Motors in Leek

Big-value brands are big news. Just as Aldi, Lidl and Primark are thriving, so too is car maker Dacia. It's models cost thousands less than the equivalents from the big-selling brands.

Now its attention has been turned to the electric car market, with the Spring. This isn't a boring hatchback or tiny city car; instead it's a modern looking baby SUV.

Performance car fans know that the Octavia vRS is a car you shouldn't underestimate. For years, it's offered VW Golf GTI performance in a more practical body shape - with a lower price tag. But now the vRS has shifted up a gear with this plug-in hybrid version.

The iV version of the vRS uses a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to a 113bhp electric motor and a 13kWh battery. The power is sent to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, and in the Skoda total power is a pretty pokey 242bhp.

Drivers are soon set to be allowed to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road on motorways in the UK, the government has just announced. It's the long awaited first move to autonomous driving that all the major car firms have been working on for years.

The ground-breaking plans will allow hands free driving in cars fitted with lane keeping technology on traffic-filled motorways at speeds up to 37 mph.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has finally confirmed rumours that the prized Supercharger network will be available for all electric car drivers within a few months.

In a Tweet replying to a customer, he said; "...we're making our Supercharger network open to other EVs later this year."

Nissan has revealed its replacement for the pioneering e-NV200 electric van. Called the Townstar, it will be available with both petrol and electric powertrains but there won't be a diesel - a real milestone for a commercial vehicle.

The van is based on the Renault Kangoo, with an electric variant which Nissan is really throwing its weight behind. Using a 90kW electric motor linked to a 44kWh battery, the firm says that the electric Townstar is capable of travelling for up to 177 miles between charges, with a 0-80 per cent top-up taking 42 minutes via rapid CCS charging. This is a significant improvement over the 124 miles of the eNV. Load space is fractionally larger too, ans 4.3 cubic metres.

Where brands such as Volkswagen and Ford are wheeling out their first electric cars, Hyundai is wading in with a second-generation car that has the potential to make almost everything in the sector look a little old-hat, both in terms of looks and tech.

The retro-styled IONIQ 5 is bigger than it appears in photos though; at 4.64 metres long it's bigger than a Land Rover Discovery Sport and very similar all round to a Jaguar I-Pace.

The switch to zero-emission motoring has reached a major milestone with the total number of pure electric vehicles on the roads overtaking the number of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models for the first time, according to analysis of official data by the RAC.

September 2021 saw the highest ever sales of electric cars for a single month taking the number of battery-powered cars on British roads to 332,299, compared to 327,183 plug-in hybrids. Although electric cars still only represent 1% of the total number of cars in the UK, the rate of growth in the last few years is unprecedented, says the RAC.

Mercedes is making a big thing of the pure-electric cars it's launched recently, but it has also been quietly plugging away at its plug-in hybrids too. The latest is the GLE.

For the time being, the GLE is the largest plug-in hybrid SUV Mercedes makes and comes in two flavours, the regular SUV and a 'Coupe' version with a lower roofline. It rivals the BMW X5 xDrive 45 and Volvo's XC90 Recharge, but unlike those cars the Merc is a diesel.

Whether petrolheads like it or not, electric cars are the future. But BMW is taking away the fear for drivers who need to be weaned off the petrol pump with the new i4. When the GranCoupé goes on sale in November at prices starting at £51,905, the four-door coupe promises to have more driving pleasure than any other electric car in this class and feels as much like a combustion engined car as it can.

BMW has not developed its own ground-up design for the i4, but has used the basic structure of the best-selling 3 and 4-Series as the basis for this car.

MG has revealed its new, improved version of the ZS EV, which arrives in the brand's dealerships next month. The renewed model has a new look, but the bigger news is significantly longer range from a new 72kWh battery pack.

It will be offered with a choice of two trim levels and two battery variants. The 72 kWh Long Range will offer a range of 273 miles compared with 163 miles for the existing model (based on official WLTP measurements). A 51 kWh battery with a 198-mile range will be offered in the line up next year.