DAILY: Genesis GV60 Magma, Leapmotor Reworks T03 and Skoda Launches 7-Seat PEAQ

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Welcome back to the podcast.

Today, the Genesis GV60 Magma Leap Motor

reworks the T03 and Scodder launches the seven seat peak.

Plus, stay tuned.

Later in the show, I'll tell you about the political U-turn

which could light the fuse on EV adoption.

On EV News China today,

we're talking about the EU tariff workarounds.

NEV sales are surging again in December

and semi solid state batteries just entered mass production.

No bonus show today,

but check out recent specials in your feed.

They are the extended discussions and deep dives

that I sometimes do.

I've been looking at whether the Cybertruck

could be homologated for Europe sometime this year.

I've been running the numbers on the new Keer EV2.

By the way, it's really good.

It's really good.

And asking why some countries are more successful

than others at encouraging EV adoption.

I've called that episode the carrot or the stick.

You can have a look at any of those bonus shows

in your feed right now,

either the Patreon feed or the free feed.

Thank you for checking them out.

Feedback always appreciated.

Let's get into the news.

Genesis has launched the GV60 Magma Edition.

Its first electric sports car in South Korea.

They launched it earlier today.

It's the firm's most powerful EV yet 650 horsepower.

That is 478 kilowatts of power in boost mode

from a dual motor all wheel drive set up.

The car matters less for its straight line pace

than they say for what it signals.

The GV60 Magma debuts the Magma sub brand,

the new high performance pitch.

As Genesis's answer to the Mercedes-Benz AMGs

of the world or the BMWMs in a crowded premium market,

rolling out a performance label,

may well help the Koreans push further

into German territory.

Now on paper, the numbers are good.

The GV60 Magma is 0 to 124 miles an hour.

You thought I was gonna say 60, didn't you?

0 to 200 kph, that's 124 miles an hour, in 10.9 seconds.

It reaches a top speed of 164 miles an hour

or 264 kilometers an hour.

A wider track and a lower stance is a reworking,

a re-engineering, much like they did with the Ionic 5N.

It's not just a badge, this is re-engineering.

It's five centimeters, it's 50 millimeters wider,

and it's two centimeters lower than the standard GV60.

It aims to improve stability and aerodynamics,

stroke-sensitive control, suspension,

sound absorbing materials, active noise control,

all working to keep the silent cabin calm,

even when driven hard.

The car rides on the fourth generation

of their 84 kilowatt hour battery pack

for a claimed driving range of up to 215 miles

or 346 kilometers.

That figure won't be troubling any of the long range rivals

that are arriving on the market in 2025,

the likes of Volvo EX60 at 505 miles

or BMW X3 at 500 miles.

But the point of this vehicle wasn't

to be a continent crossing range monster.

Genesis leaned on design and refinement,

the magma orange exterior, the extra trim,

the interior choices, like the contrasting stitches,

all about the experience and the drama

of a high performance car.

Pricing shows the intent to sit

within the premium players as well,

rather than do something on the cheap and undercut them.

In South Korea, GV60 magma starts

at about 65,000 US dollars equivalent.

Global launches will be in the US and Europe

coming later this year,

with American pricing around 75,000 US dollars

based on the starting price

of the Genesis GV60 Performance.

If buyers accept Genesis as a new performance brand,

as well as the luxury one, magma,

could well spread far beyond its rather short range.

Okay, Leap Motor is gonna rework the T3,

the little T03 for Europe already.

Leap Motor's cheapest European model

is already being revised.

The Chinese firm is planning a second generation

of the city car, the A-segment vehicle

that sits right up against the Renault Twingo,

the Dacia Spring.

And Dacia are gonna launch

their own little version of the Twingo as well,

so Dacia can have two cheap cars here.

Volkswagen's ID one and more as well.

The first T3 arrived in 2024

and it showed at least, if nothing else, the opportunity,

but also the limits of cut price Chinese EVs.

The compact car sells, I think officially,

I've not checked, it's like 15,995, 16,000 pounds,

but there's always monthly offers,

there's always pre-reg cars,

and by the time you get one that's six or nine months old

that's on a low mileage, nearly new.

You're effectively getting a car that's basically new,

that's got pretty decent technology.

