Stay angry - 7 April 2026
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50:03
Brand
Ford
Ford is a major car company. In this part of the show, they’re talking about Ford’s driver-assist tech and what happened after crashes.
Term
VAT
VAT (Value Added Tax) is a consumption tax applied to goods and services in the UK. When VAT is added or recalculated in vehicle leasing costs, it can increase the overall price drivers pay.
Term
insurance premium tax
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) is a UK tax charged on insurance premiums. If IPT is incorporated into car lease pricing, it can raise the cost of the insurance component and therefore increase lease payments.
Term
black box
A “black box” is an in-car telematics device used by insurers to monitor driving behavior. It’s often tied to insurance pricing and can flag events like harsh braking or speeding, which may lead to higher premiums or charges.
Concept
MOT
An MOT is a UK safety and roadworthiness check your car has to pass. This segment is about new rules coming in for the test and what drivers should watch for.
Term
vehicle photography
They’re adding photo evidence as part of the MOT process. That way, it’s harder for someone to claim a test happened when it didn’t.
Term
high-voltage safety checks for EVs and hybrids
Electric and hybrid cars have high-voltage batteries and wiring. This update adds extra safety checks so the inspection is safer and more consistent.
Concept
dieselgate
“Dieselgate” is the name people use for Volkswagen’s emissions scandal. The host is saying it might have affected how Volkswagen tried to come back to the US.
Concept
production start moved back to summer 2028
If production starts later, it usually means the company isn’t ready yet—maybe due to engineering, parts, or software. It can affect when customers can actually buy the cars.
Brand
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is the car company at the center of this discussion. The speaker is talking about how VW is planning EVs and dealing with problems in the US.
Brand
Tesla
Tesla is a major electric-car company that sells cars more directly to customers, not through the usual dealership system. That’s why people compare other EV plans to Tesla’s approach.
Concept
burning through money
It means the company is spending money faster than it’s making it. For car makers, that can lead to delays, cutbacks, or trouble getting parts and software finished.
Car
Kia EV9
The EV9 is Kia’s electric SUV with room for more than two people. It’s designed for families or anyone who needs extra space. The podcast is referencing it as one of the newer electric SUV options.
Car
Bmw Ix3
The iX3 is BMW’s electric SUV. It’s built to look and drive like a compact SUV, but it runs on electricity. The podcast is bringing it up because it’s expected to compete with another EV SUV coming to the UK.
Term
right hand drive
Right-hand drive means the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Some countries require this, so car makers have to redesign parts of the car to sell there.
Concept
facelift
A facelift is a mid-cycle update to a car’s styling and sometimes its hardware/software. In this segment, the speaker claims the facelift changed the Tesla enough that a later car felt like a different vehicle.
Term
range
Range is how far the electric car can drive before it needs charging again. If you drive it hard or tune it for quick acceleration, you can use more energy and reduce range.
Term
ventilated front seats
Ventilated seats have small fans that blow air through the seat to help keep you cooler. It’s a comfort feature, not a performance one.
Term
digital keys
Digital keys are like using your phone to unlock and access the car. Instead of carrying a key fob, you use an app or your device.
Term
power tailgates
A power tailgate opens and closes automatically with a motor. It’s handy when your hands are full.
Term
electric car grant
An electric car grant is money the government may give you to help lower the cost of buying an EV. Not every EV qualifies, so you have to check the rules for the specific model and price.
Concept
technical specifications have not been released yet
They’re saying the car’s official details aren’t out yet. That matters because you can’t judge range, charging speed, or equipment until the manufacturer confirms them.
Concept
only electric
“Only electric” means the cars are battery-electric and don’t use petrol or diesel. It changes what you think about day to day, like charging and how far you can go.
Concept
Minimum viable car
“Minimum viable car” is basically saying the car feels like it was made with the bare minimum effort. The speaker thinks it looks plain and not very inspiring.
Concept
camaraderie
“Camaraderie” here frames driving as a social activity—meeting up with friends, sharing experiences, and keeping morale up. It’s a central theme of the segment: the value of car culture as a way to connect.
Concept
Alfa Romeo cars never made
“Cars never made” means cars that were designed or planned, but never actually built for sale. It’s fun for car fans because it shows what could have existed.
Term
chrome
Chrome trim refers to shiny metal finishing used on exterior details like grilles, bumpers, and badges. On classic cars, chrome is often a major part of the visual “contrast” that makes the body lines pop. The speaker specifically calls out the chrome as one of the reasons the car looks great.
Term
twin headlights
Twin headlights just means the car has two headlight units instead of one. On classic cars, that can change the look of the front a lot. The host is saying the headlights add to how good it looks.
