EVALANCHE? CHINA'S GRIP TIGHTENS! EV DRIVER'S 'SMUG MODE?'
Everything Electric Podcast
EVALANCHE? CHINA'S GRIP TIGHTENS! EV DRIVER'S 'SMUG MODE?'Everything Electric Podcast · Apr 13, 2026
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Concept
EV driver
“EV driver” refers to someone who primarily drives an electric vehicle, which can change how they experience charging, range, and software-driven features compared with gas cars. In EV news, this term often signals the discussion will focus on real-world driver impacts.
They’re using “Avalanche” as a catchy label for the episode’s news. “EV Avalanche” just means the stories are about electric vehicles and the momentum around them.
Honkuk is the company sponsoring the show. They’re saying their Honkuk Ion tire is made specifically for electric cars, aiming for better grip and quieter driving while also helping the car use less energy.
Formula E is an all-electric racing series. The sponsor is using it to suggest their tire tech is proven in serious EV racing before being used on regular cars.
This is a way to describe how new products spread over time. First, a small group tries it early, then more people adopt it, and finally the last group (the laggards) comes around.
“Laggards” are people who don’t want to buy an EV right away. They usually wait until they feel like they have no choice—like prices changing or their old car needing replacement.
They’re saying that when oil prices jump—because of events in the Middle East—gas gets more expensive. When gas gets expensive, EVs can start to look like a better deal.
Concept
EVs are cheaper to run
“Cheaper to run” means the day-to-day cost of driving an EV can be lower than paying for gas. It’s usually because charging can cost less than fuel, and EVs often need fewer routine maintenance items.
Concept
total cost of ownership (implied by "cheaper to run")
Total cost of ownership means what the car costs you over time, not just what you pay upfront. For EVs, it’s about comparing charging costs and upkeep to the costs of a gas car.
“Structurally” here means the big underlying reasons people buy cars haven’t flipped overnight. Even if EVs are growing, gas and diesel cars can still keep selling for a long time.
They’re talking about dealers not being able to get enough cars to sell. When inventory is tight, prices and availability can change, which can make the EV market look more dramatic than it really is.
They’re saying a lot of people are spreading wrong or exaggerated ideas about EVs. That can slow down EV adoption because buyers may believe the bad info.
These stats show how many cars people are buying, both brand-new and pre-owned. Looking at both helps you understand the bigger picture—like whether people are trading in cars or holding onto them longer.
An oil shock means oil prices jump or supply gets disrupted. When that happens, gas gets more expensive, and people may start looking harder at alternatives like EVs.
A shortage doesn’t just affect one thing right away—it can spread out and cause other problems later. In cars, that can mean delays, higher prices, and changes in what people buy.
Concept
new number plates
“New number plates” means the government updates the vehicle registration plates. When that happens, some people buy or sell cars around the change date, which can affect sales numbers for a while.
EVs can sometimes cost less to run than gas cars because charging can be cheaper than buying fuel. If electricity prices go up, those savings may be smaller, but the overall cost comparison still matters for families.
Buying a brand-new EV and buying a used EV aren’t the same deal. Prices and incentives can be different, and used-car buyers also think about things like battery health and warranty.
When most EV sales are in the used market, it means overall adoption and affordability depend heavily on resale prices and battery longevity. It also implies that policy changes and energy-cost shifts can influence not just new-car demand, but used-car pricing and consumer confidence.
A forecourt is the car lot area outside a dealership where you can walk around and look at cars. The hosts are saying EV buyers often spend less time “browsing” and more time ordering and waiting.
This describes the EV sales pipeline: customers place orders first, then vehicles arrive later, so sales numbers can lag behind demand. It helps explain why monthly market share changes may be gradual rather than immediate.
“Battery EVs” are cars that run only on electricity stored in a battery. The hosts are talking about how many of the cars sold are EVs, and how that share is changing over time.
Concept
car sales in March
They’re talking about EV sales for a specific month (March) to show how the market is moving. It’s basically “how many EVs were sold this month” compared to all cars.
Concept
new car sales in February
This points to a different country’s timing for EV adoption, using Australia’s February new car sales share. The comparison suggests EV demand and delivery timing can vary by market, affecting how quickly EV share “jumps.”
“Relying on diesel” means a lot of the country’s transport depends on diesel fuel. If diesel supply becomes uncertain, people may feel more pressure to switch vehicles or worry about getting around.
“Resilience” means how well the system can handle problems without breaking. They’re talking about whether Australia can still get the energy it needs if things get disrupted.
This is the worry that you might not be able to get enough energy to keep driving. With EVs, the concern can shift from gas stations to charging availability and electricity supply.
“Used EV market” just means the market for second-hand electric cars. If it’s going up, more people want them (or they’re harder to find), so prices and sales can move quickly.
A “structural shift” means the rules of the market change for the long run. Here, they’re saying the EV surge might be temporary rather than a permanent change in how people buy cars.
They’re talking about why diesel fuel costs more than you’d expect. That matters because if diesel gets expensive, some people may look harder at alternatives like EVs.
Sky is the TV/media outlet mentioned for where the explanation was given. It’s included because it points you to the original segment they’re referencing.
They mean Australia is especially affected by the diesel price problem. If diesel is a big part of how goods and services get moved, higher diesel costs can ripple through everyday life.
“Headwinds” just means things that make EVs harder to adopt. In this case, it’s mostly politics and messaging that can slow people down from buying an EV.
“Incumbent money” means money from older, established industries that benefit from the status quo. They may spend money to influence rules and public opinion so EVs don’t grow as fast.