It's actually a step up from the Dacia Spring

in terms of the battery and it's proper car-like,

and yet you can get a 10 or 11 grand car these days

that's nearly new.

It's the least expensive,

one of the least expensive models on sale right now.

The market response has not been overwhelming though.

They sold a couple of thousand of them in the UK,

far behind Leap Motors' big SUV.

That's over 30,000 pounds.

The C10, they've sold over 5,000 of those here.

At the same time, a wave of new city cars have arrived,

engineered from the outset for European tastes,

and so they're gonna rework the T3.

These new models are expected to match the T3 on price,

but have more performance and more quality.

The chief exec of Leap Motor internationally

is Tian Xu Xin, arguing that the T3

is still fitting Europe's needs,

not least because the car makers have cut a segment output

because the margins are too thin.

The car has found a role as a household runabout.

The second vehicle for commuting school runs

and grocery shopping where you'd haven't got to worry about,

is my car gonna fit in the tight car parking spaces

that we have here?

Leap Motor's now racing to toughen its position

before the new competition lands, the next generation T3.

They say it will be substantially redesigned

with better cabin and software,

with the firm set on tailoring the car for European buyers.

Leap Motor's bet is that a reboot of the car

after just two years fits the city EV crowd,

but if rivals arrive at 16,000 pounds

with more performance, more polish,

even a badge that people know,

it could be out of date already by its second birthday.

Now Peugeot are dropping the combustion version

of the 408 and adding EV range.

Peugeot's overhauled the E408.

Again, just over a year after its launch,

dropping the pure combustion version,

but that's no surprise,

a lot of car makers these days are doing that.

They've settled on the 408

being a pure battery electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid.

There is a mild hybrid version as well,

so there is still some combustion in the lineup.

The facelift keeps the Stellantis old EMP2 platform.

They haven't rolled it into one of the new STLA platforms,

like the E3008 or the E5008,

but Peugeot's reworked the E408.

A new front axle motor is 157 kilowatts,

bringing performance in line

with those other STLA platformed cars.

The battery's slightly bigger.

It's a 58.2 kilowatt hour NMC pack,

456 kilometers up from 453.

Charging stays modest by current standards.

11 kilowatt AC is standard and 120 kilowatt DC.

Software does more of the heavy lifting.

Navigation linked route planner now ties

into battery preconditioning functions.

In GT trim, the car preconditions automatically.

When you navigate to a charger,

an 80% charge limit command

aims to slow battery aging as well,

so all the good kind of EV stuff.

It's been around a long time now

that should be at every EV

as the absolute baseline in 2026.

Plug-in charge is due in summer

and that will handle authentication.

What did I say?

Authentication, compatible stations.

The update finally adds vehicle to load.

Owners can draw 3.5 kilowatts

to power external devices,

but you have to get an adapter from the dealer.

For some buyers, this may offset

some of the DC performance,

which is a little bit middling.

If you're not doing road trips though,

then why not?

The boot space is still 471 liters,

1,550 liters when the race seats are down.

The E408, I think it's quite good looking vehicle, actually.

There's a new grille, new bumper, new headlight layout

to bring it bang up to date on the new styling.

Plus the branding is illuminated now

and higher trims add some nice Alcantara and Napa leather.

Production stays at the Mollhouse facility.

Pricing starts at 46,000 euros in Europe.

Hey, it's a new car from Scotta

that we can start talking about now.

Scotta has named its new seven-seater.

It's called the Peak PEA Q.

You won't be surprised to hear

because obviously all of their EVs have Q in,

like any Ack and Epic, this is Peak.

The firm, and actually by the way,

I saw a lot of pull, a pushback on the name, PEA Q, Peak.

Have you got nothing better to do, car journalists,

than criticize the name?

Go and talk about the car and drive it

and give us driving impressions.

Don't just sit and lazily say it's a terrible, terrible name.

Who cares what it's called?

They will unveil it this summer

as a production-ready version of the Vision 7S concept

we saw a couple of years ago.

The Peak sits at the top of Scotta's range

as the electric counterpart to the Kodiak.

It joins a small but growing class of seven-eight seat EVs.

Lots of families want seven seats,

even two occasional seats at the back,

like the Persho E5008 and the Mercedes-Benz GLB.

But of course it's Scotta, so it will be value-oriented.

Great for families though.

