Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 95: VW’s Spice Girls, Polestar windows & Cars of the Year!

Hello and welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour, a podcast about the world of EVs brought to you by the team at electrifying.com.

We're back!

Most of all, before we get started, we're so sorry to everyone who's been emailing and messaging and shouting at us, wondering where we had gone.

Yes, I know. The simple answer, I think we just needed a bit of a factory reset, didn't we really?

Yeah, if we try and put it in like car terms, we've had like a model year upgrade, so we've got like new software, we've had a mid-life facelift, but not on our actual faces instead with some mid-life facelift.

Speak for yourself, I might have a bit of work done over here.

I have quite an idea of a mid-life facelift, maybe that's a different podcast.

I think this is our new version 2.0, with fewer glitches, a bit like when VW had to do the massive software update, but it's going to be better than that.

Yes, but most of all, we have missed you all, and we've missed everybody, haven't we?

We really missed everybody.

We have, so welcome back everyone. Do you want to dive straight in?

Let's dive straight in.

The busiest time, I mean, I actually can't remember being this busy.

It's been absolutely crazy, and obviously it means that we haven't had as much time to do the podcast, but look, we're back.

So what's been going on in the world of electric cars?

So should we kick off with what we've been looking at, what we've been driving, what's been going on?

I think we need to do an edit of this, I think, because if we just did everything that's happened, this would not even be the kilowatt hour.

This would be the kilowatt day, I think.

The kilowatt omnibus, is that a thing?

I think it's the omnibus.

The granny charger.

It would be the granny charger at first.

And that is, in all honesty, why I think it took us so much longer to get this podcast back on air, because it's been very, very busy.

So let's kick off, shall we, with the VW Group triplets, I think?

Because in a really kind of nice piece of synergy, we've each driven one of them.

So congratulations, Volkswagen, they're having triplets.

Yay for them.

So sweet.

So I think we can each take one of these to talk about, but when I drove the Ravel, I likened them to the Spice Girls.

And I realised that actually, you can think of each of one of these three cars as a Spice Girl.

So the VW ID Polo, well, it's Baby Spice.

Spice!

It's definitely Baby Spice.

Everyone's going to love that car.

Yeah.

Cooper Sport Spice.

Of course.

It doesn't actually get much more in terms of performance, but it's got a few nice little tricks that you can, which I'll talk about a minute, that you can spec and we'll make it more fun.

And then I thought Epic.

Epic is posh Spice, because let's face it.

Skoda is basically Audi these days.

This is like, that's the job that Skoda.

Yeah, maybe.

That might be a different discussion, but yes, I know exactly what you mean, actually.

It's quite an aspirational brand, Skoda, hasn't it?

So shall we each take a VW Spice Girl, Vicky?

Why not?

How did you buy posh when you went for a drive in her?

So I went for a drive in posh Spice, which I don't think is a sentence I ever expected to say.

But yeah, so I drive the Skoda Epic.

Epic with a Q.

And with a Q, of course.

Epic or Epic?

No, Epic Qua.

Epic.

Epic Qua.

No shush.

It's a bit like just giving, when you give your baby a normal name, but you make the spelling slightly different just to annoy everyone.

This is like the first day back at term when everyone's overexcited.

Everyone's really overexcited.

As you were, Vicky, please lead us.

No, it's a Skoda thing, isn't it? The Q at the end of their model names.

But anyway, so this is the Skoda Epic.

I drove a prototype version in a very funky camo around Porto, which is well worth checking out.

Got YouTube shot because the car looks amazing and also Porto is very beautiful.

So it's quite nice.

And I really like it.

It's interesting because actually the Epic, I think is further removed from the Polo and the Ravel.

I think it's quite, it's a bit different because it's a bit bigger.

So it's actually the same size as the Kamek, which is also with a Q, by the way.

And so you're talking about, it's, yeah, so it's a little bit bigger.

It's about 4.3 meters, I think, off the top of my head.

And it's a bit chunkier.

It's got kind of quite a jeepish grill on the front of it.

So this is like a crossovery thing.

It's definitely a little bit bigger, a bit more rugged.

And that sort of separates a bit from the smaller, I think slightly kind of more, you know, a bit more sort of urban oriented Polo and the Sportier Ravel.

So I think that's how it's kind of panning out really.

Okay.

And you took Baby Spice.

I took Baby Spice.

I took Baby Spice for a drive.

We had a wonderful time.

Me and the Polo have got along like a house on fire.

Now, here's the thing.

I think recently with a lot of sort of VW cars, there's obviously been all of the hatred for all of their entertainment and the whole touch screen thing.

And they basically have listened and changed it because they changed it for no one liked it.

And they went, yeah, you're right, we're wrong.

We'll fix it.

And they fixed it.

And honestly, I think I even gave a round of applause to VW during that video.

I was like, this is such a good car.

Fun little facts.

Actually, I was told by the VW guys when I saw them a few weeks ago at the awards thing where I saw you at.

And they went, oh, just so you know, your video was played internally to like all of VW because the guy said, well, I can't describe the Polo better than Nicola from Electrifying and played our video, played our video to everyone internally at VW.

Amazing.

That is so nice.

Yeah, that's so good.

And also that fact that the thing we love the most is that the design director at VW, who is the nicest person.

