Ep 100: EV2 price shock, Honda leg it (again) & we hit 100! ⚡🎉

Hello and welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour, a podcast about the world of EVs brought to

you by the team at electrifying.com Yes, welcome. We have a very special episode for

you today because we are celebrating a big birthday. We're actually two big birthdays,

but we'll do this one first because, I mean, none of us are actually that old yet, but

we're celebrating a 100th birthday today, aren't we, Ginny?

That is not my 100th birthday. No, no, no, what I'm saying is today is also your birthday that

we're recording, so first of all, happy birthday, but also there's a 100th birthday that we're

also celebrating. We are, we're celebrating the 100th birthday of the podcast, not my 100th

birthday, just to make that really, really, really clear to everybody. But it is two birthdays,

it's also your birthday, Ginny, and you're working. I always work on my birthday, so I don't know

what I'm doing wrong. So yeah, I'm here on the Volvo ES90 launch in a car that made the top

three nominations for World Luxury Car of the Year for 2026. So if you're going to do a podcast

from the back of the car, do one that's luxurious. That's what I thought. I've got my panor roof,

I've got my reclining seats, my heated seats are on because it's a bit chilly here. Yeah.

I am joining you from here. Absolutely stunning. And talking of luxurious,

Mike has basically been on holiday pretty much every day this year, but you are,

are you joining us from holiday, Mike? Well, in keeping with the birthday theme,

it was my birthday last week and shows Ginny and my different approaches to life in so much as my

birthday was last Thursday and I'm still here in Mallorca. So yes, I've been working. I mean,

I think the trendy phrase these days is digital nomad, isn't it? So which means basically you

go with a laptop and sit in a coffee shop. So I've been working that. Apologies in advance if you

hear some music drifting in the background because the apartment I booked in Mallorca is

worryingly close to the cathedral, which you might be able to see through the window here.

But there's also a busker down below who only knows two songs. So if you hear a

careless whisper or imagine by John Lennon, I hope we don't get a copyright strike on it.

I don't think we will because he's terrible. We should be okay.

Can I check something else into the mix? Yeah. It's Easter. It's Easter. Happy Easter everybody.

Happy Easter everyone. Have we all stuffed our faces already or what's the deal?

Absolutely. Eggs, eggs, eggs, eggs, eggs. And we're going to be talking Easter eggs later.

Yes. Yes, we are. Yes. So I know that Mike has mainly been busy driving his, well,

his sunlander and ordering pina coladas for the last sort of week or so.

Did you squeeze any cars in amongst the pina coladas, Mike?

It has been noted that I've had a call from either you or Ben at 6.30 Spanish time,

which has got a 5.30 UK time. Just to double check, I'm not, there's no sound of clinking

glasses or tapas, plates in the background. So yeah, it hasn't gone unnoticed. But no,

I haven't seen many cars. No. And you know what? It's because it's in the old town of Palma.

It's lovely. There's no cars. And I shouldn't say this as a car journalist, but it's quite nice to

go somewhere where there isn't cars. And the cars that here are generally hybrid and electric. So

it's very nice. Nice. Super nice. I've got a present for you too. And it's not really a present, but

I've created a little sting for us for the 100th episode.

I hope you don't mind me playing it. I've got the band back together and I'm going to play it for

you now. See if you like it.

Oh my goodness. Also, shout to you for the mention of Ginny's Wifi. It's always Ginny's

Wifi on this blooming block of cars. Actually, that's not too batches worse than me. Yeah,

that's great. That Ginny's Wifi is worse than mine. That is absolutely brilliant, Mike. So

that's what you've been doing this week. Yeah, spending too much time on a jingle generator

and trying to write something. Yeah. Did you get the masker guy outside to sing that? Is that what

you sound like? You wouldn't recognize that. I think this is a record where like nearly 10

minutes in and we actually haven't talked about a car yet. Oh, okay. We probably should shouldn't

sell that. Yeah. Okay. Right. Let's go. Let's go with Mike first because there were, well,

there's been a lot of embargoes that have been lifted this week. So Mike hit me first.

Well, the one that's caught my eye the most is the Twingo. I mean, we're of a vintage that we

can remember the original 90s Twingo, less so that kind of middle one, which I saw a picture of

yesterday and thought, Oh gosh, I'd completely forgotten that that sort of joint venture they

did with, you know, with smart. So yeah, I love the new Twingo and I look at it and I think that

is that's a bit of me. And I'm very envious of Nicky who went out to drive it and I watched that

and you get those videos where you just watch and you think, yeah, I felt that with the Renault 5,

I feel it even more, I think, with Twingo. Can I just point something out there, Mike,

that may have slipped, you know, slipped by you that when you said you remembered it,

Nicola was quite keen to point her finger up and say, no, I don't know. We all tried to provide

photographs of us in the 90s for that video. Nicola is a child which really depressed me.

I'm like a full grown adult already reviewing cars. Nicola is a little girl. I was like five.

So don't just say stop it. I know. Batch sent a picture of some of him and I just thought he'd

got it mixed up. He'd put a picture of his nephew or something like that. It was him.

