The Tesla Model S is a fancy electric car that runs on batteries instead of gas. It's known for being fast, having a long driving range, and lots of cool tech features. People talk about it because it's changing how we think about cars and the environment.
The Mercedes-Benz GLC is a stylish and comfortable SUV that is part of the luxury car brand Mercedes. It has a nice interior and is designed to be both fun to drive and practical for families. People often mention it because it's a popular choice for those wanting a high-end vehicle.
A kilowatt hour is a way to measure how much electricity a battery can store. It helps you understand how far an electric car can go before needing to be charged.
The IAA show is a big car exhibition in Germany where manufacturers display their newest cars and technologies.
Car
BYD ATO2
The BYD ATO2 is a small SUV made by the Chinese company BYD. It's a plug-in hybrid, which means it can run on both electricity and gasoline, making it more environmentally friendly.
A plug-in hybrid is a car that can use both electricity and gas. You can charge it at home and drive it on electric power for short distances, but it also has a gas engine for longer trips.
Electric-only range is how far a car can go using just electricity before it needs to use gas. It's important for understanding how much you can drive without filling up at a gas station.
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful a car's engine is. More horsepower usually means the car can go faster and accelerate better. The ATO2 Pure EV has two options for how powerful its engine can be.
Trim is a term used to describe different versions of a car model that have various features and options. The ATO2 Pure EV has different trims that can give you more or less power depending on what you want.
Car
BYD SO2
The BYD SO2 is a small SUV that can run on both electricity and gasoline, which makes it different from regular SUVs that only use gasoline.
Chang'an Automobile is a big car company in China that makes many types of vehicles, including cars and trucks. They are starting to sell more cars in other countries.
The Kia Sorento is a roomy SUV that can fit a family and their stuff comfortably. It comes with options for better fuel efficiency, like hybrid models, which help save on gas. It's popular because it offers a lot of features without being too expensive.
WLTP is a testing method used to see how much fuel a car uses and how much pollution it makes. It gives a better idea of how a car will perform in everyday driving.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse started as a sporty little car and has changed into a more practical SUV. It used to be really popular for its speed and style, especially in the 90s. Now, people talk about it because it represents how car designs can change over time.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that many people like because it's easy to drive and has a lot of space inside. It's been around for a long time and is known for being reliable.
An E-Hybrid powertrain is a type of engine that uses both gas and electricity to help the car run. This makes it better for the environment and can save on fuel costs.
The Cadillac Escalade IQ is a new luxury SUV that will be electric. It's designed to have high-tech features that make driving easier and more comfortable.
LiDAR is a technology that helps cars see their surroundings by using lasers. It creates detailed maps of the area around the car, which is important for self-driving cars to navigate safely.
Supercruise is a feature in some Cadillac cars that lets you drive without using your hands on the wheel, but only on specific highways. It uses cameras and sensors to help keep the car safe.
Euro 5 is a rule in Europe that limits how much pollution cars can produce. If a car meets this rule, it can qualify for special programs or incentives.
NHTSA stands for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It's a U.S. government group that makes sure cars are safe to drive and helps reduce accidents.
Lithium metal batteries are batteries that use lithium metal to store energy. They can hold more energy than regular lithium batteries, which is important for electric cars.
An incentive is a reward or bonus that encourages people to do something, like switch to electric cars. In this case, Uber is offering money to drivers who make the switch.
A rebate is when you get some of your money back after buying something. For example, if you buy an electric car, you might get some money back from Uber as a reward for making that choice.
LIVE
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Welcome back to the podcast. Today Ford still loses money on EVs. Mercedes GLC pricing and the
X-Pung X9 spotted here in Europe. Plus, stay tuned because later in the show I'll tell you how
the UK is combating charger cable theft. Advanced warning, that's probably me done for four days.
It's the school holidays for a week or so and I'm gonna take my lad camping if all looks okay.
