Green ‘Flash’ Registration plates for EVs out next month

From July, the green ‘flash’ registration plates will be available for all eligible new and existing electric vehicles, writes Trish Whelan. The new plate will look the same as current Irish registration plates but with an added green vertical stripe. Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, said the rollout of the new plates will begin in the coming weeks, following final preparations. 

The green ‘flash’ is designed to give visibility to vehicles that emit no C02 emissions, supporting the shift to cleaner, greener transport across the country. Anyone buying a new EV, can ask their dealership to provide them with the green plate. Existing EV owners can opt to retrofit existing plates with the green ‘flash’ through registration plate suppliers. 

These green ‘flash’ registration plates are optional and apply to all fully electric vehicles, including cars, vans, motorbikes and trucks. 

Minister Darragh O’Brien is pictured above with Brian Cooke, Director General of SIMI.

 

Toyota partners with Camogie Associates and GAA/GPA

Toyota Ireland has announced a new three-year partnership with The Camogie Association and GAA/GPA which sees the Japanese car brand become the Official Car Partner to these sporting organisations, writes Trish Whelan. 

Dublin Camogie captain Aisling Maher and Galway footballer John Maher have been named as official Toyota ambassadors and will each drive a Toyota C-HR Hybrid. 

Steve Tormey, CEO of Toyota Ireland (pictured third in from the right) commented that the company has a proud history of supporting sport and athletes at both local and international levels. He said: “This partnership is an investment in our national games and the inter-county players who are the heartbeat of the sport and role models for young children across the country.” 

Brian Molloy, President of The Camogie Association, added that having Toyota on board as a partner is a strong endorsement of the growing profile and significance of Camogie while Jarlath Burns, President of the GAA added that Toyota has supported the GAA for generations and their continued commitment to Gaelic games 'is a testament to the strong bond they share with our communities'. Also commenting on the announcement, Tom Parsons, CEO of the GPA said ‘this partnership with Toyota will strengthen our ability to support inter-county players the length and breadth of the country'. 

Many Toyota dealerships already support their local GAA clubs.

 

Cupra Born VZ review: Trish Whelan, Irish Car

When the Cupra Born was first introduced in 2021, it was a game-changer for the brand as it was their first all-electric model. A battery electric compact small family car that competes in the C-Segment, my review car was the latest version to the Cupra line-up, the Born VZ (Spanish for Veloz meaning ‘fast’) more powerful and with an impressive performance and range. 

The Born is built on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform in Germany that’s also used for the Volkswagen ID.3. As a performance-focused model it is a sportier option with enhanced steering, brakes, and suspension. The new shade of Dark Forest is only available on the VZ version and with the exterior copper accents, it drew lots of admiring glances. Smart 20-inch Thunderstorm aero black/copper wheels added to the sporty look. 

The interior has a stylish dash, beautiful materials, and more warm copper accents. A floating 12.9-inch infotainment touchscreen works well and I could access the menu systems quite easily. It is compatible with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. At the bottom of the screen a Touch Bar section has front seat heater controls. I’m not a fan of the Volkswagen sliders for climate control or volume which I find finicky to use. The 5.3-inch instrument cluster clearly provides all the information you need. Wonderful Sabelt Cup bucket seats with sporty integrated headrests, unique to the VZ, are so comfy with side bolsters to hold you in snugly. My seat had power adjustments, lumbar support and three memory settings. A big sunroof, with blind, added to the interior cheer. 

The leather steering wheel has regenerative braking paddles with three different levels of energy recuperation. A satellite button on the steering wheel selects Drive profiles Comfort, Performance, and Individual; another with a Cupra logo tap into +20kW of additional power (best left to the race track!). The twist transmission selector is off the steering column. Very tall people in the back may find their head almost touches the rear roof lining. There are knee indents on the front seat backs but no pockets, just very good door bins as hold-alls. The car has a rear wiper; boot space of 385 litres expands to 1,267 litres with the rear seats down, and there’s a small area below for cables. 

With its large-capacity 79kWh lithium-ion battery and 321hp, the VZ provides a whopping 545Nm of torque, making it one of the most dynamic cars in its segment and capable of a 0-100km/h time of 5.7 seconds. Top speed is also increased and now limited to 200km/h - maybe OK for the German autobahns! Annual road tax is €120. 

