The Estvette is a smaller electric delivery van made for Europe. It has big doors that slide and open up to the ceiling so you can easily get in and out.
The Rivian van is a big electric delivery van used by companies like Amazon to deliver packages. It has big doors and lots of space inside for carrying stuff.
A chassis cab is a type of vehicle where you get the front part and frame, and then you can add whatever kind of back you want, like a box for deliveries or other special uses.
A battery plan is a company's idea or project to make or get batteries for electric cars. If they stop or change this plan, it can affect how many electric cars they can make.
The Dodge Charger is a big, fast car from America that comes with different engines. One version has six cylinders and is called the 'six pack,' which means it still has good power but uses less fuel than the bigger engines.
Full Self-Driving is a feature Tesla sells that is supposed to let the car drive itself more, but right now it still needs a person to pay attention and be ready to take control.
Autopilot is a system in Tesla cars that helps the car drive itself a little, like staying in the lane and keeping distance from other cars, but it still needs a person to watch and control it.
Beta means the software is still being tested and might have problems. Tesla says their self-driving feature is in beta, so it is not finished and can make mistakes.
Sometimes, people who buy cars with loans feel they were treated unfairly by the companies that gave them the loans. A car finance class action is when many people join together to ask a court to fix this problem.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a new electric car that looks cool and can go a long way on a single charge. It's like a family car but runs on electricity instead of gas.
The Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a big electric car that is designed to be very comfortable and full of new technology. It’s like a big family car but runs on electricity.
The Toyota RAV4 is a popular SUV that many people use because it is reliable and easy to drive. Some versions use both gas and electricity to save fuel.
The Mazda CX-5 is a small SUV that many people like because it drives well and looks nice. It's a good choice if you want a car that's easy to use every day.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a fancy, sporty car that looks great and is fun to drive. The special 'Quadrifoglio' version is even faster and more powerful.
The Honda Civic is a popular car, and the 10th generation means the version made from 2017 to 2022. It has new looks and features compared to older Civics.
Optional alloys are special wheels made from a light metal that you can choose instead of the regular wheels on a car. Sometimes these special wheels can have problems.
A manual transmission means the driver changes gears themselves using a stick and a pedal. It makes driving more fun because you control when to change gears.
The BMW E30 325i is a popular older BMW model from the 1980s known for being fun to drive and having a classic look. The BMW Z1 uses many parts from this car.
JLR Classic is a part of Jaguar Land Rover that takes care of old and special Jaguar and Land Rover cars, fixing them up and keeping them in good shape.
Porsche is a car company from Germany that makes fast and sporty cars. They are well known for their cool designs and racing heritage.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, your weekly discussion of Motoring News. This is episode
673 on Tuesday, the 3rd of March, 2026. Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew. And this week you'll hear about one story where we have warned this
sort of thing would happen. In new, new car news, you'll learn which company is popping
the champagne. And in points of interest, we expect you too will be thinking about shoulder
pads and minor strikes. But first, we have a submission of follow-up and thank you to
friend of the show, Phil Hough, who heard our desperate pleas. Phil, you were our only
hope and has answered the question we had last week about the Flexus platforms and what
were the first vehicles to become, had they come out? Are they coming out? What's happening?
And they haven't come out yet, but the new models of the traffic, Estvette and Gioellet
are going to be the first of the three vehicles that come out from Flexus, all electric platforms,
and they're going to be supported by Ampere, their software-defined vehicle architecture.
But the launch is later this year.
Do we want to talk a bit more about these?
Yeah, I suppose we better have.
The traffic, E-Tech is traffic.
Yes.
It is a no-traffic-sized van, but electric. That's it. It is the least interesting of the
trio, I would say. The Estvette is, if you're aware of the van that Rivian sells in North
America that's sold initially to Amazon, very much in the blue color that's shown here,
then the Estvette is like a slightly smaller, Europeanized version of that. So it's a very,
very tall delivery van, sliding door. You can step, walk through, access shutter doors that
open up into the ceiling like that. It's a European scale version of that Rivian van.
Yep.
