Massively positive note - 24 February 2026
Annotations will appear as you listen
0:00
43:54
Term
hybrid
A hybrid car uses both gas and electricity to run, which helps save fuel and pollute less.
Company
Tesla
Tesla is a company that makes electric cars and technology to help cars drive themselves a bit.
Term
autopilot assistance system
It's a system in some cars that helps the driver by steering and braking, but the driver still needs to watch the road and be ready to drive.
Concept
70% local content requirement
The rule says most parts used to build cars in Europe have to come from Europe, to keep jobs and factories there.
Concept
battery manufacturing exemption
Batteries for electric cars don't have to follow the rule about being made mostly in Europe because there aren't many battery factories there yet.
Concept
light commercial electric vehicle
These are electric vehicles used by businesses to carry goods or do work, like small electric vans that don't pollute the air.
Company
CMA CGM
CMA CGM is a company that helps move goods around the world using big ships and logistics services.
Brand
Renault Trucks
Renault Trucks makes big trucks used for heavy jobs. Even though it has Renault in the name, it belongs to a different company called Volvo Group, not the Renault car company.
Car
Renault Master
The Renault Master is a big van used to carry stuff or people. Some bigger versions of this van are sold by Renault Trucks for heavier jobs.
Concept
electric van
Electric vans run on batteries instead of gas or diesel. They don't pollute the air and can be cheaper to run, especially in cities.
Concept
skateboard style chassis
A skateboard style chassis means the battery and important parts are built into the flat bottom of the car, like a skateboard. This helps the car handle better and gives designers more freedom to make different shapes.
Brand
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a big company from Germany that owns many car brands like Volkswagen and Audi.
Concept
technical development
Technical development means working on making cars better by improving their parts and how they work.
Company
Cariad
Cariad is a company that makes the computer programs that run inside cars made by Volkswagen and Audi.
Term
software-defined car
A software-defined car is a car that uses computer programs to control many parts of how it works, so it can get better or change by updating the software.
Concept
software defined vehicles
Software defined vehicles are vehicles that use computer software to control many parts of how they work. This means they can get new features or fixes by updating the software, kind of like how your phone gets updates.
Concept
electric buses
Electric buses are big vehicles that carry people and run on electricity instead of gas or diesel. They are cleaner for the air and quieter than regular buses.
Company
Total Energy
Total Energy is a company that puts in special chargers for electric cars that can fill up the battery quickly, making it easier to drive electric cars around cities.
Term
rapid charges
Rapid charges are special plugs for electric cars that fill up the battery really fast, so you don't have to wait long to keep driving.
Term
miles per gallon
Miles per gallon tells you how far a car can go using just one gallon of gas. The higher the number, the less fuel the car uses.
Car
Audi RS4
The Audi RS4 is a fast and sporty version of a regular car that you can use every day. It’s known for being fun to drive and comfortable inside, so many people like it for both work and play.
Car
Audi RS5
The Audi RS5 is a fast and sporty car that used to come only as a two-door car but now you can get it as a wagon, which means it has more space in the back for things.
Car
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron is a very fast and expensive car that many people admire because it can go super fast and looks very fancy. It's often talked about because it's one of the fastest cars ever made.
Car
Lotus Exige
The Lotus Exige is a small, light sports car made to be very quick and easy to control on twisty roads or race tracks. It doesn’t have a lot of fancy features but is designed to be really fun to drive.
Car
Fiat X1/9
The Fiat X1/9 is a small sports car from the 1970s that was designed to be fun to drive and easy to handle. It’s special because the engine is placed in the middle, which helps the car stay balanced on the road.
Car
Volkswagen Id3
The Volkswagen ID.3 is a small electric car that doesn’t use gas and is made to be easy to drive every day. It helps people switch from regular cars to cleaner, electric ones.
Brand
General Motors
General Motors is a big car company from the USA that makes many different cars. Sometimes people talk about it when discussing car company problems.
Car
Renault 5
The Renault 5 is a small car made by Renault starting in 1972. It was popular because it was easy to drive in cities and had a simple design.
Car
Renault 5 Super Five
The Renault 5 Super Five is a newer version of the Renault 5 car from 1984. It looks a bit different and has some improvements to make it better to drive.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, your weekly discussion of motoring news. This is episode
672 on a Tuesday, the 24th of February, 2026. Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew. And this week, you'll hear us hope that one company has found their tape measure.
In new car news, you will learn how one company really wants you to know that their car now comes
as a hybrid. And in points of interest, we hope you'll be thinking of a better future.
But first, we have a smidgen of follow up and it involves Tesla. So sorry about that.
It's all right. It's great for the clicks. Last week, Tesla lost their appeal against the
$243 million award for the fatal accident that killed a couple of people that was using the
autopilot assistance system. Tesla said that it was unwarranted to be that amount and they should
never have been found partially responsible in any way. However, the judge was quite damning
in their response to this because they went on to say, and I'm quoting here,
the grounds for relief that Tesla relies upon are virtually the same as those Tesla put forth
previously during the course of the trial and in their briefings on summary judgment.
Arguments that were already considered and rejected.
