Vauxhall Mokka gets an extra shot of caffeine with new 276bhp GSe range-topper
Previewed by the Mokka GSe Rally prototype in May, the crossover's arrival marks the relaunch of GSe, most recently used for the plug-in hybrid Astra GSe, as a badge for performance-honed fully electric cars. The Mokka is also a more serious proposition than the Astra, with substantially more power and extensive chassis modifications.
Its new motor, which is shared with the Abarth 600e, the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce and the new Peugeot e-208 GTi, puts out 276bhp and 254lb ft. That's sent to the front wheels through a Torsen limitedslip differential, and it allows the Mokka GSe to hit 62mph from rest in 5.9sec.
To cope with that significant uptick in performance, the GSe's rear axle has been redesigned to add an anti-roll bar and tauter bushings. Together, these are said to increase the back end's torsional stiffness by 189% compared with the regular car.
The GSe also gets more heavily weighted steering, 380mm Alcon front brake discs with four-pot calipers and new dampers with hydraulic bump stops. The Mokka GSe rides on new 20in alloy wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres, and it tips the scales at less than 1600kg.
The brand has yet to disclose a range, but the e-208 GTi, 600e and Junior Elettrica Veloce all return around 200 miles between charges. For reference, the standard Mokka EV has a 247-mile claimed range from the same 54kWh battery used by the GSe.
Visually, the new model is marked out by its neon yellow contrasting elements and new gloss black panels on its front and rear bumpers. Inside, it has Alcantara bucket seats and door cards, and the infotainment touchscreen features new displays including a g-force meter.
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Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Alan Turing Institute scraps diversity drive under pressure from ministers
Britain's leading artificial intelligence (AI) institute has scrapped a key diversity scheme after coming under pressure from ministers. The initiative from The Alan Turing Institute, which last year was handed £100m in taxpayer funding, had aimed to get more women into science and promote 'equity in the data science and AI fields'. However, the programme has now been axed following a review by the organisation's board amid calls for it to focus increasingly on defence. The decision means the institute will no longer have a mandate to investigate 'diversity and inclusion in online and physical workplace cultures', while it will also end inquiries into how 'social bias' risks being built into machine learning systems. It comes just days after Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary, urged the institute to 'reform'. In a letter to Doug Gurr, the former Amazon executive who is now chairman of the organisation's board of trustees, Mr Kyle said it must 'evolve and adapt' to 'prioritise its defence, national security and sovereign capabilities'. Drift from core mission Originally launched by David Cameron in 2015, the institute has come under growing scrutiny after it was awarded the £100m government funding. This week, a report from British Progress argued the organisation had 'lost its way' and needed 'major reform'. The think tank said the institute had a 'fragmented and thinly spread research portfolio' and that it had been 'susceptible to mission creep'. The report added: 'The most significant example of this has been its drift away from its core technical mission toward work rooted in social and political critique.' British Progress warned that, if it failed to reform, there would be grounds to 'decommission the institute entirely'. While the institute has made moves towards reforming its research, its staff have also criticised its allegedly chaotic management and a lack of diversity in senior roles. Last year, more than 180 staff signed a letter questioning its decision to hire four top male academics, as they criticised a 'trend of limited diversity within the institute's senior scientific leadership'. In December, The Telegraph reported that external consultants had raised concerns from staff about 'tokenism' and 'nepotism' at the institute, warning of 'pervasive issues of low morale'. That month, staff also sent a no-confidence letter to its leadership team and board, warning it had been left 'rudderless'. The scrapping of the gender representation scheme comes amid a wider retreat across the technology sector, with many businesses rowing back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies after Donald Trump's return to the White House. The institute was named after the Second World War computer scientist Alan Turing, who was persecuted for his homosexuality. The mathematician, who died in 1954, led Britain's codebreakers at Bletchley Park and helped to design a machine to crack Nazi Germany's Enigma messages. Yet in recent years, the institute has been dogged by concerns that it missed out on the emergence of a new wave of technology. In 2023, a report from the Tony Blair Institute argued it had 'not kept the UK at the cutting edge of international AI developments '. A spokesman for the institute said it was in the process of reviewing 100 projects, two of which had been axed. They added: 'We're shaping a new phase for the institute focused on delivering real-world impact against society's biggest challenges and will respond to the national need to double down on our work in defence, national security and sovereign capabilities.'
