What Car?の April 2026 の目次

In an episode of The Simpsons that pokes fun at our consumer society, two of the characters visit a new supermarket called Monstromart. As this name suggests, it houses a virtually unlimited choice of products on shelves that reach up like skyscrapers. Meanwhile, the store’s slogan is ‘Where shopping is a baffling ordeal’. Unfortunately, buying a new car can feel similar. Yes, the huge number of models that most manufacturers offer these days increases the chances of you being able to have something that’s ideal for your needs, but it can also make life horribly confusing. This issue is here to help, though. In addition to our regular buyer’s guide (from page 89) where we reveal the top cars in every class, our reviewers have named every brand’s best model…

THE BMW i3 is back, but not as we know it. While the original i3 launched back in 2013 was a futuristic-looking hatchback with a relatively short electric range and dinky proportions, this new model couldn’t be more different. A low-slung saloon counterpart to BMW’s latest iX3 electric SUV (our reigning Car of the Year), it will usher in the eighth generation of the BMW 3 Series – which has long been one of our favourite executive cars. The i3 looks radically different from the outgoing 3 Series (a model that isn’t available in fully electric form), with more angular lines and a wider, flatter version of the iX3’s split front grille, integrated with the headlights. It’s 50mm longer than today’s 3 Series and its roof is less sloping; the…

NOWADAYS, AN ELECTRIC range of 84 miles is paltry from a fully electric car, but from a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) it’s still noteworthy. That’s the maximum distance the Geely Starray can officially cover on electric power alone, beating the already impressive 75-mile range promised by the Audi Q3 e-hybrid, MG HS Plug-in Hybrid (our current favourite PHEV) and Volkswagen Tiguan eHybrid. If you top up the battery overnight, you could commute from Reading to Westminster and back each day and save what’s in your petrol tank for longer trips away at the weekend. So far, so good, then. The Starray is the second model to be launched in the UK by the Chinese brand, and this family SUV uses the same basic underpinnings as Geely’s fully electric EX5. Only a…

56 The electric-only range, in miles, of the Lepas L8 plug-in hybrid family SUV, which will launch the Chinese brand in the UK this summer. Lepas is the fourth brand to join the Chery family in the UK, alongside Jaecoo, Omoda and Chery itself. 20% The proportion of Aston Martin’s workforce that will be axed after the firm recorded net losses of almost £500 million last year. The luxury marque employs around 3000 people, of whom about 600 will lose their jobs. Aston Martin attributes the losses to “disruptive” US tariffs and slow demand from the Chinese market. 4.2 The time, in seconds, it officially takes the new Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 sports SUV to complete a 0-62mph sprint.…

EVER TRIED TO track down a delicacy you enjoyed abroad but couldn’t find in UK shops? Well, the original Renault Twingo was a French fancy that we were denied here in the UK. That model, though, has now been reborn as an electric car that inherits the style of its much-admired ancestor. The new Twingo shares its underpinnings with our 2025 Car of the Year, the Renault 5 (R5). It also follows the R5’s design philosophy of combining retro and modern styling elements, plus it adopts much of that model’s technology, including its easy-to-use Google-powered 10.0in infotainment system and its digital driver’s display. However, the Twingo retains the dinky proportions of its predecessor, echoing its distinctive, bubbly shape and tipping its hat with fresh interpretations of the original’s unmistakable semi-circular…

WHEN THE VOLKSWAGEN ID Buzz took home our overall Car of the Year trophy in 2023, it didn’t win any points for nostalgia. It earned them the hard way: by pairing cavernous practicality and car-like driving manners with ironclad predicted resale values that made it a surprisingly sound financial choice – next to most premium electric SUVs, at least. But it still wasn’t exactly a bargain, and that hasn’t changed in the three years since, other than the fact that reasonable savings on the brochure price are now available. So, while the Buzz remains a brilliant electric MPV for those with the wherewithal, it’s a pity it isn’t a bit more affordable. That’s where the new Kia PV5 comes in. It may lack the Buzz’s flower power heritage, but it…

Mileage 2418 List price £88,555 Best price £68,990 Price as tested £93,650 Test range 320 miles I’M NATURALLY LEFT-handed. But like a lot of left-handed people, I can do most things pretty well with my right hand, too; it’s something that happens when you grow up with the vast majority of products designed with the right-handed in mind. So, one of the details about my Audi E-tron GT that I value is that it’s similarly flexible. You see, while most modern electric cars have a single charging port, the E-tron GT has one on each front wing. And as a result, whether you prefer to park nose or tail into a space (and no matter which side of the car this puts the charging unit), you can plug in without…

ALTHOUGH I’M SAYING au revoir to my Renault 5 (R5), I’m hoping it’ll be more like the true translation of the French for goodbye: until we meet again. That’s because the latest version of the R5 has impressed me so much more than its petrol predecessor (one of which I owned briefly in the 1980s) that I’d seriously consider another one in the future. You see, while my original R5 was frugal, nippy and fun, it was pretty basic – not a criticism you can level at the new, electric one. It’s a really grown-up proposition, both in terms of the way it drives and how well kitted out it is. A short driving holiday to Belgium last year demonstrated just how adept this car is at eating up motorway…

ON SALE FROM 2021-present PRICE FROM £11,000 OUR FAVOURITE VERSION 1.3 DIG-T 140 N-Connecta LIKE THE IDEA of buying British? The Nissan Qashqai might not be the first car that springs to mind, but perhaps it should be. Designed in London, engineered in Bedfordshire and built in Sunderland, the third-generation Qashqai is as British as a car can be – aside from the small detail of being from a Japanese brand. At any rate, the latest Qashqai remains a huge success in the UK, despite a flood of family SUVs entering the market in recent years – a class it helped to create back in 2007. The latest version remains a very popular rival to the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage. Introduced in 2021, the latest Qashqai was new from…

ON 2 MARCH 1969, André Turcat slid four levers fully forwards and flicked the switches to ignite the afterburners of four Rolls-Royce SNECMA Olympus turbojet engines. With a pulverising roar, a vast, dart-like projectile swept down the Toulouse runway, and before long, the world’s most famous supersonic airliner was soaring in the French sky. The cliché ‘Concorde moment’ was born, and it has been thrown around with gay abandon ever since. It’s not too much of a stretch, though, to use it when describing the arrival of the Tesla Model S. Premiering in 2012 and arriving with right-hand drive (RHD) for the UK in 2014, there had never been anything quite like it before. Sure, the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe were convincing electric family runabouts, but the Model S…

YOU’D BE FORGIVEN for thinking the Urban is a version of the MG 4 aimed at buyers who mostly drive around town. Well, it isn’t; it’s actually a completely different car. In fact, we’re not entirely sure why MG has plumped for a confusingly similar name, because just about the only thing the two models have in common is that they’re powered by electricity. With styling inspired by that of the MG Cyberster sports car, the Urban looks nothing like its namesake and even sits on different underpinnings. It’s also bigger in every direction and yet much cheaper to buy, instead being priced in line with far smaller electric vehicles (EVs) such as the Hyundai Inster and Renault 5. So, on one hand it’s a bigger alternative to those cars,…

THEY SAYTHERE’S a first time for everything, and that couldn’t be more true for the Audi RS5, which differs from its predecessor by embracing electrification. Indeed, the performance car is turning to plug-in hybrid power – a first for the Audi Sport line-up. Replacing the RS4, the RS5 follows in the footsteps of the rival Mercedes-AMG C63, which is also a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) performance car. Under the new RS5’s bonnet is an upgraded version of the RS4’s twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine, with power up to 503bhp (a 59bhp increase). On top of that, it’s joined by a 174bhp electric motor (powered by a 22kWh usable capacity battery), bringing the combined output of the RS5 to a hefty 630bhp. That’s claimed to be enough for 0-62mph in just 3.6sec…

THE GOVERNMENT HAS increased its Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant by £150 for those with no off-street parking. This means drivers can receive up to £500 towards installing a home EV charger – until March 2027. Active from 1 April, the £500 grant will “cover almost half the cost of a typical charge point installation” for renters, flat owners, businesses and homeowners without driveways, according to the Department for Transport (DfT). Or, it can cover some of the cost of installing a cross-pavement cable gully where necessary. Introduced in 2023, the original £350 grant was restricted to EV owners with driveways but was subsequently expanded to include those without off-street parking. The DfT claims the uplift can help drivers make the switch to electric power and save them £1400 per year…

