Episode 92: Catfishing concepts and Congestion Charging

Hello and welcome to your weekly zap of electric car news.

Thank you for joining us from wherever you are.

This is the Kilowatt Half Hour brought to you by the team at Electrifying.com.

This week on the podcast, we are talking about catfishing concepts and congestion charging.

Plus, we'll also be dipping into the post bank to find out what you've had to say

and answering all of your carb-iron questions.

Welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour.

I'm Ginny.

I'm Batch.

And I'm Tom.

How are we all?

Well, we're fine.

How are you, Ginny?

More to the point.

What? Because of my hat that's pulled down over my eyes.

Yes, you missed a C off the list, didn't you?

What was that then?

Well, it's catfishing concepts, congestion charge and perhaps carb-uncle.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, let's get this out of the way.

Shall we straight away?

Yeah, I seem to have developed something with the personality of its own on my eye.

So that's what I'm trying to disguise it with my cap.

So, yeah, if anyone's got any old wives' tells to tell me how to get rid of this

carb-uncle on my eye, which I think if it grows any more by the end of this podcast,

it's going to have to have a name.

And we're going to have to give it an author's name on the website

because it's developing a life of its own.

I've tried rubbing a gold ring on it.

I've tried hot teabags, tried compresses, tried everything.

Let me know in the comments below.

And I really hope that by the time I see you next week, it's gone,

but I'll just pull my cap off my eyes for now.

So I've not been driving anything this week because I've not wanted to venture out the house.

I've been too embarrassed, but also because I have been quite ill.

So I've been driven, driven around in the Renault 5, actually, in Yoda.

But that's about all I've voiced around him.

What about you two?

Have you driven, what have you been up to?

What have you been driving, Batch?

Well, I've just come back from very wet Spain

and been driving the new Vauxhall Mocha GSE.

So GSE is their is their new performance sub brand.

And the Mocha is the first electric car to to have this GSE treatment.

And I can't tell you what it's like because it's still under embargo.

But I can tell you what it looks like.

And I kind of like it, but I just wish they'd gone totally mad

and had just I just wish I had a bit more flamboyant

because apart from a set of snazzy wheels, it looks like a normal Mocha.

It's and and this is where we come back to this this thing

that we said in the title, the cat fishing,

which is this whole thing that they show us these concept cars,

the Mocha GSE concept anybody, which I understand they actually have

there next to the production car, which looks insane, doesn't it?

And outrageous. And then you go, this is what you could have heard.

But this is what you've got.

I know, yes, isn't it?

I know. And Vauxhall have done this this thing

which all manufacturers seem to do these days,

which they developed a car for the Gran Turismo game

for the PlayStation game.

And it's quite a weird thing now.

They create a car for a video game

and then they actually make it afterwards.

And so that was there.

And of course, I know it gives us a hint

of what the next course is going to be like, I know.

But, you know, sitting there next to the Mocha, you're thinking.

What's gone wrong? Are they related?

I just don't know.

And it's I don't know.

I just wish that they'd gone absolutely mad and give it big wings

and all bright colors.

I mean, the car is in grave heaven's sake.

I don't know. I'm just I think I'm becoming an old man, I know.

But I just want I want a hot hatchback to look like a hot hatchback.

And I don't think that's being unreasoned.

So so with you on that, I don't know, Tom,

part of me knows that you like great cars.

You might prove. Well, yeah, I do quite like great cars.

But if there's an alternative, I would probably take it if it's bright.

I think with performance cars is like if you are having something

like a Ferrari, not having it in red and having it in gray kind of works.

So it's kind of understated.

I think the mock has kind of got like yellow calipers and things.

So you would kind of clock out if you're in the know.

But it is a bit tame, isn't it?

Remember all the the old days of hot hatches where you could tell

at a glance that it was something really quite special.

I'd have to put a stripe on it, I think.

Do you know that that's one of the reasons why I absolutely love what Renault are doing.

And if you think of the Renault Turbo 3A, that thing, I mean,

I know it's a very different price point.

Let's not, you know, not comparing them for that point.

If you but you look at that thing and you think this is mental.

It's absolutely nuts.

And they took us into they took us into this, you know, dark and ruined

and they showed us this crazy the concept car.

And then that's what they're building.

Yeah. And they did the same actually with the Twingo recently.

The Twingo looks just like apart from a couple of things, the concept car.

Don't show us these really exciting things.

And then like and then it's a bit like, OK, OK, OK.

Well, I'm not surprised they had got.

Sorry, I was just going to say Stalantis can do it

because the two sister cars to the Mokka GSE

are the Alfa Romeo Junior Volocce, which, you know, it does look good.

And then, of course, there's the Abarth 600E, which looks, you know,

basically it's basically the same car underneath, but it looks mad.

Doesn't it? So flamboyant and it just gets you in the mood

for for for the performance on offer.

And I don't know.

For some reason, the people at Stalantis have thought

Voxel is a bit more of our straight lace brand.

We're going to make it look too sensible.

And I think that's a real shame.

Yeah, it's a shame when then they've shown the concept for the game.

Completely agree.

And I think if you're perhaps go to you can get away with that

because the VRS range has always been about it being, you know,

it's not it's understated.

