DAILY: Jaguar Fires EV Design Boss, Kia EV2 and BYD Extends Warranties

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Welcome back to the podcast today.

Jaguar fires its EV design boss.

Kia's EV2 is coming and BYD extends its warranties.

Plus, stay tuned.

Later in the show, I'll tell you why everyone seems to be excited

about in-wheel motors.

On EV News China today, our spin-off podcast,

I've been talking about the BYD Denzer D9, Dolphin's million deliveries,

and NEO's third-generation ES8, getting a sales surge.

Let's get into it.

Jaguar Land Rover's move to EV has been thrown into doubt

after the sudden firing of Chief Creative Officer Jerry McGovern.

The design force behind some of its most successful SUVs,

and indeed Jaguar's planned high-end EV reboot.

AutoCar reports that McGovern, who has held the top design job since 2020,

was dismissed by the new Chief Executive and escorted from the building.

The leadership change comes at a really fragile moment.

JLR is still recovering from a major cyberattack

that disrupted production at several plants,

while Jaguar delayed their flagship electric grand tourer worth about $130,000,

a halo model meant to signal where the brand is heading.

McGovern had pushed a radical plan for Jaguar,

an all-electric range built around fewer, more expensive, limited production cars.

Instead of competing head-on with mass premium rivals,

Jaguar would chase the ultra-luxury buyers,

who might also consider Bentley, or top marks from Germany.

That vision took shape in what became a controversial Jaguar-type

double-o concept, and that triggered fierce debate inside and even outside the company

about what Jaguar should be in the EV age.

Of course, there was the very famous rebranding,

video, showreel, commercial, whatever that was, using bright colors,

and which went down pretty poorly with the internet.

But, well, you know, a lot of people who are very online

tend to have an opinion about just about everything.

Maybe they should keep their opinions slightly more to themselves.

Beyond Jaguar, McGovern's mark on the wider group is hard to miss.

He oversaw the modern Land Rover Defender,

and is widely seen as the key figure behind the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Velar,

SUVs that underpinned JLR's profit for over a decade.

JLR declined to comment on reports of McGovern's exit,

but attention now turns to the Chief Executive Balaji,

how he will reshape Jaguar's premium EV plans,

and whether this new ultra-luxury, all-electric strategy gets tweaked,

delayed, or even scrapped under his new rule.

Kia will widen its EV range in Europe at the bottom end of the market.

The brand has confirmed that its smallest EV, the Kia EV2,

is going to get a January the 9th debut.

It'll be Brussels Motor Show in Belgium.

It's going to sit below the Kia EV3, you won't be surprised to hear.

The EV2 has a compact SUV silhouette.

Teaser images released today show the car close to production,

and that largely mirrors the concept from the outside,

but the cabin will move away from that kind of concept study.

I would think very similar to a Kia EV3, and that's no bad thing,

because the Kia EV3 has largely been one of my recommendations of 2025.

EV2 sits on the front-wheel-drive version of their low-voltage EGMP architecture,

shared with other dedicated EVs up to the EV5.

Two battery choices are planned.

Entry-level LFP, longer-range NMC.

These packs would be smaller, we think, than the EV3 to keep costs down.

EV3 has either a 58.3 or 81.4 kilowatt-hour pack.

Now, Hyundai's little Insta, or Casper in its home market,

has a 49 kilowatt-hour battery.

So could it be that, or could it be something in between?

They're going to make the EV2 over here.

I say over here, I mean Europe in Slovakia.

The company says the car has been designed, developed,

and will be produced in and for Europe.

The EV2 joins a crowded field like the Renault 5 and the Renault 4,

and Hyundai's Insta.

European prices, what, $30,000, maybe a bit less.

The model won't be sold in the US.

Tariffs are a major obstacle.

BYD is lengthening their EV battery warranty.

In Norway, it'll be eight years, or 250,000 kilometers.

That's one of the strongest guarantees now on offer.

The new limit lifts BYD's earlier cap by 50,000 kilometers,

up from 200,000 kays,

and stands well above the industry norm of about 160,000.

Under the revised terms, BYD promises that the battery

will retain at least 70% of its original capacity for eight years.

