Puma's practical electric beast

GEN-E SENSIBLE CHOICE FOR STANDARD LOOKS AND AN EVERYDAY DRIVE

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THE Puma has been a rousing success for Ford. There was some dismay when the Fiesta was discontinued, leaving the Puma the Blue Oval's sole compact model, but since then this crossover has gone from strength to strength.

There was just one major thing missing: an electric Puma. Pull forward, the Puma Gen-E.

WHAT'S NEW?

Outside, you'd be hard-pressed to tell anything has changed. Aside from the smoothed-off front grille, it all appears standard Puma.

The interior benefits from all the features recently introduced to the updated Puma, meaning a large central touchscreen and an oddly large steering wheel come equipped as standard on all models.

UNDER THE BONNET?

Gone are the Puma's compact petrol engines, instead replaced by a single electric motor with 166bhp and 290Nm of torque.

That equates to zero to 60mph time of 7.8 seconds, which is actually only slightly slower than the acceleration time of the go-faster Puma ST with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

In terms of range, Ford claims up to 233 miles and thanks to a 100kW maximum charge speed, the Puma's 43kWh battery can be taken from 10% to 80% in around 23 minutes.