Battery consumption is a claimed 14.7-17.3 kWh/100km; my long-term consumption came in between 14.6 kWh/100km and 15.6 kWh/100km. The battery pack has a rated range of almost 600km on a single charge. When I collected the car, it was 99pc charged at 496kms. Either way, it’s a very impressive range that allows you travel long distances uninterrupted for recharging. You can charge the car at home using an 11kW AC system or at a DC 170kW fast-charging meter which gives a fast charge from 10pc-80pc in under 30 minutes. 

Standard equipment included dark tinted windows, full LED headlamps, reversing camera with a top view camera, Adaptive Cruise Control, Dynamic Chassis Control, Remote Park Assist and even a side assist warning system. Optional equipment included the metallic paint (€912), the Skyline Pack (€995), and a special 10-speaker sound system (€528). Big A-pillar windows greatly aided visibility and excellent blind spot monitors on the insides of side mirrors lit up when a vehicle was approaching from behind. 

I found the drive to be very quiet, but the car certainly was engaging with an edge to it with 322 bhp of power available, great for when you need it but keep out of penalty points territory. Steering is on the heavy side as I prefer. Road holding and cornering were superb and the suspension not too firm which came as a surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed driving longer distances in such high comfort. Audio alerts were gentle so there was no need to turn them off. A niggle in many cars nowadays is that reflections off the dashboard top in the windscreen in bright sunshine make it quite difficult at times to clearly see all the road ahead. This usually means me having to adjust my driving position to help eliminate the problem, sometimes not to the most comfortable position. 

Big on safety features, Born received a maximum five points in safety test results from EuroNCAP. Cupra is a stand-alone brand within the Volkswagen Group. The range entry price starts at €37,955; the VZ is priced from €62,170. With options of €2,435, my car came to a pricey €66,605. Prices include SEAI grants and VRT Relief.

 

The XC60 is best-selling Volvo car of all time

Volvo’s XC60 is now the best-selling Volvo car ever, writes Trish Whelan. With more than 2.7 million cars sold, the model has surpassed the iconic Volvo 240 as the best-selling Volvo ever. 

The XC60 mid-size SUV made its debut in 2008. Initially built exclusively in Europe, the model later became the first global Volvo model to also be produced in China. In 2018, it was named World Car of the Year. 

The current generation XC60 introduced plug-in hybrid drivetrains to a broader audience and it was the best-selling PHEV in Europe last year. 

For the 2026 model year, the SC60 has undergone a significant refresh with a modernised design, more intuitive user experience, improved comfort and a more responsive infotainment system.

 

Renault 5 Review: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

There’s a trend among carmakers to use historic icons as revival touchstones, writes Brian Byrne. Ford did it a few years back with the Puma and more recently with the Capri. Opel has a new Frontera upcoming. And Renault has revived two nameplates from its past, 5 and 4. I’m not sure that those old enough to remember the originals are people who would be buying the new versions, and I wonder if much of the marketing hype they're accompanied with is redundant? Not least because the revived models are quite different in most respects to those which originally carried their monikers. The new Capri is a large SUV with a coupé roofline; the Frontera was originally a working SUV, returning as a small crossover.

Maybe the new Renault 5 is closest to the size and buyer cohort of its original. Certainly, I got comments from guys driving large family SUVs that they remembered their 1970s R5s with affection, even longing. But none of them are in the business now of going back to their youth driving roots.

That said, the new 5 is a snappy little thing, and no doubt there will be a version with more power to try and capture the original Gordini variant's hot hatch ethos. That did come before the Golf GTI, after all. That the car is now only an EV is simply a powertrain matter — it's easy to dial up electric power.

There’s a no-nonsense boxy style to the 2025 car, which suggests good people packaging. But in one key respect that doesn’t work — the rear seat space doesn’t offer enough knee-room behind an any way long-legged driver. But for an owner who is basically a singleton, and better yet a bit on the shorter side, that’s not going to be a concern. Certainly, they’ll like the style, with the copper-gold adornment on the gutter-line nicely setting off the midnight blue of the review car. Funky front running lights, the clean treatment of the rear, and a variety of tilts at legend with ‘5’ decals and badging. Even what used to be an air intake on top of the bonnet flashbacks to Le Cinq — it now serves as an external charging indicator.

They’ll probably react well too to the interior design, following in many respects the styling and graphics of other recent new models from Renault, which I've already said are on a design roll. The diffused yellow trim in my review car was to me cheerful, but to another journo was brash and ugly. Taste is always individual.

The two screens are conjoined, in a one-piece housing with the infotainment part angled towards the driver. This allows good sight-lines for both and deals with what could otherwise be a glare problem. Proper switches for climate control, under the centre air vents, are welcome.

