Ioniq 5
- Price: £30,000 (est)
- On sale: Mid 2021
The Hyundai 45 concept will be called the Ioniq 5 when it launches early next year, as the Korean firm establishes a new electric car sub-brand. This compact electric crossover will be the first model to arrive, quickly followed by an electric saloon called the Ioniq 6.
The overall design of the Ioniq 5 will stick closely to that of the concept car. This means it will do away with traditional wing mirrors and use flush door handles to optimise aerodynamics. It will be based on a new, dedicated electric car platform that has been developed to accept rapid-charging technology.
Jaguar E-Pace
- Price: From £31,000 (est)
- On sale: Late 2021
Jaguar’s baby SUV hasn’t been the sales success the British company thought it would be – the larger F-Pace still beats its figures – but bosses will be hoping that a new look and a fresh plug-in hybrid powertrain will give the E-Pace a timely boost.
Spy shots show that, visually, there won’t be any radical alterations, but under the skin, the 300bhp 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid unit from the Land Rover Discovery Sport will make an appearance. It should enable the E-Pace to cover around 40 miles on electric power alone, while returning up to a claimed 200mpg if you can charge the battery on a regular basis.
Jaguar XJ
- Price: £80,000 (est)
- On sale: Early 2021
The Jaguar XJ will be properly reinvented for its next generation, transforming into a bespoke, fully electric saloon designed to rival the Tesla Model S.
The XJ has long been Jaguar’s lowest-selling model, so bosses hope this radical upgrade will bring in a new wave of customers. The saloon will be the first model from JLR to be based on the firm’s new MLA platform, and will be built at Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands, securing thousands of jobs at Jaguar. Our exclusive image gives you an idea of how the saloon could look, as it ushers in a new, sharper design language.
Kia EV
- Price: From £40,000 (est)
- On sale: Sept 2021
Kia has been quietly developing its premium pure-electric halo model for several years now. It was previewed by the Imagine concept in 2019 and, judging by our spy shot below, it will take the shape of a coupé-SUV when the model reaches the UK market late next year.
It will be based on the Hyundai Group’s new, dedicated E-GMP electric underpinnings which, Kia says, will deliver Porsche Taycan-rivalling performance. The company is targeting a 0-62mph time of less than three seconds for its new EV, along with 300 miles of range and a sub-20-minute recharge time – which is a level of performance as yet unseen for the brand.
Kia Stinger
- Price: From £42,500 (est)
- On sale: Early 2021
Kia has swept through its entire model range with a host of revisions – and the sporty rear-drive Stinger wasn’t left out.
Updates include fresh LED headlights, a tweaked version of the firm’s trademark ‘tiger nose’ radiator grille, two new alloy wheel designs and a new rear diffuser, which houses a larger quad-exit exhaust system.
Kia has also ditched the Stinger’s smaller 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre diesel engines as part of the update, so the only engine now on offer is the range-topping twin-turbocharged 3.3-litre V6 with 365bhp and 510Nm of torque.
Land Rover Defender V8
- Price: From £80,000 (est)
- On sale: Late 2021
Land Rover is developing a range-topping performance version of the new Defender, and our spy photographers have snapped early development mules undergoing testing. Official specs have yet to be confirmed, but DVLA records indicate that it’ll be powered by the same supercharged 5.0-litre V8 as the Range Rover Sport SVR, which should yield a power output in excess of 500bhp.
Despite this mule looking identical to the standard off-roader, the finished Defender V8 will have 22-inch alloys, an aggressive bodykit and flared wheelarches – all of which should give the newcomer a lower stance.
Lotus Type 131
- Price: From £70,000 (est)
- On sale: 2021
Currently known as the Type 131, Lotus’s upcoming sports car will be the firm’s first all-new series production model for more than a decade. It will sit between the Exige and Evora on pricing, and Lotus boss Phil Popham says the car will address some of the criticism of the firm’s current models, such as practicality, refinement and interior technology. Expect the car to make use of a 3.5-litre V6 engine sourced from Toyota.
Our exclusive image previews how the finished car could look; it incorporates elements of the second-generation Elan, with a similarly low nose and broad stance.