"Future electric cars: upcoming EVs in 2019 and beyond" (Car magazine)
► All the EVs worth waiting for in detail
► From Aston Martin to Volkswagen
(28 February 2019)
Electric cars represent the next big step for the automotive industry, and it’s a transformation that’s already taking place. We’ve already rounded up the best electric cars you can get in 2019, from Nissan Leaf to Tesla Model X, but the truth is that we’re only at the tip of the EV iceberg.
For the last few years, the car industry’s heavy-hitters have been transforming their businesses and plunging millions into R&D around and production of electric cars – and in the next 12 to 18 months we’re going to see the fruits of that huge investment.
From the new BMW i4 and the Audi e-Tron, to the Polestar 2 and Tesla Roadster, there are some impressive EV’s of all different shapes and sizes just around the corner. With that in mind, read on for our look at the most interesting upcoming electric cars.
Upcoming electric cars worth waiting for...
Audi e-Tron and e-Tron Sportback
Audi only sells plug-in hybrid electric cars today, but that'll change late in 2018 when the new E-tron all-electric SUV (above) arrives. It's a full five-seater and boasts an e-range of around 250 miles - and Ingolstadt is promising a rapid-charge capability of 150kW charging, meaning it'll be replenished in pretty quick order with top-ups taking just 30 minutes (once the infrastructure is in place, obvs).
There's going to be a slicker, Sportback version, too – and we’ve spotted it testing.
Audi e-Tron GT
The new Audi e-Tron GT continues the new, electric design language introduced on the e-Tron SUV, and transposes it onto an A7-style body – though at 4.96m long, 1.96m wide and 1.38m high, it’s both lower and slightly wider than that conventional grand tourer. And although it uses the Taycan’s J1 platform – and keeps the same roofline as the Porsche – this is unmistakably an Audi. It’s a concept for now, but CAR understands it’s pretty much production ready.
Audi Q4 e-Tron
CAR's been reporting on plans for a Q4 to join the Audi range for years now - and here's the first official confirmation of what shape it'll take: it's the new Audi Q4 e-Tron concept car.
Ingolstadt has publicly committed to fleshing out its already expansive SUV range, as the world's appetite for crossovers shows no signs of abating. Before long, most integers between one and 10 will have their own Q spin-off, it seems.
Audi has confirmed that the Q4 will be launched 'in late 2020/early 2021', suggesting that there's still two years of development before we see the production version.
Aston Martin Lagonda
After kickstarting the Lagonda brand with the slick Vision Concept last year, Aston Martin will return with the All-Terrain Concept.
Like most electric cars, we’re told the new Lagonda concept goes big on all the benefits EV powertrains bring; so expect an surprisingly expansive interior and a very unconventional exterior design.
The Lagonda SUV won't go into production looking exactly like this, but we’re starting to see what the design direction will look like. We'll know more after the Geneva motor show.
BMW i4
Munich is desperately ramping up its electric car ambitions and the i4 will move the sub-brand into a more high-volume, family-friendly part of the market.
The production-spec i4 saloon will use two electric motors, all-wheel drive and torque vectoring. It’s likely that BMW will follow Tesla’s lead in offering different versions with a choice of power outputs. This car is aimed squarely at the Tesla Model 3, after all…
A customer-ready version of the i Vision Dynamics could be in showrooms as early as 2020, explaining our spy photos of a prototype on a transporter.
Honda e Prototype
The concept car that wowed the crowds at the 2017 Frankfurt motor show is back, now as a prototype which previews the production electric car, which will go on sale before the end of 2019.
Formerly known as the Honda Urban EV concept – now called simply the Honda e Prototype – Honda insiders say the above is ‘98% representative’ of the production car.
Infiniti electric cars
Nissan's upmarket premium wing Infiniti has pledged to launch electrified cars by 2021. This new EV concept car (above) is pointer to what you can expect.
Jaguar XJ
The polarising XJ luxury saloon is due for replacement in 2019 and CAR’s moles suggest its successor will be a pure electric car. Traditionally the XJ has battled the likes of the Mercedes S-Class and Audi A8, but its successor must move its cross-hairs towards Porsche’s Taycan, Audi’s e-Tron GT (CAR, January 2019) and, in particular, Tesla’s now-venerable but highly successful Model S. And we're hearing that's exactly where the new, pure EV XJ is headed.
Kia e-Niro
The sister car to the Hyundai Kona Electric, the new e-Niro is the final part of the Niro's triptych of powertrain options - the fully electric version of the popular small crossover. It keeps a decent boot (despite the batteries stuffed under the floor) and best of all is the 300-mile range quoted for the e-Niro, thanks to a chunky 64kWh battery. Brits won't be offered the more affordable (and less rangey) 39kWh battery option. While the Soul EV has sold a modest 350 models a year in the UK, the importer has high hopes for this more practical model. First deliveries start in this year.
Kia Soul EV
The oddball Soul is back later this year as an electric car only in the UK. It packs a 64kWh battery pack and is compatible with CCS fast-chargers - and you still get that funky Soul style that's made this tallboy so distinctive over the years.
