The adjective commonly used to characterise Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s first term as president of motorsport’s global governing body to date is ‘controversial’.

How could it fail to be, given that he took office in December 2021, amid the tumultuous fallout from the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the race-control decisions that changed the destiny of the Formula 1 World Championship?

That was a case of tidying up a mess not of his making. The real battle at the heart of the F1 flashpoints in Ben Sulayem’s term since is what can most generously be called ‘tension’ between the FIA as F1’s regulator and Liberty Media as F1’s commercial rights holder.

The two sides must collaborate for the best interests of the series, but even when they’re working closely together, there’s always an undercurrent of discord that has the potential to flare into all-out war if given the right ignition point. It’s well short of that today, though, with ‘frenemies’ perhaps the best way to characterise the relationship. 

As one of the key players at the heart of this, Ben Sulayem has a character best encapsulated by his determination to fight for what he sees is right for the FIA. Interviewing the 61-year-old Emirati in the FIA’s new motorhome over the Belgian Grand Prix weekend makes that very clear.

“No, never,” says Ben Sulayem when it’s put to him that he seems unafraid of a battle with Liberty, headed by former Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.

“I know where the FIA stands. Whom do I represent? The landlords, the owners of the championship.

“Yes, we leased it to Liberty Media and they’re doing a great job. I have a good relationship with them. But we have to understand where we stand. This clarity is important.

“When you look at the rules, the [new-for-2026] power units or the expression of interest [for prospective new teams], the FIA has to have the first say.”

Ben Sulayem is a compelling speaker, one with a forceful tone that could be interpreted as confrontational to British ears. That’s misleading, but it does capture his defiance on the issues he believes matter.

He returns to the topic of due process regularly. When it comes to F1, that’s the strongest card in his hand, given that the FIA makes and polices the rules. Outside of that, the ground can be shakier.

For example, Ben Sulayem was admonished for speaking publicly about what he described as an “exaggerated” $20 billion valuation for F1 in a letter that accused him of interfering in commercial matters.

That put him on the back foot. But the principle that the regulator shouldn’t interfere in commercial matters goes both ways, and he’s now leaning heavily on the principle that Liberty should therefore steer clear of getting involved in the shaping of the rules.

The biggest controversy surrounds mooted new teams bidding to join the F1 grid. Since Ben Sulayem has been president, Audi has confirmed its high-profile entry to the sport, but by buying the Sauber team (which currently competes as Alfa Romeo), yet he wants to actually expand the grid.

In February, the FIA launched an application process that F1 and the existing teams didn’t support. They insist that only a team that would add ‘“significant value” to F1 should be admitted, even with the $200 million anti-dilution fee that must now be paid into the shared pot.

But Ben Sulayem argues that as the Concorde Agreement that binds F1 commercially permits 12 teams, newcomers can’t be totally shut out. 

He has been vocally supportive of the Andretti operation, run by Michael Andretti – son of 1970s F1 legend Mario – that’s bidding to join in partnership with General Motors.

“Our rules say if there are serious [prospective] teams, we have to open [the process],” says Ben Sulayem. “There are rules; we can’t just say no. Meanwhile, there’s a contract for 12 teams, so we have to follow the process.

“Honestly, I’m not here to upset Liberty Media, but if people think that’s upsetting them, I can pick up on people saying things about the FIA that also upsets us.

“Imagine us saying no to potential teams? We’re here to sustain motorsport. We don’t look at market share; we’re a non-profit. I don’t want any big team to take us to court and say we’ve been blocking them for the wrong reasons.

“Yes, we open the expressions of interest, we do the due diligence, we look at the financial side, technical side and we also look at where we see ourselves in years to come. If we get a [team from the] United States, that would be good. I can’t force anyone to say ‘no, you aren’t allowed unless you buy a team’.”

The timeline for a decision on this is drifting backwards. It’s a fascinating situation, because both the FIA and F1 would have to sign off on a new team. Ben Sulayem’s current choice is to either accept the application of one or more aspirants, thereby putting the ball in F1’s court, or back down.