Yeah. Yeah. I remember the 90s. If someone said when was the 90s, I'd say about six,

seven years ago. It's definitely not. What do you like about the Twingo, Mike? Because I do agree

with you. I think it's definitely giving me Renault 5 vibes. I'm not sure I love it as much as the

Renault 5, but I haven't driven it yet. What is it? Is it the nostalgia that they've done well?

What is it that you like about it? I think it is the style. It's that kind of

reinvention. I think they've done that fantastically well in terms of capturing the

sort of spirit in the same way the 500, the new 500, the electric 5 and captured the spirit of

the original without copying any exact detail. But it's also the kind of tech story behind it.

That's really about the 700 parts in a Twingo or something compared to two and a half thousand in

a Clio. That sort of laser-like focus on reducing cost and mass and the design. It's just clever

design, isn't it? I think that's what appeals to me on that car. The fact that it looks great,

I can't wait. I mean, it's just a point to go on the configurator this morning and it's not live

yet, so otherwise I'd have been there. You have spent a holiday, Mike. Yeah, it's been a holiday.

Treat yourself, Mike. Jenny, what have you been driving? Well, I've been driving this, the ES90,

which I've already driven before, so I did a first drive of this. I think it was earlier this year.

And it is a lovely thing. And I think just being in the back of this just reminds me that I think

of all those sort of premium brands now, if you look at BMW and Mercedes and Audi,

I think Volvo are doing just lovely interiors. I love the interior on the forthcoming EX60.

It's absolutely beautiful and it is so plush in the back as well. So, often I think all the nice

touches, like the lovely sort of, you know, the ambient lighting, you kind of lose it in the,

you know, it's all in the front, but you kind of get all of that as well. So, it's just, yeah,

a super thing, very nice drive. And, yeah, I do love the interior. But I've been,

I've actually been out to drive the Kia EV2. Oh, yes, yeah, I saw your video. Yes, I did.

It did, which I think is a cracking little car, actually. And I liked it more than I thought

I was going to do. I think Kia's interiors, I'm getting a bit bored of now. They've got to just,

I know, right? They've got to start specking something other than the grey interior.

Because every Kia I get in now, it's just like a kind of smaller version of the bigger ones.

And I would like a bit more colour and a bit more, you know, choice going on in the interior.

Moving aside from that, it's a very cute thing. But what actually impressed me was how efficient

it was. I think when the first edition comes out, this is going to be the car that will offer the

most range for the money in the UK, because it's going to start at £26,995. You get

281 miles of range for that. However, that car gets the full government grant. Well,

we think it will. And in the meantime, whilst that's been decided, Kia is offering £3,750

off that car. Cool. So that, I mean, that is a lot of range for the money. And what impressed me

was the efficiency. So driving it out there, it was in Portugal, it wasn't actually that warming

Portugal, drove it on motorway, drove it on some busy a roads, drove it on, you know, faster

country roads, a little bit around town. So a real kind of good mix. And I was getting bang on

WLTP efficiency, claim efficiency. And I reckon about 50% of the driving that I did that day was

on motorway. So I think it's going to be very efficient. It's going to be affordable. And you're

going to get a lot range for the money. And then the other one that I've been driving as well was

I've been in the BMW iX3 and a car which has incidentally just been named World Car of the Year

as of today. So electrifying car of the year. The iX3 is another car that is incredibly efficient.

So again, driving that, I was getting very close to official range in that. So I hope that this is

a trend that we're going to see more of is cars actually meeting their claimed ranges.

Because it's been a real bug there for all of us, hasn't it? That you get a time to be alive.

No, I know, God, we need to get out more, don't we? Efficiency is what throws me on my birthday.

Yay, birthday efficiency. Yeah, I don't know what you reckon to the Kia mic. It's good range

for the money, isn't it that? I like, I share your reservations about interior, especially on the

smaller cars, because I think smaller cars can be funkier and that hasn't necessarily translated

to. But yes, I think, I like the fact that Kia aren't afraid to put quite big batteries in small

cars. You know, ID2, that range is good. There's an incredible 200 mile plus range. And also you've

got the EV3 with a huge battery as well, so you can get nearly 300 miles of range. For me, that

seems to be a good thing for getting people into EVs who are scared that they're not going to have

enough range. And I think Kia does that very well. I mean, the EV3 is sold in like hotcakes,

sold like hotcakes, isn't it? I mean, my friend, my friend Maddie's just bought one. She was very

excited. She's been sending me loads of photos going, look what I bought, because I've been

watching all your videos and electrifying. So I was like, yes, good purchase. She's gone for a long

range air trim. That's what she's gone for. Yeah, that's the perfect one, isn't it? Yeah, nailed it.

And Nick, you've just not been thinking about efficiency at all, have you? You've just been

driving really bloody quick. Yeah. Like, where are your priorities, Nicola? Well, I like things that

go fast. And I found a thing that went really fast. So I have been driving the Porsche Cayenne

electric turbo. Now, I drove, I technically drove both. I drove the normal Cayenne and then I drove

the turbo. And honestly, feels like two completely different cars. So the normal Cayenne has like

400 and something horsepower off the top of my head. I can't remember, but it's 400 and something.

