DAILY: Audi Concept C Driven, VW ID.UNYX 07 and Maserati Slashes EV Prices | 20 Oct 2025

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Welcome back to the show today.

Audi Concept C is driven.

The VW ID Unix 7.

And Maserati slashes its EV prices.

I'll have two.

Plus stay tuned because later in the show

I'll tell you about diffusion theory

and why EV adoption has crossed the chasm.

On EV News China today, our spinoff show,

I'm talking about the LeapMotor D19,

800 volt, 80 kilowatt hour pack,

and it's an E-Rev, right?

The BEV battery's even bigger.

It's that battery and an engine.

Talking about EV battery recycling,

talking about China's new three-year plan,

and a lot more.

Check it out.

It's in your feed.

Goes out in the early hours of the morning,

UK, European time.

I guess for my US listeners,

it kind of comes out the day before,

if that makes sense.

Either way, if you want to know what's happening in China

as we decode what's happening in the East

for the rest of the global EV industry,

then have a listen to that spinoff show.

It's in your feed.

I'm delighted to say question of the week is also back.

It returns this week.

It used to be a really popular weekly segment

I did years ago, and we rested it

after doing it for a couple of years.

Well, it's back, and I need you to vote and comment.

It's a bit of a controversial question to come back with,

and you'll definitely have an opinion.

I'll get onto that after our first news section.

Audi unveiled the two-seat Concept C in Milan,

later the Munich Motor Show,

and many called it the new Audi TT.

It's not, but I can see why they looked at it

and thought, well, it's kind of an Audi TT,

and, you know, the TT was sort of a two-seater.

I owned one.

I had a 2000 in sort of a denim blue,

and the rear seats in that were,

well, it was before we had kids,

which is why I could have nice things.

This new Concept C is not intended to be a look

at what is going to be the production vehicle,

but it is a view of what new Audi sports cars

will be in the EV world.

It's citing influences from 1930s Auto Union Type C racer,

the Audi TT Coupe, and the R8, all kind of combined,

introducing a new design language

under the new design chief Massimo Fraccella.

Audi described the concept as drivable,

and so they invited Autocar magazine, a UK publication,

to go and drive it on public roads,

doing so in the Italian Dolomites.

The prototype was developed entirely in-house

by a team of 150 people,

with design work proceeding in parallel

with the production version,

which, like I say, this isn't the production version,

but it's, you know, it'll be similar.

That's coming in 2027.

So the shown vehicle, the one that Autocar got to drive,

is essentially a one-off.

Now, show cars, prototype vehicles,

concept cars that turn up at car shows,

sometimes you can't even see the insides.

Well, this is a car.

They built one-off one.

I mean, look, it's Audi,

so I think Volkswagen's big enough,

but still, that's quite an undertaking,

quite a budget to sign off, isn't it,

to make a one-of-one,

like to do all the tooling and the suspension,

and they didn't say if this was on the MEB platform.

I would imagine this is on some sort of VW platform

with a different body, but it's drivable,

and they actually had to go through type approval

to get this thing onto public roads,

but it is essentially a one-off.

Audi says the concept is more advanced

than typical show cars,

and the cues you see in it are very concrete

about what we're going to see from Audi EVs in the future,

and so it's road-registered.

Batteries are behind the driver and in front as well,

so there's nothing underneath you,

so you sit incredibly low,

but that improves weight distribution.

You sit lower.

Center of gravity is lower.

Driving position is more kind of conventional sports car.

That's all we can really talk about,

and that auto car had to do a whole article about it,

and essentially saying,

we drove it slowly,

and none of the bits are what would be in the final car,

but what we can look at

is their design philosophy of this vehicle,

which is minimalistic.

It's simple.

It's clean lines.

Not a skateboard platform,

and so really interesting that they made a one-of-one,

then got type approval, road-registered it,

and then let a magazine go have a drive of it.

Can you imagine what this thing's worth?

I mean, you can't put a price on an EV like this.

Incredible.

I can't wait to see where this vehicle turns up next.

All right, let's move on

to something a little more concrete,

and that is Volkswagen making the ID Unix 07.