The change covers not only new buyers, but existing BYD owners.

The upgrade tackles one of the biggest worries for EV buyers.

How is this battery technology is going to hold up over time?

You know, and I know, we talk about it so much on this podcast,

there is data point after data point.

These batteries are just going on forever.

Not to say there's no failures.

All machines will fail, but it's incredibly low as a percentage.

This expanded battery cover comes, well, on top of BYD's factory warranty,

that is six years and 150,000 kilometers,

which is already very generous.

The extended battery warranty applies to all BYD models sold in Norway,

with demand for BYD's cars already boosted ahead of recent tax rises.

Attention now turns to whether rival makers will match the move.

EU is eyeing EV quotas for corporate car fleets.

The European Commission is weighing rules that would push petrol cars

out of Europe's corporate fleets by 2030.

That's five years before the formal 2035 end of pure combustion,

but Germany is lobbying really hard to allow combustion after 2035,

as well as plug-in hybrids and e-refs.

People briefed on the talks say Brussels is considering binding quotas

for any really big rental, leasing and company car fleets,

under which most new vehicles would need to be purebev by the end of this decade.

The proposal is due on December 10th.

Industry groups argue that the measure would amount to an indirect petrol ban.

Nico Gabriel, chief operating officer at the rental giant Sixth,

said this quota on corporate fleets would actually lead to a far earlier

ban of combustion vehicles.

Calling it some kind of a double-sword play.

Or a backdoor petrol ban.

Corporate buyers dominate Europe's new car market.

Around six in ten new vehicles go to either rental, leasing or company fleets.

And for some manufacturers, these customers account for half of their deliveries.

That makes fleet policy very, very important.

The environmental campaign group Transport and Environment

points out that company cars generate more than 70% of emissions from new vehicles.

They often drive further than personal vehicles.

And that faster electrification of fleets is essential to hit climate goals.

I would add sometimes, obviously that's a campaign group

with the word environment in their title.

That's what they do.

I would add sometimes, we need to remind people as well,

a lot of EVs aren't bought because they're good for the environment.

There's not zero tailpipe emissions.

And they generate EV with my solar panels.

And apart from making the panels, they're now zero emissions.

But it's just better.

It's better for the drivers.

It's better for the bottom line.

It's much cheaper to charge.

And you can charge your vehicle at home.

And then there's all sorts of things you can do now.

It's very sophisticated with reimbursing your employees

for charging at home at the right rate

so they don't lose out on anything like that as well.

And you completely avoid all the wasted time

of filling up those vehicles.

Especially if you have a depot

where you run a fleet or rental vehicles where you can charge.

The time and money saved from not refilling those vehicles

but doing them yourself on your own schedule

at the lowest possible prices is huge.

You know, oh, and of course, let's save polar bears.

The commission's proposal will show

how far Europe is willing to go

in using corporate fleets to speed up the shift to EV.

Now FastNed will build France's first

fully electric motorway service area.

I couldn't believe when I read the headlines.

I read it a few times more.

France's first fully electric motorway service area.

Now we've got the Gridsurf ones over here.

They are these wonderful sites that are 10, 20, 30, 40,

50, 60 chargers, a canopy, a little gym area,

showers and all that.

So I think what the specific phrase here is

on the French motorway networks.

This is a motorway service station,

often regulated by different,

some countries treat their motorway networks

as kind of the spines of the country in poor infrastructure.

I suppose those Gridsurf ones I'm talking about

might be just off the main roads.

So I think that's what the significance is here.

The FastNed is building France's first fully

the motorway service area.

Changing how long distance trips will happen.

The Dutch charging operator has won a national tender

to replace the pumps with all-electric dispensers.

Opening in 2026 on route Nationale 165,

a corridor that carries more than 28,000 vehicles a day.

The site will host six ultra-rapids at 400 kilowatts each,

one designed for large trucks as well.

FastNed is aiming for full motorway stop experiences

like shops, restrooms and landscaped gardens.

That's not the motorway experience that we have in Great Britain.

I mean, we have food and restrooms,

but landscaped gardens, is that a French thing?

That takes it closer to the classic service area model.

