Long-Term Review

Why we’re running it: To see if the most important McLaren in a dozen years is as easy to live with as it is fun to drive

Month 1 - Month 2 - Month 3 - Month 4 - Specs

Life with a McLaren Artura: Month 4

I met up with a friend who has owned a few McLarens, including a 570GT, a 675LT and his current 720S, so he was naturally keen to try the Artura. That meant I had to drive back in his Porsche 911 R. The things I do for my mates… His verdict? “The Artura is very, very impressive, easy to drive really fast, even if doesn’t quite have the 720S’s punch up top.” I don’t disagree. And the R? Fabulous

Mileage: 4921

Back to the top

Life with a McLaren Artura: Month 3

A supercar that can do 1285 miles on one tank of fuel? Maybe after the update… - 20 March

It seems strange having seemingly just got hold of the Artura to discover the car is already being updated. Now it is entirely normal for companies to fractionally change their cars with each new model year, but this is no minor cosmetic tweak: it's a major mechanical upgrade.

Because it coincides with the arrival of the Spider version, it might be easy to miss that the revised Artura comes with another 20bhp, 25% quicker shift times, electronic dampers that react 90% faster, a new exhaust system to make the most of the V6's natural tones, a wheelspin mode to the launch control to maximise gravel-spitting getaway drama and even a couple of additional miles added to its electric-only range.

What should current Artura owners think of this? Largely, I think they should rejoice because the exciting part, that extra 20bhp, will be bequeathed upon their car too the very next time it visits a dealership. So you will drive in with a 671bhp Artura, and drive out with a 691bhp Artura, or 700PS as McLaren likes to call it. The price?No pounds and no pence.

Talking of progress, one of the greatest advances made by McLaren Automotive during the 13 years in which it has been selling cars is in its infotainment system and we should not underestimate just how important a component of the buying decision this can be.

From the early MP4-12Cs that were delivered with navigation controls but no actual navigation, to McLaren's dreadful home-grown IRIS system, to the better but not brilliant Android-based system that replaced it, to what we have in the Artura today - fully functioning Apple CarPlay - the transformation has been extraordinary.

And while you might rightly point out that CarPlay is now available in some of the cheapest cars on sale, to climb into something as exotic as this and for it to just work exactly the way you want it to is an absolute godsend.

And anyone who has ever spent time wrestling with the hideously clunky systems that have so often been fitted in the cabins of genuine low-volume supercars will know of what I speak.

Meanwhile, for those waiting for it to go wrong, your ordeal continues. I will concede that the range display is almost meaningless after one fill, it briefly suggested I could go 1285 miles on that tank, which I think would mean averaging something like 80mpg-but I can remember the 720S I ran a while back doing exactly the same. 

I know they all do that, sir is the lamest excuse, but in the interests of accuracy, it's worth pointing out. Of course, when I came to photograph this nonsense to illustrate my point, it flashed up an entirely plausible 285 miles. Other faults or quirks?

One morning when the car was frozen solid, it took a bit of a yank to open a door because the window momentarily refused to drop. But beyond that, I'm really struggling.

There is something else I am a little diffident to point out as I have no empirical evidence to back it up. While it is fabulously fast and undoubtedly one of those cars that always feels like it's going slower than it actually is, it's not quite tearing my face off when I give it full beans, or at least not until quite a head of speed has already been accrued.

And I have a theory about this, which goes as follows: the car knows it's on winter tyres not just because the tyres contain microchips that constantly post messages on the car's electronic bulletin board, but also because the car itself is set to winter tyre mode.

And I think this holds back performance until the car is absolutely assured of total traction, which in the wet in a car like this can be a fairly illegal speed.

I often see the little traction light glowing away. I also remember exactly the same happening with the 720S - despite it not having 'cybertyres' and it going absolutely berserk the moment I strapped on some summer rubber.

Which is what I'm anticipating will happen with the Artura, especially if it gains another 20bhp in the process, which, I am told, it will. I cannot wait.

Like it

An Apple a day...

With standard CarPlay, the single biggest bar to daily usage of a McLaren has been removed.

Loathe it

Get a grip

Bogus range claims and needlessly early traction control intervention on winter tyres are minor gripes.