This is symptomatic of the tension between the two sides, but it’s just one manifestation of it.

The FIA oversaw the creation of the 2026 power unit rules, with a switch to a 50:50 split of ICE and electric power. Now some teams, notably Red Bull, are lobbying for an adjustment to the weighting in favour of the V6. Ben Sulayem would be open to this – but only if pursued through the right process.

Likewise, there’s the looming controversy of the cost-cap results for 2022, with rumours circulating that one or more teams overspent. Domenicali recently publicly called for sporting sanctions in such an eventuality, but that is of course the regulator’s domain.

And then there’s the issue of the next Concorde Agreement, which is already in the negotiation phase. Ben Sulayem stresses the need for a strong regulator and the fact that Domenicali and F1 see the value of that.

There’s an obvious desire for greater financial resources for which the FIA is pushing in order to provide the improved service that F1 wants. Suffice to say, extra funding is something that F1 is neither keen on nor believes there is scope for.

“We need respect, recognition for the FIA and fairness,” says Ben Sulayem. “We’re getting there. I had good meetings with Stefano regarding it and he’s aligned with the needs of the FIA.

“We have to be transparent. If we ask for better deals when it comes to money, we have to show where will it go – an improvement of the stewarding, an improvement of the race director pathway programme, an improvement of the ROC [remote operations centre – effectively F1’s equivalent of football’s VAR] and improving our equipment.

“The [next] Concorde Agreement is two and a half years away, but there are three stakeholders: FIA, FOM [Formula 1 Management, which Liberty owns] and the teams. It has to be fair for all of us. We’re not here to create obstacles. We’re here to go forward together, but we can’t go forward if it’s unfair.”

From witnessing Ben Sulayem’s actions since he became president and now speaking to him, it’s clear that he’s very different from those who came before.

Jean-Marie Balestre, scourge of Ayrton Senna, lost a war with the burgeoning commercial side of F1 before a period when Max Mosley formed a revolving good cop, bad cop partnership with old friend and FOM dictator Bernie Ecclestone and then the low-profile Jean Todt era.

Ben Sulayem’s determination to fight for the FIA’s cause is admirable and in keeping with his election manifesto of “FIA for members” – and his success or otherwise could play a key part if he stands for re-election in just over two years.

By Edd Straw

It’s the firm you’ve never heard of, but one that’s growing in importance across the automotive sector. Why? Because Priority Freight is the car maker’s “under the radar” crisis saviour.

The Dover-based business, which has three UK and six mainland European bases, takes on a “vast” number of enquiries every day – enquiries it turns around within 15 minutes of the call coming in. Most are from tier one and two suppliers.

“We are all about speed and about winning time back for the customer,” said group operations director Andrew Austin.

“They come to us in the event of an issue, normally that their main transport contractors were unable to have the flexibility to cross borders, cross time zones with the speed that is required. We support clients in being able to get their production going.” 

He added: “In reality we can be moving products from Asia and be back inbound within 24 hours. So the speed involved is incredibly dramatic.”

It’s this level of speed that has given the firm a strong reputation among those within automotive – a sector that makes up most of its business – as the reliable go-to when issues occur.

This can be by air, in the form of anything from chartered flights to a passenger courier, or by land with two drivers who “sleep and switch” so it’s only fuel fill-ups that will pause their journey. The firm has access to a fleet of more than 6000 vehicles.

In a recent commission, the firm couriered 300 semiconductors, worth £110,000, 600 miles from Birmingham to Le Mans in 20 hours. Within one hour of the enquiry, customs papers were completed and a driver was picking up the goods.

Although they're needed, they’re not always wanted. “We are sometimes the knights in shining armour, and sometimes the unnecessary expenditure clients really begrudge,” said Austin.

“To admit to having to use expedited or emergency freight shipments in some ways is an admission of the supply chain failing.”

But, he adds, despite the firm’s high cost – it deals with everything from the “first to the last mile” – this can sometimes be cheaper than the money lost due to production potentially needing to be shut down due to a lack of parts. 

