DAILY: Kia Facelifts Niro EV, Porsche Plug & Charge and Bentley’s First EV Takes Shape | 25 Jan 2026

Hiya, Kenny the Hamster here, beloved pet of Doug and Carol Brookbank. Now, I've got

to hand it to Doug and Kazza. They're doing school pickups, jobs, trips to the supermarket

and still find time to get healthy. Apparently, it's down to some NHS Healthy Choices quiz.

Only took them five minutes to do, then gave them a simple plan to get started. Total amazeballs!

Take your first little step to healthy. Search NHS Healthy Choices quiz to get a score and

a score and a score. Now, I've got to hand it to Doug and Kazza. They're doing school

pickups, jobs, trips to the supermarket and still find time to get healthy. Apparently,

it's down to some NHS Healthy Choices quiz. Only took them five minutes to do, then gave

them a simple plan to get started. Total amazeballs! Take your first little step to healthy. Search

NHS Healthy Choices quiz to get a score and a plan that's right for you.

Welcome back to EV News Daily. Today, Kia facelifts the narrow Porsche's plug and charge and

Bentley's first EV takes shape. Plus, stay tuned. Later in the show, I'll tell you why

Polestar isn't getting left behind with a return to beast mode. No EV News China today.

It's the weekend. Our deep dive into how the East is shaping the global EV landscape returns

tomorrow morning bright and early. Now, Kia has sharpened the Nero but left the hardware

alone. The mid-sized crossover now wears the firm's design language. They call it opposites

united with a reworked front end and tidier surfacing, while still offering plug-in hybrid

and full electric versions. The front end loses the slick silver bar around the bonnets

of the Nero and gains some taller headlights. It's all in line with how the EV3 and the

EV9 look. This blatantly wants to be an EV3, this car. A more angular grille along the sides,

a flat black cladding, shrinks and switches to the glossy finish as to the wheel arch extensions.

Yep, you've seen that on the EV3, the EV9, all the Kia models. And now the Nero looks

like one of those. Inside, a thinner dashboard makes room for a pair of infotainment and

instrument screens at 12.3 inches and the centre console keeps its layout but swaps

piano black for matte grey plastic. The steering wheel now has a flatter top and bottom matching

the other EVs. Technical details will follow in March but the powertrain line-up mirrors the

current car, which is disappointing. Why keep on selling the Kia Nero unless it was dirt cheap

and it's not. The plug-in hybrid has an 8.9 kilowatt hour battery. If I'm being kind, I'd call it

modest. And an electric only range of 40 miles. The EV has a single front-mounted motor,

201 horsepower, 285 miles of range. The Hyundai Kona and the Kia Nero were always really

efficiency monsters. So maybe that's the reason to go and buy one of these, I don't know.

Now Porsche Canada has enabled plug-and-charge for its electric cars on Tesla's Supercharger

network, widening access to fast charging without using apps, cards and screens. The feature now

works on all of the McCann electric models and the 2026 model year Taycans when drivers use the

Porsche charging service. Porsche owners can now use more than 27,500 Tesla Superchargers in North

America. It has encrypted automatic authentication and payment when the cable connects. Charging

sessions start and the bill happens in the background, but only for active Porsche charging service

members. Porsche says the forthcoming Cayenne electric will get plug-and-charge when it reaches

Canada later in the year, extending the same experience across its line-up. The firm has

also widened its charging reach over the past year through software updates for Taycan and McCann,

aimed at smoothing out network access and more compatibility. Existing owners got their free

NAX to CCS DC adapters. A quiet but important step that lets Porsche drivers use the fast charging

and fast growing NA-CS standard while the cars rely on CCS. Now BMW's new iX3 has

been a bit of a sales hit, even as buyers have never even sat inside it. In Germany, more than

3,000 orders came in in October when they launched the vehicle before the car's first international

drive event since then demand has climbed further, helped by customer events in Europe. The response

has forced BMW to change their plans. Orders have now exceeded expectations. To such an extent,

BMW's added a second shift at its Hungarian plant earlier than intended. The factory can build 150,000

cars a year, a figure that may now be beaten with the extra shifts. A report of a near-sellout

for production year one has been denied, or if just not commented on really by BMW,

because the order books are open, so you can still order one. In Germany, about a third of people

buying an iX3 have never owned a BMW before. Many customers are placing orders without even a test

drive, a sign of how far their firm has come with their electric credentials, and how strong demand

is for great EVs, 500 miles of range, 800-volt Neue-classer platform. They're not without

competition though, like the new Volvo EX60 that just about gets three miles more on WLTP.