It's pretty wet at the minute, but we can deal with the weather, but he's kind of coming down
with something. Honestly, if we were still testing, that's where it was COVID because he's not very
well at the moment. So we'll see. Sometimes kids shake these things off within 24 hours and they're
bouncing off the walls the next day. I don't know. If he's not very well, I'll be here doing
maybe some weekend shows and I'll be here Monday, Tuesday. If he is good, then I should be back on
the podcast either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. So some advanced warning. I'll take a
couple of days off. These times are precious when they're on their school holidays. And so I'll
take him off, take the bikes and head off to the forest somewhere and do some camping
and some cooking outdoors and stuff like that. He's seven now. A little bit of a dad time.
That'll be good fun. Now let's kick off with Ford posting their Q3 revenue, which was good,
by the way, $50.5 billion topping Wall Street's estimate of $44 billion, revising its previously
suspended financial outlook for the year to account for supply chain disruptions. The company said
results will be affected by the tariffs in the US. And there's been a recent aluminium
aluminum plant in New York with a fire affecting their supply chain. What about the EVs? That's
another $1.4 billion in Q3 on $1.8 billion of revenue for July to September, producing,
if you're interested, a Q3 EBIT margin of negative 79% and a nine month margin,
negative 66.7% year to date model EV $3.6 billion in losses, $800 million Q1, $1.3 billion Q2,
and now $1.4 billion. So Q3 revenue was down from last quarter as well, but rose year over year.
Ford revised its guidance, model E's 50% year over year revenue growth accompanies some near-term
losses as well. Look, the vehicle is good. I always say this is about Ford. The F-150 Lightning
is cracking and the Mustang Mach-E is great and the Trans is not a massive seller, but it's a great
van. That's all they've got. And they're all kind of long in the tooth. And if you want one, you
probably got one. And although they're changing the pricing and doing new trims and all the things
that OEMs do to keep things alive and bubbling over, Ford don't have anything significant coming
for quite a long time. Also some turnover at their senior management in their model E division as
well. Nothing crazy, but odd times at Ford, odd times. Now let's move on. Mercedes GLC
electric gets its pricing and specs. I'll give you UK pricing and you can work it out from there.
Orders for the GLC are open here in the UK, £60,000. That's about 10% above the internal
combustion version. It debuts with the next generation grille and a dashboard sized infotainment
touchscreen and launches as the GLC 400 4Matic. It's a twin motor, almost 500 horsepower,
62 mile an hour in 4.3 seconds and 94 kilowatt hour battery, WLTP at 406 miles. This thing
is a bit of a beast. It also charges over 300 kilowatts, by the way. Five trims, sports AMG
line, AMG line premium, AMG line premium plus, just keep adding words to it. And the premiere
edition tops out about £74,000 here in the UK and different power outputs. The most efficient
variant when we can get that will do 435 miles. Now we did get all those details around a couple
of days after BMW revealed the iX3, which is 500 miles on Neue Classe. And of course any other day
Mercedes-Benz come with a GLC that does 435 miles. That's headline news. That's huge range.
How often can we say that about an EV, but it was somewhat overshadowed, which I felt a bit
bad for the Mercedes team about because it came so close after iX3 and which does really overshadow
it, but that's still an amazing number. Now let's talk about the big people carrier from X-Pung,
the X9. Now this thing's really, really special. The X-Pung X9 has been on sale in China for a
drive hypercharger in Denmark. Now this has been spotted by the industry website Electrive and
there's only one reason it'll be over here on charge is because they're doing some work on
that vehicle in Europe. When we get it, we don't know nothing else that we know about it, but covered
in camouflage, it is the X-Pung X9, which we know it was on display at the IAA show in Munich
in September. 5.3 meters long, 3.16 meter wheelbase, 7 passengers in more than comfort.
In China, premium electric vans of this size are often VIP shuttles, luxury chauffeurs,
even mobile offices. You tend to be driven in them. Volvo already sells a similar China-only
electric van. Mercedes is reporting targeting the segment as well with the successors to the EQV.
