Own stupidity - 2 September 2025
About this episode
A deep dive into the latest motoring news reveals significant updates, including the tightening of the UK electric vehicle grant, job cuts at Lotus, and leadership changes within the Renault group. Notably, Stellantis has shelved its level three driver assistance program, while a UK consortium secures funding for battery recycling technology. The episode also highlights new car launches, including a Tesla Model Y rival from a Chinese company and Subaru's E Outback. Additionally, the hosts reflect on the recent Rusteval event and discuss the Hot Wheels Legend Tour winner.
The Government has tightened the loophole where if one vehicle in the range is eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG) then all others with the same powertrain configuration are, no matter their price. This has been capped at £42,000. Click this Autocar story link here, to read more.
Additionally, the Government has announced the first two cars to be eligible for Band 1 of the grant and thus the full £3750. The Ford Puma Gen-E and the E-Tournio Courier. Click this Motor Trader article to read more.
LOTUS CUTS MORE STAFFIn the continued troubling news from Lotus there is the announcement that they are cutting another 550 jobs in the UK, roughly 40%. This follows another poor first half to the year, as sales dropped 42%. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here.
DACIA LOSE A CEO BUT FIND ANOTHERDenis Le Vot has decided to leave as head of Dacia, with Katrin Adt taking over the reigns. This is one of several changes in Renault Group management. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here.
STELLANTIS SHELVES LEVEL 3 AUTONOMOUS DEVELOPMENTStellantis has pulled the plug on deploying their SAE Level 3 autonomous driving system. In February they were saying it was ready to be rolled out. No reasons have been given but the reality of how expensive it is to developing such systems and the flawed path chosen must be part of the reason. To read more, click this Yahoo! Finance article link here.
BATTERY RECYCLING CONSORTIUM RAISES £8.1MA consortium, made up of JLR, LiBatt Recycling, WMG at Warwick University and Mint Innovation has secured £8.1 million investment for their battery recycling plans. They intend to perfect recovering lithium, cobalt and nickel from end of life EV batteries. Click this electrive article link here to read more.
TESLAMATE SERVERS OPEN TO ALLTeslaMate is a self-hosted data logger for Tesla owners that records all the data that is sent out by the car. A security researcher has discovered he could access thousands of these self-hosted servers and get all the information from the vehicles. To read more, click this link from TechCrunch 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Changan Deepal S07Changan are one of the biggest Chinese car makers, but you’ve probably not heard of them. You will now as they’re coming to the UK, with the Deepal S07, a similar size to the Skoda...
Ford Torino
"...0 discount. That is the Ford Puma Gen E and the E Torino Courier. Congratulations to Ford on that for mana..."
Tesla Model
"...oming to the UK with according to this article, a Tesla Model Y rival. Chang gang is the company that is coming..."
Subaru Solterra
"... And it's going to share the underpinnings of the Solterra. And it also has just a fraction more luggage spa..."
Toyota bZ4X
"...tured by Toyota because that is the twin with the BZ4X. And don't forget there's the uncharted coming ou..."
Subaru Uncharted
"... twin with the BZ4X. And don't forget there's the uncharted coming out which is based on the CHR plus. There'..."
C-HR Chr Plus
"...'s the uncharted coming out which is based on the CHR plus. There's going to be a pair of 201 brake horsepow..."
Aston Martin Valhalla
"...t's 0.1 of a second quicker than the Aston Martin Valhalla and just 0.1 of a second slower than the Ferrari ..."
Toyota Land Cruiser
"...Alan's land. Sorry, Lexus. I was going to call it Land Cruiser then. He's Lexus. Don't forget there is a video o..."
Jaguar Mark
"...how, which was down from 200 entrance. They had a Jaguar Mark seven. There's also a classic Polo, which won the..."
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