Plugging Away with Paul Gawne

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I'm Alex.

He's Paul and this is the Charging Status EV Podcast.

How are you doing, Paul?

I'm good.

Thank you.

How are you?

Not too bad.

Regular viewers or listeners will realise that Paul isn't Jim, so Jim at the moment

is in China with Cherry, he's seeing all the wonderful sights and sounds and the interesting

food that China has to offer at the moment, so he'll be back at some point, I'm not entirely

sure when, but for now we're going to record this week's episode with me and Paul.

So if you don't know who Paul is, do you want to give yourself a little bit of an

intro just to let people know who you are and what you do?

Okay, thank you.

Yeah.

Well, I'm Paul.

I'm in 60 Seconds, which is my channel name.

It's a fantastic name.

It's a play on words on my surname and the idea was that I would make 60 Second clips

for social media about what I like and dislike about cars, so five things I love about

and try and record it in 60 Seconds and that's morphed into full driving reviews

of cars.

I'm quite new at this.

My YouTube channel is pretty new and just starting really, but yeah, it's all very exciting

and that's me.

Yeah.

How long have you been doing it for?

It's a few.

Is it since like Maytime?

Yeah.

So May was my first ever event.

I got accidentally invited, I think, to something and I thought once you've got the invite,

you've got to try and make it work, try and do something out of it and let's

see how it goes.

Let's see what we do.

It seems to have caught the imagination.

Some people have really enjoyed it, so we'll keep plugging away and get into driving some

really fantastic cars.

Nice.

Yeah.

So far, what's sort of been your most favorite car you reviewed, do you think?

Do you know what?

My son was asking me this this morning, he was telling me what his favorite car was

which surprised me because his favorite was the Skywell BE-11 and my favorite so far

is probably the Polestar 3 because I really loved the Polestar 4.

I thought that was a lot of fun, but the 3 was just a little bit more usable.

Okay.

I felt like the 4 was very wide and almost too wide in certain some circumstances, but

the 3 was just a lot more daily usable, but also really fun to drive.

So yeah, I always get these mixed up because I haven't really driven a Polestar before,

but the 3, is the 3 the one without the back window?

No, the 4 is the one without the back window.

The 4 is the newer one with no back window.

Got you.

And it's like a lower, more sports car type of build, I suppose, but it's still like

a crossover SUV because they're all crossover SUVs, aren't they?

Yep.

But the 3 is just a bit bigger inside and a bit more practical.

It's a little bit taller and it has a real window, of course, so it's a win.

Nice, yeah.

And one car, which we've both recently driven, you've still got it with you, I think.

Yes.

It's the, I say brand new, it's not really brand new, it's the updated Genesis GV60.

Yeah, well, I suppose it is brand new because people can't buy it yet, can they?

It won't be in their homes until next year, will it?

It's the 26th release, isn't it, the one we've got?

I'm not sure when it's recently delivered to customers, yeah.

So I think they don't get it until next year, but we are obviously looking at this brand

new facelift and people can order it now, but I don't think it arrives, their orders will

arrive till next year.

OK.

I say not totally brand new because it is a mild facelift of the last version and

I've driven the last version twice and I really, really enjoyed it.

It's one of my favourite EVs, I think, because it just nails the brief on.

It's got some of that sensibility from Hyundai, so it's very similar to Biker Onyc 5 or something,

but it just takes it to the level I find, so how have you been finding the one you've

had this week?

I've only had it two days so far, so I've got a little time to go yet, but I think

we've got completely different versions, didn't you have the pure version, which is entry

level, if I'm right?

It's the base spec version, yeah.

OK.

I've got the performance version, which is the bells and whistles and madness that goes

with it, so I think it's going to be quite interesting to see how different they are.

Yeah.

Do you know what?

I love the interior and I love the way it looks on the outside as well, they're absolutely

nailed it, you're right.

I think the interior is super plush and it just feels really, really premium.

Yep.

Drive, as I've not had it long enough to give you a full verdict, but it pushes you back in

your seat and takes your breath away when you push down on the pedal.

Yeah, I think the performance, the one you've got, it's got some inspiration from the

Onyc 5N.

Yes.

