AUTONEWS

Your car's air conditioning won't cool properly if you make these typical mistakes

The arrival of warmer days means more frequent use of your car's air conditioning. However, many drivers make mistakes that may not immediately cause a breakdown, but can reduce the cooling efficiency and unnecessarily burden the vehicle.

Many air conditioning systems suffer from poor maintenance, so some car brands need to replace the air conditioning filter after 15,000 kilometers. This will make the air conditioning work more efficiently, and you will also prevent the spread of mold and bacteria...

It is better to open the doors and windows when entering the car before turning on the air conditioning. This simple procedure can significantly reduce the temperature. Once the car is ventilated, you can get in, close the doors and windows and turn on the air conditioning, writes Revija HAK.

To achieve even distribution of air flow, the ventilation openings should be directed upwards, and not towards the faces of the passengers. It is even better to turn on the ventilation openings that run along the windshield. This simple procedure improves the quality of air flow through the car interior (heat rises).

Immediately after getting into the car, it can be helpful to turn on the interior recirculation for a few minutes, as this will cool the interior even faster. After a few minutes, turn on the outside air supply. This will allow the system to distribute the air flow more evenly and efficiently.

In some areas, even in summer, it can be quite cold in the morning. However, it is often a good idea to turn on the air conditioning immediately. This prevents the windows from misting up when the outside temperature starts to rise slightly.

To use your car's air conditioning correctly, you should adjust the controls according to the weather, use recirculation intelligently, and perform preventive maintenance. Adopting these habits saves fuel, cools the cabin faster, and protects your health.

In the Heat: How to cool your car quickly

Don't turn the air conditioning on full blast as soon as you get into the vehicle if it has been parked in the sun.

Open the windows: Leave the windows open for about a minute while you start driving to expel the accumulated hot "air".

Turn on the system: Activate the ventilation and then the air conditioning (A/C) button.

Activate recirculation: Turn on the internal recirculation button (the icon with an arrow going around inside the car). This makes the system reuse the air that is already cooling in the cabin, instead of pulling hot air from the street, saving the engine and fuel.

Close the windows: As soon as the air starts to come out cold, close the windows completely.

Direct the airflow: Point the air vents upwards or to the sides, never directly at the body. Cold air is denser and descends on its own, cooling the environment evenly.

In the Rain: how to defog the windows (below)

The most common mistake in the rain is turning off the system to avoid getting cold, which worsens the fogging.

Air conditioning (A/C) on: It works as a dehumidifier and removes internal cabin moisture instantly.

Recirculation off (Outside air open): Make sure recirculation is deactivated. Pulling in outside air equalizes the internal and external temperature of the windows, preventing water from condensing.

Direction: Point the airflow directly at the windshield using the dashboard control. If you are cold, you can adjust the selector to a warm or hot temperature, as long as the A/C button remains on.

In heavy traffic and tunnels (below):

Use internal recirculation: Keep the function activated to prevent polluting gases and bad smells from other vehicles' exhausts from entering your car.

Deactivate on the road: When traffic flows well, turn off recirculation for a few minutes to renew the oxygen in the cabin, preventing dizziness and drowsiness.

Care and maintenance habits (below):

Turn off before destination: About 2 to 5 minutes before turning off the engine, turn off the A/C button and leave only the ventilation running. This dries the moisture accumulated in the air ducts and prevents the proliferation of fungi and bad smells.

Turn on every week: Even during the winter, turn on the air conditioning for at least 10 to 15 minutes once a week. This circulates the gas and lubricating oil, preventing the hoses and compressor seals from drying out.

Cabin filter replacement: Replace the air filter (cabin filter) every 6 months or 10,000 km, or at least once a year. A dirty filter blocks airflow, strains the system, and introduces dust mites and dust into your breathing.

LANCIA

Lancia Ypsilon Manual: A small but efficient engine and a manual gearbox

Lancia has launched a new version of the Ypsilon to complete its lineup, which is currently the only model available until the arrival of the Lancia Gamma later this year. This new version features a 100 hp turbocharged gasoline engine and a six-speed manual transmission. It is a simple, affordable and highly efficient option, designed to meet the needs of those seeking an elegant mobility solution without spending too much.