Mileage: 4554

Back to the top

Life with a McLaren Artura: Month 2

Bicester show car has come under fire, verbally and physically - 7 February 

The other day, I was at the Bicester Heritage sunday Scramble, a brilliant, classless event for petrolheads and even electroheads (if such creatures there may be) of every description.

I was there with the Artura, which formed part of a small display. As a result, I spent most of my day talking to people about it.

And while it is true that most of the comments were flattering to the car (they like the look, even if it is too similar to previous McLarens, the £4400 Ember Orange paint job and the idea of its downsized V6 plug-in hybrid powertrain), so too were there one or two more pointed conversations to be had.

The first went: "Yeah, it's all very well, but it's not as good as a Ferrari 296 GTB, is it?" To which the answer was: "That isn't a fair comparison, because while both are indeed powered by 120deg, twin-turbo, hybrid-assisted engines, the Ferrari costs £65,000 more than the Artura and over £10,000 more even than the new McLaren 750S, which, while less powerful, has a better power-to-weight ratio than the Ferrari."

The second conversation- and I had it a few times that day - started with a question and a smirk: "Has it gone wrong yet?" To which the answer was: "Save having the incorrect cruise control wand fitted, since corrected, it has not yet even looked like going wrong." It's early days and that should be nothing to crow about, but it shows what McLaren is up against in some people's perceptions.

Which is not to say nothing's broken. A couple of weeks ago, I was driving home in the dark on one of those foul days we've been lumbered with of late and I dropped a wheel into what I thought was a puddle which turned out to be a water-filled pothole - a deep, sharp-edged pothole with vertiginous sides.

There was a bang followed by a bong and I knew at once whence both came. The bang was the tyre puncturing and the wheel buckling, the bong the car telling me as much. Except I was wrong. To my utter amazement, given the noise and the jolt, the wheel and tyre looked absolutely fine.

The bong was a warning that the car had lost its ability to monitor its tyre pressure. It turns out these Sottozero winter boots are also what Pirelli calls 'cyber tyres' and inside each is a sensor that lets the car know its temperature and pressure.

Very clever. Unless, that is, you're unlucky enough for the tyre to be impacted hard right on the point of its circumference where the sensor is located. Which is precisely what happened to me. The tyre itself was undamaged, but the sensor had been knocked out and the only way to clear the warning on the dash was for it to be replaced.

Even so, I wouldn't replace those Sottos for anything. Pirelli's track-day rubber isn't the greatest, and I have even felt in the past that some of McLaren's more extreme products have been held back by it (the Senna in particular), but if there's a better grim-weather tyre than this, I've not driven on it.

Like it

Come rain or shine

It offers effortless all-weather performance on its Pirelli winter tyres, with almost no deterioration in feel or ride quality.

Loathe it

Energy shortage

In EV mode, the engine can start up before the battery is empty, limiting further the already quite short electric-only range. In EV mode, the engine can start up before the battery is empty, limiting further the already quite short electric-only range.

Mileage: 3673

Back to the top

Life with a McLaren Artura: Month 1

Who says supercars aren't practical? - 31 January

Because I have beer-swilling family and friends, every year I do the bulk of my Christmas shopping at the fabulous Wye Valley Brewery. I was a bit nervous about trying to fit eight mini kegs of its best and most famed brew, Butty Bach, in the nose of the Artura (that is 72 pints, after all), but in the event it would have probably swallowed a dozen. Who says such cars aren’t practical?

Mileage: 3299

Back to the top

Welcoming the Artura to the fleet - 17 January 2024

It has, it should be said, been a while. We first drove the McLaren Artura in the summer of 2022 at a launch that had itself been delayed from the autumn of 2021.

And even then, the car wasn't ready. As road test editor Matt Saunders put it at the time: "The Artura will be a fine car, I expect, once its maker has finally and fully answered the challenges associated with its armoury of new technology, among which number a completely new carbonfibre chassis tub; a new electrical architecture; an all-new V6 engine and eight-speed transmission; a new generation of infotainment system; and all of its plug-in hybrid componentry. But the Artura's time of readiness, I fear, may not be quite here yet."

Sometimes I goggle at the sheer ambition of this project, just as I did a few years back when another comparatively tiny car maker called Aston Martin decided to create an all-new platform for its all-new SUV and build it in an all-new factory.