Lads, you just said the same thing again, maybe in a slightly different order,
but the decision is still the same. How much did they pay in the lawyers?
I would say probably too much, but that tends to be the case, doesn't it?
Tesla's argument was it all the blame rested on the driver.
Of course it did.
Yeah, which naturally, and the expectation is that they will now take this to the 11th,
is it circuit? I think it is in America, the way they do this 11th circuit for appeal.
So they're going up the next rung to appeal again for,
I don't know what their argument is going to be this time.
Probably the same again. There we go. I'm sure they feel that's worth.
Yeah. New news then.
Big news coming from the EU and what they're attempting to do now is to tie EU subsidies
for vehicles to Europe first rules.
EU is preparing legislation that would require electric vehicles to be assembled in the EU
and source at least 70% of their components locally to qualify for the appropriate state
subsidies. This could pave the way, says an electorate for a formal,
bi-European industrial policy recently called for by surprise, surprise,
Volkswagen and Stoantus. Who'da thunk it?
Mercedes have said, please don't do this, by the way, they've been very vocal going,
be careful.
Yes, it is very much a be careful because Volkswagen and Stoantus don't build EVs or
anything for the European market abroad outside of the EU. I'm thinking North America and Asia,
whereas other brands like Mercedes do. Mercedes, Volvo, that kind of stuff.
Because this all centers around that they want 70% of components to have been manufactured in the EU
to be used on building cars in the EU, but they are exempting batteries, which is interesting.
Because everybody's stopping building battery plants in the EU.
Yes, as people or as regions begin to cool on and in some cases actively run away from
the decision to go all in on EVs.
That is potential problem for the UK because of course we are no longer in the EU in case
anybody hasn't noticed that. On the other hand, there are mutterings that maybe we could get closer
again, maybe some proper trade links and trade ties, but of course because politicians are
wetter than a bucket of sponges, nobody's actually saying, look, this has all been
really quite a bad idea and we need to wind back chunks of this because no politician can ever say
another politician was wrong, it seems. No. We should find out more about this actually tomorrow
as we record, so that's the 25th of February. They will be publishing the Industrial Accelerator Act
in which the new rules will be part of, allegedly.
Sorry, who's publishing that industrial accelerator?
This is the European Commission on behalf of the EU.
On behalf of the EU. Sorry, I wasn't sure if that was...
It was such a ridiculous name, it could quite possibly have been from the UK.
No, you see, we are not as special as we think we are. Other people can be idiots too.
Right, I'm going to move us on and I am going to take us to the news
that Renault has now agreed to acquire Flexis, which is the light commercial electric vehicle
company, the joint venture they help set up in full. They will have agreed to take control
of the company from the Volvo Group as well as the logistics specialist CMA CGM, which I'm glad
I don't know what that full name is, but Volvo Group will continue to be a strategic partner
in all this. Worth mentioning Renault Trucks, of course, is part of Volvo Group,
not part of Renault Group, just for those of you following along at home with this.
And Volvo Group is not Volvo cars?
Yes, exactly. Hence, it's light commercial, so it's Volvo, so it's Renault up until the kind of
Renault master level van, nothing bigger or heavier duty than that, despite the fact that
they are variants of the master, which then are sold by Renault Trucks. They're heavy duty,
but have the whole small cabs. I'll stop now.
Yeah, but they're going to deal with the distribution of these electric vans
when it comes to the point that they are ready to go to market.
Have we started to see they have the latest electric vans from Renault been part of this,
do we think? Because I don't know enough about the light commercial and I forgot to ask Phil,
Phil Hough, who is the expert in all vans that we know and friend of the show,
or is that the next generation?
I think it might be the next generation, because this one involves the skateboard style,
chassis and stuff. CMA, CGM stands for Compagnie Meritine d'affrêtement
and Compagnie Générale Meritine, the maritime freight company and the general maritime company.
Okay. And people say we have an overly descriptive name of our podcast.
Yeah, French companies are very good at that. And then they turn it into an acronym and
everybody's meant to know what it is. I don't know really why this has happened.
Me neither. I think people just want to kind of... I'm going to put my consultant hat on,
so they focus on their core competencies. Maybe Volvo groups decide that they don't want to do
smaller trucks and vans. Renault have decided they really do want to do smaller trucks and vans
and CMA, CGM are going because French.
Anyway, do you want to take us over the border and into Germany?
Yes, just a little bit of moving around. There's some moving around the Volkswagen group. We'll
talk about that later on. But there are some changes going on within Audi. I'm going to say Audi
Group. There's some group within Volkswagen because effective from the 1st of March, the chief
technical officer of Lamborghini, Reuven Moore, is going to take over as the head of technical
development in Ingolstadt for the whole of Audi per se. This is happening because the current
CTO, Geoffrey Buckel, is I'm getting all the French today, is leaving the company. There's an
electrive article linked in the show notes. It is quite an interesting article. Not really because
of the people and stuff, but more because of what it says and what it doesn't say.