Well, one of the nice people I've ever met is called Drumroll, please.

Andrea Smith.

It's perfect.

It's just too good.

It's so perfect.

And also the retro screen that they now have is easily the best thing I think I've ever seen.

And for those that love the old video, the old VWs of back in the day where you could put in a cassette tape and that kind of thing.

That's all there, but digitally.

And it's the little tiny details, the fact that you can see that little bit of the red of the tape in the cassette turning round.

The fact that when it goes on to maps, it's like it's a paper map so you can see creases in the paper and stuff.

It's so good.

Very cool.

It drives brilliantly on what a car.

Honestly, I think this is going to be a really interesting sort of time when these guys come out and when the EV2 comes out as well.

Cool stuff coming in this section.

So I went for a little ride in Sporty Spice, which again is a line I never thought I'd say, but there you go.

And I can't actually say a lot because I couldn't see inside was completely covered.

Had that amazing camo on, which was, for memory, I think that I can map of the Reval district, which is a really cool neighbourhood in Barcelona that the Reval has been named after.

So straight away they're saying I'm cool and funky and urban, but we have got a first look video.

So what I'd done, I'd been out there to see the car film a first look video that's dropping in April.

So we're not far off that arriving.

So I didn't actually see much in the car.

The thing that I saw that I loved of were unused and tried flappy paddles for break regen.

Who else is happy about that?

Yes, very.

It's so good, isn't it?

And it's actually really, really nicely calibrated.

It very much surprised me.

You've got full one pedal driving.

It's such a smooth system.

I just, you know, I used it, I did.

It was a nice sort of twisty tourney mountain drive and I used it on that and it's joyful.

It's really, really joyful.

So that again drives incredibly well.

I can't do the comparison because I'm driven the other two.

But you know how we always said in the past, our electric cars are all going to feel the same.

It doesn't.

It feels sportier.

There's a limit to what they can do because these are all effectively based on the same hardware.

They've both got 38 kilowatt batteries or 56 kilowatt battery.

They're both sharing so much.

So it's not necessarily got more power, but it's what they're doing with it.

So it gets a really nice adaptive sport suspension.

You can turn off the electronic stability control if you want to have a bit of fun in it and make it sportier.

And it just has got really nice grips.

I was really pushing it on these country roads.

I thought the steering was lovely.

The grip into the corners was fantastic.

So I think I predict they're going to have a triplet of winners on their hands with these three.

I think so too.

And it's just going to basically be down to which Spice Girl was your favourite?

I was always a sporty Spice kind of girl.

Which Spice Girls were you forgetting?

I can't remember the other two Spice Girls.

We've got posh, sporty, ginger and scary.

Ginger and scary.

I was posh.

Of course you were.

We know Ginny, we know.

I was born in a terrorist place in Rochdale.

I'm really quite not posh, but I did once or twice get mistaken for her.

In the late 90s.

I was like, okay, anyway, should we talk about cars more really?

I was in the triplets while driving.

I'm going to kick this off.

Well, you've driven it as well, both of you recently, I think.

So the CLA.

So this one European car off the year.

I'm really pleased it did because I really, really like the CLA.

It's got a long range, 480 mark claimed and real world efficiency.

Good.

I just really like the way it drives.

I think I have got a bit of beef with it in certain respects.

I think slightly kind of not mad on the dash design.

Not crazy about rear passenger space.

But I reckon when they bring out the fastback, the shooting break,

that's the word I'm looking for, the CLA shooting break.

That's the one.

I love a shooting break.

Because they're not like full estates.

They're not like full long boys.

They're like sporty long boys.

Sporty long boys.

Long boys and trainers.

He's come up with a term for that.

Let's get your comments.

Okay.

So, Nicola, as you know, loves a long boy.

AKA in a state.

A sporty long boy.

Okay.

I think you just call it a sporty long boy.

I think it's a long boy in joggers.

Maybe our fabulous audience have got better, you know,

some better alternatives.

So drop us a comment.

Don't forget you can email us podcast at electrifying.com

with all your comments, all your welcome backs.

You can scold us for not being back sooner.

We've had quite a lot of that.

You feel like you need to do that.

That's fine. We understand.

Car buying questions.

And if you want to electric, let us know.

Then we can give you a shout out for that as well.

CLA, what did you make of it, Nic, when you drove it?

I didn't mind it.

I think it, I think it.

The thing is, is we, we did a video with me

and wonderful batch on a twin test on,

which is the best sort of electric saloon that you can buy,

which I will always fight the corner of the BYD seal

because I think it's a fantastic car.

And so that day I did take the CLA out for a drive

and I was like, do you know what?

It's all right. I quite like it.

I think for a Mercedes, I think it feels a tad

on the cheap side, on the interior,

in terms of materials and stuff like that.

I think it rides perfectly fine.

It's still, it's still, it's not quite my favourite.

Don't hate me.

No, I had it.

I had it for several days before that.

We did that shoot at the barn.

If you haven't seen that video, it's here on the YouTube channel.

You really should do, because we now have the,

the electrifying two Ronnies as we are now calling back to Nicola.

Well, it's like they're calling back to Nicola.

They're so funny. Anyway, please.

It's only because he's so annoying.

