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Plug-in hybrids, long touted as the ideal gateway to electric mobility, are once again under fire. A recent study by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) claims that they emit on average five times more CO2 than official tests claim. All the more reason to reopen an already lively debate about these vehicles, which are so popular with company fleets.

Some disturbing figures

According to T&E, analysis of 127,000 vehicles registered in 2023 reveals actual emissions of 139 g/km, compared with just 28 g/km on paper. The discrepancy stems from the calculation of the WLTP standard, which assumes that PHEVs are driven 80% of the time in electric mode. In practice, this figure drops to 26%. As a result, the combustion engine is used much more often than expected.

Criticism but also nuances

The NGO denounces a greenwashing strategy and calls on Brussels to correct the rules from 2025. The car industry, on the other hand, is defending PHEVs as an essential transitional solution. For Christophe Périllat, head of Valeo, these models remain useful until the electric market is fully mature. In his view, increasing the electric range of hybrids to 100 km would already cover most everyday journeys.

A political battle ahead

It’s not just a technical issue. Carmakers want to make the targets for 2035, the date set for the end of combustion engines, more flexible. Brussels will have to make a decision at the strategic dialogue on 12 September. Discussions between NGOs, manufacturers and the European Commission are likely to be tense.

Towards other alternatives?

At the same time, a number of players are exploring the use of range extenders, which are already popular in China. This technology, which recharges the battery via a small internal combustion engine, could represent a compromise. However, there are still too many risks associated with the use of combustion engines.

The controversy surrounding PHEVs illustrates the challenges of the transition. While their limitations are now clear, pure electrics remain the most credible option in the long term.

Young Turkish manufacturer Togg took advantage of the IAA Mobility 2025 show in Munich to announce its imminent arrival on the European market, starting with Germany. As the spearhead of Turkey’s industrial revival, Togg is aiming to win enough market share to first become profitable and then expand on a large scale.

Turkey is doing its utmost to achieve a balanced trade balance. Still too dependent on imports despite its strong agriculture and status as a major industrial hub, the country has set itself the task of continuing to develop this second point. So, in 2019, the government unveiled the start-up Togg, an acronym for “Türkiye’nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu“, Turkey’s first national manufacturer. A small revolution that will enter its second phase in 2025: internationalisation.

Germany as a gateway for Togg

At the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Togg announced the imminent arrival in Germany of its two 100% electric models: the T10X SUV and the T10F saloon, whose design, inspired by BMW’s lines, could appeal to German customers who are already well used to them. And it’s in the locals’ interest to like them, because Togg’s development, and even survival, depend on it. According to Reuters, the manufacturer needs around 200,000 sales a year to reach profitability. Its domestic market, despite respectable results with 30,000 units sold in 2024, will not be enough to ensure Togg’s long-term growth. Germany is therefore de facto the priority market for the young manufacturer, providing both a potential springboard and a gateway to the rest of Europe.

But Togg didn’t just announce its arrival in Germany. The manufacturer has also sprung a surprise by tackling another field that is becoming increasingly essential: artificial intelligence. Can.ai, its in-house AI platform, has been developed in partnership with Microsoft Turkey, from whom it borrows the Azure cloud, and incorporates technologies from OpenAI, from whom ChatGPT is derived. While it responds to voice commands, as is the case in almost all new vehicles, this virtual assistant “makes predictions and acts proactively in the best interests of users“, as Togg puts it. This ‘hands-free’ support is summed up by the name of its interface, ‘ZeroTouchUI’.

It now remains to be seen what practical applications this artificial intelligence will have in driving, but on paper, and on test at the Toog stand in Munich, it looked promising. And that’s at least what it will take to stand out in an already crowded German market. While the Togg vehicles offer a classic design that has proved its worth, a decent range – 500 and 600 km respectively for the T10X and T10F – and this new AI assistant that promises to be revolutionary, they should be priced at between €45,000 and €50,000, putting them up against the Audi Q4 e-Tron and BMW iX2, among others… We’ll have to hang on!

The IAA in Munich is an opportunity for Skoda to present its Vision O concept. A large electric estate car that will serve as the basis for future models from the Czech brand in the Volkswagen Group.