ABARTH 600E Competizione List price £37,995 Best price £37,995 Engine Electric motor Gearbox 1-spd automatic Battery size 51kWh (usable) 0-62mph 5.9sec Top speed 124mph Official range 200 miles WHILE IT’S BASED on the Fiat 600e, this Abarth version produces up to 276bhp (versus the Fiat’s 152bhp) and adds a traction-enhancing limited-slip differential to help you make the most of that extra power. True, it still doesn’t feel quite as agile as the best petrol alternatives, but it offers a greater sense of fun than other electric SUVs of its size, with the precise, communicative steering a particular highlight. Unfortunately, it impresses less for everyday usability. Despite being more practical than Abarth’s 500e, the 600e is still pretty cramped in the back. And in real-world use, you’ll struggle to travel 150…

EARLIER THIS YEAR, the Milne family was poking around a rather handsome house in Kent – once home to Charles Darwin, the metaphorical father of evolutionarybiology. Not coincidentally, I later drove my Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate to a remote part of the Essex coast to see the final resting place of HMS Beagle – the ship on which Darwin travelled to collect evidence that led to his magnum opus: On the Origin of Species. These Darwinian encounters set me pondering that few executive cars can match the lineage and family history of the E-Class. Indeed, Mercedes’ archivists reckon the origin of the E-Class stretches right back to the 1930s. And that’s why my update in the March issue focused on a mysterious cross-continent mission: I wanted to take my E300de diesel-electric…

Mileage on arrival 12,087 Mileage now 12,087 List price when new £82,925 Value on arrival £65,900 Test economy 29.2mpg IT’S RARETHAT you’ll find something in life that you can’t fault, but in my used Land Rover Discovery, the infotainment system is suiting me down to the ground. Not only is it graphically impressive, but it’s also packed with features at the same time as being easy to navigate. This means I haven’t felt the need to bypass Land Rover’s native software using the wireless Apple CarPlay, although on those occasions where I want to stay in touch with my family on WhatsApp, I have both that and Android Auto at my fingertips. I also love the Discovery’s physical controls. For example, in many modern SUVs you need to delve into…

Mileage 4155 List price £59,000 Best price £51,490 Price as tested £60,100 Test range 244 miles WHEN I DECIDED to introduce a BYD Sealion 7 into my life as my daily driver, one of the most important factors that sold me on the idea was the amount of luggage room it promises. Right from seeing the numbers on the spec sheet, I knew it would be incredibly practical, and true enough, its 520-litre boot is not only enormous but also usefully shaped, plus it offers a deep underfloor storage well with an additional 73 litres of volume. Meanwhile, beneath the bonnet, there’s a 58-litre front boot, which some people call a‘frunk’, but I prefer to think of as a ‘froot’, given that I’d never describe the main boot of a…

IMAGINE A SITUATION where two chefs are given the same ingredients and told to cook whatever they like. One goes the avant-garde route, fusing flavours in a way hitherto unimagined. The other creates a piquantly polished take on a familiar everyday staple. And both are utterly delicious. This is exactly what we have with the Audi E-tron GT and Porsche Taycan. Their makers had the task of spinning their own, distinct visions of a spectacular electric performance saloon from the same set of underpinnings. Naturally, Porsche opted to make a more driver-focused car, while Audi took the comfort route. The results are different, but the two cars are both hugely desirable. Now they’ve been around for five years, they can be bought for a fraction of what you’d pay new.…

‘The new 4 trades the current car’s curves for boxier rear-end styling’ ONE OF THE most controversial and talked-about features of the Polestar 4 coupé SUV when it was introduced in 2024 was its rear window – or lack thereof. It’s as if the designers were saying that glass is a bit passé now that we have cameras and tech to turn to. Which brings us to estate cars. The growing popularity of SUVs came at the expense of estates, which now sell in smaller numbers than had been the case. Far from being passé, though, they’re making a comeback, with the Polestar 4 estate the freshest example – and it has a lovely big rear windscreen. Previewed in an official teaser image (above right), the estate still has an…

