00:32
Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi-agentic AI.
00:37
They are already deployed one.
00:39
It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping.
00:43
Using self-reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks, it doesn't just help
00:48
buyers find a car they love.
00:50
It helps schedule a test drive, get pre-approved for financing, and estimate trading value.
00:56
Advanced, intuitive, and deployed.
00:58
That's how they stack.
00:59
That's technology at Capital One.
01:02
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01:33
Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi-agentic AI.
01:38
They are already deployed one.
01:40
It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping.
01:43
Using self-reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks, it doesn't just help
01:48
buyers find a car they love.
01:50
It helps schedule a test drive, get pre-approved for financing, and estimate trading value.
01:56
Advanced, intuitive, and deployed.
01:58
That's how they stack.
01:59
That's technology at Capital One.
02:02
Welcome back to EV News Daily.
02:05
Today, Mercedes updates the EQS, Nissan reveal the Duke EV, and Europe EV sales hit a march
02:13
Plus they tuned later in the show while telling you why Volvo is taking the lead in electric
02:17
heavy-duty trucking.
02:18
Over on EV News China today, we're talking about VW's China EV slump, X-Pung's GX interior.
02:26
That's the one that looks a lot like a Range Rover.
02:28
It's a full announcement tomorrow, by the way, in China.
02:32
There's like a third of the sticker price of a Range Rover, though.
02:36
Jim Farley, Ford's boss, warning on China EVs on Fox and Friends, a TV show in America.
02:44
That could also be a story here, by the way, on EV News Daily.
02:47
One of those stories that I have to put somewhere, so I put it on EV News China because this
02:51
show was already half an hour long today, but it's basically the boss of Ford warning
02:55
a lot about how Chinese EVs, if they're allowed into America, could destroy domestic manufacturing,
03:01
how there's issues around security and cameras and data logging and all those kind of things.
03:06
Over on our spin-off podcast, EV News China, in the same feed as this.
03:10
All the advice I'm kind of given by the podcast experts is one podcast feed, multiple shows
03:15
Some people say, oh, I can't EV News China and briefly be separate podcasts, apparently
03:20
not the best way to do it, or the big kind of publishers do it.
03:24
They have one feed, as it were, to subscribe to, and then you sort of just pick and choose
03:28
the podcast within it to listen to.
03:30
So either way, that'll be waiting for you if you want to have a listen to what's happening
03:34
More than a quarter of the Mercedes-Benz EQS has now been newly developed, reworked
03:41
Mercedes officially calls it an update, but the evidence suggests something a lot more
03:47
This is the biggest change to the car since its launch in 2021.
03:51
The most immediate gain is the range.
03:54
Let's talk about that.
03:56
On the rear wheel drive, EQS 450 Plus, big battery.
04:02
It's 475 miles of WLTP range.
04:06
That's bladder busting, if ever I heard it.
04:09
It's almost a thousand kilometers.
04:11
It's a 13% improvement over the outgoing model, and yeah, that's up there with Lucid Air Grand
04:16
Touring, which is Europe's longest range EV at the moment.
04:19
EPA equivalent, I don't know.
04:22
It would be more than 400 miles, definitely 650 kilometers maybe.
04:27
The dual motor variant does 544 miles.
04:32
Both figures, traced back to new battery chemistry, usable capacity actually rises from 118 to
04:38
122 kilowatt hours.
04:40
Same pack, physical pack, no change in weight.
04:43
Mercedes achieved that by switching to silicon oxide graphite composite anodes, they say.
04:49
Lifting both gravimetric and volumetric, energy density.
04:53
There's also less cobalt.
04:55
The electrical architecture is the other big headline.
04:57
They've moved it from a 400 to an 800 volts architecture.
05:01
That means the EQS goes from 200 to 350 kilowatts of its peak charging.
05:06
That doesn't tell the whole story, though.
05:08
It comes with weight savings, of course, 800 volt, 350 is pretty much the ceiling of most
05:15
Obviously, you can get faster.
05:17
But compatibility with 400 volt chargers remains by splitting the pack virtually in two halves,
05:24
each accepting 175 kilowatts simultaneously.
05:28
What the higher voltage setup does, and bigger isn't always better, but it often is, it means
05:33
you can hold the charge curve higher for longer.
05:35
And a more consistent charge rate, at least 10 to 60, I would say.
05:41
In practical terms, the EQS is going to add 200 miles in 10 minutes.
05:46
And frankly, that's brilliant.