But it hasn't got quite the level of horsepower, so I think the Onyc 5N's got around 600

and something, and this one, the Genesis has got about 500, so they've tamed it

down a little bit.

Yes.

But it's still got the fake gear shifts and all that sort of stuff.

Yeah, it's got the fake gear shifts, it's got the engine noises, it's got all of that

stuff, and it's more than enough, you know, I don't think I could ever want for more

power unless I was going to a circuit.

Yep.

But yeah, it's fun, it's really, really fun to drive.

Yeah, I think I mentioned it in the review, one of my favourite things about the Genesis

line of cars is if you look at the Kia or the Hyundai, if you want certain things

on the car, the different options, you've then got a spring for, you've got a spring for

different trim levels of the car, you can't just stop and change, and that's obviously

for cost reasons, but with the Genesis you can spec pretty much any single option, there's

one thing you can't spec on every single version of the car, so if you want real-world

drive and more efficiency, you can get all the extras and stuff that you would get

on the other ones.

The only thing you can't get is the performance version is available with a dash cam.

Yes.

It's got a built-in dash cam, which is awesome, so.

Yes, and when you turn it off, it says dash cam is recording, so it's always recording

while you're not in the car, so it's there to, like the Sentry mode, I suppose, on the

Tesla, isn't it?

Yeah.

If someone tries to have a closer look at it, you're going to get a closer look

at them too.

Yeah.

Yeah, have you reviewed any Teslas just yet, or is that coming soon, do you

think?

No, not yet.

I've had to chat with a local Tesla dealership who are keen to sort something out,

and it's just getting the times set up, so that's coming.

Yeah.

Nice.

All good.

So, looking forward, sort of, sorry, I just looked, what cars have you reviewed so

far?

So, you mentioned the Skywile, you mentioned the Polestar 3, what other

highlights have you had, and what else have you got planned, do you think?

Okay, so, I mean, so far on the channel, we've got, the Hyundai

Ironic 9 is on the channel.

That was quite a short time with the car, but it was long enough to get a proper

look inside it.

The Smart Hashtag 5, which arrived in dealerships this week, I got a proper

look around the Brabus version of one of those, and I had a look, actually, in Munich

at the IAA at one of those, but I went to the Smart

dealership in Exeter the other day and got a chance, they invited me to go in and

make a video, so that was really good, that's a really, really nice car, very,

very good for the money, and it was the Brabus-tuned one that I made a video

of, so that video is already live, so I've got to admit, I really, really

like that car, not like it's a spoiler or anything, but we're discussing

when I can borrow it to take it out for a proper drive, and that'll be

quite exciting, I think, that'll look great.

I've got the High Under Insta video probably going live tomorrow, that's good.

Obviously, the Polestar one's already on, and I've got a Polestar 3 versus

BMW iX video that went live last week, which was great, because I had the

chance to pit them against each other in a top-trump style, which was

I thought was a fun game, because I would happily live with either of them, so it

was really, really difficult to make a choice. It's like choosing between your

favourite children. You don't have children, do you?

You don't have, I have that, I have my children telling me all the time,

but I'm your favourite, Dad. I don't have favourites.

See, as I mentioned earlier, you're quite new to this kind of thing,

how are you finding it so far? Because one thing I was struggling with

when I started, I think it was like two and a bit years ago, was who to contact

to get cars from all the filming nuances that go with it, all the technical

difficulties that you might run into. How are you finding it so far?

Yeah, that's a really good question. It's kind of a behind-the-scenes video,

isn't it? When you get this hair-brown idea to start this kind of

lifestyle, it's really difficult, because all this stuff is kept behind locking

key, isn't it? And you've got to beg and beg and keep begging until you

annoy someone enough to give you a car. Now, I feel really, really, really

lucky because Polestar have been really generous, you know, I've had two

cars for a week at a time, and they're like 70, 80 grand cars sat on my

drive that, you know, I've a really small channel, really, to start with.

