A lmost £4 million worth of cars road tested, hundreds more reviewed, news scoops and landmark moments, such as the return of the motor show, the first true driver’s EV and a shock Lambo win. Relive all of the year’s highlights over the next 25 pages

Autocar’s first issue of every new year customarily leads with a bumper preview of all of the A new models that an autophile can expect in UK showrooms throughout the year ahead – and back in January, the team’s hard-working newshounds introduced you to 130 of them.

From the Lotus Eletre to the BMW i5, via the Abarth 500e and the Kia EV9, the collected metal was enough to make anyone feel excited. We were equally pumped, though, about the imminent arrival of the twin-motor MG 4 Triumph Edition (eventually named XPower) and the Fiat ‘not Punto’ electric supermini (read ‘600’).

Looking elsewhere, on January’s news pages there was even more to be enticed by. Autocar’s resident Photoshop design guru, Ben Summerell-Youde, scooped Volvo’s official release of the EX30 compact SUV with a very tidy and accurate artist’s impression of a finished product that wouldn’t actually be fully revealed until June. Aston Martin showed us its swansong-special DBS too: the 770 Ultimate edition.

But it was BMW that really set tongues wagging. Its designers, having given the world little but controversy for so long, suddenly hit a spectacular new stride with the i Vision Dee concept – and apparently rediscovered a liking for proportion, symmetry and grace all at once. This zero-emissions saloon heralded the electrification of the 3 Series model line on an all-new Neue Klasse platform architecture that is set to boost battery energy density and running efficiency in a family of new-wave models launching from 2025 onwards. And, boy, did it ever look great.

In the same month, BMW also started talking about the electrification of Mcars and referred to a quad-motor prototype model that was already in development, with an as yet unconfirmed launch date but also the kind of power delivery to revolutionise the modern M-car driving experience. Interesting noises indeed. Meanwhile, the BMW M3 xDrive Competition Touring was winning glowing praise from deputy road test editor Richard Lane on our First drives pages. “It’s all we wanted it to be,” he reported, which, for a car so widely longed for, really felt like saying something.

MOMENT TO FORGET

Matt Prior

I like a car factory but the Citroën plant in Vigo, Spain, is old and pretty dark inside and looks like it hasn’t seen a lick of paint in a while. Then there are the efficiencies: robots running around the floor that will nudge into you if you don’t get out of their path. And a guide who says that (like other car makers) every year they are looking to automate more and more – pointing to a sensor at the end of a line checking dimensions via infrared, something that used to require a person. Not the sunniest working environment, where your employer works out ways to replace you.

Among our group tests, Mercedes’ new AMG-spannered SL 55 roadster met – and was beaten by – Porsche’s 911 GTS Cabriolet, and the Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV was sent packing by Audi’s considerably more complete and better-polished, equivalent Q3 plug-in hybrid.

But my own highlight of the month was refereeing a triple test between the new Citroën C5 Xand two of its comfort-champion predecessors: a 1960s DS and a 1990s XM. Right the way through the planning stages, erstwhile Autocar features don Piers Ward and I called this story ‘The big Citroën waft-off’, but on the day, after experiencing how noisy the DS was on the move (genuinely, it was breezy enough to feel like a mobile garden shed), the working title suddenly didn’t seem quite so apt.

Autocar’s features pages also included a fascinating story by Steve Cropley about catching up with EV technology pioneer turned industry heavyweight Mate Rimac and his projects involving the development of autonomous cars – and the 35-year-old Croatian revealed a heartening preference for British engineering.

“I respect German engineers a lot,” he said, “but most have worked in big, safe OEMs and haven’t seen hard times. British engineers are different. They often have to do things quickly, on limited funds. That makes them resourceful. And they’re more open to new stuff.”

MATT SAUNDERS

❝QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“I get the concept. Sit in a big, long saloon car and people will think you’re having an airport transfer. ‘Lifestyle’ cars are more likely to be seen as someone’s own car, and it’s not like rich people don’t have dogs or children”

MATT PRIOR reflecting on why his V12-engined diesel Audi Q7 long-term test car did make a strange kind of sense

Felix Page

MOMENT OF THE MONTH

Cliché though it now is to pooh-pooh the concept of range anxiety, it wasn’t until I tackled a longdistance EV road trip in sub-zero temperatures that I was truly reassured that such feats are eminently possible. The VW ID Buzz has a 77kWh battery but, even so, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about driving from London to Newquay when I saw -7deg Cflash up on the display. I needn’t have worried. Ajudiciously applied right foot and careful route mapping meant we never saw the low side of 50 miles left, and the chargers we did use tended to give us what they said on the tin. Someone else can do it next year, though.

