Normally you’d look at a concept car like the Citroen Oli and regard it as pie-in-the-sky thinking. After all, we see enough concepts that bear no relation to anything we might actually be able to buy.

However, Citroen is different, ploughing a clear path towards value, style and sustainability. I’m liking what I’m seeing these days from the French brand that is fast reclaiming its crown as the king of original thinking. If it can put a car like the brilliant little Ami into production, why not the Oli?

What I like most about the Ami is the purity of its purpose: it’s a city car plain and simple, with no illusions of being anything else. Having that clear vision allows the designers and engineers free reign to do what they do best – innovate. They’ve come up with solutions that keep the costs down, improve usability and make the car desirable, so people want to buy and live with it, too.

Oli has that same purity of thought. The thinking is around cost-effective, sustainable family transport that’ll make life easier for normal people doing normal things. And they can have fun when they’re doing it.

It might not be the most appropriate Citroen to take on a long family holiday, but for doing day-to-day things – and encouraging people towards electrification by making it affordable – it could be the perfect solution.

Sadly, Citroen is sticking to its guns and saying that the Oli won’t make it into production. But there’s hope – the same was said when we first saw the Ami One concept, and look what happened about a year later…

Even if you don’t see an Oli on the streets near you, Citroen promises plenty of the thinking behind it will filter through to production cars. Either way, what we’re seeing from the firm right now is the brand positioned in a way that marks it out as different and desirable in an increasingly homogenised car market. The spirit of Ami is alive and well in Citroen and we want to see more of it.

Would you like to see the Citroen Oli concept make production? Let us know in the comments section…

New-car registrations in the UK saw their second consecutive month of growth in September 2022, but remain down on pre-Covid levels, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

A total of 225,269 new cars were registered in September 2022. Although this represented a 4.6 per cent increase compared with September 2021 – which was the weakest September on record since 1998 – it remains 34.4 per cent below typical pre-Covid levels for what is typically the second-biggest month of the year.

Fleet and business registrations grew healthily, while there was a slight decline in registrations for private buyers. September 2022 also saw the second-highest monthly volume of EV registrations in history, up 16.5 per cent to 38,116 units.

Plug-in hybrid registrations declined by 11.5 per cent to 12,281 units, but more than one in five new cars that joined UK roads in September 2022 had a plug. Some 249,575 plug-in cars have so far been registered in 2022.

Superminis were the most popular class of car, accounting for 30.9 per cent of all registrations.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said: “September has seen Britain’s millionth electric car reach the road – an important milestone in the shift to zero-emission mobility. Battery-electric vehicles make up but a small fraction of cars on the road, so we need to ensure every lever is pulled to encourage motorists to make the shift if our green goals are to be met.

“The overall market remains weak, however, as supply chain issues continue to constrain model availability. Whilst the industry is working hard to address these issues, the long-term recovery of the market also depends on robust consumer confidence and economic stability.”

Looking to sell your current car quickly and for a good price? We’ve partnered with Motorway to bring you the best offer from its network of UK dealers…

The revised version of the current Porsche 911 has been spied plenty of times from the outside during its development programme. We’ve seen it in coupe, cabriolet, Turbo and even in lifted Safari guise, but this is our first look inside the latest iteration of the sports car icon.

From the outside, these spy shots of the new 911 look similar to previous snaps. The changes to the new drop-top are clear to see, with the German brand aiming for a subtle evolution of the current car’s looks.

Look beyond the camouflage and you can see the Cabriolet will get the same front-end treatment as the coupe, which we captured undergoing evaluation earlier this year. Likely to be designated the 992.2, the facelifted 911 will get a slightly neater grille arrangement up front and new integrated LED daytime running lights, while the rear bumper and diffuser have been redesigned to make space for a new centre-exit exhaust system. We’re also expecting some different alloy wheel designs and paint options.

Due to arrive in the UK in 2023, the refreshed 911 will also benefit from some chassis tweaks and, perhaps most significantly, a fully digitised cabin that ditches the current model’s analogue rev-counter.

Also on the cards is a jacked-up Safari model, which we’ve already caught undergoing evaluation. This high-riding machine will feature plastic body cladding to help protect the panels from scrapes when driving over rough terrain, as well as GT3-style bonnet vents. The fact that these don’t appear on our latest spied prototype suggests they’ll be a quirk of the off-road model rather than a standard fixture across the line-up.

Inside, the facelifted 911 is expected to retain the same basic layout as the existing car. It’ll also benefit from Porsche’s latest PCM 6.0 infotainment system, which has just recently been updated to include Spotify music streaming, wireless Android Auto and an improved voice assistant.

However, the updated sports car will move forward with a new, fully digital instrument panel, like that of the Taycan EV. The current model has an analogue rev-counter flanked by two screens, but this could be replaced with a slender curved screen that can display drive mode information, a map for navigation and a feed from the car’s night-vision system. Don’t be fooled by the huge central screen in the latest batch of spy imagery. We expect this screen is just for research and development use only. 

The next 911 could also receive an improved suite of sensors for more advanced driving-assist technologies. A raft of chassis and handling improvements is also expected to give the 992.2 sharper responses when the driver takes full control.