“Brought forward some demand” means some buyers accelerated their purchase timing rather than creating entirely new long-term demand. This can happen when incentives, news, or market conditions make EVs feel more attractive right now.
They cite Automotive News, which is a trade publication that covers what’s happening in the car industry. It’s basically a source for industry-focused reporting.
Company
car expert
They also mention a site called “car expert” as another source. Here, it’s being used to talk about how Chinese car brands are doing in the UK.
They’re talking about Chinese car brands starting to sell more cars in the UK. That can happen when companies invest, build partnerships, and get their cars into more showrooms and fleets.
This part is about a survey in Germany that measures how well people recognize Chinese car brands. It also discusses how advertising and sponsorships affect that recognition.
Chang'an is one of the Chinese car brands mentioned as not being widely recognized yet. The episode uses it as an example of how awareness is still low for many newcomers.
S07 is the name of an electric car model. The podcast is using it as an example of a newer brand that currently has a very small share of sales. That usually means it’s still early in its growth.
Brand
Cherry's
This sounds like they mean Chery, a Chinese car company. They’re saying it’s not widely recognized by most German consumers yet.
Brand
Amoda
They list “Amoda” as a newer brand that most people don’t recognize yet. The main point is that many Chinese brands are still early in building awareness.
Brand
J.Coo
J.Coo is mentioned as a Chinese brand that very few people recognize in Germany. It’s part of the point that brand visibility is still low for many newcomers.
Leap Motor is a Chinese car brand that the hosts say has more recognition than most other newer brands in Germany. It’s an example of gradual brand-building.
They mention another Chinese brand with some recognition in Germany, but the name in the transcript sounds unclear. The takeaway is that most Chinese brands have low recognition compared with BYD.
MG is a car brand that’s already well known in places like the UK and Australia. The hosts mention it to show how some brands have a head start in public awareness.
Brand
Paris
“Paris” doesn’t clearly match a car brand in this context, so it may be a transcription mistake. The point is that the hosts are talking about marketing spend and brand visibility.
Company
Cherry Group
Chery/Cherry Group is a big Chinese car company that owns more than one brand. The hosts are saying that being part of a larger group can help a brand sell more cars by sharing support like marketing and distribution.
It means getting the actual cars you sell seen in public—so people notice them on the road. Seeing cars regularly can make a brand feel more real and trustworthy.
Geely is a Chinese automotive group that owns multiple brands and platforms. The hosts mention Geely launching in the UK and spending heavily to grow awareness, using its brand portfolio (including Volvo and Lotus) as part of its strategy.
They’re talking about recent numbers for the UK car market. The goal is to show whether EV sales are rising and how that affects competition.
Company
Stuart Massen
Stuart Massen is named as the person running The Car Expert. The mention is mainly to attribute the source of the statistics rather than to discuss a technical automotive topic.
SMMT is the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which publishes industry data on new vehicle registrations and market trends. Here, the hosts reference SMMT-released figures to discuss EV market growth.
Year-to-date registrations means “how many cars have been registered this year so far.” It’s a way to compare which brands are selling more over the same time window.
Volkswagen is described as the UK’s biggest single brand and a traditional leader in that market. The segment argues that Chinese EV brands are growing faster and taking sales away from established incumbents like Volkswagen.
This means the new brands aren’t only selling more because the whole market is growing—they’re also stealing customers from other brands. It’s basically “who’s winning buyers.”
A go-to-market strategy is basically how a company decides to sell its cars. It’s not just about making a good vehicle—it’s also about how they advertise, price, and get the cars in front of customers.
D9 is the name of an electric car model. The podcast mentions it in the context of getting attention and building awareness for the brand. That’s often part of how new EVs try to attract buyers.
The Everything Electric shows are EV events where car companies come to meet buyers. The hosts are using it to talk about who shows up and who doesn’t.
A test drive is when you try the car before buying it. The hosts are saying EV buyers want to book test drives, but some older automakers aren’t engaging.
“Conquesting” is a marketing term for winning customers away from other car brands. Instead of just selling to people who were already shopping for you, you’re taking buyers who used to drive something else.
Term
loyalty is up for grabs
This phrase means drivers aren’t staying loyal to the same brand as much as they used to. With EVs changing fast, people are more open to switching to a different manufacturer.
Being the best-selling car in a country for a given month indicates strong demand and effective market positioning, often driven by pricing, availability, and consumer perception. The hosts connect this to “conquestings,” suggesting buyers are switching from other brands rather than just adding new demand.
A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) combines a conventional engine with an electric motor and a battery that can be charged from an external power source. In the segment, the hosts imply the top-selling UK car is a PHEV, which can help it compete by offering EV-like driving for short trips while retaining gasoline range.
Range Rover is a very upmarket SUV from Land Rover. The hosts are saying some other cars are trying to copy that “luxury SUV” vibe, even if the price is much lower.
Brand
JQ
“JQ” appears to be a shorthand for a Chinese automaker mentioned alongside BYD, in the context of UK sales and future resale/marketability. Because the transcript doesn’t clearly spell the full brand name, it’s best treated as an ambiguous reference rather than a confirmed model/brand.
This is a discussion of long-term resale value and market liquidity—whether used buyers will want certain brands/models years later. The hosts suggest that if Chinese brands are still “crystallizing” into specific winners, some buyers could face weaker demand and harder resale.
Press trips are trips where car media get invited to meet companies and engineers. Here, the host is saying that what they hear on these trips is that Chinese EVs are improving fast.