And it was a bit rolly and just felt really, really heavy. And then they sat me in the turbo,

and that has 1,156 horsepower. It does like 0 to 62 in two and a half seconds. And it is

stunning. It's stunning. My goodness. It's bloody beautiful. And I know that some people are a bit

like, oh, it's an SUV. You know, you shouldn't be putting performance stuff in an SUV. It's just

Porsche just trying to get money out of you and all that. But it's bloody good. And if you've got

that money, get it. That's all I can say. If you can afford 130 grand or whatever it is,

absolutely blooming guy. That thing is incredible. Incredible. Do you know what we should also give

a shout out to on performance is the new Jaguar GT. Because Vicky drove that, which I was so jealous

about. Oh my God, I was jealous. I could, I'd accepted to go and look at something that wasn't

as anywhere near as exciting as that already. So I couldn't go and drive it. So Vicky was like, oh,

go. She was really impressed. 1000 horsepower in that. So it's no slouch. But we've got a full first

drive of that on the on the electrifying.com. And there's also a short here on the YouTube channel.

But I've had a passenger ride in that car. Vicky is now driven it. We have both seen it.

Both of us are actually quite excited about that one. It's it's it was really I was really

impressed from the passenger seat. Vicky very impressed from the driver's seat. So I'm I know

we'll talk about it more on a forthcoming podcast. But I think we should give a shout out to that.

You know, yes, I agree. I've also been driving something that annoyingly I can't really tell

you much about. But there is there is a what you mean the car that you shot and then after you

shot it, they said no, you can't use any of that. So it's tricky when you do when you have to do a

cover drive, right? So we're talking about the new Škoda peak, which is the new seven seater

from from Škoda. It's going to be their new flagship car, right? So we got invited out. I

can't remember which country it was now where we went. But we got invited out and it was like

Lake Homo. You went to Lake Homo where it was windy and raining and thunder and lightning.

And we went out there and we got to drive the car for about half an hour at 50 kilometers per hour.

We filmed an entire video because we got to look at the production car, right? We got to see it.

I'm allowed to tell you that I got to see it. And then what we did afterwards was I was like,

well, this car is in camouflage, but I've seen it in the metal. And what you can expect is something

like this. And then filmed an entire video, an entire video. And then as we are taxiing to the

runway to take off to come back home, we get a text saying you can't you can't say what it might

look like. And I was sat there going, brilliant. Okay, well, that's my entire video gone. That's

great. So we had to turn it into a short in the end of just what it's like kind of to drive. It

was hard to tell you because we were only going 50 kph. So I couldn't tell you much about what it

was like to drive. But I could tell you a little bit about the batteries and things. And that's

pretty much it. But what I can say is I think when you're kind of comparing it to potentially the

Peugeot E5008 or even the Kia EV9, it's a nice middle sitter. Okay, so in terms of price,

and in terms of size wise, much smaller than the EV9 and price much cheaper than the EV9,

a little bit more expensive than the 5008, but drives nicer than the 5008 is the only one.

From what you can tell at 15 miles an hour. From my 20 minutes. You have extensive rigorous

road tests. Really detailed view, guys. Really good use of my time.

Where do we stand on this whole VW group thing? Because if you're regular listeners to the podcast

and you watch our videos and our shorts and you follow us on social, you will know that for the

past, what, three years, Mike, I think three years, we have been drip fed little bits and pieces

on one of these small VW group cars after the other. From the ID2 that became the ID Polo to

the ID Cross to the Cooper Reval to the Škoda Epic. It's been never ending. Never ending.

So first of all, you get a studio walk around of a concept car. And then you get invited to come

and drive the covered version, which means all the interior is completely covered up and the

outside is camouflaged. And then you get invited to a studio to see the production version of that

car. And then you get to drive the uncovered version of that car. And then that car then arrives

in the UK. And then you get invited to drive the same car in the UK. That's five things. That's

five things just for one single car. Sometimes you wouldn't drive the car. You drive the concept. So

six. You broke the concept. So that's seven. You've had seven experiences, which is one more

than most people. Nothing to be proud of there. Nothing to be proud of there, Nick. I had a great

time. I think it's too many things. I think it's too many things. It has got a bit to the point

where, yeah, I think they need to stop this now. I don't know another brand other than VW group

that does this quite to this extent. So normally you might see a concept, then you see the production

car and then you drive the production car. Occasionally there might be a covered prototype drive,

but not with all of them. So are you bored of it all yet, Mike? Are you still loving the whole

drip feeding? I mean, yeah, it catches me out because you say to me, can you do a script for

this or a thumbnail for that? And I think, well, I've already done that. Sure. No, it wasn't because

and it's interesting with the spy shot stuff. And then there's the covered cars because car

manufacturers have gone from, don't look at me to look at me, look at me, don't look at me,

and look at me, but don't talk about me. And it's never ending. And it's like you said,

it's kind of frustrating that on some launches you get, well, you can talk about that button,

but the one that's next to it, don't mention that. That's got separate embargo, that button,

because that does something else. So yeah, I'm just putting my heated seats back on because

I've got a question about the Volvo interior. Mike, have you got any news stories for us?