Just delivering the Artura's engine to market, emissions-compliant and fully homologated right around the world, would have been a task to make Hercules think he'd got off lightly.

When Aston tried the same, the whole thing ended up in the bin. And that electrical architecture, faster, lighter and fit for McLarens for generations to come though it is, would have been no less of a headache. No wonder there were teething troubles.

But this particular Artura is the real deal, or at least it needs to be. Unlike the launch cars, it's no pre-production prototype but a customer-specification one for which no excuse should be needed or made - nicely run in, on the button, ready to go.

And for the next few months, through weather fair and most likely foul, it's going to be my daily driver.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited by the prospect. I know we should be all gimlet-eyed over such things, but if you can manage that when someone lobs you the keys to a sub-1500kg, 671bhp supercar and doesn't want them back for a while, it's possible that you're in the wrong line of work - or play.

I could have had a lot more say in its specification, but so busy is McLaren filling existing orders that a new car wouldn't have arrived until the summer, and while I might enjoy it even more then, I don't think anyone wants to wait any longer - and besides, a cold, wet winter is a far sterner challenge. If it can prove itself to be an all-season, all-reason kind of supercar, that will be a potent point in its favour.

All I asked for was a car with comfort seats, because I intend to drive it a long way, and a nose lift to enable it to get down my drive. What turned up was a car with an option spend of over £30,000, which may sound a lot but which I expect is fairly typical, perhaps even slightly modest.

I was a little concerned when I heard it was orange (I'm a dark grey or blue don't-look-at-me kind of guy), but this is the darkest of four oranges, and I think it looks great.

The Performance Pack adds nappa leather, some titanium finishes, Alcantara surfacing and so on, while the Technology Pack adds a 12-speaker audio upgrade, adaptive cruise control, parking cameras and lane departure warning - which defaults to off, where it will remain.

The only other chunky costs were the sports exhaust, which I wouldn't have unless someone told me it were essential for resale value, and gorgeous 10-spoke, ultra-lightweight forged alloy wheels.

I'm mildly amused by the Practicality Pack, which adds the nose lift, parking sensors and soft-close doors - amused because it's a no-cost option and I'd be interested to see if McLaren could supply a car without it.

Why not just make it standard? I'm not sure, but my inner cynic isn't blind to the fact that were it made so, the car's kerb weight would be fractionally over, not under, the magic 1500kg mark...

First impressions? Wrong cruise control stalk aside (it lacks the button that varies the distance to the vehicle ahead but otherwise works just fine), the car is perfect. Fit and finish is exactly what you would hope it would be for such a car and those electronics have as yet not dropped so much as a stitch.

And I'm already a huge fan of the electric side. The power it brings, the lag it eliminates and so on are for later reports, but right now, as I get to know the car, I treat it like a civility mode.

It allows me to creep away from the house at appalling hours in the morning without disturbing my neighbours, I waft silently through towns and villages with any prior announcement of my arrival and on journeys that come within its 19-mile range, it makes this supercar cheaper to run than my 1.5-litre Volkswagen Golf.

These are early days for the Artura and me, but if the idea was to make up for lost time, it could hardly be doing it better than this.

Second Opinion

Being a supercar, the Artura has clear appeal, but it’s its specific flavour of supercar-ness that I find especially compelling. It may be a hybrid and supremely complex, but it has an organic, subtly gritty manner about it that you don’t find elsewhere. The comfort seats are a good idea, too.

Richard Lane

Back to the top

McLaren Artura specification

Specs: Price New £189,200 Price as tested £221,400 

Options Technology Pack £6800, sports exhaust £4700, super-lightweight forged alloy wheels £4500, performance interior £4400, Ember Orange elite paint £4400, powered and heated comfort seats with memory £3300, Black Pack £2000, gloss black interior finish £1100, Stealth exhaust finish £1000, Practicality Pack £0

Test Data: Engine V6, 2993cc, twin-turbocharged, petrol, plus 94bhp axial-flux electric motor Power 671bhp at 7500rpm Torque 531lb ft Kerb weight 1498kg Top speed 205mph 0-62mph 3.0sec Fuel economy 61.5mpg CO2 104g/km Faults Wrong cruise control stalk fitted Expenses None

Back to the top

Why we’re running it: To find out if the brand’s first electric SUV can impress in a crowded class

Month 1 - Specs

Life with a Honda e:Ny1: Month 1

Welcoming the Xxx to the fleet - 6 March 2023

The big issue, then: have we decided how to say 'Honda e:Ny1' yet? I mean, it's not a name that trips off the tongue.