So I've been really lucky with them. But getting hold of cars is quite

difficult, especially when you don't know anybody and you haven't made

those contacts. Because I think it's how the press people at the dealerships

or at the manufacturers trust you. And a lot of it is based on how

much they like you. I don't think I've met enough of them yet to build

those relationships. So the first event I went to was the SMMT Society of

Motor Manufacturers Drive Day in May. And I was so excited that I was

invited, I just went and drove all the cars. I didn't really talk to

anyone, I was like, oh, can I drive that please? And they're like, yeah,

I don't know. So I spent all my time just making short videos and

driving. Whereas what I didn't spend time doing was chatting to people

and building those relationships. And I think that is something that I

personally would have done differently if I was going back to do that

today. Yeah. So I've had to send people lots of emails and hope

they don't just fall straight into the shredder. Yeah. And I think

most of them do fall into the shredder. And those that have like,

I've chased people on LinkedIn and added everyone I think I can and

tried that way as well. Yeah. And it's kind of it's kind of work

because I keep finding myself in cars, which is great. Yeah. But

another big thing for me was building relationships with local

dealers. So my local BMW dealer, I bumped into him at an award

ceremony and chatted to him and he's like, yeah, we can support

you. Come down and take a car for a test drive for a day and see

how you get on. And my first ever full video was a mini

countryman that he'd lent me for the day. Nice. Yeah. And that

was like, excellent training for me because it was the first

one. And it was a really good kind of way in because then I

had something I could show to other people and say, look,

this is what I think I can do. And I appreciate it's the first

one. And then you asked about tech. Well, I mean, everything I

filmed so far has been on my phone. Yeah, I've got a decent

iPhone with 4k cameras and stuff. And I pretty quickly

realized I needed to buy some decent microphones. Because

audio was killing it in the first couple. It was really

bad. And then I bought some road Bluetooth mics. And then

I've just bought some new cameras. So I've just bought an

Osmo pocket and a new GoPro so I can upgrade and get better

because you always want to get better, don't you? Yeah, provide

slightly better content, especially now I feel like I'm

taking it a little bit more seriously. And I've now started

to dream that this could perhaps be a real job. Yeah. So I

think, yeah, that's kind of behind the scenes. That's

exactly where we are. And it's constantly trying to improve

and get into more cars, isn't it? And enjoy more different

feeling cars and being able to articulate that. So

Yeah, 100%. And the thing I was interested in is, because we

met each other in person at the Munich Motor Show a few months

ago. I didn't get a chance to ask you, what sort of

motivated you to get into car reviews? Because I know, for

me, it was I was super interesting cars. I just wanted to

drive more new cars. If I ever took my car into test car to get

serviced, they give me a loan car. And I thought that was so

exciting. And yeah, I just I just really wanted to drive more

cars. And that was not the beat on end all but it was one

of the motivating factors is you get to test all these

cars. So what was it? What was it for you? Because my

story is bonkers. And it yeah, strap yourself in. So as a

little lad, which is a very long time ago now, and I think

I'm quite a substantial amount older than you. I absolutely

loved cars. And I've always loved motorsport, especially F

one. And when I got into my teenage years, the internet

was just becoming a thing. Yes, I am now. And I started

blogging about formula one, I got invited to some events and I

ended up going to the Mercedes launch and all sorts of things

over the years. And I got to a point where I could either

crack on with that or do a real job and actually see my

children. And I chose to stay at home and see my children

and have a real job just because I thought that's

probably more important. And I'd certainly regret it if I

disappeared off and did other things. But the passion for

cars has always been there. Now, the mad thing is, at the age

of 41, I took and passed my driving test last year in

January. So I've only been driving just under two years.

Right, okay.

Because I've always lived near where I've worked and I've

always seen it as just I desperately want to drive, but

I've got children and I'd rather spend the money on them and

do things and I've just never got round to it. And I just

I thought, you know what, I'm just gonna do it. I booked my

test. I did my theory test and just booked my test. And I

phoned up a driving instructor and said, right, I want this

many lessons and I want to do my test on this date and

within three months I'd passed. Fair play. And that was

it. That was it. My first car was a Ford Galaxy, which I

know isn't electric or fun. But when you have so many

children, yeah, absolutely. Dad car is exactly where I am. And I

had that and it was a bit beating up when I got it. And

that's fine because it was my first car. And I bought and

sold a few cars since then because I've got bored of that

after six months and it needed a few bits doing so I

sold it to someone else and bought something else. And then

I've got bored of that and bought something else and sold

something. And my daily at the minute is a Land Rover. But the

passion for trying lots of different cars and just driving

things has always been there. So yeah, I find it really,

really exciting. Every time I sit in a new car, I'm excited

to find out about it and work it out. Yep.