05:47
The drivetrain is also reworked.
05:49
New electric motors, they're smaller, more efficient, more durable.
05:53
On the all-wheel drive models, the front motor is a dedicated boost unit with a disconnect
05:59
So if you don't need the front motor, it won't turn on.
06:03
The rear axle has a two-speed gearbox now, think Tycon, if you like.
06:07
A short first gear is all about that launch performance, a long second gear for efficiency.
06:13
Regen braking is up by 33%.
06:16
It'll pull in almost 400 kilowatts of regen power.
06:20
Mercedes says the system virtually handles all braking events or deceleration events,
06:26
as they call it, without the friction brakes.
06:29
And that's a good thing.
06:31
The EQS is also the first production car from a German manufacturer with full steer-by-wire.
06:37
The system removes any kind of mechanical steering column and replaces it with virtual
06:42
linkage, cutting weight, frees up space.
06:46
Of course, there's safety concerns as well, and also practical concerns.
06:50
Now, if you opt for the steer-by-wire, you can also get a yoke, like Tesla, obviously,
06:56
in place of a conventional steering wheel.
06:59
The lock-to-lock rotation is 270 degrees, and the flatter design also improves sight
07:09
I've never used one in a modern EV, so I can't comment.
07:13
I've never driven a Cybertruck, because I don't know how well it works, but my friends
07:17
that have driven owned a Cybertruck said, yeah, it's fine, you get used to it.
07:20
You retrain your muscle memory.
07:23
It means you can see the driver's display, you can enter and leave the car easier.
07:28
Some people are very anti-yoke.
07:30
I'm very much on the fence until I've lived with one for several months.
07:34
The system operates with a 10-degree rear axle steering and uses redundant signal
07:40
paths, they say, in the event of total failure of the electrical system.
07:43
Rear axle steering and individual braking for each wheel is maintained.
07:48
Steer-by-wire not available today at launch, coming in a few months, they say.
07:55
The chassis gains new software.
07:57
There's the new suspension system called Airmatic from Mercedes-Benz.
08:00
You'll get that on the new electric GLC, the new plug-in hybrid S-class as well.
08:06
Using cloud data, talk about EVs being connected, so it uses all of the cloud data to pool
08:15
other miles driven by Mercedes drivers so it can prime its dampers before a road surface
08:23
changes, even before a pothole arrives or a speed bump.
08:27
It draws on what's so-called car 2x, so car 2 something else.
08:33
Mercedes vehicles will pool the data and alert each other about road hazards ahead as well.
08:39
A new automatic reversing function will help go into tight spaces, bi-directional charging
08:44
is now included vehicle to grid and vehicle to home, but again, that comes later over
08:50
The in-house operating system, MBOS, is all part of that.
08:53
EQS retains its flagship status as a test bed really as well.
08:57
Mercedes confirming that, steer-by-wire, cloud suspension, vehicle sharing between Mercedes-Benz
09:04
cars as you're driving down the road, all coming to future electric C-classes, E-classes,
09:11
All right, that's a big update to that car.
09:13
Also, another new car released today, reveal at least today, Nissan has unveiled the third
09:19
generation Duke and it's fully electric.
09:23
It's going to be on sale exclusively in Europe next year.
09:27
It'll be built in Sunderland in the northeast of the UK.
09:31
The new car turns the concept, the so-called hyperpunk concept from 2024 into a production
09:39
Angular, polygon design, Nissan positions the Duke as a bold guy.
09:45
It does look actually pretty spiky, pretty funky.
09:48
I think it used to it.
09:49
A more sportier option than the new Nissan, leave for the Aria, aimed at buyers who want
09:55
Nissan's planned to replace the combustion engine Duke entirely, but they're going to
09:59
keep the petrol version or hybrid version around a little bit longer.
10:01
Under the skin, Duke EV uses the same platform from Renault Nissan, which is CMF EV platform.
10:07
The leaf, for instance, obviously the same platform, also made in the same place in Sunderland,
10:13
will share the same underpinnings as the Duke.
10:16
But the Duke will be a much more, I'd say, kind of sporty looking, lifestyly choice than
10:22
Both are good new cars.
10:23
Leaf does come with two batteries, so 52 or 75 kilowatt hours if, and they haven't announced
10:29
it by the way, if the larger battery pack comes with a smaller Duke form factor, well,
10:34
that could be almost 400 miles of range.
10:36
CMF platform supports dual motor, but Duke could be dual single motor.