I have. Can I ask Junior a question first, please? No, no, it's not a complicated one.

I'm running the long term Volvo EX30 cross country at the moment. And the interior,

because you said the interior in that car, there's a long lead to this question, I appreciate.

You said it's very luxurious, very comfortable. Do you think that Volvo have

changed a bit from the EX30? Because the EX30 is lovely, but it's got an interior that was

designed by somebody who doesn't like humans, I think, because it's so austere in there.

Do you think they were stung by the criticism of that and sort of ramped it up a bit for future

ones? I think they are being very defensive of their decision making choice, I would say,

that that car was always about being a bit more utilitarian and Swedish, that this car is much

more, it's their luxury car, isn't it? It's their, you know, the high end, you know, top of the range,

premium saloon. So this was always going to be more luxurious. However, it is very interesting,

because on the Volvo EX60, which I have a first look video of here on the channel,

oh, there are some switches and some buttons, and there's a glove box that you can actually open

without having to press a button in a screen. So I'd say basically yes, Mike. I mean, they're not

perhaps saying that out loud, but I think when we will drive the EX60 in a couple of weeks and

definitely from that first look, it's like, oh yeah, okay, I get where they've gone,

they've kind of gone back, but lots of brands are doing that, lots of brands.

Yeah, they were all started because Tesla was the first brand to kind of take buttons out and

make everything quite simple and, yeah, not to get it. Sorry, Nicola, so go back to your earlier

question, news stories, yes. Mercedes, keeping with the premium brands, are about to launch an

EQS that will have a steer by wire system. Now, you've been to try it, Ginny, but I mean, I've

done, we've done a big Q&A on the site about steer by wire and is it safe? Should you choose it?

What's the advantages? What's the disadvantages? If you've flown on a plane in the last 20 years,

you've been, the pilot doesn't connect it to the, you know, the controls aren't necessary,

or we've been fly by wire in airbuses. So it's a technology that's very well-proven, but it's

taken a blooming long time to come to cars. But Mercedes, it sounds like a good system.

What's it like, Ginny? Have you tried it? You've tried it, haven't you?

Yeah, I tried it. I really liked it. I mean, it's, the thing for me is I'm not a massive person,

so I get in a lot of cars and there's a big steering wheel in front of me and it does feel

really big. And I think something that lots of women and smaller people can relate to.

What I loved was you've got in this big car, so it's in, it's in the EQS. It's not a small car

and you've got this lovely, very beautifully designed yoke steering wheel.

Feels so nice in my hands. It just feels like normal size. It's lovely.

You are pocket-sized.

I am. It's a pocket-sized steering wheel for a pocket-sized Ginny,

but what you get is the turning circle on it. So, you know, obviously, you know, the ratios on the

turning circle are incredible. So, you're maneuvering this, this very big car and I was doing like a

little slalom course and going roundabouts in it. You're doing it effortless. So, I really like that.

And then, I haven't tried it out at high speeds on the motorway, but the flip side of that is that

once you get to high speeds on the motorway, it gives you more stability and more control.

It took me a little, it takes you a little bit to get used to the first couple of times,

but I absolutely loved it. I would have it in any car that I own.

And you don't even, I mean, you're not thinking it's disconnected to a steering column. That's not

going through your mind when you're driving it. Of course, it's not because it doesn't really look

that different. So, yeah, I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I think what they were

very clever with at Mercedes is you're actually getting sort of feedback from the road as you're

driving, which of course isn't there because it's not connected to the road, but they're

they're using, you know, tech and AI to give you that feeling of feedback as well. So, you

actually still feel quite involved in what the car's doing. But I really liked it. I've either

of you tried it. I don't know. I know Vicky's tried it. She likes it. I don't know if you tried it.

I tried it in the polygon in the new Peugeot. Oh, the polygonal car, yes. So, it's going to end up

in the new E2. I wait, it's going to end up in all the new Peugeots, but their shape is more like a

like a kind of rectangle steering wheel with four circles, like along the top and in the corners.

And yeah, I tried it around a little sort of slalom course thing and I was like,

this is actually very satisfying. And then I tried to park and parking was a breeze.

Oh, I'm actually quite a big fan. Yeah. Have you tried it yet, Mike? I haven't, no. Tom tried it

because I was writing this Q&A. It suddenly threw it back. Tom drove that last year, I'm sure,

in the Lexus RZ450E. No, but that was three years ago. And when Tom did the thing, did that drive,

he said it was brilliant. Exactly the same feedback as you, Jenny. He said it was great

with the road feedback, even things like the lane keep assist were far more gentle and intuitive

because it's not tugging at actual physical steering column. But you still can't buy that car.