The phrasing is very telling, one feels. Yes, I'm going to quote the quotes themselves that are
within the electrive article. And I think these are from the ADC's journal, Dolna. He says,
over the past two years, Geoffrey Buckel has reignited the Vorschung Duos Technik Mindset
and successfully initiated the transformation of Audi R&D. He strengthened the organization
advanced cross-functional collaboration, I'm not making this up,
and laid essential foundations for the next phase. Because he's spoken to people.
And then it says, then there's the paragraph, it says, the reasons behind Buckel's departure or
why he had to leave can most likely be inferred from the qualities Audi highlights in his successor,
Reuven Moore. And then it goes on. Reuven Moore joins us as a distinguished technology expert who
combines in-depth know-how with a clear focus on long-term value creation for Audi, says Manfred
Doss, chairman of the supervisory board, that's who it is. He previously applied his broad technical
expertise in in-depth development experience to lead to complex transformation projects.
I think maybe they had someone who was good with people, but it wasn't very good at the whole
TO bit of it, is what I'm inferring from that. Or not the TO that Audi was expecting.
Yes, exactly.
And it's very rare for electrive to be to to phrase things quite as they did there,
what Alan actually read out there.
I think what we've to infer from this is there's a steadier hand at the tiller
when it comes to sort of development of new Audi's. I think that's really what I have to,
what I'm understanding from this.
But Cariad is still in charge of the software, isn't it? So,
bearing in mind Cariad is separate, what does a chief technical officer have to do for Audi now?
So, the entire vehicle isn't software defined, and I think that part of it is...
Oh, excuse me, how to wash your mouth out with soap and water? You cannot say that today.
I know, hang on. Let me do it with this, with some beer.
In this car industry, you cannot say that in this car industry. All cars are software defined.
Yes, but in order to have software, you have to have requirements. You have to know what
you're talking about whenever you're forming the requirements. I think that this has been
and if you want me to get on my high horse, you probably don't. But this has, I would imagine,
been a significant portion of the issue so far, in that requirements haven't been clear,
they haven't been thought through, because so much stuff previously, when everything was mechanical,
it was just knowledge within the company. You could just say, well, I want the ventilation
controls like this. And so, they would make the ventilation controls like that. But now,
you've got some old guy at the desk that who's never seen an Audi, let alone sat in one or
driven one. And they're being handed this list of requirements. They don't know. They don't know
that you're meant to light them up so that they can be seen in the dark. That was just always
kind of something that happened. It was just something that Audi did, or Volkswagen Group did.
And now, I think that there are different requirements have to be written in a different
way. They have to be phrased in a more explicit manner to be implemented in software. You have
you know, things that are just mechanically inherent. To mimic that, you need to understand
the way the mechanisms work in the in the most detailed form, and then explain that to somebody
else so that they can form an equivalency. And I think that that's the kind of stuff where,
and I'm working from my understanding of what happens when you're doing corporate transformation,
by the way. And I think that that's where the challenges, I think that's where lots of
companies have been falling down, is that frankly, sure, they've been great at requirements
management. They've got doors experts everywhere. But I think that the requirements for a software
style of stuff are different. They must be more explicit. And that's probably what's
been missing because otherwise there's too much wiggle room. The people who aren't really car people
aren't really mechanical engineers. I think you're describing the entire car industry
and software defined vehicles. I think I am actually describing the entire car industry,
by the way. Anybody would like to hire Alan via the Motin Podcast to help with your consultancy
if you get in touch via the contact page on the website?
Yeah, maybe if I'm my employer. You'd probably be up for it too, as long as I don't write any
more LinkedIn posts relating to cars. You'd be allowed to now. I would be yes. Anyway, I am
going to take us now to Devon and Stagecoach. You remember them. We only talked about them the
other week. They are actually rolling out now 110 electric buses in Devon. If you remember the story
we talked about, they had a problem where they discovered after deploying an electric bus that
it was too large to safely operate on a couple of the routes that they had thought it would be fine
Well, now they are going to roll out these 110 buses across routes from Torbay, Barnstable and
Exeter. They will also be adding new charging infrastructure in those depots. I really hope
someone has checked things this time, because it's going to be quite embarrassing if they do this
again. Yes. Stairs are in furs here on the electric drive that the companies are looking to set up
alternative stops nearby, but I don't know how long that was for or whether it's still happening.
Well, it's going to be forever unless they get smaller buses. Yes. But the good thing is
there is 110 electric buses in a county outside of the southeast. This is a nice thing to see.
In Fens there are a lot of electric buses around here. I've said that before, but I'm sure in part
that's because of course Stagecoach is a birth company. Group headquarters is just down the road.
Meanwhile, back in London, because of course everything's happening in London,
TFL has awarded Total Energy. I've got the French story again. A deal for 43 rapid charges across
London. These are going to be fast charging points with 100 and 200 kilowatt power. This is the second
order that Transport for London has made where Total Energy has been selected. And the good thing
about these is they will be installed across London. There is another provider also in London
for TFL and that's called Zest. It's already installed around 40 rapid charging stations for
TFL to date. Those Total and Zest are the only two rapid charger providers in London it seems.
I'm not so sure because it talks about further down in the article. It talks about how up to now
there are 27,980 public charge points, which includes 1,550 rapid charges.