Chassis dynamics refers to how a car behaves under driving forces—how it steers, grips, and stays stable during acceleration, braking, and cornering. The hosts are contrasting the perception that Europe leads in chassis tuning with the idea that Chinese brands are improving and even building parts of their operations in Europe to close the gap.
The Tesla Model 3 is an electric car from Tesla. People compare it to other EVs because it’s popular and usually offers a strong mix of range, performance, and technology for the money.
The Polestar 4 is an electric SUV-style car from Polestar. It’s aimed at people who want something a bit more upscale and sporty than the typical EV options.
They’re talking about the XPeng G6, and saying the performance version impressed them. That usually means it’s the quicker, more fun-to-drive trim compared with the standard model.
They’re talking about how a car has to fit different people comfortably. Even a smaller EV can feel “bigger” inside if the seating and layout are designed well.
The Renault 5 E-Tech Electric is a small electric car (a hatchback). The podcast mentions it because they’ve been using it for their work over the past year, so it’s a real-life example of how an EV fits into normal driving. It’s meant to be practical and easy to live with.
Clickbait refers to sensational headlines designed to attract attention and clicks, not necessarily to provide accurate or well-supported information. The hosts call the EV-related headline a “masterclass in clickbait,” implying the framing may be misleading or overstated.
Lifecycle assessment is basically “the full story” of pollution. It looks at how much harm comes from making the car, running it, and recycling or disposing of it.
It means looking at a car’s whole life, not just what comes out of the tailpipe. For EVs, that includes making the battery and what happens when the car is retired.
Concept
tailpipe emissions vs manufacturing emissions
Some pollution happens when you drive the car, and some happens when you build it. EVs often have more “build-time” impact because of the battery, while petrol/diesel cars have more pollution during driving.
“End-of-life disposal” refers to what happens when a vehicle is retired—how components are dismantled, recycled, or landfilled. For EVs, battery recycling and the handling of battery materials are central to the environmental impact at this stage.
The BMW iX3 is BMW’s electric SUV. The point here is that EVs can end up producing less pollution over time than gas or diesel cars, depending on how you charge and how far you drive.
BMW Neue Klasse is BMW’s plan for a new generation of electric-car technology. The podcast brings it up to explain what BMW is building next and how it relates to the EVs they’ve been talking about. It’s basically about the foundation for future electric vehicles.
“Payback” is the idea that an electric car may have a bigger environmental cost at the start (like making the battery), but after you drive enough miles, it can make up for it. After that point, it can be cleaner overall than a gas or diesel car.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Pulse Podcast, the podcast where we delve into the
life and death decade of the automotive industry.
You are joined, as nearly always, by Dan Caesar, CEO of Fully Charged Show,
and Imdre Bogel, one of the presenters here on the show.
But Dan, how are you doing?
I'm good. Don't play your role, Dan.
Not just one of the presenters.
You do a huge amount of work in terms of keeping all the content running.
So we appreciate that and your team, by the way.
But yeah, I'm good.
Thank you very much.
The sun is shining.
Actually, at the time of recording, when I went to bed, the president of the USA was sort of
threatening to wipe an entire civilization off the map.
And who knew a ceasefire has been agreed.
So I'm just glad to be alive.
Oh my goodness.
I mean, I actually, when I woke up this morning,
so I'm going to admit something,
I do follow the president of the United States on Instagram.
And I do so because I want to know what kind of stuff is being put out.
And this morning, I did go on Instagram first thing,
because I was like, there's going to be a same night.
I just need to see what's happened.
And of course, there was a ceasefire.
I'm just like, just for an absolute pillock.
But anyway, yeah, we're both alive,
which is great.
It's a good baseline, isn't it?
And as always, interesting times in the car industry as well as the wider world.
Well, we have three stories today.
Avalanche, EV Avalanche.
We're working on that pun.
It'll look better written, I think, than saying out.
Let's say EV Avalanche for the benefit of the audience.
Interrogating how Chinese automakers are spending big or cutting back
and last but not least, a little bit of click baked from the eye paper.
So all of that to come.
But first, a very quick advert break.
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All right, so let's get into story number one.
EV Avalanche, which you're absolutely right, written down.
EV Avalanche, felt with EV, does work out loud in a spoken medium.
Let's go with EV Avalanche.
But what are we talking about here and what's the headline?
Well, as you know, I love to crucify an analogy.
And from my standpoint, the classic marketing curve
is kind of like a big hill, basically.
And at the beginning, you see the pioneers and the early adopters.
So that was people like Robert Llewellyn and Quentin Wilson
getting in their EVs, many, many moons ago.
And then you see the kind of early adopters,
the early mainstream, the late mainstream, and the Laggards.
We are firmly in the early mainstream,
which is why it's actually quite tricky,
because the mainstream isn't one amorphous mass of people.
And there's a huge group called the Laggards
who will not buy an EV until they absolutely have to do so
and will do so under the cover of darkness
and delete all their comments that were negative
about EVs in the first place.
But actually, I think you could look at that kind of hill
as a bit of a mountain that we have to climb
and crucifying that analogy.
We're dealing with the front edge at the moment of the mountain.
We've seen a big landslip recently,
a big avalanche recently in the oil crisis
that's unfolding in the Middle East.
The cost of oil has put the cost of motoring
right in the consumer's mind eye.
And quite a few consumers already aware
that actually EVs are cheaper to run.
Not everyone is.
Most people still don't realise that and to what extent,
but a lot of people are.
And they've accelerated their EV purchases
as a result of this news.
But my point is, I guess, that there's still a huge mountain,
still a lot of greens to eat,
still a lot of hard work to be done over the next decade
to actually get as many people into battery EVs as possible.