Yeah, that won't go away for quite a while. I don't think

that feeling so that's never gonna go away. Is it? Because

every time you get in a car, there's something new to learn

and explore. Yeah. And you have to pick it up very

quickly because I I live in the middle of nowhere. So I

take for those who don't know when you get these cars from

the the the manufacturers, they usually get delivered to

you. So someone will drive by himself or herself. And then

they have to get back somewhere. So you've got to

take them back to the train station. So absolutely. So

you sort of get in the car for the first time is driving

some stranger back to the train station. So you've got to

your brain's got to work very quickly to work out how this

car works. It's funny because I had that even this

morning. Yeah. Like it's mad. The first car that I ever

had delivered was a Polestar and that was delivered on a low

loader was actually delivered on on a trailer. Right. And

that was great. Yeah, cool. And then the next car that

I had delivered was I can't remember which one it was

now, but he just turned up with it. Yeah. Oh, do you want to

hop in at the station? Oh, that'd be amazing. Thanks. Yep. And

I live down here in Devon where everything's a bit more

rural. So it's yeah, like you you're in the middle of

nowhere and it's all good fun. But I had one guy turn up

with a folding bicycle on the back of the car. Don't

worry about that. I'll take you to the station. It's

not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it is interesting how

certain people get into this kind of thing. But as you

were saying earlier, I think me and Jim have had this

conversation before, but no one is there to sort of give

you any advice or anything. I've been quite lucky

because Jim's given me advice along the way. But and I

think it is needed, I think. And yeah, it's a bit

unknown. Jim's Jim's brilliant. He's a good

laugh as well, isn't he? And I must admit, I when

I went to that first test day, I messaged Jim

beforehand and I wasn't sure whether he'd reply and

he did. And he's like, yeah, yeah, I'm there and I'll

chat to you and we met and had a chat and he was

just so kind and helpful. So that that really helped

the confidence as well. So yeah, because I don't

know if you've been to any, well, you're probably

one at some point, some brand launches.

Yeah, not yet. No, no one likes me enough for

that yet. Jim Jim's always mentioned, I don't

think a problem goes away for me is that in fact,

you feel like an imposter at those things. And

yeah, I think I think even even still, I think a

lot of people probably feel that especially

independent people like me and Jim, because there's

all the people from the magazines which are

there and all the big people. So they turn up

in packs, don't they? They turn up with their

camera person and their, you know, and their

sound person and all those sort of things or

there was a group and then they go and do

their things methodically as they do and we

turn up and we're just like, I think I'll have a

go in that and I'll see how it goes. But yeah,

it's, you do feel like an imposter because you

you see all the people that you've seen on TV

and YouTube for years and you think, what am I

doing here? I watch your YouTube channel, what

am I doing here?

Sort of some some cars for 2026, what kind

of stuff are you hoping to cover? Is it

obviously this electric car podcast, but you

more interested in one or the other of you,

very, very open minded in terms of what you

review because I'm personally I'm very open

minded, even though me and Jim do an EV

podcast. But yeah, yeah, no, I'm really

open minded. Like at the moment, I've got

the Genesis GV60 and I've had an

Isuzu? Is it Isuzu or Isuzu? I don't know how

you... I think it's Isuzu.

Which is it? You should have a vote or

something. Is it Isuzu or Isuzu?

No idea.

A D-Max truck on the drive and that's like

a big diesel truck and I'm really excited

about driving that. But I am quite

passionate about electric mobility. I must

admit, I love EVs and I always have.

In fact, where I used to work in my

day job, we bought electric vans to do

our local deliveries and I'm going back

to them in a couple of weeks to do a

video where we get both of the vans

together and talk about how compelling

it is to buy used EV, right, a van.