It's a bit, you know, you're not that screaming that different from the cars.

But I think as long as that's what you're doing, what you can't do

is show this outrageous concept that like you said, it's been developed for gaming.

Yeah. And then go, but this is what we're actually going to build.

You've got to be all in or nothing.

You've got to either go Skoda, subtle or you've got to do Renault

with like they've done with the turbo.

Yeah, yeah.

So yeah, so that's what I've been driving.

I can't tell you what it was like, but it is reasonably

priced is around about thirty five and a half thousand pounds,

which I think is really good value, actually.

So. OK.

Interesting. Look forward to that.

Tom, what about you? What have you been driving?

Well, I went to the ball, which is where we do our filming.

And Mike Askew turned up in a smart hashtag five Barabbas.

And I really like the hashtag five.

I like like the way it looks.

But I do have one thing to throw out there.

Screens, screens because it has a screen in front of the driver.

Then it's got the screen in the middle

and then it's got another one for the passenger.

And I just thought too much.

And I know that Mercedes are going down this route

of having screens everywhere, huge screens.

Whereas the likes of Audi with the Concept C,

they are making it so you've got a little one and it can be hidden away.

And I think they're going to have this divergence

where Mercedes seem to think more and bigger are better.

Yeah. And other manufacturers are going, no, you just need the basics.

I reckon you're absolutely on something next.

I think there's going to be a bit of a backlash

to to to to screens.

I was talking to Simon.

Well, what's he called Hyundai Design Director there?

They're sort of head of design, Simon Lowsby, Simon Lowsby.

About, do you remember the the Concept Three,

which is which we saw back in September.

And that, again, very minimal inside, no screens.

And he was saying and what he would like to get towards in cars

is this option to have a screen, maybe spec an extra screen,

but have been able to just go very minimal with them.

And I do, I think we've reached peak screen.

I do. Yeah.

I don't want to be surrounded by all anymore.

And you and I, both massive fans of Slate, aren't we, Tom?

The Slate Auto, which is this American startup,

which incidentally, I'm very excited because I'm going to be seeing that next week.

And that concept is brilliant.

It's a bit like the Citroen Oli or the Citroen Army.

There is nothing inside it.

There is a tiny little screen behind the steering wheel

with your very basic information that they have to show you legally on there.

And then it's your phone.

And if you want a bigger screen, you can opt for an iPad holder.

Brilliant.

But I think also I was sitting in an old Range Rover,

13 year old Range Rover, which was at the time

absolutely state of the art.

And now it looks laughable.

The screen does it because you can't upgrade it.

So in 15 years time, that Mercedes or that smart,

is that going to look laughable?

Whereas with your iPad, your phone,

you constantly upgrading it because that's what you do.

And your car is is never outdated.

Yeah, it's interesting.

I don't know.

And also the systems are so hit and miss in cars, aren't they?

I find generally, if they forked out and are using the Google operating system,

it's actually pretty intuitive and easy to use.

Yeah, you get in a Renault and, you know,

it all works and poll stars that they all work.

But so many brands have tried and failed.

We say that they look like my first computer

or the whole VW group debacle with their infotainment.

You do just wonder whether that's the route.

Do they eventually just go, we're giving it up?

We're giving up.

We're just going to have Apple CarPlay or Google

and an iteration of that to know.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Well, we've seen that, haven't we?

I mean, there's the Apple CarPlay Plus or Apple CarPlay Max

or whatever it is, it's the next generation of Apple CarPlay,

which Aston Martin have started to use.

And I had to play around with it on a vanquished valante of all things recently.

And, you know, and at first, you think this feels a bit weird

that I'm in a 350,000 pound GT car

and there's Apple CarPlay on the screen in front of me.

But it had all the right typography.

It all looked great.

And of course, it works intuitively.

So I'm actually all for it, actually.

Yeah, me too. Me too.

When you think what Aston used to use in the Mercedes tie-up deals,

they always were given the old Mercedes operating system.

So you'd be in this, you know, uber high end beautiful car

and then you'd get the old Mercedes system that they don't use anymore.

It was always a bit like, oh, bless.

Yeah, let us know.

Actually, we'd love to know what you think.

Do you love your screen in your car?

Do you have the pro donor of a BYD with a rotating screen?

And do you just sit there rotating it around just because you can?

Or do you think we've reached peak screen?

Are you done with screens?

You like the Slate Auto approach, which is

speck it with a polder for your iPhone or your Android device

or your laptop, your iPad, whatever.

Let us know what you think.

You can email us podcast at electrifying.com

or you can drop us a comment in the comments below.

And what should we do?

Should we do some news?

What's been going on in the world?

Evening news?

What's been happening?

We're just going to pay loads of money, aren't we, Tom?

The drivers were being hammered.

Yeah, so there's another one that this is a bit London based,

which won't won't be terribly relevant to staying on Kangaroo Island.

But the congestion charge,

electric car drivers have been exempt from the congestion charge

or actually get a hundred percent discount,

although you have to register every year and pay a tenor, I think.

So it's been free if you want to go to London, you don't get the charge.

And now that's going from from January.