“If one shift – if a factory operates a three-shift system – identifies a shortage of parts, we can have the parts in place for the start of the second shift, so they don't have that downtime,” said Austin. 

“And the reality then is that they're making a simple economic permutation. They're saying: 'If we have four hundred guys standing around doing nothing, this is costing us, let's say, £6000 per hour.’ Then there’s the economic justification to choose us.”

One job illustrates this, when an unnamed European-based automotive manufacturer called for help as issues – such as the Covid-19 pandemic – were gradually slowing the supply of parts to a point where a plant shutdown was imminent.

For production to continue, they required daily collection of parts from up to 30 UK and EU suppliers, but information on how much was being collected was limited.

Over two weeks, the firm shipped in 50,000kg of air freight, as well 40 road shipments, 24 hours a day. In effect, Priority Freight became the manufacturer’s dedicated supply chain courier.

Austin says this is just one example of why the firm is so important to some clients' supply chain that some car makers are now budgeting them into their annual costings

“The relationships [between us and our clients] has changer since Covid, because often people build us into their equations now,” said Austin. “But we still normally represent an emergency spend or a discretionary spend that is often focused on the need rather than the planned need.”

Because of that, discretion is key. “We have internal relationships with our clients where we tend not to make big stories publicising ourselves and naming the clients we are supporting because it can be embarrassing to them.”

A key criticism the firm faces is the way in which it operates, self-confessed to not be very environmentally friendly. But, as the world moves forward, it concedes it must too. “Sustainability is something that, as a business, we take extremely seriously,” said Steve Downing, group head of projects. 

“We have a team of people that are specifically looking at sustainability and working with our clients on the impact [the work we do for them] is having. That's something that we're driving forward as well and various initiatives that we're putting in place to help our clients.”

Austin added: “We cannot claim to be environmentally friendly, but we're an emergency freight movement firm. But what we consciously do is put as light a touch as we can on it: the most efficient aircraft, the most efficient engines, and use solutions that are the least harmful.”

Why we’re running it: To see how well Alfa’s new PHEV small SUV balances rationality and emotion 

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Life with a Tonale PHEV: Month 1

Welcoming the Tonale to the fleet - 20 September 2023

Here’s a potted recent history of Alfa Romeo: it was loss-making until parent company Fiat Chrysler was subsumed into a new conglomerate, Stellantis, which quickly made it profitable, under the watchful eye of Jean-Philippe Imparato, already esteemed for his positive impact on Peugeot.

New cars have been sparse, and while the Giulia saloon is well-liked by us and others and the Stelvio is a talented SUV (albeit an ageing one with no electrified powertrains), the introduction of a small SUV was well overdue. 

Enter the Tonale. Luxury brand or not, if you don’t have a compact SUV on your books these days, you’re dead in the water. The Tonale was revealed in 2019, but after Imparato joined in early 2021, it was delayed before arriving last year.

Why? Well, as a perfectionist and a true Alfista, the Frenchman wasn’t happy with the electric-only range of the plug-in hybrid, nor the “Alfa Romeo touch and feel” of the mild hybrid. Those are the two variants now available, with our new long-termer being the plug-in hybrid.

One of the reasons that Imparato wanted that EV range to be decent was to ensure it appealed to fleet customers. After all, it’s the most fleet-relevant car that Alfa has made in donkey’s years. Just over half of Tonale sales are to fleets,

and the SUV unsurprisingly already accounts for two-thirds of the brand’s UK sales, so it’s a considerable volume that is going to businesses.

For now, the 1.5-litre MHEV is still the more popular powertrain, making up 58% of sales, but Alfa expects the balance to flip as full availability of the 1.3-litre PHEV comes into play in the UK.

That will also improve Alfa’s overall sales standing here, which is down 7.6% year to date. The maker says that’s a result of it moving away from internal combustion cars and the delay in the PHEV arrival.