There's the usual chorale of beeps from the mandatory 'driving aid' tech, but it's muted enough to not annoy ... and there's a single switch to turn off the ones you don't want. I liked also that there's an actual start-stop button: I'm really unimpressed with the trend across the industry to switch everything on when you sit into a car. The transmission shift is that Renault steering column stalk, but I miss the 'Park' button that's not part of it.

There are two battery options, 40kWh and 52kWh with rated ranges of 310km and 410km respectively. Mine was the latter and around 370km did seem to be probable. Certainly if most of your motoring is in city traffic, it will be quite frugal and long-travelling. The battery difference cost, grade for grade, is €3,000.

The drive was perky, with a respectable 8 seconds 0-100km/h capability reflecting the 150hp offered in my review car, and helped by a multi-link rear suspension it didn't have the somewhat dead road feel that some EVs give in certain conditions. The smaller battery version offers 120hp and still reaches the ton in 9.2 seconds.

The look of the new-era R5 cheers me, as does the cabin ambience and the quality and design of the trim and controls. I had a constant smile as I tipped around my home place in a car that is styled to feel fun as well as being practical. Now that family is long scattered around the globe, it would be fine for the pair of us. I never owned an original 5, but we rented one once while on holiday in the Netherlands, so it does prompt memories.

Next up, a regenerated Ford Model T? All the fun of the Flivver ...

PRICE: From €25,995; review car, top of the range, €32,995. WHAT I LIKED: It's right for its time. 

Irish motorists unfamiliar with tyre repair kit

A survey to check on Irish motorists’ level of awareness of how they would cope if they got a puncture on their car has shown that nearly one fifth of those questioned in on-street interviews in Dublin were not sure if they had a spare wheel in their car or not, writes Trish Whelan. The survey by Continental Tyres was partnered with content creator, Erika Crawte. 

With most car manufacturers ceasing to supply spare wheels in new cars, a spare will only come with a new car if the motorists pays the optional extra cost. A tyre repair kit is now the norm in new cars. It consists of a portable compressor for re-inflating the tyre and a bottle of tyre sealant to repair the puncture. 

Most questioned in Erika’s interviews were unsure how it could be used should they get a puncture. Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland advises motorists to familiarise themselves with how it works and what you need to do if you get a puncture. “Don’t leave it until you are faced with a puncture at the side of the road to learn how you actually go about using the repair kit.” 

Most motorists said they would call a mobile repair unit to sort out the problem. Continental Tyres have an online video demonstrating how to use the sealant kit. https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/products/car/technical-services-ok/contimobilitykit/

 

Long-distance drivers hail Sprinter’s ‘enduring reliability’.

Marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of their Sprinter van, Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles sales manager, Fergus Conheady and his team at Naas Road, have heard from two dedicated Sprinter owners ‘whose experiences and enthusiasm for Sprinter is testimony to its status as a consistent winner of the Continental Ireland’s Van of the Year award, chosen by members of the Motoring Media Association in Ireland (MMAI)’, writes Trish Whelan. 

Drivers Alin Liviu Miron, GM of Cashel-based haulage firm, Mitroline Transport (pictured above), and Frankie Paiu (pictured below) from Sandyford removals and storage firm Moving Line - have both spoken in glowing arms regarding their high mileage experience with Sprinter and confidence in its enduring reliability to deliver the goods and get home to base when making deliveries to customers in far-flung European markets. 

Mitroline, whose clients include IKEA, say their Sprinter has almost covered one million kilometres with 942,000kms on the clock. Frankie Paiu follows with 856,000km covered.

 

Details released for new Opel Grandland EV AWD

Order books are now open for the new Opel Grandland Electric AWD, writes Trish Whelan. 

The Grandland Electric AWD offers a system output of 325hp. The AWD system combines the standard 213hp front-wheel drive electric motor with an additional 112hp electric motor for the rear wheels. Maximum torque is 509Nm. The AWD drive can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 6.1 secs. 

In the Ultimate trim, it can travel up to 489km without having to recharge. Further trim versions will have a range of up to 501km next year. 

Grandland Electric AWD recharges its 73kWh lithium-ion battery from 20 to 80pc in under 30 minutes at a public fast-charger. 

With an 8-year battery warranty, Opel Ireland also contributes towards a callbox home-charger combined with discounted green electricity from Energia. Opel will offer an equivalent petrol hybrid vehicle after six months if the customer is not happy with emissions-free driving.