But that is to say that the two that you've talked about may be the only two that TFL
have contracted. And then the problem becomes because of what we were talking about before,
we press record on the show, of how fragmented the coverage of London is thanks to the small
councils that decide that they must have their fingers in a pie as well.
Yes. The ones I was thinking of just there were the BP. I know there are BP Pulse ones around as
well. Yeah. So they could be like private public charging points as opposed to employed by councils
or local government. Exactly. Well, those ones are in a Q Park. Q Park Park Lane is the one I
was thinking of, which is a fantastic garage and a fantastic parking place. Park at Q Park Park Lane,
everyone. It's both car parking and a little museum visit at the same time.
It's good to see these rapid charges going in. They're really intended for use by
by high mileage users, commercial users, taxis freight rather than car owners because they
would expect you to charge for less money at a lower rate charging point, especially outside
your home or nearby. And also, if you're in London, the chances are you're using your car less anyway.
Well, exactly that, yes. Anyway, I think that springs us to the end of the first part, Alan.
Yes. And it's Gilman, a quick break and show where we ask for a tad of financial support,
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,
including different loads of commitment from us to you, including being able to watch the show
recorded live. We also have a small range of merchandise in our spring store from stickers
to mugs and t-shirts. If you don't have any spare cash, and we completely understand,
then you can help us by following for free from our podcast player to receive every show
as they're released and by liking rating show, whatever way your podcast supply lets you.
If you've done all that, and many of you do, thank you very much.
And the last thing you can do is to recommend this to your friends or colleagues.
Thank you for what it does. Very much appreciated.
Absolutely. Right, new, new car news, and I'm going to start with the Emoda 5.
But not only is it just the Emoda 5, they are now bringing it as a hybrid option.
And we know it is a hybrid option because it is called the 5SHS-H, which stands for
Super Hybrid System-Hybrid. They really want you to know that it's a hybrid.
I think that they're missing a huge trick here.
What's that?
And they should copy BYD and they should have it, they should bring out a model called the Emoda
Dragon. Does feel like it is a bit of a missed opportunity somewhat, yes.
However, whilst they harp on about how much of a hybrid the hybrid is,
when you look at the technical details, it is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine,
no problem with that, and is going to have an electric motor powered by a,
now brace yourselves, 1.83 kilowatt battery.
That's charged by the engine because it's a hybrid, not plug-in hybrid.
It's so just above a mild hybrid that they're not even quoting any mileage on electric only range.
This is true, but we're also pointing out that the efficiency now is 53 miles per gallon up
from 34 miles per gallon of the petrol, a mode of five, which is also less power.
That's not so bad really, is it? No matter what size the battery is,
the thing that people will see is 53 miles per gallon.
That's what matters because, frankly, you're not going to be buying an Emoda five
if you really care about the intricacies of the engineering.
Well, it depends, doesn't it, on whether you are going on the up-front cost or the running cost,
because the up-front cost, this new SHS-H will be just under £2,000 more than that
petrol only a mode of five, but it is five grand cheaper.
So are you looking at the up-front stroke monthly cost or are you looking at how much
is going to cost to run as well on top of that, where there is almost 20 miles per gallon difference?
If you can get both, then isn't that an absolute win?
It seems this is incredibly well-priced vehicle, by the way.
Yeah, absolutely. If you can afford the 25,740, you win twice, that's it, were.
I'm just wondering how much people are looking at running costs until they get the car and then
start going, hang on, I'm filling this up more regular than I used to.
I don't have an answer to that.
No, but that's why I'm going to just go.
Given I drove the GROM today and since I filled it up about 30 miles ago,
it is quoting me 24 to the gallon, and that's my economical car.
You really are trundling around then.
Yeah, but it has been a little bit there.
Yeah, I sort it on its way to its MIT.
Most expensive trim for this, by the way, the noble trim comes with a land speed record holder.
That's a really powerful one.
Adds an overhead parking camera, heat invented seats and an eight-speaker Sony audio system.
How funny to see audio systems named, manufacturers named.
Again?
I know. You don't see that very often.
It's normally only if they're very high-end, if the Bose, I think.
Well, do you want to take us on to something that is slightly more than the Emodus 25.5 grad?
Yeah, well, do you know how we were talking about the Emodus when we were saying, well,
the tiny battery it has?
Yes.
Here is a car that has an absolutely massive battery.
It's a new Audi RS5, which is the successor to the RS4, and because Audi is so good at the
whole naming thing, the RS5, by the way, is no longer a coupé.
The RS5 is now in the state.
Yeah, isn't it?
Odds are now estates and sluice.
I don't know, but then they put it back again, and then they changed it back.
So I don't really know any of it.
So I'm not quoting it.
Yeah, I can't keep up.
So not only do you need the 7D chart for working out what models are where,
but we now need it to be live action to keep moving as the names change thanks to whoever
is on the board that owns the name badge company that wants a bit more money for their Christmas
bonus.
I think you've even overdone the services on that one, to be honest, but you're not a
Mars off.
I can't say it's complete rubbish.
Anyway, the RS5, is it RS5 or RSS?