The engine offers an agile response...This version is equipped with a three-cylinder engine with a variable geometry turbocharger that offers a smooth response, although without great pretensions. This is the same engine used in other Stellantis Group models, such as the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot 208, among others. In the Lancia, the engine does not transmit much vibration or harshness, something common in three-cylinder engines. Combined with the manual gearbox, which has slightly shorter gear ratios, it offers an agile and efficient response. It even gives the impression that the engine has more power than the official figures indicate, despite not being an engine designed for maximum performance.

Under the hood, the Ypsilon features the new engine dubbed "T100," initially introduced in the Peugeot 208 and 2008 range and recently in the Fiat 600, and which will gradually be used to power all Stellantis Group compact models in Europe.

The 1,199 cc three-cylinder gasoline engine develops a maximum power of 101 hp at 5,500 rpm and a maximum torque of 20.9 kgf·m from 1,750 rpm. Lancia reports an acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.2 seconds and a top speed of 194 km/h. The reported average fuel consumption is 19.2 km/l, bearing in mind that in Europe gasoline contains a maximum of 10% alcohol.

The engine incorporates technologies such as a metal timing chain for the valve timing, variable geometry turbocharger (VGT), high-pressure direct injection (350 bar), and operates according to the Miller cycle with a high compression ratio, improving thermal efficiency.

Reliability was also paramount, with the engine block, pistons, and rings designed to maximize robustness and control oil consumption. The development program was among the most rigorous in its class: more than 30,000 hours on the test bench and more than 3 million km driven in prototype vehicles. All of this translates into an immediate benefit for the customer: maintenance intervals every 25,000 km or two years, with low and predictable operating costs.

With the introduction of the manual transmission, the Lancia Ypsilon's interior received a functional update: with the addition of the gear lever to the center console, the area needed to be redesigned, a new storage compartment was added, and the multifunctional table with wireless charging for cell phones, present in the HEV and BEV versions, was removed.

With the introduction of the manual transmission, the Lancia Ypsilon's interior received a functional update: with the addition of the gear lever to the center console, the area needed to be redesigned, a new storage compartment was added, and the multifunctional table with wireless charging for cell phones, present in the HEV and BEV versions, was removed.

Traditional driving...The Turbo 100 version is aimed at the market segment that still hesitates to opt for an automatic transmission and continues to rely on combustion engines. These are drivers who want to maintain a traditional driving experience and avoid additional costs that could increase the final price of the vehicle. With this new option, Lancia offers precisely that: simplicity and reliability.

The development of this vehicle involved 30,000 hours of testing and three million kilometers driven to achieve a perfectly tuned product. Its launch completes the range of engines, making it a car with several multi-energy options. The hybrid version is already available, being very attractive for its fuel efficiency and ECO label. The electric version is unbeatable in the city with its zero emissions label. The Turbo 100 brings back the pleasure of driving and ease of use. This completes the family of vehicles, catering to a variety of tastes.

This version is available in all three trims: Ypsilon, Ypsilon LX, and HF Line, just like the other versions. One of the most striking aspects of the Turbo 100 manual test drive is the absence of the famous "tavolino," the small table for storing objects that is present in the other two engine options and has been a major selling point since the car's launch. The reason for its omission is to provide better accessibility and more space for the gear lever.

One of the Turbo 100's biggest attractions will be its price. It starts at €21,200, including VAT, for the most basic version, while the LX and HF versions add €3,000, which still makes it a very competitive price.

In short, the manual Turbo 100 can be considered an option for those who value simplicity and practicality. It's a car with an attractive design that fits a tighter budget. Its natural habitat is the urban environment, although the engine is capable of handling longer journeys at a relaxed pace. It's an option for those who want to travel in style but don't need high performance.

Autonews

 

AUTONEWS

Ford wants to expand Mustang family

US media is again writing that one of Ford's new sedans could be called Mustang.

As Carscoops reminds us, Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed his desire late last year for Ford to launch a rear-wheel drive sports sedan, potentially based on the company's new Universal EV platform, which should first be the basis for an affordable new electric pickup truck.