Now, until now,

Volkswagen's been using their MEB platform and derivatives.

This, though, is a purpose-built electric sedan.

It comes next year.

Last year, they launched the ID Unix

and a namesake model

that was really actually kind of a rebadged Cupra Taviscan,

but don't tell anyone,

modified slightly with some China software.

Then there was a light facelift this year.

They called the facelift the ID Unix 06,

and now the ID Unix 07 is a clean sheet,

sedan, car, all-electric, new architecture,

same design, visual language than the Unix 06.

It's got its own brand identity.

It is a little taller than the ID 7,

and it sort of distinguishes itself from the MEB cars.

Could China influence the future direction

of Volkswagen cars like this?

Because at the moment, I think this is a China-only car.

I don't think we get the Unix 07.

It'll be interesting to watch

because the ID 7, as it is at the moment,

fastback or tourer,

although, frankly, if you're getting an ID 7,

get the tourer because why wouldn't you?

That is a very, very polished EV

which tends to fly under the radar.

The ID 7 is an incredible vehicle.

Now, you might say that perhaps the styling of it

could have some more flourishes,

be a bit more interesting,

but you could, you know,

couldn't you say that about the Passat?

The Passat's a pretty,

yeah, it's a very decent car.

Nothing really exciting about it,

but it's massively solid,

and so is the ID 7,

so I wonder if China could then influence

what the future of those kind of cars are

that we get to buy.

We'll wait and see.

Now, Maserati is offering big discounts on their EV models,

cutting $50,000 from list prices.

The Stellantis-owned brand sold 6,000 vehicles worldwide

in the first nine months of the year.

That's not big enough,

so it's now giving big incentives

to reduce their inventory.

A National Dealer Bulletin seen by Cars Direct

shows discounts of $50,000.

That's around the price of the average new car now,

because I reported last week on this podcast

that the average new car in the US

is now just tipped over $50,000.

So think of it like they've taken the price of a new car

off their new car.

The largest cut applies to the Gran Turismo Folgore.

That starts at $209,000.

The electric Gran Turismo and Gran Cabrio

use 800-volt systems, 92.5-kilowatt-hour packs,

750 horsepower, 2.6 seconds to 60,

and an over 200-mile-an-hour top speed.

Like, incredible vehicles.

But so is the Lucid Air Sapphire,

and all those cars are just incredible pieces

of engineering.

I had a look on AutoTrader.

There's three for sale right now in the UK.

So whether that's because of two reasons,

people buy them and don't get rid of them

because they love them in their collection,

or there's just none around.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

The Grecale Folgore, the SUV, has $25,000 off.

It's now starting under $100,000 US.

$94,900.

So if you have $95,000 in the bank

and would like a really nice SUV that looks great inside,

it's had a big discount.

I guess you're cross-shopping that to things like Porsche

Macan 4S or the Lucid Gravity, which is bigger.

The inside of the Maserati is nice,

but it's not knock-your-socks-off nice.

And I've been reporting on big SUVs coming out of China

on EV News China, our spin-off show,

for maybe $30,000 or $40,000 that, okay,

I've not touched the materials inside those,

and I've not touched the inside of the Maserati.

And no doubt, the Maserati is fantastic for 100 grand.

But these big SUVs in China are massively well-appointed,

gorgeous design, great material choice,

very, very high-tech, nice stitching in the seats

and heated, ventilated massage seats,

all of that, but sporty as well.

I guess you've got to love Maserati brand

to be paying 200 grand for one of these.

Now, General Motors' choice to take away Apple CarPlay

and Android Auto from its next-gen EVs

has had pushback from some.

Others would say pushback from a lot.

87% of readers on the GM Authority website

said losing CarPlay and Android Auto

is a deal-breaker.

Californian startup Amprosity, or Amprocity,

is launching EV Play, a compact Android-based add-on

that brings full Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

to Rivians, R1Ss, and R1Ts.

The website says that it's exploring EV support

with General Motors vehicles as well.

EV Play connects to the vehicle entertainment

as a secondary interface.

It supports wired and wireless connections,

and you can flick between the factory system and EV Play.

