Gawk at the finest rides from this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed

By Stephen Edelstein Published July 1, 2016

The annual Goodwood Festival of Speed is like no other event on the automotive calendar. Held on the grounds of the Goodwood estate in West Sussex, England, it’s part car show, part hill climb. Everything from vintage race cars to the latest Formula One machines and production models turn up every year to run the course, giving fans an up-close look at some of the fastest cars in the world doing what they were meant to do.

That makes Goodwood a great place for manufacturers to unveil new cars. Those cars tend to be a bit more exotic than what you’ll see at the typical auto show, and they always prioritize performance. Here are some of the highlights from the 2016 Goodwood Festival.

Stephen Edelstein

Former Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?

There's a lot of talk about the idea that the growth in electric car sales has kind of slowed a little. It's not all that surprising -- EVs are still expensive, early adopters all have one by now, and they're still new enough to where there aren't too many ultra-affordable used EVs available. But plenty of people still want a greener vehicle, and that has given rise to an explosion in hybrid vehicle sales.

That's especially true of plug-in hybrid vehicles, which can be charged like an EV and driven in all-electric mode for short distances, and have a gas engine as a backup for longer distances or to be used in combination with electric mode for more efficient driving.

Cars

EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says

Nearly all current owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience, and 92% of them plan to buy another EV, according to a survey by the Global EV Drivers Alliance.

The survey of 23,000 EV drivers worldwide found that only 1% would return to a petrol or diesel car, while 4% would opt for a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) if they had to replace their car.

Cars

Trump team in sync with Tesla on ending crash-reporting requirements, report says

The transition team of President-elect Donald Trump is planning to end existing car-crash reporting requirements to safety regulators, according to a Reuters report.

The report cites a document obtained by Reuters that lays out the transition team’s 100-day strategy for automotive policy. In the document, the team says the crash-reporting requirement leads to “excessive” data collection, Reuters says.