Nevo EV News Podcast Sep 23, 2025

Kia EV4 Hatch or Fastback? New Nissan Micra, Ford Transit 60 years Old and Guinness World Record, myenergi and Dublin EV Meetup

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Welcome back to the Nevo EV News podcast.

If it's Tuesday, it must be Nevo EV Newsday.

It has been another busy week.

They call it Tech September, Tech-Tember.

I don't know what they're going to call it in the electric vehicle world,

but it is a crazy month.

Since last week's episode with the interview with Simon Andretetti,

my colleague in Nevo, we have been or I have been doing lots of travelling.

We got to go to Spain to drive the all-new Kia EV4.

It has not one but two different body types, hatchback and what they're calling now

is a fastback, which was originally called a sedan.

So we were driving that Wednesday and Thursday.

I came back to Ireland, flew out again on Friday morning over to Grimsby

to do a video shoot with my energy.

Great to see it never been there in the factory before.

Very impressive and very impressive what's coming down the line

with the all-new My Energy Zappy Glow.

More of that coming to the podcast in the future.

Now when we get the video edited and ready to go out,

then on Friday evening after that headed down to London,

caught a couple of different trains and landed down

and on Saturday morning got a transfer out to Dunton.

And for those who know their automotive world,

specifically the commercial automotive world,

Dunton is the home of Ford of Great Britain.

And I was there because it was 60 years of transit.

There was a transit day festival,

but also they were doing a trying to set a Guinness World Record

for the longest amount or parade of vans ever assembled.

So we cover that and then you're coming to live tonight from Rotterdam,

where we are test driving the all-new Nissan Micra.

And so we'll come back to that towards the in the podcast.

For those that don't know, my name is Derek Riley

and on this podcast we chat about all things electric vehicles.

Nebo is Ireland's only dedicated electric vehicle platform

and we'll be covering where we were, what we've been driving

and what we've been doing between the podcasts.

If you haven't already subscribed or followed us,

wherever you're listening to, please do so.

And if you enjoyed this episode,

please leave a rating and a comment.

It really, really does help us and it doesn't cost you anything.

So let's get stuck in.

So last Wednesday morning headed off right nearly to Marbella

for the launch, the first drive of the Kia EV4.

And the key EV4 comes in two different body styles,

a fastback and a hatchback.

Fastback is interesting.

It's growing on me actually.

I would have started originally back in February,

but a hatchback is going to be the one

that has been designed in Europe

and it's going to be the first electric vehicle

manufactured in Europe by Kia.

It is all about the opposite United design philosophy.

And so it is the fourth generation battery.

It's EGMP.

It has the 400 volt architecture.

So not quite the 800 volt as per EV6 and EV9,

but still you're getting your charge in about 30 minutes.

The fastback trim has a range of 625 kilometers.

So efficiency, it's all about it.

It's 30 centimeters longer than the hatch.

It's going to be the majority model

that's going to be in Korea and in North American market.

Two different battery sizes, a 58.3 kilowatt hour

standard battery, 29 minutes charging, front wheel drive,

150 kilowatt electric motor, 0 to 107.7 seconds.

Slightly faster with the standard range battery,

the 7.7 seconds necessarily with the larger battery.

It has 435 liters of luggage space,

0.27 drag coefficient.

Then the hatchback is going to have,

sorry, the fastback is going to have a larger boost, 490.

They're both going to have vehicle to load,

vehicle to grid technology.

And the fastback has a range of 633 with the earth trim,

625 with the GT line trim.

So two videos up on the channel,

some other YouTubers have done one video.

I said two separate audiences.

If you're interested in one, you won't want to be bothered

or you won't be interested in the other one.

So I've done two separate videos,

one on the hatch and one on the fastback.

So pop over to the YouTube channel

if you haven't already done so.

Very similar interior, if it's the earth trim,

it is a two spoke steering wheel.

If it's the GT line, it's a three spoke steering wheel.

Then you've got your two 12.3 inch screens

and a 5.5 inch HVAC screen in the middle.

So nearly 30 inch screen going across the both of them.

Floating center console, center shelf island.

Decent leg room in the rear,

just the high support can be,

depending on how tall that person is

because of that lower down,

because it is a hatch and a saloon,

it is going to be not giving you the height

that an SUV will hide that battery underneath.

It's not bad, just something to be aware of it.

And then the saloon fastback is the hatch opening.

It's not a lift back.

It is a tailgate.

So it is a narrow opening,

very similar to the letter box opening

that you're going to see through the rear view mirror.

The drive is phenomenal.