Mercedes EQC
Mercedes-Benz is busy preparing a new range of electric cars, developed under the EQ banner. The first model will be the EQC electric SUV unveiled in autumn 2018 and due in showrooms in spring 2019 costing around £70,000 to rival the Jaguar i-Pace and other SUV EVs coming from most premium manufacturers. Roughly the size of the GLC crossover, the EQC is packed with tech and its 80kWh lithium ion battery is claimed to be good for a 280-mile range.
Peugeot e-208
This isn’t a typo; the new Peugeot 208 introduces the latest generation of Peugeot’s venerable ‘two-zero’ series cars, and brings pure electric power to an established, mass-market supermini for the first time.
Along with the combustion engine versions, an all-electric 208 (handily named e-208) will be available. It uses the e-CMP version for PSA’s clever new compact car platform and will be the basis of the electric Vauxhall Corsa, too. There’ll be different trims with the electrid model getting some light blue detailing being the only real differentiators from the combustion engine versions.
Polestar 2
Volvo will launch two new electric cars this year, starting with its £40,000 Polestar 2 sports saloon to rival Tesla’s Model 3. Like the new electric Volvo XC40 that follows, the Polestar 2 will use Volvo’s small-car CMA platform. It's a significant launch, expanding the fledgling Polestar brand into higher-volume territory, as it bids to capitalise on the world's movement away from fossil fuels.
Porsche Taycan
Even sports car maker Porsche is getting in on the act: the Taycan is the first all-electric car from Zuffenhausen and you can expect incendiary performance, a choice of different power outputs (think Carrera, Carrera S and - maybe - even Turbo model ladder) and charging times of around 250 miles in just 20 minutes. What started life as the Mission E (above) could be a game-changer.
Porsche Taycan: Cross Turismo
Porsche has revealed the new Mission E Cross Turismo will be entering series production, and it’ll be the second all-electric EV from Stuttgart. Porsche says the new car will generate an extra 300 jobs for at its Zuffenhausen HQ, and it’ll follow the Taycan’s 2019 launch, too.
Porsche Macan EV
Porsche is the latest brand to announce a huge push for EV production. A statement from Stuttgart has outlined plans for a new all-electric Macan, but significantly, it’ll only come in EV flavour.
Porsche says the new Macan will be the brand’s first all-electric compact SUV, and will follow the Taycan – which will be made by the end of this year – and later, the Taycan Cross Turismo. The new Macan should make it to production by 2020.
Rivian electric SUVs and pick-ups
A new name hopes to steal some of Tesla's clean car creds: Rivian. A new American start-up, it has serious backers and some very plausible models, including this unusual R1T all-electric pick-up unveiled at the 2018 Los Angeles auto show. With a strikingly long EV range and some clever details such as a through-load facility to carry long items across the rear axle, it aims to bring silent electric running to the great outdoors.
Seat el-Born
This is the Seat el-Born – the first car from the Spanish brand to put on the VW Group’s MEB trousers. It makes its debut at the 2019 Geneva motor showand follows on from the rather Twizy-esque Minimo car shown at MWC 2019.
Are you wondering where on earth that name has come from? Well, it has quite literally come from a small, trendy precinct in Barcelona of the same name, not far from the overly touristy Gothic Quarter. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.
The Seat el-Born has a total system power of 201bhp, capable of launching the electric hatch to 62mph in 7.5 seconds. Up to 260 miles can be gleaned from its 62kWh battery pack, and it can be recharged via a 100kW in around 45 minutes.
Seat Minimo
You’re looking a the Seat Minimo, a new Twizy-style concept car not unveiled at Geneva, but at Mobile World Congress (or MWC). Seat says the all-electric concept has been developed to meet the challenges of ‘city driving and emission regulations.’
Seat says the Minimo should combines the benefits of a motorcycle with the comfort of a car - while still remaining agile – and that basically puts it on parallel with Renault’s Twizy vehicle. It should comfortable fit two people and at just 2.5 metres long and 1.24 wide, the Minimo could be fine for smaller parking spaces.
Tesla Model 3
It’s already in low-volume production in the US, but we must wait for right-hand drive Model 3s in the UK - and that means we don’t know the price yet, either. If it costs the rumoured £35k, that could indeed change the game, and tempt many motorists from their plug-in BMWs and Mercedes.
Tesla Roadster
If performance is your thing, the new Tesla Roadster v2 due in 2020 is hard to ignore. In typical Elon Musk fashion, the entrepreneur has decreed that the first open-top Tesla will also be the world’s fastest car - with 0-60mph in a claimed 1.9sec. That’s what happens when you plumb 7300lb ft of torque through a lightweight four-seater targa bodyshell. Bearing in mind some of the outrageous claims made for other Teslas (and the company’s inability to launch cars on schedule and budget), we might take its 250mph top speed and 620-mile range with a pinch of salt.
Electric Volkswagens
The one good thing about Dieselgate? It accelerated the transformation of VW and made it an electric-first company. The full fruits have yet to be borne, but you'll see the new ID range of electric VWs arrive later in 2019 and in surprisingly quick order there'll be a host of electric hatchbacks, vans, SUVs and saloons, all wearing the electrified ID badge.
Link: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/electric/future-electric-cars-upcoming-evs/