In A Bit of a Huff - 18 August 2025
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Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, your week discussion of motoring news.
This is episode 645 on Monday, the 18th of August, 2025.
Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew.
And this week, you'll be shocked to hear that magic bean thinking has not made our roads
safer.
In new, new car news, you'll hear the word simplicity used a lot.
And in points of interest, you get to see how a small one can make a lounge.
But first, we have some follow-up.
And I need to start with, last week's show, the more keen-eared of you will have realized
that there was no lunchtime read or watch.
That is unfortunately because of my error of not spotting that the article I was recommending
was actually littered with AI-generated images.
And one of the things we have promised you and ourselves is we will not knowingly
pass on any articles or videos or anything related to the items we discuss that are generated
by AI.
So apologies for that.
But this week, we do, we are making up for it because you've got quite a lengthy read.
Yes, it's a lot of reading.
You might want to use an AI to create, no, don't do that.
Anyway, first piece of, I'm going to say proper follow-up, the joys of the low-emission vehicle
grant or electric vehicle grant in the UK.
Some vehicles have been announced as part of the list of vehicles that will qualify.
There is a link in the show notes to the Gov.org page, which has a list of what the criteria
were and also which vehicles fit under each of the two different bans.
Band 1 cars, very quick to list because the maximum discount available for cars assessed
as Band 1 is £3,750.
There are no cars eligible for Band 1.
Who said performative?
Exactly.
Band 2, available for vehicles assessed as Band 2 is £1,500, up to £1,500.
And I will very, very quickly read through the list.
You try and spot the odd ones out.
So there's a Citroen EC3 and EC3 Aircross, EC4 and EC4X, the EC5 Aircross and the E-Balinga
as the Coupre-Born.
There are two Nissan's, the Araya and the Micra, the Peugeot E208, E2008 and E-Rifter.
The Renault's 4, 5, Alpine A290, McGann Scenic.
Yeah, McGann and Scenic.
There's the Vauxhall Astra Electric, Combo Life Electric, Corsa Electric, Frontera Electric,
Grandland Electric and Mocha Electric and last but not least there's the Volkswagen ID.3.
Almost feels, Alan, when you've run through that list, that the rules don't seem to apply to some companies.
Well, no.
I mean, you'll notice that pretty much all European built with the exception of the Nissan Araya,
which is built in Japan, which has a very high carbon output, electricity generation,
unlike pretty much everything else on that.
As the government's own judging organization states themselves.
Yeah.
The other thing is, there is a maximum price, which I now can't see listed on the government website of...
£37,000.
They have to be under £37,000.
And the interesting thing is you look at some of those and go,
most of the range doesn't actually fit under £37,000.
So I assume it's only the ones at the lower end of the range that I can buy.
Well, not so, it seems.
It seems that as long as there is one version in the range with a battery drivetrain combo,
that is under £37,000, then any other trim level with that same battery drivetrain combo is also eligible.
Yes.
So I missed that.
I missed that one.
And you know how much I went through that.
I still missed it.
But it's such a weird setup.
So that's what you'll notice with the Nissan Araya.
There is like one more base level model.
As of last Thursday.
As of last Thursday, which just squeaks under and therefore most of the rest of the range is right up to £40,000.
Well, until the £40,000 is eligible for the grant as well.
Which seems a bit...
I don't know.
It just seems a bit off.
Yeah, it's wrong.
And that's my...
It's just flat out wrong.
It's a massive loophole.
And now that Nissan have exploited that by doing that, I fully expect that so many others to do so.
It's ridiculous.
So watch out for there being a very low spec of EVs which miraculously make that threshold
but have a common drivetrain and battery size.
And see how easy it is to actually buy one.
I think that's going to be the ultimate test on this.
Can you actually go out and buy it?
Or is this going to be the Tesla $35,000 Model 3 bait and switch move?
Because I tell you, if I was working for a car manufacturer,
I'd be trying to do the Tesla $35,000 bait and switch move on this one.
Because why the heck not?
It's not just a loophole.
It is a loop tunnel.
Yeah.