I think they're called VLE and VLS, so very interesting. This very high level of people
carry a seven-seater of three-row, very large vehicle. I can't remember the charging speeds on
that. I'll look it up, but that'd be fascinating if indeed it did come here. Now let's talk a little
bit about the BYD ATO2. That is a Ford Puma-sized vehicle. BYD is going plug-in hybrid with it.
It's the smallest SUV that it offers, the ATO2. Move is part of BYD's plan to diversify the
powertrains here in Europe, trying to match where Europeans are in the demand for various powertrains.
They call it the DMI plug-in hybrid, 56 miles of electric-only range. So that's not huge,
but it would do a lot of people, by the way, European mileage for commuting. That would
probably do it if you're charging it overnight. Two plug-in hybrid versions with different battery
capacities. BYD not disclosing all the configurations of the little petrol engine and things like that.
There's an ATO2 Pure EV. Of course, that comes in either 174 or 201 horsepower configurations,
depending on trim, and both do 62 miles an hour in 7.9 seconds. This DMI powertrain with a plug-in
hybrid, they talk about being very clever, very intelligent, saving energy for when you need it,
and if you're doing long journeys, it'll do that. Yeah, but kind of plug-in hybrids have
really been doing that a long time, and I've not driven that, so I can't say that I've
got personal experience of it. Maybe it has got a little bit of magic built into it,
or maybe it's a good way just to advertise it. I don't know, but that would, a plug-in hybrid at
that price in the 20s over here, that is a market of one, by the way. If you want a small SUV
with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, your option is going to be the BYDSO2. There's just nothing
else. There's small EVs, loads of small EVs, by the way, but nothing that size that's a plug-in
hybrid, so kind of fascinating. If that's what you are after, they've got the market to themselves
for now. Anyway, let's talk about making cars in Thailand and shipping them to Europe. Of course,
Chang'an Automobile is going to be the first to send their consignment of vehicles,
the 1,000 units of the DPAL S05. That's about a compact SUV. The move follows BYDS expansion
of its Thai production and builds on Chang'an naming the UK as a big export market since the
last couple of years, actually. When the plant opened in May this year, it was announced the
factory will produce left-hand drive models of European markets and right-hand drive for the
UK, Australia, New Zealand. Chang'an intends to increase local content as well at the Thai plant
up to 80% by the end of the decade, they say, so working on all things like that.
Making the cars in Thailand and then shipping them over to the UK. Now, we'll finish off by
talking about another Chinese car, just the way the news fell, by the way. I have a lot of listeners
all over the world on the podcast. Big US audience, apologies for doing another UK story right now,
but it's where I am. I noticed it. Cherry is launching the Tego 9. The Tego 9 is coming.
It's a seven-seater and it's a plug-in hybrid. It's an SUV and it offers stronger performance
and a longer electric range than most of its rivals. Of course, Cherry doesn't mean too much
to many people, but it's a massive automobile business. They entered the UK this year with the
Tego 7 and the Tego 8. Now, they have sibling marks on that called the O-Moders and the J-Cous,
and they are doing really, really well in the last few months. The Tego 9 is a big seven-seat,
three-row SUV, starts at £43,000, so not even really close to the expensive luxury car tax
that we have to pay over 40K. They will easily be the least expensive seven-seat plug-in hybrid
in this class again. There's plug-in hybrid versions of things like Volkswagen Teirons and
Kia Sorento's. There's a smaller version that they make called the Tego 8, which is a little
cheaper, closely related to the incoming J-Cous 8. This uses, again, what they call the Super
Hybrid drivetrain, so 1.5-litre engine, two electric motors, and a 34.5-kilowatt-hour pack
under the floor. So that works out on WLTP at 91 miles on a large SUV. That's, well, that eclipses
about everything else. There's not too much. I mean, China has loads of big mileage hybrids,
but the Volkswagen Golf and all those related vehicles as well, that new E-Hybrid powertrain
is up there, but it's not more than 91, is it? I'm trying to rack my brains while I talk to you
about this. So I think 91 miles is right up there with the longest range plug-in hybrids,
if not one of the most, here in the UK. Look, that's almost 100 miles of range. Okay, not real
world, but still, as long as you charge that thing overnight, you've got to charge it overnight.
