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ELECTRIC TRAVEL. ACROSS EUROPE.  CARBON-NEUTRAL. There should be no borders when it comes to electric travel. That’s why IONITY operates charging stations along European motorways that are open to electric vehicles of any brand. With several charging points at each location. With ultra-fast charging stations that recharge your vehicle’s batteries for the next stretch of your journey in the shortest time possible. And with electricity generated exclusively from renewable energy sources. So, you are not only travelling emission-free: the journey really is carbon-neutral. Find out more here: weareonit.biz ULTRA-FAST CHARGING OVER 1,600 CHARGING POINTS IN 24 COUNTRIES 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY ENABLING ELECTRIC TRAVEL FOR EVERYONE. WE ARE ON IT.
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10 ‘It’s like an Apache attack helicopter on wheels’ THIS WEEK Issue 6519 | Volume 312 | No 12 NEWS McLaren SUVs New crossover to be battery-electric 6 Plasan Wilder Radical mid-engined armoured 4x4 10 EV user safety Concerns over charging after dark 12 Three new Cupras Plus updates for existing models 14 Autocar Great Women awards Industry achievers 16 TESTED McLaren Artura Plug-in hybrid V6 finally unleashed 24 Morgan Super 3 All-new charismatic three-wheeler 30 BMW M2 Coupé Due next year – but we’ve driven it 34 Caton Healey Expert makeover for 1953 roadster 39 Toyota bZ4X Battery-electric alternative to RAV4 40 Kia Niro EV All-new version rated on British roads 41 Citroën C5 Aircross Facelift for family crossover 41 Kia Sportage 1.6 HEV 2WD GT-Line S ROAD TEST 42 FEATURES Denis Le Vot What next for Dacia? CEO spells it out 50 Peugeot hypercar Endurance race car test session 54 OUR CARS Volkswagen ID 4 GTX Long commute for peppy EV 62 Alfa Romeo Stelvio QV Track time, plus a wedding 63 Ford Puma ST Back-to-back test with a Fiesta ST 64 EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How to spot a damaged EV battery 13 Matt Prior Why do people think this Morgan’s an EV? 15 Jim Holder Fact or opinion? Hard to tell sometimes 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Steve Cropley Tesla Model 3 modified for sprints 21 Damien Smith Formula E, WRCand Indycar 22 Your Views BMW M cars; online sales; dealer trouble 58 On this day Back to (when DeLorean was) the future 61 Slideshow The biggest car factories in the world 82 DEALS James Ruppert C-Class; Urban Cruiser; TT; 500 66 Cult hero Vauxhall Monaro: V8 muscle from £9k 68 As good as new Shrewd way to buy a Toyota RAV4 70 Take it or leave it Up GTI; Escalade; RCZ; Gen 2 71 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenos 72 Road test index Track down that road test here 81 Autocar, ISSN number 1355-8293 (USPS 25185), is published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $199.78. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Autocar, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. Autocar is published by Haymarket Automotive, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 3SP, UK, haymarketgroup.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine is also published in China, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Autocar is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we haven’t met those standards and want to make a complaint, contact autocar@haymarket.com. For more information, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard ISO14001 and energy management standard ISO50001 PEFC Certified This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources www.pefc.co.uk ISSUES WITH YOUR MAG? For subscriber issues, call 0344 848 8816. If you can’t find a news-stand copy of Autocar in your local area, email autocar@haymarket.com Autocar is a member of the organising committee of Car Of The Year caroftheyear.org McLAREN ARTURA: ALL NEW V6 PHEV DRIVEN 24 PEUGEOT LE MANS HYPERCAR GOES TESTING 54 KIA’S NEW SPORTAGE: ROAD TEST VERDICT 42 COVER STORY ❝THE MORE TURMOIL THERE IS, THE COOLER OUR BRAND BECOMES❞ DACIA CEO DENIS LE VOT TELLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT IN A FASCINATING INTERVIEW 50 IMAGE EXCLUSIVE: McLAREN’S NEW CROSSOVER 6 COMMENT McLAREN CROSSOVERS ARE GOOD NEWS. REALLY THERE IS A huge amount to admire about McLaren Automotive. Just 11 years after it delivered its first MP4-12C, it has established itself as a world-class maker of supercars. Perhaps the biggest compliment is just how much Ferrari has had to raise its game to deal with the challenge. Yet if there has been a criticism of McLaren, it’s the familiar feeling of most of its models. Same engine, same chassis, similar styling… After a decade, it’s time to change the record. With the Artura (p24), McLaren has done just that. It switches to a V6 from a V8 and marries it to hybrid power in a regular production McLaren for the first time. A new chassis and underpinnings improve not only the way it drives but also its usability. The styling? Perhaps not different enough… The Artura is the familiar McLaren formula done better, but still a familiar McLaren. Under the previous management, it had a blindspot about diversifying away from supercars, and into SUVs. As we can exclusively reveal this week, that’s all set to change. Porsche and Lamborghini have found that making SUVs drives the profits to make better sports cars, something Lotus and Ferrari should soon find out, too. Far from diluting the McLaren brand, an SUV can only enhance it and secure its future prosperity. Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com @mtisshaw youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarof icial twitter.com/autocar autocar_of icial NEVER MISS AN ISSUE Subscribe p20 15 JUNE 2022 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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10