Hydraulic bushings are hydro stop

or there's something they're doing with the bushings

and they've done a specific Michelin tires

and the suspension has been a bit of aluminium

and used there for lightweight and for rebound

and all the rest of it, but the drive is phenomenal.

And I would have felt that on the EV3 as well,

but they've done a really great job with the driving of it.

So the fact that it's lower down,

you're getting better range, 17 or 18 inch tires,

wheels, sorry, two videos up in the channel,

go and have a look,

going to be in the dealers in October

and they're going to be at the show,

the Nevo show in November as well as the EV5,

which will be brand new and first look at the Nevo show.

So if you haven't already registered for your tickets,

head over to nevo.ee.

Friday the 7th is going to be a business day

and Saturday the 8th is going to be the consumer day.

As well as that, we're going to have PB5,

which is the van.

We won't be able to talk about that

until a couple of weeks,

but that is going to be at the Nevo show on the,

about this,

but if you're interested in a more business focused talk,

that is the Friday is the one for you.

While it's at the EV4 drive,

we also got a chat to Alex,

who looks after product and pricing for Kia in Europe.

So let's get stuck into that interview.

So my name is Alex Papa Petropoulos.

That's a very long Greek name

and I'm the product director for Kia Europe.

So Kia Europe, lots going on,

lots of product, lots of great product.

True.

We were in Spain in Malaga.

I thought I was coming to Marbella,

but it's too many places in Spain I'm traveling to.

So Malaga and we're at the premiere of the EV4,

sorry, the first drive of the EV4.

Alex, C-segment, important segment in Europe,

first car to be built in Europe as well, EV.

In general, and this is a very important car for us

for several reasons.

As you said, C-segment is a very important segment

in Europe.

People have in mind SUVs,

but we need to keep in mind that in Europe,

around 40% of the market is non-SUVs.

So there's still a big portion of customers

who want non-SUVs, I would say.

And also it's very important for us

because as you said,

it's the first electric Kia built in Europe.

As you might know, I mean,

in the past in Zilina, in our Slovakian factory,

we were building IC cars only.

So the seat family, X-seed, proceeds,

Spottage, but we were not building EVs

and now we expanded the production line

to also be able to accommodate EVs.

It's also an important investment for us,

more than 100 million euros.

Very good.

And in the future, we're also going to be having

EV2 in Slovakia.

So we, I would say, actively start to electrify the plant.

Excellent.

EV4 is unique in the sense of it has one nameplate,

but two body forms.

When we saw this originally back at EV Day in February,

we would have been calling it the sedan,

but now it's the fastback.

North America getting very excited about it.

Europe looking at both options

and having that choice,

North America will only have fastback option

or that's the way it's going to be

and Europe will have the hatchback.

That seems to be the main talking point.

It's an amazing car, but people are talking

about fastback shape.

Some people like it.

Some people are indecisive about it.

I mean, it's important to say that EV4

is a global project with a very strong European focus

when it comes to the hatchback.

So a hatchback was developed for Europe,

designed in Europe and produced in Europe

for the European market.

So clearly the focus is the hatchback,

but we are expanding the product coverage

of EV4 nameplate,

but also offering the fastback.

Yes.

But we expect in terms of fastback sales mix,

domestic market, so in Korea and also US,

of course we present a higher portion than the European one.

For European it's going to be mainly the hatchback we expect.

Your colleague gave a great presentation

before this interview and we were chatting about

how people who are in C-segment hatchbacks

are staying in C-segment hatchbacks

and coming from C-segment hatchbacks,

they're not interested in SUV.

They like that driving dynamic.

They like that lower down position.

Whereas we've heard over years

that people want SUV, people are going SUV.

It's great to see Kia saying no,

it's actually, we're looked at the numbers

when we think there's a market here for C-segment hatchbacks.

As I was saying before,

when you look at the entire European market,

approximately 40% of the market is non-crossovers,

non-SUVs.

So as you said, 40% is still a big part of the market,

which is low stance passenger cars.

So yeah, there is a market there.

I think it's also one of the main differentiators

when it comes to other products in a lineup.

We have EV3 and soon EV5.

EV4 is our first passenger EV.

And speaking of segments,

you are mentioning the C-segment.

Yeah, I mean, with EVs, as you know, the segments,

borders are quite blurred, right?

And when we look at the,

I mean, EV4 is sitting on the EV dedicated platform,

with a quite long wheelbase, it's 2.82 meters,

which is, yeah, 14 centimeters more than what you get,

for example, on a CSUV, on an ICE spotter, for example.

So you get roominess, which is above the traditional,

I would say, C-segment cars.