10:42
I would think front wheel drive, like the leaf, matching the leaf powertrain.
10:46
So over 200 horsepower, very usable, 7, 8 seconds, 0 to 60.
10:50
That's not what this car is all about.
10:52
100 miles an hour top speed.
10:54
The Duke is enormously important for Nissan's sales figures.
10:59
Some would say, perhaps hyperbolic, you decide to Nissan's very survival as a company.
11:07
All right, let's talk about Europe's EV sales, a huge bit of news today.
11:12
Purebev and plug-in hybrid, and I guess we talk about EREV in there as well.
11:16
Now, registrations in Europe reached a monthly all-time high of 540,000 units last month
11:24
That is up 37% on the same month last year.
11:27
That's according to benchmark mineral intelligence.
11:30
Global EV registrations up 3% to 1.7 million last month.
11:36
The timing matters.
11:38
The US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28th of February and immediately and continues to
11:45
disrupt key shipping routes, carrying around 20% of global oil supplies.
11:52
Fuel costs have risen sharply in many markets, not only in Europe,
11:57
but in many parts of Asia.
11:59
We've talked about Australian fuel shortages.
12:02
We see Irish fuel protests over recent days.
12:06
Don't need to go into that on this podcast.
12:08
We see petrol, an average of about $4.20, maybe a little bit under diesel,
12:16
heading towards $6 per gallon in the US.
12:19
And obviously, many states on the coasts are much higher,
12:23
particularly the Western states are very high.
12:26
But the US average is up.
12:28
It was going to be up anyway because of spring break and more travel.
12:31
But if you look at the year-on-year prices in America, it's stark.
12:37
So yeah, the US has its own oil supply, but it plays global prices, doesn't it?
12:42
So these are really interesting times to look through that lens.
12:47
Now, many articles I've read over the last few weeks directly link higher fuel prices to
12:53
more EV sales, more interest, more data points like searches and lease inquiries.
13:00
I'm a little less convinced of that argument, only because EV purchases,
13:05
whether that is a purchase, a loan agreement, which can take time to get your finances in order,
13:09
a leasing agreement.
13:11
I don't think it's the work of a moment.
13:13
I think if you were ready to go to, as many say, pull the trigger,
13:18
not keep on that phrase, but ready to go, then maybe it got you over the line.
13:24
I think we need to wait longer to see.
13:26
But lots of articles say, well, higher petrol prices.
13:28
Everyone's buying EVs now.
13:31
Let's temper it a little bit.
13:33
Hey, look, I'm here to sing the praises of EVs,
13:36
but it'll also be a little bit sensible about it as well.
13:40
Europe had a big advantage because the charging supply has been keeping pace.
13:45
Utilities like Iberdrola in Spain, EDF also reporting record installations of DC charging
13:53
Governments in Europe are fast-tracking funding this year to meet rising demand in the UK.
13:56
4,000 new high-powered charges added in the first quarter of this year.
14:00
It's another 4,000 high-powered places to charge,
14:04
double the same time last year.
14:07
That eases a big barrier.
14:09
Tabin, it does two things.
14:11
It means you can charge your car and anecdotally,
14:14
as I don't do many miles anymore as I work from home doing this for you.
14:18
But when I do get out and about, I don't even worry about where to charge anymore.
14:23
Just jump in the car and head off on the travels,
14:25
which we've done over the Easter break and my holidays with the kids.
14:31
Now, I know that I'm a little more EV-fluent than some,
14:35
but I'm not looking at where we're charging in advance
14:38
because I kind of know where we're going.
14:40
But also, the second thing I think it does
14:43
is when combustion car drivers,
14:46
I'm not talking about the never-bevers,
14:48
people who, for whatever fanatical reason, hate us EV drivers,
14:51
but just the average driver who will be driving an EV one day,
14:55
because everybody will, as we know,
14:57
then they see lots of charges all being used.
15:01
Then I think it does a really important job.
15:03
So this is interesting times.
15:06
GFK reporting that online EV searches about 90%
15:10
since the conflict began for EVs.
15:12
We'll take a break.
15:13
We'll talk Kier and France and more.
16:10
Advanced, intuitive, and deployed.
16:13
That's how they stack.
16:14
That's technology at Capital One.
16:18
Well, welcome back to the podcast.
16:20
Kier has confirmed a 2027 launch for its cheapest EV.
16:25
They've been calling it the codename the BHATCH.
16:27
This is effectively the EV-1.
16:29
EV-1 will sit below EV-2.