Are we supposed to just spell out each letter, making it E-N-Y-1? That's a bit of a mouthful. Is it 'En-Y-1'?

Or perhaps Enny-one? Anyone? Okay, I'm overthinking this, but I've had cause to: the Honda SUV-shaped space outside my house after waving goodbye to a ZR-V has been filled by an e:Ny1, and I've been struggling to explain what it is to people.

The e:Ny1 isn't a common sight in the UK, so I've had a few people ask me what 1t 1s - and the model name offers precious few clues, usually prompting a shrug of vague incomprehension in response.

So what is the eNyl? Well, at its simplest, it's an electric equivalent of the HR-V hybrid crossover, except that Honda's marketing people don't want to call it an HR-V EV, because they want to market their electric cars as separate offerings that are part of a distinct e-branded line-up.

Then again, Honda clearly is marketing them as siblings: it has made much of offering the two on finance deals with matching monthly payments, so all you need to do is pick whether a hybrid or an electric powertrain suits you best. Maybe I'm not the only one overthinking this...

Several design details separate the HR-V and e:Ny1, most notably the removal of the front grille. Instead, the eNyl has a blocky front panel with a fold-up flap to house the charging port. It looks a bit ungainly to me, but not offensively so.

More subtle is the switch to a white H badge on the nose and the switch to lowercase lettering on the bootlid, both of which are design features that Honda is reserving for EVs.

Anyway, let's move past the name and deal with the car in front of me. The eNyl is offered in two trim levels: Elegance, which costs £44,995, and Advance, which is £47,195. For reference, if you're buying outright, the HR-V starts at £30,695.

Still, all versions of the eNyl are well equipped, with entry-level models featuring a 15in touchscreen infotainment system, heated seats and a wireless charger. My car is an Advance, meaning it also has a panoramic sunroof, a heated steering wheel and a powered tailgate.

The only option we have plumped for is the Platinum White Pearl paint. Yes, that's right: white paint is an optional extra. The e:Ny1 comes in six colours, but it will cost you £650 if you want it in any colour that's not black.

You can spend extra elsewhere, but only on colour and trim options, such as various alloy wheel designs and paint options (for £890, you can have the car's front panel in black). This means one thing you won't find on the options list is a heat pump. Hmm.

The e:Ny1 offers just one powertrain, with a single electric motor that sends 201bhp to the front wheels and a 68.8kWh battery that gives a maximum WLTP range of 256 miles.

Of course, official ranges aren't calculated in the sort of real-world driving that you will do down the motorway on a freezing-cold winter morning which could well make the lack of standard or even optional heat pump feel like a truly glaring error. But that's for the future when I've got some more miles in. 

For now, I'm still settling into the e:Ny1 - and the cabin seems like a nice place to spend time. You won't fail to spot the big difference from the HR-V when you sit inside: it's that massive 15in screen slapped in Tesla-aping portrait style onto the dashboard.

Compared with the demure screen of my ZR-V (and indeed the smaller HR-V), it's a dramatic change. The contrast is interesting, and it feels a conscious effort to make the EV feel more appealing and relevant to those pesky youngsters who are always glued to their smartphones.

But it also feels odd for Honda to have gone quite so bold, given how modest the exterior design changes are. Still, my early impression is that the touchscreen works surprisingly well. It's cleverly divided into three sections, so the top covers the satnav or Apple CarPlay, the middle seras and drivin optines, aid

the bottom is permanently locked to the heating and ventilation controls. I will see how pleasing it proves over extended use.

It might have some work to do because, in terms of its power and range, the e:Ny1 on paper is somewhat disappointing when compared with many of its rivals, and the other crucial specifications (a 0-62mph time of 7.7sec and a maximum fast-charging rate of 78kW) also look a bit behind the times.

Our road testers weren't convinced by the eNyl when they assessed it last year, so much focus of this long-term test will be on what hidden depths and charm I might discover.

The ZR-V I ran before exceeded my expectations in terms of how pleasingly easy it was to live with. The hope is that the same will turn out to be true with the e:Ny1 - even if I do never quite work out what to call it.