And when it was coming soon three years ago, it's still, you can, Japanese market, you can

specify, but for some reason it hasn't come to Europe. But I think it's going to be huge

in Europe because the Chinese manufacturer, I think it's five different Chinese manufacturers

have all agreed with the authorities in China and a set of standards for steer by wire. So that

will make, they, at the moment, they have to all individually go through all these type approval

and regulatory approval to get that system to be legal on their cars. But if they agree a standard

at, you know, like, like CCS is a standard, then they'll all have to build to that same rule book,

that same regulations, which will make it cheaper. So I think we'll see a lot coming because the

Chinese will be fantastic at building it down to price. But interesting, a lot of the Chinese

brands stuff are used by ZF, which is a German brand. So I think it's interesting. Do you think

it then makes it, it makes it cheaper and easier to switch it between left hand drive and right

hand drive? Yeah, yeah, you're only making one steering cold steering rack. It's going to make

huge difference. But also I was talking to the engineering team about it, and they were saying,

I was saying, presumably you don't even need a steering wheel. Because you don't, right? You could

have a games type controller. You could have a joystick. Stop it. Drive on around. You could.

And they're like, well, we don't want to do that yet, because we don't want to freak people out.

You know, we want it to have that familiar feeling. But yeah, you don't, you could have anything. You

could rather than just throwing it at me. I know. But anyway, I'm actually really excited

for more of us on the team to try that. So I think it's very cool. I've got a little

new story that I wanted to mention. I saw that, do you remember there was loads of

Huha about Sony doing a joint car with Honda? It was this joint venture and it was going to be

so incredible. And it was going to have all this technology and screens and an eye definition

sound. And I went to see it in Los Angeles at the LA show last year when I was out there.

And honestly, I can't think of a bigger let down. I think I was expecting something fabulous,

because it was it was Sony on the technology front. Yeah, they've got a mega screen. But honestly,

the hyper screen in a Mercedes is better. I thought and was better quality. And the only

thing that it seemed to do that was a bit different was it have this kind of digital display on the

front and you could program messages on it. So it was kind of like you could so you could program

like have a nice day. So are the road users or or it's them or when you're coming to school,

you could program here to pick up Jack advertising. You could advertise your company on it. I was

like, guys, this is like this was too much for me. Anyway, no surprises. That's been kind.

That's been kind. That's not happening. So I don't know what Honda are doing anymore with

electric cars, but they're definitely not doing the project with Sony. So yeah, that's gone.

Yeah, I don't know any Honda gossip. Is there any Honda gossip, Mike?

What's coming? I think perhaps they should call it the Sony you'll have to Walkman.

Oh, Mike, you can tell he's been on holiday. He's on top form today.

It's talking about joint ventures. If I can rescue this from the kind of, you know,

cracker jokes. It reminds me, you've got two great brands there, haven't you? How have they

managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Honda and Sony, you know,

it reminds me a little bit, which we're going back in time now, but we're talking about old

stuff, aren't we? There was a car called the Arna, which was a joint venture between Alfa

Romeo and Nissan. But they managed to seem to get it the wrong way round instead of getting,

because the idea was they were going to pull the best from both worlds. But they ended up with

Nissan doing the design. So it looked pretty boring. And they got Alfa to do the engineering

and the engine. So you ended up with this car that looked terrible. It was also desperately

unreliable. It's like somehow the message had got around the wrong way. And I feel like

the Afila, the Sony Honda joint venture is a similar sort of thing. Pick up the worst bits.

But the worst bit is, I think in the announcement it said,

Sony had said, so we can't do this anymore, because Honda's now not making the platform,

because they're not making electric cars, because they've dropped their, you know,

their family electric cars. And you're just like, wouldn't you've got that locked down before you

launched a JV that actually, you were pretty secure that you were going to have the use of a

platform anyway. Don't bring logic into this, please. At least we're doing well in Formula

1, aren't they? So maybe we'll move on from Formula 1, because they're just, yeah,

no one's having a good time over at Honda right now. But right, because it's Easter,

I wanted to pick out our favorite Easter eggs. I'm not talking chocolate. I'm not talking chocolate,

although for me, I'll have a bounty. Thank you very much. So I want you to pick out your favorite

Easter eggs that you've spotted in cars. So I'm going to kick this thing off, right? In the

Škoda Peak, which is the one that I couldn't really tell you much about, I did spot in the window,

in the main windscreen window, there's a little emblem of cyclists just heading up like they're

riding up the top of the window, which is a really nice nod to the Škoda cycling partnership.

So I was like, oh, that's nice. I'm going to mention that on the podcast. That's nice. I like

that. I like that. What have you got, Mike? Well, as you know, I've got a buzz and that is just full

of Easter eggs and things. It's hard to find. I mean, my favorite one, which possibly isn't the

most obvious one, is the sort of strap on the, when you open the sliding door at this above.

It's exactly the same design as the one that was in the original Beetle. It's fabric in the

Beetle and it's plastic now. But it's the same design with a sort of slight coat hook at the

top and everything. I mean, the car has got probably 15 or 20 or so Easter eggs in it.

I kind of wish they'd spent the time getting other bits right before they started.

Well, like the entertainment system and the software.