Come on, people. Don't just run it on petrol. Then I'm not sure you're making many trips
to go and fill up the tank. All right, we'll take a break. We'll come back.
Loads more to talk about. Italy's got a new incentive deal, and regulators in the US have
already noticed Mad Max Mode in Tesla's, and they're not happy. I'll tell you why. Stick around,
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All right, welcome back to the podcast. Now, General Motors will be eyes free. Doesn't
that mean eyes off? But anyway, eyes free in 2028. Supercruise by then, they say, will be
allowing you to remove your hands from the wheel and remove your eyes from the road.
Removing the requirement to be visually focused on the road and have your hands on the wheel.
The capability will debut, they say, on the Cadillac Escalade IQ, and will be classified as a level
three ADAS system. And so that's where they take on the liability, which Mercedes do already,
by the way. They have microphones in the car listening out for sirens and things like that.
And they have lights on the outside of the car. This happens in China quite a lot as well. The
lights or there's kind of running lights on the outside that will often turn like a turquoise
blue or something to let other road users know you're in autonomous mode in level three. So GM
say they'll get there by 2028. Look, three years away, promises are made. We won't hold on to it
if they don't do it. It'll use LiDAR on the Escalade IQ, which is a big difference from the
current Supercruise architecture, which is solely cameras, radar, GPS as well. But rolling out LiDAR.
Look, LiDAR's got so dirt cheap. And I understand why. I totally understand why Mr Musk, the CEO
of Tesla, planted his flag many years ago and said, LiDAR is a crutch. We'll never use LiDAR.
Vision only is the way to go. Yeah, but in the last 10 years, like in the last five years,
LiDAR has gone from the thousands to the hundreds now to the tens of dollars. There's different
qualities of sense to those different resolutions. But broadly speaking, LiDAR is coming down in
price so quickly. We're going to sit on so many more vehicles. And again, Tesla have just sworn
themselves off LiDAR. But that was a different era. But again, not the kind of person who I think
probably easily admits defeat, perhaps. But we'll wait and see. So maybe Tesla go LiDAR one day,
it's getting very, very cheap. So many China cars have it at ridiculously low prices.
Italy is launching some state backed bonus programs to go EV, offering subsidies to private
buyers and small businesses, 11,000 euros if you're a private buyer to a new passenger electric car.
That is, again, you've got to jump through a few hoops to get that. And that is up to
$30,000. I think on the purchase price of the car small businesses can receive up to 20,000 euros
for light commercial vehicles. Applications are open. And you must submit it before you purchase
the vehicle. And you must scrap a combustion vehicle up to Euro five, which is a set of
emissions regulations and be registered in your name for at least six months. You can't go and get
one from the scrap yard, trade it in. Now, the NHTSA, the regulator safety regulator in the United
States has already noticed that Mad Max mode is back on Tesla, a driving mode that is added to its
latest full self driving supervised update Mad Max, as added to sloth mode for lower speeds.
Mad Max, Tesla said driver profiles now have a stronger impact on the behavior of the vehicle.
More assertive, the profile, the higher the maximum speed. And now the NHTSA
have launched an inquiry following social media posts from multiple Tesla drivers saying the new
mode causes the software to exceed the speed limits. Yeah, this happened with Mad Max mode
since autopilot in 2018. I think there was a time when I'm not sure it even had an upper limit
when it would just blow three stop signs, ignore speed limits. I'm surprised given the current,
I would say, not contentious relationship, but it's a little bit spiky at the moment.