The last one is the Gioellet. I think that's correct, E-Tech. Now, the idea of this is it's
basically a chassis camp and that you can then configure, customize whatever it is that you
need for the back. If you need a custom body for supermarket deliveries, if you need some sort of
special market trader version, although I can see that being the second life for the Gioellets,
to be honest, then this is the one that people would buy and configure. There will be a number
of factory conversions available. Renault have established an in-house team called,
it's Q-S-T-O-M-I-Z-E, it's Customise. I was trying to explain to Andrew earlier on that this is very
witty in French and this is very international, especially if you take it with English words.
Yes, because there's a story already lined up for next week in which we are going to be
assaulted once again by...
Is that for next week?
Yes.
So, yes, the Customise, at least we laugh every time, and all of those variants will all come
off. They're all based on the same architecture, the same platform with different stuff stuck on top.
The software, as opposed to the physical platform, is how they're new, what they're
calling SDV and Architecture Software Design Vehicles. You'll have heard me talk about those
recently. The idea is that there is a fundamental surveillance, Android-based Karros that Ampere
developed and the idea is that there'll be different software that you can put on top of
that, particularly useful if you're a fleet, for example. If and when LaPost orders up a whole
stack of these, then you can bet that there will be LaPost branded navigation, driver management,
all of that kind of stuff installed on them, which makes a lot of sense really. There's even a
safety coach system that scores driving behaviour and suggests improvements to reduce risk and fuel
or energy usage. It's really the energy usage, like driving with you. Don't spill your water
or your tofu. No, but the problem is, some people may, some organisations may use that as a
way to mark drivers and it's totally wrong to do that. That's true, because it is complete rubbish,
because it's so dependent on the route and conditions and all sorts of stuff. I don't want
to get too angry now because there's an article later on that I'm saving my anger on. There's
you, Phil, for helping us out with that. There'll be a link in the show notes to the story on
Professional Van. There's loads of pictures of the interiors, dashboards, all of that stuff,
showing all the great stuff that we'd like to know about new vehicles, but so few publications
actually ever bother their bottoms given, including a handy fill for scale, which is
more useful than you might think. Phil Huff, more useful than you might think.
I hope his LinkedIn will be updated accordingly.
Skills and experience. It's my WhatsApp I'm worried about.
Anyway, do you want to take us on to new news, not that it is good news?
It's not really good news and it's not particularly new news. It sort of
sits on the boundary between follow up and new news.
Stellantis globally has posted a 22.3 billion euro or $26.3 billion net loss for 2025.
This is not a massive surprise, especially due to the 25.4 billion euros of this
comes from what Autoblog via Yahoo Finance is describing as resetting the product plan
and an EV supply chain to reflect customer demand and shifting regulations. Yeah,
for North America, for everywhere else, slightly different not building a battery plan or not
taking part in the battery plan, which will now not be built as a result of that and all sorts of
things like that. Lots of this obviously is because of external influences and drivers,
as in corporate drivers rather than car drivers. Yes.
And some of it, of course, is all the fault of the last guy, given there has been a change
in leadership since, and it's all going to be okay for 2026. I think I praised that article
quite successfully. Yes, there is lots of talk about how things they have changed are already
bearing fruit, etc, etc. But when we talked about the last quarter results a couple of weeks ago,
we said that we fully expect there to be some talking about the grand plan, it's all okay,
don't worry, don't panic. Although the CEO Antonio Filosa did get paid over $6 million
for what he was employed for last year. Yeah, which is impressive.
Which has not seemingly gone down well in American press.
No, no, no, no, because they get really angry about car manufacturers, CEOs,
and their pay. I had forgotten, by the way, I know I keep joking about just
sticker hemi in it. But in actual fact, the new Dodge Charger, the six cylinder version is called
the six pack. I completely forgotten that was the case. Right, I'm going to bring us back to
Blighty now. And the news still isn't very positive, I have to say. And it's Austin Martin,
they have seen a 36% drop in profits last year, which they are primarily putting down to the tariffs.
And the fact that they had few high margin special editions that were sold.
And as a result, they have announced they are going to cut. It's put such in a nice way in
the headline of the AutoCut article, Austin Martin to cut staff costs by 20%. No, they're
getting rid of 20% of the workforce. That's not right. There's no bonuses. There's no overtime
payment. And there will be no wage increases. That is, we're cutting 20% of jobs.