So I think it was inevitable

because there's now so many electric cars around that it was going to happen.

And you still do get a slight discount,

but it's going to be 13 pound 50 rather than 18 pounds for everybody else.

And if you're an electric van driver, it's only nine quid, so it's half price.

So that's not for long, is it?

That's going to taper off.

So it's only like a year or so, isn't it?

Yeah, but it's still something, isn't it?

But it's understandable, I suppose, that if you if you go into London now

and you look around, everything's electric, isn't it?

It's just hardly anyone goes in in the Bertrand or Diesel.

Is it understandable?

Well, is it understandable, though?

Because we were always told the congestion charge was designed

for to alleviate congestion when it came in under Ken Livingstone.

And that has always sort of been the narrative.

But in recent years, it's all been wrapped up in

so that Sadiq Khan's kind of pledge to reduce emissions, isn't it?

And it's become kind of a tax on more emitting cars.

So when you actually slam it on electric cars, which, you know,

obviously, as we know, don't emit anything, it kind of just becomes

very obviously a tax and it just becomes

well, understanding that people get very hot

onto the colour, onto the colour really about it, don't they?

Which I think is is is understandable.

I think for me, it's again, it's just all about this perception thing, isn't it?

So there will be loads of people who have switched to electric vehicles

based on the fact that, you know, they're exempt from the congestion charge

and then suddenly the goalposts change again,

which seems to be happening quite a lot at the moment.

I think the point for me is exactly what you said, Batch,

it's about air quality, isn't it?

You know, that there is so much to talk about quite rightly,

the air quality in our towns and cities.

I've always said the thing we don't talk about enough

is the air quality and those benefits from electric cars.

And I know what I'd rather have driving past, you know, my son's school.

And then I look to, you know, what are the vehicles

that really you really use London streets and it's vans

and it's mini cab drivers.

OK, now, if you're suddenly slapping big charges on electric vans

and on electric mini cab drivers, you then risk a putting people off,

making the switch into one.

And these are services that people are giving.

And, you know, for London's, we're getting, you know, food we need to buy,

the goods that need delivered, transporting people around.

And we should be doing everything we can

to make sure that any mini cab drivers in the centre of London

are enjoying in having to pay a congestion charge

because they're in an electric vehicle.

And this is what worries me is, does it start to have an impact on that?

Because people go, well, I'm paying it anyway.

So why, you know, why do I bother?

You know, electric vans are, you know, they're coming.

That, yes, there's a grant on them still, but still it's a big purchase.

So I feel that it's too soon.

I completely get the fact that there is also this congestion element

where they want to take more cars and vehicles off the road.

But quite frankly, mini camps and vans are things that we just have to have.

So I actually do think there should be some real more thought put around that.

That was where my my big issues were with this.

I think there's some OK things in that, you know,

very obviously in support of electric car clubs are to get exempt.

So if, for example, you get in a car from an electric car club,

I think that's pretty good.

So I think there's some useful stuff in there.

But I think generally it's is this the right time in the transition

to be just putting extra charges on people when we're actually with the other hand

saying, oh, come on, switch to an electric car,

which leaves me nicely into paper mile.

Oh, my goodness, me like on the one hand,

here's a grant, a government grant to buy an electric car.

There you go.

Let's give you some money.

On the other hand, I know we're going to charge you more

for using your electric car.

Like what? What's your messaging there?

I think you summed it up.

I think you summed it up very well, Ginny, the other day when you said,

you know, at the moment, you know, with the EV grant,

it's like the government's got their foot on the accelerator

and now they've also got their foot on the brake at the same time.

And it's just staggering, isn't it?

You know, putting aside the fact

the whole electric car grant rollout was an absolute farce,

launching with just four citrons and it's taken so long

to get so much detail about the electric car grant.

But it's, you know, the whole the whole direction of it is good

and it's positive and we're all on board with it.

And then just, you know, three months later,

we're suddenly now talking about slapping EV drivers with paper mile.

And it's just it's it's like there's two separate conversations going on,

isn't it? It's just it's absolutely unbelievable.

It is. And again, you know, I understand, you know,

there are many, many billions that will be lost from the government coffers

because, you know, of the the loss of fuel duty

as we switch to electric vehicles.

I can completely understand that paper mile.

I think we've we've surveyed our audience on this

and people generally think it's quite a fair way of doing it.

But it's about don't it's this backdating thing

that I'm really struggling with.

You know, we've told so many people about the, you know,

yes, you may have paid a bit more for your electric vehicle.

You know, I mean, prices are getting a bit more there with price parity now.

But, you know, certainly a few years ago, they weren't but you make all these

savings because the running costs and because, you know,

you don't pay your congestion charge if you're going into central London.

And I think it's this feeling of, you know, but now you are.

So I think it's it's the messaging for me is people have been told one thing

by all means, bring this in.

But do it from a date in the future or do it from now.

But it's the backdating that I feel is really unfair for people.

I don't know. I feel like we've turned into a really angry radio show rant.

I feel like we don't normally rant a lot, do we?

I feel like we're really ranty.

I don't know. Am I being unfair to the paper mile?

It just seems fundamentally mixed messaging for me.