Installation requires access to the CAN bus, the fuse box.

The video input of the screen on the Rivian

takes about half an hour.

In Rivian vehicles, the unit will also

flick over to the factory display

when going into reverse, because the rear camera is actually

part of US regs and things like that.

So they can't not have the rear camera being shown,

which would be pretty horrible anyway,

but a nice add-on benefit to your electric vehicles.

Now, here in the UK, Motability is an organization

that makes vehicles and electric vehicles

available to those that have some additional needs

with mobility, whether that is getting a wheelchair

in the back or helping you have a different kind of vehicle

that you can drive.

And Motability has made a new pilot now permanent.

So they've been piloting a scheme

through their kind of de-fleeting.

So Motability have all these vehicles on their fleet,

which they then give to people who are eligible for Motability

because of additional needs.

And then when those vehicles are coming off

their equivalent of a lease, I guess,

then Motability then kind of remarket those to the trade,

maybe even retail to the public, I'm not sure.

And so they've had this pilot scheme running,

which they're going to make permanent,

to guarantee battery health.

So introduced on its platform that organizations

use to get the vehicles that are coming off their fleet,

it allowed dealers to be guaranteed

that any EV they bought would have 90% battery state

of health at least.

And it gave dealers and people using it

during the pilot a confidence to know

that if they got the vehicle and plugged in,

I don't know, like an OBD dongle or did their own battery

testing and it wasn't 90%, you could just return

the vehicle to Motability.

It shows that battery longevity, though, is an important thing,

even in the industry.

And yet you go to retail buyers and many,

50% of drivers who are struggling

with the idea of going EV, 50% say the reason they don't

would be because they're worried about battery health.

And so some sort of scheme, which

is now permanent with Motability,

or dealers or anything like that, that would say,

hey, we guarantee a state of health on the battery.

And if not, then full refund, that kind of thing.

I think these things are really important to give confidence

in the used EV market.

Over the weekend, one of the brilliant Tesla podcasts

that's out there.

Obviously, it's a Tesla podcast, and so it's always

through the lens of promoting Tesla.

But it's been going for years.

I love it.

It's called Ride the Lightning.

It's one of the cheeriest podcasts around.

I think the guy lives in California,

and so they get as much sunshine in a day as I get all year.

I'd be cheerier if I lived in California.

But they often have people from Tesla on.

And the chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen,

is a, I'd say, semi-regular guest these days.

And he turned up at the weekend again

talking on Ride the Lightning about the new Roadster, which

is a bit of a running joke in the automotive industry

between an eye roll of people going,

when's it going to arrive, to those

that take a bit more of a pushback stance of,

this is just terrible behavior.

To launch a car in 2017, take your money,

as they did take people's money, and just never deliver on it.

Well, he turned up to say, bear with us.

It's coming this year, which is exactly what I think

his boss, the CEO, has been saying for every year.

Bear with us.

It's coming this year.

However, he confirmed that Tesla will showcase and demonstrate

the Roadster before the end of the year,

where they've got two months to go,

and that it will have its own unique set of paint

options within Tesla.

He also talked about the new standard, Model 3, Model Y.

The Model Y, he says, feels more premium

than the price point suggests.

It's a 40 grand vehicle in the US.

It's launched over here in Europe.

Deliveries in Europe will begin next month.

China won't need to get the standard vehicles

until, I think, the excitement around the long wheelbase

Model Y dies down, or they need to juice up the sales a bit.

But that'll no doubt come to China as well.

What'll be interesting when that comes to China,

as a quick digression, is that at that price point,

a very, very decontented, simple vehicle, at those price points,

you can get some stunning domestic vehicles.

And so will it come to China?

That's the question.

Will they ever put the bog standard version

that the rest of us are happy to get with manual door mirrors

and no ambient lighting and all the other things

they took away from it?

In China, well, you can get all those things

on a car for a lot less money.

But you don't get the premium association

with Tesla, of course, and the brand.

A bit like buying an Apple phone, I guess.

But then again, if Tesla is going down market

with these cheap vehicles, or a more affordable brand image,

would they then lose that brand desirability?