The Volkswagen Group has decided to use this 2025 edition of the IAA Mobility show in Munich as a showcase for its future. After Audi’s Concept C, a veritable white paper on the design of future vehicles in the rings, it’s Skoda’s turn to present its manifesto, in the form of the Vision O concept. And, as with Audi, it’s not just another SUV! It’s an estate car (100% electric, of course), a category in which the Czech manufacturer has enjoyed a string of commercial successes, led by the Superb Combi and Octavia Combi.

Practical, spacious and… elegant

Skoda has revisited its design language, known as ‘Modern Solid ‘, which emphasises simplicity and a futuristic brutalism. The new front end features a full radiator grille, with headlamps and sensors forming the future visual signature of the brand’s models. The whole thing is 4.60 metres long and has a very slender silhouette for an estate car. It’s elegant.

But this sharp styling doesn’t seem to prevent the Vision O estate from fulfilling its initial mission: making life easier for the driver, offering comfort for passengers and offering a voluminous boot. This is the case here, with Skoda announcing a capacity of 650 litres! That’s almost as much as the Skoda Superb Combi, the benchmark in the brand’s catalogue, which is almost 30 centimetres longer. And it’s 50 litres more than the current Octavia Combi for the same size. All-electric helps!

Still inside, but this time in the passenger compartment, everything is simpler than in current models. Tech and minimalism are not necessarily the house style, but it works. The ‘Horizon Display’ extends across the entire dashboard, the lighting adapts to different times of day and a voice assistant called Laura, infused with artificial intelligence, keeps the car’s occupants company. There are two killer details: an integrated fridge and a portable loudspeaker. If that’s not a family car, we don’t know what is.

See you in 5 years?

A highly accomplished concept car, we could almost expect to see the Vision O or its production versions on our roads as early as next year. But that won’t be the case! Instead, it is part of the Skoda Strategy 2030 and, according to several observers, the manufacturer is waiting for the Volkswagen Group to finish developing its new platforms for electric cars before announcing the first vehicle adapted from the Vision O. And if we had to put a coin in, we’d bet on the first electric Octavia. What’s in it for us? Its dimensions and the ‘O’ in ‘Vision O’ give us a hint.

On Monday 8 September, Eco Motors News travelled to Bavaria for the opening of theIAA Mobility, the Munich International Motor Show. Among the show’s leading innovations, BMW unveiled its 100% electric SUV: the new BMW iX3, the cornerstone of the Neue Klasse electric platform.

With its imposing but not restrictive size (4.78m long and 1.90m wide), the German brand has made the most of the interior space offered by this SUV. It is equipped with the all-new Panoramic iDrive, a 1.10-metre touchscreen display in the style of a windscreen with an 18-inch screen and a driver-centred interface. The steering wheel has also evolved and differs from that of its 2020 predecessor: an aerodynamic design that matches the cockpit atmosphere.

The cabin is practical: there are three real seats in the rear, a spacious 520-litre boot (up to 1,750 litres with the seats folded down), and a 58-litre frunk.

As an electric vehicle, BMW has reworked the IX3’s aerodynamics. And it works! With its twin engines (synchronous at the rear and asynchronous at the front), the iX3 delivers 463 bhp and 645 Nm: 0 to 100 kph in 4.9 seconds, top speed 210 kph. Not bad for this handsome baby weighing in at over 2,300 kg.

On the battery front, the IX3 is also very impressive. It inherits the new generation NMC battery, with a capacity of 108 kWh. This gives the car a range of 800 km. And if you thought such a powerful battery would take a long time to recharge, you’d be wrong! When charged, it is capable of handling up to 400 kW thanks to its 800 V architecture, which means that you can go from 10% to 80% battery power in just 21 minutes.

With a carbon footprint 30% smaller than its predecessor, BMW is counting on this first Neue Klasse model to regain market share, particularly in Asia, and lay the foundations for the mobility of tomorrow, centred on the user experience, technology and the energy transition.

While production of the BMW iX3 begins in November 2025, you’ll have to wait until March 2026 to be able to buy it for around €70,000.

