Electric cars are selling like hotcakes. And the future of driving will soon be all-electric. Not the far-flung future, but the very near future. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030 onwards and this looming deadline has lit a fire under all the major manufacturers.
As a result, the number of all-electric cars on UK roads is growing just as fast as its charging infrastructure. There are currently 290,000 all-electric cars and 300,000 plug-in hybrid cars registered in the UK, all of which are capable of charging at any one of over 40,000 charge point connectors across nearly 16,000 locations.So, with an exciting range of electric cars already available and many new models on the horizon, we thought we’d feature five of our current future favorites.
The C40 is Volvo’s second car of all-electric car, but the first pure-electric crossover and the first Volvo model to be designed exclusively as pure electric cars. It’s a sleek variation of the XC40 with an all-electric range of up to 260 miles. Its unique (for Volvo) lower profile means that Volvo has now effectively entered a new segment whilst offering cutting-edge design such as the new front end, which Volvo say is the “new face of electric Volvos”.
We’re not going to lie – the Kia EV6 is a bit of a stunner. It’s very reminiscent of the Jaguar I-PACE and is Kia’s first car to be built on their new dedicated EV platform. According to Kia, it’ll travel up to 317 miles on a single charge and if you can find a capable charge point, its ultra-fast charging capability will see it charge from 10 to 80% in just 18 minutes – almost as fast as it’s 0 – 100kph performance of just 3.5 seconds.
The IONIQ 5 dropped jaws when it was first announced. A masterpiece of retro-futuristic design, the IONIQ 5 has to be the boldest car Hyundai has ever produced. While it’s been designed to evoke the look of Hyundai’s first production car, the Pony, there’s nothing backwards-looking about the IONIQ 5. It offers the same 800v ultra-fast charging as the Kia EV6, 0-60 in just 5 seconds and a range of up to 300 miles. It also provides Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality which means you can use it to charge camping equipment or even another electric car. Very clever.
Although still classed as being in the prototype stage, the new electric Renault 5 is definitely worth getting excited by. It’s a futuristic twist on the classic Renault 5 that first launched back in 1975 and a model that Renault regard as “a cult model of their heritage”. The new all-electric model will be built on the same technology as their enormously successful Zoe EV and have a maximum range of 245 miles. If the production model is even remotely as exciting looking as this prototype, then we’ll be first in line.
OK so Vauxhall’s eighth-generation Astra won’t offer an all-electric model at launch, but we will see the line-up feature electrification for the first time. Vauxhall will launch a plug-in hybrid model alongside the usual petrol and diesel models. With the successful launch of the Corsa-e and the Mokka-E already under their belt, we don’t think it’ll be long before an all-electric Astra makes an appearance. And besides, that futuristic ‘VIZOR’ front end is just screaming “all-electric” to us!