Second Opinion

Honda knows how to build a charming car. Just look at the E, which melts hearts everywhere it goes. When we road-tested the e:Ny1, the tech spec didn’t fill me with hope, but these days a bit of honest charm goes a long way. Alas, despite having rather an appealing, pebblelike body, it has so far been found wanting in this respect. Will that change with time?

Richard Lane

Back to the top

Honda e:NY1 specification

Specs: Price New £47,195 Price as tested £47,895 Options Platinum White Pearl paint £650

Test Data: Engine Single front-mounted electric motor Battery size 61.9/68.8kWh (usable/total) Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft Kerb weight 1730kg Top speed 99mph 0-62mph 7.6sec Claimed range 256 miles Claimed economy 3.4mpkWh CO2 0g/km Faults None Expenses None

Back to the top

Why we’re running it: To see whether a recent update has kept Audi’s flagship EV at the leading edge

Month 1 - Specs

Life with an Audi SQ8 E-tron: Month 1

Welcoming the SQ8 E-tron to the fleet - 21 February 2024

Audi makes no bones about calling the S08 E-tron its EV flagship, and when you approach it for the first time, everything about its appearance backs that up.

It is big, imposing and very well made, has a magnificent paint job and greets the world with the sort of large and aggressive fizzog (high-tech lights, blacker expanses of grille), that upmarket German cars generally use to advertise their pre-eminence.

Subtle it isn't, which is what 1 remember thinking as I stood and contemplated it as the vehicle for my next few months' motoring. But I had to admit that the raked rear roofline of the Sportback version definitely improves and lightens its lines and reduces its bulk without damaging the rear cabin room.

The accommodation is decent but not outstanding for a 4.9-metre-long, 1.9-metre-wide car. Unlike its younger rivals, the SQ8 E-tron shares its platform with various ICE models, so it has a centre tunnel and provides room for a fuel tank that isn't actually there.

At 2650kg, it's heavy, but that was pretty much inevitable given that it has one of the world's biggest EV batteries (106kWh) strapped to its underside. In that context, a claimed range of 276 miles (which isn't borne out in practice. More on that later) sounds unimpressive.

If the SQ8 E-tron isn't especially roomy or good at cruising long distances, what is it for? This in essence is what I started wondering on the first day of my acquaintance with the big beast.

Sure, it's quite fast (0-62mph in 4.5sec; governed top speed 130mph), but in the EV world, performance has been democratised. Practically any old Tesla is even faster than this. But then you slip behind the wheel and you start to get the picture...

The SQ8 E-tron is about dynamics, and it starts to alert you to the fact from the first opportunity you have to give it its head. Unlike regular 8 E-trons and the other Audi Quattro EVs, it has a third motor positioned on its rear axle, which provides a level of torque vectoring that they can't provide.

So from the first, at virtually any speed, you notice an alertness and an energy in the way it turns that entirely belies its weight, if not its size. Clever configuration feeds torque instantly to the outside rear wheel in tight or fast corners to enhance the positivity of any energetic manoeuvre.

There's no question of dragging this big car through bends; it's right there with you, doing what you want. The first time I felt this happen, within a half-mile of my collection point, I knew the SQ8 E-tron and I were going to get on, despite my usual preference for lighter and smaller cars.

Much of the time, this car feels lighter and smaller than it is. The beneficial effects on handling of the torque vectoring, I soon discovered, are supported by wider tracks and fatter tyres fitted only to SQ8s. It all leaves you with an interesting feeling: they want me to give this car the beans...

This positive, accurate quality in the steering advertises many hours of engineering development, and the same goes for the powerful brakes, which integrate their friction and regeneration phases seamlessly.

It all leads you to press on - and pressing on has no penalty in noise: the SQ8 E-tron is very quiet mechanically (although a faint gear whine is sometimes evident around 40-50mph) and the road noise that can sometimes annoy in fat-tyred big Germans really isn't a problem.

There are drawbacks. The ride quality (which I've seen praised to the skies in some quarters) is only about average. Makers of big EVs are still getting to terms with an endemic pitching motion that often occurs in cars that carry very large masses low down between their wheels. The SQ8 E-tron copes better than most, but it's there.