It's a loop open cast mine.
It is so big and obvious.
Once again, it's demonstrated that whilst they had all this time to think about this,
to come up with a sensible plan, to perhaps discuss with SMMT and other organizations
an idea of how to make this fair and equitable, they've botched it basically.
And they're going to waste our tax-paid money by giving it to cars that should not be eligible.
Yeah.
And again, it's not even necessarily going to benefit the end owner
because just about anyone, including the manufacturers themselves and the dealers
and everyone can apply to this and fleet buyers the lot.
It's just, there's a word I want to put before poor, which Andrew...
Oh no, it's me this week, which I would have to edit out otherwise.
And I don't want to be doing that.
Because...
It's just dumb.
It's just dumb.
Yes, it's just awful.
Also, in the show notes, there will be a link to an EV-powered article that talks about this,
but also to a post from Blue Sky by Nick Gibbs who demonstrates also his questioning of how
a Japanese-made car gets through the environmental criteria
and he shows what the IEA's figures say about Japan.
Yes.
Thanks also to others for chiming in and pointing out that some vehicles were being reprised
from a certain date to magically fit under that threshold.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, yeah, I mean it...
Thanks for the help on that.
Right, the final bit of a follow-up then.
And unfortunately, this isn't going to be a new car news because it's so important that it needs to go to follow-up.
But the Citroen stop-drive order that we discussed a few weeks ago regarding airbags has now been extended
to include C4, DS4 and DS5 models.
If you have a C4 and a DS4 that was built between 2010 and 2011, you will now be part of this recall.
DS5 cars that were built between 2010 and 2013, that will be part of the recall.
The expansion is expected to include a pair under 10,000 cars on top of the 120,000 cars
that were already listed as needing to be fixed.
Crikey Citroen.
Yeah, Citroen, Stellantis in general, you really need to sort of get working on those
on your processes for sorting these recalls.
Maybe ask Ford, Ford have a lot of practice at this kind of thing.
96 in America last week, they were up to 96.
Yeah, yeah, I saw.
Wow.
I saw.
Anyway, anyway, we're on to new news.
Yes.
And something was going to hit Andrew before it hits me is that the UK government is poised
to introduce mandatory eye tests for drivers aged above 70 as part of, according to the
Oscar article, the first official road safety strategy in more than a decade.
Well, this is all part of a consultation.
So it's not actually definite yet.
This is a leak as well on top of everything else, which is really annoying about this
is it feels like we're having that we've gone back to the let's govern by leaking
and see who screams loudest and then change whatever it was we're doing.
Yeah, I mean, there's a load of stuff included in this, but the one for over 70s
and an official eye test seems to be seems to be the one that's this catching
people's catching people's eye, I suppose.
Maybe it's because it directly appeals directly impacts an awful lot of voters
could possibly be a reason if I'm being terribly cynical first thing on a Monday morning.
Right at the minute.
If you are older when you're renewing your license, you are allowed to self report
the quality of your eye quality of your eyesight.
Yeah.
Okay.
There we go.
Other bits and pieces include proposals include drivers facing penalty points
if they're caught carrying passengers who are not wearing a seat belt.
Currently, it's only if they're under 18 isn't it that the driver gets the penalty point.
I think so.
Otherwise, it's the passenger themselves.
There is also talking about reducing drink driving limits to the same as permitted in Scotland.
UK, well, English and Welsh drink driving limits are actually amongst the highest in the whole of in the whole of Europe.
And also on top of that, that they are talking about allowing roadside drug swabs as evidence.
Whereas up to now, like with the breathalyzer, if you if you fail whatever they're doing, you then are taken into custody
and there is a proper test done later because the roadside stuff is has up to now not been deemed accurate enough to prove something.
So that's interesting.
I hope there's an improvement in technology.
And this isn't just a stepping over of, well, we believe it's right enough.
Yeah.
And at the minute, they're saying that they're not going to introduce a graduated driving license.
But then in the next breath, they say, we'll keep everything under review because it's part of the consultation.
There's just they that's not part of the what they're harping on about.
It's very annoying.