Yeah, they also sold 10% fewer cars than the year before as well. Now, a lot of this,
obviously, tariff uncertainty, blah, blah, blah. But we were discussing this earlier on,
and you were saying that basically it's 364 days since we last covered
Austin Martin cutting 20% of costs, workforce, whatever. This is this year's round, sadly.
What is interesting though, Adrian Hallmark is the CEO. He's one of the few to talk about how the,
and I'm quoting here from the article that is quoting him, says an unpredictable policy landscape.
And supply chain challenges. One of the few car brands that have come out and said,
because the idiotic decisions that are being made, apparently on a whim, we've been totally stuffed.
Yeah, good on him for actually saying that. And it's a challenge of which
most car companies are actually suffering. Brenno, for example, we just talked about,
by the way, being one that has far less impact on because of course they're not in the North
American market. But most car companies are having to suffer that and very few of them
seem to actually come out and say it, which is to their detriment, I feel.
I think so. Well, talking of strange decisions, do you want to take us to California?
Well, the story involves Tesla. So let's face it, there is going to be a strange decision
made at some point. Tesla and the California Department of Motor Vehicles have been having
something of a tiff. And it was over the words, autopilot and full self driving,
implying levels of autonomy that the cars don't have. And by the way, just to mention,
in the background to all this, there is a class action by owners who have been paying either
a chunk of money or a subscription on the promise that the implied level of autonomy
was imminent, as it has been for almost a decade. And so there's a big class action going on the
background. California DMV won their case and said, look, you can't call it autopilot,
you can't call it full self driving. And so Tesla went ahead and complied because it was either that
or it wasn't allowed to sell cars in California. Someone somewhere in Tesla has now had a change
of heart and decided that this was not a good idea. And that in actual fact, it's going to sue
the DMV in turn, because it needs to clear the false advertiser label. So it has some form
of credibility regulators, customers, public, etc. And the result of the case previously
is going to have a lasting effect on Tesla and its ability to do things.
They are technically complaining, and this is quoting from a car scoops article, that their
lawsuit that the regulators wrongfully and baselessly labelled Tesla a false advertiser
over its prior use of the terms autopilot and full self driving.
Despite the fact that it's been proven to have been
a false advertising due to its prior use of autopilot and full self drive.
But it's like the Tesla's definition of beta is not the same as everyone else in the entire
world's definition of beta. Yeah, but the thing is that of course, if it is told it was of that
false advertiser label, it leaves the door wide open for that class action suit.
So they've got to fight it.
So they've got to fight it. So we'll see how this goes. Personally, I'm on the side of the
California DMV and of the people in the class action.
As we've said repeatedly over the years.
To speaking class actions and going completely off topic and what we've got to talk about,
I got a letter through the door about the car finance class actions.
Oh, yeah.
A flyer from a law firm here in the UK wanting me to sign up to that with them and raising
awareness. Someone somewhere must still feel that there's a chance of money from that, lots of
money. I think the longer it goes on, the less money there's going to be.
Oh, there's definitely going to be less because the regulator's already hinted that it is reviewing
particularly if in house finance has provided the finance.
Because of course, dealers don't get any bonuses based on that at all. No, that never happens.
No, no, I'm sure not. Sorry, that wasn't as part of the schedule. That's not in the show notes.
That's me going off on a tangent.
No, it's not in the show notes or anything like that though. We're waiting for the definitive
ruling on that or statement to come out before we bring that up.
Anyway, on something that we do actually know about now,
thanks to the government deciding to release in quiet times, that they actually asked O2
for details of around 25 million devices on their networks, which includes the likes of
SkyMobile, so that they could analyze the data provided to see whether someone actually
owned an EV or was a passenger in an EV. They did this for two years.
The Conservative government was in charge when this was started and the Labour government was
in charge when it was finished. The idea was to help them provide, and I'm quoting from an
article in Yahoo News, which is I think from the standard, to provide, quote,
a comprehensive evaluation and understanding of the uptaken usage of electric vehicles.
Sounds like spying on me.
Well, it is spying on you for starters. There's lots of liberal use of the word anonymized data,
which is absolute horse dung because from the very nature of the information they wanted,
you are automatically de-anonymized because they are tracing where you are, what you're doing,
times of days, all this sort of stuff. So, well, I'm angry, I'm frustrated,
I'm not surprised because we've harped on on this show that this is the sort of thing that
will happen, does happen.
