DAILY: Batteries Age Slowly, Slate Bets On Less Tech and Skoda Use China Platform | 02 Feb 2026

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Welcome back to EV News daily.

Coming up today, EV batteries age slowly, slate, bets on less tech, and scotters peak.

Thanks to the Chinese, plus stick around.

Because later in the show, I'll tell you about Ferrari owners and what they do with their plug-in hybrids.

On EV News China today, join me for our spin-off podcast as we take a deep dive into what's happening in the East

and how it affects the global EV industry.

Let's get into it.

A 2023 Tesla Model 3 that started off with 270 miles of range will still cover 247 miles

on a full charge three years later if it's done 150,000 miles.

Petrol drivers would start to panic at that sort of drop.

Most EV owners barely notice.

High mileage batteries are degrading way less than anyone ever expected.

Recurrent, which is a former sponsor of this podcast, a data firm,

have been tracking 1,000 EVs that have now gone past 150,000 miles

and compared their real-world range to what they managed when new, not the official EPA lab numbers.

And even the oldest cars held up.

14-year-old models back to 2012 with 81% of their original battery range.

2023 models that have really high mileage at 91% of their capacity.

The shift in technology over the span of time is so stark.

Recurrence data shows that a 2023 EV has 10% less degradation

than a 2012 EV if it had the same mileage.

Better battery chemistry, tightest thermal management, more cautious buffer strategies.

You know, the bit of the battery that you can't actually use, the top end and bottom end.

Or make for the later generation of EVs to be extra long life.

Individual models follow the same pattern.

A 2015 Nissan Leaf that, let's face it, 15 years ago or 10 years ago

was 67 miles of real-world range when new would still do 56 miles after 150,000 miles on the clock.

Older EVs do degrade more and their smaller packs make each lost kilowatt hour hurt just a little bit more.

But failure rates have improved.

Only 0.3% of this current generation of electric vehicles have ever needed battery work

against 2%, which is a small number, but still, of what you would call a second generation EV.

So something from 2017, maybe through to the pandemic, 2020, 2021, sort of Gen 2-era electric vehicles.

For the first generation of mass produced EVs, I think Nissan Leafs 15 years ago, 12-year-old Volkswagen E-Golfs,

8.5% of packs needed work.

When defects appear now, car makers can often handle them preemptively.

Either through a recall, a software over-the-air update, and recurrence director of market insights, Liz Najman,

reckons new EVs should now run without battery drama for easily 15 years.

Car maker, she says, have worked out how to keep lithium-ion cells safe and more importantly drama-free

so that you'll never need to see a garage.

Now, let's talk about the American car maker that's spending a fortune on going EV with their tiny truck.

But doing the opposite to what everyone else is doing, which is to stuff their vehicles with

massive slabs of glass touchscreens, slate auto bets that you want the opposite.

Its first model, a two-door electric pickup with manual windows, no radio, and 150 miles of range,

offers very little, and that's the point of it.

The firm's wager matters because new EVs in America now cluster around $50,000.

The average selling price of a petrol and diesel car, like a petrol car in America,

is huge as well, so this isn't an EV thing, by the way.

Price, though, they won't be pinned down on it.

When Slate emerged from stealth last April, they were floating $20,000 after the federal

tax credit, which we knew was going, so MSRP $27,500.

Well, we all knew it was going, and it was a little naughty of them to say it'll be a

20 grand truck because the new administration make no secret that it was going.

But with the subsidy gone, the company are talking about a number mid-20s.

So there's a little bit of wiggle room there, but they're not naming a number.

Do they have to?

Probably not at this stage.

The chief executive, Chris Barman, plans to thrash out the numbers with suppliers,

hunting for further savings, and the bear truck marks the starting points.

Slate promises hundreds of custom options.

That's kind of the point of it, really.

Vinyl wraps, new wheels, a five-seat conversion kit, although how many people will do the

really big stuff?

We don't know.

A bigger battery?

Well, that would be 240, 250 miles.

More people would do that, but clearly that's a factory fit option.

Production starts by the end of this year.

Okay, if you want to move seven people around in electric comfort,

Scodder will soon have something to sell you.

Their new Peak PEA Q will get it in June, four years after the Vision 75 previewed it.

The usual mix of space, practicality, comfort, bit of quirkiness from Scodder.

I've owned an Octavia in the past, and Estate absolutely loved it.

And Scodder is now even so much better than when I owned one.

The importance lies less in the badge these days.

The Peak uses a new upgraded version of Volkswagen's MEB.

That's what runs beneath the L-Rock and the ENIAC and dozens of EVs.

Until now, MEB that they're building this on was the Chinese variant of MEB.

But Scodder Peak is going to be the first vehicle that brings the China

MEB version of it to Europe.