They've got an ENV 200s, which are a few

years old now and they've got an 80

mile range. But for them who deliver

everything within three or four mile

radius and just shuttle between

stores, it's really, really useful and

a really compelling purchase,

especially if you can pick one up now

at a couple of a couple of grand.

So we're going to do a video on those

and I think that's really exciting

me just as much as a brand new 70

grand Polestar was on the drive and I

love it. And I think I've always

been into even Formula E racing as

well as Formula One because I do

love the electric racing and I do

really care about the environment and

how the electric mobility is helping.

A spoiler alert, I've got a video

coming that I haven't filmed all of

it yet on electric buses.

Oh, really? OK. So I've been behind

the scenes at the local stagecoach

depot and they've just had the

deliveries of new electric buses

that go live later this year and

we're going to explore how cool

they are and how much better for

the environment they are and better

for the passengers and better for the

company. That's like 50 million

quids worth of investment and I

think that is a really exciting

also. Yeah, it's huge because I

used to get the bus and then it

would be very, very, very, very

vibrating in the back. And then

if you'd walk in the town next to

the buses, it just smells. So

there's a sort of a selfish point

of view to make things quite

quieter in the town, wouldn't it?

So yeah, it's a game changer.

It really is. And if you get on a

bus in Torbay, you'll hear my voice

on the bus because I do the

voiceover announcements for the

next stop announcements.

So you'll hear my voice.

Yeah, you'll hear me just saying

the next stop is and it'll

just be like that. So yeah, that's

a face to the name, if you like.

But that's

yeah, that's quite exciting going

forward. And I think that'll make

a really interesting video.

Not that I'm allowed to drive a

bus.

But I know

many people who are and I think

it's going to be really interesting.

Yeah, especially so they've at

this place than they've got. Is

this in quite a big built up town

or is it a bit more rural?

So the depot is in Exeter,

which is a city.

Oh, yeah. And but

the first depot that will turn

electric is Torbay, which is

Torbay painting and bricks and

which is where I live.

And that's going to

be the first depot in the

southwest to turn completely

electric.

Well, and the buses

for that have started arriving

and the infrastructure is

currently being built.

So it's definitely exciting.

There's a lot into it as well.

There's a lot of work that goes

into the background of how

you prepare your bus service

to take that kind of change.

Yeah, especially when you've

got people who have driven

buses and taken buses for years

and you're used to running

them in a certain way and

it has to be done very

differently.

I can imagine. Yeah.

I could only just imagine also

the the local paper

sort of reaction to it as well.

Yes, it will be when the first

one breaks down and someone

with a diesel generator needs

to turn up in a diesel van

to plug it in or something.

That will be when the paper

gets excited.

But yeah, it's going to happen.

You know, it's going to

happen where someone thinks,

yeah, I can get I don't need

to stop at this charger.

I can I can go to the next

one because the drivers

are a breed, aren't they?

And it'll be.

Yeah.

Yeah, there's lots of different

areas which can go electric.

So I haven't like one that I

filmed the video just haven't

edited it properly yet.

But I've last week I drove

an electric tractor.

Oh, wow. OK.

So yeah, I haven't quite

finished the video for that yet.

So it should be out at some

point on the channel.

But so one of the tractor

manufacturers called Fent Fent

that didn't help well.

People know tractors, but

they essentially got the first

two electric tractors in the UK

that they sell.

Everyone else is a bit a bit

far behind in the brands.

But that was that was quite

exciting.

And what was quite

interesting to me is that they

were really keen on on making

the what do you call it

compatibility with other

implements and all the

infrastructure goes with it

exactly the same because

they were quite surprised that

people were driving it and

thinking, well, this isn't

very different.

And they were like, good.

But yeah, it's not meant to

be.

So that's amazing.

Surely surely it makes loads of

sense because you've got all

that talk.

Yeah, just move the wheels.

Yeah, that is traditionally

the bit that the engine has to

push in and do so much for.

So yeah, surely the the

hardest bit of getting a

tractor moving is way easier

with an electric motor.

Yeah, it was very smooth,

very quiet.

All the what's quite

interesting to me is that

they still got a gearbox.

Oh, it's got a low range,

high range and well,

no, I couldn't quite work out

how it worked.

