A pre-production unit is an early build of a vehicle used for validation, media driving, and final tuning before mass production. It can differ from the final production car in software, trim details, or minor hardware.
The Galaxy EX5 is an electric car from Geely’s Galaxy lineup. It’s the kind of model people mention when they’re comparing different EVs they’ve tried. The main point is that it’s an EV you can consider if you want a different option than what you’ve already driven.
Huawei is a big technology company. The hosts are saying some Chinese cars use Huawei systems, and that’s part of why those cars (or features) may be less welcome in other markets.
The Peugeot 4008 is a compact SUV made by Peugeot. The podcast mentions it while talking about Peugeot models that are available. It’s relevant because it’s one of the SUV options people may consider.
A plug-in hybrid is a car that can drive on electricity when you charge it, but it also has a gasoline engine as backup. That can make it easier to travel farther without worrying about the battery.
WLTP is a lab test number used to estimate how far a car can go on a charge. The hosts are saying their real driving range was even better than that estimate.
A “grand tourer” is basically a car meant for comfortable long-distance trips. They’re saying this EV’s range makes it feel like it could handle that kind of driving.
This is a Citroen electric car variant. The big difference discussed is its battery size and how fast it can charge—by default it’s mainly for slower charging, with an option to charge faster.
The Vauxhall Frontera is another car the hosts say is closely related to the Citroen they were talking about. They mainly comment on styling and the interior feel.
BYD is a major Chinese automotive brand known for mass-market electric vehicles and large-scale battery production. In the segment, the hosts notice BYD using two different logos in China, suggesting different sub-brands or positioning for different product lines.
Xiaomi is better known for phones and gadgets, but it’s also making electric vehicles. The hosts are listing it as one of the many brands they saw in China.
The Volkswagen ID.3 is an electric hatchback, meaning it’s a small car that runs on electricity. It’s made by Volkswagen and is meant for everyday city and commuting use. The podcast mentions it because it’s a common EV model people may see and drive.
The D9 is an electric car model that was mentioned while the speakers were talking about different EVs in a group. The key idea is that it’s one of the vehicles they encountered in that context. The podcast is using it as a reference while discussing options.
Xpeng is a Chinese electric-car company. The hosts are saying Volkswagen works with Xpeng on some models, so what you see in China is likely made for that market.
Right-hand drive means the driver sits on the right side of the car. Some countries require this, so car companies have to adapt the vehicles before they can sell them there.
A “five-star safety award” refers to a top rating from a safety-testing organization, indicating strong crash-test performance. The hosts emphasize that a five-star result in one country’s program (Malaysia) may not translate directly to Europe’s Euro NCAP expectations because the test focus can differ.
Term
pedestrians
Pedestrians are people walking outside the car. Safety tests can include scenarios that check how well a car protects pedestrians in crashes.
The Denza Z9 GT is an electric car model from Denza. In this segment it’s used as an example of a car that can charge very quickly in freezing conditions.
Very cold weather can make EV charging slower. They’re saying the demo was done at around -31°C to prove it still charges quickly even when it’s freezing.
Flash charging means charging an EV very quickly. The point they’re making is that BYD claims it can still charge fast even in freezing temperatures.
Brand
Fang Chang Bell three
The hosts mention another EV model besides the Denza Z9 GT in BYD’s charging demo. The name in the transcript is a bit unclear, but it’s clearly a second car they showed charging in the cold.
Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear wheels. It affects interior space (especially rear legroom) and can influence ride comfort and stability because it changes the car’s overall geometry.
Calibration means adjusting the car’s settings so it drives the way it’s supposed to. They’re saying it may need tuning for the roughness and style of roads in the UK versus China.
They’re talking about the “QQ3,” a small city-sized car that they think is coming to the UK. They compare its size to small popular hatchbacks and say it looks good.
The Mercedes GLB is a practical SUV from Mercedes. Here they’re talking about the electric version and saying it feels similar inside to another Mercedes model they mention.
The Audi e-tron is a fully electric SUV made by Audi. It’s meant for regular driving like a regular family car, but it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. People talk about it because it’s one of the well-known electric SUVs you can actually buy and drive.
The A6 e-tron is an electric Audi car. It’s designed to be a more comfortable, higher-end EV for regular driving. The podcast brings it up because the speaker is talking about how good the electric Audi experience was.
The Audi A6 e-tron is Audi’s electric take on the A6, aimed at comfort and everyday usability. The host uses it as a price benchmark for another EV.
Car
Geely EX5
The Geely EX5 is an electric car from Geely that the host is getting soon for a review. They’re basically saying, “watch for the video.”
Car
Geely JQ8
The Geely JQ8 is a big electric family-style car with multiple seats. The host explains that the six-seat version is awkward to access the back because those middle seats don’t fold, and they say it’s very quick.
Term
accelerator down
“Accelerator down” just means you press the gas pedal hard. The host is saying there’s a brief pause before the car really surges forward, and then it pulls quickly.
The “7” is a vehicle model being mentioned, but the transcript doesn’t show the full name. The speaker is using it to compare with another car they’ve talked about. Without the full model name, it’s best to treat it as a reference point in that comparison.