RS5.
No, it's RS5.
Sorry, it's sorry.
For the dancers, RSS.
It is powered by a twin-turbo 2.9-litre V6, which then is matched with a 22 kilowatt hour
of usable capacity.
So it's obviously bigger than that.
But as it is, that's 11 times larger than the Moto 5 hybrid.
And a 174bhp electric motor mounted inside the gearbox.
And that gives you 510bhp from the engine with the electric motor involved.
This plug-in hybrid produces a combined 630bhp, a leap of 166bhp over the previous generation.
The engine itself has raised fuel injector pressure, new variable geometry pro turbos,
which are water-cooled to reduce the intake temperatures, all of which is meant to improve
responsiveness.
The only downer I can see on this is that as a result of all of this battery and all of this
engine and all of these turbos, it now weighs 2,370 kilos, which is more than my levels.
Right, okay, so 3.6 seconds from 0 to 62.
Yeah.
In something that's...
Top speed of 177 miles an hour.
That's not that far off, nearly two and a half tons.
That's why you spring for the carbon ceramic brakes all around, which are a mere 6,000 pound
option, but it does save you 30 kilos of unsprung weight.
Worth mentioning that in town and roundabout and for day-to-day stuff, that monster battery
allows you 50 miles of electric only running.
Which is decent.
That means it's viable for many company car owners, which is decent, more than decent.
It does all sorts of awesome stuff.
There's a lot of talk in this article about how they have basically eliminated understeer,
which might have been a criticism pointed at faster Audi's in the past, perhaps.
Sorry, I've just got to the bit.
I hadn't looked at this.
The designer, Wolf Siebers, the bit from him, this is well worth...
The auto car right up is well worth a read.
And Siebers says, we asked how big the exhaust can be, and the answer was yes.
We can certainly go slightly bigger or slightly smaller, but this is really
extreme, so the pipes have to reflect this and fit the overall proportions.
I think you could lose small dogs in those exhaust pipes.
Yes.
The only other downside as well as the weight, though, is the price.
And prices will start from £89,400.
If you go for the carbon black variant, which it says introduces various carbon fibre elements,
that springs to £95,400.
And if you want the performance Vorschplan, which has extra tech and the higher 177-mile
nanotopes, then you're going to be springing at least £107,400.
And if you so desire, customer deliveries will begin in.
It's all a bit much.
In fact, it's a lot of everything.
It's technically wonderful.
Yes.
I saw somebody on social media comment that basically this was an EV and an internal combustion
power car in one, and as a result, that's why it was so heavy.
This is sheer brute force.
We are going to get around physics by punching it in the face.
But it's the same as the Bugetti Veyron.
It's that same approach.
We are just going to engineer our way through everything as opposed to the Lotus Exige approach
of less, lighter, thinner, smaller.
I think we can no longer tie in Lotus.
I think we have to call it the neocarn approach.
Trademark.
I may try to qualify the which Lotus I was talking about.
I think that's good.
No, I know.
I know.
I know.
You were right.
Anyway, I am going to move us on to something which actually is a bit more...
Is a Lotus.
No, it is a Lotus Exige.
Well, a bit more what we're after.
Although the price tag really is not.
And the Radical Batone Runabout has finally made production.
On a point of order, just to point out that Radical is a description.
Yes, sorry.
It's not.
And it's not me.
Radical is not the manufacturer.
This caught me out earlier on.
It's not the name of the model.
No, the Batone Runabout, which is Radical, has finally made production.
Oh, what gramma pedants we have become over the last year.
We've had to.
We've had to.
No, it's because we've got such great listeners who pick us up when we miss these things.
Yes.
Anyway, this is going to have a 469 brake horsepower.
It's only going to cost you around about 400,000 pounds.
And it is an Exige underneath.
And the body on top is not just frankly sublime.
It is so cool.
Absolutely gorgeous.
Well, it's styled after that 1969 concept, which kind of turned into the Fiat X19.
Yeah.
But obviously it's a bit mongrel-moider and significantly more powerful because it's got
more on that the original 1.1 liter to Bianchi engine that the X19 had.
I mean, it makes 469 horsepower for starters and it weighs, I don't know what's it weight.
1180 kg.
1180 kg.
I hadn't looked at that bit before.
Two of them is still not the RS5.
Yeah, you can have two of these.
It's still not.
Yeah.
Okay.
You don't get to 62 quite as quick because it's, I mean, it's a 4.1 seconds and it only
goes to 168 miles an hour.
I mean, but...
But look at those front wheel arches.
I know.
It's amazing.
The wheel arches poke up above the rest of the bodywork.
Hug the wheels.
I was going to say literally hug the wheels, but they don't literally hug the wheels.
The DRLs at the front, those pencil-thin ones round, you can choose what color you want
the bisecting strip to be.
It's so cool.
It is.
It is.
If there's one of the articles that you should open this week, if you can only pick one,
make sure you pick this one.
All the cars that we've picked have merits of their own and they are aimed at particular
segments of the market.
Which I'm not going to cross in any way, sheep or fort.
No, there is.
There is no crossover.
This one is targeted at our hearts, but on not our wallets, unfortunately.