Yeah. Well, I think that I have just had a little notification

that batch has gone because he's he's running out of storage.

I don't.

Let's see if he rejoins us.

And in the meantime, we shall crack on.

So what were you saying about we were on a paper mile?

What were your thoughts? Paper mile?

So what I was saying is that it hasn't come in yet, has it?

And a bit like car companies with their concept cars, they put something out there.

They see if it gets a nice reaction and everybody thinks it's a good idea

or if everyone kicks off.

So perhaps it's the same here that the government is just going,

let's see how this flies.

And if everybody reacts badly, which clearly we are, then they'll just go,

oh, no, it's just a rumor we're never going to do that.

Yeah, it could be.

It could be. I think again, the the challenge for me on this is

it's another issue for all those people who can't charge at home.

So the government figures are that around I think it's around

25 percent of license holders can't charge at home.

So for them, you know, you're already faced with higher charges

if you're charging away from home, then if you can take advantage

of off peak charging on your home tariff.

So it's just adding more cost onto those people, which, you know,

I just I'm just not sure it's the right time and don't get me started

on vehicle on the on the fuel duty being frozen for God knows.

And it's a mixed message again, isn't it?

It's mixed message. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Let's let's move on. Let's stop being run to what else is it?

Well, is there anything else that that we have a bit of positive news

that that one of the chaps from MG has put on these LinkedIn

that they have sold 100,000 electric cars now in the UK.

So their total is 100,000.

And he says they're the fifth manufacturer to do this.

And I've been trying to work out the other ones.

Now, I've got three of them, I think.

Kia. But I don't know.

No, Kia's not.

Is it Korean's Kia and the Hyundai will get there in 2026.

But OK, they're not there yet.

BMW. Yes.

Renault. No. No, no, no, no.

BYD. Nope.

I'm really rubbish at this guessing game.

Well, there's an obvious one.

Not to me, it wasn't.

Tesla. I blame the carbon.

Don't call me. Sorry.

How could I have gotten Tesla?

Tesla and BMW's biggest rival.

Audi. Mercedes. Audi.

I don't know about Mercedes.

I don't know if they're there.

Maybe they're the last one because I don't know.

And it's nobody's put a press release out about it other than other than MG.

Well, even the press release,

they've just mentioned it on their LinkedIn.

So I don't know.

The other one is I'm going to have to find out the next episode.

Let us know if you have any suspicions

or indeed know who the fourth one is.

Yeah, because we perhaps we've just forgotten something obvious

if we have, please let us know.

What, like me forgetting Tesla, you mean?

That sort of thing. Like that.

Right. Have you got a bargain for us, Mr Barnard?

I have. There's a forgotten car.

The I've in the mood for forgotten cars this week

because because I've been driving a Citroen EC

EC four, which I'd forgotten about.

And it's really good.

So this is a forgotten one, which is the Ford Mackey.

Do you remember those?

That car? Yeah, I love it.

And I look to look to the spec on it, you know,

it's got nearly 400 miles of range and things

and that we're all like, oh, cars have got 400 miles of range.

Yeah, the Mackeys had it for a while.

But this one that I've found on our used car pages

is twenty six thousand three hundred and forty eight pounds,

which is a very random.

How did they come to that?

I know. Is it like a random number generator or something?

But it's good fun to drive as well, those Mackeys.

It's really good fun to drive

and actually brings me back to that thing about Blue Cruise.

Do you see the news this week?

So Blue Cruise is Ford is currently the only brand

that is licensed in the UK

to allow you to drive without your hands on the steering wheel.

So there's a mode called Blue Cruise

that you could engage in on the Mackey

and on certain roads,

stretches of motorway around the UK,

which are mapped and is licensed to be used on.

It can suggest you when it might be a good time to do it

and it it syncs with the adaptive cruise control.

You press your button and you can take your hands off the wheel.

And it's it's actually a brilliant system.

I mean, I've used it in horrible heavy traffic

on a rainy night on a dark M twenty five.

And it's great.

Anyway, Ford have announced this week

that it's going to a lot of their other cars as well to their electric range.

And I think to a couple of their hybrids as well.

So that is but I find it interesting

that nobody else has actually added that tech.

There was a lot of talk that when the Kia

EB9 and EB3 came that they were going to have that,

but it hasn't arrived yet.

So at the moment, Ford, interesting, is still the only brand

that you can do that with.

Have you tried it, Blue Cruise?

No, I haven't. No.

I see one of the cars that's going on is the Puma,

which is one of the cheapest electric cars to buy.

It's going to be great.

The brilliant thing with this is so what I did a thing for

an ITV tonight, I think it was a year about a year ago,

not long after this had come out.

And my mum and dad are often the guinea pigs for ITV tonight.

They've done all kinds of things for us.

We put them in self-driving cars and all kinds of things.

So we got them on the motorway, each of them separately.

And we in this in the Mackey

and got them to take their hands off the wheel.

And it was the funniest thing.

And what you realise is, and I was guilty of this as well,

the first time you kind of take your hands off the wheel

and you kind of put them up above your head

because you don't really know what to do with them.

And it's almost like you need to dive in at the last thing

because you need to grab the steering wheel.