Like many of the Western names, like the big German companies

are going to be absolutely pummeled in China

because they're no longer aspirational.

Could that happen to Tesla if they do go down market?

Well, I don't know.

There's still plenty of Chinese brands

that sell both 10 grand cars and 50 grand cars.

And they're still seen as aspirational for the big SUVs

they sell, rather than the little city cars.

So we'll see.

But an update on the Roadster.

Rivian is adding live charging data and plug-in charge,

as well.

Rivian's rolling out a charging update

ahead of the holiday travel period

via partnerships with Electrify America

and IONA.

The new 2025.38 software update in Rivian Vehicles

displays real-time charger availability, power levels,

and reliability scores in their in-vehicle nav.

Been working on this for a really long time.

See, it's reliability judged from Rivian's owner base.

But it's a really interesting way,

giving each charger a reliability score

based on successful charge, charge speed, things like that.

The update enables plug-in charge at Electrify America

and IONA, as well, removing the need for apps, RFID cards,

or even pin entry to start charging,

which is the way that all charging should

be in the year 2025.

We've been working on this a very long time.

Now, we'll take a break.

We'll come back.

We'll talk about question of the week, which is returning,

or has returned as of today, and some more stories

on the podcast, too.

Stick around.

Back in a moment.

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You try to put money away in savings.

You look for deals.

You wrote out a budget once a long time ago.

You still overdraft from time to time, and you still have debt.

The truth is managing money is not easy,

but Rocket Money can help.

Rocket Money shows you exactly what

you're spending every month.

From there, the app helps you make a budget

that meets your financial goals.

The app even gives you real-time alerts

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Welcome back to the show.

Now, yes, a question of the week is back,

which we did for years and years and years.

And then, I don't know, I think maybe I just got,

maybe I ran out of steam on it with thinking

of a new question every week, or I'm not sure.

But anyway, we've rested it for a couple of years.

People always ask for it back.

They love this feature.

And so, yeah, hey, it's back this week.

And it'll be back for as long as it's back for.

Question of the week means that you get to have a say

on the podcast.

And if we get enough decent comments,

I tend to make a separate podcast episode discussing

what people have said.

And so, trying out a couple of things.

I've just turned on the chat feature

in Patreon for the paid members.

And so, that's called Kilowatt Confidential.

It's the kind of members-only chat.

So I've popped it in there if you want to discuss it.

But then I'll do what lots of people

suggested, which was put it into your Patreon feed,

but make it for free members.

So yeah, you've got to go into the Patreon platform,

I think, and enter your email address.

It does one of those ones where it sends a code to your email,

and then you remember.

They won't spam you with stuff, just opt out of everything.

But then you've got a Patreon login, and then it's free.

So it's not only for the paid members.

So question of the week is back.

And we're talking about one of the stories

on today's podcast, which is that as the EV market hits

25% of the global EV market of new cars,

national policy targets are ramping up.

The industry's at a bit of a crossroads.

Manufacturers are investing heavily in battery technology.

Governments are forcing charging expansion,

and infrastructure is widening.

And consumer preferences are evolving.

So now is the time to ask a really big question.

Which powertrain is truly best for mainstream EV adoption

in the next phase of growth?

So we're at an inflection point.

It's no longer just early adopters and the super nerds.

Now people are going to buy a new car,

and they feel that EV is an option.

Question of the week this week, what

do you think is the ideal mainstream powertrain

for the next phase of EV adoption?

Four options, pure electric, BEV, plug-in hybrid, PHEV,

in the traditional sense of a plug socket on the side,

and the battery and the engine work together.

Extended range EV, or EREV, where you have an engine only

as a generator, not attached in any way to the traction wheels,

and then hybrid.

So do you think that the best thing for people to do

is go, what Toyota would call full hybrid, so more than just

a 48-volt system?

Do the votes over the course of the week.

I've set it to close at 2359 on Sunday.

So you've got a week to do that.

It's great to be back.

If you have time, please also share

why you made your choice in the comments,

either in the private chat, Kilowatt Confidential,

or if you are just on the feed, which you'll see.