Andrew Frick, president of Ford's Blue and Model e divisions, also recently spoke about a potential new sedan, noting that there is a market for such a car.

"There is a percentage of customers who still buy sedans," he told Auto News. "It's a lot smaller than it used to be. It used to be 50 percent, now it's 16, 17 percent. We want to expand the Mustang family as we go along. I think in order to do that, it has to make sense in our portfolio. It has to make sense in the family that we already offer."

That last point is the catch. Frick said any future sedan would have to be truly affordable to justify its place, a requirement he linked to Ford’s broader push toward affordable new vehicles.

Frick’s statements that Ford wants to expand the Mustang family and that the new sedan would have to make sense within the existing family of vehicles confirm long-standing rumors about a Ford Mustang sedan. Ford already offers the Mustang-badged Mach E crossover, so it’s not hard to imagine a Mustang-badged sedan.

Whether that model could be electric or something based on the existing V8-powered Mustang with a manual transmission remains open for now, as Frick gave no indication.

What we do know is that the company showed dealers two additional Mustang concepts in 2024, including a four-door coupe and an off-road variant with all-wheel drive. Then came the “Mach 4” trademark filing in 2025, which only fueled the rumors.

The project, however, has very few known details. Internally, Ford calls the new four-door Mustang "Mach 4," and it will likely be a hybrid, since the traditional Mustang will continue with the V8 engine, while the Mach E remains electric and takes a different approach.

AUTONEWS

Driverless cars are on the rise, and now we may know why they crash

A self-driving car can make a mistake in seconds, but the reason it happened may stretch far back through a long chain of decisions. That is part of what makes autonomous vehicle crashes so hard to explain, and so hard to prevent.

For the first time, new algorithms may be able to automatically explain why some self-driving cars crash—a question crucial to answer as more autonomous vehicles take to the roads. This new approach, developed by researchers at King's College London, reviews past events to explain why specific instances of failure happened, in the hope that this can be used to make improvements in the future.

Self-driving vehicles are increasingly being rolled out across the globe, in cities like London and San Francisco, but collisions and serious breaches of road safety have put pressure on manufacturers to explain why they make the mistakes they do. This is often hard to do, and current methods only provide limited explanations for these.

Dr. Khen Elimelech, leader of the Autonomous Robots Lab at King's and first author of the paper, said, "Traditional methods rely on compiling failure statistics, to tell us how likely another failure is to happen in the future, but they cannot definitively tell you why a self-driving car made the specific error it did. For that, you need to leverage what is known as 'actual causality," where an algorithm analyzes past mistakes retrospectively."

This approach is particularly useful for self-driving cars where failures may stem from complex and rare causes and often have catastrophic implications. Actual causality has previously only been trialed in AI used to classify images. It is the first time this concept has been applied to more complicated case of AI-driven cyber-physical systems.

A team at King's College London says it has developed a new way to tackle that problem. Instead of only estimating how likely a failure is to happen again, the approach is designed to work backward through a crash and identify why a specific failure occurred.

That distinction matters as autonomous vehicles appear more often on public roads, including in cities such as London and San Francisco. Collisions and serious road safety breaches have sharpened pressure on manufacturers to explain what went wrong when these systems fail.

Current methods can offer only limited answers. They tend to rely on failure statistics, which are useful for measuring risk but weaker at explaining one concrete event.

"Traditional methods rely on compiling failure statistics, to tell us how likely another failure is to happen in the future, but they cannot definitively tell you why a self-driving car made the specific error it did. For that, you need to leverage what is known as 'actual causality', where an algorithm analyses past mistakes retrospectively," said Dr Khen Elimelech, leader of the Autonomous Robots Lab at King's and first author of the paper.

Looking backward after the crash...The research centers on a concept known as actual causality. In simple terms, that means examining events after a failure has happened and asking which of them truly caused the outcome.

The idea is especially important for self-driving cars because the causes of failure may be rare, complicated, and potentially catastrophic. A crash may not stem from one obvious mistake. It may emerge from a sequence of observations and decisions that build over time until the system can no longer recover safely.

According to the team, this is the first time actual causality has been applied to the more complicated setting of AI-driven cyber-physical systems. Those are systems in which software continuously interacts with the physical world.

