Category Archives: NEW CARS

NEW CARS

Nissan Revives Its Playful Side with the Pike-Inspired Electric Wave

Nissan is about to dive back into the European city-car pool, and this time it’s bringing a sense of humor—and history—with it. The company’s upcoming electric runabout will be called Wave, a name that feels breezy, friendly, and intentionally un-serious. That’s fitting, because the Wave is shaping up to be Nissan’s most character-driven small car in years, blending modern EV pragmatism with a design playbook lifted straight from the brand’s late-’80s cult classics.

Due next year, the Nissan Wave will be built by Renault alongside the electric Twingo, with which it shares its basic architecture. This is less badge engineering and more personality swap: same bones, different soul. And if Nissan gets it right, the Wave could do for the city-EV segment what the original Pike cars did for Japanese kei-adjacent oddities—make people smile before they even check the spec sheet.

Pike’s Peak Nostalgia

According to Nissan Europe design boss Giovanny Arroba, the Wave will take inspiration from the brand’s legendary Pike cars—a series of retro-styled small vehicles developed by Nissan’s Pike Factory special projects group in the late 1980s and early ’90s. If that sounds niche, it is—but in the best possible way.

Cars like the Be-1, Pao, Figaro, and S-Cargo were based on the first-generation Micra and leaned hard into exaggerated 1950s design cues: exposed hinges, bold door handles, side strakes, and proportions that bordered on cartoonish. They weren’t subtle, and they weren’t meant to be. When the Be-1 debuted at the 1985 Tokyo motor show, demand was so overwhelming that Nissan had to use a lottery system to decide who got to buy one of the 10,000 cars allocated for production.

That kind of enthusiasm is exactly what modern EVs—especially affordable ones—often lack.

Same Platform, Different Vibe

Under the skin, the Wave will ride on a shortened version of Renault’s AmpR Small platform, the same architecture underpinning the new electric Twingo. That means a tidy footprint—expect the Wave to match the Twingo’s 3.79-meter length—and urban-friendly proportions that prioritize maneuverability over macho posturing.

Power comes from a 27.5-kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, sourced from CATL. LFP chemistry doesn’t win bragging rights for energy density, but it’s cheaper, more durable, and better suited to the stop-and-go life of a city car. Range is expected to land around 163 miles, mirroring the Twingo and landing squarely in the “enough for real life” category.

The payoff is price. Nissan is targeting the same sub-£20,000 sticker as the Twingo, which—these days—counts as aggressively affordable in the EV world.

Retro Without the Red Ink

The clever bit is how Nissan plans to inject Pike-inspired character without blowing the budget. The Twingo already leans into retro cues of its own, referencing the original 1990s model, which gives Nissan a forgiving canvas. Think of it as remixing nostalgia rather than starting from scratch—similar to how Nissan plans to differentiate its upcoming Micra, which is based on the Renault 5.

How far Nissan will push the Pike look remains an open question. Full-on exposed hinges and novelty detailing would be delightful but potentially costly. Still, Nissan will be watching Renault closely. Its alliance partner has found real success mining heritage with the electric Renault 5 and 4, proving that retro isn’t just an aesthetic—it’s a sales strategy.

Fast, Cheap, and (Hopefully) Fun

Beyond design, the Wave benefits from the Twingo program’s ruthless focus on efficiency. Renault claims a development time of just 21 months, aided by a reduced parts count and streamlined production. Nissan gets to piggyback on those gains, which matters because the margins on small cars—especially electric ones—are notoriously thin.

That efficiency also helps explain why Nissan is re-entering a segment it abandoned more than a decade ago. The company hasn’t sold a city car in Europe since it killed off the Indian-built Pixo in 2013. But the landscape has changed. The European Union now offers “super-credits” for small EVs, counting each one as 1.3 vehicles for emissions targets. Suddenly, small electric cars aren’t just charming—they’re strategically valuable.

A Small Car With Big Intent

The Nissan Wave won’t be fast, flashy, or long-legged. It doesn’t need to be. Its job is to make electric mobility feel approachable again—to remind buyers that EVs can be cheerful appliances rather than rolling tech demos. If Nissan successfully channels even a fraction of the Pike cars’ whimsy, the Wave could stand out in a sea of anonymous jellybeans.

