So we’ve had the ST for a little over 8 months now, in which time it’s carried us 5,500 miles.

Part of that has been to travel down to the myriads of kids and grandkids in the South West as originally intended and as the 11 grandkids (so far) are all of that sort of age, it’s meant loading it to the gunwales with presents at Christmas, for instance:

Cram Packed!

We’ve also bought a Ford load space carpet mat to protect the OEM carpeting in the estate area as I do shove the Brompton into back when I pick up the youngest stepper from work sometimes, and we also want something for when we start putting full-sized MTBs or similar in/on it.

That will be the next move: fitting some roof rails and bike brackets to the roof.

So what have we learned to date?

Well it’s fairly economical but that’s only to be expected when it demands to be driven quickly, and it is fast and it is quick as well.

It’s spacious.

There are some nice design touches, like a separate loadspace below the main flat boot area with its own waterproof tray to stow wet shoes and boots away from coats and clothes; and like the retractable carrier bag holders and bungee bag areas behind the wheels. And of course the remote handles to fold down the 60/40 split  rear seats.

Other features we love? Well there’s the dual zone heating/cooling, the heated seats and best of all the heated steering wheel. The displays are very clear and quick to react, and I can just put my iPhone in the bay and it charges and connects wirelessly, although as it’s pretty much black I forget it’s in there when I get out…

Features we loathe? Obviously as the car is later than July 2024, it comes with the nagging, but fortunately we can turn that off with one long press of the limiter button on the steering wheel. So our normal routine is get in, throw iPhone into storage area, press the ST button, and press and hold the limiter button.

One problem we’ve had so far is that when the temperature drops below zero, the hand sensors in the door handles to lock and unlock the doors don’t work.  And another is that the iPhone can overheat when it’s providing navigation and it’s on the wireless charger, so it turns itself off to prevent overheating.  Not good if you’re relying on it for navigation. Fortunately the built-in navigation seems to work OK.