The infotainment system is the car’s main screen and controls for things like music, maps, and settings. The host is saying some versions feel more “premium” than others because of the screen and software.
“Option extras” are add-ons you pay for beyond the standard equipment level—like upgraded wheels, paint, or packages. The host says this Geely model has minimal add-ons, with the main choices being color and alloy wheels, and much of the equipment included by default.
The Suzuki eVitara is Suzuki’s electric version of the Vitara-style small SUV. The host is getting one to review, so it’s part of the episode’s “new EVs coming up” theme.
The Suzuki e Vitara is an electric version of the Vitara SUV. The speaker says they received one to review, so the discussion is likely about how it drives and how practical it is. It’s an EV you’d look at if you want a compact SUV but powered by electricity.
The Mercedes GLC is a Mercedes small-to-medium luxury SUV. The host is saying there’s a UK launch coming up, so it’s part of the news cycle they’re covering.
SMMT is an automotive industry event the host is planning around. Here it mainly matters because it affects when launches and reviews happen.
Car
Smart Hashtag 5
The Smart Hashtag 5 is an electric small SUV/crossover from the Smart brand. The host is saying it looks really cool and talking about its size compared to another model.
“Embargoed” refers to information being released only after a specific time/date set by the manufacturer or event organizers. The host says the VW reveals were embargoed, meaning they’ve seen details but can’t publish until the embargo lifts.
LIVE
Speaker 1: I'm Alex, he's Jim and this is the Charging Status EV Podcast. Howdy Jim.
Speaker 2: Howdy. That's very South West US of you.
Speaker 1: thought I'd is to sort of try something different. we go. How are you doing?
Speaker 2: Early partner. I'm alright mate, how are you? You're back from China.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so the last episode we published went out a little bit later than I was hoping for. As it turns out, trying to access Western internet in China is a bit of a struggle and trying to upload a relatively big YouTube video outside the world is a bit tricky. So unfortunately that episode did go out a little bit later than planned. But yeah, I've been back as of recording, I've been back about a week and I've just about recovered, I think. No. No, I can't sleep on the flights.
Speaker 2: See, I can't on a normal flight, when I went to China I could because I had a bed. And you also had a bed.
Speaker 2: I actually slept better on that bed on the plane than I do in my actual bed at home, I'd say.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there we go. Yeah, as we discussed last time, I went to China for around a week, roughly. You lose a day, either end, just because of the traveling. But I went out with Cherry, who, for those who don't know, do a Moda and JQ in the UK. La Paz is coming soon. And that was one of the reasons I went out was to drive the new La Paz L8, which was a very late pre-production ⁓ unit, which was quite fun.
Speaker 2: Nice. Yeah. I went to the brand launch of La Paz in Milan and I don't know, obviously, I mean, they look fine and everything, but I was a little bit underwhelmed and this leads me on to something.
We were obviously going to talk about Beijing Motor Show or Auto China soon, but So leads me onto one observation that I'm becoming quite frustrated by. that's, mean, we, from Cherry now, we've got Cherry, we've got a Moda, we've got JKU and we're going to have La Paz and a hundred percent of the vehicles are SUVs right now.
And I feel they're at the point where they're going to start taking customers from themselves. ⁓ I know they try and get over that by, ⁓ not sharing premises. every brand has got his own front door essentially.
⁓ But there's so much cool stuff in China and we should be getting more of that cool stuff because we've got enough Chinese SUVs. I've just had the Xpane G6. I've just had the Geely EX5. And we just need something different.
Speaker 1: do agree. It's becoming a little bit like, know SUVs are selling well in the UK, but that might be to do with because that's all that's available. Sort of thing. Like if you, yeah, you're only going to sell what you've got for sale.
It is a bit boring, to be honest. We just got SUVs. want some, like when I went out there, we saw loads of cool saloons. I Cherry have got some amazing saloon cars for sale. They got some hatchbacks as well.
So with all the other brands, I I don't, I don't know why they haven't brought all these exciting models over. Maybe it's going to come at some point, but it seems a little bit slow to get here if I make sense.
Speaker 2: One of those reasons for us not getting some of that stuff, I think is the Huawei issue. Because lots of the cards have got Huawei hardware software and we don't particularly like that over here.
Speaker 2: Hmm. But yeah, it's definitely time for things to be mixed up. I've seen that same driver information display with the big bezel. ⁓ that's about that tall in, don't know how many brands of cars now it was in, it was in the Gili. I think it was in the Xpeng, but I can't quite remember now cause that was a few weeks ago. ⁓ it's in possibly in La Paz. It's in.
Speaker 1: cost. It's in some of the La Paz models,
Speaker 2: It's in some BYDs. Every one of the plug-in hybrids, 1.5 with the same size battery around about 50 to 55, as the all electric range, et cetera. I think it's time they mix things up a bit. And not that I'm not, by the way, I've been pretty impressed by most of the Chinese cars I've driven.
Speaker 2: but it becomes less so every time you get in one that feels like the last one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they do become a little bit samey with the same big screen, the same drivers display, not many buttons. It just becomes a little bit copy and paste. I do see what you mean. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Having said that, think the best one I've driven so far is the Emota 7, which wasn't that long ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I think that's just that evolutionary thing, but still I wouldn't have been upset if it had a different drive information display, for example.