In an era where so many new cars feel engineered by spreadsheet, the Wave hints at something refreshingly human. Affordable, efficient, and a little bit weird—in other words, exactly what a great city car should be.

Source: Autocar

NEW CARS

Afeela Confirms Electric SUV for 2028

If there was any doubt that Sony and Honda’s Afeela brand was serious about becoming a full-fledged EV player, that doubt evaporated under the bright lights of CES 2026. Fresh off launching its first production car—the Afeela 1 electric sedan—the joint venture has confirmed its next move: a fully electric SUV slated to hit U.S. roads in 2028.

Revealed as a prototype in Las Vegas, the yet-unnamed SUV is positioned as a direct response to premium electric family haulers like the Lucid Gravity, Rivian R1S, BMW iX, and Volvo EX90. And while it’s technically a new model, think of it less as a clean-sheet design and more as the Afeela 1 sedan… on stilts.

According to Afeela, the SUV “builds on the core concept” of the sedan while adding “greater spatial flexibility and accessibility”—corporate speak for we want more buyers. That makes sense. Sedans may still matter, but SUVs are where the volume (and profit margins) live, especially in the U.S.

Same Look, More Headroom

Design-wise, Afeela didn’t reinvent the wheel. The SUV retains the brand’s minimalist aesthetic: smooth surfacing, clean lines, and those distinctive wraparound light bars that look more consumer electronics than traditional automotive. The fastback-style rear roofline survives the transition to SUV form, giving the vehicle a sleeker profile than most boxy three-row rivals.

Dimensionally, it appears to mirror the sedan closely, likely stretching just under five meters in length with a wheelbase of slightly more than three meters. That puts it squarely in the midsize-to-large luxury EV SUV class—big enough to feel substantial, but not Escalade-big.

Honda Hardware, Sony Software

Under the skin, expect familiar hardware. The SUV is likely to ride on the same Honda-engineered platform as the Afeela 1, complete with a 91-kWh lithium-ion battery. Range should land around 300 miles, with DC fast-charging speeds up to 150 kW. Dual electric motors are expected to deliver a combined 482 horsepower—respectable, if not class-leading, in this segment.

Where Afeela continues to differentiate itself is tech. Honda may handle the engineering and manufacturing—production will again take place in Ohio—but Sony is responsible for the digital experience. That means a heavy emphasis on software, user interface, and sensor-driven systems.

The SUV will feature the same robotics-based posture control system designed to optimize ride comfort, along with Level 2-plus driver assistance. Inside, a highly customizable infotainment system will dominate the cabin, while the exterior retains Afeela’s signature “media bar” on the nose—a programmable light display that signals vehicle status and, presumably, your enthusiasm for futuristic design.

Premium Pricing, Patient Buyers Required

Don’t expect bargains. The Afeela 1 sedan starts at roughly $90,000, and the SUV is expected to push past the $100,000 mark. That pricing places it squarely against high-spec versions of the Lucid Gravity and Rivian R1S—two vehicles that already have a head start in both production and brand recognition.

Timing may be Afeela’s biggest challenge. While the SUV is planned for production in about two years, the sedan has yet to begin customer deliveries in California, with Arizona and Japan following later. Wider global availability, including Europe, isn’t expected before 2030—and there are currently no confirmed plans to sell either model there at all.

Still, the sedan shown at CES was a pre-production car pulled directly from the Ohio assembly line, suggesting Afeela is finally moving from concept-stage ambition to real-world execution.

The SUV, then, isn’t just a new body style—it’s a test of whether Sony and Honda can translate their combined expertise into something buyers actually want to live with. If they get it right, Afeela might become more than just CES spectacle. If not, it risks being another beautifully designed EV that arrived a little too late.

Either way, the electric SUV wars just got another serious contender.

Source: Autocar

NEW CARS

The Audi Q2 e-Tron Could Be Your Next Choice

Remember the Audi A2? Not the RS models or the big-grille sedans that dominate Ingolstadt’s greatest-hits album, but the oddball aluminum jellybean from the early 2000s—the one that looked like it escaped from a wind tunnel and sipped fuel like it was rationed. Back then, the A2 was Audi doing the future a little too early. Lightweight aluminum spaceframe, obsessive aero thinking, and a 1.2-liter diesel that could stretch a gallon to nearly 80 mpg. Buyers didn’t quite know what to do with it. History, however, has been kinder.

