New electric car buying in the future.

Nothing overly wrong with that though - for many people they are simply tools to get you from A to B and they've no real interest in how it looks. There are people who want a nice looking car, but I think that number is reducing slowly.

I don't car how my car looks but it does need to be functional and practical (suspect those 2 required instantly show why I don't care how it looks).

As car prices go up and electric (or non-ICE) and automation become more common, I think people will just start jumping into a vehicle closest to their budget and that'll be it.

Doesn't sound great if you do want a look and an actual test drive but it might be good if people stop wanting cars like we do now...

I’m getting the impression that all new electric cars will be virtually identical clones ,

It's certainly not the case now. I suspect partly to appear modern and partly to justify higher costs, manufacturers have gone all out on the design of EVs and they are generally pretty innovative.

Let’s face it, there are no bad cars being made; they’re all good enough. It’s not like the days when you could inadvertently end up buying a fso polonez. I suspect very soon we won’t be “buying” cars at all and it’ll be just like taking out a phone contract.
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You’ll take out the xx month contract at a price point closest to your budget and that’s the car you get, whether it’s got a Kia badge or a bmw badge is kinda irrelevant. </span>

I don't think they'll all go to SUV style, lower saloons and hatches will always be more economical so other manufacturers will have that covered especially as we want more range combined with less battery weight and expense.

We are farkin doomed. Most leccy cars will be silent massive, stupid fast SUV's. Us cyclists will be squashed.

The world has gone mad.

So long as it goes far enough on a charge, fits all my kit in, is comfortable and cheap I don't care what it looks like although I know lots of people do.

I like a 'test sit'.

I have a metal rod in my back, a metal plate in my shoulder and another one in my leg. Arthritis added to the mix means I need a seat that goes where I want it.

I had not test driven any of my last four company cars before taking delivery. They are all good. Tax, range, reviews and space are my criteria. Oh and can it pull a small caravan

TBH I'm pretty ambivalent about car aesthetics (I had a Multipla) but I still like to test drive. I'm not looking for some sort of ultimate driving machine but I do recall wanting a Panda 4x4 until the moment I drove one - I just didn't like the experience.  Similarly an Alfa 4x4 estate which had no footwell on account of the transmission.

Surely a company car is different being it's not your own hard earned?

Are company cars comfortable by default? I'd still want to test drive any car I was likely to be driving regularly.

its worth noting that the new ford puma is all of 4cm taller than the old fiesta, which was also taller than the previous one. Its all about styling.

Ford currently have no plans to not sell ICE cars until after the ban in 2030/2035. They may try to move to direct sales, but if they do so, the dealerships/pickup points will still have cars available to drive, a bit like how tesla do it

basically your old dealer is full of s..t

You already buy a lot of new cars like that - you just order your Polestar online and it turns up at your house.  You can have a test drive tho' if you want by going to a test drive at a pop up place.  I've been on a couple of test drives that way.

The MG is Chinese made, but isn't a copy of anything as far as I know.  It's a decent car, and a darn sight better to drive and own than the old rubbish they put that badge on before.  I'd agree it's getting harder to buy a bad car.

I’m getting the impression that all new electric cars will be virtually identical clones , no characteristics to separate them from each other just boring blandness

Oh noes!!! We're not going to lose the character and uniqueness of the... (checks back up the page) ford focus(?) are we? Next you'll be telling me the venerable Astra is for the chop... Why!?!!? Why!!!???! What have they done???!!

Meh, cars are just tools at the end of the day, either they flog you something that does what you want or they can't meet your wild expectations and buy something else from the competition...

Guessing at the future of cars is kind of a pointless game these days, it's not like anyone will be able to afford one soon...

Always found Ford's shift of focus away from dealers a bit strange as after they took the franchise from the one in my town the amount of Ford's dramatically fell.

I bought my first new car, a Fiesta from there in 99, followed by a couple of new Focus in 2001 + 2004, a second hand Focus in 2006, another new one in 2012 then a Kuga in 2014. I hadn't necessarily meant to buy so many Ford's but one of the sales team looked after me from the start and cut me various deals over the years so I kept going back for ease. Never any pressure and he'd let me test any model I wanted so why go further afield? Have not looked at a Ford since my mate left and then the dealership closed.

Electric's ace though and there's plenty of choice. My first is going back this week to be replaced by another (first car I've bought that I have not test driven!), both BMW's and influenced by a great dealership not too far away.

I’m getting the impression that all new electric cars will be virtually identical clones , no characteristics to separate them from each other just boring blandness

So Fords.

We are farkin doomed. Most leccy cars will be silent massive, stupid fast SUV’s. Us cyclists will be squashed.

But they’re not silent.

Currently a lot of new electric cars are SUV's as that is where the quickest way the manufacturers can recoup the massive investment costs if moving a ay from ICE. As time goes on, other types of car will be available. I think the next BMW 5 series will have a fully electric estate version for example and there are still a number of small electric cars already which are not SUV's. As ever, massive over generalisation to make a point is unnecessary and incorrect

However, if cars had always been seen as white goods like fridges and freezers, the world would I am sure be in a better environmental condition albeit slightly, than it currently is, but that didn't happen unfortunately.

The new 2024 E Tourneo Courier looks quite a practical little bike and people carrying thing so not everything is style over substance.

Us cyclists will be squashed.