Speaker 2: Just, just before we get onto ⁓ the Beijing auto show, just to take us away from China for a moment. Just going to talk about the Peugeot 408. Okay. ⁓ At the time of recording the embargoes just lifted on that today.
So my video ⁓ is live. ⁓ Not, not for you yet, Alex. ⁓ actually it is for you because you're a channel member. you'll get to see it now. It goes at four PM this afternoon. I'm in the plugin hybrid in that, but having spoken to lots of people that drove the battery electric version of it on the same day, they had lots of the same things to say about that as with the plugin hybrid.
And I spoke to a couple of people that had driven both. And that's a lovely thing. Like it's really nice and refined, really quiet cabin. There's quite a lot to like about that. And, you know, Stellantis is not necessarily my first thought.
when I think of what would be a good place to go to get an electric vehicle. ⁓ and I think they haven't got a big battery version of it yet. So it's about 280 miles WLTP, which for a car of its kind, it is sort of a grand tourer.
⁓ you would possibly hope that at some point they come out with a longer range version, but yeah, quite nice thing. Looking car.
Speaker 1: It's a habit. So the Citroen EC3 Urban is that a...
Speaker 2: So Citroen EC3 light basically. essentially the same car as the EC3, but it's got a small battery. It can only slow charge. You can pay an extra 440 quid and it can then charge to a whopping 30 kilowatt. yeah, but it probably drives better than the standard EC3.
Speaker 2: And I did that one with Chris from Totally EV. And I mean, we did quite a lot of motorway miles in our test drive with that. And then drove down the side of the mountain and thought we were going to die.
Then drove back up the mountain and thought we were going to die. But we did quite a lot of motorway miles in a car that's really not designed for the motorway. And we were getting over the WLTP figure.
supposed to do 130, it was a lovely day. You know, we're in the south of France. It wasn't terrible. But I think I worked out we were going to get something like 144, which I thought was pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, agreed. Yeah. That Peugeot looks a good looking car actually. Yeah, it could almost have a different badge on it and you wouldn't really question it.
Speaker 2: Pretty good looking. I think I might have said that in the video actually. I think I said if this had a premium German brand on the steering wheel, you wouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 1: Alright. Yeah, and that's Citroen. So I saw you a few months ago and you were driving a Citroen EC3. that? I think it was a 7-seater version. Aircross. Got you. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Which is the Vauxhall Frontera. Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not a bad looking car. The steering wheel is quite unique inside. It doesn't look too bad.
Speaker 2: It was alright actually. Yeah, it was alright. Heads up to the review. It was alright.
Speaker 2: So China, tell us for one thing, what did you eat? No Greggs there and probably no food that you would expect to be eaten by either a long distance lorry driver or a six year old. So what did you do without your happy faces and your Turkey Twizzlers and your Gregg sausage rolls?
Speaker 1: ⁓ I don't know about you when you went, but we stayed at international hotels. So a lot of the breakfast items were fairly recognizable. mean, eggs and bacon and all that sort of stuff. but we, we went out for one of the meals was, like dumplings with soup inside.
So it was actually, it's actually quite nice. So you bite a hole in it and suck all the soup out and then you eat it. So that's quite tasty. ⁓ yeah, lots of food like that really. There was one of the days of some interesting meat that was smoked chicken, which tastes a bit weird.
⁓ didn't look quite right in my opinion, but, but to be honest, lots of food is very normal. So yeah.
Speaker 2: I actually did. was hideous. absolutely hideous. mean, we stayed in like a Chinese hotel, but they had, they'd done the international breakfast to a degree. Like there were some eggs, but I mean, they didn't look particularly appetizing.
But there were also like boiled eggs in tea soup and there were these things that looked like donuts. And I thought, ⁓ that would be all right. And I'd sugar on it. I picked it up and it said contains pork and then ⁓ like little mini croissants.
I've got one of those and some jam bit into it. was just pure salt. And then there was the, the infamous ducks blood tofu. Which that was an odd one for me. know, what is it? Tofu, you know, vegetarian, vegan or, or ducks blood.
Speaker 2: ⁓ No, so breakfast was probably a bit of a challenge, ⁓ yeah, a lot of the food we had was really good actually over there, but you definitely need to know what you're eating before you eat it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. said a lot of the stuff we ate was very normal. I mean, on the very last day we went to one of these restaurants, which has like an oven in the middle of, barbecue in the middle of the table with like an extractor fan. So there's a of, a lot of like gorgeous beef and pork and that sort of stuff. So you cook it yourself and that was beautiful to be fair, lots of spices, but it was fairly normal. And then I cleansed my palate on the way out with a McDonald's breakfast. So sorted.
Speaker 2: Nice. Good. Yeah, I'm glad you got some proper food.
Speaker 1: is better than I've Yeah, know exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So cars, like what did you see that blew your way?
Speaker 1: So there was an, we left the airport and drove to ⁓ our main hotel near the motor show. And that was a good hour because the traffic was horrendous. And we're in the back of this Toyota mini cab and just my head was spinning around looking at all the cars that were around us.