There was a there's got a

transmission in between the

electric motors and the wheels.

And then for those, this is

going to get very into it now.

But tractors have what are

called PTO systems for driving,

I don't know, a mower or

something.

And traditionally that is

coming off the engine.

But they've fed that system

directly off the motors.

It doesn't go by the

gearbox, but a load of work

has gone into a load of

engineering.

And it's it's promising.

But the the two

downsides, one, they cost

100 grand more than a diesel.

And roughly, they do

about half the amount of time,

work time than a diesel can do

before the before he's charging

again.

But that's like five or six

hours versus 10.

So but it's good in there.

And for a lot, a lot of use

cases, it can be it can be

quite successful.

Yeah, I then I suppose you

need to look at the cost to

charge it compared to the

cost of the diesel.

Yeah, yeah, that's one thing

I was going to work out before

I published the video is getting

that sort of stuff nailed.

But it's it's promising,

though, for the one of the very

first ones on sale

in the UK.

It's pretty cool.

So yeah, yeah, that's really

interesting.

I'm looking forward to that

video already.

I want to see that.

Yeah, I did like a little

interview with.

Well, I didn't do much.

I did some talking in the

video.

But the product one of the

product guys walked me

through all the bits and

pieces and drive it.

And so it's more of a

interview slash sort of

me driving the tractor sort of

thing.

So now you asked me

before I got sidetracked

talking about buses.

Oh, yeah, about cars in 2026

and what I was most looking

forward to.

Do you use the only thing

you're particularly looking

forward to?

Is there a like a particular

car that you're really

excited by?

Well, it's the very end of

this.

You mean ones I've going to

review or ones that are

coming out?

One's that are coming out

that you'd like to review.

Oh, the new Polo, the new

electric.

The new Polo.

Yeah.

Yeah, that makes sense.

And that naming structure

makes so much sense as well,

doesn't it?

Oh, it's so much better.

Yeah, instead of three, four.

What is it?

Everyone knows what a Polo is.

Yeah, everyone knows what a

golf is.

Yeah, I think.

The ID three I drove to

Germany.

It's it was a very good car.

But it was lacking something.

So it's lacking a bit of a

little bit of character, I

think.

And I think based on the

interiors, we've seen from

the ID cross.

We're just going to bring back

some of that nicety that VW

have had before.

If that's going to look like

that in that Polo, I think

that'll be a winner, I think.

Yes.

And small electric cars

is something that interests me

greatly.

So I've got the Insta coming

up in a few weeks.

Yeah.

I reviewed the Renault five

and that was insane.

It's just so good.

I see.

I like the Renault five to

look at.

I thought it was a little

bit clumsy in how it was

delivered, like in terms

of how it felt to actually

drive.

I thought it looked better than

it drove.

Yeah.

I think Jim said the same thing.

He wasn't too impressed.

But the takeaway I had was that

that car was essentially

replacing the Zoe.

And the Zoe was never amazing

to drive either.

So I think I think with that

car, they've made it really

like sexy and appealing by

the exterior.

Yeah.

And then to drive it is just

a car.

So I think they kind of

I think that's kind of fine.

And it's super efficient

as well, which is good.

So but these small electric

cars are one of the most

exciting areas of the market

because they just get so many

SUVs now.

So and it's a real really

growing segment, isn't it?

Like so many people are

starting to cut on on and

starting to nail it.

Like I mean, I know you've

not had the Insta yet,

but it's such a cool looking

car.

Yeah.

And I've driven it and I

can attest to it being much

better to drive than the Renault

five was.

It's a lot of fun and it

looks fun and playful as well.

Yeah.

And I think you want that,

don't you?

You want fun, playful cars

rather than everything just

looking formulaic.

Yeah.

And as you drive as people

sort of you drive Hyundai

or Genesis or something,

there's a there's a little

sort of synergy between

the brands and in terms of

how the UI works and how

the entertainment system works.

Yes.

If you do happen to have

a car from each brand or

something along those lines

sounds stupid, but there's

there is a bit of family tree

sort of stuff working

with those cars, which I quite like.