It's 4.9 meters long, so by China standards, that's actually quite a small seven-seater.

But it will become Scodder's largest model and aims at the electric seven-seat SUV segment.

So the Peugeot E5 008 is a bit smaller than this.

It's a bit smaller than the Hyundai Ioniq 9 or Kia EV9.

It's Scodder, so big value, but not ridiculously cheap.

It'll undercut an EV9.

That starts at £66,000 here, or US$82,000 equivalent.

In the Ioniq 9, a different vehicle, not just a rebadged Kia EV9, bigger battery,

that starts at £65,000 here.

The closest rival on list price would be the Peugeot E5 008.

That has two battery sizes.

And under the skin, the flagship likely mirrors the new ID-Buzz long-wheelbase,

86 kilowatt-hour battery, 370 miles of range, 200 kilowatt DC fast charging peak,

10 to 18 under 30 minutes on an ultra-rapid charger.

Looking forward to that.

VW's next electric Golf will get a new software stack.

The group has begun rolling out its Zonal Electric Architecture, and across its brands,

driven, of course, by their partnership with Rivian.

Instead of dozens of what they call domain controllers, scattered all around the vehicle,

VW divides the car into physical zones, each run by a powerful computer.

Those zone controllers sit on top of a central high-performance compute platform

that handles software links to the cloud, things like that.

The aim is to cut complexity, slash the total electronic control units,

and make it easier to update.

That matters because software now sets the pace in the car industry.

Tesla and Chinese rivals ship frequent updates and cell functions

after the cars even left the factory.

Volkswagen struggled with Apache software,

and their Cariad department has not been a shining success in terms of software.

Zonal Architecture will give it a cleaner base for code,

shorten development cycles, and allow more reuse of its software across Audi, Porsche,

and volume brands.

Looks like the Golf nameplate will be the first one to get a software-defined architecture.

Audi has quietly confirmed on LinkedIn that its RS5 comes this year

as Audi Sports' first plug-in hybrid model,

not appearing in the firm's earlier product preview for 2026.

Euro 7 rules drive the shift to plug-in hybrid,

but Audi plans to keep the cylinder count intact for those that particularly wanted.

Company officials ruled out four-cylinder RS models years ago,

with a 2.5-litre engine facing extinction under emissions rule.

So, how do you get around all of this?

Well, you add a battery.

Weight can be the enemy, of course,

when you have hybrid powertrains.

It's sometimes the best of both worlds,

and sometimes the worst of both worlds.

It's already a 2,000-kilogram car in European trim without a driver.

Then that's 155 kilograms more than a diesel S4.

So, then you add the plug-in hybrid system,

and it's well over 2,000 kilograms.

20.7 kilowatt-hour usable pack in this.

But at least for fans of that car,

it'll keep it around a bit longer,

and it'll take a few emissions boxes as well.

Let's talk electric vans.

Renault's first 800-volt production model,

not going to be a swanky Renault saloon or something.

It's going to be a van.

The fourth-generation Renault Traffic,

rebadged as the Traffic E-Tech,

lands in the European commercial van market.

And we don't have truck culture over here.

We have white van culture.

If you want to move stuff, if you're a tradie,

if you've got a business,

you drive a van, not a pickup truck over here.

Everyone's got a van.

And so it's a huge market.

And what used to be just the Ford Transit

and a couple of others,

is now a huge market.

The Chinese are coming for it as well.

But Renault, with the traffic,

been around a long time,

lining up again,

things like the Kia PV-5 cargo,

Volkswagen ID-Buzz cargo,

and built on a skateboard platform.

It'll come as a van, a chassis cab,

a platform cab, a tipper,

a flatbed and a cargo box as well,

in L1 and L2 versions.

So different lengths,

and up to 5.27 cubic meters of

storage.

Sorry, 5.8 cubic meters of storage,

payload 1.25 tons, towing 2 tons.

So very respectable there.

Single motor, 150 kilowatts of power

on that.

NMC battery packs

with 450 kilometers of WLTP range.

They say 15 to 80 in 20 minutes

because it's an 800 volt system.

LFP packs will come down the line.

They are on the way for cheaper prices.

Starting at 40,000 pounds,

that's about US$55,000 equivalent.

The switch to electric also breaks

from the current traffic's design.

If you can picture something in your

mind's eye that's a little bit more

swoopy, a little bit more perhaps

Chinese styling, shorter, flatter bonnet,

meeting the windscreen at the same

angle to cut drag

with a very different design for Renault.

It looks very slippery,

slim daytime running lights,

closed off grille, short overhangs,

I think it looks good, very futuristic.

Inside, the Renault passenger cars

like the Renault 4 e-tech,

been mined for the interior.