16:32
Sounds like an obvious thing to say.
16:34
Targeting the same part of the market as a BYD Dolphin,
16:38
the MG4 Urban, the Great Wall Motors Aura,
16:43
and probably below the Renault 5, I would say.
16:49
Think Kier Picanto.
16:51
That is in Europe pricing expected to be 25,000, 20,000 euros.
16:57
That's around $40,000 or below 20,000 pounds.
17:00
Kier builds the EV-1 as the first software defined vehicle
17:05
Under the skin, 400-volt version of each EMP.
17:07
You won't be surprised to hear developing the underpinnings
17:11
with the smaller Hyundai sibling.
17:14
Two battery options could come if they can fit the big pack in,
17:17
either the 42 or the 61 kilowatt hour pack.
17:21
If they can squeeze in the big pack,
17:23
well, that would be 500 kilometers plus of range
17:26
in a small segment vehicle.
17:28
Possibly even replacing a petrol-powered Picanto.
17:32
We'll wait and see.
17:33
Good news in France.
17:34
They're going to launch the third phase
17:35
of their social leasing program in June.
17:38
A quota is 50,000 leases,
17:40
aiming to help low-income households switch to EV
17:43
at a very low cost.
17:45
Rising fuel costs has sped up the discussion around the agenda.
17:49
Prime Minister Sebastian Leconu,
17:52
announcing it as part of a wider set of energy measures,
17:56
setting out the cost case in plain terms.
17:58
He said the average EV can run at two euros per 100 kilometers
18:04
That's 11 euros per 100 kilometers.
18:08
Clearly, you know that.
18:09
Depends on where you charge.
18:10
If you're always DC fast charging in Europe,
18:13
but I don't know, a euro or a pound per kilowatt hour
18:16
in some of the DC charges on the motorways,
18:19
then yeah, that's not going to be any cheaper to drive
18:22
than finding a cheap petrol station.
18:25
If you can charge at home, off-peak,
18:28
even off-peak DC charging and get a good rate,
18:30
then you make big savings.
18:31
France has paired that demand push
18:33
with other industrial goals,
18:35
avoiding reliance on imported vehicles.
18:37
The government said they want Renault and Stellantis
18:40
to produce 400,000 electric cars a year by 2027.
18:44
That should be a million by 2030.
18:46
The wider plan doubles annual state support
18:49
from 5.5 billion euros in France
18:51
to 10 billion euros through 2030
18:54
and targeting fossil dependence on heating as well.
18:57
The package treats electrification as energy security.
19:03
Replace imported fossil fuels with domestically made electricity.
19:07
Obviously France is pretty much mostly nuclear generation anyway.
19:10
Heating is at the center of the plan too.
19:12
Are they going to ban gas heating in new buildings this year?
19:15
Also planning to phase out gas heating
19:17
in two million social housing units.
19:20
By 2030, France wants to add a million
19:22
domestically made heat pumps.
19:24
That matters because heat pumps cut demand and fuel use,
19:28
delivering between two and maybe up to four units of heat
19:32
per unit of electricity.
19:34
I'm sitting here in my office at the bottom of the garden
19:37
with my heat pump air conditioner working
19:40
and it's kept me toasty all winter.
19:43
In fact, it is working.
19:43
It's a bit chilly outside today,
19:44
but when it gets warmer here,
19:46
maybe for the day in the UK that it heats up,
19:49
it'll turn into an air conditioner and cool me down.
19:52
And it costs nothing at all to run.
19:55
The shift from gas heating to heat pump
19:57
marks a structural reduction in energy demand in France.
20:01
And we'll do the same when the gas boiler finally gives up
20:04
and I can't afford, now that I just do this as a living
20:07
and I gave up my full-time job to bring up the kids,
20:12
we certainly can't afford to replace the gas boiler that works.
20:16
But when it gives up the ghost,
20:17
then yeah, of course we'll get a heat pump from Octopus
20:19
and it'll go straight in the same place.
20:22
Except outside the kitchen wall,
20:24
whereas the gas boiler is inside the kitchen.
20:26
How it works with our solar thermal and our solar PV.
20:32
Yeah, that's all TBC.
20:35
Maybe it won't be Octopus that we use
20:36
because they've got a bit of a one-size-fits-all.
20:39
But either way, either way, we'll do that, same as France.
20:44
Let's talk about, so energy security
20:45
is a really big part of the conversation.
20:48
But what about just low cost?
20:50
This is a bit about renewables that I never understand.