So because even the little

Kierpikanto, there's certain elements

which work the same as

a Genesis, for example,

which I quite like.

So yeah, I must admit I was

quite pleased that when I got

into the Genesis, the button

to turn off the speed limit

warning was the same push

and hold button as it was

in the EV3 I drove.

Yeah.

But yeah, what about you?

What what cars are you

looking forward to that

are going to launch next year?

Ah, yeah.

See now I asked the question

back to you because I still

hadn't thought of an answer.

Smart, is that smart?

Yeah, yeah, I know.

But then you're supposed to think

of an answer by the time

it comes back to you, aren't you?

And do you know what?

I saw at the IAA in Munich

on the X-Peng stand

and I now now know it is

coming to the UK is there

and you're not going to

guess this before I say it.

But it's their people carrier.

Oh, G is called the G9.

Yeah, I think so.

I think so.

But it was proper plush.

And you know, you see these

in Japan and China

and you see them everywhere.

And if you want one here,

you have to import it and stuff

like the Elgrand and stuff like that.

But this it's a real one

being released in the UK.

Oh, sweet.

And I'm really excited about that

because it's kind of ticks

all those boxes like great for the family.

It's like a van

when you've not got the family in it.

But it also looks really cool and futuristic.

So I'm quite excited about that.

So do you find them

when you're carrying your kids around

that an MPV type of vehicle

is a bit more practical than an SUV sometimes?

Yeah, well, like I said,

my daily is a Land Rover,

which has got seven seats in it.

And when they're not in it,

it's a van, basically.

So I can go and put all my kit in it

and go and do a DJ gig somewhere

with all of my my gear.

Or you can take all the family away

in comfort and still have room for luggage.

So I haven't driven the EV9 yet, actually,

to be honest, and I'm led to believe

that that will have a similar kind of property

in terms of being huge and really good to drive

and all of those things.

So that is something I'm keen to get into.

But the IONIQ9, actually,

I suppose it's the same car, isn't it?

It is pretty much, yeah.

That was excellent.

I could see myself driving that as a daily car.

Oh, yeah?

To replace the Land Rover.

Nice, yeah.

Those sort of there.

I think when I drove the EV9,

it was last year sort of time,

it had good efficiency, but it wasn't,

I think at that point,

I had driven a good amount of EVs,

but I hadn't driven enough, if you don't mean so,

I hadn't quite understood the efficiency side of it,

but it was getting like 2.5 to nearly three miles per kilowatt.

I was thinking, hmm,

but then when you think, this car's gonna rival

a massive diesel Range Rover or something on those lines

or big V8 Range Rover,

and it's gonna cost you so little

to actually run it in reality,

then it doesn't actually matter that much.

Absolutely, and on that very subject,

I drove a Polestar 3 to Newcastle and back.

Oh, yeah.

Which is 400 miles each way.

Now, I wasn't taking the family,

so I didn't need the Land Rover,

but I'm really glad I had the Polestar

because if I'd have taken the Land Rover,

it probably would have cost me

best part of 200 pound in diesel.

Yeah.

And the Polestar, I was really lucky

because I just did one top-up charge on the way

and one top-up charge on the way back,

and it probably cost me in total about 100 pounds

in charging because I did charging it

like public charges, but that was 800 odd miles.

Yep.

And I got home with another 100 miles still on the car,

so it was like half the prices

it would have been in the Land Rover.

Yeah, yeah.

And I didn't notice any inconvenience.

I let the car choose where to stop,

and both times I pulled up at a Tesla supercharger,

just plugged in, went for a coffee, went to the toilet,

and by the time I came back,

I was charged enough to go.

And when I booked where we were going,

I booked somewhere that had a charger.

So it was no hardship.

You just click that button on hotels.com and it came up.

Yep.

Airbnb it was actually, sorry.

Yeah.

And there was somewhere that came up.

So it was no planning at all.

No.

No stress, just go.

And it was the most relaxing drive I've ever done.

And for me, it's the furthest I've ever driven

in one go.

And it was just really, really relaxing.

It was a fun drive to have.

Yeah.

One thing I've had about doing long distance journeys

in an EV is that compared to,

I've got up as my daily driver, it's an up GTI.