Do you know what I reckon part of that is about and it's not to do with road safety at all.
Why they're not talking about that or trying not to is because they're having enough trouble testing people as it is for the standard driving test.
We don't have enough testers because they're not treated particularly well, not paid particularly well.
Yeah, it could be.
But the language is very interesting when they talk about the older people needing to have mandatory eye tests, etc.
It's it's along the lines of this is to allow essentially it's along the lines of this is to allow the freedoms of everyone else on the road to be feel safe, etc.
When they talk about the graduated for the younger ones.
Oh, this is to not restrict their freedoms on the road.
You go, well, the safety, safety.
Yeah, there's a line this article says an unnamed government source cited by the BBC and the Guardian said the new strategy is aimed at protecting road users and restoring order to our roads.
What?
Yes, exactly. Exactly.
And then I like that actually the next couple of paragraphs from this article by Charlie Martin are pretty good.
So let's I'm going to quote them verbatim.
And it said the changes no doubt come as a response to the plateau in annual numbers of serious industries, injuries and deaths on the road in recent years.
According to provisional figures recently published by the government, 29,537 people were seriously injured or killed in road collisions in the UK last year.
Little change compared to 2023 fatalities were up by 1% to 1,633.
Compared to figures from 2014 instances of serious injury or death were down 14% while fatalities fell 8%.
But I saw all the magic technology was going to make us instantly so safe that this wouldn't be a problem.
It's almost as though it's not fit for purpose.
If you go out and buy a new electric car that has all the new technology Andrews everybody should be doing then obviously everything will be safe.
The problem here is clearly to do with the rise of unsafe vehicles on UK roads, which is a cause for alarm.
It is as we swiftly move on.
There has been a total of 13,109 people who were given points for driving unsafe vehicles in 2024, which was up from 8,614 in 2023 according to this AutoCart article linked in the show notes.
Now, this is can we add a lies down lies and statistics disclaimer here.
Well, I think we need to be clear that this the RAC first of all the RAC did a freedom of information request.
And this is them releasing this this info that they found.
However, it needs to be said and it is hinted at in or actually mentioned in this article.
The fact that the numbers have gone up does not necessarily mean that there are more unsafe vehicles on the roads.
It could be that the police have targeted stopping vehicles to check for unsafe, particularly in some of the areas where they said the motion have been found to be unsafe.
It could be that they've got targeted specific projects where they're looking at this sort of issue.
Yes, there's no comparison to this this article and I imagine it would.
But I imagine if the numbers were in the figures, it does not state how many stops there were one year compared to the last year.
So it's very difficult to say more people are getting stopped from receiving points because there were more stops targeted at this or if it's because there's more there are more unsafe vehicles.
However, however, it does it does suggest this if you tie in the number of MOT failures and advisories, which has increased, particularly on some of the aspects that were the biggest issues as tires being unsafe was the highest.
Where 8,495 drivers out of the 13,109 part of the reason they were pulled was for unsafe tires.
Faulty brakes is next though. That's not really what I want to hear.
I have to say that tires and faulty brakes.
No, really don't do that.
This has caused obviously the National Tire Distributors Association to say, well, we should do something about the MOTs.
If it's an advisory, there needs to be a follow up to check someone has actually changed them, etc, etc.
Well, that follow up happens the next year, doesn't it?
Yes, it does. If it needs followed up and actually checked, then it's a fail.
Yes.
Sorry, did it kind of already works like that?
Or you change the level at which you are suggesting a tire becomes unsafe.
Or you just make people more aware that tires are a thing and a where part.
Yeah.
Which seems to be a surprise to many.
Yeah. However, this shouldn't really be that much of a surprise to people if we look at the many years we've had the cost of living crisis.
And we know maintenance has levels of maintenance has dropped in the UK fleet.
It's been around so long.
It's no longer a cost of living crisis.
It's a cost of living reality.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can only stand so much crisis for so long.
I think most of us are the same.
Moving on to something completely different.
Yay.
We talked a little while ago about a new electric sports car built in Britain for Britain called Longbow.
