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Smart design

So what’s new? BMW’s smallest hatch, the 1-series, is now front-wheel-drive. Why change for this third generation (2004 initial launch)? Because they can; they have the platform. With transverse engines and a lowered centre tunnel it should mean more cabin space.

These are first official pictures, details and prices of the new electric Mini. The brand is claiming it is the first small car to run solely on battery electric power in the premium segment.
Prices start from €26,890 after the SEAI grant of €5,000 and the VRT rebate of €5,000 have been factored in. That price puts it right in the mix with the likes of the Renault Zoe, for example.
You can expect to see it in Irish showrooms next March but, as is increasingly the case these days, the order books are now open for next spring delivery.
The announcement also marks something of a milestone in that the brand’s first full electric car is being unveiled in the year that the company is celebrating its own 60th birthday.
Given the current drive toward electric motoring, the Mini EV’s timing is good – and the starting price looks decent.
There is also an Irish link: the electric Mini model is being masterminded by young Dundalk man James Redmond.
All future Mini electric vehicles will be made at the Oxford plant for global markets.
There are some interesting figures among the details of the new EV. For instance, it clips from zero to 60kmh in 3.9 seconds and to 100 kmh in 7.3 seconds, which in a car of this size should feel particularly fast.
The electric motor pumps 184hp and 270 Nm of torque (pulling power).
The lithium-ion battery is capable of going 235 to 270km between charges (WLTP figures). The ultimate range depends on model; the higher level you opt for, the more range you get.
Mini says luggage space is not affected by the intrusion of the battery pack and standard equipment includes a new digital dashboard, connected navigation including real-time traffic information (RTTI), LED headlights and tail lights.
The new EV can be charged at a household socket, wall-box or public charging stations; fast direct-current charging is possible at up to 50 kW.
It should be a great little driver given electric cars’ capability to deliver all their pulling power from the get-go – plus the fact it is a Mini with substantial verve built into the chassis anyway.

A significant increase in the number of new electric cars (EVs) bought this year spells good news for Government plans to ultimately end new diesel and petrol vehicle sales.But, in overall terms, the EV sales numbers for the first six months of 2019 are tiny.They only serve to remind how daunting a task we face to reach the annual 100,000 or so purchases required to meet targets in the Climate Action Plan.So far this year, 1,943 new EVs have been licensed, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) data. That is 721 ahead of sales for all of last year.However, it is a long way from the level of buying needed to meet the plan’s goal of having nearly one million electric vehicles on our roads by 2030. That would mean us buying 100,000 a year on average.

You will either love or dislike this week’s review car for how it looks, but I think I can guarantee you will not be impressed at all with one aspect of what happened around my time in it. Welcome to the KIA e-SOUL, an early new-arrival for the electric car take-off we’re so optimistically promised by politicians who, I honestly believe, have yet to realise the scale of what really has to be done. Let me deal with that in a minute. First let’s talk about the e-SOUL: a strange-looking car or perfectly in-tune agent of change, depending on your perspective.
I remember, a few years back, the previous SOUL being unveiled here with a rattling – I mean rattling – diesel engine. It was a total mismatch.
Now there is this new electric model – called the e-SOUL – with its devil-may-care looks, shapes and vibrant colours. And it works – well it did for me. That’s because, this time, I came to it with an entirely different mindset.
Maybe I’m revealing too much about myself but I’d want people to know I was driving an electric vehicle. I’d want them to know I’d like my car to show how it doesn’t have to be dull to be ‘green’ – that it can be fun as well as being practical. And that I didn’t really care what they thought about my choice. This would be a real ‘statement’.
Sounds a bit radical? Well that’s how I’d like to feel with a car of this calibre. It is an all-or-nothing choice: there is no middle ground. You can buy conventional at any garage but there are not too many with the likes of the e-SOUL.
The main concern, of course, is that it’s all fur coat and no under-garments – but that isn’t quite the case here. For a start, there is a cabin to rival anything in the price range, or indeed higher. Many of the EVs I’ve driven are fairly dull inside (and out). Indeed the e-SOUL’s sibling e-Niro (to be reviewed shortly) is a case in point with its bland interior.
The e-SOUL had good room, too – three rear-seat passengers at a little push while the boot space was tolerably roomy.
I’ve driven the car a fair bit now: in Wexford, north Dublin and at greater length last week. It is a good sign, I suppose, that the more I drove it, the more I liked it.
Like all EVs you, mostly, get the sort of range your driving warrants. They claim 452km between charges. Make that 410km by my (rough) calculations – it’s still a great number.
One thing we all will have to learn in this great new land of zero emissions is how to harvest energy from the car as it slows or as you brake. I am becoming quite adept at it (not boasting; it just appeals to the Scrooge in me). So much so I could count on one hand, well perhaps two, the number of times I had to brake with any real effort over the entire week.
Basically, if you lift off the accelerator at the right time before coming to lights or a road junction, the amount of braking required is minimal. There are paddles on the steering column to help increase or decrease the amount of deceleration you want. The more you select to slow you down, the more energy is sent to the battery pack. It was great to see the projected kilometres-to-go display showing a slight increase in range betimes. It’s the kind of driving that makes 400km+ between charges a realistic target. I think it takes a lot of the anxiety out of how long the car will keep going.
Would I buy it? Yes. It’s got practicality and fun all over, even if the looks are not to everyone’s taste.
Neither, however, are some of the ancillary elements of driving an EV.
I intended driving the e-SOUL to the north-west for a special day. Only the hotel didn’t have a charging facility. And there wasn’t one within a few kilometres radius. If I wanted to bring it, I’d have to get someone to pick me up from the nearest charging point and drop me back later. The 452km range round-trip might, just might, have got me to Dublin and back but I didn’t want to stop along the way for a variety of reasons (time constraints being one). Being able to charge it overnight at the hotel would have made all the difference. It is the sort of thing that would put me off buying an EV.
I know that sounds defeatist, but I wouldn’t be bothered going somewhere in an EV and having to trouble other people to give me lifts to charge it. Ridiculous.
It was a sharply-pointed reminder of how many practical, individual hurdles we still have to overcome to take the uncertainty out of longer-distance electric-car driving.
Facts & figures KIA e-SOUL Electric car:
65kw battery pack; claimed range 452km. Entry-level €35,995; higher trim €37,495.
Smart cruise-control, air con, USB charging ports, wireless phone charger, 17in alloys, electric/heated/folding mirrors, heated front seats; 7in display, 10.25in touchscreen, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, TomTom, drive mode select, parking distance warning.