They design their cars so well

with so many neat little added extra functions

and things like that.

It feels like the car's been designed when you get a Scotta.

I really like it.

Stays on Volkswagen's platform, the MEB platform

that you find under all their cars,

at least their mainstream cars, at least.

The design will look like that concept,

pointing to a focus on space, practicality.

Scotta's sales and marketing head over here

says that both of those things are central to the car.

Price will obviously do much of the work.

Scotta says the Peak will be its most expensive model,

sitting above the ENIAC.

That starts at £40,000,

but obviously it's gonna be cheaper than other sevens eaters

like the Kia EV9, Hyundai's Ionic 9, Volvo EX90.

They're in a whole different league.

Scotta insists the company will keep its value

for money pitch.

Scotta's not given a precise details or date

for when it goes on sale,

but it'll reach showrooms by the end of the year.

How many buyers do pay for an expensive Scotta,

even with seven seats remains to be seen,

but we hope that is very successful.

Now in the US, Tesla is adding a seven seat version

of the Model Y, but not the one it wanted.

Not the one Americans were calling out for.

Tesla has slipped a new seven seat option

into the Model Y lineup in America.

The extra row is $2,500 as an option,

available only on the Model Y Premium all wheel drive,

uses a fold, flat, second and third row seat,

aimed at more space for families

than those that want occasional third row.

The move matters more for what it's not, though.

This is not the Model Y L.

Come on, Tesla, you're making it in Shanghai already.

You need to prop up your sales in North America.

Why not just bring that car?

It would be so popular.

A genuine three row car, a longer wheelbase,

a true three row SUV.

It's on sale in China.

You got the drawings.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, you know how to make one.

It's drawn strong demand in China.

For now, Tesla still say there's no plans

to bring it outside of China, which is a real shame.

So for now, Tesla has tinkered with the lineup

and added those little fold, flat rear seats,

which are fine.

They are genuinely fine for people without legs.

Tesla is also tinkering in the range.

The Model Y Premium and Performance trims

now get the all black headliner

and the largest 16 inch center touchscreen,

which is, I think, a shame for anyone

who's literally just bought one

because, look, it's all subjective

and does it really matter.

But that dark headliner,

which fans have been calling out for a really long time,

genuinely looks so, so much better.

And so I'm sure there'll be aftermarket solutions

if you've just bought a Model Y

and now you want the updated version.

You can probably retrofit it yourself,

but it does look way better.

Outside all the trims have the new standard

matte black badging.

Buyers can also add the new dark gray,

20 inch Helix wheels for two grand.

Again, my favorites, but every version in the range

is kind of being updated in America.

The Model Y standard hasn't, though.

It's not sitting outside of that update round

and largely unchanged.

We'll take a quick break when we come back.

We'll talk about Honda on the podcast

and how China's EV makers are doing very well in the UK.

I'll tell you why. Stick around.

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until I downloaded Rocket Money.

I thought I had my finances under control

until the app laid out all my spending

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Takeout, shopping, and unused subscriptions

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what you're wasting money on.

It takes action to save you money.

First, the app looks at your income and monthly expenses

and calculates how much you can safely spend each day

to stay on your budget.

Rocket Money also finds and cancels

unwanted subscriptions for you

and even negotiates better rates on your bills

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OK, let's move on and talk about tiny car at a huge price.

So this will blow you away.

Honda's new Super 1 EV takes the Super 1 prototype

from 2025 and takes it from the Motor Show stand

to the streets, turning a compact concept

into the new production K-style city car.

This thing is cute as a button,

closely related to Japan's N1E from Honda.

It's only 3.5 meters long, 1.57 meters wide,

1.6 meters tall on a 2.5-meter wheelbase.

A tiny, little, cute city car.

But when you see this, you think,

ah, this looks cool.

It's got some sort of flared wheel arches.

It's a five-door, so you know, it's a proper car

and it's got the little round headlights.

Remember the Honda E EV that sadly got discontinued?

So cute.

70 kilowatt front motor, 162 Newton meters of torque

with normal city, sports, econ and boost mode.

The car uses front disc and rear drum brakes,

has a 5.2-meter turning radius,

charges on CCS2 in 30 minutes.

Honda hasn't confirmed the battery size,

but it's probably the same as the Honda N1E from Japan.

