The August issue of EV Powered magazine has landed, and it arrives in the middle of one of the most turbulent spells the UK’s EV transition has seen.

A new Prime Minister, a VAT cut on home electricity, eVED on the way and mounting pressure on the ZEV mandate. As editor Matt Allan puts it in this month’s editor’s note, it’s enough to make your head spin.

That political whirlwind runs right through our news pages. We reveal how BMW, Ford, Nissan, Toyota and Bosch privately lobbied ministers to keep petrol and diesel cars on sale beyond 2035, and look at what the scrapping of VAT on domestic energy bills means for EV drivers, and why it widens the gap for those stuck with public charging.

Fresh from 1,100 miles through France, Matt also has thoughts on why UK drivers are paying 43p/kWh on his Ionity subscription when the French pay 27p, and what the Government could learn from autoroute charging signage.

There’s plenty of metal in there too, from the Volkswagen ID. Polo going on sale at £25,555 to the Peugeot E-208 GTi, the near-500-mile BMW iX5, the £105,000 Denza Z9 GT and a cheaper 52kWh Nissan Leaf that starts under £29,000. Fiat’s Multiplina Concept hints at a super-cheap four-seat urban EV inspired by the 1956 600 Multipla, and we’ve even found room for an all-electric Routemaster bus, converted by Yorkshire’s Magtec and now running sightseeing tours around London with a 200kWh battery hidden under its classic bodywork.

The big interview and this month’s road tests

Headlining the issue is TV’s favourite architect and Polestar brand ambassador George Clarke, who tells us why “we’ll look back at petrol cars and wonder what the hell we were doing”. Over eight pages, Clarke talks Swedish design, his false start with EVs, his emotional attachment to the Polestar 4, and why, after falling out of love with Elon Musk, he’ll never buy a Tesla.

Then it’s over to the road tests, and it’s a strong month. Matt Allan gets to grips with the Toyota bZ4X Touring, the odd SUV/estate crossover with a 699-litre boot and a 366-mile range that might just have fixed the bZ4X for good.

George East, meanwhile, has been busy with two very different flavours of fun. First, the 422bhp Volvo EX30 Cross Country, a rugged compact SUV that hits 62mph in 3.7 seconds but proves a proper heart over head choice. Then the Vauxhall Mokka GSE, the 277bhp hot crossover with a rally-derived chassis that he reckons beats its Abarth and Alfa Romeo siblings. Easily.

Big boots, road trips and a fond farewell

As the cover proudly declares, we like big boots and we cannot lie. Our top ten electric tow cars counts down the biggest load-luggers in the EV world, from the Kia EV9 and Porsche Cayenne Electric to the 3,500kg-rated Isuzu D-Max EV. With most caravans weighing between 1,000kg and 2,000kg, there’s now an EV for even the chunkiest trailer.

Summer holiday looming? Our guide to the best EV road trips for summer 2026 picks out Europe’s most spectacular electric-friendly routes, from the NC500 and the Welsh Coastal Way to the Route Napoleon, the Black Forest and Norway’s astonishing fjord roads.

Bargain hunters should head straight for our used buying guide on the Jaguar I-Pace. From around £10,000 it looks like a steal, but as we explain, that cheap dream Jag can quickly turn into an expensive nightmare if you buy the wrong one.

Elsewhere, we bid a fond farewell to our long-term Renault 5 after six months. Spoiler: it remains the small EV to beat, and the family is not happy to see it go. And in a first for the magazine, we review the Momentum Vida E+ EX, a US-market commuter e-bike from Giant’s lifestyle brand with a clever dropper post and a very tempting price.

Motorsport fans are well served too. We report from Formula E’s chaotic Tokyo double header, which leaves just five points covering the top three ahead of the London finale on 15 and 16 August, and from Monaco, where Didier Drogba’s E1 team took a maiden win nobody saw coming.

Rounding things off, new research reveals that EV ownership is now driven by desire rather than duty, with 64% of buyers citing design as their key motivator and just 8% going electric for environmental reasons. And So Energy’s Michelle Little asks how the UK builds resilience now the EV tipping point has arrived.

All that, plus the latest news from across the EV world, in the August issue of EV Powered magazine. Read it online now, and don’t forget the magazine is free, printed on sustainable paper and vegetable ink, and recycled at the end of each month. And with the news moving as fast as it is right now, keep checking EVPowered.co.uk between issues for all the latest twists and turns.