That's the only reason it ends up being funny

that it's not bully. I don't want to have to phone HR.

That's me.

I was going to say, that's you, isn't it?

So I reckon, I thought it was all right too.

I wanted to like it more than I did.

That screen is ridiculous. I'm sorry.

But that's just too much. It's too big.

It is good. It is good though. It works.

It's good.

You just got to get used to it, I think.

I was just going to say, you have got to remember that it is,

it starts from £45,000.

So it's the same price, you know,

it's not that much more than a Model 3 and a BYD seal.

So if we're, we're claiming that it feels a bit cheap

for being a Mercedes and all of that stuff.

And yes, I agree.

I do think some of the plastics and it's just a bit too glossy

and the screen is a bit big, but it doesn't bother me that much.

Yeah. No, I don't like the screen.

I thought some of the plastics were cheap.

I didn't think the steering wheel felt nice.

And for me in a car, I want the steering wheel to feel nice.

That didn't even cross my mind.

And I just, I just felt a little underwhelmed by it.

And, and I think I would probably personally take a BYD seal over it,

which I was quite surprised by.

I wasn't underwhelmed. It's a really good car.

And obviously there is a reason it got voted European car of the year.

I just think maybe I was expecting just a little bit more.

And then we've got the charging issue in the UK as well, haven't we?

Which has that been, I don't know, that's been sorted.

Yeah, I think that's been sorted now.

So it's kind of, I think the cars that they're,

I don't know whether they're in the showrooms now,

but I think the car that you order now will have the 400 volt.

So basically if you don't know about this,

so when the CLA was first released in the UK,

it has 800 volt architecture,

which means that it can use ultra rapid charges that are 800 volt or more.

But peculiarly, and I've never really got to the bottom of how or why this is the case,

because that's not been the problem with any other 800 volt cars.

Actually the Taycan, when it first came out, had this issue, didn't it?

I've had issues, yeah.

You couldn't charge a 400 volt charger without a,

you needed a converter thing.

A special connector.

But it's still a bit annoying, a special connector.

You needed an extra dealer.

And it would have just been really irritating, I think,

and I think they have solved this issue now.

So I think if you're thinking of getting a CLA

and you're going to speak to Mercedes about it,

and I would harshly recommend that.

I would have the CLA over a BYD seal all day, every day personally.

I think it's great.

I love the way it drives personally,

and make minor shooting break in that really nice red that they do.

Yes, sporty long boy.

I think that, yeah.

Sporty long boy in the red,

and just ask your dealer about what,

just make sure that the car you're getting does have that issue solved.

And then you're all right,

and you can charge it all the charges.

And that's fine.

Yes.

It was a bit of a ball drop, that wasn't it, or a mic drop.

Not a mic drop, that's a good thing.

Let's talk about other award winners.

Yoda, my Yoda, my Renault 5,

who has seen me through now,

four seasons, spring, a summer.

Yes, Yoda.

Mine's green though.

I've had a spring, a summer, an autumn,

and I'm coming to the end of the winter with Yoda.

Yoda has won an award.

Yes.

That is our resident UK car of the year judge.

Yes.

Well, that's only just been a recent job for me.

It's very exciting.

So thank you to John Chalon and the team for allowing me to join.

But we had a day a few weeks ago

where we went and drove some cars

to decide what was going to be UK car of the year.

And hey, it's gone to the Renault 5.

And I think it was pretty much unanimous

because obviously it's got to go to the Renault 5

because it's brilliant for the price,

for the styling,

the nods to the sort of the original Renault 5,

they have absolutely smashed it out of the park

and they deserve everything coming their way.

And I borrowed your Yoda for about three weeks,

didn't I recently, Jen?

And I just love it.

I just love it so much.

It's just such a fun car.

I'm just sort of writing my

365 day

report upon it.

So we're going to be shooting a video on that.

And there have been some things

that have driven me mad with it.

So in terms of other stuff,

like I said,

I can't really go into everything we've seen

in the last few months because it's been really busy.

But I think the interesting one that I've been to see is EV2.

So there's a first look video of that

on the channel.

We're going to be driving that in the coming weeks.

I think that's going to be a really interesting,

you know, addition to that whole,

you know, the triplets from VW, the EV2.

It doesn't seem to me two minutes

since we were ranting and shouting,

there are no affordable electric cars.

There's only three electric cars under £30,000.

Where are all the little cars?

I mean, these are not cheap bargains still.

You know, we're not in kind of 15,

£16,000 territory.

They're going to be sort of all 23, 24 starting prices

and somewhere around there.

And of course, if you want the bigger batteries,

in all of them, you're going to pay more.

But I think what we've got are some really nice alternatives.

And I think after Ford cancelled the fiesta,

we all wondered whether there are small cars gone

if we just become a nation of SUV lovers.

Is that all the world wants now?

Personally, after a year in a Renault 5,

I'm really happy to see these smaller cars back

because I have loved having a car that size.

Yes.

So that's one that I've seen

and will shortly be driving that's impressed me.

You've been driving something bonkers, haven't you?

I don't know if I should.

I mean, I keep being allowed to drive concept cars.

Thankfully, I didn't break this one.

I'm very proud of me.

But I drove the Peugeot Polygon.