That's 29.6 kilowatt hours

and it supports six kilowatt AC charging.

Outside, it's got those really cute LED headlamps,

15-inch eight-spoke alloys.

They're just like proper little dinky alloys

sitting on Yokohama tires

and inside a nine-inch touchscreen

has Apple CarPlay, Android Auto,

climate control, regen paddles.

Safety kit includes adaptive cruise control,

collision mitigation, lane keep,

assist road departure mitigation at airbags as well.

The single trim is on offer now in Singapore

and it's at 187.999.

Let me do the conversion to US dollars.

That's about 146,000 US dollars.

I haven't lost my mind and I haven't made a mistake.

In Singapore, 146,000 US dollars equivalent

for one of these cute little city K cars

they sell in China for like eight grand or 10 grand.

What?

Well, that headline figure includes

the country's certificate of entitlement.

Very hefty registration taxes as well.

Even small city cars in Singapore

are priced at luxury car money.

Car ownership in Singapore is very different

to everywhere else in the rest of the world.

Every car must have a certificate of entitlement.

That's a 10-year license

that allows the vehicle to be on the road.

Buyers bid for a very limited quota

of these twice a month.

So the COE alone costs hundreds of thousands,

in some cases.

In practice, it means private car ownership

is very rare, very restricted to high-income households,

which there are in Singapore,

while everyone else uses the excellent public transport,

taxis and ride-hailing.

But if you ever fancied spending Rolls-Royce money,

used Rolls-Royce, admittedly, not new,

but certainly Mercedes-S-Class money on a city car,

a little K car, nonetheless.

There you go, move to Singapore

and you can go blow all your cash on one of those.

Now, China's EV makers are grabbing a fifth

of the UK market last month in December.

Chinese brands took 20% of new car registrations a year earlier.

That was at half of it, 10%.

By December 2025, it reached 18.2%,

a shift that now shapes the market,

rather than nibbling away at the edges.

This matters because the change comes

with little pushback from the incumbents

or even from Westminster.

It also exposes a split within the European Union,

which has moved to shield its industry with extra tariffs.

We didn't follow those rules of the extra tariffs.

The result is a live test, if you like.

We are an ongoing experiment

to see how far the open market speeds up adoption

of cheap, very affordable EVs

from brands you've never heard of.

The winners are clear, MG is a brand

most people think is still British,

even though it's over a decade

into being owned by the Chinese.

That was second overall in our car market in December

behind Volkswagen.

Cherry was in seventh place.

They only arrived a year ago properly.

BYD and other Chinese firms are climbing too.

The response from European makers looks oddly muted, though.

In the 1970s, if you remember,

the Japanese entrance arrived.

There was loud political and industrial resistance.

Today, hesitation.

The head of the lobby organization here

for the car industry, Mike Hawes,

notes that any formal probe into dumping or subsidies

would demand public collective commitment

from big car makers.

And they show little wish to lead the charge

against the Chinese.

For now, Chinese brands are filling a gap.

Very affordable EVs.

They prop up the overall volumes,

giving buyers more choice.

Yet the speed of their rise raises an interesting prospect.

If the current trends hold,

some longstanding car makers may not keep their place

in Britain's automotive landscape,

but they've had for a very long time

and have got quite used to.

That reckoning will come long before

the Chinese market share reaches even higher.

Now, let's talk a little bit what's happening in Prague,

setting deadlines for electric taxis.

Prague plans to force its taxis and ride hailing cars

to go electric from August 1st, 2027.

All vehicles in the sector will have to meet

Euro 6D emission standards.

Then by 2030, they'll have to be electric only.

City officials call the move a measured ratchet.

Not a shock.

It's a soft landing for the industry.

The rules are tightening in stages,

giving firms time to get EVs into their fleets.

The sector has grown fast and then aged really badly.

The number of licensed taxi vehicles in Prague

jumped from 3,000 about 10 years ago to 16,000 now.

Once ride hailing platforms arrived.

Yet the average taxi is more than 10 years old

and a rising share meet only Euro 4 standards.

The deputy mayor argues that a service so central

to urban transport and mobility needs to lower pollution.

Usage patterns are strengthening the case, though.

Taxis in Prague typically drive 300 kilometres a day.

Ride hailing cars often exceed that.