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
InvestEngine review: How good is it for DIY investors and how does it compare to rivals?
Products featured in this article are independently selected by This is Money's specialist journalists. If you open an account using links which have an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence. In our InvestEngine review, you can find out whether the investment platform is right for you. You'd be forgiven if you haven't heard of InvestEngine. It was founded in 2016 and launched its first portfolio in 2021, meaning it's a relative toddler when compared even with more adolescent investing platform rivals such as eToro and Trading 212. But InvestEngine* has rapidly gained popularity for its low fees and intuitive online platform, as well as its simplified range of investments. InvestEngine only offers Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which are investments that track the performance of specific markets or sectors, such as the UK's FTSE 100, or technology stocks. It also offers its own ready-made portfolios built with ETFs, as well as a managed option that's more personalised to you and your financial goals. If you're only looking to invest in ETFs rather than pick individual stocks and shares, InvestEngine is a great low-cost platform with a wide choice of investments available. More than 830 ETFs are available, allowing you to build a diversified set of investments. No account fees when choosing your own investments and low account fees when picking a ready-made or managed option. It's quick and straightforward to open an account. The process of buying investments is easier on other platforms. InvestEngine only accepts pension transfers from Vanguard currently. InvestEngine is a newer platform and as such some investors may prefer to open accounts with more established businesses. This is Money's view: We like InvestEngine's very low fees and its sole focus on ETFs. This makes it ideal for investors that want to build a diversified mix of investments quickly and with minimal fuss – beginners could do worse than open an account with InvestEngine. > Learn more about InvestEngine and open an account* You can open these accounts with InvestEngine: Isa General investment account Sipp Business account – for investing your business's cash > Read our full round-up of the best Sipp providers InvestEngine fees: Overview InvestEngine doesn't charge account fees for do-it-yourself investing. It also doesn't charge dealing fees. This puts it in competition with similar platforms like eToro, Prosper and Trading 212, which don't charge these fees either. You can read more in our Trading 212 review. Here's a breakdown: Do-it-yourself account fee: Free Ready-made LifePlan portfolios account fee: 0.25 per cent (LifePlan portfolios are temporarily unavailable while InvestEngine improves them) Managed portfolios account fee: 0.25 per cent (managed portfolios are also temporarily unavailable) There are underlying fees within the investments you hold, which cover their ongoing management and administration. You can check these on InvestEngine before buying. InvestEngine says the underlying fees for the investments within its ready-made and managed portfolios average 0.12 per cent. This is Money's view of InvestEngine's fees InvestEngine stands out as a great option for low-cost investing, with zero account fees for DIY investing. Only ETFs are available on the platform, which can help you keep ongoing investment costs low. As an example, compare two investments that both have a global outlook. The ongoing charges figure for the popular actively managed Fundsmith Equity fund is 1.04 per cent, while the ongoing charges figure for the Invesco FTSE All-World ETF is 0.15 per cent. Investments that simply track a market or sector can't outperform them by definition. But according to investment research provider MorningStar, only around 14 per cent of active managers have beaten passive strategies over the past decade, which helps explain why ETFs have grown in popularity. It seems a shame that InvestEngine's ready-made and managed portfolios aren't available at the moment, as account fees for these also relatively low in comparison with other providers. Managed providers Moneyfarm and Nutmeg charge 0.7 per cent and 0.75 per cent respectively. InvestEngine says it can keep fees low by generating interest on its clients' uninvested cash, as well as by charging account fees for both ready-made and managed portfolios. What is InvestEngine's investment choice like? How often does InvestEngine invest? InvestEngine only invests once a day. It combines all the orders placed before 2pm and then invests them in one go, which helps it keep costs down. This means those who try to time the market when buying and selling investments should look elsewhere. You can only buy ETFs using InvestEngine. ETFs have soared in popularity as a simple, low-cost way to track the performance of a market or sector and gain access to a diversified basket of investments. InvestEngine has more than 830 to choose from, with ETFs available that track asset classes including shares, bonds and commodities. This allows DIY investors to build a portfolio suited to their goals and risk tolerance. InvestEngine