Every single person I've been in a car with

the first time they have done that, when they engage it,

they slowly peel their hands off

and then they go up behind their head

or they put them on their head or something.

It's very funny.

So, yeah, let us know if you've any experience

if we've got any Mackey drivers out there

or indeed any drivers of Ford electric cars

who will be happy to see that.

So I'm presuming it will come on an over the air update,

I would have thought.

Well, that'd be something, wouldn't it?

It'd be great.

It's a great piece of tech, I think, Camel for it.

But let us know what you think podcast at Electraphone.com

or you can drop us a comment in the comments below.

At least deal. Shall I do at least deal?

At least deal, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes, I mean, there's still and I can't believe it,

these amazing deals on MG S5s, which is so cheap,

cheaper than some really basic stuff.

But I'm going to give you something fresh as well,

because I've done that for three weeks now.

So the Volvo EX40.

So another kind of car that you've forgotten about,

but I quite like that,

especially the the newer one with the single motor rear wheel drive.

Yeah, it's a short lease.

So it's only 18 months long, which is not our usual length.

But some people quite like that if they're commitment fobes

and they only want 18 months.

So it's 317 pounds, 75 a month,

which I think is pretty, pretty competitive.

Oh, that is a good.

And that's on our usual terms, is it?

No, no. So that's 18 months this time.

Oh, it's 18 months.

So we did say that.

Yeah. But yeah, I thought that if you just want an 18 month one.

And we've got details of that on our deals page.

Have way over at ElectriFind.com

and you can find the used Mackey over at electrifind.com forward slash used cars.

Let's turn now to some of your comments or your questions.

And we've had quite a few comments and questions in about really sad news

that we lost Quentin Wilson this week that he passed away.

GJ 1956 has one of many that's commented just completely really sad news.

And as such a shock, wasn't it?

He really is, you know, you talk about people being living legends

and he really is, I know I'm sad that we've lost Batch

because I know that Batch, he was a huge inspiration for Batch

and for him pursuing a career as a as a car journalist.

I I didn't know him until very recently.

Actually, I've got to know him over the last couple of years through

his work that he's done with the Brilliant Fair Charge campaign.

And his all the work that he does around electric cars.

And I was surprised by what a lovely,

genuinely lovely, kind person he was, hugely knowledgeable

and really open to sharing that knowledge as well,

which is something that people aren't. So, yeah, I don't know.

He got me my first job.

Did he? He did.

So I interviewed him when I was 20 for a writing competition.

And you had to interview a celebrity.

So I interviewed him and, of course, he was very lovely.

And I sent it to him and he said, this is really good.

And he mentioned it to a magazine that he was working for at the time

who got me in on work experience, paid work experience,

which was a bit of a rarity in those days and and the rest is history.

But I'd never met him until a couple of years ago.

And I just went up to him and said,

Oh, you probably don't realise this, but this is what happened.

And it led to me having this career.

And he did remember, he remembered the interview.

So, yeah, it was it was nice to be able to tell him.

He's, yeah, he was genuinely.

And, you know, it's hard, isn't it?

People have a public persona and I'd only known Quentin through,

you know, his work that I'd seen in the industry.

And it was a real lovely, pleasant surprise when I when I did first meeting,

because, like you said, genuine, really warm.

And I've heard lots of stories like the one you've just told me from people.

And he was always really keen to support younger people coming into the industry.

So, yeah, we've lost a real good one there.

So thoughts to all the people who knew him a lot better than we did.

And of course, to his family as well.

So let's move on now to the Twingo.

Because we've quite a lot of comments in about that over the last week.

Patty the Geek, another person who just loves those really bright

peppy colours about the Twingo.

So lots of thumbs up for that Twingo video.

If you haven't seen that, that's over on the YouTube channel.

And then that led us nicely into Russ V.

Hill, too, who said, well done, Tom, for holding out for smaller wheels.

The Twingo is destined for city streets where there are speed bumps

and potholes and cobbles.

It does not need the sports car feels at the steering.

The cost of bursting expensive tyres on these potholes.

If the Twingo is being sold as an affordable car,

it should be fitted with affordable tyres.

This is because I loved the really big tyres that the car was fitted with.

I think it will come as more affordable, 16 inch wheels as standard.

But yeah, you're not a fan of the big wheels, are you, Tom?

I'm not actually, can I tell you a quick wheel story?

Well, more of a Delire store, actually.

My neighbour took her electric car, which is four years old for service.

And I won't mention the brand because I think it's there's a complaint ongoing.

And they did one of those nice video things and they said,

oh, unfortunately, it's going to fail its MOT because it's got cuts in the tyres.

And said it needs three new tyres and they're 300 pounds each.

So she brought it back in a bit of a state saying,

oh, do you think I could get them cheaper?

I look at these tyres and said there's nothing wrong with.

There's not nothing wrong with them.

They had small cuts in the tread, but there was no canvas showing nothing.

I said I would take it somewhere else for its MOT and see what they say

before you spend a thousand pounds nearly on tyres.

So she did.

She took it for an MOT and it got one advisory on a cut in the tread

and past its MOT, otherwise.