What about Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ technology to give it its full name? Well that doesn't match

the iX3 on charging speed nor range, but it still makes a big step forward for Stuttgart.

The success of both models points to a shift in the EV market, rather than a one-off hit.

I think if current order patterns hold, this year will stand out as the year when buyers pushed

the old guard into building the new generation. Bentley's first EV is taking shape as a more

compact SUV. Bentley's first electric car has left the sketchpad and hit the road. A compact SUV

prototype was photographed on winter testing in northern Sweden, with less disguise than before.

Now we see its basic shape, headlights and tail lamps visible. Bentley leans on the Bentiger,

launched in 2015 as its best-selling model in America and worldwide. Yet,

Bentley needs a smaller electric model to keep more affluent, perhaps urban buyers in the fold,

and you could argue the regulators at bay. The new SUV is on Volkswagen's PPE, premium platform

electric, shared with the McCann and the Cayenne and the Audi Q6 e-tron, one of the

great cars out there, actually the A6. A6 of van, I take you back, Q6, do one. A6 of van,

electric, so good. Same platform, the choice ties the future of the crew factory, of course,

Bentley's made in crew, to the group's main EV toolkit and cuts costs and technical risk.

The profile echoes earlier. Bentley designed sketches and mimics a scaled-down Bentiger,

really upright, familiar, shorter and tighter, I would say, looking all very, very nice now.

Let's talk about Ford. They will build Chinese-designed batteries on the soil in Michigan,

and says it had no other choice. Jim Farley, the firm's boss, argues that licensing LFP,

lithium-ion phosphate technology from the world's biggest maker of EV batteries,

CATL in China, was the only route to make those cells in America. The politics are tricky. The

logic, though, is sound. Farley says producing cells at home with licensed IP, intellectual property,

beats importing. The cells are even finished packs from abroad. Ford owns the building. Ford

employs all the American workers. The cell technology, the IP, well, that's Chinese and it

hasn't gone down very well with some Republican politicians that don't want Chinese IP on the

ground. The wager is that long-term competitiveness in EVs and storage as well demands more than

just buying in batteries that arrive in sealed boxes as a job lot. Ford wants hands-on manufacturing

experience with chemistry, with processes, rather than staying tied to the old supply chains. Its

strategy centers on learning the technology through direct production, not outsourcing.

Ford has already widened the project's scope to make LFP cells for stationary energy storage,

a wise move if they're not going to be selling quite as many EVs as they thought they were.

They're going to squeeze more value from the CATL tie-up. It concedes that licensing technology

was the only way they could do it. Now, California's EV sales held up firm at the end of the year.

Many articles are circulating about the US declining in Q4 without the federal tax credit.

California says, hey, we still like EVs. They bought 80,000 zero-emission vehicles in Q4. That

was 19% of all new car sales. The federal tax credit vanished at the end of September,

and nationwide EV sales were down as expected because people brought forward their purchases.

The state's cumulative new EV sales have jumped by more than 300% in the last six years, while

nationwide EV sales fell from 10.5% to 5.8% in the United States in Q4 alone. California's

is obviously down, but way more resilient. Gover Gavin Newsom's budget on January 9 proposed $200

million for an incentive program to offset the federal tax credit. The California Energy Commission

on their part has allocated $100 million in infrastructure funding for this year,

with an emphasis on level one and two charging where cars sit, which is brilliant. And I say

all the time, we rave about DC fast charging. It's sexy. It's fast. It gets people into EVs

and the conversation of high tech. We never talk about charging EVs when they're not moving.