The amount of things I didn't recognize like Arc Fox. Yeah, no idea. ⁓ Just loads and loads of different things. One of the things that confused me, I don't know if you noticed this, BYD have got two logos in China.
They've got their main BYD logo and they've got this weird, I guess this is a Chinese symbol, they're fitted to what seems like more of their premium cars. I just couldn't quite work it out. Oh, okay.
Speaker 2: That's the other thing, Nick. Some of the cars we get here, it has one thing or something else there, a different brand or a different model.
Speaker 2: I think a moda over there is cherry. You get a cherry a moda, don't you?
Speaker 1: I think they've called it the Cherry Five now, if we named it. So ⁓ yeah, when, a Modo and JKU first got started in this country, they, just basically pulled in a few of their existing models and to see how well they do. And now all the models they're doing themselves are now going to be ⁓ bespoke to those two brands.
Speaker 2: those brands are only for export markets, aren't they?
Speaker 1: Only for export. we did some interviews with the head of Emoda, Jaco, and he was saying that actually the motor and Jaco selling more cars than cherries in China. So they're doing quite well. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. ⁓ but yeah, just loads of like crazy cars, that's Xiaomi's that we don't get here and just, yeah, but very few Western cars. That's one of the things that is quite telling. And if you saw a Western car, it was an odd experience, like an ID3. I saw one ID3 the entire time. ⁓ yeah, it's it's crazy how fast things have switched up, switched up over there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we saw more Western cars when we got sort of the outskirts of Shanghai when I went and they were tended to be like Porsche, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, that kind of stuff. So very premium stuff. I think we saw a Golf somewhere. But like in Woohoo, was mostly, I would say, cherry branded vehicles.
Speaker 2: And then about, let's say it was 50 % cherry branded vehicles and the rest were like BYD, Denzer, BYD, ⁓ Denzer. What am I thinking of?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not even... No, not even another BYD brand. I dunno, talk amongst yourselves, folks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, James tried to recall his memories.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not very good at memory am I? Steve. But yeah, lots of Chinese brands, but I would say like a good 50 % were cherry brands.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. Yeah, same sort of thing I saw. So one of the things I did out there, did the, landed on the Thursday at like local time half four-ish and then literally the next day at seven, eight AM we went off to the motor show.
And the size of that show is mental. Like I was speaking to another journalist who was there. And he was saying he went in October time or same sort of time as you went, think. Yeah. And the motor show, the buildings that I saw hadn't even been built yet.
Jeez. So they basically not doubled it in size, but probably added two thirds to the existing floor plan. So you've got this old sort of style building, which feels like it's quite dated. And you cross over the road and you're in this massive sort of university campus style building.
put some pictures on Twitter as well, just like bronze curve buildings and air conditioned everything.
Speaker 2: So that was all brand new just for the show, was it? Yeah.
Speaker 1: was all brand new. Yeah. Just full like I hadn't even realised that was there at one point. So was filming my video and walking around and thought, hmm, there's probably some more buildings here. Looked at the map. was like, Oh, right. It's a bad guy. Look at those.
Speaker 2: We in some of the coverage, like some European brands, were they there, do you think they were Chinese variants of, or are they, surely they don't export European cars into China, horrendous to the Chinese.
Speaker 1: price. Yeah, Volkswagen were there, but that's their joint venture product with X, I think it's Xpeng they do a joint venture with. So they've, they only had their Chinese models there. think it was a UID, Unix or something, but I would imagine ⁓ that maybe the models they've got on show are made in China.
So BMW and Mini were there. think that's one of the first things I covered in my video, but there was nothing new. It was all, there's a couple of legacy products. Like there was, had a 2002 there for example, and Mercedes had an entire like museum section in their stand to sort of highlighting their heritage.
So pulling at their past versus for what's new, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Hm. not a bad idea from a marketing point of view because it makes them different, doesn't it?
Speaker 1: and many were focusing on their Britishness ⁓ as well. like loads and loads of different additions and what sort of stuff. So, no, it seemed like the legacy brands were pulling at heartstrings a little bit with the heritage versus all these mad Chinese brands that ⁓ quite a few of which I've never heard of. ⁓
Speaker 1: Looks pretty cool to be fair, but I was more impressed with the J Tor really. Yeah. Like the J Tor brand for those who don't know is also a cherry subsidiary like iCar. And they had these really rugged ⁓ SUVs that look really cool, but the iCars, I can see why you like the look of them. They look cool. They are coming to the UK, I believe. So yeah.
Speaker 2: ⁓ yeah. Although we can neither confirm nor deny that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not too sure. But yeah, I believe they are coming to the UK because they announced some right-hand drive variants of the V23 or V27 at the show. So we shall see what happens with that.
Speaker 2: Don't forget they've got some other really big right-hand drive markets. think we might already have it if it weren't for the fact that they have to get through Euro NCAP when it comes here.
Because obviously all these different markets, they made quite a lot of noise when I was there about having 54 five-star safety awards. But a five-star safety award in Malaysia, which is a big market for them, is very, very different to Euro NCAP.