Yeah. Yeah. It would have been nice if they'd spent a bit more time doing that

than putting, packing it full of Easter eggs on screw covers and that sort of thing, which is,

I mean, the thing is, you get to see that screw cover quite a lot because you have to take the

door panels off quite a bit to reset the child locks. So someone has perhaps thought about that,

but yeah, it is. I've got one in this car actually. So in the ES90, there's a lovely light pattern

that's sort of ingrained into the, sort of designed into the dashboard. And in that,

the part of the light part pattern is Morse code for Volvo, which is very sweet.

And I think my favourite one in a concept car is May the Downforce be with you at the back of

the Hyundai Concept 3. So if you go right down under the diffuser, it's just got May the Downforce

be with you written out, which I love. But I think the best one ever, I think it's an Easter egg.

Fart mode in a Tesla. Come on. It's the best thing in the world, isn't it?

Are we allowed to class it as an Easter egg or is that just a gimmick?

I don't know. I'll let the audience be the judge of that. I mean,

literally, I went through about five years of my life where my son was a certain age,

where literally he would beg me to get Tesla loan cars in just so he could drive along and set

fart mode because it was utterly brilliant. So I don't know how old you are. Farts will always,

always be funny. Always, always be funny. So let's ask the audience, let us know what are

your favourite Easter eggs in cars podcast at electrifying.com. We'll do a follow up Easter

special. And also, am I allowed fart mode? Is it an Easter egg or is it, I don't know, a gimmick?

A gimmick. But isn't that a mix? I don't know. Mike, no? I think there's got to be a degree of

it hidden because I saw on somebody mentioned the baguette holder in the Renault 5. To me,

that's a feature. That's not a feature. In the Renault 5, you've got the little tag on the back

of the seat that's got all the images of the original Renault 5. That's an Easter egg. Yes.

Okay. So my fart mode is not an Easter egg then? No, it's just hidden. It's hidden. It's hidden.

You have to find it and switch it on. So yeah. And they don't tell you about it. All right,

I'll just go with May the Downforce be with you and Volvo written in Morse code then.

But let us know what your favourites are. Drop us a comment podcast at electrifying.com.

Stunning. Right. Mike, have you had a chat with Tom Barnard? Have we got a Barnard's bargain?

Yeah, he's telegraphed it in this morning. He sent it by carrier pigeon, which landed on this

window sill here with Tom's Barnard's bargain on it. I mean, it's a long old flight to hear from

Lute wherever he lives. Yes. Do you always thin pickings at the moment on the, maybe because

it's March, maybe because it's the registration's changed, maybe manufacturers are leasing off a

little bit, but there's not some fantastic. The only one I found, which I could kind of combine

you two with it as well was the Ford Capri. I know a car that you both love.

I'm very much. And they've afford talking to us again now since that when you

majored in Cortina. Anyway, I found a Ford Capri style. It's 52 kilowatt hours with a small battery,

36 months, 2,800 pounds down and it's 280 pounds a month. So I consider anything under 300 pounds

a month for a full-size pop car isn't bad. It's a big car. So that's the best I could find with

the Ford Capri. It's a lot of car for your money. You just got to maybe just cover over the badge

and you're good to go. Yeah, still no. I'm still there for me. I'm glad I've hit the mark with that

one. I'll send the pigeon back this week then. I'll send the pigeon back to Tom and say no.

If you wonder what we're on about. So when I first went to see the Ford Capri in studio,

I was devastated because it wasn't a Capri. I said to the designer, it's like,

it's got the same wind mirrors and doors as the Explorer. He was like, yes, yes. So we got very,

very upset about that because you like call it something else, mate. Don't call it a Capri.

So when Nicola went to drive it, we had a little badge made for you. Didn't we, Nicola?

What did the badge say? We stuck Mondeo stickers on it. If you're going to bring back a name,

bring back the Mondeo because that was also a cracking car. If you want to turn something

into an SUV, it will work on a Mondeo and Ford, Ford weren't very happy about it because then

when I went to the Ford Puma launch, it was like all the people from Ford were coming up and going,

what badges have you got this time, Nicola? I'm like, I don't have anything with me. I'm really sorry.

It's fine. We're all complicit. It was my idea. Mike had them made up, but you were just the one

who had to go out there and action it. You were like, you know, on the frontier. I don't mind.

I don't mind being thrown under the bus. It was very funny and it made for a good video. So there

what we got. So welcome to a new member of the gang at ES Derby 1477. First time watching this

podcast and truly love the conversation. So welcome ES Derby and welcome to our electric

virgin of the week. So this is at iFanLaPage1033. I think I read that right. Loving the show.

I've joined the club, got a second hand 22 plate Kia E Niro in December, had to include the price

of a charger in my finances, but loving the electric experience, getting between 3.2 to 4.6

miles per kilowatt hour driving around town, depending on whether the heating is on. We'll

also we're approaching spring, so hopefully we'll warm up soon. But yes, congratulations on getting

your first TV. Very nice. Absolutely. And if you are joining the club and our electric virgins,

do let us know and we'll give you a shout out. Send us an email podcast at electrifying.com

or you can also let us know in the comments below. We also have this is all around efficiency,

right? So we've got a message from at David Jones, JZ9SB who says the range of session

is becoming crazy. Let's be real. I would rather have a smaller battery and better efficiency.