And, you know, when the wheels ain't turning, the electrons should be flowing. That's just my

opinion. My car is always at 50% at home because I don't go anywhere day to day that requires

me to DC fast charge. And I'm guessing most people, if they can charge at home, should be doing

the same. I mean, not the 50% thing. That's just because I do. So that's a great sign that not

all markets kind of fell off the cliff. Yeah. So nationwide, it kind of halved. California much

less so. The story is definitely going to be looking at the next six to nine months, maybe

12 months in America to see if the technology rises above people's financial priorities.

And if they were only buying EVs because they had seven and a half grand off,

then they shouldn't have been buying EVs in the first place and America will do it at its own

speed. But I suspect having seen other markets that abruptly got rid of subsidies, see Germany

had a rough year and now they've bounced back even stronger than before when they did have them,

the big ones a couple of years ago. So I'm very optimistic about US sales. We'll take a break,

we'll come back, we'll talk Norway and off peak charging. My favorite topic, stick around back in

a mo. Hi, Kenny the hamster here, beloved pet of Doug and Carol Brookbank. Now, I've got to hand it to

Doug and Casa. They're doing school pickups, jobs, trips to the supermarket and still find time to

get healthy. Apparently, it's down to some NHS healthy choices quiz, only took him five minutes

to do, then gave them a simple plan to get started. Total amazeballs. Take your first little step to

healthy, search NHS healthy choices quiz to get a score and a plan that's right for you.

Hiya, Kenny the hamster here, proud pet of Doug and Carol.

Hey, looks like my mom carols off out with the girls again. I tell you,

since she took that quick NHS healthy choices quiz, she's drinking less, but going out more.

And to think she thought being healthy would mean being boring. You might want to give it a go yourself.

Go girlfriend. Take your first little step to healthy, search NHS healthy choices quiz to get a

score and a simple plan to follow. All righty, welcome back to the podcast. Norway added 1192

fast charging points last year. The total in Norway is now 10,670 fast charging points.

That set a record, but it was below the total number installed in 2023. The slowdown marks are

maturing in Norway. The markets, if you like, after racing ahead is now east into cruise control.

The Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association held the crossing of 10,000 fast charges. That was last

summer as a big milestone with demand pressure easing operators are building fewer stations

than in early years, but they're all about service now in Norway. So it's okay. So we've got the

charges in the ground. Let's offer the right service, the right reliability, the right maintenance,

and the right amenities. A DC fast charging Norway has one fast charging point for 85 EVs.

That is improving on one in every hundred last year. And in 2019, one in every hundred and 13.

So this is the lowest it's ever been. There's now more charges per car. If that makes sense,

then they have been let's talk about off peak charging. My favorite topic UK off peak charging

has been falling in price. And the key is, I think, firstly, to bring price parity to anyone

who can't charge at home with what was our VAT. So VAT, our value added tax is 5% on home charging

and 20% on public charging. It's unfair. It's punitive to people that go EV. The government say,

please buy an electric car, if you wouldn't mind. Be very good of you to buy an EV. Thank you very

much. And then sting them for tax when they have to charge it publicly. It's simply unfair.

It's so morally wrong. It's awful that the government won't back down on this. It's just

a cash grab and it's greedy and it's mean spirited. And I really hate them for it because the answer

is so clear. If you can't charge your EV at home because you haven't got a driveway, that's not

your fault for not having a driveway. We need to fix that first. Otherwise, off peak rapid

charging has fallen in price by about 10% to an average of around 45 pence per kilowatt hour. So

if you can charge your car off peak, even if you have to DC fast charge it, there's big savings to

be had by doing it off peak. It cuts the cost of charging an EV with a low battery, say go maybe

10 to 80 during off peak hours. On average will cost around £20 now. Charge it during the day

cost on average, I know about £30. Your numbers will differ. The shift sharpens the gap between

smart use of a charging network and just plugging it in whenever you remember. This new report from

the AA finds that timing now does as much work as the technology. Drivers who charge off peak

or overnight get a clear edge over the last three years. Off peak charging prices have fallen here

while flat rate charging prices actually have risen. Some ultra rapid flat rate units now

approach 80 pence. I think I've seen more than 80 pence per kilowatt hour. My US listeners will be

falling off your chair right now. That's a dollar per unit of electricity. It's a lot, isn't it?

Home charging is obviously the best because average domestic EV prices, electricity prices for EVs

have dropped by 25% since our energy price crisis a couple of years ago, three years ago now.

