Gas-guzzlers are thankfully fast losing ground – and road and showroom space – to hybrid, electric, and small city cars. Verve looks at some of the most exciting prospects.
Finesse & Flair
The Fiat 500 is enormously practical and zips through traffic assertively, fulfilling its ‘city car’ brief brilliantly.
Back in July 1957 however, the launch of the Nuova 500 (Nuova meaning ‘new’) made waves as the one of the first purpose-designed city vehicles. The combination of size, cost, engineering ingenuity and Italian finesse gave the Nuova an iconic status. Fast forward to today and the Nuova has been relaunched as the Fiat 500, drawing clear inspiration from the original with an even greater emphasis on practicality, economy and desirability.
Revamping a successful vehicle (or indeed, a successful anything), is by no means uncommon. Many best-selling cars (or again, best-selling anythings) draw heavily on the past for inspiration, but the Fiat 500 has taken this much further than most. If you were to place this new 500 side by side with its 1957 predecessor, you’d be struck by how close the resemblance is. Perhaps it’s thanks to this unashamedly retro exterior that the vehicle resists being described as ‘cute’, making it perfect for a young career woman such as myself who would like to steer away from such a characterisation, preferring to retain an air of professional chic.
The interior of the Fiat 500 features a more modern design, including a fixed glass roof with a sun blind. There is also a state-of-the-art infotainment system, complete with Bluetooth and Audio Streaming, Steering Wheel Controls, and Integrated Voice Command. All of which are a must for distraction-free connectivity while driving, allowing you to select music, chat to friends, and use maps without having to take your eyes off the road. It’s also surprisingly comfortable for a small car, even for a tall woman like myself, with decent headroom
I unapologetically prefer the ease of an Automatic, although the dualogic transmission does give you the option of manually working through the five gears if that’s your thing. I was very much at home driving this car around the urban jungle of Auckland City, parking was effortless for a change and even reversing out of my particularly long, narrow driveway was a breeze thanks to the reversing sensors and good cabin visibility. I whizzed around town feeling especially energetic thanks to the Passione Red colour, receiving many comments from friends along the lines of “it suits you”.
And it really does. The Fiat 500 is enormously practical, zips through traffic assertively, and all with Italian flair – fulfilling its ‘city car’ brief brilliantly.
The updated Fiat 500 range is available at a special launch price of $22,990 MSRP for the Lounge version & $25,990 MSRP for the Dolcevita. Have a chat to the team at your local Fiat Showroom to find out more.
Charging into the Future
The films, TV shows, cartoons, and comic books of our childhoods promised us all flying cars by now, and though we’re not quite there, the shift to green vehicles in recent years has been just as dramatic and extraordinary.
Two years ago, Tesla overtook Toyota as the world’s most valuable carmaker, boasting 10 times the Japanese badge’s revenue despite selling 30 times less cars. In 2021, Tesla outmuscled GM as the USA’s top selling automaker then overtook Mercedes-Benz in Germany. In March 2022, the Tesla 3 was NZ’s top selling car. With stats like this, it’s hard to counter their boast that they’re “inspiring the world’s transition to sustainable energy with electric cars…” The problem for many is the hefty price tag.
A new generation of free-thinking Kiwis represent around 20% of the new-car-buying population who value sustainability rather than status symbols. So much so that around two thirds of them consider preserving the environment as the most important value for their next new car purchase. But these ‘postmodern’ buyers have been widely priced out of the most-desired, low-emission options, so OPEL are stepping in to plug that gap with a 100% electrified, feebate-qualifying – and stupendously stylish – range.
“The market is currently dominated by affordable but generally inefficient vehicles,” says Noah Robertson, marketing manager for Auto Distributors NZ who are overseeing OPEL’s entry into the New Zealand market. “While the premium segment offers brand appeal in combination with lower emission options, it does so with a high cost of entry and, in my opinion, sometimes an exclusive positioning. Whereas OPEL has high-brand appeal from a German manufacturer, plus a 100% low emission range from the get-go, all at accessible mid-market pricing. It’s new Germany, even though OPEL started in 1862.”
If every household switched their car for a climate-friendly mode of transport for two short trips a week, every week, we’d save up to 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. One-fifth of New Zealand’s greenhouse gases are the result of transport emissions, with 70% of those coming from cars, SUVs, utes, vans, and light trucks.
The recently introduced Clean Car Discount scheme is set to combat this by incentivising Kiwis to buy green vehicles by offering rebates ranging from $1,500 to $8,625 (while adding fees to high-polluting new cars). It’s a critical moment for car-buyers of Aotearoa New Zealand – and it’s already having a massive effect. As of April 2022, the nation’s electric vehicle fleet passed the 40,000-mark, with ‘green’ new-car registrations doubling on the previous month. Forget those flying cars, the tomorrows are all about being fume-free – and in the not-too-distant future we’ll look back aghast at all those utes we once so loved.