Concept
two-door four-seater coupe
This means it’s a coupe with two doors, but it can still seat four people. So it’s not just a two-seat show car—it’s meant to carry passengers too. They’re describing the car’s layout.
Company
Hagerty
Hagerty is a site and company that focuses on classic cars. If someone writes for Hagerty, it’s typically for people who care about older cars and how they’re valued and maintained.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motory Podcast, a weekly discussion of Motory News. This is episode 678 on Tuesday,
the 7th of April, 2026. Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew. And this week, you'll hear us talk about fantasy technology twice.
In new car news, you will find out that there are more options towards the lower end of the
market. And in points of interest, you'll be reminded of how much cars can actually bring
people together. But first, we have some follow up. And I did mention fantasy technology. I'm
also going to mention, we told you so. And this is thanks to the NTSB has now reported back on two
accidents involving Ford BlueCruise level two plus, I think they tried to claim it was technology
where it was automated driving where the driver is technically allowed to remove their hands from
the steering wheel, as long as their eyes are perceived to be looking down the road towards
anything happening so that they could take over at a moment's notice of something potentially going
wrong. Unfortunately, there was two accidents not long after the system became live in America,
this is, and people were killed as a result of it. The findings have come out and they said,
and I'm going to quote here from a quote on the CNN article that it will be linked in the show
notes saying several gaps in safety and oversight of partial autonomous systems were part of the
reason why the accidents and the deaths happened. There is a lot of talk about how safety standards
need to be improved. There is also mention in here of stuff that isn't actually surprising once you
know more about the US's attitude from a legislative point of view to safety.
I thought you were going to say from a driving point of view to safety and that's a completely
different or paying attention and that's a completely different thing.
Yeah, I'm not going there yet. And I'm sort of shooting fish in a barrel.
However, there are quotes from Ford which are frankly quite laughable where they say that the
automaker remains committed to safety and also that the NTSB investigation found no quality
defects or equipment failures in blue crews. And if I may for a second, that does sound like there's
a bit of a flaw with blue crews as in fundamental flaw. There is a fundamental completely core
problem with it, which long time listeners will have heard us mention many times that there has
been tons of research on how human beings cannot sit and observe automated systems with any
reliability or with any accuracy, even if it's involving their own safety. I'm going to link
to something in the show notes additional to the CNN article because friend of the show,
Ken Tyndall has been reposting this just as a reminder. It is titled and this is research
that is titled the breakdown of vigilance during prolonged visual search. This explains
this very phenomenon, this exact issue of how you can't do it. And it was first published in,
I hope you're sitting down, April 1948. Yes, the thing was really, you know, I said the fundamental
flaw of the system, the system there, including the user, because really, the flaw is with the user.
We just can't do it. The flaw is the idea that it would work. Yeah, totally. It's still part of
the flaw in the system. I cannot understand how this is allowed on the roads. This is also allowed
in the UK roads, by the way, certain roads because it is restricted to certain roads. But the idea
that this is allowed at all as a system and thought of as safe, it just boggles my mind.
I don't know how much more evidence people need.
BlueCruise does operate in the UK because it is geo-fenced, unlike Tesla's system.
Sure, we move on to some new news.
Yeah, we'll stay angry, though.
Yeah, we're trying to get the anger out of the way of the start here, everyone.
Yes, we are.
Next one, the story we've included from the link in the show notes is from the Canary.
It's written in a way, this story.
Yes.
But the core message is just as appalling whether it's written in a tongue-in-cheek
way or not. But it's that the DWP, the part of the work in pensions, cuts to motability,
leave them scrambling for savings through a discriminatory black box scheme,
and other stuff as well. Frankly, the DWP decided to go off and show this performative
nastiness, which you would think was basically they were trying to copy some of the right-wing
parties in the UK and gain votes from some of those nasty people over there.
Well, when we remember, we first covered how motability was going to remove
premium vehicles from the system, which people paid extra for themselves out of their own
pocket, by the way. This was not funded by anyone, by the government, by our tax money,
nothing like that. It was all based on one right-wing think tank that decided that disabled
people should be attacked and they should be belittled and they should be punched down on.
People deciding how to use the benefit that they get, and if they wanted to add to it or
in a position to add to it, then they absolutely could, and they could have a BMW instead of a
Seat or whatever, an Audi instead of a Seat. Entirely up to that cost the same amount,
if not actually less, to motability. In addition to that, and that VAT and
insurance premium tax will now be added to the new car leases to raise them,
while motability are trying to keep it down, unbelievable, then it's going to cost so much
more for everybody, and it's just pathetic. Those changes, by the way, will mean that there's
a price rise for about £1100 per driver per year, I think it is, on there. The other thing
is that anyone who's under 30 in the motability scheme will have to have a black box fitted
to their cars, up until they're 30. If you pass your test at 17, or even if you pass your test
at 17, even if you've been driving for 10 years, you're still going to have to have a black box
insurance, and we all know how... I can't use the word.