And again, that's a very good thing.

Big digital instrument cluster,

12-inch portrait touchscreen as well.

Renault will build the e-tech

in France, British deliveries this

time next year.

Hey, did you know you can sign up

to the Patreon that supports this

show as a totally free member?

It's a great way to get hold of me.

And so you can leave a comment

on the videos.

You can get hold of me through direct

message on the Patreon platform

and you haven't got to spend a penny.

Now, lots of people do at $5 or $10 a month.

Many, a lot more money every month,

which still blows my mind

seven, eight years later.

But still, it's how I fund the podcast.

It's how I earn a living.

It's how I pay my bills and support

my family these days, spreading the

word about electric vehicles,

far and wide, far and wide around

the world.

But you haven't got to spend a penny.

If you want to sign up to Patreon

as a totally free member,

you can do that.

And get in on the community

and just get hold of me.

I'll leave a comment

and be like,

Hey, I had some thoughts on that story.

I'd love to hear from you.

We'll take a break back in a moment.

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Welcome back.

Now the Cambridge-based

Nibolt

has shown off a new battery

that'll do 10 to 80

in 4 minutes and 37 seconds.

That's as long as most drivers

spend pumping petrol

even before the slip

into the till

waiting in line

and then tapping your card.

You're off on a way

before the person

filling up with petrol's done it.

It's a tech demonstrator

at this stage.

They put their battery inside

a Lotus Elise-styled roadster

using a Lotus Exige V6 chassis.

Actually, 470 brake horsepower

0-62 in under 4 seconds

but it's their battery technology

they're showing off.

It's a 35 kilowatt hour pack

and the 35 kilowatt hour pack

is small by modern battery standards

but it's fine for a small sports car

but it charges

at 350 kilowatts.

So you've done the math already

if you're a super nerd like me.

Yeah, that's a 10C charge rate.

A 10C rating means a full charge

in six minutes.

Now, battery's always slowed down

towards the end

but six minutes

for a full charge

and then four and a half minutes

and you're 80% and off you go.

NiBolt's trick lies in the cell chemistry.

They're using a new type of anode material

that is specially designed to cut impedance

slashing heat

and removing the need for complex cooling.

With less thermal management to do

the pack hits its peak charging power

at once rather than creeping up.

Charge and discharge performance also match

an unusual trait actually

that lets the same cells serve anything

from a mining truck

to an AI data center

to a warehouse robot.

Okay, so the Massachusetts robotics firm

Symbiotic has already fitted

NiBolt batteries to their robots.

The packs weigh 40% less

than the ultra capacitors

which are trumpeted

as being the next great technology

but they hold six times the energy

and offer 10 times the cycle life

of a lithium ion cell in tests.

They've survived more than 4000 fast charge

and discharge cycles.

That would be like a 600,000 mile

mileage EV.

So eight car makers are in talks

to adopt NiBolt cells.

They're kind of going public now

and doing a bit more publicity around it.

This is an auto car magazine,

one of the great car mags that we have over here.

The executive vice presidents,

Ramesh Nirashiman

aims for production 28 or 2029

casting it as a realistic path

as well as solid state batteries

which are coming

but the 10 minute charging

would also push more cars

through DC fast charges.

It would lift revenues for charge point operators

and if you had DC fast charging

at a track for instance

you could actually take your 35 kilowatt hour car

to a track, do a bunch of hot laps

and charge it for four and a half minutes.

While you have a slurp of a beverage

and off you go again.

Now Mercedes-Benz has won its reprieve

that it was fighting hard for.

Last December the European commission

proposed watering down the 2035

clamp down on emissions

which was effectively looking at

the emissions from earlier in the decade

and saying that they must be 100% less in 2035.

Don't care how you do it,

it can be hydrogen, it can be EV,

it can be something else you've not yet invented.

We're not saying go EV,

we're saying you have to cut emissions

from road transport

but heavy lobbying by Germany, Italy

and the car makers,

including Mercedes-Benz,

its chief executive Ola Colenius

and now saying that the 10% reduction

that the Europeans have backed down on

is not enough.

You literally can't make this up.

The draft rules reverse what was an effective ban

by letting firms sell their plug-in hybrids

and their range extenders after 2035.

Car makers can plug gaps in their CO2

reduction with lower carbon,

steel and sustainable fuels on paper.

They've now been given way more time,

way more tools to cut their fleet emissions

without having to meet 2035

which is still 10 years away

and a lot can happen.

Look at what EVs were like 10 years ago

but still the commission tied the softest

dance to a few new constraints

all quite dry

and dull rulemaking.

Stuff like binding electrification targets

to corporate fleets

having the member states fully on board

and connecting it to the country's GDP per head.

