Even three years ago, the realistic choices for a pure electric family car were something expensively Tesla-shaped or the Nissan Leaf. Possibly a Renault Zoe if your kids were particularly undernourished. These days, committing you can't move for manufacturers earnestly to be entirely electrified in the next 10 years, pretty much all of them some variety of the much-abused 'SUV' catch all. And yet a couple of big hitters have been notably quiet.
Nissan had always been at the forefront of electrified mass production with the Leaf, but while that car quietly soldiered on, there was a distinct lack of electric freshness on the Nissan menu. October 2019 first saw the Ariya concept, but it wasn't until 2022 that we actually got our hands on a car. Similarly, Toyota - pioneer of semi-electrification that it was with the Prius - hedged its bets so severely that it feels late to the party; everyone's already fully engaged and the grand entrance of the EV-specific e-TNGA platform is a bit lost in the noise. Conservatism often looks exactly like apprehension. Or industrial-grade dithering. But Toyota's here now with the BZ4X - co-developed with the Subaru Solterra - and the company needs it to be noticed and taken seriously, a tough ask in a market awash with the new and shiny.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Top Gear.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself