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New Car
BuyingIn your recent review of the new
Hyundai i10 city car, you judged it
on 16 criteria. You gave it 10 four-starratings, fi ve fi ve-star ratings and one
instance of three stars.The average of all of these scores
is 4.25. Therefore, I believe it follows
that this car should have beenawarded an overall rating of four
stars, not fi ve.
We’re a family of four: two adults and
two children. We currently drive a Land
Rover Discovery Sport, which in terms of
practicality is perfect for us. The seven
seats often come in handy and the
boot is just big enough to allow us to
do our regular trip from the UK to Italy,
because we camp along the way and
need it to accommodate a large tent.
However, the time is right to change
to an electric car, but we don’t know
which will suit us best. The most
important thing is that there is no
compromise on space; we’d also like a
real-world range of 250 miles, because
this would match our weekly use.
We’ve driven the Kia e-Niro and liked
it a lot, although it doesn’t feel
as solid or luxurious as the
Discovery Sport and its boot is
small. We’ve also considered the
Jaguar I-Pace, which isn’t very
practical and feels a bit too
opulent for a family vehicle.
Are there other EVs we should
be considering?
Elena Olivia
Why does Hyundai’s new i10 get fi ve stars?
Which electric SUV
will suit us?
I feel that this makes your review
misleading. Do you agree?
Clive BorgWHAT CAR? SAYS...
Our reviews editor, Will Nightingale,responded to this question by saying:
“Our overall star ratings aren’tbased on the mean average of the
16 individual areas we appraise.
That approach would leave us withno fi ve-star cars at all and very
probably no two-star cars either.
“The necessary compromises whendesigning and building a car mean
that improving one aspect, such asperformance, usually has a negative
impact elsewhere – in the i10’s case,
fuel economy and CO 2 emissions.WHAT CAR? SAYS...
There aren’t many fully electric SUVs with
a real-world range of more than 250 miles;
the only ones to have exceeded that in our
Real Range tests are the Hyundai Kona
Electric, Jaguar I-Pace and Kia e-Niro. If none
of these suits your needs, you might have to
settle for a car with a shorter range.
The Tesla Model X did 233 miles between
charges in our hands, but
the range has since been
improved. It can be
had with seven seats
and there’s plenty of
luggage space. If you
can live with fi ve seats,
the Audi E-tron is also worth
a look. Its boot isn’t as big as the Model X’s,
but the interior is roomy and classy. Its Real
Range is only 196 miles, though.
That’s why cars rarely score fi ve stars
in more than fi ve or six areas.
“We have a rule that a car needs toscore fi ve stars in at least three key
areas to be considered for a fi ve-starrating overall. In many cases, the
cars with the highest number of
total stars in any given class will beawarded fi ve stars, and those with
the fewest one or two stars.
“However, we do weight qualitiesdifferently depending on the type of
car we’re assessing. So, for example,
a sports car that scored highly forperformance and handling is likely
to be rated above one that scoredwell for rear space or boot space –
even if the latter racked up a greater
number of stars overall.”BOOTS AND ALL
In ve-seat mode,the Model X has a
bigger boot than theDiscovery Sport, plus
an additional space
under the bonnet.