Jon Sibal has a flair for grabbing run-of-the-mill Japanese vehicles and refusing to leave them alone. His latest digital piece begins with the Mazda MX-5 Miata, the ND generation, and then goes all out. The end result is a lowered widebody roadster that appears more suited to shrieking up a mountain road than slicing down a desert canyon.
Mat Watson’s recent Carwow review of the all-new Nissan Leaf shows a car that has finally grown up after years of looking a bit awkward. He compares the transformation to Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter, and the parallel works. Previous Leafs never stood out. This one does, with clean lines borrowed from the Ariya, a full-width light bar, and a low sporty bumper that give it a modern crossover-hatch shape. In electric blue with the black roof and window surrounds it looks sharp from every angle. Flush door handles add to the sleek appearance, though they prove fiddly in daily use and the sloping rear glass cuts into over-the-shoulder visibility. The missing rear wiper is another small frustration on wet British roads.
Porsche has started offering its wireless charging system as a production option on the new Cayenne Electric. Drivers park the SUV over a ground plate and the car begins charging on its own, with no cable to plug in.
Aidan climbed into his dad’s McLaren Elva and found the best car he has ever driven. Number 10 of only 149 built, the open cockpit speedster carries a price tag that started at $1.7 million when new. His father keeps a garage full of McLarens, including a 720S Spider and a 750S, with a W1 on order, yet the Elva sits at the top of the list for the younger driver.
Honda walked away from nearly every electric vehicle it had planned for North America earlier this year. Billions in development costs disappeared overnight. Factories retooled for battery cars sat waiting. One model made it through the cut. That survivor is the Alpha, the compact electric SUV first shown as a concept at the Japan Mobility Show in late 2025. Production versions reach the stage on December 2 in India. Deliveries follow in early 2027. The car will never reach American dealerships. Honda decided the cost of meeting U.S. and European rules was too high for this particular project.