And what we've seen is the front edge of that mountain
sort of fall away, but make no mistake
that it hasn't changed the market structurally currently.
There's a lot of discussion about that at the moment.
There has been a huge amount of euphoria, I would say,
and giddiness in the kind of the EV community
that, oh, okay, surely everyone's going to move to EVs now.
And there's been some extraordinary anecdotal stories
of used car lots in Australia, for example,
being unable to get any stock or their stock has gone,
huge backlogs, et cetera, et cetera.
And while some of that is true,
the reality is that the market is up,
but petrol cars are still selling.
Diesel cars are still selling.
That is not going to go away anytime soon.
So the idea really is that there's a huge amount of work to do.
And actually, there's a huge amount of inertia in the system.
How often have we talked about the fact
that there's industrial scales of misinformation about EVs out there?
That is going to take some serious undoing
over a long period of time
by making people realize that these vehicles are cheaper and better.
We're hardwired by advertising over decades to get in cars,
and we're hardwired to get in combustion cars in particular.
So unwinding that is going to be a long process.
So I don't know if you've seen this, that's over the last month or so,
but the invasion of Iran actually was right at the end of February, February 28th.
And we've seen the whole month of March now
in terms of sales statistics for cars, new and used, start to come through.
We start to see what happened in the entirety of March.
And it is quite interesting.
There has been some change, some movement,
but not perhaps as much as some would like to see.
I don't know if you've seen some of the stories.
So I have seen some of the stats,
but I do have to wonder that actually that upswing
that we're seeing in the March sales, and there is an upswing,
is much more likely to be driven by anticipated
oil shocks coming later in the year
as that sort of trickle effect of shortages unfolds.
So I wouldn't be surprised if we see another big uptick
in sort of September time
when we're really feeling the crunch of the oil crisis.
And also then we've got the new number plates as well.
But yeah, the numbers are pretty telling.
Do you want to walk us through some of them?
Yeah, I think it is interesting.
I think you're right.
I think one month's numbers does not summer make.
That's the reality.
And I think, yes, the cost of energy is going to get higher
as a result of what's happened.
That is going to impact families' economies in general,
not just their motoring, of course,
but in a whole range of other reasons,
which is why we think cost savings you can make
by driving EVs are going to be more and more important.
So yes, this is going to play out
over quite a long period of time now.
I don't think it's any exaggeration to say,
actually, what's happening now
will play out over at least a year
and we'll still be feeling the ramifications of this
over the next 12 months, at least possibly longer.
But in the short term,
there's a limit to what you can see in the new market.
You can understand that, right?
The new market is different to the used market.
In the UK, the bulk of sales, for example,
and most markets are used.
Most people are buying used
and a relative few people are buying new,
but the new market tends to be a slightly longer process.
It's not just about being glib
but walking onto a forecourt, kicking the tires
and choosing something.
It does take a little bit longer
because you're spending more money, for example.
But the reality is that quite often,
orders are placed, deliveries awaited.
So, actually, you're not going to see
huge difference in the new numbers.
In the UK, actually, as a percentage of car sales in March,
we saw a record number of battery EVs sold,
but it's still at 22% of the whole market,
which is roughly where it's been all along.
I agree with you.
I think that might go up to 25%,
maybe 28%, 30% of the next few months
as those orders that are being placed in March
actually come to fruition in the numbers in April, May, June.
So, I can see that happening.
But in Australia, you've actually seen
a bit more of a bounce, actually.
It was a bit more immediate than that.
So, in Australia, actually, it was 11% new car sales in February.
In March, it was 14.6%.
So, actually, quite a noticeable amount.
And I think what's going on in Australia
is a little bit different to the UK.
Yes, they are a landmass out on their own,
but actually, they're very, very, very reliant on diesel.
They also, the war has prompted fears of resilience.
What does that mean for Australia, et cetera?
And then there's the fear of actually running out of fuel,
which is not to be conflated with the cost benefits.
Actually, there's actually a fear
of not being able to get around at all.
So, in Australia, we've seen new market bounce,
and we've seen all sorts of stories
from all across the world in America,
used EV market is up significantly, same in the UK.
But also in Australia, we've heard some incredible stories
about, as I said, car lots full of used cars,
all the EVs selling out very, very quickly
as people go and grab those while they can.
But the reality is that there's not a structural shift
taking place.
It's quite a big upswing, and it will last over a period of time,
but there's still a huge amount of people back in that mountain,
back in the hills who are in that late mainstream
and laggard position, who still need to be convinced
over a long period of time.
So, things have changed, but not quite as much
as some of the euphoria might have suggested.
I think the other interesting dynamic
is that the people who were seeing purchase EVs,
either second hand or first hand now,
are people who probably were largely considering it,
and then their evasion of around just sort of tip to them
over the edge of like, OK, well, now is the time to do it.
Or they're people who are very affluent
and can make that snap decision.
And so I do think the dynamics are going to be interesting
as we go through the year, and actually the availability
of affordable EVs, either in the first hand market
or indeed the second hand market,
becomes even more prescient.
I'm sure you watched the video that Roger Atkins
posted on LinkedIn about why diesel in particular
is so expensive, and Ed Conway did,
as ever, the most wonderful explanation on Sky.
So we'll definitely link to that as well,
because I think it paints a very, very clear picture
why diesel in particular is so expensive,
but also why Australia is so exposed to it.
And indeed, so is the UK, but less so than Australia.
Yeah, I mean, the reality is we're going to have to chisel
away at this mountain for a long period of time.
Quite often the headwinds have been against EV,
politically speaking.