And they don't need half the stuff and like passing, it might be that passenger safety is a factor, but pedestrians not. in another market, might be pedestrians a factor, but passengers not. I'd imagine that compliance piece must be huge for them.
must have so many staff that just work on that and then
Speaker 2: every change you have to make for every market. So I wouldn't read too much into the fact they're doing right-hand drive, but ⁓ that just looks like something that would be a win over here. If they get the price right, that's the fact that in all the changes they need to do for us.
Speaker 1: Yes. But yeah, the show Cherry had one building to themselves. So they had the entire cherry stand, all of their brands and then, ⁓ I just, yeah, it was mad.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing BYD would have done as well, had an entire building and...
Speaker 1: Yeah. BYD had their own building pretty much with all their brands. had, I put it in the walk around video, which I'll link in the show notes, but BYD had their flash charging demonstration. So they had these cars. I one was a Fang Chang Bell three and one was a Denza Z9 GT. They had it at a minus 31 degree fridge, basically, or freezer showing how fast it could charge even at those temperatures. yeah, yeah, mad. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Very cool. I like that video by the way. That was good. It's the video I would have made if I'd have gone. They borrowed some of my catchphrases as well.
Speaker 1: Cheers. mean, some of your stylistic. There's so many people.
Speaker 2: want enough knob jokes though. That's the only thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sorry, but if I go to a car show and there's an engine called a big stroker, that is going to get a comment. No, it just, I don't have the ability not to comment. So yeah.
Speaker 1: There we go. But I wish we had more time with that show because I probably covered 60 % of it.
Speaker 1: I just, and even then the group we're with wanted to go. We had to ask for a bit more time, but just mental.
Speaker 2: That was the thing for me because obviously I had an invitation to go, but I was going to get an hour at the show and I would only be allowed to speak about one brand. And I know that at some point it would have been, you can only say nice things and all that kind of stuff, which is I didn't go. having seen like what I saw of your trip and that some friends went on the GD trip, I mean, looked amazing. Yeah, but I'd love to go and just spend like three days at the car show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe we'll do that one day. We'll get a sponsor and just go and spend three days at the car show and then come home again.
Speaker 1: great because you could easily spend, I just had to gloss over stuff quickly because it was, I knew I was running out of time.
Speaker 2: You don't need that to translate as well. you know, straight with my amazing command of Mandarin.
Speaker 1: But so cherry had their press conference as well, but the show was like TPM, I think in the afternoon, they announced a Tigo V, which I don't know if it's going to be exported, but it's a humongous SUV, but it can be a pickup truck as well. it's like a
Speaker 2: that will possibly be a deli van, will it?
Speaker 1: I don't know. Not really sure because they've got J tour have a pickup truck under underneath their brand already. So I'm not really sure what the plan is with that, but maybe, maybe they'll pick and choose what they want for delivan.
Speaker 1: Hmm. And literally as soon as we got back from the motor show, ⁓ me and Jordan from Auto Express, we went straight to a different hotel to meet with, the, Paz road trip people. And then we spent two days on the road driving from, ⁓ well, Wu Shi, ⁓ which, ⁓ it's four hours south of Beijing on the train. Then we drove to, ⁓ Cherry's headquarters in Wuhoo.
Speaker 2: Did you go in any Chinese service stations?
Speaker 1: ⁓ we didn't. No, we stopped at one fuel station for toilet break, but we didn't really have time to do anything else other than that. I know.
Speaker 2: I like a Chinese service station. I like service stations of the world. I'm always intrigued by service stations. You've got what, Moto and a road chef. Is it road chef still?
Speaker 2: Yeah. And they're all the same, aren't they? Like you go to one in France and there's like an artisan bakery in it. Yeah. Just really random things. ⁓ So yeah, my love of service stations. I'm going to write a book one day, Service Stations of the World.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, when I went to Germany last year and drove, I enjoyed stopping at different service stations when we did, just because it's interesting to see what they've got.
Speaker 2: The only thing with some of the European ones, you have to pay to use the toilet, don't you? And I then feel short-changed if I only need a wee. ⁓ Like if I'm paying, I want to...
Speaker 2: ⁓ is it? Yeah. I'm just spending a penny.
Speaker 1: But you get a little voucher code and you can use that in the store. So I just got some chocolate. So I got, I got some sort of money out of it. there we go. La Paz. So, ⁓ for those who not really sure what it is, it's a bit confusing. Cause as you were saying earlier, it's a little bit similar, but when we're speaking to some of the staff.
Speaker 1: They're targeting Volvo. That's their main competitor for those vehicles. The first one would be the one I drove. And there's a video out that published when I was there called the L8. So it's the same wheelbase as the Tiggo nine, which we reviewed last year.
It's a seven seater. Whereas this is a five seater. So they've made the rear legroom a bit better, which is massive. It's a really big car and the boot, the boot's humongous. to out a space. It's, but it doesn't, I think it's got potential, but I think people be, people might be a bit confused where it sits if they even know or care that it's part of Cherry.
That's one of the things I was trying to work out in my head.
Speaker 2: And if you're just walking in, I suppose in fairness to them, if you just see this brand, La Paz written in the Porsche typeface and you walk through the door and you know nothing about it and you just think, ⁓ this is a nice car. And maybe that's that. then how many of those buyers are going to drop that much money on a car when they don't know anything about it? I don't know.