Hang on, let's not tar them with the Ineos brush just yet.
Yeah.
You made that sound that way.
Ineos Geneta TBR, you name it.
Yeah.
It's called Longbow.
It is, I don't know.
They seem to be using their VC startup money to hire to hire many experienced people.
So Mike Fluitt and Michael van der Seid and Dan Obama have joined the firm's new advisory board,
which the co-founder Daniel Davy, a former Tesla and Lucid engineer dubbed the Holy Trinity.
They called that because they were the former bosses of McLaren, Alpine and Lotus respectively.
Longbow was founded in 2023.
I think we talked at the time.
Bespoke our aluminum architecture in not 62 miles, three and a half seconds, two and 75 miles range and 895 kilograms.
Vehicles not actually, well production location hasn't even been announced yet.
That should come later this summer.
First deliveries should come at the end of 2027.
And we were chatting before the show and we're not quite sure if 2027 is just love,
just far enough a way that you could have forgotten about when they promised 2027 or otherwise.
But we're terrible, awful, cynical people.
No, we actually do hope this happens.
We really do because it is, by the way, it is really cool.
Yeah.
And it's all about lightweight, small battery, economy, all of these kind of things, which is the,
in my mind, that's the good way to do EVs.
Yes, absolutely.
So we are hoping they achieve it.
We support their efforts.
But recent history has not been kind to EV startups.
The stuff here, there's quotes here talking about stuff.
Mike Fluitt had said, yeah, here we go.
However, Fluitt emphasised that the car needs to be viable,
which he said was his first bit of advice he gave to a longbow.
So yeah, makes sense.
Good luck to them.
Yep.
What's the difference between a ranger over in a train, Andrew?
Well, if you are JLR lawyers, there is no difference at all
because you consider the public to be so stupid
that they cannot spot the difference between a Range Rover
and someone suggesting that they buy a Ranger and Rover ticket
on a railway site when they wish to take a journey.
No, not making this up, I really wish I was.
JLR lawyers obviously needed a win somewhere
because they haven't done so well when it comes to litigation recently
in the last few years.
They threatened to sue National Rail over the names of the long-established train tickets.
So these train tickets have been used for many, many years.
Long, long time.
And now suddenly JLR have decided that people would get confused
that the Ranger and Rover tickets would imply
that people were buying a Range Rover.
Yes, there are two different ticket types, by the way.
There's a Ranger ticket and a Rover ticket
which have different permissions
and all the complexities of the UK rail ticket purchase.
Yeah, I have nothing really to add to that
If that's JLR's biggest issue at the minute,
it's all done off a lot of stuff.
Well, the original Rail Rover ticket was introduced by British Rail in 1959.
Yeah, yeah.
Before the Range Rover in other words.
Yes.
I wish they'd thought it.
I can see how this is going to go.
I wish they'd thought it because they've changed the website.
The Rail Delivery Group which runs the National Rail website.
They've changed the website so that you cannot see Ranger and Rover
and that's a quote, train tickets.
The only time you see it is it says Ranger tickets and Rover tickets.
That's just protecting themselves from time being.
This is a frivolous lawsuit and should be dismissed as such.
And anyone who sanctioned it should get a good kicking from management.
Because you just look like fools.
Speaking of people sanctioning things that should get a good kicking from management.
Yes.
Shouldn't I?
Do you want to secure your car?
Do you want a security upgrade to stop thieves bypassing your car locks?
Well, you're going to have to pay £49.
So this tells me, okay, we had a problem.
It got flagged.
We've worked out a fix for it.
However, because it was a problem and we've got a fix,
then you're going to have to pay for that fix.
Or you can live with the constant worry that at any moment your car could disappear.
All right, and good luck.
Do you know where the problem with that comes from?
Not the fact that the car is likely to disappear,
but then the fact that the insurance company is going to say
well you didn't pay the £49.
Yeah.
But this is Hyundai's own problem.
Hyundai's own fault and they want their customers to pay extra
to help mitigate the fault they put in the car.
We should point out, by the way,
that like the register we did go to Hyundai,
but didn't get a response.