It had previously only been tried in AI systems used to classify images.

The new work builds on earlier research from the same group. In that earlier effort, the team developed an algorithm to efficiently and proactively find rare scenarios that would lead to a crash. That problem is known as falsification.

This latest step goes further. Instead of stopping at identifying dangerous scenarios, the researchers analyze those crash cases to explain them.

Sorting through too many possible causes...That is not a simple task. An autonomous vehicle operating in the real world must constantly process what it sees around it, including cars, people, and other objects, then convert that stream of information into driving decisions.

When something goes wrong, the number of possible causes can become enormous.

The team notes that in some cases, an object the vehicle saw miles before the crash may have started the chain of events that eventually ended in a collision. That makes root-cause analysis both technically difficult and computationally expensive.

To deal with that complexity, the researchers developed what they call a responsibility-guided search algorithm. Its job is to move quickly through the many possible causes and narrow them down to the events that best explain the failure.

According to the team, that algorithm can return an explanation for an event with orders of magnitude less computational effort than a baseline algorithm.

That reduction in computing effort could make the method more practical for use in complex autonomous systems, where brute-force searches may be too slow or too costly to be useful.

Trust, deployment, and wider uses...For advocates of autonomous vehicles, one of the most stubborn problems has not just been safety itself, but explanation. If a system makes a dangerous choice and nobody can clearly say why, public trust becomes harder to build.

That challenge has also been a barrier to deployment.

"In a world where autonomous vehicles are taking up more space on London's streets, being able to explain why something happened is vital if we're going to build trust with this type of technology and integrate cyber-physical systems like this into our lives," Dr Elimelech said.

Although the researchers focused on autonomous vehicles as a test case, they say the broader method could be used to explain failures across physical systems powered by AI.

That wider potential matters because many of the same concerns now surrounding self-driving cars are beginning to surface in other forms of automation. As AI moves beyond screens and into machines that act in the physical world, the ability to explain failure may become as important as the ability to avoid it.

The team says future work could extend the approach to even more complex settings, including autonomous assistive robots in care homes. The goal is to help design systems across a range of domains that are both reliable and explainable.

Practical implications of the research...The most immediate value of this work is that it offers a way to move beyond broad risk estimates and toward explanations of individual failures. For companies building self-driving vehicles, that could help pinpoint what needs to be fixed after a crash instead of only showing that similar failures might happen again.

It could also shape how regulators, safety investigators, and the public assess autonomous systems. If developers can clearly trace the chain of events behind a collision, that may improve accountability and make safety reviews more useful.

Over time, the same approach could help other AI-powered physical systems, including care robots, earn trust by making their failures easier to understand and correct.

The original story "Why do self-driving cars crash? King's College London researchers think they have the answer" is published in The Brighter Side of News.

Provided by King's College London 

 

AUTONEWS

Why the electric SUV boom is a problem for climate, health and equity

Governments and car manufacturers sell electric cars as the future of green transport. But a less visible trend is challenging this story: many electric cars are getting bigger.

The International Energy Agency recently reported that larger models, including sports utility vehicles (SUVs), are taking up a major share of electric car markets.

In China, electric SUVs accounted for more than 60% of electric car sales in 2025. In Europe, SUVs accounted for almost 75% of electric models in 2025. In the US, the figure was even higher, at more than 85%.

SUV emissions are now so large that, if all SUVs were a country, they would be one of the world's five biggest CO₂ emitters. The problem with SUVs is not only their tailpipe emissions. It is also their size, weight, cost and the way they reinforce car-dependent lifestyles.

Electric SUVs may reduce tailpipe emissions compared with petrol and diesel SUVs, but they still need larger batteries, more raw materials, more energy and more road space than smaller electric cars. Their greater weight can also contribute to pollution from tire, brake and road wear, including fine particulate matter linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Larger vehicles can also make streets more dangerous, especially for children. A study using Great Britain crash data found that children aged 0–18 hit by SUVs, rather than passenger cars, had 77% higher odds of fatal injury. For children under nine, the odds were more than three times higher.

