Sam has been part of the Autocar team since 2021 and is often tasked with writing new car stories and more recently conducting first drive reviews. Most of his time is spent leading sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks.
Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.
Sam is an expert in:
Electric cars news and reviewsNew car newsMicromobility Classic carsMotorsport, from Formula 1 to Classic TrialsPorsche PTS colours
What is your biggest news story?
My most notable story would be my in-depth feature on the future of Alpine and its switch from a one-car manufacturer to an electric sports car brand with a new three-model line-up.
For a brand that prides itself on lightweight sports cars to then announce its plans to become an EV only manufacturer is huge. In an interview with Alpine’s then CEO Laurent Rossi, he outlined his vision for the brand and revealed that it would be splitting its future range into lifestyle and sporting lines.
What’s the best car you’ve ever driven?
While I’m fortunate enough to have driven some brilliant cars in my first two years at Autocar – the Toyota GR Yaris and Porsche Taycan to name a few – I’m always drawn back to my very own 1990 Rover Mini Cooper RSP. Simply put it's one of the purest driving experiences anyone can have, and the Maniflow single-box exhaust delivers a rich soundtrack that leaves a smile on my face like no other.
What will the car industry look like in 20 years?
I imagine we’ll be using an EV from Monday to Sunday to get around, but I expect other micro-mobility solutions such as e-bikes and e-scooters to enter the fray on a much larger scale. Of course, electrification will become the norm, but I wouldn’t rule out hydrogen and indeed synthetic fuels – we’ve just got to allow the technology to evolve.
Most importantly, I think that car, as an entity, will be something that is celebrated. Whether it's a large-scale motorsport event or a show at local village green, cars will still attract enthusiasts in one way or another.