Anyhow, the summary is that the Tonale might not be the Alfa of your dreams, but it is the Alfa that the company desperately needs.

So to ours. First, that colour! Already found on the Giulia, it made me smile when I first potted it on my street. Regular readers might recall that I'm not one for bright colours (although I wouldn't say no to a yellow McLaren if offered, obviously), but this Montreal Green - a £1500 option - is on the loud side without being garish. Maybe it just feels, well, very Italian, and very Alfa.

The other two options on our car are the Mode 3 charging cable, which helpfully connects your car to a charging station, and the autonomous driving L2 pack, which is a fancy name for some assisted driving functions as intelligent adaptive cruise control, advanced lane keeping assistance and a front-facing camera. 

Included as standard on Veloce trim (the middle and most popular) are a 10.25in touchscreen system with a DAB radio, sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a wireless smartphone charging pad and hands-free boot opening. 

The powertrain is an uprated version of the one found in the Jeep Compass 4xe (although Alfa doesn't like that reference). It has the same 177bhp four-cylinder turbo petrol engine driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox, but the electric motors are more powerful than the Jeep's, at 121bhp. That all delivers four-wheel drive and a 0-62mph time of 6.2sec. 

It has a bigger battery too, with a capacity of 15.5kWh, which promises up to 48 miles of electric range. Time will tell, but I'm hopeful that I can comfortably get more than 30 miles of range in the real world. 

As you can see from our road test editor's comments (below), the PHEV powertrain hasn't been as well received as Alfa might have hoped, mostly because of its legacy as a sporting brand. But living with a car is very different to an intensive road test, so let's see how I come to feel about it over the next few months. 

I continue to be amazed by how expensive cars are these days, but to be fair to Alfa, the Tonale is on par price-wise with key rivals including the BMW X2 and the Jaguar E-Pace. 

It's an exciting time for Alfa: money-making once again and able to justify making truly exciting cars such as the recently-revealed 33 Stradale supercar. Now is my chance to see if the Tonale offers any clues about where the brand is heading. 

Second Opinion

When I compared a Tonale with an equivalent Audi Q3 earlier this year, Alfa’s inexperience with PHEVs was made clear by a comparative uncouthness about its powertrain. However, there was also much to like about the newcomer, not least its surprisingly agile handling.  

SECOND OPINION AUTHOR HERE

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Alfa Romeo Tonale 1.3 PHEV 280 Veloce specification

Specs: Price New £48,495 Price as tested £51,595 Options Autonomous driving L2 pack £1250, PHEV Mode 3 charging cable £350, Montreal Green paint £1500 

Test Data: Engine 4 cyls in line, 1332cc, turbo, petrol, plus 15.5kWh battery and rear-mounted electric motor Power 276bhp Torque 347lb ft Kerb weight 1835kg Top speed 128bhp 0-62mph 6.2sec Fuel economy 217.3mpg CO2 29-33g/km Faults None Expenses None

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It’s the firm you’ve never heard of, but one that’s growing in importance across the automotive sector. Why? Because Priority Freight is the car maker’s “under the radar” crisis saviour.

The Dover-based business, which has three UK and six mainland European bases, takes on a “vast” number of enquiries every day – enquiries it turns around within 15 minutes of the call coming in. Most are from tier one and two suppliers.

“We are all about speed and about winning time back for the customer,” said commercial director Andrew Austin.

“They come to us in the event of an issue, normally that their main transport contractors were unable to have the flexibility to cross borders, cross time zones with the speed that is required. We support clients in being able to get their production going.” 

He added: “In reality we can be moving products from Asia and be back inbound within 24 hours. So the speed involved is incredibly dramatic.”

It’s this level of speed that has given the firm a strong reputation among those within automotive – a sector that makes up most of its business – as the reliable go-to when issues occur.

This can be by air, in the form of anything from chartered flights to a passenger courier, or by land with two drivers who “sleep and switch” so it’s only fuel fill-ups that will pause their journey. The firm has access to a fleet of more than 6000 vehicles.