So this is the concept car.

Now, obviously, whenever we film a concept car,

nine times out of 10, it's not really going to look like that.

But that's not kind of the reason that I drove it.

The reason that I drove it is because

they're now introducing steer-by-wire in Peugeot cars.

And they're going to start off with the 208

and then gradually work their way up to their bigger cars.

So I drove the Polygon with steer-by-wire.

And I also, I drove the 2008 with steer-by-wire.

Okay.

And it's so interesting what they've managed to achieve.

And honestly, I thought I was going to hate it.

I thought it was going to be one of those

who will don't like this, don't like this.

But actually, the more you ended up driving,

we would take going around this little sort of track

that was set out with cones to kind of see what it felt like.

And the more I did, the more I was like,

well, this is easy.

I quite like it.

So we've done a whole video that's up on YouTube

about that.

But it's a bit like instead of turning a steering wheel

over 360 degrees to make a turn,

instead, the biggest turn it will make

is 180 degrees, the steering wheel,

which is now a square.

It's a square with four holes in it.

Yeah.

Are we going to see that though?

Yeah.

Oh, we are.

Yeah.

I think it'll be optional on the 208.

I actually drove the set, the 2008,

before Christmas.

And it is a really interesting thing.

I think it's going to take a long people need to get used to it.

I think they're going to get to cry before you buy.

Because it's quite quick.

But I agree.

It does actually feel really good when you get used to it.

It's really cool.

But I think it's going to be optional on the 208.

But we're talking the 2027, 208 here.

Yeah.

And actually what we're going to do is,

because a lot of this technology is news people,

you're currently working on an explainer about all this,

aren't you?

And, you know, the way we use cars and drive cars is going to change.

And we're going to see a lot more of this stuff starting to filter through.

I think for me,

the probably the most interesting car that I've seen this year,

and I haven't driven it yet, was the Volvo EX60.

Yes.

And I say that because it's the XC60 is, of course,

Volvo's best selling car.

It's the car that, you know, of all time, by the way,

it's the car that really established them as that massive powerhouse of SUVs

that really kind of, you know,

you know, that move away from estates that they did.

And actually I was so impressed with this when I saw it.

It is beautiful.

Now, I haven't driven it yet.

I just don't have all of those, that information.

But to look at, it's a thing of absolute beauty.

So do go and check out that car.

And I just think it's really interesting because we've got BMW iX3.

I'm off next week to drive the Mercedes-Benz GLC,

which, you know, you've spent a lot of time in the car,

in the production versions of that, but I haven't driven it yet, Nick.

I think I like the EX60.

And I just think that these three cars are going to be really strong in that section.

So I think it just, you know, it's a, that I think is a,

well, I don't think it is a very important car for Volvo,

the EX60, to see how many of them.

The claimed range.

Oh God, yeah.

It's 503 miles or something.

It's literally every single thing that the BMW iX3 does,

like the range on the BMW iX3, the longest range in the UK,

or on a production vehicle, 500 miles.

Oh, we do 503.

In your face.

It literally goes 100 miles in, in like a minute quicker.

It's almost as if they've literally gone.

Well, they're the Volvo, they're the iX3 stats.

We're just going to beat them slightly.

Fair play.

Oh, I can't help but respect that.

I like that very much.

Yeah, me too. I like it.

Have you seen the Volvo ad for the EX60 as well,

where they've done the whole thing about thanking everybody

that's done the early adoption thing and, you know,

it's just like a normal car now, you can just keep driving.

And it's a really interesting one. Check it out.

Have a, I'll find a link and send it to you guys.

But yeah, if you're, if you're out there,

have a look at the advert for it because it's quite interesting.

If you get a link.

Yes.

If we can put it in the description on YouTube.

And the link below.

Yeah, I like it.

It's not often I like an ad, but I did like that one.

Shall I just find out that it is the kilowatt half hour

and we're now well over 20 minutes

and just see if we should, um,

some news quickly.

Yeah, let's move on and I'll give you,

I'll give you my long-term updates on that on another episode

because I've got the car till May.

So we're fine.

Polestar 4 is getting its rear window back

and the boss says climate change is real.

So that was my take out from a day in Gothenburg.

In this day and age, how bizarre, you know,

the boss of a CEO of a major car company

needs to come out and say, actually, you know,

we do think climate change is a thing and no,

we are sticking to electric because of that,

but that's what we said.

Um, but the biggest story that Polestar 4

is getting its rear window back,

it's not the coupé as that car is now going to be known,

the Polestar 4, for coupé.

It's just that lovely Michael Losch-Sheller,

and I'm saying his surname wrong, I'm sure.

That's not how you pronounce it.

I think that's close enough.

He's the CEO.

Yeah.

He said to me, it was the first thing he did when he joined,

so he's a recent addition to Polestar.

And the first thing he did was go,

love the Polestar 4.

They've actually been really surprised by sales on it.

So it's their best-selling model.

It's doing really well.

You see them a lot.

You do see them a lot.

But he was like, but people have dogs

and we need a more practical version.

We need an estate version of it.

And that version, of course, will get a window.

So I'm not allowed to talk about what it looks like

or anything like that other than we know it's a window.

And they're unsure whether it's going to be called

an SUV, an estate, or a shooting brick.