Presented by Audi as a white paper on its future aesthetic identity, the Concept C electric two-seater roadster makes our mouths water.

I owe my first car shock to Audi. When my friend Curtis’ father left school, he came to pick him up with his new car: an Audi TT. At the time, I wasn’t really into design, let alone car design. But this coupé was like nothing I’d ever seen. It was designed outside all convention, conveying a new aesthetic language capable of speaking to the hearts even of those who had never really paid attention to cars before. That was some twenty years ago (we’re not getting any younger!) and even then, the brand with the four rings was opening the door to a new way of thinking about the silhouette of cars. And history could well repeat itself. With the 100% electric Concept C, just unveiled at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Audi is entering what it describes as a “new era in automotive design“, guided by a quest for purity of line and simplicity that breaks with the current era of convoluted silhouettes and slashed surfaces.

The Concept C reshuffles the deck with its ultra-legible design, harmonious proportions and an almost Bauhaus minimalism that is anything but sad. The most striking element is undoubtedly the abandonment of the traditional grille in favour of a contrasting but less intrusive vertical ‘face’. According to Audi, the overall design was inspired by the Auto Union Type C single-seaters of the 1930s and the third-generation Audi A6 of 2004. Curiously, the company never mentions the Audi TT or the R8, with which the similarity is obvious… But that’s certainly due to a lack of objectivity. Still on the subject of design, the Concept C appears to be the debut of the brand’s new light signature, made up of four horizontal segments, again very discreet.

Audi Concept C… more than just a concept car

In addition to this aesthetic approach, the Concept C also reveals more about the architecture of the Audi of the future. The roadster is built around its battery pack, giving it a rather svelte silhouette, efficient aerodynamics and a very low centre of gravity, without compromising passenger comfort. And for the first time at Audi, the retractable roof is… rigid! It’s certainly not going to please canvas purists, but a coupé/cabriolet is so cool…

Inside, it’s nothing to write home about. It’s (very) simple and (very) effective. There’s nothing revolutionary about it. On the contrary, it’s more in line with what’s being done a lot of these days: a screen, few or no buttons and materials that alternate between cold (aluminium) and warm (wool).

For those who still doubt the influence of the Concept C on the future of the brand, Audi could not be clearer: “this concept car prefigures a future production model and will influence future creations“. And I’ll take their word for it, because the production TT is a near carbon copy of a concept car presented a year earlier. Rebelotte?

Mini, in collaboration with Australian fashion label Deus Ex Machina, and via its sports car subsidiary John Cooper Works, unveiled two crazy concepts at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, called The Skeg and The Machina. The Skeg and The Machina are electric bombshells and thermal powerhouses that bridge the gap between two worlds that sometimes struggle to understand each other.

At first glance, nothing seems to compare The Skeg and The Machina. The first is a revisit of the beastly electric Mini JCW and its 258 bhp. Its surfboard-like fin and yellow straps on the roof are all calls for adventure, a characteristic trait of the Deus universe that The Skeg transcribes to perfection.

Its companion, The Machina, as its name might suggest in Italian, prefers petrol to watts. It’s powered by a 231bhp turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, and it’s not hard to imagine the symphony that is the hallmark of John Cooper Works cars. Its livery is also a tribute to sportiness. It wears the colours of Monaco and bears the number 37, which Paddy Hopkirk wore when he won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964. Mini and Deus have also paid homage to the sporty interior, with bucket seats, a racing steering wheel, extra headlights and, the detail that really gets us going, a hydraulic handbrake.

Not the same engine, but the same passion

In other words, you get both the smell of petrol and the ugly back of electric power. Unfortunately, this will remain at the concept stage… Indeed, Mini and Deus Ex Machina have no plans to offer the two cars for sale, even in limited editions. So what’s the point? These show cars will certainly play a role in the communication of the two companies, but they also demonstrate the versatility of this iconic little city car. Above all, and this is what interests us here: The Skeg and The Machina show that a car can still be a subject of creativity and sportiness, whether it’s electric or combustion-powered.