Useless.
Poor. The other word I was going to put in front of it began with P as well, but we all know how
poor the black boxes are at actually doing anything other than finding a way to charge you
more money, or say that you're driving dangerously, or all of these things. In a way that non-disabled
drivers don't have to do that. It's just ridiculous.
I know you feel this as well, and I know anyone listening to this show will be feeling the same
as us, because we've not hidden how we sit on this issue. The idea that as a society we need to
victimize and make people who are already struggling to try and have as normal a life as
possible, and hit them harder, and make their life even more difficult. How we've decided as a
society that that is acceptable, and how we should do things. I cannot fathom, I cannot
understand how anyone who is sentient thinks that is a way to go. I don't get it. I just cannot
understand it.
It's performative, nasty, nasty. It's just not good.
Why be so horrible? Why be so nasty? Why be so vindictive? Just discuss me.
Absolutely the same.
Should we move on to something less contentious, and that's an MOT?
Yes, there's a bit of a palate cleanser from our anger.
When changes to the MOT are late relief, it's a little worrying.
Quite. This is more of a reminder, because we have discussed this last year that there was
talk about the changes to the MOT, but in 2026 the rules are changing, and they're going to
mostly hit the garages themselves who are doing the testing, but there are some things that you
do need to be aware of as a car owner. The key MOT changes at a glance, which is the paragraph
title from the MotorCheck article that will be linked in the show notes, is just to give you
an idea of what's happening. There's stronger lifting equipment required for new MOT base,
stricter bands for fraudulent testers, vehicle photography to prevent ghost MOTs. Now that's
the one that we did talk about last year. Yes, it was. Additional high-voltage safety checks
for EVs and hybrids, updated inspection guidance for seat belts and quadricycles,
and they have managed to keep... All of us have managed to keep that the first MOT timing
at three years still happens because the government was really trying to push that out a year,
and everyone who had half a brain went, that's a very bad idea, please don't do that.
I'd rather it was moved the other way. I'd rather it was after two years and after four years,
to be honest, but you see the state of some of the fleet cars out there.
Yeah, absolutely. That is exactly it. Now, what needs to be made clear with this
is those changes have been made, extra requirements are being made of the garages,
but the price is still being capped by the government. So, this is putting more pressure
on the garages to do more for less, basically. Do click the link in the show notes because
your car may come up in this, and there's this interesting bit, particularly if you've got a
child seat, what an MOT tester can and cannot do, that sort of thing.
There's one other one that's close to my heart because I've had to fight with MOT testers
over this in the past, but one of them is clear of brake testing guidance for four-wheel drive
vehicles. And I hope that includes vehicles with tricky diffs as well. And if you've got
a four-wheel drive with tricky diffs, and the MOT tester doesn't listen to you and then he
does the brake test anyway, and what happens is two tons of vehicle hot out of the flippin'
brake testing machine. And he goes, no, I didn't know that. Looks like you should have listened,
shouldn't you? I know you think you know everything, but when it's an odd import,
maybe listen to the owner occasionally? No, don't need to do that.
So, there cross jumps two feet out of the brake testing machine. Oh, does it have a
limited slip diff? So, you told me you knew all about it.
Anyway, moving on, Alan, talking of four-wheel drive vehicles that are not from the UK.
We're all aware that Volkswagen is bringing back the Scout brand in the US. Somehow it
inherited the Scout brand. I'm not really sure how from what used to be international,
as an international harvester, so tractors and stuff, they also made.
Did they not buy it because of dieselgate? And this was the way that Volkswagen was going to
come back to the US? I think so, yes. It was the sneaky way they were going to come back to the US.
Yeah, that they still haven't come back to the US. Exactly. And it was being sold off by whoever
ended up owning international at the minute, who's McCormick, I think.
This has been an ongoing thing. They were targeting 2027 with a range of pickup trucks
and SUVs, specifically fully electric pickup trucks and SUVs. So, maybe 2027, they're now
moving the start of production back to summer 2028. And what it'll do is it will offer range
extenders, not fully electric vehicles. The other thing that's not covered in this
ElectriVarticle really, or at least I haven't noticed it when I was reading through it,
was that the other challenge we had as a Volkswagen was hoping to bypass their existing
dealership model and go straight for a direct customer model in the style of Tesla. Or some
of these others, Lucid, we're going to talk about in a minute, does the same. And then we're going
to do that directly. And the biggest problem in the whole of the US automotive landscape,
the dealers are making a big fuss about it. Do remember, by the way, that it's the dealers and
their support of the current US president, which resulted in all these everything to deter
manufacturers from making EVs. Because the dealers don't see how they can make the same money over
time from EVs as opposed to internal combustion vehicles. And they're going to have to change
what they do and all these things. And they are, as Andrew so neatly put it earlier on,
they are the archetypal American version of a Gamma, Florida complexion and everything.