No, an SUV, an estate,

and I said, what about a wagon?

And he was like, oh, I like that.

I love the term wagon.

Me too.

So what should Polestar call their estate version

of the Polestar 4?

Do you not even throw Longboy at them?

Did you not want to give that to them as an option?

Anyway, but I thought that was really interesting.

And they've got a big product defensive.

That's very technical.

That's such a kind of journalist term, isn't it?

Product defensive.

They've got loads of cars coming because they're currently

only available.

You can only buy a Polestar in 15% of the market

and they're pushing that into 65% now.

They've got lots of new stuff coming.

But I do think that estate,

they reckon that's going to be,

probably will sell even more than what will be known

as the Polestar 4.

I agree.

They will.

And let us know what do you think they should call it?

SUV, estate, wagon, something else.

Longboy.

Longboy, let's go.

Right, that was my bit of news.

So what else have we got?

So I was going to talk about BYD, wasn't I?

Because we've got a few updates for this.

You'll be pleased by this, Nick.

They've updated the seal.

And also the attitude screen.

It's actually slightly concerning

because we were talking about it on Monday with BYD

and I'm a bit worried about it.

Why?

What are you worried about?

Basically, they've made the boot bigger.

Nobody understands how or why it wasn't bigger

in the first place, but they've made the boot bigger.

There's some space here.

So they've made 85 litres of bigger boot.

That's not a tiny amount now, is it?

Where did they even suddenly...

Oh, there's an 85 litres now that we haven't noticed.

Was there a spare wheel well that they'd previously

got the boot covering and now they've decided to...

I haven't seen it.

I don't know much, but I do know it's a much bigger boot now.

So that's good.

And in the Etto 3, which I don't think has sold brilliantly

in the UK, it was their very first car that BYD bought in.

And that's the one with the funky.

It's got the guitar strings on the doors

and all of this stuff.

So they've made that longer range, also a slightly bigger boot.

All of that.

So yeah, a few tweaks and things going on there.

Bigger boot, bigger frunk in the Etto 3.

That's what I was driving on Monday.

But I think it's just didn't have a frunk before, did it?

Yeah, the frunk now, can confirm, fits me.

Find out in the video.

Where have they just randomly...

So it's become rear wheel drive now, the Etto 3, hasn't it?

So that's obviously where they've found space for the frunk.

So it's not going to later in the front anymore.

But interesting.

I can see why they'd find space for a frunk.

Completely get that.

Like, how do you suddenly...

I'm still going back to it.

How on the scene did they suddenly go?

Here's 85 litres of boot space.

I don't know.

I don't know how they do it.

But can I tell you what my concern is, please?

Go on.

So the outgoing seal, the one that I filmed my video with,

the one that I'm a big fan of,

at the moment doesn't have that sensor that watches your face

to make sure that you're constantly watching the road.

Oh, God.

Now, the Etto 3 has,

and it's obviously with the same sort of software,

I can't tell you what it's like to drive it.

I think it's all embargoed, but there's a video coming out soon.

And I know that they're putting in that sensor into the BYD seal.

And that's the only thing that's really going to bug me.

Now, I know that you can turn them off

and you can set a shortcut and all that sort of stuff.

And I understand I had a little mini rant in the video

that's going to be coming out soon.

I understand that ADAS systems are important

and they're good for safety, good for end cap ratings

and all that sort of stuff.

But I don't need you to tell me every five minutes that I look tired.

I'm not having it.

Monday morning, when I was out in Madrid,

I was driving the Etto 3 ten minutes in.

I had a really good night's sleep.

I actually had two coffees that morning.

If anything, I was wired, not tired.

And it was telling me, tiredness detected, take a rest.

And I was like, well, I'm a little bit livid by that.

So it's one of those things that I feel like

I'm going to have to turn it off constantly.

And I don't appreciate the fact that you have to do that.

So I think BYD need to find an easier way to switch everything off

rather than having to go through a menu and set it as a shortcut.

I think you should take, take heed from Renault

and have a little double tap by the side of the steering wheel.

And then we're on to a winner.

So my concern is that's now going to go in the seal

and it's going to tell everyone they look tired

and everyone's going to be really annoyed by it.

And it's going to take away from a fantastic car.

They're not the only ones, are they though?

Because I know we're going to save your whole staff for long term,

which is a great car.

It really drove me mad when I had that for a few weeks,

was the fact it told me I was tired all the time.

But I'd have gotten the car, be driving down the road

and it'd be like, take a break.

You look tired, time for a rest.

Are you just having a knock-hold?

I've got confidence in my eyes.

I've not wanded.

You know, yes.

So anyway.

We've got to mention here, Leap Motor.

If you think BYD is bad, some of the Leap Motors,

the C10, I think.

She don't shut up.

In their defence, I think they've already updated it

because so many people complained about it.

And I know that you can.

They've added shortcuts and stuff, so on the B10

you can turn it off on the steering wheel.

So they've improved it already drastically.

But especially when Leap Motor first released its cars,

they were almost undriveable

because you couldn't go anywhere without it beeping at you.

It was really bad.

But I'm with you on BYD.

I had a Seal 6 and had exactly the same thing.

And if you've got glasses on and at night

it's even worse because it thinks

you're not looking at the road.