I've pinned it to the top of patreon.com slash EVnewsDaily.

Then just leave a comment, and you can be a free member.

You haven't got to be signed up to pay.

Let's spark a thoughtful conversation and discussion

as we shape our electric future together.

It's really interesting.

All right, let's get back into the news then.

And let's talk a little bit about what's happening in Mexico.

VEMO, V-E-M-O, opened what it describes as a 104 connector

public EV charging hub in San Pedro de los Pinos

in Mexico City.

The network charging director, Carlos Levy,

said the hub serves public users and corporate fleets.

Now, they've got 44 of 104 plugs open now.

They're going to put the others in a phased introduction.

It's open seven days a week.

There's a waiting area, cafeteria, restrooms, security,

even high speed free Wi-Fi.

It's part of their VEMO charging network

with 18 Mexican states now covered.

Drivers can locate stations and control sessions

via the mobile app called Watts.

That supports payments, access to support,

and real-time monitoring as well.

The Electromobilidad Association reporting

that EV and plug-in hybrid sales in Mexico

up 50% year over year to date.

And now, at the battery show North America last week,

Rob Schnell, who is the president of North America at SK,

presented the new battery frontier.

And he outlined SK's company strategy in the United States

to meet rising EV demand and also energy storage systems,

or BESS, through investment in the US.

SK has committed $12 billion, he was saying last week,

in capital into the United States.

Major operations in Georgia and Kentucky.

Georgia is their global EV manufacturing hub

with direct access to rail corridors, interstates,

near to Savannah and Brunswick airports,

and clean energy from a nearby nuclear facility as well.

SK Battery America's Georgia campus

is 2.7 million square feet, he was saying,

over two plants, 22 gigawatt hours of production a year

at the moment.

Each plant is nearly half a mile long.

He says, you know, you have to go and see it

to even get your head around how big these buildings are.

The company is pursuing next-gen approaches,

cell-to-pack integration, dry coating,

solid-state batteries, all about reducing cost,

more safety, more scale.

In South Korea, they have a pilot facility

with solid power working on all solid-state batteries

as well, they're aiming for 2029 on that one.

Now, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is expanding in Poland

in their, I think, do I say that, Regnia plant,

with two new production halls being built

to build the new all-electric crafter.

The foundation stone is being put down

in November next month.

Construction will finish in 2027.

They'll use Poland to make the new commercial vehicles,

the new VW e-Crafter and its MAN sibling,

the e-Crafter and the ETGE,

and the smaller VW Caddy electric as well.

They're going to build the whole plant with green energy

and an 18.3 megawatts PV system is nearby

supplying the energy needs for it.

Volvo's new CEO, well, the old, new, old, new,

he's back for a bit, CEO Hakan Samuelsson

is telling Newsweek that wireless charging an electric car

is a short-lived trend

and that they won't be doing the same thing.

See, Porsche recently unveiled wireless charging

for the Cayenne, whereas the Volvo CEO, Samuelsson,

said wireless charging is just too complicated

and it demands more precise positioning

over the garage floor, you have to over-engineer things.

And he said, we all have a system at the minute

where you pull out a cord, you plug it in,

and he said, boom, it's five seconds

compared to paying for thousands of dollars

for a pad on your floor

and 20 seconds of what he called fiddling

to confirm charging, he called it a gimmick.

And he said, let the Chinese have it.

By contrast, Porsche disagree,

they were showing off their wireless system

at the IAA show recently

and the car will steer itself onto the plate,

hasn't got to be exactly aligned,

it locks in and supplies 11 kilowatts of power

without ever touching the car,

which I think for many Porsche Cayenne buyers,

it's a high-priced, high-ticket item,

they might want that in their life.

And that's fine, but Volvo say,

we won't be pursuing wireless charging.

Now, over here, the hospitality chain Marsden's

has installed more rapid and ultra-fast EV charging,

they say, than any other hospitality company.

The group runs over 1,330 pubs,

they have 561 rapid charges at 200 sites,

and they say that EVs have been a game-changer for them.

Hospitality ranks really high in the sectors

where drivers prefer to charge,

creating a big customer opportunity.