So it's not the most quietest inside.

It's quite a cheap car.

And I find I can do probably double the distance

without feeling as tired.

And you can get out the car at the very end

and it's like you really haven't gone that,

you haven't done it, if you know what I mean.

Yeah, yeah.

I always find it's just a more relaxing way

of getting about to be honest.

Yeah.

The Land Rover is great in that it's like driving your sofa,

but it is like driving your sofa

whilst being hit around the head with a pan

because it's super loud.

And it is like tractor loud, isn't it?

Yeah.

And then I remember driving to Gatwick in it

and it was pouring down the rain

and you could hear the wind and the rain noise

and everything and it was horrific.

Yeah.

But no, in the Polestar it was just silent

and just cruised all the way up and back

and it was really, really nice.

Yeah, pretty good, yeah.

Yeah, it's surprising.

So I was gonna ask you what brand of chargers you used

and if it was, I was gonna say try out the Tesla ones

because they're really cheap

but you've already done that, so.

Yeah, and it was interesting actually

because I'd never used one before.

Yeah.

So to anyone that's never used one

and is unsure about it,

I just went up to it, plugged it in

and I pinged my card on it

and it took 20 quid off me.

Yep.

As like a pre-authorization

and it was just 20 quid.

And then, well the time I came back

and I left the charger, it told me,

oh it's gonna be 35 pounds or whatever

and then the rest just came out of my bank two days later.

Yep.

It was seamless, there was no stress,

there was no apps to download.

No.

I don't have a Tesla app, it was just ping

away you go.

Yep.

And there was no worry about it not working

or anything like that, it was just super, super simple.

So you'd have to recommend that.

If you're going anywhere that has Tesla Chargers,

it's just so easy.

Yep.

No, I agreed.

I've mentioned this on my podcast before

but when we drove to Germany,

all I used was pretty much,

I think apart from one or two hotel chargers

was Tesla Chargers.

Yep.

And it was, again, it was super easy.

What I did is for that I paid for the membership.

So it gives you, I think 10 quid or something

and you get a big discount on the charging

and after one charge, so it pays for itself.

So you get the same prices as what Tesla owners

would get at that price, so.

Okay, yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah.

I think what I need to do is buy a really old Tesla

and get free charging for life, that would be good.

Yeah, Johnny Smith has just done that.

Oh, yes, yes he has, yes, yes.

Yeah, it's a good idea.

There's quite a lot for sale with free charging.

So it's a good idea.

Yeah, and the batteries do last forever, don't they?

They last for a very long time, yeah.

A lot of them are 10 years old roughly now

that I for sale with free charging,

but I found out the only issue with that is apparently

if the car's gone back into Tesla ownership,

like it's a trade-in,

then they wipe out the free charging, so.

Oh really?

Yeah.

That's cheeky, isn't it?

So it has to stay in the sort of public ownership.

Okay.

So yeah, that's cheeky, that is.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, I think that is a good place to end.

Okay.

If people want to find out more about you and your channel,

just remind everyone what your channel was called.

So it's called Gorn in 60 Seconds, that's all one word,

and Gorn is spelled G-A-W-N-E, Gorn in 60 Seconds.

It's amazing.

I'm sure Alex, you'll put in a link in the show notes.

Yeah, I'll put a link in the description on the YouTube video,

and if you're listening to this on Apple Podcast,

there'll be a link there as well.

I do like these clever names with the channels,

because there's a guy I know, he's called Naveed,

and his channel is Naveed for Speed.

Oh, I like that.

And it's amazing, that's great.

So these clever channels are quite a good idea.

So yeah, thank you so much Paul for standing in for Jim,

it's because Jim's exploring channel at the moment,

so.

Yeah, and we'll have to do this again sometime,

but yeah, it's been really good.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for inviting me.

See you.

Thank you.

Plugging Away with Paul Gawne

Polestar 3

Polestar 4

Genesis GV60

Hyundai Genesis

Bmw Ix

Mini Countryman

Ford Galaxy

Dodge Charger

Kia EV3

Kia EV9

Land Rover Range Rover

Volkswagen Up Gti

About this episode

Original notes