So it beeps at you all the time.

Sorry.

If you're then going to give me just a screen

with all my buttons,

I'm going to need to look at said screen

to press certain buttons.

Then you're going to tell me off for not looking at the road

because I'm looking at the screen that you've given me.

Let's move on.

I feel we've ranted enough.

I'm sure the comment section will continue this rant for us.

So it works over to you guys.

Let us know in the comments.

Should we very quickly cover this

home charging announcement

that's come out from the document?

I've got my notes here on my laptop.

Oh, how efficient.

I have a laptop because I'm therefore intelligent

and can do some research.

Home charging grant.

So did you know that the government has basically

increased the home charging point grant

from 350 quid up to 500 quid.

This is happening from the 1st of April,

which I think is a good thing

because it will encourage more people

to turn electric and all that sort of stuff.

So it's been extended for another 12 months,

which is lovely, lovely.

So it covers up to 50% of installation costs.

It's available to renters, landlords, businesses,

all that kind of thing.

Schools as well.

They're being offered £2,000 per charge point as well.

So that's all going to be good.

If parents, teachers need to charge at work,

that's absolutely bloody wonderful.

I think this is nothing but a positive

and it's not just to be put on your driveways.

It's also to be put on pavements

if you don't have a driveway or that kind of thing.

So I think this could be potentially

a very positive thing.

So well done, government.

Shall I be a bit contrary on this?

Hit me.

I just thought it was a bit rubbish,

if I'm honest.

I thought the 250 quid though.

But I think they're looking at the wrong thing, right?

So they're assuming that anyone who has a driveway

is loaded and can afford and doesn't need to grant.

Now that's just rubbish as we know.

Absolute rubbish.

So there are lots of people who live in houses

with driveways who are not loaded.

So that's just assuming that people don't need support

on a charger.

And my point would be,

it's not very good if you buy a new EV,

well you might get one bundled in and all of that kind of thing.

But we've got an amazing used market now.

And one of the things we've been championing for a long time

is more support around used.

So you can pick up now a really good used EV

for about 10 grand.

If you're making that switch for the first time

out of a petrol or diesel car into an EV

and 10 grand is still a lot of money

to spend on a secondhand car.

If suddenly you go,

oh, and then there's also that £1,000 there

and more potentially to get your home charger fitted.

That is a lot of cash to find.

And I think that may well be the difference

between people going,

oh, you know, well, I'm going to make the switch.

But oh, God, no, that's an extra expense.

So I actually think we don't need to make,

to give, you know, chargers to landlords

to make their homes more valuable,

which is effectively what we're doing.

So we're renting.

We're going to be doing that

because that benefits the landlord ultimately as well

because their property value increases

and they've got a charger there.

I just think they're looking at it all the wrong way.

What we need to look at personally

for me is affordability.

We need a much better thing would be

to look at, is there a level at which

if you're buying a used car at a certain amount

or, you know, I don't know.

I don't know how you do it,

but I think there are better ways

to spend this money personally.

Well done.

It's also because I think I'm thinking of my sister.

My sister's just bought herself a plug-in hybrid.

She's not gone fully electric.

She bought herself a plug-in hybrid

and she doesn't have the money for a home charger.

So she's been messaging me like crazy,

going, can you sell me one out for free?

I'm like, I don't think I can smell that.

But I don't know.

They're so expensive.

Pensioners on a pension,

they bought a secondhand EV.

And, you know, the charger was like such a big,

a big thing for them.

It was a lot of extra money.

And I think the government is just not thinking straight

about this whole transition.

It's spending its money in the wrong places.

A very simple solution to potentially this.

Well, it's around, but we've discussed this before,

but I think a solution to this would be to offer

a very simple, interest-free loan to people,

which can be applied to a used EV purchase,

a new EV purchase,

and to your charging infrastructure changes.

So if you need to add a home charger or a pavement gully,

you can use that loan to cover those costs.

And it would just need to be a fairly common-sense loan.

It can be spread over a number of years.

It's interest-free and it would make it all a lot more accessible to people.

That would be a straightforward way of doing it.

Thank you, Prime Minister.

Thank you very much.

Scotland has been doing this for years.

We've been campaigning on this issue since I launched electrifying.com.

Because back when I launched electrifying,

I discovered that in Scotland,

you could get a...

It was an interest-free loan at the time.

It was on a new and a used vehicle.

And now it's on a used vehicle,

and you can get it on a used electric van,

electric motorbike or electric car.

I think from memory of the top-up,

the cut-off point is 28,000,

and it comes through the Energy Saving Trust.

It's Scottish transport that runs it and provides the money.

It's a brilliant, brilliant scheme.

And I've been banging, you know,

I've been moaning and whinging at them at Westminster

to introduce something similar.

And I just think that, like you say,

I'd never actually thought, Vic, about the fact

that it could be used to cover infrastructure changes.

It's such a good idea.

Absolutely. Definitely it could.

I think maybe we need to formalise this.

Who's with us?

Shall we start a petition?

Let's do it.

Let us know if we should start a petition.

Okay.

Shall we move on to what people have been saying in the comments?

Yeah, we might have to trim this down

because we're at 40 minutes.

They love it.

They expect us to go to 45 minutes at least.