Are you upset, let down and disappointed that you were correct?
I am getting bored of being correct on really negative things, I have to say.
Has been your key skill for a decade, mate?
I would like to pick something positive and that is full good for society or the wider world
and be right about that, but unfortunately, I seem to be able to be pretty good at picking
stuff that is actually to our detriment.
Now, the other thing about this is we've only know about this because this report came out
quietly the back end of last week. And we only know that they were using this particular set
of data they've asked for at this particular time to try and establish if someone was an EV owner.
We don't know what else they have decided to do with that data for starters,
we don't know what else they are doing at any time when it comes to whatever way they feel they can
legitimately track us, monitor us, etc. The problem is they destroyed trust
by doing this, by not telling people, right, what we're going to be doing is we're going to
be tracking your data because we're trying to establish this, this and this.
They didn't tell anyone that, they just did this secretly and quietly and it's only come out after.
And that's not a way to go forward with these things if you want to be considered as a government
that is working with and for the nation it's supposed to be serving.
Yes, I'm sure that the organization or organizations that provided the advice to put this in place
paid handsomely as a result.
Yeah, absolutely. The reminder why they should all be disbanded.
Anyway, something a bit more positive from the government though.
Yes, home EV charger grants are going to be extended until 2027.
Now with slight changes in who can actually qualify for them,
renters, flat owners, homeowners without driveways and businesses can get a bigger contribution
to installing home charges.
And that includes not just the charge but also perhaps installing the
routing through the pavement for the cable so that people don't trip over it and that kind of thing.
Previously, obviously it's only been it was restricted to homeowners with driveways,
then they rolled out to renters, pardon me, and now it's being moved out to residents who
would park in the street. It's up to £500 off the cost of installation.
That is a significant dent. That's why it's listed in this article as being almost half the cost
of installing a home charger. I guess that's a good thing.
Yeah, it is a good thing. I saw on LinkedIn last week some people very proudly stood
virtually on top of one of these pavement gullies and it looked an absolute dog's dinner.
I thought someone DIY'd it. It looked that much of a mess and I thought that's not going to last.
It does involve councils though. Was it real or was it AI generated because it was LinkedIn?
So it was legit apparently because they were announcing it was the first of many
they were going to be doing because here's the other thing, not all councils.
Well, hopefully they'll get better at it.
Well, looking at the materials, they usually need to change that for starters.
Not all councils actually allow you to put these in, particularly in London.
There's many councils in London that refuse because they don't want to have to pay
to maintain them afterwards. And some others are getting around this by charging an annual fee
to residents who put them in to help offset the cost of maintenance.
Those seem understandable positions to take, I think. I'm not a fan of London
borough councils generally speaking because they all fight and have their own little fiefdoms.
But I can understand why that's the case. I'm not saying I like it and if I lived there and
I'd wanted to charge an EV, I'd probably be really peeved at it. But I can also to an extent
understand their position and where they maybe decided to do that. It's an extra amenity that
you have. What happens then if you sell your house and somebody else has it then?
Who pays for that if you're not using it? Well, I'm not using it, so I'm not going to pay the
amount per month. Are you going to dig it up and then fix the payment, dear council?
Or just leave it to go to disrepair? Well, that's true. That's the counter argument.
That's a problem for another day, as I think much of the thoughts behind a lot of our stuff
happening is done. I think you'll find that's SEP, someone else's problem.
Yes. What's our problem now though is that we've reached the guilt minute and quick
break in the show where we ask for a tad of financial support to keep the lights on and
the hosting running. If you feel the motoring podcast is worth a small consideration every
month then you can become a patron. Different loads of patron include different loads of
commitment from us to you, including being able to watch the show recorded live.
You'll also have a small range of merchandise in our spring store rooms, stickers,
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then you can help us by following for free from our podcast play to receive every show
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If you've done all of that and some of you do, so thank you very much,
then the last thing you can do is to recommend us to your friends or colleagues.
Thank you everyone that does. Very much appreciated.
Yes.
Right, new car news and we have a bit this week. The first is to congratulate Renault for their
five e-tech winning the UK Car of the Year awards 2026. They were their overall winner.