 

Hyundai Inster review: Trish Whelan, Irish Car

Hyundai’s Inster small electric car has already made its mark in the B-segment here with 300 sold since launch last February, which is not surprising given its attractive low price of from just €19,000, good build quality, interior roominess, and the amount of equipment as standard. It all makes for a very compelling package for urban or suburban motorists or as an affordable new first car for a teenage offspring or perhaps as a second family car. 

With the robust look of an SUV, this is quite a tall car for its size, with small front and rear circular lights, rugged wheel arches with distinctive cladding, pixel-graphic turn signals, and two rows of rear small lights that turn on quite a display when you press the key fob to open the car at night. While nine exterior colours are offered, the review car looked appealing in the Buttercream Yellow Pearl colour, which turned heads. Hyundai designers and engineers have worked wonders in presenting such a tall, spacious interior courtesy of that boxy shape. 

Sizewise, the wheelbase is within 8cm of the brand’s bigger Kona, but Inster offers more headroom. The flat EV floor, flexible fold-flat seats, and high-roof SUV silhouette all deliver an impressive amount of interior space for a city car with excellent head and legroom front and rear. I was also impressed with the whole front layout, including the dash design, huge side windows which offer great visibility, the light colours of the trim and houndstooth-like patterned material that extends out from the driver’s seat over the central console flat area - but there is no central console just a pair of cupholders embedded in that space. There’s plenty of floor open space below for a bag or laptop. Front seats can be heated; folding the front passenger seat allows you to use a laptop on a mobile office desk. 

The 10.25-inch independent centre touchscreen includes navigation and car systems and you can mirror your smartphone onto the screen while the customisable same-size digital cluster screen consists of two grey dials with your digital speed shown centrally. A blind-spot camera view is displayed onto the instrument screen when you indicate a turn. A volume knob is below the central screen and there are physical shortcut buttons for media, setup, nav, and a ‘star’ favourite. It’s all very intuitive and easy to get the hang of. There are also buttons for climate control - up and down arrows for the temperature, and controls for front seat heaters. There’s a wireless charging port in the centre dash, a small space below the climate controls, a decent glovebox and a shelf above where you’ll find two small USB ports and a 12-volt power outlet in the top spec. The twist transmission selector is placed low on the steering column with an electronic parking brake and there's a satellite control for driving modes that include a snow mode. Three levels of regeneration help with range, regulated via paddle shifters. 

Rear seats are nice and high for ease of getting in and out and can slide forwards by 16cm to expand boot space from 238 to 351 litres or backwards for more rear legroom for tall passengers. These seats can also recline for more comfort. There’s a good area below the boot floor for extra storage. You can even turn the car into a handy overnight sleepover as the driver’s seat also folds flat. 

Two battery options are a standard range 42kWh or long range 49kWh, giving rated distances of around 327km/360km respectively. The standard range has a 96hp electric motor, while the long range has an 113hp motor. The charging socket is front-mounted, so you just drive up to a public unit. Charging from 10-80% takes 30 mins using a 120 kW DC charging station. 

Two trim lines are Signature (€18,995) and Elegance (€21,995), my car being the latter. While the entry-level version is well-specced, most buyers so far have opted for the top trim, getting roof rails, 17-inch alloys, a heat pump, dual LEDs, privacy glass, the fold-flat seats/rear sliding bench, rear LED lights, and exterior upgrades. Inster is ideal for navigating narrow streets and squeezing into tight parking spaces; it can go from 0-100km/h in 10-11 seconds as it has instant torque. In i-Pedal mode, you can accelerate, decelerate, and come to a complete stop using only the accelerator pedal. 

The car has a full set of driver-assist and active safety features, including adaptive cruise control. Its Euro NCAP safety rating is currently pending, but Hyundai has a strong record of building safe cars, and Inster comes equipped with a solid suite of safety features. 

This new model was recently crowned World Electric Car of the Year 2025. Inster is priced from €19,345; my car from €22,845. These low prices won’t hold for long.

 

Ford Puma Gen-E Review: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

The average price of a Ford car in Ireland is €38,420. Which is a tad lower than the average car price of circa €42,000 across all brands in the country. And the smallest Ford you can get is the Puma, which is the cheapest model at €31,465. Given that there are still decent sub-€20,000 small cars out there, such as the Kia Picanto or the biggest-selling small hatch Toyota Yaris from €27,815, the blue oval must be missing what was once its best-seller, the Fiesta. The brand isn't even in the top ten marques in Ireland this year. But it is what it is.

