Skip to main content

Chris Harris to get new car show on BBC America

Chris Harris on Cars - Official Trailer - Premieres Monday, July 11th at 9/8c on BBC America
With the entire Top Gear kerfuffle, arguably the best thing to come out of it was journalist and online video personality Chris Harris. Well, it seems that the heads at BBC see Harris’ appeal and have moved his show from the internet to cable television, at least in America.

BBC America has announced that Chris Harris on Cars will be coming to television this July, and will focus heavily on supercars.

Recommended Videos

In a press release, BBC America’s president, Sarah Barnett, stated that “Chris Harris on Cars is mischievous, insightful and downright entertaining; we think BBCA viewers will love it.” Harris also added “If wanton tire destruction, powerslides and continuous drooling over the world’s fastest and most expensive road racers like the Porsche 911 GT3RS or the Aston Martin GT12 is your thing — you could do considerably worse than watch me put them through their respective paces on track and road on BBC America.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

While exciting for fans that have wanted to see more of Harris behind the camera, the timing is a bit odd. The new rebooted Top Gear already features Harris. Not only does he do spots on Top Gear proper, but appears as host for the new spinoff, Top Gear: Extra. Considering that new host Chris Evans has decided to leave Top Gear after just one season, BBC could be trying to rear Harris up as the shows new poster boy.

Even more odd is the fact that this show is only coming to BBC America. It may be BBC wanting to test the waters with a considerably smaller American audience, or possibly not wanting to step on the toes of Top Gear.

Chris Harris on Cars is set to premiere this Monday, July 11, at 9PM EST and will go on for seven episodes.

Imad Khan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Imad has been a gamer all his life. He started blogging about games in college and quickly started moving up to various…
Mini’s infotainment system is very charming, but still needs work
Main screen of the Mini infotainment system

When you think Mini, you probably don’t think of infotainment. Personally, I think of the British flag taillights, the distinct exterior, and the surprising room on the inside. But after driving the Mini John Cooper Works Countryman over the past week, infotainment might well be something I think of more often when it comes to Mini. It’s charming.

It also, however, suffers from all the traps that other legacy automakers fall into when it comes to software design. Mini has something on its hands here — but it still needs some work.
Bringing the charm
The first thing that stood out to me about the system when I got in the car was how fun it was. That all starts with the display. It’s round! No, it’s not curved — the screen is a big, round display sits in at 9.4 inches, and I found it plenty large enough for day-to-day use.

Read more
Plug-in hybrids are becoming more popular. Why? And will it continue?
Kia Niro EV Charging Port

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.

Read more
EV drivers are not going back to gas cars, global survey says
ev drivers are not going back to gas cars global survey says screenshot

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.

Read more