20 of the 33 judges voted for it. Those of us judging this was not a surprise,
shall we say, but this won it. They were awarded last week. They were given the award,
which is a steering wheel, which they will proudly show off now for 12 months.
It beat out the competition that involved for the family car, the Kia EV4. The small crossover
was the Citroën C3 EC3 Aircross. Medium crossover was the Skoda LROC. The large crossover was the
Hyundai IONIQ 9. The executive car was the Audi A6. The estate car was the Audi A6 Avant,
and the performance car was the Alpine A290. Congratulations Renault. Well done.
Yep. We all know about Renault 5. Let's talk about the Lipas L8, which feels both of these
stories feel a little a bit like follow up, but they really don't belong in the follow
up section at the start. We talked about the Lipas L8 or late. Oh, God, they've called it the Lepper's
late. It doesn't get in much better, does it? Although, I see they still have the problem
of not being able to put the license plate directly properly done on Photoshop either.
No, it is still on the watch. It looks about two centimeters too far to the left in that picture.
This is the first model from the Amodo Jaiku sibling team, which are all variants of Cheery,
the Chinese group, for goodness sakes, just sell them all under the one flaming brand, please.
The idea is that this is a rival to the likes of the Mazda CX-5 and the Toyota RAV4,
and it's expected to arrive as a plug-in hybrid. The L8 is going to be its flagship,
and it is going to be a five-seat SUV in other markets such as Indonesia, which is not often
directly comparable to the UK automotive market, but there we go. It's sold exclusively with plug-in
hybrid powertrains, which is the same as the one from the Jaiku 7, which I don't know about
around you, but they are everywhere around here. Yeah, we do quite well for Jaikus around here.
Yeah, you can expect the same. That power pack won the half-liter fossil on the petrol engine,
electric motor, 18.3 kilowatt-hour battery. That should, in theory, give you 56 miles of
electric only range and 204 brake horsepower. Did I drive it? I think I did drive it, yes.
I was definitely in one of the Jaiku 7s at the SMMTD last year,
and it was fine. It was changing its SUV, so it was just fine. We were driving it on the hill
route at Milbrook. It was maybe not the best sort of standard traffic.
Optimized scenario for relatively large SUV with not a lot of power, really.
They are expected to offer an electric version of the L8 later. Obviously, there's a dashboard
with nearly no buttons, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. More details in coming weeks,
whether or not we'll cover them is a different matter, but I'm sure you'll find your...
I don't know. Do you think whenever they... Do you think the dealerships are referred to
as colonies or something? That was a slow burn, that one, wasn't it?
Again, I just go back to when we first talked about Lipas, was why, what makes you different
from any of the others from the cheery group? What makes you different at all?
Why isn't this just an Amodo? You're already basically selling this or a Jaiku 7,
other than the fact that you want something that's a bit less aggressive. I don't understand
why they're different, why they have chosen to sell this as well as two other very similar
I mean, the Amodo's a bit more pointy. The Jaiku's taking lots of hints from JLR.
And this just looks... They've slapped a massive grill on it. I'm not sure whether
this is meant to be slightly more premium or something. I don't get it.
I get the feeling it's supposed to be more premium, but I don't understand how it is
other than the fact that it has some plastic chrome on the front of it.
All of which seems to be shiny, if that's a real photo. Never mind, I'm sure it'll all make sense
one day. Anyway, a story that we are a bit more interested in, and this is old dead cars back
from death. And Alfa Romeo has announced that the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifog... The four cheese.
The four cheeses are coming back. I just can't say it anymore. Quadrifoglio.
Thank you. Said it like that for so long.
I love that they're announcing this around Easter. That makes me happy.
These are cars that we are fans of. Very much.
Although listeners right back in the early days before they were launched will know that we were
very skeptical. And then we both spent some time with them. And I'm a Stelvio fanboy, really.
And I'll happily take a Giulia. And I know that you are a big fan of the Giulia.
Well, why this is happening is because the EV platform that was going to be used to replace
this has now been delayed. And they are now trying to make these hybrid powertrains now.
They've had to bring these back to fill in for the interim to go into next year,
which is no bad thing for anyone who likes a very rapid Alfa.
Yes.
We are not losing out by this coming back in any way.
You know, these were 11 years old.
What? No.
