Ford's new Capri now in Irish showrooms

Ford's new electric car, the Capri, is now available to test drive in the brand's Irish dealerships, writes Brian Byrne. It will be joined later in the year by a fully electric version of the Puma.

Longer, wider and taller than the Ford Explorer available since last year, the Capri nameplate leverages a perceived nostalgia amongst older motorists for the affordable sporty family coupe launched in 1968, but in reality is aimed at those seeking a roomy electric SUV of the 21st century.

Pricing is from €45,798 after application of Government subsidies and the Capri has a rated range of 627km and a 0-100km/h capability of 6.4s. There are two grades at launch.

  

BYD SEAL U Super Hybrid review: Trish Whelan, Irish Car

The recent arrival of the BYD SEAL U Super Hybrid PHEV marked the Chinese company’s entry into the highly competitive hybrid segment here, unlike the brand's previous all electric models. This is a stylish medium-large five-seater that looks elegant and aerodynamic from all sides. The 19-inch wheels enhance its aesthetics while also reducing drag. 

The beautifully finished interior features a panoramic sliding roof, a floating centre console touchscreen that swivels for either portrait or landscape style and is a central control hub for connectivity and infotainment, with 4G connectivity. It includes Navigation, Spotify and Radio selections on the home screen. I used the Intelligent Voice Assistance ‘Hi BYD’ to turn on, or off, some of the car’s features including the Lane Departure Assist. 

The customisable large driving instrument cluster shows where the power is coming from, your current speed etc, while the head-up display projects critical data onto the windscreen in line of sight. 

The review car's comfortable seats were in a dark leather upholstery and came with ventilation and heating. Integrated headrests are high. My seat had power adjustments and memory function. Front seat heating controls are on a permanent lower part of the dash along with the dual zone climate control, easy to adjust while on the move. 

People in the rear enjoy excellent head and legroom and a flat floor. The centre rear seat lowers as an arm rest with two cupholders and there are two USBs on the rear central console. The high opening tailgate is power operated. Boot capacity of 425 litres isn’t as much as might have been expected but can be expanded to 1,440 litres with rear seats down. 

An excellent reversing camera allowed me view all around my car on the central screen and large side mirrors had blind spot monitors. Drive modes are Normal, Sport and Snowfield as this was an AWD car. BYD’s 'dual mode' PHEV technology is proprietary to the company and comprises a 1.5 hybrid engine and large capacity 'Blade' battery as its main power source, only using the petrol engine when needed. With the battery fully charged the car becomes pure-electric and when the battery is low, the system seamlessly transforms into a hybrid vehicle. You can drive in pure EV mode in the city, hybrid EV mode when battery power falls and the engine automatically switches in to range extension, or HEV parallel mode where the wheels are driven by both the electric motor and the petrol engine for responsive acceleration. 

BYD manufacture their cobalt-free Blade battery themselves. The 18.3kWh unit provides a pure-electric range of up to 80km, this battery comes with DC fast charging capability. To benefit from their PHEV, owners should recharge their vehicles overnight at home. This PHEV delivers a combined range of up to 1,080km and a claimed petrol consumption of 6.4 litres per 100km. My fuel return was a bit more at 7.5 L/100kms. The system works a treat and the car seamlessly changes from electric to petrol when the charge is depleted. Acceleration from 0-100km/h is 5.9 seconds. 

Standard safety features include, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Change Assist, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. The car had really excellent night driving lights - powerfully lighting up both sides of country roads and ditches and the road in front for a huge distance. I felt reassured and safe when driving at night. The drive was very quiet on the road with little noise from the engine. 

This car has received a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP. There are six main BYD dealers; two in Dublin and one in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. Entry level prices are from €42,150.

 

Electric A6 arrives here

Audi has launched the new Audi A6 e-tron in Ireland at a starting price of €74,500, writes Brian Byrne. It is available in both Sportback and Avant wagon formats.