It's fine.

We just keep talking.

Well, comments and questions are basically everyone,

mostly people having to go at us

for not being here for a while.

Where the podcast is, exactly.

So, we've already apologised.

What more do you want from us?

We actually had people e-mailing us, asking why.

And Barry B. Tingels and Roger Stevens,

a couple of them were quite a bit,

and I really appreciate that.

So, thank you.

Did anybody write long-form old letters?

Did we get any actual physical letters,

I hope so, or postcards?

I'd love it.

Does anybody send a letter anymore?

Especially a letter about a missing podcast.

Can we give you your address?

I know, Vic.

I know, actually.

OK, 36, Schmeblebeb Drive.

And there's nothing in the PO box

that we use for companies' houses.

Maybe they're all there.

OK, Mark CN 007.

I said on a left bank.

Has this podcast stopped?

Update, please.

Hella's a hive.

He lays a hive?

He lays a hive.

He's gonna lead that to you.

He's been a month now.

months worth sorry but then this one from Richard Piper Richard was not happy

hello are you still there whatever happened to the killer what half hour

being your Winkley capitals update on all that's happening in the EV world I

would have expected you to have a break of a Christmas and New Year and I know

you presenters have been off on new car jollies but what is the excuse for

complete silence excuse me Richard new car jollies are you trying to tell us that

they don't fly us over to lovely countries and make us stay in five-star

hotels and drive cars and take us for fancy that's what they do that is what

they do don't tell me hard work it's very late nights the harsh reality we

didn't cover all these cars and there's been so many we have literally just to

put it into perspective there was one day where there was one week where we had

nine cars launched in a week now there's not enough to do that I was on

my army with formulary yeah there's a day coming up in two weeks where we've

got four launches on one day yes one of those launches involved seeing four

cars so that is seven cars in one day so it has definitely got a lot of stuff

coming but I agree and we're sorry and what we should have done is just put a

pin comment yeah and look we understand and I understand it can it can come

across as jollies and very fancy and all that kind of thing but they're not all

like that I have a theory have I told you my theory no go on

so you know what he really is I know go on when you go on a car launch if you stay

in an amazing five-star hotel and you stay and you have this incredible dinner

and sometimes they might fly in business class then most likely the cars

rubbish if you stay in a crummy airport hotel which happens very often and

you're just flight you're at the back of the plane you've hardly and they're

probably just gonna give you hardly any food the car is probably decent that's

my theory well I attended a launch once at a travel lodge and the hotel was the

travel lodge band that you know what that press launch was run by our very

own Tom Barnard so maybe we want to come back to that and he can tell us all

about it was it a good car though was the car good that's why if the cars good

they don't need to splash the cash if the car is rubbish they need to try and

schmooze you doesn't always work but I think it's a good theory but yeah I'm so

anyway we're sorry about that but anyway we've had some emails in so let's

write through some emails okay this is from Adam Palmer hello Adam who says

good afternoon to the electrifying team and thank you for all of the useful

information and informative videos that you generate very nice for this

question I'm asking you to stare into your crystal balls and try and answer

the following well when do you think the automotive industry will produce an

electric performance estate car with a 500 mile motorway range the space of a

Skoda superb estate and the driving characteristic characteristics of the

best Richard Perry Jones Ford's looking forward to hearing the answer on the next

podcast thanks Adam that's a name I haven't heard in a long time Richard

Perry Jones what a god what a god yeah what a god so he was if for people that

don't know he basically is a driving dynamics literal God isn't he legend he

was yeah and he well he was responsible for the focus the mark one focus and

fiestas of many generations and he sort of really try he sort of turned Ford

around and he made he kind of made that you know it was fantastic really

incredible guy okay basically what Adam is asking is when is he gonna get a

super sporty awesome super fast amazing estate car with over 500 miles that you

can do on the motorway you're gonna get the you're gonna get the Polestar 4

coupé slash no the Polestar 4 estate slash wagon slash long boy but that ain't

gonna be able to do 500 nothing nothing will do 500 miles on the motorway at the

moment you know it's even even the CLA shooting break or whatever it is which is

you know that's gonna be probably a claimed of close to 500 isn't it but

it's not gonna actually do that if you're a steady motorway do you really

want to be able to do 500 miles on the motorway no well he wants to do I get it

speed on the motorway so fast that everyone at every gantry is gonna be

taking flashy pictures of him I think these I think the estates with a good

decent range in sort of really you know so for example we have we you know there's