I know, I normally only deal with prices at the end of a review. But I was curious to see where Ford was sitting when I got into their latest electric offering last week, the Puma Gen-E. I also hadn't driven a Puma since 2021. It is the brand's best seller, and it hasn't lost its curvy charm since it was first launched on the 7th-generation Fiesta platform. A 4-seat coupe masquerading as a small SUV, or vice versa, depending on your point of view. I even suggest that it's the nicest looker in Ford's lineup, even at its age (Focus still looks really good, but it's being dropped at the end of the year, even though it's currently the third best seller). The Puma has the slimmer bumpers from last year's facelift and new headlights. As an electric car, it features the Ford outlined blank face where the grille normally is, but this looks quite tastier than in its larger electric models. The white in my review car is the standard; you pay extra for colours — Ol' Henry is back but has changed his tone.

Last year's revamp also freshened the interior materials and added a larger infotainment screen and new graphics. There's also the 'soundbar' speaker system introduced with the Mustang Mach-E, sitting on the dashboard but not getting in the way. The car immediately felt like a nice space when I sat in. The tall rear roofline makes it a fairly comfortable billet for two adults.

The boot has the so-called 'gigabox’, a massive underfloor basement allowing 574 litres of capacity, which I used well while ferrying six large bags of green waste to the recycling centre. There's another 43 litres of space available under the bonnet.

On the road, the extra 250kg of battery weight can be felt in the usual conditions, such as crossing a slow-down bump, but beyond that, the ride and handling felt pretty good. Rather than offer crazy power, the Puma Gen-E has the equivalent of 169hp on tap and a sensible 0-100km/h of eight seconds. All of these help keep the range from the 43 kWh of usable battery to a reasonable level of a rated 377km combined or 277km on motorway cruising. Puma wasn't particularly designed for electric conversion, and I was impressed at how well Ford has made it work.

The big surprise relates to where I came in on this, with the bottom line — there's less than €1,500 more involved in buying the electric Puma than going for the mild-hybrid petrol version. That's the level of extra investment that will be repaid in a very short order in terms of fuel-energy savings. Along with the real good feeling the Puma gave me as just a car, I'd recommend it to anyone in this buying space.

PRICE: €32,916. WHAT I LIKED: Ah, it just felt overall good.

 

RS Elroq will be Skoda's fastest accelerating car

A new RS version of Skoda's Elroq EV will offer an acceleration potential of 5.4 seconds to 100km/h, writes Brian Byrne. The car will have two electric motors and a rated range of 540 km.

In total, the powertrain system will generate 340hp for which an adaptive chassis is standard. The car will be Skoda's fastest production car to date.

In keeping with the RS designation there will be black-painted body accessories, RS-exclusive alloy wheels measuring up to 21 inches and sporty interior with Suedia upholstery. LED matrix beam headlights will be standard. 

New Audi Q3 arrives in the autumn

A third generation of the Audi Q3 is now available to order in Ireland, from €47,165, writes Brian Byrne. Compared to the outgoing model, there are substantial changes to looks, handling, and powertrains.

Digital matrix headlights at the front and optional OLED rear lights are among the immediate visual differences, along with stronger character from a side view.

A new steering wheel control unit with one lever controlling lights and wipers and another the transmission selection leaves more room in the centre console area for storage.

A mild-hybrid petrol engine with 150hp is the entry powertrain, while a 270hp plug-in hybrid system offers up to 120 km of electric range.

The car is scheduled to arrive in Q3 2025.

New multi-adaptive safety belt to debut in Volvo EX60

A new multi-adaptive safety belt, a world-first technology aimed to further enhance safety for everyone in real-world situations, will debut in the upcoming fully electric Volvo EX60 in 2026, writes Trish Whelan. It marks a major upgrade to the modern three-point safety belt, a Volvo invention introduced in 1959, estimated to have saved over a million lives. 

The new safety belt is designed to better protect people by adapting to traffic variations and the person wearing it (their height, weight body shape and seating position), thanks to real-time data from the car’s advanced sensors. 

In less than a blink of an eye, the car’s system analyses the unique characteristics of a crash - such as direction, speed, and passenger posture - and shares that information with the safety belt. Based on this data, the system selects the most appropriate setting. This means a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury while a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures. This is achieved by managing the force applied to the occupants in the event of an accident.