Change is bad. Absolutely, change is bad. Absolutely that. Anything that's new and
interesting, right down to the fact that it's very difficult to buy coloured vehicles in the US
is generally down to dealer network, not down to manufacturers just because of the
the stranglehold date they have over there politically and on Outlook.
Hmm. Lots of trouble with Scout right at the minute for Volkswagen. Yay.
Well, add on top of that, the software wise, they are waiting.
Let's not even mention Cariad because that's just no, no, no. It's not Cariad, it's Rivian.
Oh, of course it is. It's Rivian who want effectively nothing to do with doing range
extenders. They're all about the electric. Of course they are. There was reports the back end
last year already about how there was conflicts between VW and Rivian over software and changes
and all the rest of it and the capabilities. This could be another brand that disappears because
a subcontracted part doesn't happen because Rivian's burning through money and how much
money is Volkswagen got left to support them with considering Volkswagen is shedding
anything between 50,000 and 80,000 jobs depending on whether the 30,000 or the 50,000 or the total
or not. Yeah. The money is running out for these companies.
But it's Volkswagen who are changing the requirements here.
Fingers crossed anyway, because I think it would be an interesting addition to the landscape.
I like the idea of Scout. I love the idea of it. Yeah. Yeah.
But again, they're going to be too big for international sales.
If you build for the North America, you build on the North America,
just the North America, you're building a North American scale, you can't sell it anywhere else.
Yeah. As if you build on an international scale, you can still sell in America.
Well, yeah, look at BMW's, Audi's, Merck's. And even BMW is the X7.
It's big over here, but they can still sell it in Europe.
Well, sorry, Hyundai as well and Kia because of the EV9s and all that.
It's just at the edge of it, but it's still saleable globally.
Whereas if you build solely for America, then you can't leverage those economies of scale.
No. Well, talking of the US, here's a brand that I am and continue to be very skeptical about,
and Alan is much more bullish or positive than I am. And this is Lucid.
Now, we're bringing this up because Lucid are saying they're going to launch in the UK
next year with a BMW iX3 rival. They are going to bring the Cosmos premium SUV.
And this is going up against, like I said, the iX3, but also the Volvo EX60.
That's the sort of size we are looking at. It's the mid to large SUV,
and it's not the big giant ones. And they haven't unveiled the vehicle yet,
but that's happening later this year. But it has been designed from the ground up to be
right hand drive this time as well. Whereas the previous two models, which was the air
and the gravity, they thought about right hand drive, but that was too much for them
at the time as a startup. Let's not forget, they are the company that is
basically being propped up by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
So much so that their new plan for building these is just on the outskirts of Jeddah and Saudi Arabia.
Let's hope there's no problem with Red Sea shipping routes.
At least it's on the Red Sea coast, not the eastern seaboard. The eastern seaboard is really stuff.
We have to add the complication, shall we say, of the geopolitical situation right now.
We don't know very many details about it. There is just this one
sort of dreamt up image from AutoCar that has taken elements from previous vehicles
and sort of given us a, this is what we expect. We won't know till later in the year, but I find
it interesting that Lucid is looking to come to the UK. Don't forget they charge a lot of money
for their cars. And as we have seen in the UK, that has been a struggle for the established
car makers. Yeah, mostly. I've not seen a gravity because it was launched since I left the US,
but there was a mall relatively near me on the other side of Boston that had a big Lucid service
area adjacent to it. So they generally, they regularly displayed their cars in the mall.
And you could have a good close look at it sitting in a poke. So obviously I had a good
close look at it sitting in a poke. And certainly the quality that you see and can poke was up there.
It really was. It was up there and sort of felt like it was up there. BMW and Mercedes kind of
areas. I mean, the air is a big, big car. It's very wide, but it is very much seven series S-class
type size and felt that level of quality. I don't think that's more reassuring to hear because
up to now, obviously, all we get is the US reviews. And they, they are obviously
obviously coming from a US centric viewpoint. And let's not forget that because the problem I always
have with any of these things is we were told that Tesla was a luxury car maker.
Yeah. In the early days of the S, Tesla did stuff right. When it was still all XOD guys running
the Tesla production before somebody decided to fiddle too much. And then after that first
facelift where it lost the grill, if you get a Tesla, you want one with the black
lower one in the front because those are the better built ones. They're the ones that you see
on fleets doing 200, 300,000 miles. A friend who had one like that got one that was post
facelift and declared that it was not the same car as the one before at all. And it didn't
hang around for very long before being replaced by a Porsche kid plug-in hybrid,
which he then hated because he had to actually go put petrol in.
