Fast News Friday number 80 – how did that happen so quickly? This week we’re focused back onto the electric vehicle market with KIA and BMW reveals! We can’t wait to see all these new EV designs on the roads – they look brilliant – so why is the UK reducing the EV grant?
Its not the first BEV KIA are releasing with the wonderful Soul EV and Niro EV already for sale but this marks the first time KIA will release a new vehicle that only comes with an electric powertrain option. The EV6 really amps up the electric design era bringing low-mounted headlights, a floating roofline and a distinctive mix of light and dark materials that capture the eye. We love the sporty meets elegance looks that continue throughout the interior and honestly we can’t wait to see more from KIA! More to be revealed early 2022 #watchthisspace
The BBC headline for this article talks of a growing backlash against Government moves to reduce the EV grant and we’re not surprised. We recently mentioned we thought Sweden was leading the way on electrifying roads and we’re not sure how reducing incentives to go electric are going to help the UK catch up. We’ll stand by for more info on that as talk of a green recovery led by science, technology and innovation got us quite excited at the prospect of the UK becoming a world leader in clean transport.
VW has confirmed it will trial pay-per-mile and subscriptions for specific added value features that it will package with the ID3. It remains to be seen which services it will bundle together as either pay-per-mile or as part of a subscription package but they describe the move as potentially being a new and profitable revenue service. Drivers might be keen if the features add value and are priced at a point that makes on-demand purchase more attractive than buying the features outright but will want to avoid paying more for features they’re used to getting already. Added value digital services are definitely a place where brands have space to innovate and differentiate so we’ll watch out for more news on this experiment later in the year.
BMW have accelerated their EV plans with the i4 coming 3 months early
Unlike some other brands BMW’s EV line-up are instantly recognisable as a BMW. The i4 is probably the most iconic of the lot, sharing the classic saloon styling that BMW is famous for with their new EV design language sprinkled throughout. But beyond the looks we’re excited to see how this i4 drives, Autocar tell us: “Precise technical specs remain under wraps, but we know the range-topping model – likely badged i4 M – will send up to 523bhp to both axles and offer a range of 367 miles. A 0-62mph time of around 4.0sec and top speed of more than 124mph are likely.” Great work BMW – keep the EV models coming because we love them!
Great news from our clients at Ford that they will produce engines for the new Transit Custom at their Dagenham base safeguarding a huge number of jobs there. The Transit Custom is a fantastic commercial vehicle that we’ve had the pleasure of working with on Transit family launches and we can’t wait to see the new model hit the roads.