that people like sitting high up in cars that look like off-roaders but drive and feel like luxury cars, there’s been no stopping the rise of
The EV9 makes better use of its generous square footage thanks to a larger glass area, seats that tumble and fold more easily, and a front luggage compartment to store the cables. The EV9 isn’t just a void on wheels either.and Niro EV, the EV9 is a very well-sorted EV to drive too. Dual-motor versions offer strong performance, though the upcoming single-motor model is likely to be the pick of the range, while steering wheel paddles make the regenerative braking easy to control.
At the moment, the undisputed efficiency champion is Tesla. The single-motor version of the Model Y is rated for 4.0mpkWh and should manage close to that in the real world. The dual-motor Long Range is slightly worse, at 3.7mpkWh, but still very impressive. Of course the lower, and more aerodynamic The Ioniq 5 N goes further than just stiff suspension and bucketloads of power. You do get the latter, but thanks to a stiffened shell, a proper limited-slip differential on the rear axle, adaptive dampers and’s engineers having a sense of humour, it’s genuinely entertaining. It loves to rotate on and off the power, and if you so wish, it can emulate a six-speed gearbox and a petrol engine.
The combination of a wide, responsive and logical touchscreen with a rotary controller and physical buttons means it’s very easy to get on with. Most of this applies to theuses an older version of BMW’s iDrive, but that means it’s actually easier to use than newer models. It also retains physical climate controls and a row of customisable shortcut buttons. The Skoda Enyaq is more screen intensive, but since its multimedia had a big update in 2024, it’s one of the easier systems to use.