I remember that story, yes.
The really nice car and all the reviews I see it from US journalists whom I trust
say, yeah, this is really nice, especially ones who drive quite a lot of luxury cars and go,
this is a, I really like this. I would have this over seven series, these kinds of things.
It just needs to actually sell them, but they're a premium product and I just don't think they've
been selling in the volumes that they expected them to at the braces.
No, but I think everybody's misjudged that globally.
I really do. And yeah, I mean, look at me, even Mercedes with the EQS and stuff,
but really stuff that one up.
Yes, let's not talk about German EVs.
Yes, best not to.
Right, what else we shouldn't talk about?
What about the rest of Europe and internal combustion engines?
Oh yeah, Stellantis has recalled 44,000 cars in the UK built between 2023 and 2026 due to
a risk of fire. I mean, it's only 44,000 in the UK, but it's 700,000 globally.
And it's all about the 1.2 liter mild hybrid powertrain that's used in Alfa,
Citroen, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Opel, Vauxhall, and Peugeot.
There is, according to the recall notices published on the UK government websites about
these things, it's all about contact between the engine's GPF, so the gasoline particular
filter pipe and the pole protection cap for the starter generator.
That's right, the thing containing the thing containing the inflammable liquid
or potentially gas and the things that could make sparks are a little close to each other.
Oh, a slow hand clap for the engineers.
Contact between them can cause water to enter the engine bay potentially resulting in overheating
or a fire. What's going to happen is in the recall, the pole protection cap for the starter
generator will be replaced, the distance between the GPF pipe and the cap will be checked.
The pipe will then be repositioned or replaced as necessary. I bet that means it will be tugged
around a bit. You just imagine some bloke on a Friday afternoon just giving it a good yank,
right? That's out of the way. No, it's not holding back. I can't change it. Let's just
put a zip tie and hold it away from me. I'll stretch it out and I'll put the zip tie on quick.
By the way, we are joking. That is not how Salantas will fix this.
I'm sure that they will do a better job than that.
I think we're all right legally now.
I think so. We were joking, everyone. The numbers affected. There are so many different
models that AutoCart on their story have published a table as opposed to just a list.
But yes, if you own a Citroen C3, a Citroen C3 Aircross, a Citroen C4, a Citroen C4X, a DS3
Crossback, a Peugeot 208, a Peugeot 2008, a Vauxhall Corsa, a Vauxhall Frontera, or a Vauxhall
Mocha from between 2023 and 2026, do please get in touch with your dealership if they
haven't got in touch with you already, particularly if you bought your car used.
Yes. 1.2 mile hybrid. Check out.
Yeah. I mean, there's 13,345 Peugeot 208s in the country.
Wow. Right, Alan, I think that brings us to not guilt minute this week.
It is. It's not guilt minute this week and it's kind of throwing me a little bit.
Yes, that's our fault though.
We have a plan. We have this idea.
That's better than an idea, not a plan yet.
No, it is a plan because we've actually got date and stuff. We want to do a Q&A live stream
and we want to do it on Thursday the 23rd of April at 8 p.m. British summer time or 8 or 200 BST.
Yep. We're looking for your questions so that we can provide the answers
or something along those lines.
Yeah, that's quite an important part of a Q&A session is to have the queues.
The queues, yes. I don't want us to have you having to make up the queues,
please, because we're now promising to do this publicly.
Yeah.
So we have to have some queues and we'd rather have your queues than the queues that we think you want.
Yes.
Because so far, pretty much every edition of Motoring Podcast has been pushing.
We've had our ideas. We've decided what we want to talk about and to tell you about.
This is your chance to turn it around and tell us what you want us to talk about.
And lo, we shall do that.
That is motoring-related.
That is motoring-related.
But there's a few caveats right away.
Yeah, there are a couple caveats around this.
So yes, it really should be a motoring question.
Okay. That's like the first caveat.
Or even we'll stretch it to automotive.
Yeah, automotive question and do that, then go for it.
I don't know if we threw some suggestions around earlier on.
It's what kind of automotive stuff are we listening to or watching at the moment?
What vehicles interest us? What don'ts?
Could be questions about us and this show as well.
Yeah, automotive questions.
Yeah, but it could be about it because we've done 10 years.
Very well known for missing big monumental numbers.
Almost famous for it now.
Yeah, that's the plan.
Thursday, 23rd of April, 8pm BST.
We're looking for your questions.
The best way to give us these questions is via our website.
Go to motoringpodcast.com.
