% capacity currently and is seeking to sub-let that spare capacity to another brand. Discussions are ongoing with Chery and Dongfeng. For more on this, click the link here to an electrive article.

Stellantis has partnered with Microsoft, who will be providing their software and AI to allegedly assist the group in becoming more efficient and better, as well as offering customers supposed improvements to their car ownership. You can read more by clicking this CarScoops article link here.

Nissan shocked everyone with the reveal of their radical looking next generation Juke, which will be all electric. Taking its cues from the Hyper Punk concept of last year, this is a stylised vehicles with lots of sharp angles to the bodywork. Click this Autocar article to read more.

The VW ID.3 is being updated once again and this time it also partially gets a name, Neo. The exterior is recognisably close to the previous version but the interior gets upgrades, including adding buttons to the dash and steering wheel. Materials will also be of higher quality and better feel. Click this Autocar article for more.

Denza is a new to the UK brand from BYD and they are bringing a £100,000 performance EV. Technical specs include an 122kWh battery pack and triple electric motors producing 1140bhp, enabling a 0-62mph time of 2.7 seconds. The car will get access to BYD’s Flash charging network once it is up and running. Click this Autocar article for more.

Kemel Curic has been announced as the new head of design at McLaren. He joins at a time when the brand is trying to reinvent itself. He leaves Ford, more specifically Lincoln, where he was working. You can read more by clicking this Autocar article link here.

To help yours and our FOMO, if you didn’t get to it, we are linking to four videos about Rustival 2026. We have picked the three channels that helped organise the event and one more, but do search YouTube for Rustival 2026 and spread some love to those who aren’t linked below.

Click this link here for Steph’s I Drive a Classic channel’s video.

To see what Furious Driving’s video is like, click this link here.

HubNut produced a slightly different video, giving us a peak at what it takes to put on the event. Click this link here to see that.

Click this link here for Jon Coupland’s take on the day.

Top Gear, once again, has a cracking list for you to check out. Do you agree with Alan’s choice? Which of the nine would you pick? Click this link here to see what the options are.

This week we effectively give you another Lunchtime Watch, with Mr Patina beginning the restoration process of a classic Renault 4. Do sit back, relax and enjoy some ASMR restoration. Click this link to watch.

SMMT has revealed the new car registration figures for March 2026. Unsurprisingly, EVs have had their best month yet, in the UK. Unfortunately, the market share is far from the 33% required by the Government. Lots of people and organisations were erroneously using the term “sales” when we only have figures for registrations. The SMMT once again called on the Government to review the ZEV mandate targets, adding the Iran war and it’s knock on effects to the usual, valid, points. Click this link here, from the SMMT, to read more.

The UK Government is investing £380 million in Tata’s battery factory, being built near Bridgewater in Somerset. The company states that once opened it will employ 4,000 staff on site. The money is coming from the Automotive Transformation Fund. Additionally a Devon based battery recycling facility and low-emission brake manufacturer have also been awarded money from the fund. Click this Autocar link to find out more.

Giles Vidal, who is the head of design for Stellantis, gave a frank interview with Autocar after he has spent a few months reacquainting himself with the brand following his time at Renault. His main point was that the group’s brands will be making cars that are distinct from each other, despite the shared underpinnings and restrictions that brings. Music to the ears of us, here at the Motoring Podcast! To read more, click the link here.

BYD will be installing 300 chargers with a maximum capacity of 1500kW, making them the fastest in the UK. BYD claims that this can enable five minute charging of of 10% to 70% for their new 123kWh battery. These sites will be open to all car brands and will be run under the name ‘Flash’. As ever though, what a charger is capable of and what the grid can provide are often two different things, in the UK. For more on this story, click this Autocar article link here.

Fleete (no, that’s not a spelling mistake), has opened the largest UK eHGV charging hub. Located at the Port of Tilbury , it has 16 ultra-rapid chargers enabling up to 16 eHGVs to charge at the same time. The company plans to open a 26 bay facility near Birmingham too. Click this EV Powered article link here to read more.

Honda has revealed a small EV, with up to 199 miles range and a price starting under £20,000 which will be coming to the UK this summer. Their previous foray into the small EV market was the Honda-E that was expensive for what it offered, although did look great. The Super-N seems to have addressed that, nearly 200 miles range for under £20,000 sounds great, hopefully real world use backs that up. Click this Motoring Research article link here, for more.

Cupra has unveiled their Renault 5 rival, the Raval. Starting price for the Core trim, will be just under £23,000, whilst offering around 185 maximum range. Moving up through the specs increases the prices and capabilities as the V1 and V2 levels can be fitted with a 52kWh battery enabling up to 280 miles maximum range. Top of the range aims to take on the Alpine A290, with an approximately £37,000 price tag and a drop in range to around 250 miles. Click this Autocar article link, for more.