‘It’s like an Apache attack helicopter on wheels’

THIS WEEK

Issue 6519 | Volume 312 | No 12

NEWS

McLaren SUVs New crossover to be battery-electric 6 Plasan Wilder Radical mid-engined armoured 4x4 10 EV user safety Concerns over charging after dark 12 Three new Cupras Plus updates for existing models 14 Autocar Great Women awards Industry achievers 16

TESTED

McLaren Artura Plug-in hybrid V6 finally unleashed 24 Morgan Super 3 All-new charismatic three-wheeler 30 BMW M2 Coupé Due next year – but we’ve driven it 34 Caton Healey Expert makeover for 1953 roadster 39 Toyota bZ4X Battery-electric alternative to RAV4 40 Kia Niro EV All-new version rated on British roads 41 Citroën C5 Aircross Facelift for family crossover 41 Kia Sportage 1.6 HEV 2WD GT-Line S ROAD TEST 42

FEATURES Denis Le Vot What next for Dacia? CEO spells it out 50 Peugeot hypercar Endurance race car test session 54

OUR CARS Volkswagen ID 4 GTX Long commute for peppy EV 62 Alfa Romeo Stelvio QV Track time, plus a wedding 63 Ford Puma ST Back-to-back test with a Fiesta ST 64

EVERY WEEK Jesse Crosse How to spot a damaged EV battery 13 Matt Prior Why do people think this Morgan’s an EV? 15 Jim Holder Fact or opinion? Hard to tell sometimes 19 Subscribe Save money and get exclusive benefits 20 Steve Cropley Tesla Model 3 modified for sprints 21 Damien Smith Formula E, WRCand Indycar 22 Your Views BMW M cars; online sales; dealer trouble 58 On this day Back to (when DeLorean was) the future 61 Slideshow The biggest car factories in the world 82

DEALS

James Ruppert C-Class; Urban Cruiser; TT; 500 66 Cult hero Vauxhall Monaro: V8 muscle from £9k 68 As good as new Shrewd way to buy a Toyota RAV4 70 Take it or leave it Up GTI; Escalade; RCZ; Gen 2 71 New cars A-Z Key car stats, from Abarth to Zenos 72 Road test index Track down that road test here 81

Autocar, ISSN number 1355-8293 (USPS 25185), is published weekly by Haymarket Media Group, Bridge

House, 69 London Road, Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. The US annual subscription price is $199.78. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd

Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Periodicals postage paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to Autocar, WN Shipping USA, 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Haymarket Media Group, Bridge House, 69 London Road,

Twickenham TW1 3SP, United Kingdom. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. Autocar is published by Haymarket Automotive, Bridge House, 69 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex,

TW1 3SP, UK, haymarketgroup.com Tel +44 (0)20 8267 5000 Autocar magazine is also published in China, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea,

Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

Autocar is a member of the Independent Press Standards

Organisation (IPSO). We abide by the Editors’ Code of

Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we haven’t met those standards and want to make a complaint, contact autocar@haymarket.com. For more information, contact

IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk

Haymarket is certified by BSI to environmental standard

ISO14001 and energy management standard

ISO50001

PEFC Certified

This product is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources www.pefc.co.uk

ISSUES WITH YOUR MAG? For subscriber issues, call 0344 848 8816. If you can’t find a news-stand copy of Autocar in your local area, email autocar@haymarket.com

Autocar is a member of the organising committee of Car Of The Year caroftheyear.org

McLAREN ARTURA: ALL NEW V6 PHEV DRIVEN 24

PEUGEOT LE MANS HYPERCAR GOES TESTING 54

KIA’S NEW SPORTAGE: ROAD TEST VERDICT 42

COVER STORY

❝THE MORE TURMOIL THERE IS, THE COOLER OUR BRAND BECOMES❞

DACIA CEO DENIS LE VOT TELLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT IN A FASCINATING INTERVIEW 50

IMAGE

EXCLUSIVE: McLAREN’S NEW CROSSOVER 6

COMMENT

McLAREN CROSSOVERS ARE GOOD NEWS. REALLY

THERE IS A huge amount to admire about McLaren Automotive. Just 11 years after it delivered its first MP4-12C, it has established itself as a world-class maker of supercars. Perhaps the biggest compliment is just how much Ferrari has had to raise its game to deal with the challenge. Yet if there has been a criticism of McLaren, it’s the familiar feeling of most of its models. Same engine, same chassis, similar styling… After a decade, it’s time to change the record. With the Artura (p24), McLaren has done just that. It switches to a V6 from a V8 and marries it to hybrid power in a regular production McLaren for the first time. A new chassis and underpinnings improve not only the way it drives but also its usability. The styling? Perhaps not different enough… The Artura is the familiar McLaren formula done better, but still a familiar McLaren. Under the previous management, it had a blindspot about diversifying away from supercars, and into SUVs. As we can exclusively reveal this week, that’s all set to change.

Porsche and Lamborghini have found that making SUVs drives the profits to make better sports cars, something Lotus and Ferrari should soon find out, too. Far from diluting the McLaren brand, an SUV can only enhance it and secure its future prosperity. Mark Tisshaw Editor mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com

@mtisshaw youtube.com/autocar facebook.com/autocarof icial twitter.com/autocar autocar_of icial

NEVER MISS

AN ISSUE Subscribe p20

15 JUNE 2022 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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