Between perhaps the regulators in the US, there's a new head there that's previously in his old
role gone up against Tesla. And also, after what seemed like a little bit of thawing of
relationships in terms of the politics of the head of Tesla and the White House,
things seem to have gone a little bit frozen again. So it's an odd thing to do to be rolling out a
mode which is intentionally breaking the law. I'm not saying the goading regulators, but I think
it's an interesting bit of timing. And we'll see where that goes. Let's talk batteries. Quantum
Scape has now begun delivering new samples, B1 samples of their new solid state cells,
including ceramic separators made with Quantum Scape's new manufacturing process,
which they launched in June. The separators are central to their planned lithium metal batteries
with a solid electrolyte. And Quantum Scape not disclosing who it's going to, but Volkswagen is
probably it because they're a big backer of Quantum Scape and they've got those cells running
around in test vehicles, motorcycles actually, evaluating them on the road. Uber is going electric.
Earlier this week, Uber said they would offer $4,000 incentive to drivers who switched to electric.
They're renaming Uber green to Uber electric. Eligible drivers can apply the rebate to new
or used EV purchases in New York, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts, combined with
state programs. And Colorado's clean fleet program is one example of that,
means that you could get a lot of money off a vehicle. Uber reports around 200,000 EV drivers
globally now, which is why they've renamed it Uber green to Uber electric, because, well,
they are electric vehicles. Back in the day, green could mean hybrid, plug-in hybrid,
shabby hybrid, like Toyota do, like 48-volt systems, or hydrogen people talked about at
all green technologies. But now we know that all of those are ridiculous and that the best way
forward is pure electric. Then they've renamed it Uber electric because, well, obviously.
And finally, the UK charging sites that are being targeted by idiot thieves for what is probably
15 pounds worth of copper cable and cutting cables. UK charging sites are now using a cable protector,
which is a US invention called CatStrap, and a new distribution partnership
with Evolt charging over here. Earlier this year, the CatStrap drew attention when reports said
that Tesla was testing it out using the dye defender system. So that's kind of like the DNA
sort of dye, that if you cut it, it sprays out and it indelibly links you to that point in time.
It's kind of a unique invisible dye that will tie you to the crime, has huge conviction rates,
they use it in transporting money around and stuff like that. And so the business Evolt over here
doesn't include that ink solution though, but it does include the mechanical version of it,
the mechanical protector that goes over the top of the cables. It slips over the existing fast
charging hose and has two 30 millimeter wide flexible steel straps, which are hardened to
a very high hardness rate and exceeds most cutting blades. So whether you're trying to use a hand
tool to cut it, or even if you turn up with an angle grinder or something, the blade gets
blunted or breaks and the cable does not get severed. The business CatStrap says that even
after three minutes of cutting 90% of the cables should remain intact. I would hope that we see
these as long as it's affordable, relatively compared to replacing the cables for the charging
companies. I think this is going to get rolled out to MFG, that's a British fuel retailer.
And again, you know, we shouldn't have to be doing this, just more evidence that we can't
have nice things with some people in the world. However, if it can be retrofitted at a reasonable
price, this does sound more like a deterrent. So yeah, you probably could get through the cable
with enough time with the right tools, but you'd see it and you know, a bit like
cameras on the side of your house and security lights and all those kind of things,
hopefully more of a deterrent. And then this weird phase we've had over a year, 18 months of people
cutting cables for a few quid a copper can go away. That's your podcast for today.
Thank you so much for listening. 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-high charge in Hawaii and octopus electroverse global public
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About this episode
Ford's ongoing struggles with EV profitability are highlighted, revealing a staggering $3.6 billion loss year-to-date in their Model E division. Meanwhile, Mercedes unveils the GLC electric with impressive specs and pricing, while XPeng's X9 is spotted in Europe, hinting at its upcoming launch. The episode also discusses BYD's new plug-in hybrid SUV, Italy's EV incentives, and Tesla's controversial 'Mad Max' driving mode, which has caught the attention of regulators. Additionally, advancements in charging infrastructure and battery technology are explored.