also offers ready-made LifePlan portfolios, each targeting different risk levels. These are like Vanguard's LifeStrategy funds, but they're temporarily unavailable while the platform improves them. ETFs are particularly well regarded by investors favouring a set-it-and-forget-it strategy, which involves investing with a lump sum or setting up a regular investing plan then leaving it, only occasionally checking performance. No doubt ETFs have also been buoyed by the strong performance of the US's S&P 500 over the last few years, with investors who want a piece of the action flocking to ETFs that track the index. What is InvestEngine's customer service like? You can only contact InvestEngine's customer service team by email, through an online contact form, or through social media. The platform says it can accommodate talking to customers over the phone, but you must request this by email first. The inability to access real-time customer support is a significant downside of newer, low-cost investment platforms. Investors effectively trade customer service options for reduced fees, so you should consider whether you'd prefer phone-based support. The good news is you can get in touch with InvestEngine's customer service team seven days of the week. This beats many other investing platforms whose teams are generally only available five or six days a week. Our view of InvestEngine's customer service Getting through to InvestEngine's customer service team is a protracted process. I tested this on the app, and unlike rivals such as Trading 212 and Interactive Investor, there isn't a chat function available. Instead, when you click 'help' you're taken to an FAQ page, which is extensive but unhelpful if you know you need to speak to someone. What's more, you'll only see 'contact us' after clicking the menu at the top of the screen. You then get a form that lets you submit your question or problem to the customer service team. In our view, it's best to get in touch with InvestEngine over email, at support@ – InvestEngine aims to reply within two business hours, which is positive. The nature of ETF investing means that customers may not need to speak to customer service as much as they would when buying shares or more complex investments. But if you do think you'll need extensive customer support, it may be best to look elsewhere. There's an active InvestEngine community forum where investors can ask for help, with InvestEngine staff and investors alike answering questions and helping with problems. What is InvestEngine like to use? InvestEngine is uncluttered. There aren't many bells and whistles, which we believe is positive in terms of InvestEngine's approach. Too many features can add complexity when picking investments and those investing solely using ETFs are likely seeking to simplify investing anyway. InvestEngine's platform looks the same on both desktop and mobile, so investors should get the same experience no matter what device they use. How did InvestEngine perform when opening an account and making an investment? After you sign up, InvestEngine gives you a useful tour and overview of its main dashboard and the accounts you can open. I opened a stocks and shares Isa using the desktop version of InvestEngine. This is quick, provided you have details such as your national insurance number to hand. To start investing, you must add a minimum of £100 to your account. When compared with other platforms this is relatively high – Trading 212 has a minimum £1 deposit, for example. It was quick to add a lump sum to the account through an instant bank transfer. The payment showed as pending for a short time before I was able to use the cash. Using it to buy an investment wasn't straightforward. First you must choose an ETF, which is simple enough – you just click 'investments' in the menu bar to begin your search. But you can't then place an order for the ETF directly. Instead, you must add it to its own portfolio first, move the cash into this portfolio, and then use the cash to buy the investment. This adds more steps than other platforms and can be time consuming, especially if you want to invest in a single ETF. However, a focus on building a basket of investments – your portfolio – can encourage positive behaviour, such as nudging investors towards thinking about diversification and asset allocation. InvestEngine allows you to set up a regular savings plan and automatic investments. What other features does InvestEngine offer? InvestEngine doesn't offer as many features as other platforms we've reviewed. If you like drilling down into detailed charts and reports or enjoy social trading features that allow you to interact with other investors, you should consider other platforms. However, we don't believe this is negative – it just depends on the type of investor you are. A no-frills approach fits InvestEngine's focus on simplicity. One feature that stands out is InvestEngine's rebalancing tool. This automatically brings your investments back to their target weights, buying underweight investments and selling overweight investments. You can also use the uninvested cash in your account to rebalance. But unlike a similar feature from Trading 212, you can't set up self-balancing automatic investments. This