In a recent commission, the firm couriered 300 semiconductors, worth £110,000, 600 miles from Birmingham to Le Mans in 20 hours. Within one hour of the enquiry, customs papers were completed and a driver was picking up the goods.

Although they're needed, they’re not always wanted. “We are sometimes the knights in shining armour, and sometimes the unnecessary expenditure clients really begrudge,” said Austin.

“To admit to having to use expedited or emergency freight shipments in some ways is an admission of the supply chain failing.”

But, he adds, despite the firm’s high cost – it deals with everything from the “first to the last mile” – this can sometimes be cheaper than the money lost due to production potentially needing to be shut down due to a lack of parts. 

“If one shift – if a factory operates a three-shift system – identifies a shortage of parts, we can have the parts in place for the start of the second shift, so they don't have that downtime,” said Austin. 

“And the reality then is that they're making a simple economic permutation. They're saying: 'If we have four hundred guys standing around doing nothing, this is costing us, let's say, £6000 per hour.’ Then there’s the economic justification to choose us.”

One job illustrates this, when an unnamed European-based automotive manufacturer called for help as issues – such as the Covid-19 pandemic – were gradually slowing the supply of parts to a point where a plant shutdown was imminent.

For production to continue, they required daily collection of parts from up to 30 UK and EU suppliers, but information on how much was being collected was limited.

Over two weeks, the firm shipped in 50,000kg of air freight, as well 40 road shipments, 24 hours a day. In effect, Priority Freight became the manufacturer’s dedicated supply chain courier.

Austin says this is just one example of why the firm is so important to some clients' supply chain that some car makers are now budgeting them into their annual costings

“The relationships [between us and our clients] has changer since Covid, because often people build us into their equations now,” said Austin. “But we still normally represent an emergency spend or a discretionary spend that is often focused on the need rather than the planned need.”

Because of that, discretion is key. “We have internal relationships with our clients where we tend not to make big stories publicising ourselves and naming the clients we are supporting because it can be embarrassing to them.”

A key criticism the firm faces is the way in which it operates, self-confessed to not be very environmentally friendly. But, as the world moves forward, it concedes it must too. “Sustainability is something that, as a business, we take extremely seriously,” said Steve Downing, group head of projects. 

“We have a team of people that are specifically looking at sustainability and working with our clients on the impact [the work we do for them] is having. That's something that we're driving forward as well and various initiatives that we're putting in place to help our clients.”

Austin added: “We cannot claim to be environmentally friendly, but we're an emergency freight movement firm. But what we consciously do is put as light a touch as we can on it: the most efficient aircraft, the most efficient engines, and use solutions that are the least harmful.”

Why we’re running it: To find out if this quirky newcomer is a serious prospect or a flash in the pan

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Life with a BYD Atto 3: Month 1

Welcoming the Xxx to the fleet - 6 September 2023

We have seen this sort of thing before, so we all know how this is going to go already, don’t we?

A debutant from the East enters the UK market with plenty of fanfare, derivative styling and huge value for money, but ultimately it falls short against the established marques. Plucky effort. Must try harder.

See you back here in a couple of generations’ time and you might be considered a contender...

This time, though, the circumstances are a bit different. Hyundai, Kia, Ssangyong and, more recently, the reborn MG were very much on an upward learning curve when they braved British shores for the first time, meaning I had to endure cars that were – quite literally in some cases – pony before getting to the good stuff. But this manufacturer that many won’t have heard of is remarkably well established already.

BYD has been around since 1995. Last year, it produced more plug-in cars than any other brand worldwide, and it has just built its five-millionth ‘new energy’ vehicle. Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the badge on the back of the next electric bus you see pounding the streets: chances are it’s powered by BYD battery technology.

The Atto 3 family crossover is leading the Shenzhen-based battery giant’s assault on the British buyer’s pocket, with the compact Dolphin hatchback and Seal saloon (driven, p28) coming next, and it has some serious opposition in its sights, led by the smash-hit Kia Niro EV.