The project builds on FastNed's 50 operational

charging stations in France in 318 Europe.

Also targeting a market where EV demand is rising fast.

In 2024, France registered over 291,000 new BEVs.

Sales will be up this year.

And this site will be FastNed's second service area of the future.

They got one in Belgium as well.

Okay, let's move on.

And Ford is asking US regulators to loosen grid connection rules

for EVs, warning that current policy holds back

the spread of bidirectional charging.

Bidirectionality, using electric vehicles,

drawing power from the grid,

but also sending it back when it's needed

or is financially beneficial to you.

Electricity keeps homes running during an outage.

Bill Crider, who leads global charging and energy at Ford,

argues that this capability boosters the grid,

would make the American grid more resilient,

would support energy, and it actually lowers bills.

The snag is how vehicles get classified.

Many new models leave the factory as bidirectional capable.

In many states, the label alone is enough to trigger

a full interconnection review.

That's the same review.

The lengthy process that happens for solar or stationary

battery installations, just for plugging in your car.

That is out of step with how we should be thinking about it.

We don't need a full review when you plug your car in.

Most owners will drive their vehicles in the usual way.

They may never even discharge,

but it treats every capability as if it were feeding power

into the grid.

That creates paperwork, costs, and lengthens the queues.

Ford's proposal has three parts.

First, regulators need to distinguish between vehicles

that are capable and those that are being used,

actually set up to discharge.

Second, adopting tiered interconnection rules,

plugging your car in and taking maybe five kilowatts out of it,

it is very different to having a big grid storage site

being built somewhere, and third, utilities,

regulators, and car makers need to work more closely together.

And the timing of this really matters

as more bidirectional models reach the market.

The wording in codes and tariffs will shape how fast

vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid grows.

It seems a very sensible thing.

It strengthens America's power grid.

It lowers the price for Americans.

And because it's EVs doing it, and there is such a central policy

against electric vehicles at the moment,

against renewables or clean energy in America,

the largely fossil-funded administration

that's in for the next three years,

I think that even though this is an amazing solution

that you would think would be adopted

because it's EVs providing the solution,

I think people's dogma will get in the way.

So many people who always vote a certain color,

both ways, by the way,

but particularly some people might go,

EVs bad, then no.

But it's always more nuanced than black and white.

Life is shades of gray.

But I fear that's the way that many people,

perhaps maybe less sophisticated thinkers,

unlike you and I,

I think we like to think about the world in shades of gray.

Many people who think about it in shades of black and white

just won't go for the idea of an EV at all

because they've been told by a dear leader,

you may not think about that.

All right, let's move on.

Ford's American electric vehicle business

hit some road bumps in November,

underlying how dependent Ford were on the federal support

the company sold in the U.S. last month,

166,000 vehicles,

it was a slight drop on the total.

Under the surface though, the EV business

after the federal tax credit ended

did pretty poorly at Ford sales

of all electric vehicles fell 61%

and the Mustang marquee slid,

the F-150 Lightning dropped 72%,

each round it down 82%.

The sale setback comes as Ford waste the future

of their electric pickup.

According to the Wall Street Journal,

the firm was considering cancelling

the F-150 Lightning altogether.

Production is paused and it will resume

when they say there is demand.

Interesting.

Now, let's talk about the UK expanding.

No, let's take a break.

And when we come back,

we'll talk about the UK grant expanding.

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Welcome back.

Great Britain's most generous EV subsidy

now covers more models.

Twice as many actually pulling in more mainstream EVs.

It's the Grant, which is either the lower

or the higher amount.

From now, the Renault 4, Alpine A290,

Mini Countryman, and the 52 kilowatt hour Renault 5

all move in to band one.

That is almost £4,000 off those vehicles.

The lower tier is $1,500.

With the grant applied, the Renault 4

starts at $23,500.

The Renault 5 big battery at $24,000.

Mini Countryman, $25,000.

And Alpine A290, £30,000.

They join the existing ones.

Nissan Leaf, Ford Puma Gen E,

Ford e-tonner Courier, and the Citroën EC5 Aircross.

35 eligible EVs get the lower level,

like the entry-level Renault 5 with its smaller battery.