Absolutely.
Designers mood board.
We hinted at this earlier on.
The Volkswagen's brand design boss, Andreas Mint, is going to be taking on a wider role
within the Volkswagen Group, again, from the 1st of March.
He's going to be replacing Michael Mauer, who has been the Group Design Chief for the last
eight years over two stints, or for eight years over two stints, first beginning in 2015.
Mauer is also stepped down as head of designer Porsche, if you're wondering why he might have
been mentioned on the show recently.
He's leaving on amicable terms as part of a generational transition according to Volkswagen.
So huge payoff.
Yes, this is a massive, unbarraged show.
Mint, on the other hand, has led Volkswagen Design since 2023.
He's transforming the brand's design.
It says transformed here.
I don't think we've got there yet, particularly with the incoming wave of EVs.
So replacing the ID3 and foreign 7s and stuff, which are all a bit lobby with the ID cross,
the ID Polo.
He was previously Design Chief at Bentley and OD as well.
Yep, joined the group back in 1996.
You've seen a presentation by him in person.
Yes.
And you said he seemed like an incredibly, I think, to quote Andrew, safe pair of hands,
unquote.
Yes, I did use that cliche.
However, yeah, it was, I acknowledged that it was a presentation, and I acknowledged that
it was a corporate presentation to us, to therefore some of the language.
But it's how he said it as well.
He was introducing us, and this was a couple of years ago or so, to what is now the ID Polo,
but it was just a static model at the time and showing, and he talked about specific
design cues within that that really followed through on the heritage of the Polo and Volkswagen,
and was one of those key steps away from the ID type separation of electric.
And it was trying to bring it back into, no, but we are Volkswagen.
So therefore, these cars need to represent that we're Volkswagen and people need to go up to
I want to Volkswagen, and I'd like the electric one, which looks like a Volkswagen,
as opposed to something different.
And he came across really well, he delivered very well, he answered the questions really well,
and he was very amiable and happy to chat to people on a casual basis after that as well.
So I think this is a good move.
He totally understands the heritage of the group of a Volkswagen brand.
And I'm hoping that will then get translated to the group because I think some of the brands
themselves have got themselves a little bit lost in terms of design.
Yeah, there's a little bit.
I think it's Skoda, really.
Skoda's going to be a bit bling, but they've just gone a bit bland, whereas they never used to be
bland.
You see, whereas I would say that about Audi and Seat, but there we are.
Well, Seat's the economy brand now.
So they need to do something different like that you do.
Cooper's latest editions, worry me.
Now, I saw that somewhere.
Little SUV that's the Coupe SUV.
They were saying, what if, was it Cooper design language?
It was like, what if tribal tattoos were a design language?
Yes.
Okay.
That's very good.
Wow.
I can't remember how we were talking about that on social media, but yes, that was...
I can't remember who it was that said that.
It was someone who potentially listened.
So I'm really sorry for coming to that one, but it was good.
It really tickled me.
Send your angry blue sky post to Alan.
Hopefully it makes a difference.
However, he's coming in in a really incredibly difficult time for Volkswagen Group,
where they are talking about saving yet more money on top of all the billions they've already had
to say for the, you know, every, seems like every six months, we're announcing that we have to save
billions of dollars or pounds or euros.
And you're thinking, is this on top of or was this the previously announced savings or is this and?
I've come to the conclusion that they just keep talking about the same savings.
It's the same pound, a dollar or euro that has been saved 30 times so far.
I just don't understand.
Yeah.
There can't be that many roofs let to be on fire.
Can there?
Yeah, you can't just keep cutting and cutting and cutting.
And then no companies try to do that.
But if you do that too much, you end up being General Motors.
Oh, don't be that bad.
Or Stalantas.
Oh, no, at least they do it with style in Europe mostly.
At the front and the back.
Anyway, let's move on to points of interest before we get ourselves into trouble here.
And let me start with this week, we're going to bring a lunchtime watch.
And this is from the morsels and motors channel on YouTube, which is Sean Hudson.
And it's titled the Renault five then and now comparing the 1972 original, the 1984 Super
Five and the 2024 EV.
They've all come together on his driveway and he's chatting about them.
He goes through the history and stuff.
It is 32 minutes and 16 seconds long.
It is a lovely watch and just a fabulous bit of time just losing yourself in finding about
these cars.
It's really interesting seeing what, so whilst the electric five is very, very different,
but seeing what styling cues from the original car come right through.
And there's loads of stuff that I learned and noticed for the first time of cues, which I
thought were always there, particularly between the original five and the Super Five.
And they're not, or that they were introduced, or that they're actually completely different,
totally and utterly different.
But then somehow your brain makes you think that it's still the same.
And then how that's all come across into the five.
It's a bit like the filling in the missing letters in words.
When you've had that trick done, you make the thing.
I saw, and I know this is dark gray metallic, but I saw a dark gray metallic
Renault five EV.
And I saw it at a distance and I just glanced and I went, oh God, there's an original Renault five.
That's how, and I've not done it with any of the other colors, even the bright colors.
I go, that's an EV, that's the EV.