When roads are dominated by heavy privately owned cars, walking and cycling become less attractive, even for short everyday journeys. This matters because active travel (such as walking and cycling) is one of the easiest ways to build physical activity into daily life while producing little or no direct carbon emissions.

Car-dominated streets affect people unequally. Lower-income households are less likely to own new electric cars, but they still experience the traffic, danger, noise and pollution created by them. This is why the green transport transition needs to be judged by more than the number of electric cars sold. It should also be judged by whether it reduces car dependency and creates healthier, fairer streets.

Avoid, shift, improve...Our new research in the journal Energy Economics uses the avoid-shift-improve framework to assess transport decarbonization. Avoid means reducing the need for unnecessary car journeys through measures such as teleworking, compact development, and better access to local services. Shift means moving remaining trips to lower-carbon, healthier modes such as walking, cycling, public transport, and bike and car sharing. Improve means making the vehicles that are still needed cleaner, lighter and more energy efficient, including through electrification.

This order matters. If policy jumps straight to improve, it can reduce emissions per mile while leaving the wider system unchanged. A city full of electric SUVs may have no exhaust emissions, but it can still suffer from congestion, road danger, inactive travel, unequal access, non-exhaust pollution and streets dominated by large private vehicles.

Too big to be green? In our study, the proposed model uses registrations of SUVs as an undesirable indicator of transport decarbonization. Their growth works against the move towards smaller, lighter and more energy-efficient cars. Larger, more expensive vehicles can deepen car dependence: once people have invested in a costly car, switching to non-car modes of transport can feel like a loss.

The SUV boom illustrates this. Larger vehicles are marketed as safer, more comfortable and more desirable. Advertising presents them as symbols of freedom, family protection and status, helping to make large cars appear normal and necessary even when smaller cars and better transport options could meet many everyday needs.

This conflicts with UK and EU climate goals, which prioritize reducing emissions, improving public health and making sustainable transport more accessible.

There are practical alternatives. Policy can support smaller, lighter and more affordable electric cars where cars are still needed. It can also make walking, cycling and public transport the easiest choices for everyday journeys. This means protected cycle lanes, safe pavements, reliable buses, lower traffic neighborhoods, and road pricing that reflects the space, weight and pollution costs of larger vehicles.

These measures are not about blaming drivers. They are pro-health, pro-equity and pro-climate. Many people require cars, especially in rural and poorly connected areas. But the goal should be to reduce unnecessary car dependence, not to replace every petrol SUV with an electric SUV.

The future of transport should not only be electric. It should be lighter, healthier, more affordable and less car dependent.

Climate impacts of electric cars...Electric cars are considered to be an important element in the decarbonisation of the transport sector and are therefore a central aspect of the change in transport policies. However, electric cars are frequently criticised for their climate impact. Aspects of this criticism are often repeated in the media and sometimes inadequate comparisons are made. Recurring elements are:

Electric cars are more harmful to the climate than vehicles with combustion engines because there is so much coal-based electricity power in Germany

Electric cars are harmful to the environment because the production of the electric car (especially battery production) produces more emissions than the production of a conventional vehicle

Unfortunately, the public debate often confuses different topics like: air quality, climate balance, questions of the availability of raw materials and social aspects of production.

Due to the complexity of the discussion and the lack of comparability of a whole series of studies, there is uncertainty about the actual environmental impact of electric cars. This makes the public debate more difficult and unsettles politics and consumers. The project "Climate Balance of Electric Cars – Influencing Factors and Potential for Improvement" of the Agora Transport Change should help to explain different results of climate balance, to systematise the discussion for politics and consumers and to present results transparently. For this purpose, bandwidths and central influencing parameters of current climate balance sheets were first worked out (meta-study) in order to point out possible potential for improvement along the vehicle life cycle (especially in battery production) during the course of the project.

AUTONEWS

Opel Corsa Edition 100 KS: €17,190

The Opel Corsa Edition 100 KS refers to the version of the popular European hatchback equipped with a 1.2L 3-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine, generating 100 hp (horsepower, or KS in some Eastern European languages). This configuration offers an excellent balance between urban performance and fuel economy.