a potential really lovely Škoda estate coming isn't that we saw that vision was

it the visioner concept that will be coming up New York Tavia I think there

aren't really interesting things coming and yes like you know we're saying

earlier about the small cars you know you get in these cars with if you get the

bigger batteries little cars the range of 280 odd miles I mean when we first

launched little cars had a range of like a hundred and twenty a hundred and

fifty now who remembers the Honda there's been changes happening in my

crystal ball which I have here it's a crystal pillar it's telling me 2029

I have to say this before we move on you want an electric car with a space of a

Škoda superb that's lovely to drive it's so comfy and so massive and I love

it and it does have a range of over 400 miles and I want one I just want them to

give me one to keep a while we're there just check out the Enyaq 2 we've taken

46 minutes for you to mention the Enyaq let's keep moving this is from Adam

emailed in and his email had a great subject title oh no that's the one you've

just done sorry but you say this is the honest podcast we're not we're not

going to edit this straight on to the next one you're reading a message from

Gabby Gabby Sheridan Neuer class hi there I love watching your your show on

YouTube as a retired German teacher thanks for that by the way Gabby as a

retired German teacher could I ask you to revisit your pronunciation of Neuer

class the E at the end is send it on both words it would be great if you'd be

the show to get this spot on and you are so right we should do because I know it

is Neuer class it is Neuer class I know that I know it's Neuer class that

class don't show them Gabby they're pointing that out to us and I am going to

make it my mission now to not get that right because I'm off to see another

Neuer class of things okay so show me after three one two three I'm glad that

we're all in sync that was so bad thanks Gabby thank you Gabby we will try and

Neuer class yeah okay what are we going to end on are we going to end okay

should we should we go with Polestar 2 I've got one on the Polestar 2 long range

single motor from Nigel Knowles he says hi nice hoping you can explain a query I

have read my Polestar 2's range with my car's 20 inch wheels the

manufacturer has quoted range is 385 miles so he does say it's a Polestar 2

long range single motor however when set to charge to 100% the maximum that my

car will charge to according to the car's battery gauge is 320 miles is this

normal I expected to see 385 miles but see this drop more quickly due to cold

weather well I think you know this is unfortunately the WLTP versus real

world isn't that situation so the gauge on your car is showing you the mileage

that the car will do in practice in the real world even when it's cold even when

you do mostly motorway journeys the WLTP range which is the official government

tested range that they get in a lab according to very set sort of specific

ways that they test the car that is the WLTP range so that's what the car will

do in a combined situation under lab tests real world is what your car's

showing you on the dash and it may even not quite do that because some gauge

readouts are a bit optimistic yeah I've gone next home in the in the Polestar

this is one thing that I love about Polestar is that when you do charge to

100% and it says whatever mileage is in that car at that time at 100% that is

normally what they can give you so if it's so if you've charged it to 100% and

it says 320 you're probably going to get 320 if you've then charged it the

following day and it says 285 you're probably going to get 285 it doesn't

throw lies at you in that sense which I appreciate so sometimes I don't know when

I was in the Peugeot E3008 I would fully charge to 100% and it would tell me I

can do 380 miles or something ridiculous but actually that would just drop so

quickly and I'd only get about 180 to 200 miles so at least I think that's where

Polestar are stronger than other brands that they will always be honest with

what you're going to get at that particular day I think this is more

now something that we're seeing in it in sort of second and third generation

EVs the good manufacturers those range predictions are more spot on and I think

what can be really hard to get your head around is that at different times of the

year your battery will show a different range because it's what it's

what it does if you do if you're new to electric is it's learning like how

much range I've been getting out of it recently on average so for example with

Yoda was getting pretty much the official range in summer during the

summer months in winter I've been getting around 2.9 miles per kilowatt out of it

it's it's been pretty much bang on that and I think we debate a lot about what's

an acceptable drop-off in colder weather or if you're doing long motorway

journeys and I think I don't know I might I always standard around around 20% I

think I'm not yeah it's where I would be like okay that's not worrying me what

when I do start to I think they need to really be looking at you know the

thermal management the batteries or the claims they're making is when you're

getting to light a battery is dropping 30 35% and we do know cars that have that

happens on yes that's something we're going to do a lot more of the sheer

vic isn't it is really trying to drill down into you know what what are those

realities and it is difficult because it's been great for me with a long term

over a year actually where I've seen four seasons I've had that really good

comparison of what that cars like and that's why the long term is a brilliant

but in the other instances we get a car for a week so you're not even really able

to you know to really drill down into that efficiency and I think what we

would like very much is for owners to start letting us know what are you

getting out of your cars so if you can email us podcast at electrifying.com

would be ideal with what you're running and what you're finding you're getting

because I think this is the data that's really interesting for people and

there's only so many long-term cars that we can run so if you can do that we

would love you for it. There you go lovely good okay is there is there

another message or we have officially done at 52 minutes? Should we maybe stop

there I think maybe? I think we should. Shall we? I think we should stop there.

We can carry on if you want to it's all good. This is a pretty spectacular comeback for

the kilowatt half hour at 52 minutes. Maybe we should have just relaunched the

kilowatt hour and been done with it. I'm just gonna do that next week probably

instead yeah I honestly it's been a joy to be back and we are sorry and we hope

that you'll continue to join us and we really promise pinky pinky pinky promise

we'll be back next week yes some of us are off doing stuff aren't we next week

yeah we're on it we're on it okay so thank you for joining us any other

questions and stuff you know the drill any other questions and things put it in

the comment section below anything else that you want us to talk about put it in

the comment section below drop us an email by the email address which is

podcast at electrifying.com drop us a message on social media follow us there

by the way because I don't know if you've noticed but our social media has had a

nice little revamp literally and we've been posting some funky stuff so we're

just electrifying doc or electrifying com aren't we on socials yeah so thank

you very much for joining us and we're now 53 and a half minutes you take it

love to the kids bye

Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 95: VW’s Spice Girls, Polestar windows & Cars of the Year!

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