So we expect the car also to have access

into segments beyond the traditional C-hatchback segments.

And then the choice of if somebody wants

a bigger trunk or boot, as we say in the Irish market,

wants more range, more aerodynamics,

the fastback is there, 30 extra centimeters.

It's a long car.

Did I hear somewhere that EV,

it's something similar to an EV6 in length,

or am I in around that kind of, I'm getting looked at?

Yeah, EV6 is also approximately 4.7 meter.

I mean, I would say the height of EV6,

I mean, it's more like a crossover,

but I think one of the benefits

that also you get with passenger EVs,

and I think that's why also they will remain relevant

in the future is that in terms of efficiency,

I mean, you have a smaller frontal area on the surface.

So in terms of efficiency, they're better than EVs.

So I think that was perhaps less of a concern

when you were talking to ICE customers,

and I think in the EV era,

efficiency, long distance capability,

these are important factors to take into account

when purchasing a car.

So I think we are far from seeing passenger EVs dying.

I'm that person that would prefer the 17 inch wheels

with the earth trim to get that 633.

25, yeah, over the three on the flatback.

So I want the maximum range.

I think a lot of EV people.

Yeah, and I think perhaps also something

which is important to mention is that,

of course, you have WLTP cycle.

Correct.

But yeah, I think passenger cars,

especially at high speeds, motorway driving,

that's where also you start seeing an efficiency gap

with other higher body types.

We're in a beautiful war, Malaga at the moment,

and I saw an efficiency number on my dash

when I was driving it.

Now I had been reset and I only driven a small amount,

but it was a phenomenal number.

But I can't say that number until we bring it back to Ireland

and it's wet and it's windy,

and it's a bit more realistic for my audience, but...

It's colder as well.

It's colder as well, yes.

This is Ireland.

So I'm really looking forward to driving it on Irish roads

and for my own audience to understand how efficient,

but I can remember Kia's back all the way back to your...

Nero at the time, yeah.

E-Nero and multi-fuel platform.

And Kia was doing more efficient multi-fuel products

than some dedicated EV products,

whatever witchcraft was going on there.

So some phenomenal efficiencies back in the day,

but also, as of now, dedicated E-GMP platform,

big range, great charging speeds,

and more and more product coming, Alex.

So EV2, EV5, PB as well.

Did you have the chance to drive also?

Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

Yes, so we cover electric vans on the channel.

I mean, all these products, you know, I would say

they are part of Plan S,

which is our long-term strategic plan,

which includes, I mean, globally,

we're going to be having 15 EVs by 2030.

Wow.

And the vast, I would say, majority of them

will also be available in the European market.

But EV4 or EV2 or PV5 as well, you know,

it's also one of the business pillars

for us to move into a sustainable mobility solutions provider.

So all these are, I would say, stepping stones

towards Plan S.

Out of all the, my last question for you, Alex,

out of all of Plan S, what are you most excited about

across the product portfolio?

Is it getting into that commercial vehicle space?

I'm really excited to see the wheelchair-accessible vehicle,

because I think it's great having a dedicated platform

with that body, with EGMPS platform on it.

What excites you the most?

And please don't tell me all of it excites you,

because I want an actual...

Well, I think, I mean, I'm a car guy,

and I think what is exciting

is that it's a decade of transformation in general.

So, you know, we hear a lot of people saying

that in the next five years,

we're going to be seeing more changes

in the last 20 or 30 or 50 years, right?

And that's, I think, industry-wise.

It's not just about Kia.

So I'm quite, I mean, I think it's a quite good time

to work for a car industry,

or to cover the car industry.

And yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of new things

in the next five years.

When we started the channel, it was electric.

We only cover electric vehicles.

And when I started it six years ago,

people were like, you're crazy.

There isn't enough product.

There isn't enough content to put out there.

And I think Kia have done a great job

of not just talking a good game

because a lot of brands will put out concepts

or we're thinking about this technology

or we're going to have this range in five years' time.

And Kia, I would have seen EV3, EV4,

at CES last year, 2024.

And now I'm in Spain driving the EV4 from concepts

that we're on a stand outside of CES in Las Vegas.

So it's phenomenal to see how fast...

And the concept is very close.

The production car is very close to the concept.

And EV2 is going to be the same story.

Very close.

Next year.

And yeah, you know,

especially when it comes to the European market,

it's a very diverse market in terms of electrification.

You have countries like Ireland,

which are already above 20% in terms of EV mix.

You have other countries.

I mean, my home country is Greece,

where we are below 5%.

Good opportunity.

So it's, I think, the speeds

at which countries will get into electrification

will vary a lot.