Marsden's partnered with Osprey,

which covered installation, grid connection,

and the ongoing operation.

Marsden's shares the profits with Osprey

and leases parking at the larger pubs

to the charge points operator.

Yeah, somewhat like a pub,

I know they sell alcohol

and that doesn't really fit with driving a car,

but many of them are just doing like really nice pub food

and it's a nice chain as well

and it's just a nice place to go, it's warm

and you can use the facilities, 20 minutes, half an hour,

and you're off and underway,

and they've often got space as well,

and they're often in good locations too,

so it's always about finding the land, the power,

where do EV chargers want to charge

and where can you install it at sensible prices?

I mean, well, as you know,

putting in charging is not in any way sensible,

it's ridiculously expensive, but either way.

Now, finally, I saw a headline this week

which asked if EV adoption has now crossed the chasm,

and I had to go and ask AI

what the phrase is was crossing the chasm,

and so I learned about diffusion theory.

As I've reported recently,

global EV sales and battery usage has been rising,

year to date, over a million, 1.2 million EVs

being sold in China every month now.

According to diffusion theory,

when a market or any market moves from its early adopter phase

so five to 15% sales penetration,

officially called early adopters,

into the next phase, which is 15 to 40%,

that theory calls it chasm crossing,

and so has EV adoption crossed the chasm?

Well, the world as a whole surpassed 15% last year,

and it sits near 25% this year,

positioning EVs squarely in what is called

the early majority global sector.

However, crossing the chasm is uneven.

Europe and China are advancing rapidly.

North America is behind, it's at 10%.

It's still early adopters.

Africa and South America are entering the adoption curve.

Roamotion reports 2.1 million EVs sold last month,

up 20%, 26% year on year,

and 14.7 million EVs sold year to date

in the first nine months of the year.

Bloomberg NEF says total sales this year,

BEVs and FEVs will be 22 million EVs in 2025 as a whole.

One in four cars sold, 25%.

China is 63% of the global market now,

and Chinese firms occupy the top two sales slots.

BYD is leading the way with 2.55 million units.

That's a 14% year on year rise,

and 20% global share,

expanding in Europe and Southeast Asia.

And the Chinese brands reach across vehicles and batteries

are increasing the competitive pressure on Koreans

and the Europeans and the Americans as well.

Amongst the top 10 EV brands,

Tesla, interestingly, the only one of all top 10.

Tesla was the only one to decline year over year,

down 21% in Europe, down 12% in North America,

down 7% in China year to date.

Well, Tesla is often seen as a proxy for the EV market.

When Tesla does bad, the EV market is seen to be doing bad,

but it couldn't be further from the truth.

And if you've seen negative headlines,

particularly with the expiration of the federal tax credit

in the US saying, well, electric vehicles

are gonna have a period, a fallow period of several years,

couldn't be further from the truth

because the EV market is not just Tesla.

Now in the US, it's slightly different

to the rest of the world because they have been so dominant.

There's now more choice.

But the recent weakness from Tesla,

despite a really good recent quarter, by the way,

has influenced that narrative.

But it's clear from the data,

globally, we have crossed the chasm with EVs.

We've left the early adopters

and we're now in the early mainstream.

Electric mobility has shifted

from being a niche innovation to mainstream markets.

There's momentum, there's maturity.

It's varying by region, but it's happening

and you can't put the genie back in the bottle.

So take those negative headlines

with the right amount of skepticism

and ask about why they're written,

who's writing them, where they are as well.

Interesting.

Hey, never thought a lot about diffusion theory

by putting this podcast together for you.

But there we go.

Learn something new.

Thanks to our premium partners,

Porsche of the village in Cincinnati,

Audi of Cincinnati East,

and Volvo cars of Cincinnati East.

National car charging on the US mainland

and the low hard charge in Hawaii

and Octopus Electraverse.

Global public charging made simple

with one app and one map.

Have a good and see you tomorrow.

And remember, there's no such thing

as a self-charging hybrid.

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DAILY: Audi Concept C Driven, VW ID.UNYX 07 and Maserati Slashes EV Prices | 20 Oct 2025

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