 

50th anniversary VW Polo

Volkswagen has introduced a special version of the Polo to mark five decades since the model was introduced, writes Brian Byrne. The '50'-badged version includes 16-inch wheels with an option of 17-inch, and dark rear windows. 

Inside, it features ‘Edition 50’ lettering on the front sills, and ‘50’ on the steering wheel and dashboard. Standard items include chrome-look pedals, black headliner, ambient lighting, a chrome package, heated front sports seats, leather steering wheel, rear view camera, Park & Comfort assist, Discover Media infotainment, and driving profile selection. 

An optional Plus package adds a panoramic sunroof, two-zone climate control, and Keyless Access. The new Polo editions are available with three powertrains, with outputs between 68hp and 116hp, and manual and dual-clutch auto transmissions.

The car is available for pre-order in Germany for €28,000. 

MG HS Review: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

This is the kind of car that's scaring the bejesus out of European carmakers, writes Brian Byrne. Slap between the VW Tiguan and Ford's Kuga at one end and the Mercedes GLC at the other, the MG HS plug-in hybrid is mixing it in the most important part of the overall car market, the C-segment crossover-SUV. None of those makers can afford to ignore the Chinese cars now putting up their dukes.

MG is a British heritage, comfortable on an absolutely Chinese frame. Owned by SAIC, the largest state-owned carmaker in China, the iconic to these islands brand now has no less than seven models selling in this country. In electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid guises. Targeting all segments, including the sports car one on which MG originally built its name. Currently number 21 on the Irish sales ladder, the brand is climbing fast, with already 30 per cent more units sold this year than in 2024. 

With its arrival in Ireland, the HS is fresh into its second generation. For anyone in the market for a crossover-SUV — and that's 55 per cent of car buyers here — the looks alone are going to make them take a good gander at this one. The lines are sophisticated, the details nicely toned to appeal to European taste. The front elements meld well with each other, and there’s a level of elegance about the rear design that suggests a sports tourer more than a boxy SUV. The whole style sense is 'ready to go' and 'go wherever'.

There's a bit of understyling about the interior, a straight dashboard rather than one with curvy bits. One wide panel combines infotainment and driving instruments, and it would benefit from having round rather than sharp-angled corners. But the graphics are pretty clear, if a bit muted in colours. There's a short line of real buttons, but most of the usual climate and radio management is by virtual ones on the screen. A 'favourites' star on the steering wheel can be set to bring you to the driving 'assistance' screen so you can turn off the noises that annoy you before you drive away.

It's a roomy car, with plenty of space behind me for full adult passengers. They'll ride in comfort, too; all fittings and trim materials are of a satisfying quality and style. Boot capacity is adequate rather than large, and I suspect the mission was to provide room overall in the car for people rather than stuff.

There's a real sense of solidity about the HS that makes it impossible for any competitor to sniff 'cheap build'. China has gone well beyond that — after all, they have landed a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, built their own space station, and successfully placed a rover on Mars. My only sniff is that there's no Bluetooth Apple CarPlay link in the HS; you have to use a lead. There are two grades; my review car was the upper of these, which gave me heated front seats, more speakers, wireless phone charging, and a smart tailgate.

The PHEV powertrain is set around a 1.5 petrol and an electric motor system with a 24kWh battery that claims up to 120 km on EV driving. Take that with the usual caveat, but the car will still offer 1,000 km of travelling from a full petrol tank and a full battery charge. The driving experience tilts at the Merc end of the competitor range, and the comms tech includes an app that allows the owner to do a lot of stuff without touching the car.

Overall sense? Terrifying, if you're a competitor carmaker. Pretty fine, if you become an owner.

PRICE: From €40,995; review car €43,995. WHAT I LIKED: A definite Chinese takeaway. 

New PHEV powertrains for Audi Q5

Audi is introducing PHEV versions of the Q5 SUV and Sportback with longer electric ranges, writes Brian Byrne. They will be available to order from mid-June in Ireland.

The new powertrains will be in addition to the mild-hybrid combustion petrol engines and will be available in 299hp or 367hp outputs. They will offer  6.2 s and 5.1 s acceleration to 100km/h respectively. Audi is claiming an electric range of 100km.

Prices start at €67,955.

 

BYD gets two Cork, another Dublin outlet

BYD Sealion 7.

Cavanagh’s of Charleville has joined the BYD network in Ireland on behalf of distributors MDL, writes Brian Byrne. Along with the other addition of the Kearys Motor Group, this expands BYD’s national dealer network to 11 outlets overall.