No.
Still waiting on a response.
But it's subsidised.
It's a subsidised software.
So they're already taking some of the fees.
And they're not charging you.
It's a customer contribution.
Did you not, whoever made these decisions in Hyundai,
did you not see how much JLR had to spend to secure their cars
so people could buy their cars?
The £10 million they spent just so that people could go to an insurance
and say, can you insure my car?
And they would start going yes again.
Come on.
This is just, it's obvious.
Anyway, I don't know.
It really is.
I'm going to start swearing in a minute.
No, don't.
Oh.
Anyway, that brings us to the end of this.
I'm trying to move this along
so I have a minimum amount of editing to do here, Andrew.
We're at the end now of that, so let's take a breath.
In the interest of our own sanity,
we're going to finish that story there,
which brings us conveniently to guilt minute
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Right.
New new car news.
And still it's a bit thin on the ground
although that has improved
at the back end of last week.
Actual new cars being announced.
But there are a couple of more
higher level things that have been
mentioned in the last week.
So we're going to cover those.
First of all, we're going to cover
Ford and their universal
EV platform.
This is a bold new
electric vehicle strategy
that we'll be starting in, oh dear,
2027.
And absolutely.
Ford announced with the
great hullabaloo last week
all of this new universal
EV platform stuff.
We really don't know what the impact
is going to be on
outside of North America.
And given Ford's
product planning, it's very difficult
to tell what it's going to be
or even make a guess at it.
Yep.
Because it all seemed very
North America centric.
Well, that's understandable.
But basically given the
current climate
as in business and societal
climate in the US.
Is it though?
No, it is absolutely.
Because it's trying to defend
that they actually do
they are building in America
even though they are one of the hardest
hits thanks to the
insane tariff farce.
Yes.
Well, they're also, yes, I guess
that's true.
But also the
EV sales are growing
more slowly in North America
than anywhere else in the world.
So it would create sense to try to then
well.
Thanks to the regime.
I don't totally,
but I think that there's so I would
expect them to be one to be showing that
they're going to be exporting more of these
and bringing in more money from outside
and all of these kinds of things.
Well, they does mention in the article
because of the new
way that the tariff deals have been done
with the UK and Europe
as well as elsewhere.
The whole point is to be able to
export US built vehicles
into those markets with a lower tariff
than they've currently got.
Exactly.
And that's why I'm kind of surprised
that it did seem so
North American centric.
But there we go.
Yeah, but it's
not sorry to instruct you again
and I know I'm doing it again.
But isn't Ford's trying to make
the global car again?
Haven't they?
I feel they're falling into that trap again
where they're trying to do this.
Don't they continuously fail at that?
You would think that they would have got the
hang of it.
Everyone fails at this.
It's just not possible to have global cars.
No.
Especially not American ones
because American ones are too big
because they're all derived from the Model T.
So they're all too wide.
They're all meant to be agricultural vehicles.
It's like trying to base a global car
off a landrope
by which I mean an old style defender.
So a series two, series three defender, defender.
And so that's
what American cars are derived from
because it started out from an agrarian society.
The Model T was the universal vehicle.
It was as much tractor as it was car.
And because in other
in other countries they started off
from being a luxury good
or for being a way of carrying things up
small car tracks as opposed to across
wide prairies which had been
being covered by as I say horses and cars.
Wide horses and cars.
Then American cars are too big.
They don't fit into smaller spaces
whereas European cars are smaller.
So you can use them in big, big spaces.
And that is the fundamental issue
why American cars don't work
outside North America.
It's been the same year for year after year after year.
And then if you try and sell the European cars into
American cars it's all far too small.
We can't possibly have that out here in
out here in Iowa with our great
wide straight roads.
Why do we need one of these tiny little economy cars?
It doesn't work. It doesn't work.
So it's either American
or it's rest of world.
But maybe they can use elements of the platform
which add to underpin...
It is a scalable platform.
Like everybody else is doing.
And has been doing, yes.
So this is where we go to
what have you been doing to just come out
with this grand announcement now?
There's a new production process
which is basically a normal production process
but everything ends up coming together.
