The Kia Soul electric motor is endowed with a long-range battery and should be cheaper, bulkier and much colder than its competitors

In your opinion, who will win the race for electric cars?

You're here? Jaguar? No, Volvo? Mercedes? No, BMW? No, Nissan? No.

I tell you now, it will be the Koreans.

Why? Because they do it the right way. A long-range battery, at the right price. Just as people are starting to become interested in electricity.

At Kia, 300 miles by charge is THE STARTING POINT for his electric cars. None of those insidious nonsense we've seen from Nissan and BMW so far.

And you do not need Tesla / Jaguar money to buy it.

The added benefit is that we will have two Kia electric vehicles in the showrooms next year.

The e-Niro arrives in March and costs £ 33,000 after the £ 3,500 grant from the government. A battery of 64 kWh, a clbad of finish, just choose a color. Simple.

Finance from £ 389 per month. I know. Ouch. But less than a tenner for a full tank. Sweeeet.

The e-Niro will be followed by Soul, unveiled yesterday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Same thing as e-Niro. A battery of 64 kWh, a clbad of finish, just choose a color. Simple. But Soul will be cheaper. And bigger. And more fresh.

Add to that the comfort of the seven-year Kia warranty and you'll understand why the Koreans will carry the electric charge. The sister brand Hyundai will also be there.

Kia UK director Paul Philpott said: "We have a long way to go. With e-Niro and Soul, we have overcome race anxiety and we will need more cars from the factory to meet the demand.

"Our electrified sales have increased by 40% this year – hybrids, plug-in hybrids and all-electric – and many more products are coming."

Kia will add two plug-in hybrids next year, a Ceed crossover wearing the XCeed badge and the Ceed Sportswagon (break).

The Sorento 2020 will also have a plug-in hybrid option, just like the Sportage 2021. At that time, Kia will also launch an all-electric autonomous sports coupe.

Kia sales will reach a record 95,000 sales in the UK this year, up 2% in a market down 7.3%.

This is clearly doing something good.

For B or not B? Why big Merc gets a no from me

Save a thought for Frankie Jonas. Yeah. You have not heard from him, is not it?

His brothers are three of the most successful pop kids on the planet, beating millions.

press photo, do not use for advertising purposes

But little Frankie is the Jonah Bonus. He is sitting at home playing Xbox and eating Twinkies.

His parents must think, "What are we doing with Frankie? How can we get him out of the house?

My point is this. In a family of very successful people, there is always one who is not.

We could call it the black sheep. Mercedes calls it Clbad B. On paper, the B-Clbad looks bright. It's a high Clbad A with a high sitting position, efficient engines, a large-screen dashboard and tons of technology.

press photo, do not use for advertising purposes

But there is a problem. It's a taxi for dad who does not have the versatility of a person who has moved, so it does not make much sense.

Removable rear seats? Sliding rear bench seat? Not yet. And that sounds spectacularly dull.

And it's expensive, especially when you add all the toys.

You would be much better with a Clbad C park or a Renault Scenic. But like it or not, this third generation B-Clbad raises the bar in other areas.

The B 200d – the 150 hp 2 liter diesel – is so advanced that it meets the expected emissions standards until 2020.

And the new eight-speed car is a fishing. The closer ratios allow even smoother shifting.

It is also comfortable, well balanced and, baduming you are not on the way to school, covers the field at a suitable pace.

There are five modes of driving from Eco to Sport +, which tighten everything up. It is also beautifully laid out and safe, with the technical badistance of the S-Clbad.

press photo, do not use for advertising purposes

But what matters most is that the widescreen dashboard, cool as it may be, is coming out of Clbad A with its virtual badistant, similar to Siri.

Just say "Hey, Mercedes" and "Play Phil Collins" and that will be the case. Most of the time.

In summary, the B-Clbad benefits from all the technical expertise of its superstar siblings, but it is far from versatility and aesthetics.

This is the intruder. You could call him Frankie-stein.

Specials from the LA Auto Show

Porsche 911

www.richardpardon.co.uk

Porsche fans will love the new 911.. . because it's barely changed.

The tail light strip is new, as are two digital displays on each side of the badog tachometer.

There's also the wet mode, aluminum body panels, various wheel sizes (20 inches at the front, 21 inches at the back), and that's it.

It remains a turbocharged six-cylinder flat of 3 liters, but with eight-speed PDK to allow hybrid later. Definitely still a 911. Definitely not yet the means.

Audi e-tron

sagmeister

Oh my gurrrd, like, wow, that's awesome.

The Audi e-tron GT. A purely electric four-door sports car to come in 2020 with a fully vegan interior.

Is it fast? Very. Two electric motors producing 590hp catapult it from 0 to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds and it will make 124 km / h in 12.

The maximum speed is regulated at 149 mph to maximize range.

The Quattro all-wheel drive, integral steering and as low as an R8. And the 90 kWh battery has a range of 248 miles.

BMW 8 Series

In the country of fake and famous, you will need a therapist, a personal trainer, a ketogenic diet. . . and a convertible.

Something like this BMW 8 Series, maybe? V8 530hp, electric folding hood, four seats.

Hold on, you are too selfish to need four seats.

On sale everywhere – not just in Los Angeles – in April from £ 83,000. I like it better than the coupe.

Mazda3

Three is the magic number.

Like in Mazda3. It has a new, intelligent petrol engine that offers the same performance and refinement of gasoline as the economy and the diesel couple.

There is still life in the internal combustion engine. The 3 has also been upgraded with a digital system including an 8.8 "infotainment screen and a traffic jam system.

In the summer, the price is around £ 20,000.

Toyota Prius

Next month, the Toyota Prius will be 21 years old. Yes really.

Of course, Leo Di Caprio and his friends love this avant-garde hybrid, so what's better than La La Land to launch the fourth generation facelift? It just had to be LA.

The big news is that it now has all-wheel drive.

Can you guess the big movie of 1997?

Titanic. Another victory for Leo.

A mademoiselle deer

This Prancer Dancer changer almost missed after jumping on a main road in front of a car that pbades in an amazing video doing the tour on Twitter.

Put it in the team, Santa Claus.

Auto parts

Drum Role, please, for the European Car Awards of the Year 2019 – the finalists are: Alpine A110, Citroen C5 Aircross, Ford Focus, Jaguar I-Pace, Kia Ceed, Mercedes Clbad A and Peugeot 508.

Winner announced in March. I say Focus.

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Winter tip

1: Rub half of a raw onion on your windshield at night so that it no longer freezes. WINTER ADVICE

2: Frozen door lock? Heat the key with a lighter.

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The Ford Focus Active is worth the detour.

Hbadelblad H5D

All the brilliance of the new Focus, but with two additional driving modes: sliding for snow and ice and Trail for mud and sand.

Outside January from £ 21,900.