The fact that BYD stands for Build Your Dreams is a bit, well, unfortunate, but I will gloss over that. Likewise, the fact that the styling does indeed magpie others’ ideas: it’s no straight copy of any one rival, but I can see hints of the previous-generation Honda HR-V in there, along with Hyundai Kona and Cupra Born cues – the latter in the C-pillar treatment in particular.

More than one visitor to my house has asked if that’s a new Kia in my driveway, but the important thing is that the overall result is inoffensive and even bordering on the really quite handsome.

As for the other Eastern- newcomer touchpoint? The hefty kit list gets a big tick too. My top-spec Design example wants for nothing for a shade less than £40,000, offering the kind of generosity that would shame many a luxury car at twice its price. I’m talking electric panoramic roof, bird’s-eye cameras all round – the works.

There are also a few quirks that have thrilled my children, such as door pockets whose sides are made not of plastic but a trio of tuned guitar strings (they really to play three distinct notes). There's a huge rotating 15.6in touchscreen, too.

Thr trim is pretty quirky. Sit behind the wheel nd just count the finishes: 'vegan leather' in not one but three different colours and a dash that blends a brushed metal effect with rolling curves in blue, black and white, with a small binnacle ahead of the driver and that vast central screen dominating proceedings. 

As someone who is something of a stranger to the gym, I had to be informed that this environment was the inspiration for the interior styling. But even I got the hint with BYD's colour names, which are a rather lame attempt to cement these active associations, with Surfing Blue, Skiing White, Climbing Grey and my car's Parkour Red. It doesn't make me want to start leaping from railing to railing (not with my knees), but it at least is a very attractive shade.

Try not to be blindsided by the gimmickry, though, because the Atto 3 is a properly practical car. The cabin is far more generous for space than those of many of its rivals, and it feels remarkably well-screwed together. There's a decent split-level boot back there too, albeit with a horribly flimsy cover that reminds me of an early '80s Vauxhall. 

The sense of quality and solidity is further enhanced on the road. The BYD is a really sweet-riding machine, helped by its big doughnut tyres. The powertrain offers effortless rather than astounding pace, and while the chassis won't win any prizes for entertainment, it is as competent as the rest of the package. 

I have had one slight problem, albeit when the car was being used the tracking photography (snapper in the boot, harnessed up, shooting out the back as the subject car follows). That meant having the electric tailgate open for a sustained period while I drove around at relatively low speeds, but it was enough to really confuse the poor Atto 3, and afterwards, the boot refused to open fully or shut properly - which was doubly annoying because it disabled other systems, such as the cruise control, at the same time. 

Fortunately for me, because my nearest BYD dealer is a fair hike away, that evening the car informed me it was having a software update, which cured the fault in the process. it has, however, at the same time disabled the sat-nav, so for now I'm sticking to Apple CarPlay for route-finding duties.

Some cars fall short in the harsh glare of the road test spotlight, and indeed the Atto 3 didn't make the top five when compared to rivals in our 31 May issue, but having previously run two that pipped it in the rankings (the Born and the Renault Megane E-Tech Electric), I can't help thinking that this car is more of a slow-burner. Even just a few short weeks in, I'm really warming to it. 

Second Opinion

My main complaint when I drove the Atto 3 was its centre screen, which is huge but doesn’t have the most logical interface. So it’s worrying that Al is already seeing glitches. Software updates are inbound, but will these improve things, or will the tech taint the overall experience? 

Illya Verpraet

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BYD Atto 3 Design specification

Specs: Price New £39,695 Price as tested £39,695 Options None

Test Data: Engine Power 201bhp Torque 229lb ft Kerb weight 1750kg Top speed 100mph 0-62mph 7.3sec Economy 3.9mpkWh CO2 xxxg/km Faults Electric tailgate, sat-nav Expenses None

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In 1955, Jean Rédélé named his new sports car company Alpine in tribute to the successes he had scored in the Alpine Rally driving his highly modified Renaults. 