Yeah. It says it's, no, look here, it says,
based on the then new Giorgio platform, the Saloon SUV siblings were introduced in 2015.
They've been only lightly updated and said, I don't think that's right.
I think it's been, they're newer than that.
They may have been shown off as a, this is coming.
They didn't come out till after we've been going for a few years.
That's exactly what I was, what I was thinking.
Anyway, they're very cool. They're well worth,
I wouldn't say particularly the Stelvio.
I mean, don't get, especially if you're someone who is relatively vocal about
dislike for SUVs, it is basically a Julia wagon with big wheels.
That's not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.
Nope.
Nope.
I like them a lot.
I do like them a lot.
Yep.
Honda, this is recall news.
And it's not often Honda comes up in recall news.
No, it isn't.
But Honda is recalling some civics, specifically 10th generation models built between 2017 and 2022.
And it says 46,000 UK cars could be affected.
In the EU or on mainland Europe, the European Commission has published some more details on
this recall.
Issue is that wheel nuts were not being fitted tightly enough,
so the wheel could come loose when driving,
or the specific nuts could come loose while driving,
and then the wheel could come loose while driving.
The worst-case scenario of that is, of course, a risk of wheel loss.
That does seem quite bad.
Yes, but I would hope that somebody somewhere has checked a wheel nut since at least 2021.
Yeah, you hope.
I mean, it's not necessarily because they're getting on a wee bit.
The tyres are getting on a wee bit to start.
Honda's confirmed to autocolor that only optional alloys are affected,
but it didn't expand any further and affected owners being contacted.
It said the whole 46,152 units, it says could be impacted.
I think that's a very, very big could,
and that the numbers are actually going to be relatively low, I would say.
Yeah, because what they're going to do is they're going to send a letter out with the QR code,
and then customers will submit pictures of their wheels.
So then Honda will go, yeah, don't worry, you're fine, or not.
Yes, exactly. And it says in the meantime,
customers may continue to drive the vehicles in the current condition.
If I owned one of those, I'd just go out and tweak to make sure my wheel nuts are properly tightened up.
Yes, go check your nuts.
And then I would feel that I am good to go.
You should be doing that in the minute at our age, it's important.
Absolutely. Right, points of interest,
and I'm going to take us onto a lunchtime read this week, and it's from Haggerty,
written by Alex Wakefield, and it is titled Jelly Mold Theory,
and it actually gets you to stop and think before you come out with the statement,
which I am very guilty of, I know this, of all cars look the same these days,
which I know irks many, and others jump up and down and go, no, it is true.
But this is actually a really well written article that will cause you to pause and think
as he goes through some cars from the past to expound on his theory.
But I don't want to say too much because I'll spoil it.
Yeah, you just have to walk around sort of many local car shows and see that there are
eras of color in which they all look almost identical, particularly post-war.
For me, particularly post-war.
I take that everybody says it every generation,
but this is really nicely written article and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
List of the week, this week.
He says scrolling back to the top of it so you can remember what it's called,
is from BBC Top Gear, and it's called these are the 50 Greatest Cars of the 1980s.
Don your shoulder pads, perm your hair and prepare to revisit the decade of excess, says Jack Scarlett.
There are 50, there's some really good ones, and to be honest, of which I could choose at least 40.
Yes, there is a high percentage of cars I'd be very happy with.
Yeah, just scrolling, I'm at about 45 right at the minute, and yes, I agree.
If you scroll down though, ladies and gentlemen, in your packs to number 35 and the BMW 6 Series E24,
that is my choice.
Really?
Yes.
Friend of mine, a school friend of mine, his father had two very late ones.
One of them was the exact same spec, which is the, I've forgotten what it was called,
that late, late edition, as pictured here, same color, same spec, and he had another
older white one.
He traded them both in for a very early 850, which then got replaced by another 850 CSI,
but his were always manual, and he still has the second 850, the 850 CSI, and they're very
cool cars, very nice cars.
Yeah, I love the styling, it's just nice, just every angle looks great, in my opinion.
My one thing about it is that it was styled in the 1970s.
Is it really a 1980s car you could debate either way?
I don't care, I think it's really cool.
There's a few in here that you could argue that with.
Oh, the right, yes, absolutely.
Considering this 50, have you managed to whittle it down to just one you were prepared to talk about?
Yes, well, yes, yes.