So she's going to have that tyre done.

I said, you know, if it's not down to the canvas, I wouldn't do it.

It's just a cut in the in the block on the tread.

Otherwise, I'd just carry on.

Wow, that's naughty, isn't it?

Yeah, get a second opinion.

I mean, if if you can see anything is bad, then do it.

But yeah, also get some quotes on other tyres.

Absolutely, Mark and Fauna, eight, nine, seven, two again.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers the greater efficiency

of small wheels over the allegedly better looking large wheels.

I know I've just drunk the Kool-Aid on big wheels.

I'm really sorry. I'm a sucker for them.

I know the wheel arch is filled to the brim.

But it could be that it goes the other way.

You know, you already see some people in the tuning world

having the small wheels.

So I'm going to try and start a campaign for smaller wheels.

They become fashionable.

Yeah, but we do we do love steelies, though, as well, don't we?

We do. We do.

And actually going back to the slate, which I've been looking at a lot

because, as I said, I'm excited to see it next week.

Standard wheels, standard wheels on that are lovely steel,

you know, round steel wheels.

Looks great.

I wonder how we'll start.

We'll start doing like big steel.

But you know, you see these custom go see lots of Volkswagen vans,

don't you, with like big steel wheels?

I don't know if they'll start doing that

because the front era has steel wheels, doesn't it?

There's an option on the base version.

Yeah, it does. It does. They're really if they start having

you know, like a Bentley or something on steel, it'd be great.

Let's go back to basics, you know, cars, ditch the screens.

Big steel wheels.

We'll start the campaign for small tires.

Done.

Right, Tom, what else have we got?

Heat pumps, we're talking about heat pumps.

OK, yeah, we're talking about heat pumps.

So, Rannum 1321 says, great podcast, as always.

The subject of heat pump needs further research.

I look forward to you digging into that.

Oh, the idea of preconditioning the car to assist with losing range

is a sore point in the Citroen EC3.

The word preconditioning is a four letter word among owners.

I've owned my EC3 for seven months.

And despite promise after promise from Citroen,

an update to find this facility is still not arrived.

Despite the vehicle being sold, this facility in the advertising

has never been available.

And there's no data being offered.

We're not impressed. Your thoughts.

Keep up the good work.

Let's find we will look into this for you.

Yeah, we. Yeah.

It's really great to hear that feedback.

So we will over the course this week,

we're going to make some calls to the Citroen Press Office.

We'll find out for you definitively what is happening on that.

And Raham, one, three, two, one, we will update you.

I wonder if it certainly doesn't have it on the app

or it doesn't have it in the car or both.

I have to find out.

We'll find out.

Maybe do a news article on it.

So we'll do a news article on it on electrifying.com

and we'll try and do an update on it on the next podcast as well.

OK, let's move on there to World of Cars LDN,

which I presume is London.

Hi, team. I'm a regular viewer of the channel

and have always been into cars.

I'm hopefully going to be moving into an EV

in the next few months, probably via Elise Bryant.

I'm also a London resident and I live in a second floor flat

with only on street parking available,

so we'll be completely dependent on public and destination charging.

I try to keep up with the current state of infrastructure

locally and nationally, as well as the higher charging costs

to help with the decision to make the jump.

From all the videos and podcasts the team have produced,

it would appear that the entire team has the luxury of home and work charging.

With this in mind, I wonder if the electrifying team

are up for a little challenge to live the EV life

like those who don't have this option and just use public charging

for two or three months of a winter to see what it's really like

from a convenience, reliability, cost, time management

and ease of use perspective to really understand and advise

this segment of the public looking to get an EV.

Love your work.

Look forward to hearing this message

and your reply being read out in the next episode.

Well, World of Cars LDN.

It's a really good point.

We've talked about doing this, haven't we?

So Nikki, actually, lives in Central London

and she lives in a terrace and she relies.

She's got three kids and is running at the moment any five thousand and eight

because it's not enough seats for her.

And she is relying completely on public charging.

And she doesn't.

I've never really heard complaints or moans about it from her.

So Nikki is a great example of that.

And maybe actually it's something that we need to get her to talk about

a bit more because she's, yeah, she's never had the beauty of a home charger.

But we have talked about doing this and I am up for the challenge.

So I am, I am, I am up for the challenge.

And I am running a Renault five at the moment,

which is not known for its large battery capacity.

So consider it done.

So we'll need to have a think about where and when

and how we start this challenge, but I'm up for it, definitely.

Talking of challenges between you and Nikki.

Yes.

She's beating you at the moment in something I thought you were the master of.

I know what you're going to say.

It involves cleaning products, dirty or lack of them.

Nick's car is worse than mine, but she has three three young children.

Is it really? Was it really bad?

I couldn't come on because I was ill.

Is it appalling?

Well, we had to.

We did one one shot with the seven of us in the car,

which is actually very amusing.

We're all like, no offense, Nikki,

but if you've got something I can sit on.

This is for Nikki's long term review.

Oh, my God, I just I probably don't want that car back.

They're probably going to be like, no, so I keep keep it.

She's talking to me about crumbs.

I was like, I don't ever want to know anymore.