This is an advertisement for the Opel Corsa Edition 100 KS, a modern compact car available in electric, hybrid, and gasoline versions. The special price highlighted in the image is €17,190 for this specific edition configuration. The vehicle features a contemporary design with a contrasting black roof and LED headlights in some variants. Opel is part of the Stellantis group and markets this sixth generation of the Corsa mainly in the European market.

Dynamic, agile and economical – the Corsa is designed for easy and dynamic city driving. Compact on the outside, practical on the inside and ready to make every drive easier and more enjoyable.

* Special offer from 17,190 EUR

* 5-year warranty

Perfect operation: The gasoline engine and electric motor operate together or separately (hybrid version).

In daily driving, on a combination of urban and rural roads, the gasoline engine and electric motor of the Opel Corsa Hybrid work together or separately to optimize energy consumption and performance. The system offers advantages especially in urban traffic.

The electric motor also allows the Opel Corsa to be driven in fully electric mode for distances of up to one kilometer under conditions of reduced torque requirements (for example, when maneuvering or at less than 30 km/h in urban traffic) and assists the gasoline engine in acceleration, for example, when starting from a standstill. During deceleration, the gasoline engine switches off and the electric motor acts as a generator to recharge the 48V battery of the hybrid system. The battery also stores the energy recovered by the regenerative braking system.

Technical Specifications and Performance:

Engine: 1.2L Turbo (3 cylinders)

Power: 100 hp (74 kW) Torque: 205 Nm at 1750 rpm

Transmission: Available with 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission

Acceleration (0 to 100 km/h): ≈ 10.8 seconds

Top Speed: 192 km/h

Average fuel consumption: Between 4.3 and 5.3 L/100 km (depending on the test cycle and transmission)

-Main equipment of the edition version:

-Multimedia: 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth connectivity. 

-Safety and Assistance: Active lane keeping assist, cruise control with speed limiter, and traffic sign recognition.

-Comfort: Air conditioning, power windows and mirrors, multifunction steering wheel.

SKODA

Škoda Peaq premieres on June 23

Škoda has revealed exterior sketches of its all-new electric seven-seater Peaq. The visual presence of the new flagship SUV is defined by clearly defined surfaces, precise lines and distinctive light elements.

The world premiere will take place in Monets-Morne, France, on June 23, 2026, at 6:25 p.m.

“When designing the exterior of the Škoda Peaq, we consistently applied the Modern Solid design language, combining clean lines, balanced proportions and distinctive elements. Precisely shaped surfaces and clearly structured details create a confident, timeless presence, while characteristic features such as the T-shaped headlights and Tech-Deck Face express Škoda’s identity in the new electric era,” says Karl Neuhold, Head of Exterior Design at Škoda Auto.

At the front, the slender T-shaped headlights, the glossy black Tech-Deck Face and the connecting element between them form a distinctive frame-like loop motif. This contrasts with the volcano-shaped bumper, with its pronounced lower contour and clearly defined horizontal line.

The side view is dominated by the high shoulder line and the wide D-pillars, emphasizing the vehicle's powerful stance. Textured surfaces further underline its bold proportions. The sketches also highlight the upright door handles seamlessly integrated into the body.

The rear comes with T-shaped lights and a connecting element that forms a distinctive loop motif. This visually sets the Peaq apart, while ensuring that it is recognizable at first glance.

Meet the Škoda Peaq...The spacious, all-electric Škoda Peaq SUV will soon make its debut in full glory. Ahead of the premiere, you can discover some details about this new model. Discover how the model's dimensions are reflected in the interior as well as the overall impression.

The Peaq is the largest vehicle in Škoda's range, almost 22 centimetres longer than the electric Enyaq and almost 12 centimetres longer than the traditional Kodiaq SUV. Like the latter, the Peaq will offer space for up to seven passengers. Not only because of its length, the vehicle also offers a record level of interior space.

As is the tradition of the Škoda brand, engineers and designers wanted to create a car that offers the largest interior space in its class. They achieved this not only through the overall size of the model, but also through the interior architecture, layout and proportions of the interior.

For example, the Peaq has a 17 centimetres longer wheelbase than the Kodiaq, making it the longest model with the MEB platform. The height of the model is also impressive, exceeding the Enyaq by 4 centimetres.

