CAR UK June 2022

Colin Overland Managing editor No use crying over spilt milk? Maybe not. But with oil it’s different. We really should examine very closely the failures as well as the successes of the car industry when it comes to efficiency, and there have been plenty of both. Uncomfortable as it can be to dwell on the excesses and missed opportunities of bygone eras, the hard reality is that past failures should not be shrugged 0ff – ‘ah, but things were different then’ – otherwise we’ll fail again. These awkward thoughts have been prompted by the unlikely duo of murderous Russian leader Vladimir Putin and affable classic car journalist Richard Heseltine. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has (along with many far worse things) intensified scrutiny of where petrol comes from, and the troubling…

IN THE SPOTLIGHT The i7 is the all-electric version of BMW’s new G70 7-series, and it doesn’t care what you think of its design. No, really – the brand’s so confident about the premise, technology and superior refinement of its new luxury EV that insiders view the bold design as a challenge to be embraced by progressive early adopters and to hell with what anyone else thinks. ‘Everyone who chooses a BMW is not conservative,’ head of BMW design Domagoj Dukec tells CAR at the reveal of the luxury duo. ‘Go to a different brand if you want something else.’ BMW positions the new 7-series as a total reset for BMW’s luxury-car offering, echoing the controversial E65 Chris Bangle 7-series of 2001. Confidence and conviction are what’s needed to make…

BM: I stuck with BMW through the 4-series furore but I’m struggling now. ‘If people are calling a 5-series ugly that would be bad, because a 5-series should never be ugly,’ design boss Domagoj Dukec told me last year. I had hoped that extended to the i7/ 7-series; clearly not. Perhaps the clues… ‘The perception of luxury is changing,’ Dukec also told me. ‘Previously it was a low, flat car. But for the expressive wealthy a limousine is no longer a statement.’ CJ: I don’t mind it. BMW doesn’t build pretty cars any more. It builds edgy, angular ones that make a statement. BM: Clearly Mercedes and Bentley still believe in beauty, though. I think the S-Class and Flying Spur are both elegant machines. But I appreciate that BMW had…

7-SERIES (E23) A Paul Bracq-penned masterpiece, showing BMW could do luxury and be an Ultimate Driving Machine. 7-SERIES (E65) The Bangle-era 7-series. While criticism has softened on the 5-series of this era, that’s not so true here. i4 BMW’s first EV co-developed with ICE car (4-series), just like i7 and 7. Also shares affinity for big nostrils. iX Elements of the i7’s interior (curved screen, two-spoke wheel etc) were pioneered by the brand’s oddball SUV. 7-SERIES (G70) The i7’s twin, the new 7 was designed alongside it. Boasts all the same tech and luxe, and is PHEV-only in the UK.…

FACTFILE POWERTRAIN 50kWh battery, 150bhp (est), single e-motor, front-wheel drive; combustion versions too CHASSIS Steel monocoque DUE 2023 A NEW BLEND The C4 and C5X have much in common – they’re both avantgarde hatchbacks with a slightly raised ride height to make access easy – but there’s a half-metre size difference between them. That gap is where Citroën can plug the new variant, surely set to be called C4X. Peugeot’s at it, too, with prototypes snapped by our spy photographers. A POWER CHOICE Under the skin, the C4X has great commonality with its sister car. That means it rides on the CMP platform, so it’ll offer the C4’s 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine and 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel with manual and eightspeed auto ’boxes, as well as a battery-electric version. The 50kWh…

▼ ‘We will not change the Hyundai N philosophy, even if we make an EV or hydrogen car. N is N. That’s it, period. Kia’s GT programme is a different story – we never claim this is a car for a racetrack, but with N, we dig much deeper.’ ▼ ‘With our EVs, I used to look at the i-Pedal as if it was just another eco mode for the eco freaks! But when I drove with it on, in the mountain roads in Korea, you really come to a flow with it. Stability is always king, right? With i-Pedal, you don’t load the front axle by using the brakes – it’s fantastic.’ ▼ ‘With the new EV6 GT, we’ve hidden a secret drift mode in the settings. It’s a…