And you will rapidly spot the difference if (as I did) you spend a few days in a V8 petrol SQ8, with all its stabilising nose weight. The EV's primary ride is the issue; the secondary ride is fine. It dismisses ruts and rumbles with an ease that advertises its body rigidity and fine build quality.

Efficiency is definitely an issue in the SQ8 E-tron, but let's start with the good stuff. Find the right rapid charger and the battery can certainly charge quickly. If you've just stopped for a tickle of power and leave most of your charging for home or office outlets, where it's cheaper, you'll have acquired what you need almost before your regulation coffee is consumed.

The trouble is, on long trips, you will need to charge quite often. So far this winter, I've never seen more than 240 miles on the (accurate) ange predictor, and mostly its 220. That's just not enough for comfort in a luxurious open-road cruiser.

The consumption readout struggles to reach 2mpkWh - my best in 1000 miles so far (yes, more than usual for an opening long-term report) is a gently driven 2.2mpkWh. Rivals do a lot better. You can put it down to exuberant use of a driver's car if you want, but that's not the real reason.

The virtue of high-mileage testing is that you get a chance to experience a car in all modes, and I'm hoping advancing temperatures will take the SQ8 E-tron closer to its official range. It will be with me until the spring, so I'll let you know.

Second Opinion

A few hundred miles at the helm was enough to confirm that this is a car that has been usefully improved in most of the right areas. But come on: an average of 2.1mpkWh is simply not good enough in 2024. My VW ID Buzz is managing 2.7! I’d trade the Goliath drive battery for cleverer efficiency gains in a heartbeat. 

Felix Page

Back to the top

Audi SQ8 E-tron Sportback Black Edition specification

Specs: Price New £101,380 Price as tested £103,475 Options Ultra Blue metallic paint £795, extended leather £750, acoustic side windows £550 

Test Data: Engine Three electric motors plus 106kWh battery, all-wheel drive Power 509bhp Torque 717lb ft Kerb weight 2,650kg Top speed  0-62mph 4.5sec Claimed Range 276 miles Claimed Efficiency 2.2mpkWh CO2 0g/km Faults None Expenses None

Back to the top

Why we’re running it: To see if a bright future lies ahead for the Smart brand reinvented under Geely

Month 1 - Specs

Life with a Smart #1: Month 1

Welcoming the #1 to the fleet - 

Here's something I bet you never expected in Autocar: a magic trick. I'm going to say a word and then tell you what you saw in your mind's eye. Ready? Smart. Now, if you say you didn't see a quirky two-seater, I know you're lying.

The point I'm trying to make isn't that I should have reinvented myself as The Wondrous Wilberforce but that the public perception of the Smart brand is set in stone.

So when it unveiled the bulbous Concept #1 (pronounced hashtag one', regrettably) at the Munich motor show in 2021, it took us all a bit by surprise.

Yes, it had gone off-piste before - creating a roadster and modifying a Mitsubishi Colt to create a four-seat supermini-but never to such an extent.

With a stylish look that showed its Mercedes-Benz design studio origins, this electric crossover was certainly eye-catching. The question was whether Smart could keep it that way for production. Well, the car you see here is the result: welcome to Smart 2.0.

When the #1 arrived on our shores last summer, Smart Europe CEO Dirk Adelmann hailed it as "the nucleus of all things to come". Without wanting to lose any momentum, and before the #1 had even made it onto UK roads, Smart quickly revealed the #3.

Basically a stretched #1 in a similar vein to how the Volkswagen ID 4 grows on the ID 3, this SUV cemented Smart's new, reinvented look - and, more importantly, challenged how as a brand it would be perceived by the public: no longer a maker of quirky two-seaters.

Anyway, what we have here is Smart's electric reawakening. This is the brand's first new model since Geely - the Chinese giant that sold 1.7 million cars last year - took a 50% stake back in 2019. In fact, it is the first new model to wear a Smart badge in a whole decade.

Given that its unrelated to the old EQ Fortwo and EQ Forfour, it is a chance for the brand to break into the EV mainstream and become more than a creator of upmarket city cars.

The #1 is not quite a conventional hatchback and not quite a typically SUV-like crossover (very much like the now-renamed Ora Funky Cat we ran on our fleet previously) - a weird straddling of segments that IS becoming increasingly popular.