With a claimed range of up to 751km and ability to recharge 310km in 10 minutes at a suitably powerful charging station, it is the second model after the Q6 e-tron to be built on the brand's new Premium Platform Electric architecture.

There are three grades at launch, visually distinguished by different wheels, colours and trim elements.

With its exceptionally low drag coefficient (cd) of 0.21, the Audi A6 Sportback e-tron is the most aerodynamic Audi of all time. 

Hyundai Santa Fe is Women's World Car for 2025

Hyundai’s large Santa Fe seven-seater SUV has been declared Women’s World Car for 2025 by a panel of 82 women journalists judging the Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year, writes Trish Whelan.

 

This announcement has been made to coincide with International Women’s Day week. 

Among the 81 contenders, the winners in their respective categories were: MINI Cooper (Urban Car), Kia EV3 (Compact SUV), Audi A6 e-tron (Large Car), Hyundai Santa Fe (Large SUV), Toyota Land Cruiser (4x4), and Porsche Panamera (Performance Car). 

Here in Ireland, the new Santa Fe Plug-In-Hybrid is available in 4WD with a 1.6 T-GDi diesel engine with automatic transmission and with a road tax of €140. Prices are from €66,995-€69,995.

 

Volvo reveals ES90

These are the first images of the Volvo ES90 on the model's debut day, writes Brian Byrne.  The car is slated to arrive in Ireland later this year.

The ES90 is the sixth fully electric car from Volvo and in styling is deliberately a cross between sedan, liftback and SUV. The first Volvo car with 800V technology, it comes with a claimed longer range and faster charging than any electric Volvo before. The ES90 can add 300km of range in just 10 minutes at 350kW fast charging stations and offers a driving range of up to 700km under the WLTP testing cycle.

The car is a 2-row, with a cargo capacity under the liftback rear of up to 425L, expandable to 733L with the rear seats down.

Irish prices and specifications will come closer to launch. 

New regulations on zebra crossings in force

New signage-only pedestrian crossing.

Since December, new legislation requires all drivers to stop if a pedestrian is waiting at a zebra crossing, writes Brian Byrne. This is a change from the previous requirement that a motorist was only required to stop if a pedestrian already had moved on to the crossing.

Meanwhile, another regulation change since February of 2024 allows councils, under certain conditions, to install zebra crossings with signage only rather than requiring flashing beacons. This was in order to reduce the complexity and cost involved in installation, and followed the success of a trial carried out by the Department of Transport and the NTA.

There are now three types of zebra crossing available to councils, each with specifications that depend on traffic volumes, speed limits and type of road.

 

Car sales marginally down, EV sales up

VW ID.4 is best-selling EV.

After the first two months of the year, traditionally the busiest time for new car registrations, sales in the Irish market are down almost 1pc compared to the same period last year, writes Brian Byrne. In their February analysis, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry note that last year the month had a leap year extra day of trading. Toyota, Hyundai and Volkswagen are the top selling brands.

Electric cars for the two months saw a combined 25pc increase in sales compared to last year, with BEVs so far representing almost 16pc of total sales. Top selling EV brands are Kia, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

Petrol cars continue to lead the new car market at 27.88pc, followed by Hybrid (Petrol Electric) at 23.76pc, Diesel at 16.65pc, Electric at 15.68pc, and Plug-in Electric Hybrid at 14.30pc.

 

Facelifted Enyaq rolling off the line

Skoda has begun production of the facelifted Enyaq at the company's production facility in Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic, writes Brian Byrne. The car features substantial changes to the front, and an increased use of sustainable materials in the interior fittings.

Better aerodynamics are claimed to have helped increase the range of the model, rated by the carmaker as in excess of 580km. As with the current version, a coupe derivative is also being built.

Enyaq is Europe's third best-selling electric car, and has been delivered to 250,000-plus customers worldwide. The nameplate was first launched in 2020.