"We wanted to create one of the most spacious cars in this class. This is one of the core values ​​of the Škoda brand,” says concept coordinator Miroslav Špalek. As he points out, the engineers and designers started with a fixed wheelbase platform and managed to maximize the space by using the vehicle’s length that extends beyond the wheelbase. The result was incredible. “We started primarily with the front seats. The seat position is higher and closer to the steering wheel,” Špalek details. In addition to the numerous advantages, the additional space in the rear seats and a more comfortable ride for passengers in the third row are particularly noteworthy.

The engineers then polished this interior concept in cooperation with designers, especially interior experts. They packaged the spaciousness of the interior in an elegant form. Although the intention is for the Peaq model to emphasize its incredible spaciousness, as the largest car in the Škoda brand, it must remain elegant in addition to its striking appearance.

The designers achieved this with several clever solutions. “To achieve elegance in such a large car, it is necessary to visually lengthen its lines. This is achieved by the tornado line, which connects the front and rear of the car,” emphasizes designer Baptiste de Brugiere. The aerodynamic shape of the roof also contributes to the visually elongated impression

The visual elongation creates the impression that the car is lower than its actual dimensions. The designers also emphasized this effect with the contrast between the pronounced side surfaces and the relatively smaller windows. The tornado line plays a significant role. “The shape of the line in the wheel arches area visually reduces the perceived volume of the body around the wheels and contributes to a more natural positioning of the vehicle on its wheels,” emphasizes the designer, another method for achieving a visually lower position.

The spacious, all-electric SUV model Škoda Peaq has already appeared on the road. However, for now, it remains hidden from the public. This time, the inspiration for the camouflage foil came from the model’s name itself, mountain peaks in the colors of the setting sun.

The protective foil has a clear purpose, to hide the proportions, shape of the car and design details, while at the same time allowing for driving in public before the official premiere.

“The purpose of camouflage is to tell a story about a particular model,” designer Petr Petzet explains the process of masking the car. The Škoda Peaq SUV, which is the brand’s largest electric model, appeared in its protective guise during a test drive for media representatives near Lake Como in Italy.

The appearance of the camouflage foil is the result of an internal competition in which several designers had the opportunity to present their solutions. In cooperation with the communication and marketing departments, an existing design inspired by the model name was chosen. “The abstract depiction of valleys and mountain peaks inspired me,” says Petr Petzet.

The design of the foil was clear from the beginning, while the color palette required several changes. “We wanted to emphasize the elegant line of the car and chose more restrained shades in combination with a matte film. The dominant color is Škoda emerald green, complemented by gentle sunset tones,” explains Petr. The sunset motif on the side of the car plays an important role in camouflage, as the contrasting shades further disguise the model, while thematically connecting the design along the entire length of the car.

Clever illusions are the basis of the Modern Solid design style...“Simplicity is the essence of the Modern Solid design style. Hiding proportions and deceiving the eye is a great challenge. Camouflage consists of intertwined irregular lines and shapes,” emphasizes Petr.

Numerous elements can be seen on the camouflage that, on the contrary, attract attention and influence the perception of the whole. One of these elements is the sunset, the other is the main mountain peak in the rear window. “The camouflage elements are interconnected and create a story,” says Petr. The design also hides special details, such as a small amphibian camouflaged in the design structure.

One of the novelties is the camouflage on the car’s wheels. Usually covered with a dark matte foil, but now they visually connect to the overall impression of the vehicle,” Petr points out. The reason is that Škoda intends to present the car during the initial drives on 20-inch wheels, the design of which will remain a secret until the premiere.

Detailed preparations...Given that the camouflage foil does not emphasize a random design but specific motifs intended for the Peaq model, the final preparation required great precision. From the first ideas, through the development of graphic curves, to the first printed tests, the preparation required more than 100 hours. This was followed by the application of the foil to the car.

The foil consists of seven parts. “It took a week to install it on the car,” adds Petr. Before the first presentation at the opening of the new battery factory, Petr Petzet had the sweetest task: “Before the presentation itself, all that was left was to add the Škoda letters to the front and rear of the car, like a symbolic cherry on top of the whipped cream,” adds the designer with a smile.

Autonews