It's just, you know, we flipped up the seats to get into the back

and it's like, yeah, it's a several meals worth.

Did the question is that did she have as many interesting things

in the boot as I carry that are destined for the charity shop

but never get there?

No, there were some things that you would expect from a from a mother

such as a recorder, which got used.

People who hadn't played the recorder since primary school

saw if they still had the skills to do fairer,

Jacker and London's burning.

Oh, I generally was no.

Look forward to that one coming to the YouTube channel soon.

World of cars.

Yeah, I will do the challenge.

We'll try and enlist a couple of more members of the team.

We will probably blog about it or write about it

or and certainly talk about it here on the podcast

and update you as to how we're going.

Just on the subject actually of Yoda, the Renault five.

I have done quite a lot of long journeys recently

and been doing a lot more motorway driving.

So I have been doing a bit more public,

a lot more public charging.

I generally find the rapid charging, great

and AC charging to be the bit where it gets a bit let down.

But anyway, I'm quite pleasantly surprised

with the efficiency I've been getting out of Yoda.

3.6 miles per kilowatt hour on the motorway, Tom.

In cooler weather, I know we're not in the depths of winter yet,

but we have had some challenges with Renault efficiency

in the past and of course it's a dip down

from what I was getting in those balmy summer months.

But I'm still quite surprised and quite pleased with that.

I will report back.

I'm going to do a long term review on that soon

and I'll report back in January when we are in the depths of winter.

I've just handed back my Grandland.

Oh, go on.

You're going to show off now, aren't you?

Go on.

4.4 miles per kilowatt hour from a car

which is the size of Belgium and your car is tiny.

Yeah, but I was getting 4.1, 4.2 in summer.

I'm talking about recent months on motorway driving.

3.6.

Well, I got 3.9 the other day on the way to the Balm, motorway cold.

All right, you're much more efficient than I am.

OK, all right.

Anyway, I'm proud of myself.

I'm going to take that as a win.

OK, antibody.

Hello, antibody, you're a regular, aren't you?

So thank you for dropping as a comment.

Lovely episode, not mentioned this time,

but can you set up a swear jar for flappy patterns, please?

This is a very good observation.

What are the other things we should set the swear jar for?

Yours is what is it on Tesla that your swear jar is for?

Does Tesla generally?

Tesla in general.

Yeah, they think I'm obsessed with Tesla and I'm really not.

I know my mind is let's go to Ennex,

but flappy paddles is true because we do love to talk about a flappy paddle.

Nicola got us on to that as a Nicolarism that we've all adopted.

OK, done. Noted.

Well, talking of the T word,

soapy frog says, don't be afraid of using the T word.

The EV market in your business wouldn't exist without Tesla

setting the bar, building up the charging network, etc.

My Model 3 is going back next week and I'm done with them.

But I wouldn't be without the four years I had in my car.

It's very research to observation.

Yeah, we do. And we, you know, generally,

we know we're pretty positive about about Tesla's.

I think what's what was interesting, though,

so I was asked for some news outlet this week,

some questions about growth in EV sales, and they were sort of saying,

can you tell us how many electric cars were there?

We're trying to put some context around the dip in Tesla sales in Europe.

So I worked out for them that in 2020, when we launched Electrify

and we reviewed with about 25 mainstream electric cars.

Then this year, as of now, there's over one hundred and fifty

mainstream electric cars on sale at the moment,

which is why we're all knackered and does make me wonder what we were doing

back in 2020 with our time, because it was locked down and be with us to review.

Anyway, that's by the by.

But then they were saying, can you look to next year?

Now, we've just got a great piece upon the website that Sam from our team has done,

which is all the cars that are coming in 2026.

Give or take a few.

You're getting close to 50.

So that's 50 next year alone.

And there'll be more because, as we know,

there's a Chinese brand launching every two weeks that we've not heard of before.

So but not one of those plum cars for 50 of next year of those 50 is a Tesla.

So I think that's the kind of interesting point is for Tesla.

Absolutely.

I mean, what you know, what Tesla did with the charging infrastructure

with giving people that confidence with producing great cars.

But they just I just feel like give us something new.

We haven't seen anything new since the Model Y camera.

And we've had revisions for not a new car and ready for something new.

Aren't you? Yeah.

I mean, are they just using the, you know, the old Volkswagen way

when they had the beetle of just slowly upgrading it year on year on year

and keeping the model the same?

I don't know. I don't know what their business plan is.

They do like to do things differently, don't they?

They do. But I just think it's by all means do that with the three and the Y.

But let's see that baby, the baby Tesla.

Where is that?

It's been coming next year for about the last five years.

So I think that it was just when I when this journey said to me,

OK, and how many of that 50 are going to be, you know,

and something new from Tesla.

And I was like, well, nothing that we know of.

That's not to say something doesn't land a week on Tuesday,

because that is how they roll.

But yeah, interesting.

And we are not afraid of using the Tesla word for sure.

Lots of comments on you.

We've been talking a lot about used prices recently, haven't we?

Tom, about that that would come down.

And of course, we've always got the used deals of the week

and we've got the used listings at Electrify.

And we've quite a few comments about this, didn't we, over over the last week?

