22 HRS AGO - Ferrari piles on the downforce for its first road-legal, special-series XX model It’s almost a decade since Ferrari’s last extra-special-series ‘XX’ car, the La Ferrari-based FXX-K, was introduced. Between that, the original FXX, FXX Evolutione, and the 599XX and -Evo, it’s reckoned that Maranello has so far either made (or, in some cases, remade) fewer than a hundred XX-branded cars in total, only for its wealthiest and most favoured customers.Lately, however, those favoured few have been distracted by other things. The firm’s ‘Icona’ models have been cars of more jewel-like, showcar-level design appeal than the more brutally purposeful XXs, as well as extra-special engineering. So why rekindle the old track-special lineage now? Isn’t it a backwards step?Well, it might be - if that was really what Maranello was up to. But, in some respects at least, the Ferrari SF90 XX Stradale looks a little like an XX model in name only. It’s got an XX badge, sure; and it’s got some very special Collapse

1 DAY AGO - Original military-chic civilian off-roader enters a fourth Wrangler-badged generation The Jeep Wrangler story dates back to 79 years ago. At around the time Enzo Ferrari and Alfa Romeo conclusively parted ways, the United States Department of War sought to commission the design of a rugged reconnaissance vehicle for duties in febrile Europe.Out of more than 130, just two companies, Willys-Overland and Bantam, stepped up, and it was the latter’s BRC 40 that formed the basis of not only a bona fide military icon but also, with the advent of the CJ-1 just four years later, an enduring post-war civilian sales success.The Jeep Wrangler JL is the fourth generation of this remarkable machine since the ‘Wrangler’ name was first applied to the recipe in 1986, and back in the US it remains a customer favourite and something of a global commercial powerhouse.Of course, over here the Wrangler has been and will always be a more niche offering, but it still has a very important role to play for Collapse

1 DAY AGO - The firm has already retired the Fiesta and the Focus will bow out in 2025 Firm's European boss says there is space for smaller, lower non-SUVs as he looks to uphold core values Ford has suggested it will offer smaller, lower-slung electric cars from 2026, once it has launched a family of four electric SUVs in Europe. The firm has already retired the Fiesta and the Focus will bow out in 2025, leaving just the Mustang as its only non-SUV dedicated passenger car. Confirmed new cars on sale by the end of next year include the Explorer, ‘Capri’, electric Puma (called Gen-E) and updated Mustang Mach-E – all crossovers. But asked if there’s a space for lower, non-SUV models in the future, the company’s boss in Europe, Martin Sander, said: “Definitely.” As to whether Ford will still cater in the future to customers who don’t want an SUV, Sander said: “I think so.”  He told Autocar: “There are values which have made us successful over the last couple of years, like solid quality and value Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - EV maker charged a Polestar 5 prototype from 10-80% in just 10 minutes, hitting a peak charging speed of 370kW Electric car maker Polestar has demonstrated new technology that allows for ultra-fast charging, hitting a speed of 370kW when charging a Polestar 5 prototype. The technology, developed with battery firm Storedot, is named extreme fast charging (XFC) and uses silicon-dominant cells to charge at high speeds without degrading the battery.  It also uses improved mechanics and cooling while weighing less. Its cells are lighter than those of a conventional EV battery and more recyclable, Polestar said.  Should the technology be equipped to the 5 at market launch, as planned, it would significantly surpass the current fastest-charging EV currently on sale in the UK, the Porsche Taycan (320kW). Polestar said the technology also offers improvements in charging speed consistency, with tests returning a steady charging rate of 310kW and a peak of 370kW - higher than that offered by Collapse

2 DAYS AGO - Linear accelerator scans the crashing vehicle from above Mercedes' system can generate 1000 images a second, detailing how materials deform - crucial for in-car safety Witnessing the sheer violence of a crash test in a closed facility for the first time is a sobering experience. The colossal energy release and the noise it makes last only a second, but they’re followed by an eerie silence that makes the experience even more shocking. Crash testing is something that car makers spend millions on doing, and techniques for understanding what happens to a car’s structure and the dummies inside it are continually being improved. In the past year, Mercedes-Benz has become the first maker to subject two electric cars to a crash test with one another and the first to X-ray a crashing car at the moment of impact. The X-ray test took place at the Ernst Mach Institute in Freiburg, Germany, using a C-Class saloon and a linear accelerator as the X-ray camera. It was a side impact test, meaning Collapse

3 DAYS AGO - American makers were told to clean up their V8 motors Makers were forced to slash emissions by 70% in three years, wreaking havoc among the industry and public The car industry’s reaction to the UK’s new zero-emission vehicle mandate hasn’t been positive, not least as some makers are unable to comply – and here we can hear echoes from early-1970s America. Americans had become acutely aware of environmental damage post-war, primarily through the smog hanging over many major cities, and so it became a key issue in the 1968 US presidential election. That was won by Republican Richard Nixon, who said in his 1970 state of the union address: “The automobile is our worst polluter of the air. Adequate control requires further advances in engine design and fuel composition. We shall intensify our research, set increasingly strict standards and strengthen enforcement procedures, and we shall do it now.” Two months later, an astonishing 20 million Americans came out in protest on the Collapse

4 DAYS AGO - How challenging will it be to introduce EVs everywhere? Autocar's James Attwood takes a 4x4 Skoda Enyaq to the desert with a glovebox full of range anxiety pills Ouarzazate is known as the gateway to the Sahara – and the driveway to that gate is Morocco’s N9 highway. The road winds from Marrakesh through the High Atlas mountains, where barren, sun-parched, rocky landscapes meet snow-covered peaks. At the dizzying Tizi n’Tichka pass, it practically folds in on itself. Just 200 miles south-west from here is the vast nothingness of the Sahara desert. And that’s where I’ve just come from – driving a Skoda Enyaq Coupé 85x. The challenge was to find out how an electric car coped in a desert climate, but also to consider a wider question: if electric cars are the future, how challenging will it be to introduce them everywhere? After all, when buyers are put off EVs because the north of England is considered a ‘charging desert’, can electric cars ever work in a real one? Here comes the Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - Strip away the BTCC-style aero work and Ocean is obviously a Volkswagen ID 3 rival New concept previews rear-driven BYD Ocean-M hatchback, which is tipped to get a racey range-topper BYD has revealed an outlandish hot hatch concept at the Beijing motor show, previewing an electric family car that it will launch later this year.  It's called the Ocean-M, and while the production version will no doubt be available without the touring car-style bodykit, low-profile tyres and big brake discs, the concept gives a good idea of what to expect.  Beneath the aero addenda lies a circa-4.3m-long hatchback with an aggressive front end, distinctive LED lighting, electronic pop-out door handles and swollen arches.  In shape and size, it is clearly envisioned as a rival for the MG 4 EV, Volkswagen ID 3, Renault Mégane E-Tech Electric and Smart #1.  Technical details aren't forthcoming, but BYD said the Ocean-M rides on a new EV platform with a motor mounted at the rear, taking its power from a Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - This year's event showed how quickly some Chinese firms are surpassing some of the West's oldest names The cost, the technology and now the styling of the cars and branding of the companies: the latter stages in the development of the Chinese industry was on full show at the Beijing motor show, which ran this week for the first time since 2018. When the Chinese car makers cracked brands and branding, these were always going to be the things that could really take them global and into the mainstream, rather than simply known for cost. The 2024 Beijing show could turn out to be the springboard for that. Indeed, western car makers at Beijing were in turn talking up the strength of their own brands as for how they can continue to have an edge and stay ahead. The show was squeezed into eight halls at a convention centre in the north east of Beijing’s still-expanding metropolis (I swear that tower block has an extra storey on two on it than when we drove past yesterday…) and provided a Collapse