This ‘reconciliation’, even if symbolic, is worth highlighting at a time when the car industry is undergoing a transition that can sometimes be divisive (we know something about this, we read all the comments on our social networks…). In 2025, a decisive year for the future of mobility, Mini has chosen to tell two seemingly parallel stories that ultimately come together around the same conclusion: when you love the car, you love the pistons and the oil as much as all the memories you create behind the wheel.

And while the cars aren’t for sale, you can still get a little piece of the partnership… To mark the occasion (and do a bit of business), a capsule collection of clothes inspired by the collab is available on the Deus Ex Machina website.

Renault took advantage of the IAA Mobility show in Munich to present the Clio 6. It’s a clear break with the past and a risky gamble: bigger, more connected, more expensive and now available exclusively in petrol and hybrid, the iconic city car – and incidentally its best seller – will have to (con)quer or perish.

This autumn, at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, where ECO MOTORS NEWS made the trip, Renault lifted the veil on the Clio 6. The launch is no mean feat, given that 17 million Clios have been sold since the car first hit the road in 1990. It is not only a Renault icon, but also an emblem of European motoring. The proof is in the Clio 5’s second place in the ranking of the best-selling cars in Europe in the first half of 2025, behind the Dacia Sandero. It would therefore be an understatement to say that this Clio 6, the first models of which are due to leave the Bursa plant in Tunisia in early 2026, will not only be eagerly awaited, but will also play a major role in Renault’s future.

Futuristic design, modernised interior and new on-board technologies

If you put the Clio 6 next to a Clio 5, you’d think they were from two different manufacturers! Quite simply, we haven’t seen such a restyling since the transition from the 2nd to the 3rd generation. And, as was the case then, the new design is divisive. Here at ECO MOTORS NEWS, we love it! With a hint of the Emblem concept car and its sleek, tapered, futuristic lines, and with its aggressive grille and sharp, handsome headlights, the Clio 6 is definitely in tune with the times. But there’s one intriguing detail above all: this city car is becoming ‘decitadinised’. A rather barbaric neologism, but with an extra 7 centimetres in length, for a total of 4.12 m, we’re moving even further away from the original spirit of Renault’s best-seller and its 3.70 m length. And that’s precisely where Renault is taking a risk, since it’s the compactness of the Clio that has made it such a success… Especially as this change in size also implies a change of segment and, de facto, a change in pricing. Although Renault has yet to reveal the price of the Clio 6, it is estimated that it could start at around €20,000, considerably more than the current version. Once again, this is a gamble, since the ‘affordable’ nature of Renault’s city car is another argument in its favour.

But the change in price can also be explained by the changes inside. In addition to a completely redesigned, high-quality interior, the Clio 6 features the same digital interface as the R5 and R4 E-Tech, with a dual 10-inch screen, native integration of Google Maps and the AI assistant, and almost thirty driving assistance devices. A far cry from the crank to wind up the windows…

Clio 6 closes the diesel chapter

It was to be expected, and that’s the way the story goes, but it’s still something: there will be no Clio 6 diesel. The same goes for the smaller internal combustion engines, which explains the higher entry price. The range now starts with a 115bhp three-cylinder petrol engine. A petrol/LPG bi-fuel is also on the programme. But what really interests us is the hybrid model, which will undoubtedly be the biggest seller. This benefits from some significant improvements, notably to the petrol engine, which has been reworked to boost its power by around 15bhp to 160bhp. All this is backed up by the two electric motors that have made the other hybrid models in the E-Tech range so successful. We would have loved Renault to spring a surprise with a 100% electric Clio 6, but that still doesn’t seem to be on the agenda… Let’s just say that a lot of things would have had to be rethought before launching such a novelty, and the gamble is risky enough as it is!

Renault is therefore taking a calculated risk. The Clio is still a safe bet, but the competition is intensifying, particularly in the face of Chinese brands with their formidable value for money, and the growing popularity of compact SUVs. With this longer, more powerful sixth generation, Renault hopes to consolidate the Clio’s place on the European best-seller podium by expanding into other market segments. It remains to be seen whether this strategy will pay off or whether, on the contrary, the Clio 6 strays too far from the Clio spirit for customers who are very attached to the legendary city car.