On a per mile basis, EVs charged at home on off peak are night and day different to filling

up with petrol. It's not even in the same ballpark. It's just slam dunk win. Now,

more charges going in the ground. This is Eleport. Do I say Eleport or Elport? Adding

250 high-powered DC charges to its network over the next two years backed by a loan from the

European Investment Bank. The expansion pushes the footprint deeper into Central and Eastern Europe

with new charges in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Public fast charging in the region is

patchy even as EV adoption climbs. Eleport was founded in 2016 running 400 sites with 800 plugs

across Eastern European countries. About half a DC fast charges. The new parks will sit at key

shopping and commercial areas in Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland. That's not Eastern

Europe. Slovenia and the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well. Each site is expected to host up to 12

fast charging points and they're going to put 400 kilowatt DC charging in the ground as well,

which is really, really welcome in those countries. Next, nine European governments want to turn the

North Sea into 100 gigawatts of power. Energy ministers from the United Kingdom, Germany,

the Netherlands, and six others will seal the pledge at a meeting in Hamburg. They want to

build 100 gigawatts of offshore wind as part of a wider 300 gigawatt offshore target for the North

Sea. Interesting fact, I live in the windiest country in all of Europe. About one third of future

capacity in these waters would be shared between the nations. Initial schemes at 20 gigawatts are

starting by the end of this decade. For the EV industry, that matters. This is a huge scale.

It's now one of the big stories of our recent times. I've been doing this for eight years. I'll

go back and check the first podcast. One of the really big stories that you and I have covered

over the years is how cheap green energy has become. Whether you like green stuff,

whether that is in the country that you live becomes politicized or not, adding green generation

to the grid, not just in China. A lot of the technology is in China, but everywhere is by

far the cheapest. Now, to add energy generation to the grid, to do that with renewables. It's a

really awkward fact for people that are bankrolled by the oil industry and the fossil fuel industry.

And so that matters for electric vehicles because it cuts wholesale prices. So 100 gigawatts of wind

on our grid. Obviously, there's interconnects around Europe, so it affects everybody, brings

wholesale prices down, underpinning the argument for driving EV. Right, let's talk about Polestar

finishing off. They will launch a new BST model. Polestar is going beast mode late this year,

early next year. So there's the Polestar 2 BSTs. There's two of those actually. And so

not many on AutoTrader. Either there's not many in circulation or the people that have got them,

keep them. I may or may not have email alerts set up for Polestar 2 BSTs. Not that I'm going to get

one. I can't afford one, but just saying. The car will use one of the existing models. So it

probably won't be a Polestar 2. So be something else. There's some high-performance stuff around

that's doing really interesting things. Arnic 5 and 6N are the front runners. Hyundai are doing

like Kia GT models are really good as well. Further up the ladder, BMW and Audi are pouring

money into high-performance, Tesla's performance models have always been really good. And finally,

now with this electric M that BMW are talking about, that's going to be a beast as well.

So Polestar said, right, anything you can do, we can do better. We'll enter beast mode. BST has

formed. It's already turned out uprated versions of the Polestar 2. And now they've promised beast

mode on the Polestar 6. That's a roadster. And they will look at the Polestar 5 that was shown in

Munich last year with 900 horsepower. That's their quickest model and probably an obvious

candidate for BST. Although it won't be sold in America. The newer Polestar 3 and 4 also sit

pretty early in their life cycles as well. Maybe there's scope for adding BST models to those as

well. That's your podcast for today. Thank you for listening. Thank you to our premium partners,

National Car Charging on the US mainland and the Loha Charge in Hawaii and Test EV, Avalos

trusted partner for independent EV battery health testing in Australia and New Zealand. Have a good

and see you tomorrow. And remember there's no such thing as a self charging hybrid.

Total amaze balls. Take your first little step to healthy.

Search NHS Healthy Choices Quiz to get a score and a plan that's right for you.

DAILY: Kia Facelifts Niro EV, Porsche Plug & Charge and Bentley’s First EV Takes Shape | 25 Jan 2026

About this episode

Volvo EX60

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from EV News Daily - Technology and Business of EVs