Yeah, well, there will be a link to the contact page in the show notes.
There'll be a little bit of wording for...
Don't ask your favor though, people at home.
Could you put QA at the start of the subject line?
My collective motoring podcast inboxes, of which one is from there,
are getting filled up with an awful lot of spam right at the minute.
So if I can see that there's QA at the start,
that will make my life much, much easier when it comes to finding them.
And one thing we don't need, by the way,
I don't want questions asking if we need people to write articles for us.
I don't need questions about, do we need help with accounting or payroll?
And I don't need questions about what's the other one that comes in all the time.
Editing.
Yeah, editing ones as well.
Yeah, or any search optimization SEO stuff.
We don't need that.
I get enough of those every week to make up for it,
which is why I miss vital emails from PR people and other journalists.
If you could put QA at the start of the subject line for that,
that'd be brilliant.
We will be recording that on Thursday, the 23rd of April at 8pm.
We'll remind you about it before then.
If you subscribe to us on YouTube, of course,
if we've got a live stream coming up, you will see that in your subscriptions.
And of course, don't get to ding the little bell on YouTube
so that you can get notified of it.
I'm really sorry, but I had to say that for once.
Yep. So we see you now.
We are in your hands.
Patrons, you know all the usual spiel.
I read it.
I've heard and it's known as how many hundreds of times I've read it now.
Thank you so much to everyone who supports us.
Sending questions like this would be another great way to support us.
Yes. Okay, new car news.
And I am going to take us on to the Kia EV2.
They have confirmed now the prices for their smallest EV in the range.
And they are going to start from £24,245.
With the first edition.
It's actually quite complex.
I don't know if it's...
I'm sorry if I wrote this.
Yeah, it's John.
John wrote for this Motoring Research article.
I don't know if it's this or if it's my brain
that's making it quite hard to work out where the range starts
and where the prices start and where it then goes and battery sizes and stuff.
So there's going to be a first edition,
which is going to have a 42 kilowatt hour battery pack.
And that is going to be the, as John points out,
as per its name, the first variant sold in the UK.
And that is going to offer a range of 198 miles.
However, after that, they're going to fit them with 61 kilowatt hour batteries.
The challenge here, I think, actually is that what they originally launched with
is the little battery version, but with quite a high spec.
Yes.
And then after that, the lowest spec models can be had with the little battery,
as well as the whole range coming with the big battery,
because the little battery has really not very good under 200 mile range.
The bigger battery, the 61 kilowatt hour, will deliver 200, quite a lot.
81 miles, 281 miles, which we were discussing beforehand.
And I am becoming increasingly more militant on this.
I feel under 200, if you are around 25 grand or more, 200 mile range,
I don't feel that's enough.
Yes.
Yes.
You don't feel it's enough range.
I do not feel that's enough for the consumer,
because you can go buy an ice that will do a lot more for the same price.
Well, you can go buy an ice that does far fewer for the same price.
That's me, but that's just me.
Okay.
It might cost you something.
But again, but this also in that whole discussion is as long as you can charge at home,
all the caveats that you have to get involved from both ends.
However, the 281 miles, I like that a lot.
I think that's great value.
And there will be a link in the show notes, because over the Christmas period,
we had a special edition talking about the reveal of the concept car
and talking to the designers about the EV2, which was really interesting.
And thank you so much for the positive feedback we've had so far on that.
Yes.
It's always great to see, because we added a live interview into that,
which was great to see, so positively received.
But it's interesting to see how Kia are going with this smaller vehicle.
I mean, I think it looks great even in production, guys.
It's related to the Hyundai, isn't it?
It must be, because they're smart enough to do that, aren't they?
Yeah.
I mean, it has to be, but I think that the technical specifications outside of that
also are sensible.
It's like the 0-62 times, you've heard us moan about them being too short.
This is not that.
That also means that you can have a longer range.
If you are not focused on getting such a car to 62 in three seconds,
you can then eke out the range and all this sort of other stuff.
And it's looks practical.
Do click the Merchant Research article link in the show notes,
because you get to see more about this.
It does go up to quite a chunky price, considering the size of 32,995.
That's the top of the range.
You're at a little luxury car by that point.
This is fiesta size, roughly, but squareer.
And ventilated front seats, power tailgates, customizable ambient lighting, digital keys,
all these kinds of things, all sorts of funky stuff, whether advisable or otherwise.
And it's cool.
And if you live in a town, city, and then you can go for that.
Or if you want your luxuries, but in a small electric flavor, then go, then do it.
It's giving you the option.
Just to add, it is going to be eligible for the electric car grant.
They've also got what they're calling a reservation saving,
which is 3,750 on top of that.
So there's an awful lot of money you can get off if you go in for new.