Porsche has honed the 911’s suspension and steering set-up as part of previous mid-life updates, so a returned electric power steering set-up and revised chassis settings are likely. A snappier calibration for the eight-speed PDK gearbox is also possible, although the 992.2 is unlikely to receive significant powertrain revisions.

It will, however, gain a new hybrid variant. The long-awaited electrified 911 will be part of the 992.2 line-up, although this option could be added after the launch of the facelift. The electrically assisted 911 could also end up producing more power than the 641bhp 911 Turbo S and become the most potent 911 available.

Now read our in-depth review of the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 RS…

Earlier this year, BMW revealed the latest generation of its smallest SUV – the X1. These latest spy shots reveal that the German firm is working on a successor to its X2 SUV, which is set to receive plenty of inspiration from the X1.

Unlike other coupe SUVs in BMW’s stable, the current X2 isn’t really pitched as a coupe variant of its similarly sized SUV sibling. Although it shared the same platform, engines and interior as the old X1, the X2 featured very different styling on the outside, rather than merely adding a sleeker roofline at the rear.

These new spy images show that the next X2 will be brought closer into line with the new X1, acting as a more conventional coupe SUV alternative, in a similar fashion to how the X4 and X6 relate to their respective X3 and X5 relatives. At the front we can see a similar headlight and signature design to the X1’s. The kidney grille shape is also squared off and while there’s camouflage covering the side air intakes in the pictures we expect it to follow the X1’s style here too. 

The overall shape of this test car is immediately recognisable as a coupe SUV from the sloping rear roofline, but the ride height looks higher than the current X2’s – giving it a proportion more akin to the larger X4. The rear of the car shows a different light shape to the new X1’s and while there’s no exhaust protruding from the bumper, we can just make out a back-box for an exhaust system. 

Underpinning the next-generation X2 will be the same UKL2 architecture as used by the new X1. This means the X2 should use the same internal combustion engine lineup, starting with a front-wheel drive diesel version and ranging up to a 322bhp four-wheel drive plug-in hybrid petrol.

BMW iX2 electric SUV

The platform will allow for a pure-electric X2 (most likely named iX2). Given BMW revealed both the X1 and iX1 side by side we should expect the same for the X2 and iX2. Power will come from a 64.7kWh battery, which should allow for 308bhp and 494Nm of torque. BMW says the iX1 delivers 272 miles of range but the coupe SUV body of the iX2 will affect this figure. 

The interior of the X2 should look and feel fairly similar to the X1’s. Up front we’ll see a 10.25-inch infotainment screen and a 10.7-inch digital dash – featuring BMW’s latest OS 8 software. The X2 will have a smaller boot than the X1’s 540-litre capacity thanks to that sloping roofline. 

Click here for our first review of the new BMW iX1…

The long-awaited PAS 1899 Accessibility Standard for public electric car chargers has been launched by the British Standards Institute, and it’s been significantly upgraded from the draft consultation published in April which we criticised heavily. 

As well as meeting our demands for limits to the maximum weight that users can be expected to grapple with when manipulating public EV charging cables, the new PAS 1899 also stipulates that operators of public charge points with cables exceeding the new limits must offer ‘additional assistance’ to less able users.
This puts the onus on charge point operators to ensure they don’t discriminate against less able drivers who can’t use heavy cables, by routinely providing staff to assist with plugging in.

The maximum cable weight has been set at approximately 6kgs (in more technical terms the standard stipulates a maximum linear force-in-hand limit of 60 Newtons) which immediately excludes very many high-powered rapid chargers – and certainly all those above 200kW found at the most advanced charging hubs and service stations.

While compliance with PAS 1899 is not mandated by UK law, the fact that a ‘best practice’ standard has been agreed between the BSI and an industry steering group means public EV charge point providers who fail to comply will find it hard to defend legal actions brought on disability discrimination grounds. This should provide reassurance for the legions of less-able UK motorists who want to engage with new EV technology, but PAS 1899 also gives the UK a globally-leading framework for investment in an accessible public EV infrastructure.

“We cannot be 100 percent sure there is no other standard published or in development on the topic, but we are confident that PAS 1899 is a world-leading standard,” a BSI source told Auto Express. 

The new standards for heavier charging cables are based on a piece of recent research with disabled people carried out by Designability. “This is an under-researched area where further evidence has been welcomed,” the BSI tells us. “Motability continued research into the impact of cable weights on chargepoint usability during the review period and fed this into the standard. We recognise that this is an area where more information is required and we commit to reviewing and, if appropriate, updating the standard as necessary.”

PAS 1899 has been co-sponsored by Motability and the government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. “This standard will aid providers in developing new infrastructure at pace which is fit for the future,” says Barry Le Grys MBE, Chief Executive Officer at Motability.”Going forward we are keen to explore ways to ensure compliance with the new standard so that electric vehicle charging can be truly accessible for all.”

Scott Steedman, director-general, Standards at BSI, says: “No-one should be left behind as we transition towards a net-zero economy, and by ensuring that as many people as possible can make use of electric vehicles, we increase the UK’s chances of reaching ambitious net-zero goals as well as ensuring that the transition is one that is just and inclusive.”

What do you think about the issue of accessibility at electric car charging stations? Have your say in the comments…

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