GETTING A DISCOUNT ON the things you buy is fairly easy, but there’s often a catch. For instance, when you’re looking to buy something and see that you can get 10% off… it’s soon apparent you have to sign up for a newsletter or register for an account. Do you give in and take the discount, or do you resist because your already-stacked email inbox has had enough? Tesla Model 3 buyers face a similar dilemma. You see, the entry-level Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) version has just been updated, with a £2000 price cut among the changes. However, there’s a catch. Well, a few, actually. Firstly, it’s a bit slower to accelerate; 0-60mph now takes 6.2sec (previously 5.8sec). Tesla’s reasoning for this relates to insurance, with the new RWD falling into…

GENESIS HAS UNVEILED a hot Magma variant of its GV60 electric SUV, promising more power and better handling. The Magma looks a lot more aggressive than the standard GV60. Its front bumper has been redesigned with aerodynamics and cooling in mind, and the wheel arches have been widened to house new 21in forged alloy wheels – the largest ever fitted to a GV60. At the rear, there’s a new spoiler for increased downforce. The GV60 Magma gets two electric motors, just like versions of the standard car, but with a total of 641bhp. That’s almost 200bhp more than the most powerful regular GV60. The Magma can officially reach 164mph, and 0-62mph takes just 3.4sec when you use the boost button on its steering wheel. There’s also synthetic ‘engine’ noise and…

DON’T BE FOOLED into thinking that if you buy a fairly new car, it will be impervious to thieves; the majority of the cars stolen in the UK last year were just a couple of years old. Although the problem of car theft abated slightly (54,830 vehicles were reported stolen in 2025, compared with 61,343 the previous year), that still equates to 150 cars taken every day and 10.4 every minute of the year. This is based on data What Car? obtained from the DVLA by a Freedom of Information request. It’s also important not to assume your car will be safe from thieves if it’s a cheap or less fashionable model. While the top 10 most stolen cars list does include some upmarket models, several small, affordable models also…

WE’VE ALL BEEN watching the advancement of battery technology over recent years, and the range improvements it’s brought for electric cars (EVs) is worth celebrating. It’s time, though, that we let out a second cheer, because the same tech has also bolstered the efficiency of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). The new Audi Q5 e-Hybrid is the latest example; its 60-mile official electric range is a big leap over its predecessor’s 39-mile stamina. We’re testing it against the Volvo XC60 T6; this rival has been around for a long while, but it’s one of our favourite PHEV SUVs and was recently refreshed inside and out. DRIVING Performance, ride, handling, refinement Each of our contenders combines a 2.0-litre engine with an electric motor to send power to all four wheels. In their respective…

Mileage 628 List price £39,860 Best price £38,360 Price as tested £40,660 Test range 228 miles GETTING INTO MY Volvo EX30 is proving less straightforward than you’d expect. I don’t mean when I’m sliding into the driver’s seat; I’m talking about the keyless entry being slow to unlock the doors. In cars fitted with automatic keyless entry (as mine is), the doors should unlock as you approach. But with my EX30, I can be standing beside the car for several seconds before anything happens. Touching or pulling on a door handle doesn’t seem to speed things up, either. For obvious reasons, this delay isn’t ideal when it’s raining. Because the EX30’s keyfob doesn’t have a single button on it, the quickest option is to press it up against a sensor…

Mileage 4499 List price £39,885 Best price £39,885 Price as tested £39,885 Test range 150 miles MY ABARTH 600E is the kind of car you might buy with your heart as much as your head, and as such, it needs to offer plenty of showroom sizzle to entice the prospective purchaser. Have no fear, though: it does. If you’re not seduced at first sight by its paintwork and fancy rear spoiler, there are several design fripperies to whet the appetite, including many, many scorpions. Abarth has always used the scorpion as its symbol, not only because its founder, Carlo Abarth, was born in November, but also because it signifies grit, strength and power. The arachnid appears inside on the steering wheel, dashboard and kickplates, and outside on the front, sides…

Mileage 4499 List price £38,660 Best price £32,345 Price as tested £44,485 Test range 239 miles THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE for any electric car in the UK is, arguably, a road trip to Cornwall. Why? Well, with it being perched on the south-western tip of the country, it’s pretty much a long way from anywhere else. That is, unless you’re lucky enough to live in the West Country. Fortunately, given that this is exactly where I recently went on holiday, my Skoda Elroq has a big, 77kWh (usable capacity) battery. But even with the 360-mile official range that this delivers, I was definitely going to need to stop at least once during the 250-mile round-trip from London. So, how did I get on? Well, for the most part, very well. I…