The update follows the budget last week,

which put an extra £1.5 billion into the EV grant,

funding it through to 2030.

At the same time, they confirmed plans

of a paper mile levy from 2028.

The big question now is how quickly car makers tweak prices

and specifications to nudge more models into band one.

That scheme closing in 2030.

So we've got four years, three, four years,

depending on when the money runs out.

But I wonder what pricing we'll do

in that kind of 20,000 to 30,000 pound segment.

It's really competitive.

And we've got a ton of vehicles that we can get

that are smaller family cars.

Now, vehicle to grid technology is being cast

as central to Australia's EV transition.

But adoption is lagging.

Robert Llewellyn is the founder

of everything electric, aka fully charged as it was,

and a longtime EV advocate calling vehicle to grid

and vehicle to home critically important for the shift to EV.

Australia now has around four million rooftop solar systems,

roughly one in three homes,

but that's because Australia's got all the sunshine,

especially this time of year.

According to the Federal Department

of Climate Change, Energy and Environment,

advocates argue that electric cars

act as giant batteries on wheels,

soaking up excess daytime solar

and powering homes at night.

Mr. Llewellyn says that the real impact will come once,

that there are a couple of million EVs in Australia

and a million of them are bidirectional capable.

That makes a massive difference to energy costs

and the grid for now.

Progress hinges on approvals and that's slow.

Daniel Bleakley of New Energy Transport

describes VitaG as one of the most understated opportunities

in decarbonization.

He points to work by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency,

suggesting that if 10% of passenger vehicles

did have VitaG, national peak electricity

would be dropping sharply.

South Australia became the first state

to offer VitaG last year.

Trials are running in Victoria and New South Wales.

Bidirectional charges are reaching the retail market now

through the likes of RevCharge,

with standards Australia now signing off

on regulations for VitaG

and bidirectional ready models

on the way from Mercedes-Benz and other brands.

The focus shifts to other policy and technology

and pricing can line up as well.

And finally, in-wheel motors are the talk of the town right now.

Yes, sir, is an Oxfordshire-based electric motor specialist.

These days they're owned by Mercedes-Benz.

And they've been talking a lot about their motors this year.

They have developed their new prototype

in-wheel electric powertrain.

The company recently broke an unofficial world record

for power density in an EV motor.

That same compact unit now sits at the centre

of an in-wheel system.

Founder and CEO Tim Wulmer

caused the in-wheel motors the major challenge

but opportunity for EVs,

arguing that early attempts were too heavy

and talk limited and underpowered.

Yes, sir, builds its design

as the world's first mass-neutral in-wheel motor,

delivering 750 kilowatts per corner.

That's not bad, is it?

It's per thousand horsepower a wheel.

Yet the prototype motor they use weighs 12.7 kilograms.

Koenigsegg's dark matter motor, by contrast,

weighs 39 kilograms and makes about three-quarters of the power.

The motor is paired with a YASA-designed dual inverter

weighing 15 kilograms to create a compact,

integrated powertrain.

According to the company,

this architecture could trim 500 kilograms

from a clean sheet EV platform.

Savings come from eliminating hardware

like drive shafts and parts of the braking.

Because the motor offers very strong regen,

YASA says rear friction brakes won't be needed

in some applications,

particularly hypercars with more than a thousand horsepower.

Mr. Wulmer argues that the concept will bring

about a step change in weight reduction,

performance and efficiency,

and not just for ultra-powerful hypercars.

The fully functional prototype

is going through development and testing now.

YASA supplies motors to Ferrari and Lamborghini

and have been backing Mercedes,

have been backed by Mercedes since 2021.

If the new system proves itself,

it could help define the next generation

of performance cars.

These incredible motors

and the next generation battery technology

with solid state we know just around the corner

between now and the end of the decade,

which, by the way,

will all blink and wake up in 2030.

It's the way life works,

is just incredible to think about.

It will there will just be no competition to EV.

And we know it's coming,

and it's just around the corner.

And that's your podcast for today.

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DAILY: Jaguar Fires EV Design Boss, Kia EV2 and BYD Extends Warranties

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