20:54
When it gets politicized,
20:57
because oil, gas, fracking, coal, all that kind of stuff.
21:03
Different political parties make a really big meal of it.
21:07
But those are the political parties that I thought would say,
21:10
we can save you money by doing this.
21:14
But how the ideologies have worked out,
21:18
my life is too short to try and figure it out.
21:21
I don't quite understand it, but either way,
21:24
the United States is a great example of that.
21:26
For instance, solar power is now taking over the grid.
21:30
In fact, the US Energy Information Administration
21:34
put out their forecast to say that solar will be 17% higher
21:38
on the grid this summer than last summer.
21:41
Linking that to growing capacity additions.
21:44
Developers are planning record solar additions
21:46
in the United States, and wider build-out points the same way
21:49
with wind generation also growing.
21:51
But solar will grow from 293 billion kilowatt hours last year
21:56
to 415 billion kilowatt hours by 2027.
22:01
Coal is going the other way.
22:03
Coal generation in the first half of this year
22:06
will fall 10% in the USA.
22:08
In the second half of the year, it'll fall 6% again.
22:11
The shift in new building is really stark.
22:13
Independent analysis of the data suggests over 90%,
22:17
up to 99% in some data points,
22:20
of new US generation will be solar wind and battery storage.
22:27
And it's because of solar's cost advantage.
22:30
Nothing else is cheaper to install.
22:33
If you want to put something in that makes you energy independent,
22:36
but also to charge your EV in the cheapest possible way,
22:40
and also to power your country,
22:41
then solar is the cheapest way to do it.
22:44
And yet, I come back to how I started this story.
22:48
Ideologically, there is a lot of political gain from,
22:53
you know, dig baby dig and coal and oil and embracing
22:58
like the old fashioned ways of generating energy.
23:02
It certainly gets certain bases.
23:04
I would say the MAGA base quite stirred up and passionate about that,
23:08
which is above my pay grade.
23:10
Because surely you just want to have the cheapest energy for your country.
23:16
It's why, and we've seen a big election in Hungary over the weekend,
23:21
and a big shift of politics there.
23:24
And until now, Hungary's part of the EU really embraced cheap Russian energy.
23:32
And whilst I understand the politics around that of people being frustrated in the EU,
23:37
that Hungary stymies EU plans and is very much a backdoor into Russia,
23:42
they've done what's right for their people,
23:44
which is cheap Russian energy.
23:45
Now, I'd rather it's full of renewables,
23:48
but Hungarians pay very little for their energy because of that.
23:52
So, I don't know, like if the cheapest thing to do is to put solar everywhere.
23:57
If you're a politician, why wouldn't you do it?
23:59
Like I say, above my pay grade.
24:02
Finally, Volvo Trucks will finish us off today,
24:04
widening its battery electric truck range with two launches.
24:08
A long hauler, the FH Aero, and new generations of the FH FM and FMX Electric.
24:13
The headline model is the one I started with the FH Aero, 700 kilometers of electric range.
24:19
This is for long haul work.
24:21
The new E-axle from Volvo with dual electric motors and a six speed gearbox.
24:26
460 kilowatts of power, 48 tons payload.
24:30
Sorry, 48 tons combined weight and 28 tons payload.
24:36
So answering the complaint about electric trucks, which is too little range and too little payload.
24:42
Well, this is solved.
24:44
Charging is on the megawatt charging system or standard MCS.
24:49
So this is 700 kilowatts of charging power.
24:52
It's a 50 minute stop to charge the battery 20 to 80,
24:55
but that does fit in line with the mandatory European driver rest periods.
25:00
Anyway, CCS, it'll charge a 350.
25:04
Also, they've added power takeoff for things like refrigerants
25:07
and trailers that need to be kept cool and auxiliary equipment,
25:10
which removes the need for diesel driven units.
25:14
Alongside that, they've got new regional distribution, urban construction, refuse, utility,
25:21
specialist options as well with more range and more power takeoff too.
25:27
As Volvo pushes electric heavy hauling even further.
25:33
And that's your podcast for today.
25:34
Thanks for listening.
25:35
Thanks to our premium partners as always, National Car Charging on the US mainland
25:38
and the Low Heart Charge in Hawaii.
25:40
And Test EV, Avalu's trusted partner for independent EV battery health testing
25:44
in Australia and New Zealand.
25:46
Have a good and see you tomorrow.
25:47
And remember, there's no such thing as a self charging hybrid.