“The discount scheme reframes the illusion that a car is a cocoon,” says Noah. “It illustrates that there is a community on the other side of your closed car door that doesn’t want to be polluted. Our audience is already green leaning, they want to do the right thing, but now they’re being financially rewarded for something that they already wanted to do!”
OPEL promises to be the lowest emissions German brand in New Zealand – and sophisticated city dwellers from Auckland all the way down to Dunedin will no doubt be queuing to embrace its ‘Berlin cool’ attitude. It is this new German aesthetic – inside and out – that truly sets the range apart. Interior wraparound displays sit complemented by exterior signature wraparound grilles, or ‘vizors’, cutting edge driver and safety technology, and crucially, emissions options that range from low to zilch.
In a country where SUV ownership rates are among the highest in the world, the Opel Mokka is ready to take the New Zealand market by (electrical) storm. The groundbreaking compact SUV is both athletic and practical and bears little resemblance to anything else on the road. Its two variants are the 1.2L hybrid good for a $,2,080 rebate, and the all-electric, 100kW fast-charge that’s good for a 345km range and a rebate of $8,625. Little wonder it’s a top seller in EU emission-regulated markets. As well as being rebate-friendly, OPEL offers finance and leasing options.
“Finance products will be a significant enabler for customers, taking accessibility well beyond the rebates,” says Noah. “With iOWN, our intelligent ownership finance solution, weekly payments will rival import pricing I have seen. Consumer attitudes are changing. The world has reset.”
And OPEL’s leading the charge.
All-electric All-star: KIA EV6 GT-Line
High design and genuine innovations make the dual-motor GT-Line flagship a stand-out performer.
The most hotly anticipated Kia since the hard-hitting Stinger, the EV6 is not only Kia’s first dedicated EV, but it also signals the transformation of a brand that promises to bring at least another dozen BEVs to market by 2027.
But first, the EV6. Expectations of this lowish-riding family crossover were sky-high since it was crowned 2022 European Car of the Year. It subsequently cleaned up at the prestigious Red Dot Design Awards, taking the Best of the Best accolade for its pioneering design and also winning the Innovative Products category. All huge endorsements for a model range that begins at $72,990.
Based on an advanced skateboard-style chassis, the EV6 offers one of the most spacious interiors in its mid-sized class, a driving range of over 500km in most cases, and 800-volt ultra-fast charging technology, enabling charging from 10% to 805 in just 18 minutes. The Kia platform might be shared with the acclaimed Hyundai Ioniq, but there are stark differences in design and character, and these are most apparent in the current top-spec variant, badged GT-Line.
The powerful, forward-looking shape certainly reflects the dynamic driving appeal of a car that accelerates smoothly and silently to 100km/h in 5.2 seconds despite its total weight trickling over two tonnes. From the get-go, the ride feels polished in default settings, even on the 20-inch alloys fitted, thanks to the long 2,900mm wheelbase and bespoke Australasian suspension tuning. The EV6 GT-Line also steers accurately and with good feel, attacking corners keenly, aided by the rear-biased set-up of the AWD system. Paddles behind the steering wheel adjust the strength of the regenerative braking, and Sport mode adds tautness and urgency to all responses.
Initial impressions of the luxurious GT-Line cabin are of excellent space and comfort for all passengers, and Tesla owners should take note that the early-production cars we sampled were extremely well put together.
The dashboard is dominated by two 12.3-inch screens that are linked and curve gently towards the driver. Their combined high-definition LCD display delivers all vehicle and infotainment details with clarity, although there are still plenty of well-sited physical buttons for controlling the majority of functions. The supportive suede seats are ventilated and a 14-speaker Meridian audio system brings top-class acoustic values.
Returning to that exterior, the EV6 is the product of three design studios with former BMW design head, Karim Habib, now in charge of Kia’s Global Design Centre. He describes the EV6 as combining Kia’s very best technology for a new era while pushing design boundaries with contrasting combinations of sharp stylistic elements and sculptural shapes. The aesthetics are certainly dramatic and arguably more emotive than those of other comparable EVs.
For example, character lines run along the bottom of doors and curve up towards the rear wheel arches, elongating the profile and creating a sense of forward motion. Overhangs are short, the wheelbase is clearly extended, the centre of gravity appears low and the overall wind-cheating shape registers a drag coefficient of just 0.28. Flush door handles have been incorporated into the doors and the GT-Line look is lifted by the inclusion of an adaptive LED lighting package.
It goes without saying that the EV6 offers endless user personalisation inside and out, and after this positive but fleeting introduction, we look forward to a full week of immersion very soon.
IN A NUTSHELL: Kia EV6 GT-Line
Two electric motors, 77.4kWh li-ion battery; 239kW/605Nm; single-speed auto, all-wheel drive; 20-inch alloys; 4.69m length; 0-100km/h in 5.2 secs; range 506km; from $106,990.