Lots of incumbent money trying to slow the move to EV down,
misinformation, et cetera.
So this is something that actually is pushing people
towards that decision making.
But I agree, probably quite a lot of people
who bought EV in the last month have done so
because they're already quite close to buying one,
or they had the means to do so.
So it's probably brought forward some demand,
but not necessarily change the market permanently.
But it's certainly an interesting time,
and it's certainly putting EVs and the fact
that they're cheaper to run,
and cheaper over total cost of ownership.
It's putting that in the news on a regular basis,
which is not unhelpful to our cause.
Yeah, and there's been a lot of headlines
that have said things along the lines of,
there's a lot of smug EV drivers right now,
and yes, there are, and we are some of them.
Shall we move to story two?
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Yes, well, the second story really is about Chinese ambition.
It's hard to have a podcast about the future of the car industry
and not talk about China's influence in it.
But there are a couple of stories that I've seen this week
that kind of interested me,
and I'm going to try and weave them together if you like.
So one of the stories comes from Automotive News,
a very august title in the industry,
which talks about the investment some of the Chinese car companies are making.
And the second story is from the car expert,
which actually shows to what extent Chinese car makers
are making inroads in the UK market.
So what's interesting is Automotive News,
the article actually focuses on a survey
that's been done, a large-scale survey in Germany,
which talks about German consumer awareness of Chinese brands.
Chinese brands know they need to invest in their brand.
Most people won't buy a vehicle without first recognizing the brand.
And familiarity is not enough.
They also, these car companies have got to build positive associations.
So the survey that was done by a gentleman called Martin Fasnacht
said many consumers may have heard of Chinese manufacturers,
but only a few can name one.
And it was quite interesting when they got into awareness of the different brands.
Actually, some of the newer brands that we know,
Chang'an's, Deepal, Cherry's, Amoda and J.Coo,
is only about 1% as it stands.
Leap Motor, a bit better known as is Lincoln Co,
which has been Germany for a few years at 11%.
But BYD stands out with a massive 64% recognition.
And I think we all know why that is.
They've spent big, but also they were the headline sponsor
of UEFA's European Soccer Tournament in Germany in 2024.
So it's really interesting to see that money was, I think,
very, very well spent by Paris and MG,
which is obviously well-known here in the UK,
and well-known in Australia.
It's also quite well-known because it's already got a bit of a head start.
So that's got 26% recognition in Germany as well.
So that was really kind of interesting to me to see that.
The market will not be won easily,
and this is a big part of it,
is getting your brand out there,
making the sales on the ground,
but also making sure people are aware
and trust the brand in the first place.
And BYD has done a very, very good job of that.
We can also see some other brands,
particularly Amoda J.Coo,
which is part of the Cherry Group,
and I'll come onto them in a minute.
Also spending big to make sales,
to get their brands out there,
to get their name plates out on the road.
Geely as well.
Geely as a brand, as a parent group,
it's obviously got lots of different brands that sit beneath it,
such as the poll stars of this world,
the Volvos, Lotus, et cetera.
But actually Geely is now launched in the UK as well,
and they are also spending big going after this prize,
if you like.
But some others are not.
They're actually not doing much activity at all,
and it's hard to see, isn't it,
how if three big companies spend a fortune on the market
and start to gain traction and share it,
it's hard to see how the others will be able to compete with that,
or just resign themselves to maybe selling cars in much lower volumes.
But scale is what the car industry is all about.
So if you can't really leverage your scale,
that could be problematic.
But trying to segue it on just very, very quickly,
imagine because I'm dying to make a point as well,
but what we've seen in the UK now
is big impact from BYD, Cherry Jacoba Moda, in particular.
And I wanted to go into some of the statistics on that,
but I'll let you go.
No, no, you go for it.
Go into the statistics.
Well, I mean, I think so.
The Car Expert, which is a website run by Stuart Massen,
reported on some of the details behind the SMMTs,
new car market that were released this week,
and the market in total all-power trains
grew 7% year-on-year.
But actually, it's BYD and the Cherry Group,
which includes Jacoba Moda,
now accounts for more than the market's overall growth,
meaning established brands are losing ground.
And the point Stuart makes is two years ago,
BYD was only just launching its first cars in the UK,
and Cherry Group did not yet exist here at all.
Now they're combined year-to-date registrations
are ahead of Volkswagen's,
which is the UK's biggest single brand,
and traditionally the dominant force in the UK market.
Their growth is also greater than that of the market overall,
meaning they are taking thousands of sales away
from other brands, rather than simply adding to total registrations.
March was the clearest example yet
of how this is changing the market.
Spending big,
employing the right strategies,
having good cars is definitely an important part of that,
of course, but it's not the only part.
It's about your go-to-market strategy.
And we're seeing some clear signs that some of these brands
are really, really starting to gain traction.
But it is such an interesting thing.
We've definitely spoken about this before,
that you can have a great product at a great price,
but ultimately cars are not just rational purchases.
They're deeply, deeply irrational.
And we are a funny market as a UK market,
that we're creatures of habit,
and we're snobby about certain brands.
And you know, just to, I remember being at school,
aged like 10, and people being like,
what supermarket is your lunch for?
And even having that kind of judgment back then.
So let alone when a new entrant comes into market,
we don't see a new entrant as a thing to be like,
oh, that's cool. It's new. It's shiny. Let's go for it.
We see it as like, oh no,
we'll double down on the things that we know.
So these brands, of course,
have to spend extremely big in order to
gain some kind of brand awareness and brand traction.
