After almost two years of corona, looking into the future is more difficult than ever. An energy crisis has recently emerged. Chip shortages throw product but especially production schedules upside down. As a result, new models are launched on the market six months later. This is reflected in our annual personal previews, which include not only cars. We start with Michiel Willebrands’ preview.
You won’t see me drooling around an electric car anytime soon. I’m too much of an old school petrol head for that. I can certainly appreciate the comfort and flexibility of electric driving, but for me it is a different sport. You have driving and you have transportation. In the first case you are an active part of the whole mechanical components, in the second case you don’t really have to do much more than keep an eye on things, while the electronics give you a lot (and in the long run perhaps all) takes work off your hands.
What I’ve been getting really excited about lately is the design of electric cars. For years that seemed a bit forced to me, but it’s really going in the right direction now. I would like to put another spring in the tight buttocks of the Ioniq 5. What a wonderful design that is: original, unique, contemporary, a bit retro, but never unnecessarily artificial. I can also appreciate Kia’s equivalent, the EV6, for those reasons, although there are just too many fashion-sensitive frills for me.
For the coming year there is not one specific model that I am looking forward to, although I am very curious what the production version of the Ioniq 6 will look like. However, I am even more curious about the new 7-series, of which there is also an electric i7 in the barrel. If that new Siebener bears even the slightest resemblance to the illustration above, then it will be the first BMW in ages that can receive my approval.
This article previously appeared in the AutoWeek Year Special 2022.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl