This week’s news: BYD’s FLASH Charging, VW announces the ID.3 Neo, and the Nissan Micra gets a £3,750 grant

Here’s our roundup of the top news stories which caught our attention this week.

Headlines at a glance

• Volkswagen has updated the ID.3 and renamed it the ID.3 Neo • BYD set to roll out EV charging in China which allows top-up in as little as five minutes • Kia’s PV5 to get two new van variants and Ford is expected to launch a new van based on the electric Explorer

In other news…

• Some Nissan Micra models now qualify for the full £3,750 Electric Car Grant • Jaecoo launches a flagship seven-seat SUV • The car industry calls on the government to rethink its EV sales targets

Following Cupra’s recent update of the Born it’s no great surprise to hear the closely related Volkswagen ID.3 is also getting a refresh, yet VW is taking things one step further by also giving its all-electric hatchback a new name. Going forward the latest version of VW’s first ID. model will be known as the ID.3 Neo. We expect to hear more about the model when it is revealed in mid-April, but we have been told it will feature ‘one-pedal’ driving and, perhaps most importantly, it will have physical buttons on the steering wheel. Other features will include an updated infotainment system, vehicle-to-load (V2L) tech allowing you to charge other devices from the battery and the option of a digital key. In addition to the ID.3 Neo, VW will also be adding the ID. Polo and ID. Cross to its line-up soon, plus existing Volkswagen ID.4, Volkswagen ID.5 and Volkswagen ID.7 models can now be ordered with updated software. - Catherine Kent

While range dominates the discussion around electric cars once you start living with one you quickly realise charging speed is at least as important, if not more so. Especially when you’re out and about and speed and convenience are of the essence. In that context the boast by BYD luxury off-shoot Denza that its Z9GT can ‘FLASH Charge’ in as little time as it would take to top up a petrol or diesel car at the pumps sounds exciting. To help put that into context we first need some simple maths to explain how this might work! For example, if you have an electric car with a 50kWh battery and plug it into a 50kW charger it would, theoretically, take one hour to charge completely. Emphasis on the theoretically. Most public rapid chargers deliver somewhere between 50kW and 150kW, with some promising as much as 300kW. How much you actually get depends on the car, ambient temperatures and other factors, though. To score its amazing charging times the Denza needs to top up at 1,500kW, which is obviously way faster than any charger currently available here. If it were, you could potentially realise Denza’s “Ready in 5, Full in 9, Cold add 3” promise, which translates to five minutes to charge 10-70 per cent, nine minutes to 97 per cent and 12 minutes from 20-97 per cent even if it’s -30deg for a claimed maximum range of nearly 500 miles in the case of the Z9GT. This is possible thanks to the second-generation of BYD’s Blade Battery tech, FLASH Charging apparently just ‘weeks’ away from public rollout in China with BYD’s Executive Vice President Stella Li promising Europe won’t be far behind the arrival of the Z9GT into the market here. China Speed, exemplified! - Dan Trent

Van news now, and Chery has confirmed it will launch its new Delivan van range at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham next month. One of several launches taking place at the show, Delivan was developed by Van Bu – Chery’s technology arm – and will be supported by new European headquarters in Liverpool. Delivan looks a little like the Maxus eDeliver 3 small electric van, but we'll hold any judgements until we get one in. The show launches will also include Iveco's eJolly and eSuperJolly electric vans, Kia expanding its PV5 range with two new body styles, Renault Group showing off the latest developments to its upcoming range of electric vans, Farizon hitting us with some new specialist conversions of the SV, and Isuzu making noise about the Steel Edition version of its D-Max pick-up truck. We also know that a commercial vehicle conversion of the current Ford Explorer is on the way. A secretive invite calling us to see "a new addition to the Ford Pro lineup" piqued our suspicions and new CAP listings confirmed them. Car-derived vans are launching thick and fast, and considering Ford’s success with the Fiesta Van it makes sense for the brand to rejoin a section of the market it did so much to grow. And there we were thinking 2026 was going to be a quieter launch year. - Tom Roberts