But what I find interesting is that I can well imagine
the conversations in traditional OEMs,
where I know just how much of a market
is going on in traditional OEMs,
where I know just how bureaucratic those organizations can be
and how painful it can be to get sign off
on even the most minuscule amounts of money.
They must just be looking at these big campaigns thinking,
oh, for God's sake, how on earth do we go beyond
just leveraging our legacy and our reputation?
Well, just this year only, you know,
we've seen BYD become a sponsor for Manchester City,
which will win them some sales in Manchester.
The blue half of Manchester, maybe not the red half of Manchester,
will win them sales globally, I'm sure.
We've seen Denzer join up with Daniel Craig, the last 007.
I mean, these are big moves, right?
And then we see in their go-to-market strategy,
we see, you know, the likes of BYD do a very good job
in terms of getting out into the market
from a dealership perspective, selling the likes of BYD
and Sharia, Moda, JQ and Geely are all present
at our everything electric shows, which are coming up shortly.
But as you say, to the bureaucracy point,
we can't even get a response out of some of the legacy manufacturers
who don't seem to want to be present
when there are thousands of battery TV buyers wanting test drives
and looking to put money down.
They won't even respond to our outreach.
So, you know, that's not a subtle plug,
an interesting dynamic that we're seeing play.
But yeah, certainly some of the ambition being seen is great.
But it's not just about China, right?
There are some great legacy brands,
the likes of MG, who are backed by China as well,
also making great strides in the market.
But, you know, our friends at Renault, haven't they done
brilliantly in recent times?
What a line-up they've got, and I haven't got time
to mention all the different car makers.
So it isn't just about China,
it's playing a bigger and bigger role in the UK market.
And that statistic that they're effectively together
outselling, out-registering Volkswagen already
is just astonishing.
So before we started recording this podcast,
I was telling you that Rob and I had started to talk about
Daniel Craig's collaboration with the Denzer GT9
on the podcast of One Hour Monday.
However, what about Esther's had to kindly say,
I think we need to cut it.
And I was like, oh, why?
And he was like, well, you just both definitely got
incredibly confused between Mission Impossible
and James Bond.
OK, that's totally fair.
Thank you for making us look less like idiots.
So yeah, but we're talking about it now.
But I do think they must have paid.
I would love to know how much Daniel Craig
has been paid for this collaboration,
it's got to be a hefty fee.
I'm not sure it's entirely something that he'd have said yes
to willy-nilly.
No, but yeah, another coup.
And I'm sure you can expect more collaborations
of that type to come.
There was no doubt about it.
There was some serious ambition.
And the point that I think sometimes is missed,
we talk a lot in the car industry about, you know,
conquesting.
So one brand conquesting sales away from another.
So every time BYD sells a car,
they will be asking what brand the previous,
the owner had previously,
and they'll be making a record of who they're
conquesting most away from.
And that loyalty is up for grabs at the moment.
But my view is strongly that it will cement again,
it will coalesce and it will cement over
next five to 10 years.
But if you were, I don't know,
one of the interesting things I think to me is that the JQ7,
I believe it is,
is the best-selling car in March in the whole of the UK.
It is a Fev, I think it's a plug-in hybrid,
but it's outsold everything else.
And I would say that it looks quite Range Rover-ish,
totally different price tag.
And internal quality.
Well, anyway, it is the two very different products,
I will say that.
But the reality is that in the absence of Range Rover
having a product in the market,
people are going towards that.
Or there are people who've always wanted a Range Rover,
but could never afford one who are going towards that.
So for that to be the best-selling car in the UK
in the month of March and by distance tells you everything,
there's conquestings going on.
But ultimately, if someone likes the JQ or they like the BYD
and they maybe buy one, maybe buy a second one,
they might be quite difficult to shift out of those cars
in five, 10 years' time.
So I think it will crystallise around certain brands.
And actually, how much of the Chinese brand's cars improved already?
There's no reason that the JQ, BYD, etc.
won't get even better while keeping cost down
over the next five to 10 years.
So that conquesting piece is an interesting one.
Super, super interesting.
And certainly, the JQ is the car that I see
most out and about in car parks.
I'm like, oh, God, another one.
There we go.
It is interesting though when you go on these sort of press trips
and you speak to various engineers
and to various people within car brands
that, yes, there is this general sentiment of like
the Chinese OEMs can produce cars very, very quickly.
They're very brilliant.
And their manufacturing quality has certainly improved.
But when it comes to chassis dynamics,
Europe is still seen as the absolute centre of excellence.
But then also Chinese brands are being wise to that
and basing some of their operations to do with some of those aspects
here in Europe as well.
So, yeah, very interested to see how with a few years of ownership
how that changes things or not,
as the case may be for the likes of BYD and JQ.
But super quick question.
If you were going to part with your own cash for an EV,
what would you get right now?
That's a really, really good question.
I currently am driving a Model 3,
which I still think is very, very, very good.
You and I drove the new cheaper version of Model 3 recently.
I just think pound for pound they're excellent.
I am actually, we didn't rehearse this question.
I am actually kind of in the market at the moment.
I'm pretty keen on the Polestar 4.
I think we've discussed that before.
But the other day I drove the X-Peng G6 performance
and that was astounding.
So I'm trying to get another drive of that.
So I am actually in the market.
And then we'd be very fortunate to be driving around a little bit
in a Renault 5 recently as well, which is also a great car
at a much lower price point.
So, non-answer, but there's a few...
I mean, it's just like being a kid in a candy shop now.
There are just so many good options,
but those are some of the ones that I really like.
But I could go on like the Hyundai Onyc 5N.
I don't know if you've driven that.
You've got the Onyc 5, right?