I mean, we're giving you a guidance of price, but then, of course,
pitch a deal and see what deals are.
Yeah, absolutely.
Shall we go to the opposite end of the small electric car spectrum and
skip over very quickly.
So if you like the Volkswagen ID3, right, but you don't want to splash out for a Volkswagen
version, the proper German version, what you want is the Timu Chinese knockoff.
Then never fear because LeapMotor, LeapMotor are bringing out the 805, which is a Volkswagen
ID3 rival, which is like somebody has stood back squinted at the ID3 and taken all of the blandest
parts to form a vehicle, which is quite a large body and very small wheels.
And yeah, it's again going to start at around £25,000 when it arrives in the UK later this year.
That is about all the nice things I have to say about it.
I mean, really, if you don't want to spend £25,000 on something that is decent quality
and good looking, you could have this instead.
We don't know what the technical specifications are.
We have to make that clear that has not been released yet.
I mean, they're talking about it's supposed to go up against the Coupre-Born, the Renault
Megane and the MG4 EV.
Well, for me, I'd just have the Coupre-Born.
So it is bigger, but yes, I would have the Coupre-Born.
Coupre-Born is the best looking, much better looking than the ID3.
The Megane is hardly ugly.
But it's an SUV now as well.
I like the idea of LeapMotor and I like the idea that they have paired it with the Vauxhall
Garages because it is an easy alternative and showing people that, but this is only electric.
But I wish they would get a designer.
I know.
I wish they'd do something to just...
The cars are so bad looking that, I mean, they're so poor.
And there's no family resemblance either.
I don't want to say design.
I have a product design degree.
But shouldn't I?
Shouldn't I?
Styled in isolation.
Have not looked the same.
Each model is different.
Yeah, I give you that.
You can execute that well.
This is just...
It just feels like it's lazy.
Minimum viable.
Or not even design.
Minimum viable car.
It's like goodness gracious me.
It's like I want the blandest car on the menu.
There you go.
You know what we're saying?
We had as a lunchtime read about cars and appliance.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, this is it.
That's the epitome of it.
This is it.
This might as well have a...
Well, it does have a name, but that's a lot like a video recorder model.
And I wish it wasn't.
Because like I said, I like the idea.
But Dacia has shown you can go to target a sector of the market,
which has not got the money,
but you can still give them a good-looking vehicle.
Something that looks like it's been designed.
Looks like there's been some thought put behind it.
I should explain the Timur knockoff version.
That line, not entirely mine.
I saw someone this week describe the various JQ models as Timur Range Rover.
And that tickled me.
And so that's...
I'm sorry, I cribbed the joke.
Yes, I can't remember who it was.
I think it was GD Burgess.
Some...
Yeah, I can't remember exactly who it was.
I'm sorry we made that joke on social media,
but it tickled me and it stuck with me all week
every time I've seen the JQ.
Right.
This is a bit of an emotional moment, I have to say.
This is a tough one for Andrew.
I'm less fussed over the fact that it still looks much fresher and better
than any leap motor that's on sale here.
Absolutely.
So this is old car, old cars, dead news.
And Seat and Cooper are pulling the attacker from the UK market after a decade.
This was my first ever car launch for the Motoring Podcast,
was to go and drive the Seat attacker.
And I quite liked the car.
I liked the company that I was with.
Well, I remember who you were with.
Yeah.
However, I'm not surprised it's going.
Well, not after 10 years.
Really.
Yeah, not after 10 years, but we feel old now.
Cars are now being removed that we were at lunches at.
I've had that one, mate.
I've been through that a little while ago, but yeah.
Yeah, yeah, especially as you're quite a long time on sale.
Yeah.
But there we go.
Seat having to remove some internal combustion engine vehicles.
There's talk about it coming back at some point,
but they've got the, I mean, Cooper have got the 4-Mentor and the dreadful
Teramar.
That looks so bad.
Good God.
I awful thing.
I sort of notice them, but don't.
They're generally being driven incredibly aggressively.
Anyway, shall we move on?
Yes.
Let's move on to points of interest.
And because everything is gubbled up this week,
because you took the first story after Guiltminute, which isn't how it normally works,
then Lunchtime Read falls to me.
And that's quite good, really.
Because it involves Izuzu's.
This is a story from Hagerty.
It's by John Volcker.
I hope I've pronounced your name right.
I'm so sorry if I didn't.
And it's called, the Izuzu's just get us there.
Their owners keep us coming back.
And it's all about a road trip that is taken annually, annually.
By Izuzu, car owners in the US generally owning impulses which were never sold here.
It's all to do with the fact that at the time,
International Motors could only have one successful brand.
And in 1991, that was Subaru.