Cleaning up a high mileage fleet

gives you really quick gains in terms of CO2 emission.

Infrastructure, though, is the risk.

By 2030, Prague has to plan at least four to 5,000

standard charging points and 200 ultra-fast stations

in partnership with private investors

and taxi firms as well.

And what about this story from the UK?

This could be an example of politicians doing a U-turn

for the public good.

Public charging for electric vehicles in Britain

may soon carry the same tax rate

as when I plug in at home.

It's VAT, value-added tax.

Ministers are said to now be seriously considering

a cut in VAT on public charging.

Go charge your EV down the road from me

using exactly the same electricity just on a public charger.

And they have to add 20% VAT to the bill.

It's not optional.

They have to charge it and I have to pay it.

If I plug in at home, I pay 5%.

And that is simply unfair.

I've been banging this drum for years now.

It's unfair to people who don't have driveways,

people who might be living in flats or apartments.

It's not fair that I get a sweeter deal

just because I've got a driveway.

It brings it in line with domestic electricity.

Oh, by the way, we pay 5% VAT in all, leaky.

So if I make a cup of tea or put the heating on.

So the move is part of a wider attempt

to sort out what has been a really bodged EV plan

this year by our government.

I voted for this lot last year.

I was sick of the last lot.

I voted Labour last time.

I've been desperately unhappy with what they've done

in terms of transport.

There's a lot of other things that people are unhappy with

and I'm not so critical on those issues.

But in terms of how they have a consistent

coherent policy about transport,

it's non-existent at the moment

in terms of electric vehicles.

They've said that we've got to go EV,

sticking to 2030 as an ambitious target.

And then a few weeks ago,

bringing in a paper mile tax on electric vehicles,

which of course, as you know,

resulted in loads of scary headlines

about you're gonna have to pay X-many pence

to drive your electric car.

And that's only gonna go up and up and up

and up and up over the years.

Once the government get their hands on your mileage records,

they're just gonna increase it every single year

and sting you for more money for every mile that you drive.

Now, it is an equitable system

as long as everyone pays to drive on the roads

and big SUVs, pay more money than small lightweight vehicles.

Like that should be factored in as well,

but it wasn't because big, heavy vehicles do more damage.

And so that's coming in April the 1st, 2028.

Officials expect the tax,

the government's own figures said it would stop

440,000 EV sales in the UK.

Absolutely crazy, but they want the money and the revenue.

Ministers also claim that they still want to go electric.

So the price gap is really stark

in terms of public charging at about 54 pence per kilowatt hour.

I pay eight pence at home, simply unfair.

And you could argue that people who don't have driveways

might have less money, but I don't know, I live in a house

and I'm just down the road from the beach in pool

where all the blocks of flats are down along the beach side

in sandbanks and stuff.

Like they're 3, 4, 5 million for an apartment.

So, you know, the argument, oh, if you live in a flat,

you know, and you can't charge at home or whatever,

that you might be slightly less well off.

That doesn't apply to where I live, by the way,

like us a lot live in houses and the nice ones

look over the water, but I get that argument as well.

It's simply not fair that if you have to public charge

you pay so much more money,

now the government are looking at reversing that

and taking VAT down to 5% for public charging.

That has been called for for years.

Industry voices welcome it, Matt Galvin,

who is the poll star chief in the UK,

calls it a big step for drivers without home charging.

But they want more, urging the government to scrap

the congestion charges that have recently been introduced

for EVs, the electric car grant has been really botched

as well.

Pricing is only part of the problem.

Modelled government messaging don't know

which way we're going on EV policy.

It's just really messed up the last 12 to 18 months.

I've done a whole bonus podcast about this recently

called the carrot and the stick.

Feel free to check it out.

If you're sick of me talking about it,

then definitely don't listen to that podcast.

But if you want to see how different countries around

the world have incentivized going EV,

the ones that have worked and not worked

and the various policies, then it's in your feed right now.

If ever you take the dog for a walk or something

and want to have a listen to something

that your podcast for today, thanks to our premium partners,

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DAILY: Genesis GV60 Magma, Leapmotor Reworks T03 and Skoda Launches 7-Seat PEAQ

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Volvo EX60

Volkswagen ID.1

Peugeot E3008

Peugeot E5008

Peugeot E408

Honda Super 1 EV

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