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CUPRA TAVASCAN

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May 07, 2025

Stylish SUV is integrating itself into our lives quickly and easily, and that’s despite the absence of home charging

- Dawn Grant Dawn

CUPRA TAVASCAN

AS my colleague Tom has found (p50), if you don’t have home charging, running an electric car is more expensive than it could be. This situation isn’t helped by the fact that the pricing and speed of connections across the various chargepoint providers is a minefield in itself. It's something that new EV converts need to get their heads around.

I tend to try charging on cheaper slower chargers if I’m out for a few hours, or use the fast chargers at various supermarkets that, although expensive, at least offer the benefit of convenience.

imageHowever, I travel fairly regularly up from Dorset to London, and my husband received an email from Instavolt offering a cheaper price via the app for its brandnew superhub near Winchester, Hants.

It’s the UK’s largest rapid-charging hub, with 44 chargers all run on renewable energy. Plus it was just a four-minute diversion from my normal motorway route, so I felt I really should give it a go.

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COULD YOU EVER BUY A SECOND-HAND SUPERCAR?

“IT all starts with a coffee,” says Ferrari sales manager Glenn Butt as he escorts us towards a sumptuous seating area overlooking a showroom of dreams. We’re at Meridien Modena, one of the most well regarded Ferrari dealerships in the country, about to experience what very few do: the fabled process of buying a Ferrari.

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Paul Smith Land Rover Defender

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Thule Palm high-back booster seat

SWEDISH brand Thule may be most well known for its range of bike racks and roof boxes, but with the introduction of the new Palm high-back booster seat, it now claims to offer a “complete car-seat range” as well.

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Volkswagen Polo Edition 50

Brand marks 50th anniversary of its supermini with special edition, ahead of a big year for the Polo name

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WHO'S IN FRONT?

Vauxhall's resurrected Frontera comes in petrol and electric guises. We pitch the British brand's EV against its BYD Atto 2 family-SUV rival

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