Eating a pasty while charging is compulsory in Cornwall

BMW i Vision Dee set the (stylish) template for the future 3Series

ROAD TESTS

4 JANUARY ★★★★✫

Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+

“Hot on comfort and tech; lacklustre on range, material quality and space”

Price as tested £89,345 Power 288bhp Torque 417lb ft 0-60mph 6.0sec 30-70mph 5.5sec Economy 2.9mpkWh

11 JANUARY ★★★✫✫

Citroën Ami Colour

“Cleverly conceived but hard to recommend, given its capability”

Price as tested £8095 Power 8bhp Torque 29lb ft 0-60mph na 30-70mph na Economy 7.1mpkWh

18 JANUARY ★★★✫✫

Toyota bZ4X AWD Vision

“A decent effort all round, but not exceptional in any way”

Price as tested £54,975 Power 214bhp Torque 249lb ft 0-60mph 6.4sec 30-70mph 5.9sec Economy 3.1mpkWh

25 JANUARY ★★★✫✫

BMW X1 xDrive23i M Sport

“A decent, practical family crossover, but a poor BMW”

Price as tested £51,270 Power 215bhp Torque 266lb ft 0-60mph 6.4sec 30-70mph 6.0sec Economy 36.2mpg

Honda’s Civic Type R beat the Audi RS3 and Hyundai i30 N

It can take years – decades, even – to really build awareness of anew car brand, so we would generally I be wary of splashing the first car from anew manufacturer on our cover. But such was the interest in the Ineos Grenadier that we had no qualms in leading our 15 February issue with it.

Of course, Ineos is no ordinary car start-up but the passion project of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the petrochemical magnate and Britain’s richest man, whose interests now include the Mercedes Formula 1 team, a top cycling squad and multiple football teams. The Grenadier was driven by his desire to essentially create a machine that channelled the ‘original’ Defender, and it has been abumpy ride given legal squabbles with Land Rover, the controversy of switching production to France and more.

But forget all that: in February we finally got to drive the Grenadier and find out if it was actually any good. It turns out it is – after an extensive test in the wilds of Scotland revealed a hugely capable and defiantly old-school 4x4, albeit one hampered by a series of frustrating shortcomings.

In a neat bit of symmetry, in the same issue as that drive of the Grenadier we also had our first taste of another long-anticipated, somewhat contentious luxury model from a British car maker. But in every other sense, the Rolls-Royce Spectre couldn’t be further removed: it’s the latest product of one of Britain’s longestestablished manufacturers yet is a thoroughly modern electric car. It’s quite the thing too: even our late-prototype test car was incredibly refined and quiet. How good is the finished version? Well, check out the road test in this very issue for that (p100)…

ROAD TESTS

1 FEBRUARY ★★★✫✫

Ora Funky Cat 48kWh First Edition

“Decent value and funky looks but a mediocre experience overall”

Price as tested £32,790 Power 169bhp Torque 184lb ft 0-60mph 7.7sec 30-70mph 7.2sec Economy 3.1mpkWh

8 FEBRUARY ★★★★✫

Volkswagen ID Buzz SWB 77kWh Style Pro

“It costs plenty but offers versatility and luxury accomplishments”

Price as tested £69,265 Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft 0-60mph 9.5sec 30-70mph 9.1sec Economy 2.4mpkWh

15 FEBRUARY ★★★★✫

BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport

“Has taken huge strides as a luxury car – and still drives like aBMW”

Price as tested £150,145 Power 536bhp Torque 549lb ft 0-60mph 4.5sec 30-70mph 3.4sec Economy 2.6mpkWh

22 FEBRUARY ★★★★✫

Nissan X-Trail e-Power e-4orce AWD

“Capable all-rounder that deals easily with everyday life”

Price as tested £47,170 Power 210bhp Torque 387lb ft 0-60mph 6.6sec 30-70mph 6.0sec Economy 36.4mpg

MOMENT TO FORGET

Steve Cropley

I borrowed a standard-spec Hyundai Ioniq 6 prototype, one of the first marketing prototypes to come to the UK, because the car looked extremely promising and I was desperate to discover how it went. This proved to be a foolish thing to do. The car undoubtedly had terrific potential in our market, but its various control systems were so embedded with warning ‘bongs’ that I couldn’t seem to find and silence that the whole experience was a bit of a debacle. I understand the car has since been much better configured for the UK and I’m now looking forward to having a go in a regular version.

❝QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“My word: how easy was that? I’m ready for the call from Eddie Stobart”

MATT SAUNDERS plots a career change after trying an electric Scania truck on a frozen lake

Ineos Grenadier showed what it was capable of in an impressive debut

Meet the Ancestors Dakar Special took a curious turn in February