Cavanagh’s of Charleville has created a new branded premises dedicated exclusively to BYD within its N20 Limerick–Cork Road motor campus at the approach to Charleville on the Limerick side.

Kearys Motor Group overlooking Cork’s N40 South Ring Road will be trading as BYD Cork Central, along with its new Tallaght, Dublin, outlet.

Vicky Reilly, BYD Ireland National Sales Manager, welcomed both companies to the network, representing one of the world’s fastest-growing new energy vehicle brands. 

Skoda Superb 2.0 diesel review: Trish Whelan, Irish Car

Czech automaker Skoda was founded during the pioneering days of the automobile in 1895, making it one of the longest-established car companies in the world. Skoda has been part of the Volkswagen Group since 1991. Since the brand’s flagship Skoda Superb was launched in 2001, over 1.6 million have been produced. The model has been the best-selling car in its segment here over the last seven years, with over 10,000 units delivered to Irish homes. Some 584 Superbs have already been sold this year against the 638 for the whole of 2024. 

While many competitors have abandoned the large saloon segment, Skoda deserves much praise for sticking with the traditional large saloon styling of the Superb and the Combi estate version. I prefer to think of the hatch as a lift-back saloon. Both versions are longer and taller than their predecessors, while wheelbases remain unchanged. 

This large, stylish car is a great option for those seeking an alternative to a crossover or SUV as their family car, as it offers premium looks, enormous interior space for five, refined luxury, cutting-edge technology, high-end performance, as well as a very generous amount of useful standard equipment at a competitive price. It is more than capable of holding its own against the premium German marques. 

My SportLine version is distinctive from all angles, sporting a bold black gloss front grill surround, narrow-styled headlights, front and rear sports bumpers, and contours giving the car an understated elegance, especially in the grey colour exterior, which shows off my car to perfection. The many aerodynamic features helped improve efficiency. Stylish 19-inch black alloy wheels add to the look. 

The luxurious interior has an uncluttered and spacious feel and some lovely 100 per cent sustainable materials. The SportLine grade includes black suede upholstery on the front sports seats, which have power adjustments, can be heated and ventilated, have lumbar support, and a massage function. The driver’s has 3-way memory seat settings. The dash is simple and stylish with the free-standing 13-inch infotainment touchscreen centre stage. It includes navigation, wireless smart link to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The screen is logical to work through, so no problems there. The 10.25-inch digital driver display is traditional in style with two dials and your current speed digitally displayed in the centre. The transmission selector has been moved to the steering column, freeing up space on the central console for storage, two cupholders, a wireless charging pad, and two USB-C type charging points along with another one at the mirror, and two more in the rear. 

The long wheelbase allows for good head and knee room in the rear with space to stretch feet under the front seats. The two outer rear seats can be heated. My car had hands-free boot opening and a generous 645 litres of luggage capacity that can expand to a huge 1,795 litres with rear seats folded. There's a safety net for shopping, and a 'skinny' spare below the floor. Those who require more luggage space can upgrade to the Combi estate with its 690-1,920 litres of luggage space for another €2,000. 

Trims are Selection, Selection+, SportLine, and L&K. The entry grade features keyless entry with an alarm and a power-operated boot door; Selection Plus adds heated and ventilated leather seats; SportLine adds Matrix LED headlights and its own interior styling pack, while L&K gets a sports chassis and a combination of luxury extras. Other features were a leather sports steering wheel with paddles, aluminium sports pedals, a drive mode select, 360-degree camera, front and rear parking sensors, rear window wiper, blind spot monitors on the insides of side mirrors where you see them easily, a rear-view camera, hill hold control, adaptive cruise control, and traffic sign recognition. 

My review car was the 2.0 TDI version with 150hp with a claimed 5.1 L/100kms fuel consumption, a top speed of 223 km/h, max torque of 360Nm and a 0-100km/h capability of 9.2 seconds. Road tax is €210. The diesel can also use HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil). There’s a new 1.5 TSI mild hybrid (mHEV) also with 150hp while the Combi range includes a 1.5TSI 204hp petrol/electric 6-speed plug-in-hybrid version. All new Superb models feature smooth DSG automatic transmissions. I could hardly believe how economical this diesel engine is and it comes with at least 1,200 km of range before refuelling is required. When I returned it a week later, there was almost the same amount left. Superb is a joy to drive, effortless really, very refined, and with plenty of punch in the diesel for overtaking or joining the motorway. Steering is neither too heavy nor too light, and the car has an 11.1 m turning circle. Occupants travel in sublime comfort front and back. Towing is 2,000kg braked; 750kg unbraked. The entry-level mHEV petrol is priced from €49,365; my 2.0 TDI diesel from €55,290.