As we stated a few weeks ago, Mitsubishi is bringing back the Outlander PHEV when they return to the UK market. The price will start at £46,995, but full technical specs are yet to be released. Information that EV Powered has managed to gleam includes an expected EV-only range around 53 miles, with an overall of about 500 miles. Does it bring anything new enough to the market to attract buyer? Time will tell. Click this EV Powered link, for more.

S.V. Robinson, on Driven to Write, discusses affordable estate cars or the lack of them, more to the point. As he owns one himself he explains how he keeps an eye out, essentially for what he might replace his Octavia with. Pickings are thing. Click this link to read through his thoughts on what is out there now and also to become a little sad at the state of the market.

Tom Ford has compiled another special list for Top Gear, that we are recommending to you. Often we are shown concepts that are either all about the performance or practicality. Very rarely does these cross over. Click the link here to see what your options are.

Antony Ingram, writing for Hagerty, explains all about the fascinating British Leyland ECV 3, which was an experimental design that incorporates a lot of what we expect in cars today, but were very futuristic in 1982. Click this link to find out more and learn a little about British Leyland and innovation.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published their report on two fatal incidents that involved Ford’s BlueCruise semi-automated driving system, that allows for ‘hands off eyes on’ driving. Some blame is being put on the driver’s “over-reliance” in the systems, but also it is made clear the company and regulations played a part. if you wish to read more on the findings, click this CNN article link here.

However, the findings fail to discuss the inherent flaw in the system that has been documented from as far back as April 1948, when it comes to humans supervising automated systems. Click this Sage Journals link to N H Mackworth’s research examining this issue.

Thanks to the victimisation of those using the Motability scheme, originating from a far-right ‘think-tank’, all drivers under 30 and those newly entering the scheme will have to have black boxes fitted. These boxes will record their journeys and from the binary inputs of those drivers they will be ‘judged’ on how well they drive. This is despicable because the technology cannot judge because it is only using the binary inputs on braking, accelerating and steering with absolutely no knowledge of the environment or anything occurring around the vehicle. For more on this story, click this article link here from The Canary.

There are new MOT rules, for the UK, in 2026. Most of the onus is on the garages themselves, but you should be aware of them. The Government is asking for the centres to do more but is keeping the price cap where it is. To find out what the changes are, click this link to a MotorCheck article link here.

Lucid is bringing their next to be revealed car, the Cosmos, to the UK in 2027. This will be an electric SUV which is aiming at the likes of the BMW iX3 and Volvo EX60. There are no images yet, nor any technical details. Click this Autocar article link here to find out more.

The launch of Scout, in the US, by Volkswagen is being delayed until 2028. Thanks to the change in Governmental policy the company is reportedly re-engineering the cars to take range extender technology when they were to be EV only. For more on this story, click this electrive article link here.

Around 44,000 Stellantis cars, fitted with the 1.2 litre petrol engined mild hybrid, are being recalled in the UK due to a potential fire risk. The vehicles were built between 2023 and 2026. To find out if you car or the car of friends and family is covered, click this Autocar article link, which breaks down how many from the individual brands.

Kia has announced the EV2 prices, ahead of them going on sale later this year. There is some complication to all this as there is a First Edition option, which will be, yes you guessed it, the launch edition but that starts at £26,995 and has a 42kWh battery and 198 miles range. However, the entry to the range, available later, is the Air trim which will get a 61kWh battery and 281maximum range. Click this Motoring Research article link here, to run through the trim levels and see if one meets your needs.

For the link to the Special Edition about Kia at Milan Design week, click here.

Leapmotor is expected to be bringing the A05 to the UK later this year. The car is aimed at the VW ID.3 and is expected to be priced around £25,000. Unfortunately, the external looks leave a lot to be desired. Click this Autocar article link for more.

Seat and Cupra are ending the sale of the Ateca. Originally launched a decade ago, this SUV is now not seen as worth updating in its current guise. Click this Auotcar link here to read more.

Hagerty and John Voelcker are our recommendations to you this week. John explains why he and friends take their old Isuzus on a long road trip and how the car is just the ‘vehicle’ (pun intended, for a change) for friends to get together in a shared joy. Click this link here to read more and maybe you too will be inspired to do something similar.

Classic & Sports Car has a list of 20 Alfa Romeos that were never made, for you to peruse and chose from. Do you agree with Alan and Andrew’s choices? Click this link here to see your options.

We refused to believe that the Citroën Saxo is 30 years old, recently. As did some of you. Another car that we cannot believe is the age it is, is the Renault 21. Once a common sight on UK roads, time has not been kind but when a company decides one platform/layout is not enough, it is easy to see why. Click this Hagerty article link here for more.