No, Andrew, this Renault five is very old.
That Renault five is far away.
Yeah, exactly.
But just when you're glancing because you're looking, you're paying attention to the road,
and you glance, and then it came close.
I thought, that absolutely, that color, and they've got gorgeous colors.
I've had a green one for a week.
Locally, we've got a yellow one and a white one.
They look great.
I think they have nailed the design on the EV, the Renault five EV.
But the gray one just seemed to capture, it seemed to be that time capsule that
sort of shrunken expanded between 72 and now, so astonishingly well.
And I wish I hadn't been driving and I could have just walked around it and
looked at it from different angles, just from the way it just grabbed my attention like that.
That's good, because I've never heard you be super enthusiastic about it before.
Oh, I love the design.
I love the design.
Anyway, so there you go.
Go watch that.
Mortal's Motors channel.
Yes.
32 minutes of 32 minutes.
Yeah, 32 minutes, I'm sure.
And apart from that, there's lots of Renault cars.
List of the week this week, then, is the best motoring events for car enthusiasts in 2026.
Kia says motoring research are the best motoring events for UK petrolheads in 2026.
Now, remember, this is going to be events that are larger and more well known that people come
across the country to visit.
You will still have, dear listener, events locally as the weather gets better cropping up,
so keep an eye out for them and do pay those attention and attend them.
I need to find one around here.
This one somewhere just in to fight, I think.
There's holds on a Sunday morning month or something.
Anyway, I know this list, Andrew.
Are there any that you would make a particular effort to go and to join?
Well, there are many, many I would like to attend, because this goes through the year.
However, one I would love to be able to make it to.
It's all the way in September.
There are tons before then that I want to go to.
And is the John Haynes Classic Motor Show at the Haynes Motor Museum on the 6th of September.
All right.
I would love to attend that, because I would love to go to that motor museum.
I've been remotely in the area many times, but just not had the opportunity to stop and visit.
I've never been alone.
That's one of the few big motor museums I haven't been to.
Well, don't forget they were refurbishing for quite a while.
That's true.
I'm going to blame that one.
Yeah.
It's also far, far away.
And it's an incredibly long way from you.
Yes.
The one I'm going to choose is far enough away from me.
Thanks very much.
Rust of all, at the 18th of April on the British Motor Museum, the reason I'm choosing it is
because I've got a ticket and I know I'm going to be there.
But my plan is to be there anyway.
Rust of all, I should be there.
I think I'll take the Grim this time, took the Lexus last time.
And everybody, well, as you brought this back.
Fingers crossed that the weather is great for everyone there.
Yes.
It was most of the time last time.
That is one I do need to get to.
That's good.
And it's nice people who have done it.
Yeah, of course.
Of course, we like the people who do it, organize it.
Right.
Well, continuing the theme, which we decided privately between ourselves was
let's try and put stuff out looking forward in the year because the weather has been so
shockingly awful apart from today here.
I don't know about how it was for you.
Been all right.
But you haven't had to grow gills today, so that's an up side.
It's been so horrifically bad.
And then you look at, well, just casually waves arms at everything else.
You go, let's look for some more positive things to anticipate.
And this is from last year.
And he's on Hagerty and he was written by Charlotte Fowden.
And he's five creative road trip ideas for summer 2025, completely relevant now, still relevant.
And it is different ways in which you could create a road trip around a core concept.
And I think these are fabulous.
I love the ideas of some of these.
There's a couple here that I think I'd love to do.
But you do need to go and read the article.
I don't want to read it out.
It's almost like another list of the week.
Almost, yeah.
Yeah.
Although potentially we are doing the last one on this list, the final.
Following my stomach.
No.
Keep going down.
Don't say that.
I'm finding an extra.
Okay.
That one.
Okay.
Yeah.
Anyway, I knew what we were talking about.
I've sort of fused bits of these together in the past anyway, especially when I was in the UX.
The first summer road trip, the big one, because I discovered that
6,000 miles in two weeks is quite a lot of driving.
Was that I watched a closing council, the third kind on the plane on the way back from the US to
visit folks at the start of the year and thought, I wonder where Devil's Tower is and how far it is.
By the time I'd watched the film and got off the plane back in Boston,
that I basically sketched out where I wanted to go on a road trip that summer.
And the rest of the summer was just refining it.
And that was because I watched closing councils as the third kind.
But then there were other bits of that road trip, which were then inspired by books I'd read.
I would be on race and partly and stuff like that.
And things, things I want to, you know, I've ridden the,
I've ridden the escalators at the Merlheim all as a result.
You know, the next trip, the next big one was off to,
was starting, basically starting from Florida right the way back up to Boston again.
And that was inspired by wanting to go on the Amtrak auto trade that runs from Washington
down to Orlando and wanting to see a bit of the South and coming up through there and stuff like that.
Just go, just find a point of inspiration and all the rest of the pieces will fall into,
will fall into place. All of a sudden it's so much you decide what you want to do and where
you want to go. I went to the Rocket City trash pandas.
Think slightly differently at it. And that will, it will hopefully encourage you to be able to
take a trip. And you can just do it in a day as well. Just maybe a day trip.