 

Alpine arrives in Ireland

Alpine A110

The French Alpine sporty brand has arrived in Ireland with two models, writes Brian Byrne. They are being distributed by Cedar Motors, which already represents Renault, Dacia, and Nissan in Ireland.

The Alpine brand is rooted in motorsport since its foundation in 1955, especially in rallying and Formula 1. After a period in the doldrums, it was reformed by Renault in 2018.

The A110 sports car is a 2-seater and has a mid-engine layout. The joint European Car of the Year 2025 Alpine A290 is an electric hot hatch with a starting price of €36,690.

The brand plans to have seven fully electric vehicles by 2030. 

Alpine A290.

Cupra Formentor Review: Brian Byrne, Irish Car

In humans, it would be called personal development, writes Brian Byrne. Moving up the levels of achievement with deliberate intent and working hard to get there. Whether in physical, intellectual, or even image terms. All in all, it's changing for the better. That's what Volkswagen did with Cupra. Elevating their SEAT models' performance variants into a whole new and premium brand. It's not easy to do that, but we've got to give Volkswagen its deserved kudos for staying the course. The Irish sales statistics are clear: SEAT is dropping, Cupra is climbing, and there are just three steps between them on the sales ladder this year.

Initially starting out with a Cupra-ised Leon, the next model was the Formentor. That was new and the first car designed specifically for the Cupra brand. It's a C-segment SUV with coupe styling and has been on the road since 2020, with a facelift last year that significantly upped the ante in terms of its PHEV powertrain.

In overall looks, the Formentor has a mix of curves and edges that are melded well to provide the kind of sporty ethos the brand aims for. The front end produced last year has its own distinction, with the triangular Cupra motif proudly forward in the copper colour that is the standout detail theme in the brand. There's a deftness about the designer's pen here that provides a very articulate sense of what the car is supposed to be and for whom it is aimed. That copper is also extended to the alloys that do their own thing to make the Formentor a stand-out, all without the kind of brashness that could so easily have been the result. The whole thing was enhanced in my review car by the special bronze matt paint, though that'll set you back an extra €2,600.

The theme continues inside the car, with a little more edginess to the style and trim, but maintaining elegance while pushing the sporty line. The copper detailing is again discreet but definite. The steering wheel has a couple of extra buttons under the crossbeam, one for the start-stop and another with only the Cupra logo, which selects the drive modes, with the sporty end getting primacy of the first stab. The driver instrument graphics are clear and customisable, and they're pretty good on the infotainment screen, though for my taste that screen is too big. There's easy climate management with the permanent set of virtual buttons along the bottom of the screen. For the passenger to raise or lower the volume is figuratively painful using the sliding system found across Volkswagen Group cars now. Still, the driver's volume control on the steering wheel is an excellent knurled wheel. The auto transmission shift is the centre console finger-flick one I like. Storage spaces in that console for bits and pieces are almost nothing after the phone-charge tray.

The car is roomy, with excellent space in the rear despite the coupe roof style. Luggage space is not exceptional but adequate for most everyday needs.

My review car was the more powerful of the two levels available in the PHEV, with 270hp on tap and enough torque to pull the car smoothly to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds. The 6-speed dual-clutch transmission gave pleasurably fast changes under pressure, which I did occasionally in appropriate circumstances just for the fun of the feeling.

After a recent experience with the FR SEAT Leon that was equally fun, it was a very pleasant surprise to find that the Cupra didn't depend on the same firm suspension levels, and my drives were much more comfortable without any apparent reduction in handling.

Driving the Formentor in a typical mix of country-to-city traffic as a regular hybrid isn't hard on fuel, and gave me a decent return of 6L/100km. If you can drive it only from a full battery, you'll probably get 100 km on electric-only driving. A neat thing here is the battery can be charged at a full-power CCS point, making it doable to recharge on the road at a public unit.

This development of Cupra as a brand is working for all sorts of reasons. Certainly, I felt good in the car. Of course, all this means you're paying much more for the privilege than you used to in equivalent SEATs.

PRICE: From €39,885 for the entry 150hp; Review car from €59,135, plus €10,563 in extras. WHAT I LIKED: The car gives what the brand promises.