Only if people turn off the safety features.

Non-SUV car EVs:

MG4 (at a push)
VW iD7
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Mercedes EQE
Mercedes EQS
VW iD3
Honda E
BMW i4
BMW i5
Lucid Air
Polestar 2

I may have forgotten some. But there are some cracking cars in that list and not at all bland or dull.

The MG is Chinese made, but isn’t a copy of anything as far as I know.  It’s a decent car, and a darn sight better to drive and own than the old rubbish they put that badge on before.

Ah yes, the Rover 200 / 400 / 800 in disguise 😂😂😂

Meh, cars are just tools at the end of the day

They're tools in the same way that bikes are. £350 Carrera - absolutely. But the kind of bikes people on here ride...

Non-SUV car EVs:

Uhhh, Toyota? Specifically the:

Prius
Auris
Yaris
Paris
Boris
Morris
Maurice
Maurdant
Morgan
Morgue

I care about how a car feels to drive (the handling, how it goes over imperfect roads, the feel of the controls, etc.) so wouldn't currently buy a car without a test drive. At least with bikes there's some adjustability, and many column inches focusing on those aspects of the vehicle.

I expect there will always be the opportunity to, but might not be as readily offered and convenient as it is today - especially at the non-premium end of the market.

However, we are well on the journey towards cars just being functional appliance-like white goods, so when they all end up like that I might not care anymore.

There's a beautiful poetry in this thread about all new electric cars being boring, Identikit blobs appearing on the same day that the press release came out about the McMurtry Spéirling.

I think it'll all be ok.

Ah yes, the Rover 200 / 400 / 800 in disguise

I had an 800 as a company car and a 400 Tourer I bought myself. Both excellent.

There'll still be Ford dealers but across Europe they're moving from wholesale (buy the car at x, decide how much margin you want to give away as discount to win a sale) to agency direct sales (take a % on a fixed price to facilitate a sale). They are reducing the number too, you just don't need a franchised dealer in every town and there's lots of places where you have half a dozen within a 10 mile radius. They had the biggest dealer network in the UK but are far from the biggest brand.

This isn't just Ford, most of the brands already have (like Mercedes) or will in the next couple of years.

SUV / crossover things as the default family car has been a trend for decades - we're almost at 20 years of Qashqai and 30 of RAV4/CRV. People want them, manufacturers like them because they're generally higher margin. The trad hatch, estate, MPV have been on borrowed time for ages.

We've just got a renault Megane EV and the dealer kept calling it a crossover SUV. It's not though, it's a hatchback like the leaf it replaced, albeit with slightly bigger wheels.

I used to be a petrolhead but now I couldn't really give a toss about cars as long as I can drive it comfortably and it meets certain capacity constraints (ie I can get bikes, dogs and enough kit for a two plus weeks away).

I'm 6'4" so the thought of buying a car without ensuring I can get comfortable or fit my bike in is untenable. I'd never buy a car if I couldn't "try it for size" first...

They’re tools in the same way that bikes are. £350 Carrera – absolutely. But the kind of bikes people on here ride…

There's a Carrera in my Garage (ahem, amongst some other bikes) and a shitty old Citroen, rusting on the drive, next car will be whatever is cheap enough and has enough seating. I don't do track days I shuttle children to clubs and old ladies to hospitals. Cars are just tools, everything else is marketing...

Brand loyalty to a car maker/franchise stealership is a hilarious concept, they don't give two ****s about you once the PCP is signed, they'll see you in a couple of years for the next inevitable trade in...

I still feel like my priorities are just about right.

There’s no way I would ever buy a car without an extensive test drive, and I mean preferably over a weekend. Having literally driven hundreds of different cars from many different manufacturers, most for several hundred miles, it’s often only after around a hundred miles that all the little niggles start to become issues, often comfort, but also appalling ergonomics, especially solid-state flatscreen dash and infotainment systems. Even VW have had to change things after many complaints about the 2023 Golf. I hate them, they’re downright dangerous, even swapping between the music and navigation apps on my Ford screen is iffy, I have to take my attention off the road to see where the ‘buttons’ are, and it’s all too easy to start to drift at 70 on a motorway. Neither are things I do very often, but when it’s digging down through multiple menus to get to aircon adjustments, then having to do the same for other important info, it’s clear motor designers have completely failed to understand what’s important safety-wise with ergonomics. Most important adjustments on my car are analogue, I won’t have it any other way.

And comfort is another important factor, finding yourself fidgeting around after half an hour in a nearly new car because the seats are so hard that you just want to get out and abandon it isn’t ideal, especially when it’s a Mercedes A-Class! Horrid bloody thing!

Currently a lot of new electric cars are SUV’s as that is where the quickest way the manufacturers can recoup the massive investment costs if moving a ay from ICE

most EVs aren't really crossovers, as in, they have the ride height of a normal car. Its just they're as tall as an SUV, because they've distributed a 6" tall battery pack along the base of the car (often coloured black to hide it), and plonked the passengers on top of it.

There are definitely other solutions, but the skateboard is an easy design to work with and implement, SUVs being in fashion is just a lucky coincidence. In large saloons (eqe, model s, etc), the floorpan is big enough to spread the battery thinner, but in smaller cars they either end up tall or with rubbish range (which might be ok for a city car, is less good for a golf). the id3 is 10cm taller than a golf despite being styled like a normal car