But the trend is definitely upwards.

And different countries, you talk about Greece, etc.

It might be more B-segment, C-segment, smaller cars.

People use smaller vehicles to get around.

And that electrification of those smaller vehicles

is not as...

Yeah, I think there are several aspects.

I mean, it's about purchasing power.

I mean, in some countries,

purchasing power is higher than other countries.

It's about charging infrastructure.

Talking about Greece, we have,

I think it's less than 7,000, 8,000 charging stations.

In the Netherlands, you have 180,000, I think, now, 190,000.

So quite a big difference.

It's about even the housing structure.

Yes.

So in those...

We see that in those countries where,

you know, there's a higher portion of people

living in detached or semi-detached houses.

So they have easy home charging.

There's kind of a strong correlation

with also the electrification rates in those countries.

And, of course, government incentives.

And that push from government exactly from the top.

Alex, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

So that was the Kia EV4 hatchback and fastback

on the Thursday and Friday of last week.

Sorry, Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

Home, I think it was eight hours at home.

And then it turned around and back out again

for a flight to Grimsby,

talking with Noel there for my energy Ireland

and looking at, I've never been.

I'd seen pictures, Jordan Brompton

and the co-founders of my energy.

And I knew it was a cool, funky production facility

and offices, but it is a very...

And it's sprawling.

You don't realize how many levels

and many rooms and offices are in the place,

but also the production facility.

And what I didn't realize that every single piece of hardware

that comes out of that factory is inspected.

It's not a one-to-ten, it's not a one-to-twenty,

which a lot of manufacturers would do,

every single, whether it's an eddy,

whether it's a zappy, whatever it may be,

is inspected and checked to make sure

that it is functioning correctly.

And all the way along the production line,

there's optical checks.

So there's a full video on that

where we talked to Noel about my energy,

which actually chat to Lee,

the one of the co-founders of my energy.

And we talked to Neil about

guarding the production and the quality control.

So that'll be a real interesting meet the experts,

one of our series here at Nevo.

Couple of trains then down, train at Doncaster or Dany,

as they call it over there.

And then Doncaster down to King's Cross

and then on the new Elizabeth line,

which I had never been on before,

over to Stratford for the night,

up early on the Saturday morning and off to Dunton.

I'd been before when they launched Ford Explorer

and myself and Kahal.

Doyle from Fleet Magazine was there.

And so we got to go around the test track

for the Guinness World Record Attempt.

Previous record was 101 vans all in a parade,

moving at the same time, all behind each other.

And on the morning, I was driving a Ford E-Trans

a custom sport, beautiful electric van.

Had the stripes down the middle of it

and beautiful red color.

And they absolutely smashed the record.

It was, Rich Previous was 101 and they had 201

with vans to spare.

The test track at Dunton was wasn't big enough.

So new Guinness World Record for Ford, congratulations.

And nice that it was part of that as well

with Brian from Harris PR.

And so there will be a little video on socials

and a certificate coming in the post at some stage

for a Guinness World Record.

My second, I got one maybe 15 years ago,

maybe 16 or 17 years ago.

I don't hold that first one anymore.

It was superseded by somebody else, but it was a previous,

we were joking, previous world record holder,

but now I'm back to being a world record holder

with the Ford parade of vans.

And then afterwards, it was 60 years of transit.

So there was a big festival at Chelmsford Waste Course

which is around the corner from Dunton, Ford Dunton.

The really good Mike Brewer,

which I didn't realize was an ambassador,

but a lot of people hanging out on photographs

and he chaired a couple of talks,

one with people who use Ford transits

and other Ford vehicles in their business.

And another one that was about used Fords

and the reliability of them

and the dealer network that they have.

As well as that, then there was a couple of musical acts

and lots of activities and partners

from Ford there at the event

and then flew back on Saturday night late through Stansted

which was delightful, probably my least favorite airport.

That was Ford on Saturday.

Then Sunday morning, we had the Dublin EV owners meet up

down in Polestar Dublin.

Thank you to them for hosting it.

So it was great to see that new showroom phenomenal.

And the two, the three and the four,

beautiful Ford there with a performance pack

with that body colored moldings on it.

Very subtle, but very nice.

And some phenomenal prices and values there with Polestar.

There's a business edition Polestar four

for under 60,000 euros.

Really good.

And then that was Santa on the morning,

went and spent some time with Patricia

and Darren our dog on Sunday afternoon

and then up at 3.30 this morning

to catch a flight to Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport

and we were then on a train to Rotterdam

and that's where I'm recording this podcast tonight

where we're looking at the all new Nissan Micra.