Let's not get into that.

It would push large volumes of electric

and electric vehicles into the market

especially in corporate fleets.

Colenius though who was the president

of the car making lobby, the A-C-E-A

says the door is not open enough

and warns that the added conditions

actually wipe out the benefits.

He's like a kid at Christmas

when he gets a new bike

and he's not happy.

I mean you can't please some of these car makers

that just want to carry on spewing out emissions

because they make more money out of it

and I get it.

Sucks working in an industry

that's having to make this

generational shift

because it's the right thing to do

because it's what the right thing

for consumers is

for clean air, for kids with asthma

for people with serious health problems

for people who want to drive better cars

the shift to electric transport

making the most of renewable energy.

I don't need to go on this podcast

about all the reasons we should go EV

and yet they are still not happy.

Mercedes is about to launch the revamped S-Class

that I told you about recently

a combustion car

with a tiny little battery.

He for one is unhappy

with how much leeway he's been given

and they will no doubt fight

over the next couple of years

for even more concessions

and they'll probably get them.

Let's move on.

New Jersey now tops an unenviable league table

for electric car owners

a January 2026 study by Law Bear

ranked American states on EV ownership

convenience using six factors

EVs per charging station

vehicles per charging port

electricity cost per kilowatt hour

state tax credits

EV specific fees for registration

and average temperatures

that will then affect the performance

of driving an EV

each state got a score from 0 to 100

charging access and running costs

now shape where EVs go

New Jersey ranks as the least

convenient state to own an electric vehicle

which is funny because

my friends Tom Logany

from the state of charge channel

and evchargingstations.com

has been driving an EV

in New Jersey

longer than anybody

he has had EVs for

I don't know 20 years or something

back when the original BMWs

were like lease only and stuff like that

New Jersey is the least

EV convenient state

and California

despite having

all those charging stations

actually has all those EVs as well

so it lands in third place

the nation's largest EV fleet

of more than 1.2 million vehicles

means each station has to serve over

60 cars

Washington was fourth

and so it goes down

but the map flips in New England

Vermont emerges as the most

convenient state

only 14 EVs per charging station

New Hampshire follows

Maine claims third in the convenience list

11 EVs per station

and Connecticut ranks fourth

with each serving just

six cars on average

for their charging stations

so if you're after a really easy life

now you know where to own an EV

and finally

Ferrari owners

ignore their plugs

but get more electrics

Ferrari's plug-in hybrids

do come with charging cables

but the owners barely use them

five years of data

revealed by Ferrari

show buyers run these cars

as conventional hybrids

leaning on the combustion engine

to recharge the battery

that matters because Ferrari

put serious hardware

into its plug-in systems

when the owners do charge

they tend to do so when the cars

are in storage

not in daily use

stay today

they treat the socket

as a backup

if you like

the same data

show similar neglect

of Ferrari's E-manitino modes

built to make use of plug-in hybrid technology

the four settings

E-drive

which will drive a Ferrari

on pure electric hybrid

which shuffles it around

or performance and qualifying mode

all on the steering wheel

the first two are never used

by Ferrari owners

customers spend all their time

in performance or qualifying

I kind of don't blame them

because they just bought a Ferrari

no one steeped in Ferrari law

will be gasping at this

few brands

tie their image so tightly

to pistons and pipes

Ferrari itself frames electrification

as a tool to raise

the performance of an engine

not about lowering emissions

or anything like that

the new Testerosa makes that plane

over 1,000 horsepower

in total

but also with three electric motors

and Ferrari now plans to build

batteries in-house

which should give it tighter control

over durability and scope

on upgrades later

the firm is doubling down

on their hardware

even as their owners treat it

as a spare tire

and that's your podcast for today

I used to work for a chap

that owned many Ferraris

and he kept them all plugged in

but only to keep the 12 volt battery

topped up

I'm not sure any of his Ferraris

were plug-in hybrids

he also had a Formula 1 car

in his office

this dude was

yeah I guess dude's the best way

to describe it

like he had some money

there was also an armed guard

in his office

it is just when I worked for a company

that was headquartered in America

and uh

yeah he kept his Ferraris at work

so there was all the desks

with the office workers

and then a whole another part of the office

where he just kept his cars

because

why not go to work every day

and look at your car collection

because why not

so he did plug his Ferraris in

but it was only about the 12 volt

that's your podcast

thanks to our premium partners

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in Australia and New Zealand

have a good and cinema

and remember there's no such thing

as a self-charging hybrid

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use the savings challenge

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to feeling better

about your finances today

at rocketmoney.com

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one more time

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DAILY: Batteries Age Slowly, Slate Bets On Less Tech and Skoda Use China Platform | 02 Feb 2026

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