I was talking about using...
Forgive me for using the marketing
to have giga casting.
So doing large castings
which, yeah, that's great.
It goes together really well in an assembly line.
It is an absolute sword
if anything damages it in any way,
but to detect the damage and then to repair it.
This is designed for manufacturing,
not designed for repair.
And I don't know if manufacturers have noticed this
but actually cars hang around for a little while
and generally need repair.
But what is interesting is
that Jim Farley who is the CEO of Ford
when making this announcement did say
and I'm quoting it from the AutoCart article
said, there are no guarantees with this project.
It's a bet. There is risk.
I cannot 100% say this will work.
There is an automotive graveyard
full of projects that have not worked.
I find that very interesting
to come out with that statement.
Well, I mean the Volkswagen ID platform
is the closest one really.
To that it hasn't necessarily worked
because it was hurried.
Yeah.
Well, everything on that was worried.
Yes, hurried, yes.
Yeah.
Anyway, do you want to take us
on to Kia in the UK
and how they've simplified things?
But they're simplifying things
by getting rid of engines and cutting down model lines.
So the Kia Pcanto will only be available
with one engine.
The 67 horsepower variant
of the 1.0-litre petrol triple.
The 62 horsepower
and the 76 horsepower 1.0...
Sorry, 62 horsepower 1.0-litre
and the 76 horsepower 1.2-litre
have been axed.
The Kia Ceed and Ceed station wagon
I saw one those the other day.
I'm surprised they were still on sale
had also gone.
However, the X-Seed has gained
a 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder engine
in its top-run guise.
And there's some other swapping around as well.
So a little bit of stuff to disappear,
stuff to appear.
Obviously they've got the new K4
which will fill the gap
of the Ceed, the Ceed SW
and the Pro-Ceed
at some point later this year.
So there's a certain amount,
I'm sure a simplified production
around the world to make room for that.
Okay, to round out new car news
there is another urgent recall
this time from Stellantis
and it covers 24 car models
over the potential of an engine fire risk.
So do listen to this one.
If you had a Stellantis car
that was built between
2023 and 2025
that has the 1.2-litre petrol engine
you need to pay attention.
Or if you know friends or family that have them
point this article that is linked in the show notes
from car dealer to them.
It covers Peugeot, Citroens, DS,
Vauxhall, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Fiat.
There's an awful lot of models involved here.
Anything that had that 1.2-litre petrol engine
which is their ubiquitous petrol engine
to be fair
then you need to get in touch with
your local dealer.
Stellantis say that they're in the process
of trying to contact all owners
looking at the Citroen models.
Particularly for the second or third owner, yeah.
Citroen models.
My sympathy is with you Citroen dealers
you are getting a right-hold kicking
at the moment.
Yeah, especially if you're the second or third owner
you've bought it
at least or whatever or from a supermarket
or any of these or privately
do make sure
people are least likely to be updated
in the database so do please
check in.
Yep.
Designers move on.
Xiaomi has recruited a former BMW designer
Kai Lange, former head of design
at BMW i.
He worked for BMW for over 20 years
but he joined Xiaomi
on the 1st of August.
I don't know whether this is a good thing
or a bad thing.
I think we have to reserve judgment
until a design is released.
Yes, but
I guess one way or another it should stop
Xiaomi's been quite so generic.
Yes, details are very scant
on exactly what he's doing
how involved he is.
It's all based off
his own LinkedIn post
not even the Chinese media knew about this
really.
It's a big quote we use often
on this show but we will have to wait
and see.
Points of interest then.
Andrew, you found
a very interesting article
from
the Journal of Historical Criminology.
One that we often refer to.
Yes.
This is a chunky article
with many, many references and stuff.
Andrew's going to explain it
but you've really got to read this
because this is very relevant
not just to motoring but to
stuff in general.
It is titled
crime driven technology and
the motor bandit.
The motor bandit bit is what
grabbed my attention initially I have to say
because I'd never heard that term before
but apparently in the interwar years
there was this
it's almost like a phenomenon
and this
almost or if not
actual panic
about criminals using
cars to
facilitate the naughty
things that they did
and they were dubbed motor bandits by
the press.