It is positioned as a premium crossover rivalling the Renault Mégane E-Tech and Kia Niro EV, with an emphasis on maximising interior space. In terms of design, this is a car of two halves: designed by Mercedes as is quite clear from the E-Class-esque, metal-plated interior) and engineered by Geely.

That last part is important: the #1 is the hrst Europe-bound EV to use Geely's new SEA architecture (heralded by the Chinese-market Zeekr 001 shooting brake). This will also underpin the EX30, Volvo's entry-level, £33,000 EV that is expected to do very well when it arrives later this year.

So well, indeed, that Smart recently announced a new entry-level #1 Pro model with a smaller (49kWh) battery and fewer features. Our car is the Premium, the top trim available before you hit the speed-crazed Brabus, which adds a second motor for 422bhp, 400lb ft of torque and 0-62mph in just 3.9sec.

For £38,950, the 268bhp Premium gives you 273 miles of range (thanks to efficiency of 3.7mpkWh) from a 66kWh battery, 150kW fast charging, a 12.8in touchscreen, a heat pump (of huge importance given the British climate), a plush interior and a host of safety features and other (hopefully) helpful technology. It really does feel very Mercedes.

On face value alone, and with the current costs of EVs considered, it seems pretty good value to me. But it will be behind the wheel, over the coming months, where the all-important questions will be answered. One of those key ones: could this car replace a combustion-engined Mercedes A-Class?

First driving impressions are, well, mixed. The #1 is a hoot in the corners, it's great around town and it just feels all-round composed. However, the strength of its regenerative braking (even in its lowest setting; it can't be turned off) gives the car a one-pedal driving feel, which will take some getting used to.

Like its Swedish sibling, the #1 relies heavily on its touchscreen, so much so that it is even needed to adjust the door mirrors, and that means traversing three menus.  Those of you who have seen Matt Prior's YouTube review of the EX30 will understand my frustrations.

And I haven't even spoken about the quirky indicator sounds yet. More on that to come.

In sum, then: this 1s a good-looking, handily sized EV that's well suited to a small, modern-thinking, tech-savvy family, with enough range for a week of city living and school runs, plus a few longer commutes.

So it's rather unfortunate that I am at the other end of the spectrum, with a 130-mile run to the office and back. I'm not expecting to go two days without charging it, given how range-killing motorways can be.

How the #1 handles that and how much range it sheds will be something to note closely. It will be especially interesting to see how much using the heat pump preserves the miles. I have heard good things already.

So, watch this space, reader. Putting my few initial concerns aside, it seems that the #1 is a car with a lot to offer, and I have high hopes that it can deliver. Everyday usability will be the key. Like, I suppose, the Smart of old.

Second Opinion

It has taken me a while to figure out why I’m a bit lukewarm on the #1. After all, there is a lot to recommend it: price, range, space, equipment and more. It’s just a bit bland across the board – a bit appliancey. That’s fine, but it does mean that the handful of annoyances and drivability issues grate all the more.

Illya Verpraet

Back to the top

Smart #1 Premium specification

Specs: Price New £38,950 Price as tested £38,950 Options None

Test Data: Engine Permanent-magnet synchronous motor Power 268bhp Torque 253lb ft Kerb weight 1725kg Top speed 112mph 0-62mph 6.7sec Efficiency 3.7mpkWh CO2 0g/km Faults None Expenses None

Back to the top

Why we’re running it: To see if a Baja-ready pick-up truck can handle the Wild West that is British roads

Month 1 - Specs

Life with a Ford Ranger Raptor: Month 1

Welcoming the Raptor to the fleet - 28 February 2024 

As I write this, I've just stepped out of a Range Rover Sport SV. It's a tremendously able car, with the broadest abilities of any production vehicle on sale.

And yet, and yet: if I had to wake up every morning forever to find just one 4x4 outside my house, I'd still rather it were a Ford Ranger Raptor.

I'm hopelessly smitten by it, which is silly, because I really like small, light cars and this is a 5.4m-long, 2454kg off-roader that typically carries one person (me) and returns only 21mpg, even when I'm not using all of its capabilities, which is always, because it was made for an environment I don't live in.

The spiders, snakes, guns and bears of Australia or America have put me off emigrating so far, but the idea of having a Ranger Raptor and somewhere I could stretch its legs are the sort of things that could have me applying for a residency visa.