I was worried we were both going to choose the same one, and we're not a million miles away,
but if you go to number 45 in your pack, because for me, this bit towards the top
with the higher numbers, I feel is the most interesting section of this list actually.
It gets kind of predictable in places, but I like this.
Not that they're bad.
Not that they're bad, they're just more predictable.
The BMW Z1, good choice, retractable doors and everything.
I mean, it is essentially an E30 underneath.
It's an E30 with a Z-axle at the back, specifically a 325i, but it's very cool.
I have, I think I must still have quite a detailed toy one,
somewhere in metallic green with the black and khaki pattern seats.
I've just always thought it was a very cool car, and it shows us the direction that BMW didn't
completely, it didn't completely dismiss it, but it didn't sort of run down either,
particularly with the aforementioned 650, 850, pardon me.
I really like these.
I always have done.
I'm told the doors are incredibly impractical, rather silly and not that pleasant to use,
but I don't care.
No.
I like it.
There was a whole family of mostly concepts from BMW in the late 80s, early 90s,
with this kind of design language, and I think it was when it was very much the ultimate driving
machine, as was the 635 CSI, the ultimate driving machine era and some of the best BMWs ever.
Yep.
Lots of good cars.
There was one from Italy that I almost chose.
There was a couple from Italy I almost chose.
Right.
I'm going to take us on to the and finally, and well, think of this as a lunchtime watch,
because it is 42 minutes.
It's from Goodwood Road and Racing's YouTube channel, and they go and visit the JLR Classic
Works Workshop and Storage Museum, and basically it is a wonderful exploration of what they do
and what vehicles they've got behind closed doors, and also what the ethos is behind it.
I found that quite interesting that they, towards the beginning, they explain the whole
principle behind it and why they do this apart from the money, but why they try and
execute to high standard and will, basically, if you want to bring in your classic vehicle,
modernize any aspect you want, as long as your pockets are deep enough,
but also talks about them being at Revival and Alex Brundle racing one of their cars
around there that they'd built in the workshop and stuff.
So I thought that was really interesting.
And what I find really interesting is that Alex Brundle won on YouTube left a comment
below saying it's so brilliant working with these passionate guys.
Sorry, that just seems kind of cool, to be honest.
Yeah.
I'm going to like his comment.
There we are.
He now has a like on his comment.
I just think it's cool with people, he doesn't have to do that.
No, no.
But I also think the companies that are doing this with their back catalog are great.
We know Merck, Porsche, BMW, Toyota are doing similar stuff with parts they're making available.
I just think it's a great way to do it because it still continues to enable these cars to be
on the road or accessible to us all rather than just be something on a video that we look back at
or pictures on our devices that we glance back at and do you remember when?
And I think it's really important as well.
Yes, I absolutely agree.
It really is.
And it helps the brand, it helps the marketing, it helps all sorts of stuff.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Once again, we happy to finish the show on a slightly more positive note.
Yes, yes, it's just been a ramp of positivity throughout the show.
Yes, because we need it.
There we are.
There we are.
That's not just us.
Anyway, on which happy note, don't forget that between now and next week, you can give us any
feedback and share your thoughts with the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky,
at Motoring Podcast on Instagram and Facebook and on the contact page at www.motoringpodcast.com,
the hub of all our activities.
Remember, you can support us financially via Patreon and please leave a review and
rating on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or however your podcast app lets you do such a thing.
Andrew, what's the best way to get in touch with you?
The best way to get in touch with me is via LinkedIn.
If you search my name there, you can find me.
And Alan, what's the best way for people to get in touch with you personally,
perhaps to discuss the BMW Z1 more detail?
Oh, happily.
You can use LinkedIn if you want, but really I, outside of working hours, it's best to use Blue
Sky, where I'm at AJP Bradley, that's B-R-A-D-L-E-Y dot B Sky dot social.
We will be back very soon.
But until then, I've been Alan Bradley.
I've been Andrew Clews.
And Safe Motoring.
About this episode
The discussion covers upcoming electric vans from Renault’s Flexus platform, highlighting the Estvette and Gioellet models designed for customizable commercial use with advanced software features. The hosts analyze recent financial struggles of major automakers like Stellantis and Aston Martin, attributing losses to shifting regulations and tariffs. Tesla’s legal battle with California’s DMV over the use of 'autopilot' and 'full self-driving' terms is debated, alongside the implications for consumer lawsuits. The episode also touches on government data collection efforts to monitor EV usage and broader industry challenges.