250 to 300 miles with a fast charging speed is enough for the UK in my opinion. Yes, yes, yes,

agree, agree, agree. We've got just to stop being obsessed about it, haven't we?

Yes, I'd rather go car if it goes 650,000 miles in one charge.

But that that that that that line's changed, hasn't it? When I first bought my i3,

that's how I was terrible. I'm going to buy a car that does 200 miles. I wouldn't buy an electric

car. And then as all the 200 mile range car came out, then it was everyone else. I'm not going to

it can't do 300 miles. And now what are we up to? 500 miles? 500 miles now, yeah. But now we've

got 500 mile cars, so it's going to go up to six. If I can't drive to Aberdeen and back with a trailer,

then that's some non-interest. So on the subject of efficiency, we have another comment from Mike

or Mick A. Davis 660 says, we currently own an early Mercedes EQC. And one of the great advantages

of its lack of efficiency is its second hand price. It's still a wonderfully built car and on the

overnight electricity costs it only costs us £30 a month to run. Yeah, I mean, it's those early

sort of big executive cars, a great value now, aren't they? They really are. And we've had loads

of you getting in touch with your efficiency ratings of your cars because we are we're going to start

collecting them all. And Michael Kirkham emailed in with current efficiency numbers on current

and past electric cars. And goodness me, there is a list here. So Michael, I really, I think maybe

we should, you know, find out what you think of the cars as well, because you've had so many.

BYD C-Line 7 Excellence is at an Audi e-tron. Previous cars include Citroen E-Berlingo,

another Mercedes EQE, a Model S, Tesla Model S Long Range, getting about a bit. Honestly,

so we've got brilliant stats there that we're going to add into the spreadsheet. So you are

keeping the spreadsheet, aren't you, Nick, because you can pop those in the spreadsheet.

The efficiency spreadsheet. Yes, I've got it. Definitely. Yeah. From all the people that are

sending the efficiency numbers in, they're going in your spreadsheet. Yeah, that's, yeah,

send them to Director Nicola. We'll send them over to me and I will, I will add it to all of the

other things that I've definitely kept and am doing. It's fine. Okay. Should we move on while we,

while I try and find the spreadsheet within my laptop? So we've got a message here. This is

a used buying question. So we've got a message from Glenn. I'm going to go for Bal Brown. That's

what I'm going to go for pronunciation. I apologise if I've got that wrong. Who says,

Hi team, I am looking at going to full EV, but I'm happy to wait for my electric, my electric

looped supply to be changed before I can have a home charger fitted. However,

if I came across a car, which I felt was a good deal, is it viable to charge using public charging

and remain the same or even better price point, especially now the petrol prices are rising?

I'm looking at a McGann e-tech. Thanks, Glenn. Oh, okay. Basically, he doesn't want to jump at the

gun until he gets a home charger. And he's like, is it worth me just while I can find a good deal

on the on the McGann? Is it worth me just getting one and just doing public charging?

I think the problem is that whenever we've run the numbers on it, it really depends on what kind

of public charging you're doing. So if you're reliant on rapid chargers, your cost per mile,

sadly, because the government still blooming charges 20% that on public charging instead of

the 5% that on home charging, you know, as if you're not disadvantaged enough already by not

having these low off peak tariffs. Anyway, because of that, it ends up running, you can end up

costing you more per mile than a petrol car, but only if you're only using rapid charging. So if

you're able to kind of use, you know, AC charging, you're able to perhaps charge up overnight somewhere

locally. I think actually, it's still a really good time to make the switch because you will

definitely save money on that. And I would imagine as well that those figures on the rapid charging

have changed slightly now as we're seeing petrol prices increase. So I mean, I don't know, I don't

any other thoughts on that one might, what would be your two penneth on that? I would say two things.

I would say one, not all rapid charges are created equal. So if you if you're nearby or on one of

your regular journeys, you happen to be on a Tesla open charger, they are way cheaper, you know, 30,

40 cheaper to charge at a Tesla, the publicly open one. And also, it's hugely frustrating,

we come across quite a few people have had looped supplies where our house has been built and

another one next to it and it shares the supply from the road. So but what you might be able to do

is have a granny charger. And if you're in apps, if you know, if you only need to get 20 miles

overnight, something like that, then that would still work, you can still do that without having

to have a full seven kilowatt home charger. So I would I would say probably a mix and match really.

It may it may be that you can't do that. And you you'd you only travel past really expensive

90 per kilowatt hour chargers, in which case, yes, I wouldn't I wouldn't let it put you off.

There's obviously a plan in sight for you to get it fixed or get the car, get the house unlooped.

I would I would yeah, take the plunge. Yeah, if you see something like that, because deals don't

hang around forever. It's exciting. I do go for it. And then let us know, then you can be our

electric version of the week. Obviously set fire to your house. I'm plugging in a granny

charger. It didn't come from us. Okay, just yeah, might never say that. Before we wrap up.