means your regular contributions buy investments at their target weights, which can lead to an unbalanced portfolio as investments rise and fall in value. It also has a useful reporting tool, easily accessible from the menu. You can create different types of reports, including a capital gains tax report, an account overview, and a valuation statement, covering many of the reasons you'll need to provide documents. What does rebalancing mean? You should think about your ideal mix of investments based on your goals and risk tolerance. Shares are generally considered riskier than bonds. So if you're a more cautious investor – and this is a simplified example – you might choose to build a portfolio consisting of 50 per cent shares and 50 per cent bonds. But the performance of your investments can skew this mix over time. If there's a runaway success within your shares allocation, your mix could end up more like 55/45 – and your investments are then riskier for you. Rebalancing would bring your mix of investments back to a 50/50 target. Is InvestEngine safe? In January 2025, InvestEngine confirmed that it manages over £1billion of assets for customers, so it's trusted with a significant amount of money. If InvestEngine went bust, the value of your investments would be protected up to £85,000 through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). InvestEngine is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). When setting up the InvestEngine app on your mobile device, it asks you to add a pin number, which you'll need to enter each time you open the app. Make sure this is different to your phone's pin number and you don't save the pin anywhere on your device, for example in your notes app. You can also set up a fingerprint log in. InvestEngine allows you to set up two-factor authentication, which is highly recommended as an extra layer of security. It requires you to authenticate a log in separately and can alert you when someone else is trying to access your account. What is InvestEngine's research and educational content like? InvestEngine partners with financial educators, planners, coaches and influencers to create educational content for YouTube. I found these videos more engaging and informative than similar offerings from other platforms. InvestEngine runs a blog that covers various topics, from investing in gold to pension fees and taxes. It also hosts regular webinars with investment management firms including Invesco, J.P. Morgan and WisdomTree. InvestEngine doesn't offer its own investment research. This is to be expected of newer, low-cost investment platforms – if you'd like detailed research to help you pick your own investments, it's worth exploring the likes of Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor. Guides and videos: InvestEngine features relevant content at the top of your main account page InvestEngine: This is Money's overall review InvestEngine* is backing the trend for low-cost investments that track markets rather than try to beat them. While ETFs are available on most other investment platforms, the fact that ETFs are the only type of product available on InvestEngine keeps investing simple. Other platforms such as eToro and Trading 212 were established as stock picking and trading platforms – these platforms may seem like they're actively encouraging you to trade regularly. InvestEngine suits investors who want to buy investments and simply forget about them. The fact InvestEngine only invests once a day discourages attempts to time the market. And a lack of detailed charts and graphs means that investors aren't enticed to log in multiple times a day and check investment performance – which can lead to poor decisions. But it's still relatively early days for InvestEngine. In our opinion one of the biggest question marks around the platform is it's making a loss, which has led investors to ask whether it'll always be able to offer zero or low account fees. In the meantime, those low fees and simplified investment choice make it a great platform for beginners who have already researched what ETFs to pick, taking their risk tolerance and ideal mix of investments into account. Why you can trust us This is Money has been covering investing and personal finance since 1999. Read more about how our editorial independence helps make our readers' lives richer. About our writer: As This is Money's Money and Consumer Guides Writer, Sam is dedicated to helping readers make the best decisions for their money. He's been covering financial products for more than 12 years and has written for NerdWallet, the Financial Ombudsman Service, Simply Business and Evelyn Partners. Sam regularly keeps track of the best stocks and shares Isas and self-invested personal pensions, explaining which investment platforms work out best for various investors. How we tested InvestEngine I've opened an InvestEngine stocks and shares Isa on a desktop computer and tested its features over several hours. I've also downloaded its app, testing how intuitive the platform is to use on mobile. I've bought investments and looked at InvestEngine's range of educational content. I've compared its fees and options for customer service with rivals, before giving my view on who the platform most suits. Compare