Thanks to Phil Huff, from Professional Van, who heard our plea for facts about the Flexis electric van models we can bring you a link from one of his sites that confirms which vans Renault will be bringing. The first three will be the Trafic, Estafette and Geolette E-Tech. Click this link to read more from Professional Van.
HUGE LOSS FOR STELLANTIS IN 2025
Stellantis making a loss should not surprise anyone but maybe the scale of it might. The company posted their first loss since forming in 2021, of $26.3 billion. Much of this is due to the write-down they undertook in changing product plans. The new leadership team say that steps they have taken are positive showing signs, with cash being freed up. If you want to find our more, click this Yahoo!Finance article link here.
ASTON MARTIN TO REDUCE WORKFORCE
2025 was another tough year for Aston Martin, with profits falling by 36%. Tariffs are taking much of the blame for the drop. To counter this, the company has said it is looking to reduce the workforce by 20%, similar to the cut of 170 jobs this time last year. For more on this story, click this Autocar article link here.
TESLA SUES CALIFORNIA OVER RULING
Tesla has removed all mention of “Autopilot” from advertising material, following a ruling by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that it was deceptive marketing. This prevented them being banned from selling cars for 30 days, however, they have now sued the DMV to get this overturned. To read more, click this Yahoo!Finance article link here.
UK GOV TRACKED PHONE USERS TO SEE IF THEY HAD AN EV
The Department for Transport (DfT) asked O2 to monitor their network users to try and establish if they were EV users and if so what were their habits and routines. O2 also supplies the network for Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile. After two years the study was ended with the conclusion being this type of data was not sufficient to conclude if someone was an EV owner or not. For more on this, click this Yahoo!News article link here.
HOME EV CHARGER GRANT EXTENDED
The UK Government has extended the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant another year and increased the amount to £500. Those without driveways, including renters and businesses can apply for the grant to help with the installation of charge points. This amount apparently covers nearly half the average cost of installation. Click this Autocar article to read more.
If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -UK Car of the Year 2026 Winner
Congratulations to Renault as the 5 E-Tech wins the overall prize of UK Car of the Year 2026. 20 of the 33 judges chose the car as their pick. You can read all about it by clicking this UK Driver link and going to pages 22-23. Once you’ve finished do check out the rest of the digital magazine, which is the official UK Car of the Year publication!
Lepas L8
New to the UK, Lepas has confirmed their first model here will be the L8. Expected to rival the likes of the Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 with the expectation being they will beat them on price. Details are thin on the ground as the company will announce them “in the coming weeks”. Click this Autocar article to learn more.
Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio
In a new segment titled Old Cars Undead News, we have to talk about the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio that the brand are bringing back to the UK. The successors were supposed to be full EVs but Stellantis, like many, is finding that customer uptake is not at the pace anticipated, or in the case of the US the Government has flipped it’s requirements. Whilst re-engineering takes place to allow for hybrid powertrains to be fitted to the upcoming models the pure combustion engined versions will go back on sale into 2027. Click this Autocar article for more.
Honda Civic recall
Honda Civics built between 2017 an 2022 are being recalled in the UK due to an issue that could lead to a wheel falling off the vehicle whilst being driven. 46, 152 cars are covered in the UK, with more being affected abroad. Click this Autocar article for more.
LUNCHTIME READ: JELLY MOULD THEORY
Our recommendation is from Hagerty and Alex Wakefield, discussing the idea that all cars look the same. Whilst its easy to say that they do, is that true? Click this link to read more.
LIST OF THE WEEK: THESE ARE THE 50 GREATEST CARS OF THE 1980S
Get yourself a huge hit of nostalgia, if you are of a certain age, as Top Gear bring what they think are the greatest 50 cars from the 80s. Do you agree with Andrew and Alan’s choices? Click this link to see what you could select.
AND FINALLY: TOUR OF JLR CLASSICS
The Goodwood & Racing YouTube channel visit the JLR Classic division to find out their ethos, what they do and have a peak at some of the vehicles they have. Click this link to enjoy.
