MISCELLANEOUS
The other highs and lows in the electric world that have caught our eye in the past 12 months
WORDS SAM BURNETT
Ice cool award
RENAULT R17
Maybe someone pulled the wrong box out when they were looking for Christmas decorations at Renault HQ, but the French carmaker has finally realised it used to make interesting cars. While our fingers remain crossed for an electric reimagining of the 1984 Espace, the R17 Electric Restomod x Ora Ïto (its full title) is a neat plumbing of the back catalogue in conjunction with French designer Ïto that was displayed at the 2024 Paris Motor Show last October. The original Renault 17 is a barely remembered two door coupe from the 1970s, but a revitalised R17 seems like it would be just the thing in the 2020s.
Rangemaster award
MERCEDES-BENZ CLA
When you see a concept car as cool and as interesting as the Mercedes EQXX you don’t have any hope that it will really go into production, because we don’t deserve nice things. But Mercedes is doing the next best thing and folding in what it’s learned from the project in its production electric offerings. The new CLA arrives later in 2025 and the RWD 250+ version of the car will manage an eye watering 492 miles of range from its 85kWh battery. It uses 800V tech too, which means 10 minutes on a 350kW plug will get you an extra 200 miles. Does still have those stupid giant screens inside though.