Speaker 1: I suppose people have bought JQs in their tens of thousands without probably knowing much about it. We don't know how much La Paz is going to charge for this L8 though.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but- No, there was a lot, I mean, obviously nothing was revealed on that thing I went to in Milan, but they said premium about 8,000 times, which makes me think they're to charge quite a bit more for it.
And they might just think we've sold so many JQs at this price. And JQ is a slightly different one because they've taken some They'd really taken the styling cues from elsewhere, hadn't they? Yeah. And it would be easier, I think, for them to say, well, we've been making cars since blah, blah, blah, blah, Where with La Paz, as soon as they go down that road, they've got to mention ⁓ Cherry and the person might then think, ⁓ I'll have a look at Cherry and I'll pay five grand less for
Speaker 2: almost the same car or whatever it may be. So I think it was an easier sell in the beginning. yeah, I don't know. I think if they wanted to come out with a premium brand, they absolutely could, but you almost need to do like the BYD Denza thing, which is have something that's entirely different, ⁓ not almost the same.
Speaker 1: And don't think, I don't know if it was more of a holiday romance, but I don't think being, I really enjoyed driving it because it was really nice, but I don't know if that was because I was somewhere different.
Speaker 2: Well, it will be. mean, the Tiggo, before I drove the Imoda seven, the Tiggo nine was my favorite Chinese car. it's essentially sounds like pretty much a Tiggo nine. Yeah. Just a really nice car to drive and it makes loads of sense and it's big and it's, you know, it's got lots going for it. So I've got no, no doubt whatsoever that ⁓ it won't be a really good car. It's just. Why is it worth 10 % more than that one or 20 % more than the other one?
Speaker 1: I think one of the things I've come up with is the fact that I think they're leaning into the design aspect of the La Paz because they're designed in Europe or designed in Europe, guess I think they were. They look really good. So we saw the L8, L6, L4 and then two of the models I can't really talk about, but all of them look really good. don't think they...
Speaker 2: I mean, I saw the L8 and the L6 and I, again, I just didn't think they were that much different.
Speaker 1: Yeah. We'll have to see what happens when we see them in September. I think the UK brand launch, the UK's this summer, I believe. And then the first model L8 will go on sale in September. I did drive the L6, but I can't really talk about that. ⁓ Unfortunately, but I thought the L8 was solid. Like it's, I think it's a really good car. There's a lot of tweaking and it needs to be done. for our roads because the Chinese roads are impeccable.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were unbelievable, aren't they?
Speaker 1: Yeah. ⁓ and yeah, there's a bit of, bit of calibration to do in terms of the ride, I believe, but apart from that, I think it's solid, but it's, it's possibly lacking a little bit of differentiation. Yeah. But we shall see.
Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, you've summed it up perfectly there. When I went and sat in one and looked around it and everything else, I thought, yeah, it's all really nice. It would have been way more impressive if the Tigo 9 didn't exist. or the emota9.
Speaker 1: Yep, yeah that as well. I did see the facelift in Modena actually in public. ⁓ Well it's an XC over there. There was actually in a random car part there was a new one and an old one sat next to each other and they've done something with the front end design a little bit.
Speaker 2: ⁓ yeah? The next seed there, is it? Yeah. Right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Moda 9, ⁓ which I guess makes kind of sense for the Moda brand. Yes. But yeah, there's a face of that possibly coming. So we shall see. But yeah, and then we also drove the, so the L8 is going to be plug-in hybrid only.
The L6 will be EV and plug-in hybrid. And then the L4 will be, I think EV only for the UK. There is a plug-in hybrid version available. I'm not sure at this stage. The L4 EV I drove very briefly for like two minutes on a little car park that you did as well.
So really quickly up to one end, brake hard, turn around and that's it really. that one's weird. do you remember in the dolphin surf, the driver display, it wasn't a proper display, it was more dot matrix.
Speaker 2: I was only in the council for about 12 minutes, I think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, lot of the things on the screen were sort of segmented numbers.
Speaker 1: Yes, the L4 had that on its driver's display and I thought that didn't quite work. If the Paz is going to be a bit more high end. I don't know. didn't quite think that fitted. ⁓ I don't know what they're going to price that at, but didn't quite work in my opinion. But all three cars interiors are basically the same. They're very similar.
Speaker 2: premium yeah Which is like very, good. Yeah. It's just, it's also very good in some of other ones.
Speaker 1: Yeah. But yeah, no. ⁓ So my review, my very quick review of the L8s out now. But I think we'll just have to wait to see what they do. think it's got potential, but it needs some sort of solid direction, I think.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just, I don't know. As I said, start this, it would just be nice to see some new Chinese stuff that is new because like what we've seen so far is 10 % of what's out there. And yeah, some of this stuff is amazing. Like the, the Luxi brand, like some of those cars are so nice. And Denza, Xiaomi, ⁓
Speaker 2: What's the other one I'm thinking of that we're getting very soon? Zika. Zika. That's the one I was trying to think of earlier as well. ⁓ Yeah. Yeah. So there's so much cool stuff to come and I'm getting impatient. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The firefly.