the best DIY investing platforms Investing online is simple, cheap and can be done from your computer, tablet or phone at a time and place that suits you. When it comes to choosing a DIY investing platform, stocks & shares Isa, self invested personal pension, or a general investing account, the range of options might seem overwhelming. > This is Money's full guide to the best investing platforms Every provider has a slightly different offering, charging more or less for trading or holding shares and giving access to a different range of stocks, funds and investment trusts. When weighing up the right one for you, it's important to to look at the service that it offers, along with administration charges and dealing fees, plus any other extra costs. We highlight the main players in the table below but would advise doing your own research and considering the points in our full guide to the best investment accounts. Platforms featured below are independently selected by This is Money's specialist journalists. If you open an account using links which have an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence. Admin charge Charges notes Fund dealing Standard share, trust, ETF dealing Regular investing Dividend reinvestment AJ Bell* 0.25% Max £3.50 per month for shares, trusts, ETFs. £1.50 £5 £1.50 £1.50 per deal More details Bestinvest 0.40% (0.2% for ready made portfolios) Account fee cut to 0.2% for ready made investments Free £4.95 Free for funds Free for income funds More details Charles Stanley Direct * 0.30% Min platform fee of £60, max of £600. £100 back in free trades per year £4 £10 Free for funds n/a More details Etoro* Free Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. Limited Isa, no Sipp. Not available Free n/a n/a More details Fidelity * 0.35% on funds £7.50 per month up to £25,000 or 0.35% with regular savings plan. Free £7.50 Free funds £1.50 shares, trusts ETFs £1.50 More details Freetrade * Basic account free, Standard with Isa £5.99, Plus £11.99 Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. No funds Free n/a n/a More details Hargreaves Lansdown * 0.45% Capped at £45 for shares, trusts, ETFs Free £11.95 Free Free More details Interactive Investor* £4.99 per month under £50k, £11.99 above, £10 extra for Sipp Free trade worth £3.99 per month (does not apply to £4.99 plan) £3.99 £3.99 Free £0.99 More details InvestEngine * Free Only ETFs. Managed service is 0.25% Not available Free Free Free More details iWeb Free £5 £5 n/a 2%, max £5 More details Trading 212* Free Stocks, investment trusts and ETFs. Not available Free n/a Free More details Vanguard Only Vanguard's own products 0.15% Only Vanguard funds Free Free only Vanguard ETFs Free n/a More details
Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Car stocks surge as Trump agrees trade deal with Japan
7:04AM Good morning Thanks for joining me. Shares of car makers have surged higher after Donald Trump announced the US has agreed a trade deal with Japan. Here is what you need to know. 5 things to start your day Donald Trump announces 'massive' trade deal with Japan | Tokyo will invest $550 billion in the US in exchange for lower tariffs Labour's great rail revival has already hit the buffers | The decision to relaunch just one defunct train line has sparked anger and frustration across Britain Laws to allow UAE stake in The Telegraph approved by Lords | Peers vote to let foreign states take passive shareholdings in British newspapers of up to 15pc Mike Lynch's estate faces bankruptcy over £700m fraud ruling | Judge orders late tech tycoon's estate to compensate HP over 2011 sale of his software company Nuclear fusion start-up claims to have cracked alchemy | Silicon Valley company says discovery marks 'beginning of a new golden age' What happened overnight Japanese shares surged to a one-year high as the country struck a trade deal with the United States that lowers tariffs on its cars. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said a trade deal with Tokyo will include Japan paying a lower-than-threatened 15pc tariff on shipments to the US. It followed an agreement with the Philippines that will see the US collect a 19pc tariff rate on imports from there. Mr Trump also said representatives from the European Union were coming for trade negotiations on Wednesday. That stirred hopes for a deal with Europe, even as the EU was reportedly refining countermeasures in case of a deadlock before the August 1 deadline. Japan's Nikkei bolted 3.9pc higher as shares of carmakers surged on news the deal would cut the US car tariff to 15pc, from a proposed 25pc. Mazda Motor rallied 17pc, while Toyota Motor jumped 13.6pc. South Korean carmakers also rallied as the Japan deal fuelled optimism over potential progress in tariff negotiations between South Korea and the United States. Wall Street inched to another record on Tuesday following some mixed profit reports, as General Motors and other big US companies gave updates on how much Mr Trump's tariffs are hurting or helping them. The S&P 500 added 0.1pc to the all-time high it had set the day before, closing at 6,309.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4pc to 44,502.44. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.4pc from its own record, to 20,892.68.