Doesn't have to be a big long, you know, mega experiment, but you could do something in a day
locally, possibly. As I say, films are a great way of finding locations and things. And there's,
you know, nowadays, there's so much stuff is online that explains where film locations are
and all these kinds of stuff. So if you've always launched it like, so I think the other day, but
locations around some Gateshead and stuff from Get Carter. Now, I know that the carpark isn't
there anymore. But that kind of thing, can they do it, even go into London? You don't have to be
driving to perfectly honest. There's loads of sort of car related film stuff there and loads of things,
loads of inspiration like that. Postcards is one of my favorites from this.
Yeah, I like that idea a lot. I thought that was kind of nice. And I like the drive through the
night idea. So there we are. We've effectively just gone through the whole thing. We have essentially
essentially gone through it. But there we go. Basically. But I like that. And I like the
it just feels it's like the weather's been so grim, everything's been so grim and
unrelenting in various forms. I need something to look forward to. I need to I need to plan
something. I need to do something instead of just moaning. I need to I need to be proactive.
This is a dig at me, everyone. No, no, no, no, it's not it's not you,
irrespective of what we've we've got planned. Irrespective of that, I need to do something
because otherwise, I'm just going to be miserable. And it's just too much.
Yeah. Positivity, that's what I'm looking for. Even me. Hell yeah.
I think that's the end of the show now.
Anyway, don't forget folks, which massively positive note. I don't forget to now next week
you can give us any feedback, share your thoughts of the show at motoringpodcast.com
on blue sky at motoring podcast on Instagram and Facebook and on the contact page of motoringpodcast.com
the hub of all our activities. Remember, you can support us financially via Patreon and
please leave review and rating on Apple podcast, YouTube or whatever your podcast app lets you
do such a thing. Andrew, in the meantime, if people want to share in your positivity and
tell you where to go, what's the best way to do that? LinkedIn is the best way to do that at the
moment if you find me under my name. And Alan, if people would like to be positive with you,
what's the best way they can do that? I am absolutely certain that it's blue sky is the
best for me where I'm at a J P Bradley. That's B I D L E Y at B sky dot social.
We'll be back next week. Until then, I've been Alan Bradley. I've been Andrew clues and safe motoring.
About this episode
The podcast covers significant automotive industry updates including Tesla's failed appeal over a fatal autopilot accident lawsuit, the EU's new legislation linking EV subsidies to local manufacturing, and Renault's acquisition of the electric light commercial vehicle company Flexis. It also discusses leadership changes at Audi with Lamborghini's CTO taking over technical development, highlighting challenges in transitioning to software-defined vehicles. The hosts analyze the complexity of software requirements in modern cars and touch on broader industry shifts and strategic moves by major manufacturers.
Original notes
FOLLOW UP: JUDGE UPHOLDS HUGE AWARD AGAINST TESLA
In August 2025 a jury awarded a payout against Tesla of $243 million, for their partial responsibility in a fatal crash where Autopilot was in use. Tesla appealed this but that has been rejected. The expectation is they will appeal again. To read more, click this article link from TechCrunch.
EU TO BRING IN RULES BENEFITTING EUROPEAN BUILT EVSThe European Union (EU) is working on legislation that would push for any state subsidies or incentives to be tied to EVs being made in Europe. The likelihood is that a vehicle will have to contain parts, excepting the battery, that have been 70% made in the EU. If you wish to learn more, click this electrive article link here.
The news has caused concern in the UK, as this would mean cars made here would not meet the criteria for state incentives. You can read about this by clicking the link here from Modern Diplomacy.
RENAULT TAKES FULL CONTROL OF FLEXISRenault has now taken full control of the electric light commercial vehicle company it created a joint-venture with Volvo Group and CMA CGM to form. Renault has agreed to buy out the 55% that the two other partners held, but the Volvo Group will remain a ‘strategic partner’. For more on this story, click this electrive link here.
AUDI GETS A NEW CTOGeoffrey Bouquot is leaving Audi and his role as Chief Technology Officer, after only a year. He will be replaced by Rouven Mohr, who is Lamborghini’s CTO, to become Head of Technical Development. The wording of the electrive article is quite interesting, you can see more for yourself by clicking this link here.
STAGECOACH BRINGS MORE EBUSES TO DEVONStagecoach is bringing 110 electric buses to Devon, working on routes from Tobay, Barnstable and Exeter. Let’s hope they have measured the road widths and checked this time! To read more, click this electrive article link here.
TFL AWARD RAPID CHARGER CONTRACTTotalEnergies has been awarded the contract for installing 43 rapid charge points across London. These will be a mix of 100 and 200kW power. You can find out more by clicking this electrive article link here.
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 -Omoda 5 SHS-SOmoda are bringing a hybrid version of the 5 model to the UK, from March 2026. Called the 5 SHS-S, which stands for “Super Hybrid System - Hybrid”. Priced at £25,740 this undercuts the Nissan Qasqai by around £5,000. The company makes it clear the electric capability of this is to aid economy and efficiency.
Motoring Podcast - News Show
Motoring Podcast
0:00
43:54