And so comes in two different battery sizes,

a 40 kilowatt given you over 317 kilometers of range

and then a 52 kilowatt given you 416.

It's the sixth generation Micra.

They have given,

they have done nearly 6 million units to date.

Totally electric now.

Gonna be made in France based on that and pair platform,

small car platform rate, it weighs about 1500 kgs.

Tighten off the back, not a huge boot with 326

but it's a city car.

I sat in the back a bit sideways now, don't get me wrong

because it has a wheelbase of 2.54

but DC charging of 100 kilowatt, vehicle to load,

vehicle to grid, Google built in.

So there will be a video going up on the channel.

This will be going out on Tuesday morning,

hopefully Tuesday evening slash Wednesday,

I'll be getting this video up off of it as well.

So nice design features on it,

circular front daytime running lights and headlamps

and then circular rear.

It has a nice little gelato scoop

along the bodywork on the side

as if Tommy took an ice cream scoop

and then brought it all the way along.

And some beautiful colors.

I think it's either 12 or 14 color combinations

because they do a white roof, a black roof

and then some other colors.

The blue is the predominant color.

And so yeah, good to be here.

Video will be going up on the channel soon.

It's been a busy week

and there's gonna be more to come this week.

I am currently driving from last week

when we interviewed Simon.

We were on a film trip with Bloss the Heron,

the Food Awards and Backbarland and Ford.

We were there.

I was driving the Ford Transit Courier

from Slagg all the way down to Galway and across

and I'll be taking that down to Dingleford Bloss

Festival weekend.

So looking forward to that.

This week after I come back from Micra,

it is we're doing some filming with ESBE cars

and ESBE networks

for the upcoming Nevo Electric Vehicle Show.

We're doing some filming with Paul Star on Wednesday

and then on Thursday it's off to Spain.

Again, with Citroen EC5 Aircross.

There's EC5 Aircross, yeah, EC5 Aircross.

The new Citroen with the beautiful green,

if you remember correctly,

we would have originally seen it at,

I think it was Brussels Motor Show.

So that is gonna be towards the end of this week.

So that'll be all featured on next week's podcast.

Hopefully you've enjoyed this week's episode,

the interviews, the new vehicles

that are coming at us thick and fast

and if you haven't already registered

for either the business day,

if you're in that space,

whether public sector, business, commercial,

whatever it may be on the Friday the 7th

or if you're a consumer and you're general public

and you want to come along on the Saturday,

the November the 8th,

the Nevo show is starting to ship up to be huge.

One of the biggest EV shows in Europe.

And if you're thinking about going electric

or upgrading our electric vehicle,

it really is the place to be to come along

and see 120 different EVs, test drives, talks,

live demos, vehicle demonstrations.

There's gonna be lots happening.

So make sure you head over to Nevo.ie

to get your free ticket.

Thanks very much for listening.

If you haven't already subscribed

or please leave a rating in a comment,

we really appreciate it

and we will catch you next week

on the Nevo EV news podcast.

About this episode

Exploring the new Kia EV4 available in hatchback and fastback styles, this episode dives into its European design focus, impressive range, and driving dynamics. An interview with Kia's product director highlights the brand's electrification plans and market strategies. Coverage also includes a visit to myenergi's factory, the Ford Transit’s 60th anniversary with a Guinness World Record parade of electric vans, and a live test drive of the all-new Nissan Micra in Rotterdam. The episode wraps with updates on upcoming EV events and new vehicle launches, showcasing the fast-paced evolution in electric mobility.

Ford Explorer Ford Transit Courier Ford Transit Custom Kia EV2 Kia EV3 Kia EV4 Kia EV5 Kia EV6 Kia EV9 Nissan Micra

Original notes

Welcome back to the Nevo EV News Podcast. If it's Tuesday it must be Nevo EV News Day. My name is Derek Reilly and on this podcast we chat all about EV. Nevo is Ireland's only dedicated EV platform and we'll be covering where we were this week, what we've been driving and what we've been doing between podcasts. If you haven't already subscribed or followed us wherever you are listening please do so and if you enjoyed the episode, please leave a rating and comment, it really helps us out and it doesn't cost you anything. Let's get stuck in.

Kia EV4 Hatchback

https://youtu.be/me2OBUh2Z_g

Kia EV4 Fastback

https://youtu.be/8V3ypZnZ-N0

Ford Transit 60 years and Guiness World Record

https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/eur/en/articles/2025/transit-guinness-world-records-largest-parade-of-vans

Nevo EV Show Tickets

https://www.nevo.ie/electric-vehicle-show

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