Which is great.
The 5N is unbelievably fun.
Anyway, I could go on,
but there's some amazing cars out there now.
And what would you get if you were forced to right now?
The Ferrari?
Well, quite.
You know what?
So I'm seeing...
We were doing a shoot with Ferrari at the end of May.
And the email came to me.
And I was like,
I've currently got plans to see a friend in Yorkshire.
And I was like,
I know that I've turned down Ferrari to come and see you in Yorkshire.
And also, more importantly than that,
I mean, that's something that I could not take that from Robert.
He needs to do that car.
But no, not a Ferrari.
I think the challenge that we have as a family at the moment
is that I am 5'3".
My husband is 6'4".
I would go for something like...
To be honest, like the Kia EV2.
Something pretty small and dinky,
but is disguised as a bigger kind of car.
He just...
He won't stop that.
He needs something like actually quite big.
And largely because he's just got the longest legs
in the entire world.
So we definitely have a huge difference of opinion
on that set at the moment,
but he is very, very keen on the Polestar 3.
But in order for that to happen,
it'd be quite nice if some mysterious person
just wrote us a check and made that dream come true.
But yeah, we're definitely having that debate at the moment.
But I do love the Ioniq 5.
It is great, yeah.
Yeah.
And we've had...
I'm going to share this grievance.
We've been really, really fortunate to have the Renault 5
as a production team for the past year.
And it has almost been exactly a year.
I had it for three days.
That is it.
I think Robert is similarly frustrated, I think.
Yeah.
For two days, yeah.
But he's a good car.
It's a very, very good car, I have to say.
We sacrificed for the team,
and that's the kind of people we are.
All right, let's move to Story 3.
Well, I mean, misinformation is alive and well.
And we saw...
We do see it still.
I'm going to say with absolutely no statistical backup
that we're seeing it a little bit less at the moment.
But maybe I'm just not seeing it.
But we saw it absolutely doozy in the I,
which is part of the spin-off of the independent, I believe.
Not to be confused with the independent,
because Steve Fowler, the independent,
does a brilliant job if you don't go to that,
talking about all the new EVs.
So not to be confused with them,
but the I did a piece yesterday, basically,
that said, you know, EV drivers shouldn't be so smug.
I guess this is probably, again,
in part due to the oil crisis, lots of EV drivers saying,
actually, it's much cheaper to run my EV
than it is for you to run a combustion engine vehicle.
But not only was the headline, you know,
an absolute masterclass in clickbait,
so was the kind of the lead in the article
and the end piece of the article.
There was a little bit of an emission
that actually EVs are 30% to 50%,
you know, less impactful on the environment
over the total cradle to grave.
There was a brief admission of that,
but it was surrounded by, obfuscated by a whole other range
of bits of misinformation.
Of course, a lot of people just read the headline image,
and we know this, right,
or just read the first couple of lines,
so job done.
But I'm going to a little read out a little bit for you,
but so the journalist who I will not name,
but the truth is that electric vehicles
are much less environmentally friendly at the beginning
and at the end of their lives than petrol and diesel cars.
Yeah, well, the middle bit is the most important bit,
I would say.
With their manufacture and eventual disposal
requiring more raw materials and causing more pollution,
carbon emissions are only a part of the environmental story,
albeit an important one,
and in some other key environmental regards,
EVs are significantly worse than petrol and diesel vehicles.
And actually the reality is that the BMW
Neuer Klasse vehicles that we've covered recently,
the iX3, the payback means that actually
after about 12,000 miles of driving,
this is from BMW, that actually is much cleaner.
So the reality is that EVs are cheaper,
they are better, but they are much, much cleaner.
And I felt this was sort of a slightly
anachronistic throwback this article to a time
when people didn't know that.
And the one bit that made me laugh,
and it said, all in all,
they are certainly nowhere near the environmental panacea
they are presented as by many,
especially where the battery is concerned.
And I have to take issue with that kind of very narrow thinking.
And environmental panacea means
we don't have cars at all, right?
You know, and I would love that we were going
around on bicycles and, you know,
we were using public transport,
no more than anyone, I would love that.
But we live in a world that's been built
if you're in the UK and America and Australia,
less so in the Netherlands,
the lovely Netherlands,
but we've been built around the car.
It's been built around vehicles, right?
You know, things are a certain distance apart.
You know, public transport isn't great.
Often it's very, very expensive.
So we live in a world where we have to accept
that cars are going to be quite a big part of that.
And most EV evangelists aren't presenting EVs as a panacea.
They're just saying they are much better than the alternative.
I've never met an EV evangelist who hasn't said,
yeah, but ultimately, you know,
if you really wanted to do the right thing environmentally,
you would stop buying things in total.
You'd stop flying.
You'd ride a bike, et cetera.
You go on public transport.
So that kind of made me laugh
because I've never heard anyone say it's a panacea.
It isn't a panacea,
but it's a much better option than a diesel
or a petrol vehicle from an environmental perspective.
What also really bothers me about this article
is that it is very much written in the sense of,
you know, you're in year seven at school
and they're like, write a negative article.
Being 11 to 12 years old,
you don't need to include any kind of statistics
or any kind of references.
You can just say something is bad and then leave it at that.
And that's precisely what this does.
It says batteries are difficult to recycle
at the end of their life.
Well, try recycling burnt fossil fuels
that have gone into the atmosphere.
Like, back that up with something.
And actually we can prove the recycling batteries
is actually very straightforward,
not least because the first point of recycling
is a second life.
So therefore, you're literally just taking it out,
probably doing a little bit of a software update,
putting it in a different application.