Rather embarrassingly, its cars then repeatedly failed to win the famous race up in the mountains of southern France, usually due to a mechanical issue. 

It seems this monkey on Alpine’s back rather bothered it, because five factory-prepared A110s were among no fewer than 13 Alpine entries for the 1968 event, amid a strong cohort of Renault-Gordini 8s, Ford Escorts, Lancia Fulvia Coupés, Daf 55s, Alfa Romeo GTAs, Porsche 911s and more (including a “simply hideous” truncated Citroën DS and, bizarrely, a Vauxhall Ventora), if no Mini Coopers.

Many had accidents in the heavy rain and fog that descended over the first leg and several suffered failures, such that just 25 of 64 survived the 845 miles up from Marseille to Aix-les-Bains, with three Alpines splitting two Alfas up front. 

Only 16 returned to Aix that night, after 520 miles on a mountain loop, again made treacherous by wet and grey weather. Now an Alpine led from a Lancia and an Alfa.

The third and final leg was 955 miles back down to Antibes, but the focus was on the fight between René Trautmann and Jean-Louis Barailler, separated by just 15sec, as Jean Vinatier was already 11 minutes down the road. And in glorious sunshine, he cruised home to atone for previous years’ terrible disappointments.

Lexus will show a radical new concept next month, which previews a 'next-generation' electric car it will launch in 2026. 

Said to "revolutionise the modular structure of the vehicle body, drastically change the production method, and completely revamp the software platform", the new car will serve as a statement of intent for the Japanese luxury brand as it pushes forward with a plan to electrify its entire line-up by 2035.

It is expected to be conceived along the lines of the recently revealed BMW Neue Klasse, Mercedes Concept CLA and Vauxhall Experimental show cars as an all-encompassing vision of the design cues, technological upgrades and performance potential that will distinguish the marque's upcoming EVs from its current line-up. 

Previewed as part of a recent Lexus Showcase event in Japan, the concept looks to be a dramatic, low-slung EV, possibly derived from the rakish saloon concept the firm showed briefly in late 2021. If it adopts a similar five-door fastback silhouette, it will serve as a natural rival to the likes of the BMW i4 and Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Lexus has given no further details of the concept – or the production car it previews – but parent company Toyota revealed last week that it will also begin launching a new family of electric cars, touting drastic improvements in range and price compared with the marque's current EVs.

The headline upgrade for the Japanese firm's new family of EVs – set to be shared with their Lexus counterparts – is a new type of lithium ion battery that claims a range of 497 miles from a single charge.

The new, more efficient chemistry allows for slimmer battery packs, which facilitates lower-slung and more aerodynamically optimised car designs with roomier interiors - features that could reasonably be expected to define the new Lexus concept. 

The new lithium ion battery chemistry will eventually be offered alongside a 'High Performance' solid-state battery option that boosts range to 621 miles, Toyota claims. Lexus has not yet expressed an ambition to match that figure with a production car but has suggested it will use solid-state technology for the production version of its Electrified Sport supercar concept. 

The Lexus concept will also preview a new approach to car construction, which is expected to be based on Toyota's plan to integrate propulsion, suspension and steering systems into space- and cost-efficient module units.   

The design of the concept Lexus will show in Tokyo is "thoroughly focused on Lexus characteristics". Details visible in a grainy preview image include new arrow-shaped headlights, rear-view cameras in place of mirrors and an aggressive, muscular front end that bears a faint resemblance to that of the V10-powered Lexus LFA supercar. 

It is anticipated that the design will evolve, rather than be radically overhauled, for the production car - as was the case when 2021's LF-Z concept became the Lexus RZ crossover, Lexus's first bespoke electric car. 

Toyota has taken a major step in the development of hydrogen propulsion with the unveiling of a prototype Toyota Hilux fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). 

Although the company’s first FCEV was a car (the Toyota Mirai, on sale since 2014 and now into its second generation), commercial vehicles’ need for quicker refuelling and longer range than batteries can presently provide makes them a better fit for the technology.

