A few weeks back I read an interesting article from Bloomberg on the current motoring trends. The news agency said that Honda and Toyota started pushing hybrids in the late nineties and some people in the motor trade expected a smooth transition to fully electric cars by 2030.
Sales of electric cars have been down every month this year and official SIMI figures released last week, reveal that so far this year 13,885 electric cars were sold, that’s down 25% on the same period last year when 18,484 EVs were sold in Ireland.
Now we are six years away from 2030 and already the date for a full switchover to fully electric cars has been pushed back to 2035. Some cynics are saying that here in Ireland, we won’t be ready by 2035 as the charging network is still sparse in many areas of our island.
I’m a huge fan of Hybrids and there were no complaints from me last week as I got to test the Touring GR version of the Toyota Corolla.
We are constantly being told that Estates or Station Wagons are not popular in Ireland, but some people do still need big boots. The Touring is Toyota’s version of the good old fashioned station wagon and it certainly would be ideal if you want to transport the family and various equipment in the boot, for a holiday in Ireland.
Toyota introduced their popular Corolla in 1966. The Corolla was the bestselling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in the world since then.
The external improvements are difficult to spot as Toyota clearly don’t want to radically alter the look of their hatchback and they want to ensure it remains a handsome car.
There are new headlights, a new front bumper and grille, new alloys and at the back a new black-painted bumper and tweaked brake lights.
I drove the Corolla Touring GT Sports featuring Toyota’s fifth-generation Hybrid Electric powertrain. Toyota say that it’s quieter, cleaner, more compact and more responsive than previous models.
There is more space in the back seats as the Touring Sport is built on a wheelbase that’s 100mm longer than that of the hatchback. The boot is huge but while there is a huge ‘well’ to accommodate a spare wheel, none is provide. So once again the advice is, if buying new, haggle with your garage for a spare wheel.
In the GR Sport version I drove you get a bi-tone look with a sporty black roof complimenting the grey colour of the body.
Inside, the seats are comfortable, but dark. However, there are some nice touches of red and white stitching to brighten up the décor.
It’s a very frugal engine and with steady driving it’s possible to achieve the official consumption figure of 4.7 litres per 100km. However, I found that the consumption was around the 5.7 litre mark. In urban driving the Corolla frequently runs in EV mode.
Four trim levels are available: Luna, Luna Sport and GR Sport, all with 1.8-litre engines. Prices start a €34,875, while the GR Sport version I drove will cost you €41,630.
Meanwhile July was a good month for Toyota as it was the best-selling brand with total sales of 3,835 cars. Five of their models: RAV4, Yaris Cross, Corolla, Yaris and C-HR featured were in the top ten 242 model sales.