Speaker 1: ⁓ that's part of Geely that one. ...before. ⁓ my days. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, super cool. So before we get another SUV, China, please send us something else.
Speaker 1: Yeah. ⁓ but rather than subject to actually, there's a guy from Canada who's posted on Twitter. He's published a video, three cherry EVs, well, three cherry cars have actually shown up in Canada.
⁓ recently the JQE five, the Moda nine, and then I think an Exceed saloon. So I think, I think the guys, I think people in Canada are due to get some Chinese cars pretty soon. ⁓ okay. It's quite interesting because obviously the tariff situation in America, think Mexico is getting some Chinese stuff and so is Canada.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think quite a bit of South America might have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, but I think some of the cherry stuff, they, or, or Mexico maybe have already got it. So there was some South American representation at that thing I went to, they had like, they bought customers from all around the world on stage ⁓ for a, ⁓ not at all rehearsed or scripted, ⁓ chat about their car and why they like it and stuff. And I'm sure there was a Mexican or maybe like Venezuelan or something couple.
Speaker 1: ⁓ actually, there were, I think there's a couple of Malaysian journalists at the thing, through the week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Malaysia is massive for them. I think the Emirates or South
Speaker 1: ⁓ yeah, there was a guy from Dubai, ⁓
Speaker 2: South Africa, Australia, think. Yeah. then yeah, just, I mean, it's 120 markets, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Which is insane when you give that a bit of
Speaker 1: I it was quite interesting. actually as well, it's turning to the cherry podcast actually. There is the QQ3, ⁓ which is supposedly coming to the UK quite soon. So it's a little golf polo size car, ⁓ which actually looks quite cool. quite like that. I'll a picture, well, I'll get James to put a picture on screen. But it looks quite good. I quite like it.
Speaker 2: So nice. Nice. Yeah. ⁓ what else have I driven? I've done the Mercedes GLB. The videos out on that one, ⁓ the electric GLB. That was lovely. I really liked that a lot. And, ⁓ the CLA shooting break, the video's not out yet, but, very similar interior to the GLB. There were a few things I preferred on the GLB, but
Speaker 2: I preferred the drive of the CLA simply because it's a bit lower down, a bit more engaging. But obviously they're aimed at, one's aimed at people that want a more engaging drive, one's aimed at people that want a family vehicle.
⁓ They were really good. And the last Mercedes electric car I drove, which I can't remember what it was, that might've been an original GLB. I remember. It was at an SMMT day. I was kind of like, nah, it's all right.
⁓ But I sort of expected more. I thought it was pretty brilliant actually. Loved it. Really nice interior as well. And actually when you compare the pricing of it to that Audi A6 e-tron I had recently, ⁓ it looks like a bargain at only 60 grand or...
⁓ whatever it was in the one I tested. And the interior and stuff was way better in fairness.
Speaker 1: Do not think in Mercedes, it's difficult to tell from the video, a lot of their interior designer has that very flat dashboard. Do you not think that looks a bit strange? I just haven't really sat in one in person yet.
Speaker 2: Hmm. I mean, I just really liked it. So, for now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, might have a look at one. Nice. I haven't been driving anything different since we last did a podcast. So, but I've got, as I said, I've got the Geely EX5 arriving tomorrow. ⁓
Speaker 2: So mine went back yesterday. So video on that coming soon. Check out the Massaging Seats by the way. ⁓ And then...
Speaker 2: We have re-talked about the Aon on the podcast.
Speaker 2: We probably haven't actually. No, we haven't. ⁓ I don't know. I'm just looking at my calendar. We possibly have, but if not, we've both got videos out, we?
Speaker 1: Are we not? Yeah. ⁓ actually I did drive the JQ8 a couple of days before I went to China actually.
Speaker 2: ⁓ yeah, you were doing that while I was in Milan. How was it?
Speaker 1: Yeah. I thought it was really good. Yeah. I, ⁓ there's a video for that out yet. think it is. Yeah, it is. ⁓ what's weird is so that car comes in either a six seat or seven seat version. ⁓ and if I, I reviewed the six seat versions, there's two seats in the middle. Those two seats don't fold. So if you want to get in the back, you've got to squeeze your butt through the two seats to get in. And it's a bit awkward. Yeah. They don't spin.
Speaker 2: Really? They don't turn or anything or...
Speaker 1: No, I did check with the team and they said yeah that's how it is.
Speaker 1: They can, but it still doesn't make much of a difference. Really? Yeah. And I I didn't sit in the seven seat version, but I thought the leg room in the, the second row in its furthest back position was a bit limited. It was fine, but it, just didn't think it was as good as it should be. Cause they, they were said, they said that the six seat variant is more of a chauffeur vehicle versus the seven seat.
Speaker 1: They're not expecting to sell many of the six seat. I think they said 10 % of them will end up being that car. So yeah. But yeah, I thought I thought it was good. It's, it's rapid. think it's got 420 horsepower. Gee. It is really quick. There's a, there's a bit of delay when you put your accelerator down, once, give it three seconds and it just takes off so quick.
Speaker 2: Please. I'm not in love with the front end on it.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not that dissimilar to the JQ7, I suppose, but they've rounded it off a bit, haven't they? ⁓ And I think the JQ looks better. ⁓ The 7 looks better because it's a bit boxier, a bit squarer. ⁓
Speaker 1: ⁓ The only, so the infotainment system in the five and the seven is a big square screen, really high res, really quite nice to use. because the, because the TIG, not TIGO, because the GQ8 is essentially a TIGO nine, an older TIGO nine in China, the screens are the same as the TIGO seven. So it's an older infotainment system, doesn't quite feel as premium as the seven does. That's a bit unfortunate.
Speaker 2: you think if you're making it, you're changes specifically for the UK, which they have to. stick the latest infotainment screen in baby.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And that meant that the driver's display was very big and the steering wheel blocked some of it at times, but it's very comfortable. It's, as I said, really quick, comfy. If you don't use that third row of seats, the boot's huge.
But yeah, I think it's decent car. One thing I quite like is there's no option extras. There's one trim level for each of the seven or six seats. And that's it. The only option extra is the color and the Alloys.
So you get a lot of kit as standard. ⁓ it's about 47, 45 grand. It's not cheap, but you get a lot of car for your money. ⁓ but we shall see if people actually want it. Yeah. That makes sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And still you've got the Tigo nine and the, a motor seven and the motor nine. Like there's a lot, a of good cars even from just from that brand. We're not sponsored by cherry by the way. I'm not saying that we're we're just talking about them a lot because of recent exposure.
Speaker 1: Very true, very true. Yeah. What else have you got coming up? We've got SMT in a few weeks, which should be that annual drive day we do, which should be quite good fun.
Speaker 2: Looking forward to that. I've had the Suzuki eVitara delivered today. So I'll be doing a review of that probably early next week, I would imagine. And not sure when that will come out. I've still got released that Mercedes CLA video as well, but I'm trying to have a few things in stock for when I'm really busy and stuff at the moment. And then ⁓
Speaker 2: The day before SMMT actually, I've got the Mercedes GLC launch, the UK launch. ⁓ then I think a week or two after that, we've got BYD Ato II, haven't we?
Speaker 1: Cool. I've got the, as I said, the Gilex 5 and I've got the Smart Hashtag 5, which is a very similar sized car to that GLB you drove, I believe.
Speaker 2: I really like the look of that. I think that looks really cool.
Speaker 2: I don't reply to my emails unfortunately or I might have reviewed one by now.
Speaker 1: Yeah. They did actually have the smart hashtag to concept at Beijing as well, which isn't nowhere near a final production. So it's not very clear what they're going to do with it, but it's, it's true to its original roots in terms of size.
So I think that's it for this episode, Jim. yeah, it's something exciting, just some exciting stuff been happening in past few weeks ready with just the Beijing show and all the different car launches.
I, one of the things I did. have realised this year so far is that I think a lot of the old school brands have sped up what they do. seems like, especially this year, that a lot of models have been updated quite quickly, lot of new models have been released.
mean, Volkswagen have been so busy with a few different bits and pieces. We haven't even talked about the ID Polo, which we'll probably end up doing next time.
Speaker 2: Well, and the ID3 NEO and like the Raval, Cooper Raval. I mean, that, that thing that lots of people got invited to by VW that ⁓ we didn't in Europe somewhere was, they, did six reveals that day. It's all in, it's all embargoed stuff. So you've seen like ID3 and ID Polo now, I think. But there are four more to come from that same event.
Speaker 1: Yeah. That's it. Wow. Madness. Yeah. So they're getting very busy, which is good. It's good. They need to get their act together a little bit in terms of EVs and they look like they've got the right idea. So all good. ⁓ That's going to do it for this episode. Where can people find you on the internet, Jim?
Speaker 2: Yeah. on my website nottoguru.co.uk or on YouTube at definitely not a guru. What about you?
Speaker 1: You are next. Yeah, Graham's doing a very good job on your site, isn't he, with news. Thank you, Graham. amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Neb never ceases to amaze me, yeah, he seems to be loving it as well. So that's the main thing.
Speaker 1: Writing's great. It's very enjoyable. It's a nice relaxing thing to do sometimes. ⁓ My website is TheInterface.uk. Some occasional news on there when I do get the time and then obviously all my car reviews on The Interface cars as well on YouTube. So you could check out our various bits and pieces on there. In the meantime, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching or listening to this episode and we'll see you again next time.
About this episode
After a whirlwind Shanghai motor show trip, the hosts compare what they’re seeing in China’s EV market—lots of brand strategy, very few Western cars, and BYD’s extreme-temperature fast-charging demo in a freezer at minus 31°C. Back in the UK conversation turns to Chery’s La Paz premium play (targeting Volvo) and its UK timing and powertrains. They also share practical impressions from the JQ8, plus UK-specific notes on Huawei-related infotainment barriers and charging upgrades for the Citroen EC3.
This time on the Charging Status EV Podcast, Alex is back from China after wondering around the humongous Beijing Auto Show and being one of the first people from the UK to drive the new Lepas L8. Also, some more serious chat about why we seem to just get SUVs and crossovers from China and when are we going to see something more interesting. Jim has also been driving some new cars from Peugeot and Mercedes and Alex has spent some time with the new Jaecoo 8.