Toyota’s FCEV pick-up truck has a simulated range of 365 miles and a refuelling time similar to that of a diesel. The project – which was funded, developed and delivered in the UK at Toyota’s Burnaston plant – was given the go-ahead in just 12 months.

Toyota won’t share the Hilux FCEV’s weight or payload until development is done, at which point it will also reveal whether it will go into production.

Development

A team of engineers from Toyota and specialists from Ricardo, European Thermodynamics, D2H Advanced Technologies and Thatcham Research adapted 10 Hilux development vehicles to accept the Mirai’s powertrain and fuelling system. 

One has been crash tested while on-road development continues with the others ahead of test vehicles being placed with potential customers, who include emergency services. 

Despite the emergence of native FCEV truck makers Tevva and Hydrogen Vehicle Systems and the availability of FCEV cars (most notably the Mirai and Hyundai Nexo), the UK has been relatively slow to embrace hydrogen. 

Turning the Hilux into a hydrogen vehicle

Outwardly, the new FCEV looks no different from a regular 2.4-litre diesel Hilux. Opening the bonnet, however, reveals the Mirai-sourced fuel cell stack. 

Behind the cab bulkhead is a reinforced metal box containing a battery about the same size as that in a hybrid car. 

This accounts for around 20% of the deck’s total area, but Toyota said it could be located under the rear seats on regular models. Underneath are three large cylinders, each containing 2.6kg of hydrogen (a typical FCEV car uses 1kg per day, costing around £15), and towards the rear is a Miraisourced electric motor. 

Toyota Motor Europe’s head of powertrains, Timothy D’Herde, said: “We tried to keep the ground clearance of the regular Hilux. However, customers said they wanted to see and try something as soon as possible, so we used proven Mirai components, which have had an impact on ground clearance. 

“Now we need to see the vehicle in its natural habitat. Some customers may say they need four-wheel drive, in which case we will need more ground clearance.” 

The modularity of the fuel stack is one of its most appealing features, said D’Herde. So is its flexibility, it having been used elsewhere in applications ranging from static power generation to powering converted VDL Group delivery trucks for Toyota’s logistical activities. 

Its installation in the Hilux raised all sorts of challenges, however, explained D’Herde: “The Hilux’s engine bay tapers from front to back, while to help the water to drain, the stack is angled downwards slightly. 

“All this made fitting ancillaries such as the air compressor, intercooler and air cleaner a real challenge. Cooling power is critical: in an internal combustion engine, a lot of the heat goes through the exhaust, but the exhaust in a fuel cell stack is [only] water, so we need a lot of heat exchangers to manage the heat. We designed a bespoke radiator to help with that.”

The team also had to reconfigure the ladder-frame chassis to accommodate the three large hydrogen cylinders. “We visited Toyota plants to study their production processes, including those for the hydrogen tanks, with fuel safety being our primary focus,” said D’Herde. “Then, having understood the frame’s design, the team decided how to make space in it for the tanks without affecting its strength and safety. 

“Our South African plant, where the Hilux is made [for Europe], then built and mounted bodies onto them.”

Hydrogen adoption

At the launch of the Hilux FCEV prototype, Toyota GB president Agustín Martín emphasised the firm’s 30-year history of developing hydrogen fuel cell technology. 

However, he added that although the company had sold 25,000 FCEVs worldwide, it alone couldn’t lead the transition and there were challenges ahead. 

He said: “Our company can’t make hydrogen happen. It’s essential there is a long-term national strategy in which hydrogen is not disadvantaged. A [hydrogen] fuel production and delivery infrastructure and government-supported vehicle purchase incentives will be necessary.” 

Until then, the challenge will be to identify a need for hydrogen and develop vehicles that can fulfil it – and with the Hilux FCEV, Toyota believes it could be onto a winner. 

“Demand is confirmed: we know the vehicle meets customers’ requirements for quick refuelling and longer range and the powertrain is proven,” said Timothy D’Herde, Toyota Motor Europe’s head of powertrains.