But this really long article
does explain how
the actual
fears
or the fears
far outweigh the actual reality
of how much
the criminals were using motor cars
and how much crime was being committed.
Not that we have
any examples
of such hysteria whipped up
by media and such like
at the moment at all is Alan.
I mean you know
who mentioned a small boat?
Exactly.
It is very as Alan said is very pertinent
to today but it also goes on to explain
how the Metropolitan Police
developed techniques
in which to counter some of
the aspects of criminals
using the motor car
and then also ultimately on how
that changed urban design
to some degree
in the early part of the 21st century.
So do read this it's
fascinating thing I mean I was
and whilst it's chunky it was
really interesting to
run through all this
but yeah Carl
imagine being called a motor bandit.
It is such a cool term.
First of all it's a cool term but a really
interesting article
it's a good 10 to 15 minutes of your time
to read that at least.
They're a little longer to consume
at all as well.
List of the week this week
Matthew McCormill
in the auto car
the best dashboards of the 70s
and 80s
I'm in a slight huff
with this because
you're in huff with every list
at the moment.
Last week you were as well.
It doesn't have the one I would choose
but there are some great
there are some final alternatives
so Andrew which one would you choose
in here.
Okay if ladies and gentlemen would like
to open
slide decks
and there are an awful lot of good choices
in here and if anyone was
thinking that
it's only a modern
or a recent phenomenon of
car makers working very hard
to make a
interior over complicated
or too simplified
no no no no no
there are many fine examples here
for those who
decry the lack of buttons
who are well served in some of these
and I'm going to take you to
slide 12 please ladies and gentlemen
Oh that's different from the one I've chosen
That's good and the Renault 25
from 1983
apart from the steering wheel
I just
that's almost with the
leather armchair up front
that's almost the setup I want for
editing podcasts.
Yeah they are super comfortable if you've ever been in one
and you know great for crossing
France on the auto
and I love the high level air vent
Yeah the whole
thing is brilliant
keeping you cool as you drive to the south of France
without necessarily having air condition
Just awesome
Go on then because there's 20
so you obviously get a pick
I was going to choose the
Aston Martin Lagonda series 2
Ultimate early attempts
to get rid of buttons and replace them with
touch bits which didn't necessarily work
and screens which didn't necessarily
work and all sorts of stuff that didn't necessarily work
but it looks amazing
So yeah
Do you have a feeling
I do like it an awful lot
so it's very cool the one that I feel
is missing by the way the E30
BMW 3 series just the mast
the completely opposite of the Lagonda
but it is beautifully
clear to read both the instrument binnacle
and navigating the way through
the various switches from various options
things. The other bit was a real
photo with the little trip computer
We're almost going to have to include that
on the drinking game
Alan's drinking game for a thing soon
No I absolutely love the E30 dashboard
it's just the best
It's very nice to be fair
Okay let's finish the show with an
and finally and it's from Carscoops
and it is titled
Toyota's new minivan
to create a lounge, office or bedroom inside
Now this is
what we would call an MVP
MPV even
We would call an MPV
and
it has three rows of
seats which
you wouldn't necessarily be driving all the time
However
the really really cool thing about this
is that it has the ability
to add modular
furniture so you can change
the use of the back of the car
into
as it said in the title, office
lounge or a bedroom
and the cleverness
of the
design of the furniture
really really
stands out. There's a video
that's in this article which you do have to
press and watch
just gives you a sort of
brief outline of what you can do
inside and I just
love how clever it is
You don't get the last row of
seats if you have the junior trim but you do get
either one of
four different standard packages
or you can just buy the bits and pieces
independently
it is really smart
It's worth mentioning that as with the standard
the interior features a
deodorizing water and oil repellent
fabric upholstery
which is available in black
fromage or car key shades
so that's convenient I suppose
but it's very cool and watch the video as well
if you do follow the link
through to the Class Scoop site
watch the marketing video because
it is
really Japanese isn't it?