Fast-forward nearly three decades, and Audi appears ready to dust off that same forward-thinking playbook—this time with electrons instead of diesel. Enter the upcoming Q2 e-Tron, a compact electric crossover (or tall hatch, depending on how honest you’re feeling) that effectively replaces the outgoing gasoline Q2 and becomes the new entry point to Audi’s EV lineup.

If that sounds familiar, it should. Like the A2 before it, the Q2 e-Tron looks positioned to be a clever, efficiency-minded alternative to the premium status quo—just wrapped in a more contemporary, SUV-adjacent silhouette.

A Tall Hatch With a Memory

Based on early spy shots and illustrations, the Q2 e-Tron wears its proportions proudly. The upright stance echoes the A2’s practical, space-first philosophy, but Audi has sharpened the edges. The windshield is more aggressively raked, the roofline tapers decisively into the C-pillar, and the overall shape leans closer to “hatchback on stilts” than the chunkier crossover look of the current Q2.

Up front, Audi’s latest lighting trickery takes center stage. Slim micro-LED daytime running lights sit high and wide, while the main headlamp units are pushed lower into the bumper—a familiar Audi EV move by now. The closed-off grille is framed by crisp creases and angular intakes, giving the smallest e-Tron a face that looks confident rather than apologetic.

Around back, the designers seem to be having a little fun. A high-mounted spoiler visually splits the rear glass—a clear nod to the old A2—and a full-width LED light bar modernizes the tailgate. It’s playful by Audi standards, which is to say: restrained, but intentional.

Familiar Audi, Just Smaller—and Smarter

Inside, expect fewer surprises. The Q2 e-Tron should closely follow the digital-first design language already seen in the Q3 and Q5. A curved digital instrument cluster pairs with a central MMI touchscreen, and Audi’s AI-based voice assistant is expected to be standard fare. Yes, that means downloadable apps, streaming services, and navigation that updates itself while you’re still arguing with your passengers about lunch.

Despite its compact footprint, the EV architecture should pay dividends in space efficiency. A flat floor opens up the cabin, and while cargo volume won’t threaten the class leaders, it’s expected to come in just shy of the Q4 e-Tron’s 520 liters—respectable numbers for something wearing a “smallest Audi EV” label.

Audi is also expected to lean into sustainability here, with recycled and eco-friendly trim options, ambient lighting, and a full suite of Level 2 driver-assist systems rounding out the spec sheet.

MEB+, More Muscle, More Miles

Under the skin, the Q2 e-Tron is set to ride on Volkswagen Group’s updated MEB+ platform. Think of it as MEB 2.0: stiffer, more efficient, and capable of faster charging than the hardware underpinning today’s ID.4s and Q4 e-Trons.

Early technical whispers suggest a front-wheel-drive base model making around 201 horsepower, fed by a 63-kWh battery good for roughly 250 miles of range. Step up the ladder and outputs could climb past 268 horsepower, with a larger battery pushing WLTP range figures toward a very respectable 348 miles.

Quattro variants with dual motors are also on the table, aimed at buyers who live where winter is a lifestyle rather than a season. And because this is Audi, you can safely assume someone in Neckarsulm is already sketching RS badges in the margins.

Small EV, Big Competition

Whether Audi ultimately revives the A2 name or sticks with Q2 e-Tron branding, this car will land in a crowded—and increasingly competitive—segment. Rivals include the Volvo EX30, BMW iX1, Smart #1, Mini Aceman, and Alfa Romeo Junior, all vying to prove that small, premium EVs don’t have to feel like compromises.

Early rumors pointed to a 2027 debut, but newer reports suggest Audi could pull the covers off as soon as the second half of next year, with production staying close to home in Germany.

If the original A2 was a car that arrived before the market was ready, the Q2 e-Tron might be landing at exactly the right moment. Smaller, smarter, and more efficient EVs are finally what buyers are asking for—and Audi seems keen to remind us that it’s been thinking this way all along.

Source: Audi