You know, so my mate, your mate says it's a sub 10,000 pound market

that seems to be growing.

Old Style MG 5s and the high end ironics are going for 8000 pounds

with being EVs to a whole new market that's not really converted yet.

One day we'll have proper EVs, 150 to 250 mile ranges at three,

four, five thousand pounds and a mass secondhand market.

Now, part of this is because I mentioned that

another of my neighbours is trying to sell her Renault Zoe

and hasn't had many great offers for it, mainly because it's on the battery lease.

And she's now getting some reasonable offers for it.

But, you know, it was it was kind of 1500 quid

with a battery lease of 60 quid a month.

And you think, that's a car with 190 mile range, genuine.

Yeah. And I was like, oh, do I know I'm not sure you tempted.

Well, you just think about I mean, I think she said higher offers now,

which but you think that's really cheap.

And even if you pay the battery off, which is going to be two thousand

pounds and you think we can do the economics of that.

Would that would that qualify as a clunger, Tom?

Or is that not old enough to be a clunger?

Not old enough at all, Jimmy.

If you're confused about what I'm talking about,

Tom has a side hustle along with Electrifier Mike,

where they have a rather entertaining podcast called Clungers,

which is I don't think there's much electric talk in there,

but there's a lot of talk about the latest old crap

that was they bought from auctions.

So yeah, we're not quite there yet.

We're going to check that one out.

OK, Yaw Wolf has sent us a message.

Hello, Yaw Wolf, you're another regular to the podcast.

And again, use price is great to see some new EVs

and are coming in cheaper than the equivalent hybrid models

from the same company agreed.

EVs have dropped.

Oh, this is that new one, sorry, not used.

EV prices have dropped.

Range in general is up.

Also great, seeing more sub 20,000

EVs and some fantastic used EVs now available,

all, as we're saying, capable of over 250 miles.

Yaw Wolf said they spotted some thatcher spring 65s

below 10,000 pounds.

So like you said, it's not long.

Is it before we're going to get a great EV for four or five ground?

Yeah, because the thatcher springs had a really big upgrade,

hasn't it? And we haven't tried it yet.

I haven't even seen it, but it's gone to 100 horsepower,

which I'm not quite sure how I feel about 100 horsepower in that car,

because 65 felt enough and the smaller boat has gone up as well.

So those first thatcher springs are going to be cheap,

fire sales, aren't they?

Really cheap, really cheap.

And we're going to end with one from Smort G

on the Renault five, Roland Garros,

which you were talking about next week,

which you one of your lucky neighbors has taken delivery of.

Yeah, yep.

So they said Roland Garros in Mac

Gray creates a real dilemma between that and an Alpine 290.

150 horsepower is more than enough.

And the money saved from the G cars

can allow for essential extras like the baguette basket.

Oh, talking of baguette baskets.

There was one at the barn,

which I think was meant to be delivered to you, Ginny,

but you weren't there to get it.

But I had a poke around the baguette basket.

I think you'd have to be quite careful on your baguette.

Because it's not when it's a bit skinny.

Yeah. So I think, you know, in France,

they've clearly got those size baguettes.

Well, I think you'd have to be fairly careful

if you had one of those chunkier ones from Tesco's.

I'm not sure it's going to go in there.

You know, I mean, I'm sure you don't go to Tesco's

I do actually go to Tesco.

I'll be popping to Tesco as soon as we finish recording this podcast,

because it's just around the corner.

But I know that the baguettes there

are not like the Parisian, French, beautiful, thin baguettes.

We just can't get decent ones here.

That's what I think Rena should be doing.

You buy the baguette basket,

then they send you a weekly fresh baguette to go into it.

Delivered from France.

That would make me happy.

On the subject of which to go for the 1890,

the R5 Rena and Garros.

I go for the R5 Rena and Garros.

I really would.

Although I have seen if you started to see quite a few LP

in 1890s on the Rose,

no, they do look really nice.

You see, what makes that different to that Mocha GSE?

Because it's quite subtle as well, the Alpine, isn't it?

It's got a bit more body kit about it,

hasn't it, I suppose?

Got more body care.

It just looks a bit more wow.

Yeah, interesting.

Let us know, are we being unkind to the Mocha GSE?

Let us know.

As always, what you think,

please email your car buying questions.

If you've just joined the world of electric cars,

drop us an email podcast at electrifying.com.

We'll give you a shout out on the podcast

if you've got a car buying dilemma,

send us that in,

and we'll do our very best to answer it.

So there were three of us that started.

There were two of us standing.

Should we call it quits while,

you know, for the one that's left?

I think she had bought it before, yes.

I'm gonna say goodbye from my carbon,

my carbon-clan eye.

Any thoughts on how to get rid of it?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you next time.

Bye.

Episode 92: Catfishing concepts and Congestion Charging

Renault 5

Renault Twingo

Vauxhall Mokka

Junior Alfa Romeo Junior

Land Rover Range Rover

C4 Citroen Ec

Citroën ë-C3

Lotus Elise

Tesla Model 3

Tesla Model Y

Volkswagen Beetle

Renault Zoe

Alpine 290

About this episode

Original notes