It's cool
Well that was a great find, well done Andrew
I like that one a lot
Thanks, yeah very much
in favour of that one
and I think that's us for this week
It is us for this week
yes, no particular parish
notes
We'll be back to the normal day next week
I was going to say normal schedule next week
was the only thing I was going to say as well
but until then
don't forget between now and next week
you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts for the show
at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky
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www.motoringpodcast.com
we help with all our activities
remember you can support us financially via Patreon
and please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcast
YouTube or every other podcast that lets you do such a thing
Andrew
in the meantime what's the best way to get in touch with you
Yes
sometimes
best way to get in touch with me is via Blue Sky
if you search for crack windscreen or failing that
if you prefer LinkedIn I am on there
and thank you to the recent influx
of people who have sought to connect
and Alan if people would like to get in touch with you personally
what's the best way for them to do that
Best way to do that
is on Blue Sky where I am
at AJP Bradley
that's B-I-D-L-E-Y
dot B Sky dot social
we'll be back very soon
until then I say I've been Alan Bradley
I've been Andrew Clues
and Safe Motoring
About this episode
A lively discussion kicks off with the ongoing challenges of road safety and the shortcomings of current vehicle regulations in the UK. The hosts delve into the latest updates on the electric vehicle grant, highlighting loopholes that could lead to misuse. They also cover mandatory eye tests for older drivers, new recalls from Citroen and Stellantis, and a unique electric sports car startup called Longbow. The episode wraps up with a look at innovative vehicle designs and the historical context of crime and cars, making it a thought-provoking listen for automotive enthusiasts.
Original notes
FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT CONFIRM ECG ELIGIBLE CARS
The UK Government has released the list of car models that are eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG). There are a few surprises, including how no cars meet the Band 1 £3750 grant requirements. Click this link here, from EV Powered, to read more.
To see Nick Gibb’s Bluesky post, adding context to the question of how the Nissan Ayria was eligible, click this link here.
For the UK Government’s official list of eligible car models, click this link here.
FOLLOW UP: CITROËN ADDS MODELS TO ‘STOP-DRIVE’ RECALLCitroën has now added new models to the previous ‘stop-drive’ order over faulty airbags. Car Dealer is reporting that before this around 120,000 vehicles were affected by the issue. Now that the C4 and DS4, built between 2010 and 2011, plus the DS5 built between 2010 and 2013 there is just a fraction under 10,000 additional vehicles. Citroën was already receiving a backlash on the perceived slowness in addressing the problem, this will not help. If you wish to learn more, click this Car Dealer article link here.
ROAD SAFETY CONSULTATION LAUNCHEDThe UK Government has launched a road safety consultation, with a number of issues being given prominent place. For example, once drivers reach 70, they will have to have formal eye tests every three years to show they are fit to drive. Drivers with non seat belt wearing passengers will receive points on their license. There are more besides. Click this Autocar article link to read more.
UNSAFE ROAD VEHICLE NUMBERS RISE IN UKIn 2024, nearly 50% more vehicles that were found to be unsafe than the previous year. Tyres were the biggest issue but defective brakes too an alarming jump with 1190 drivers charged last year compared to 181 in 2023. To read more, click this Autocar article link here.
LONGBOW ADD MANAGEMENT HEAVYWEIGHTS TO BOARDLongbow, the electric sports car start up, has announced that Mike Flewitt, Michael van der Sande and Dan Balmer are now on the advisory board. Flewitt was CEO of McLaren, van der Sande was at Alpine and Balmer was the boss of Lotus Europe. They will help the company as it works to bring a £65,000 lightweight two seater electric sports car out in 2027. If you want to find out more, click this Autocar article link here.
JLR THREATEN RIDICULOUS LEGAL ACTIONJLR sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter to the Rail Delivery Group, who run the National Rail website, due to them using the phrase “ranger and rover” to refer to ranger tickets and rover tickets. The car company decided that you are all too stupid to work out a rail company was not referring to a Range Rover. You will now only ever see the words if they are as follows, “ranger tickets and rover tickets”. If you wish to learn more,
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