For the uninitiated, the Raptor is the Ford Performance variant of the company's staple 'compact pick-up truck. It's a double-cab one with five seats but very different suspension than usual. Its specialist set-up with three-way adjustable dampers by off-road racing expert Fox gives it Baja Rally-style gait, so it can go off road very, very fast.

It has been made even faster in this Raptor by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, an option that Brits were denied last time around, when it was exclusively offered as a four-cylinder diesel. And was still great.

In other markets (such as Australia, where it was largely developed, this engine is allowed to make 392bhp, but for the UK, where we have petrol particulate filters and EU regulations to skirt around, it's limited to 288bhp.

That's enough for a 0-62mph time of 7.9sec, and I will admit that, on British public roads, that's enough. There are times exiting roundabouts when it wouldn't hurt to have more comph to push past a Volkswagen ID 3 driver who will accelerate quickly but stop at 60mph, but there's only so much power and torque the BF Goodrich rear tyres can deploy anyway, especially in the wet or extreme cold.

The Raptor has four-wheel drive, of course, and seven driving modes too, but in its default normal operating mode, it's rear-driven. Presumably that makes it more fuel efficient (although these things are relative) than it is when the front wheels are driven too.

More on how all of these change the rough-road demeanour in a later report, then, but it has coil springs, not air suspension, so the ride height is set and unchangeable, thus offering a tremendous ground clearance and wade depth and approach angle.

The long wheelbase and overhanging load bed reduce the breakover and departure angles to merely very good, but be in no doubt that the aggressive design and the graphics of this Raptor are backed up by its hardware.

Other than a tall clamber into the cabin via a chunky side step, you wouldn't know so much from the inside about the car's ruggedness. Materials and fit are of good quality. Until recently, you wouldn't have said the finish was up to a car of this price, but an electric Vauxhall Astra is £40,000 these days and a Range Rover Sport as much as £170,000, so this Raptor can pass for £60,000 easy.

To me, it feels more like an uprated performance saloon than an uprated pick-up inside, and the standard equipment list is generous too. It means that the list price before options of 260,064, or £63,544 as tested, might seem expensive in the first instance, but given the amount of hardware and software and soft furnishings and sheer metal that you get for the money, and considering what everything else around it costs, it seems far more reasonable.

Anyway, I will talk more about the off-road hardware later, but for now I'm happy to say that it's the on-road performance I'm particularly taken with. The Raptor has a separate chassis and body, but there's very little evidence from inside the cabin that this offers reduced torsional rigidity in a way that separate-chassis vehicles so often have.

There's no body shake, the interior mirror doesn't shimmy over lumps and bumps and as a result it's refined. Even though it wears potentially very noisy knobbly tyres (which would hum audibly into the cabin on cars like a Jeep Wrangler), the Raptor is quiet at speed and has excellent bump absorbency with it.

The steering is relatively heavy for a modern car (and you can make it even heavier if you push the right buttons), but it takes up weight and feel nicely and its straight-line stability is excellent. There's also a 10-speed automatic gearbox to reduce revs at speed.

As a result, size aside, it's an exceptionally relaxing car to spend time with. I'm not the first to notice its good refinement.

Chatting to my colleague Steve Cropley the other day, he thought he would have a Raptor and the change over a Range Rover, because it's so complete and so compelling. After my initial miles living with it, I'd be tempted to agree that I'd take it over a Range Rover too, regardless of whether or not I got the change.

Second Opinion

I always think the Raptor is a bit Caterham Seven. Owning one provides an angle on motoring that’s every bit as different and compelling as owning that tiny two-seater, and the fun is available on a far greater variety of roads, in all weathers. A crazy choice the gargantuan Ford may be, but it’s an oddly practical one too.

Steve Cropley

Back to the top

Ford Ranger Raptor specification

Specs: Price New £60,064 Price as tested £63,544 Options Dress Up Pack 3 (cab roll-over bar and powered tonneau cover) £2160, Code Orange paint £720, Decal Pack £600

Test Data: Engine six-cylinder, 2956cc, twin-turbocharged, petrol Power 288bhp at 5500rpm Torque 362lb ft at 2300rpm Kerb weight 2454kg Top speed 111mph 0-62mph 7.9sec Fuel economy 20.4mpg CO2 315g/km, 37% Faults None Expenses None

Back to the top