Can I just throw into the mix? First of all, an apology from me to you two,

Ginny and Mike, for my very, very ranty voice note that I sent to the Electrifying

WhatsApp group earlier on this week. Because I say earlier on this week, I don't even know

what day is today. But I had to drive up to Luton Airport in my long term Polestar 4.

Oh, gosh, yeah, we're gonna we're just gonna finish on a little mini rant. All right. I think

this is a nice way to end. Okay, this Polestar 4 has been the bane of my life. Okay, the software

in this car is infuriating. And I am fully up to date with all of the software updates.

I get messages from Polestar saying, do you want to try this, try that, try and unlock

your profile, try and log it back in again, all this sort of stuff that should be fine now.

But this is now three times, three times in the, well, however many months that I've had this car,

which hasn't been a long time at all, three times that everything has gone dead within the car

while I'm driving it. So I was on the M25, I'm driving up towards Luton Airport,

and all of the screens go dead. The head up display stays on, but the driver's screen and the main

screen goes dead. And I was like, as if this is happening again, this is absolutely infuriating.

The driver's screen takes about 30 seconds to come back on again, the infotainment screen takes

about 15 minutes, and then you have no sound. And I'm talking about no indicator sounds, no nothing.

And I was livid that it's happened again. So I had to pull into Cobham services,

switch off the car, unlock it, and then wait for another 15 seconds, get back in the car.

It then wouldn't connect to my Apple Car Play because that's just really annoying.

And then I was trying to get Luton Airport onto the Google Maps, and it was like, what do you mean?

There's no such thing as Luton Airport. You're crazy, Nicola. What a strange thing to say.

And I'm just sad. Just the angriest, you know where your nostrils go just because you're so

livid with a bit of software in a car. The annoying thing is, right, this car,

sorry, this car, it's very, listen to me. Ginny, let me rant. So it drives perfectly fine,

okay? It's very wide. It drives perfectly fine. The battery has been great in terms of range.

It's been absolutely brilliant. I have had no issues with charging, none of that. The interior,

the materials is all really stunning. The software, the software is slowly, I think,

killing me. So I sent a voice note to the electrifying group. May have thrown in some swears.

And that's the third time now. So watch this space because it's probably going to happen again.

It now comes to, it's at the point where every time I get in the car, I'm like, who knows?

If suddenly everything's going to cut out again, it's all part of the fun of owning a

Polestar 4. And that's what I wanted to say. Thank you. I think we really ought to have this,

I'm going to find that voice message and we need to put it on this podcast, don't we?

I'm just, I'm actually going to try and find the, I'm going to try and find the voice note.

Let's just see. It's in the electrifying crew group, I think. It's in the electrifying crew

group. You're really not having a good time, are you, with this? I'm not. I'm really not.

It does the same thing. It drops the, I get the black screen of death probably once a week.

Do you lose your sound? Loses everything. You don't know whether the indicators are on or not

anything. Yeah. So you don't know what else is not working. Either the brakes light's not working.

You don't, you kind of just have to pull it and then let you say, then you have to go through

the entire, forget the phone, reconnect the phone. Do you want to use car play? Yes.

I think it's 10 minutes every time. Right. I actually have, should we just play it? Should

we play it? It's the first one, not the second one. The second one was me going, I can't.

This is the third time now after two more software updates that everything has gone blank

in this car. In the postal form, it's just happened again. And now I have no sound again.

No indicator sounds. So I'm going to have to find somewhere to fucking pull over

and reboot the car again. You weren't happy, Nick. I wasn't happy. I was like, just sat there

having a cup of tea after, you know, like the morning meeting. Okay. All right. Just need you

to understand the rage that goes through my body every time that happens in that car.

Should we end on that high note then? Should we end up on that high note?

Happy Easter, everyone.

Happy Easter. Happy 100th podcast to us. Thanks to all of you who have listened and liked and

subscribed and shared our podcast. Please do much, much more of it so we can get to another 100.

Yes. Let's do that. Yeah. Subscribe, all the things. Let us know your thoughts in the comment

section below. If you drive a Polestar 4, let me know if you've also felt the same rage and we

can get together for a drink. Maybe meet up at a punch bag so we can release our anger. That'll

be really nice. I think you need to start a self-help room, actually. I think you're right,

babe. I think you're right. Okay. On that note, do you need to go and enjoy the rest of your birthday?

Bye. Bye.

You

Ep 100: EV2 price shock, Honda leg it (again) & we hit 100! ⚡🎉

About this episode

ES90

Renault Twingo

5 Renault 5

EX60

Kia EV2

Bmw Ix3

ID. Id2

Kia EV3

Porsche Cayenne

Kia EV9

Peugeot E5008

Skoda Epic

Mercedes-Benz EQS

Lexus Rz450E

Renault 5

Ford Capri

Ford Cortina

Ford Explorer

Ford Puma

Kia Niro

BMW i3

Audi Etron

Sealion Cline 7

Citroen Eberlingo

Tesla Model S

Tesla Model

Mercedes-Benz EQE

Dodge Charger

Polestar 4

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from The Kilowatt Half Hour