And at the end of its life,
it's also pretty straightforward to recycle.
By their nature,
they're inherently much more circular items.
So it's just like such utter tripe.
And there's just no adequate comparison
in this article at all.
It's total nonsense.
And honestly, I read it and I'm like,
you should not be proud of this,
dear journalist.
And I don't think you should send this to your mum
or indeed your old school teachers
because they would berate you
for a lack of quality.
But there we go.
Absolutely withering.
I like that review.
It was very good.
But I will just leave you with this.
So my favourite fact about EVs is that,
you know, if you take a petrol and diesel car,
over the course of its life, it will burn.
Imagine if you had a barrel of oil
and you stacked them on top of each other,
you'd get a stack about 90 metres high
of barrels of oil.
That's what that car would consume
over the course of its life.
That oil is obviously burnt,
obviously petrol diesel.
It's burnt, it's out in the atmosphere.
You can't get it back, whatever.
And that's not even considering the energy
that's gone into producing the car.
Whereas for an electric car,
the materials that you cannot recycle
from the battery probably equates to
about a football-sized hunk of material.
So let's say that's like 15 to 30 kilos of material.
So suddenly we have a stack of oil,
a stack of barrels, 90 metres tall,
versus a football-sized shape
in terms of waste that can't be recuperated.
It's just like, it's not even a comparison.
And then of course all cars,
whether they're electric or whether they're petrol diesel,
they all need to fit the same legislation
of how much they can be recycled
and how much the manufacturer is responsible for that.
So it's just, anyway, we could go on,
but we should not lose any energy to poor journalism.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Shall we just finish off quickly
with a couple of very quick wins and losers?
I prepared some, so I feel like I kind of need to...
Oh, go ahead.
Well, I think, I was going to say,
I think Australia's doing very, very well
with its kind of promotion of EVs,
but I just wanted to say briefly that
I think this is interesting.
It's got sales statistics
from a whole variety of sources yesterday.
Tesla in the UK, we were down in Southampton region,
and we saw a huge amount of Teslas waiting,
we thought, to be delivered.
It looked like so many, I was worried.
But actually, if you compare their,
so they basically, their sales are often taken out of context.
As you know, they actually do the bulk of their deliveries
at the end of each quarter.
That's the way that they've always done it.
But when they have a first month result,
actually journalists often warp that and say,
Tesla's down, et cetera.
And Tesla, you know, it hasn't grown in the way
that we might have expected it to a few years ago.
But across Q1, 2026,
their registration figures have gone up
versus the same quarter before by 32%.
So actually, they've had a bit of a rebound
in the first three months of this year,
and they brought out the cheaper versions,
the not-called standard, the not-called standard,
the cheaper versions of their cars as well.
So interesting to see them kind of rebound
along with the story about how well the Chinese companies are doing too.
And then in terms of losers,
I've got, I cannot help mention the kind of the warmongering chief, really.
The used EV market in the US is really flying.
It's really, really starting to go well.
And I've got to mention his name because I know
it would wind the other one up.
But many of the cars originally leased
during the Biden administration when the federal tax credit
helped drive adoption.
Those vehicles are now cycling back into wholesale channels,
boosting availability with more to come.
And they experienced reckons that EVs are going to make up
15% of all off-lease vehicles by the end of 2026,
a doubling from the start of this year.
And finally, US fuel savings can be had there as well.
And so a Seattle nonprofit called Cultura
showed that as gasoline prices have surged,
the average gasoline price is now $4.14,
up from $3.41 a month ago.
What that means is that someone driving 25,000 miles a year
in an EV could expect to save over $3,000 annually
by switching from an internal combustion engine to an EV.
So that one's for the US.
The good things are still happening there.
Thank goodness, because we need some hope to hold on to for sure.
Before we wrap up, what is in store for you
in the fully charged show multiverse?
That's a great question.
I think I'm going back to the Nordic EV Summit in May.
Nice.
Which I always like to because you need those little moments
of hope and obviously everyone knows the Norwegian market
is very well advanced.
I'm intending to go to the Beijing Motor Show
at the end of April as well,
where we see a lot of new product.
Always a fascinating watch.
Get to see Elliot Richards in person,
which we don't do often enough.
And then we've got everything electric north in Harrogate in May
and everything electric west in Cheltenham in June,
which is shaping up to be great events.
Then I might collapse for a bit
before getting on with the second half of the year.
We will leave it there as ever.
It is wonderful to catch up.
And as for everyone listening or watching,
thank you so much for doing so.
If you could do us one tiny additional favor
by liking, subscribing, sharing with a friend,
or any of the above, we so appreciate it.
It really does ensure that we can continue to grow
and continue to talk about all the important bits and bobs
in the automotive industry.
But that's it.
If you have been, thank you for listening or watching.
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About this episode
The hosts tackle three timely EV angles: how oil-price shocks and geopolitical turmoil are nudging buyers toward EVs, but not yet creating a structural shift. They break down March sales data (UK steady at ~22% BEV share, Australia bouncing higher) and argue demand is being pulled forward rather than fully transforming the market. Next, Chinese automakers’ brand-building strategy is spotlighted—BYD and the Cherry/Jaecoo group are gaining share in the UK. Finally, they rip into clickbait “smug EV drivers” and misleading environmental claims, defending EV lifecycle benefits and recycling progress.
It's been a BIG month for battery EV sales, or has it? Imogen and Dan delve into the first set of sales statistics since the Oil Crisis began, display shock and awe at how ambitious Chinese OEMs are changing the structure of a historically conservative market, as well as examining a misinformation masterclass in the British press.