So the only Izuzu's that we've got were very utility ones and SUVs.
It's true.
It's true.
Maybe we'll find out for sure later in the year.
Yes, well, maybe.
So yeah, this is really cool.
I mean, the Izuzu impulses an interesting car anyway.
But it's a great story to read through driving from Concorde in New Hampshire,
up in the Northeast, down to Tennessee to drive Tale of the Dragon.
I sort of ended up going because of places I wanted to go instead.
When I did my road trip, it came up that way.
I missed out Tale of the Dragon.
And to be honest, people said, oh, you should go to it.
And it was like, I have a Lexus GX.
This is not a car.
I was going to say, I think it was a wise decision to avoid.
This is not a car for 423 wiggly corners.
As well as that.
I'd also been on other roads that everybody said, this is an amazing
Cancunmungus Highway in New Hampshire.
And I said, this is amazing.
You should go on it.
And I was just like, well, it's a road with a couple of took corners.
It's not exactly Scotland, is it?
I was going to say also on top of that, to say once again,
it's not like you're hard done by in your homeland.
No, exactly.
It'd be like someone saying to me, oh, yeah, come on this road here.
I did grow up driving in North Wales.
You grew up driving in North Wales.
I grew up driving in Perthshire between the two of us.
We were all right when it comes to wiggly roads, thanks.
But great story about camaraderie, about just enjoying it with friends.
It's more about that than it is about driving Tale of the Dragon
or any other snake or any of these things.
Really good.
Have a read of it.
It's just nice.
It's the whole car as way to meet people, make friends, hang out, chill out,
and just generally keep yourself sane in these difficult times.
Furthering on other recommendations we've made for Lunchtime Reads,
I feel this is along those lines of maybe this will inspire you to do something with mates.
Even if it's just go for a drive on a Sunday afternoon with some mates
or meet up one evening or whatever it is, now the days are becoming longer
and we have some light and maybe even, dare I say, it's sunshine occasionally.
I see that.
It was lovely here today after the snow.
Whilst everything else and he waves once again at the universe looks so grim and horrible,
little things like this can help keep us going, can help give us some positivity
and something to aim for where we stop doom scrolling.
We stop just thinking existential dread.
I'm talking about myself here as much as anything.
I just love the idea of this.
Now, seemingly pigheaded, we're going to do this every year now
because this is what we do every year.
I just love that idea of having that cool bunch of friends
that you don't really need to speak to the rest of the year,
but you know you're going to meet up there and you're going to have a great time.
It's awesome.
By the way, Rustyville is not far from now.
Rustyville is the weekend afternoon.
Yes, weekend afternoon.
I'm not going to be able to make it.
Sorry, Sean.
I will actually text you and tell you that.
I might have to look if there's still tickets and whether I can.
Well, I've got one going free.
Oh, that might be convenient.
Let me think on that one.
Okay, that's good.
Alrighty, list of the week then, Andrew.
Yes, list of the week.
And we are trying to move away from only wedges.
I can't say that there aren't any wedges.
I thought that was your new website.
It's a new way of gaining funds for the motoring podcast.
Only wedges.
Classic and sports cars for the list of the week.
Then this is 20 Alfa Romeo cars never made.
Alan.
Number 15.
Oh, right.
I thought that was because I chose the same one as you.
No.
I'm like you.
I looked through them and go, it's all right, it's all right, it's all right.
And then I get to, quite frankly, the space wagon.
The 1976 Alfa Romeo, New York taxi.
That's right.
I went with, I went with, you tell.
There we go.
That's an easy road to my heart with that.
I love the Alfa Romeo, New York taxi.
I have done for a long, long time.
And the idea was that this was going to replace the, well,
the checker cab at that point and other cars
with something that is far more practical, far easier for people to get in and out of,
and an equivalent to the London taxi, but for the U.S.
It's a monospice.
One box design.
Slightly rear doors because slightly rear doors are cool.
Space inside for wheelchair users.
It's been so wheelchair users for three crossback bench seating, luggage space in the
front side of the driver, cab forward seating, all of these things.
If you don't know what I'm looking at talking about, then really go to click the link.
It's very cool.
It was an MPV before MPVs.
And just, it's the right shape for a taxi.
It is right for a taxi.
Doesn't matter if it's Alfa Romeo or not.
It is, it is how taxi should be.
Pupnut would love the wiper action as well.
Or wipers.
Yes.
Yes.
There's a fine piece of very strange parking on that for the wipers on that.
But really cool.
Obviously nothing ever came of it.
It was just a concept based on an Alfa F12 van.
But I think it was inspirational to many other things that people probably don't recognize.
I like that.
I like the thought that has gone behind that as well.
We always like clever design.
We've mentioned that car previously several times in particularly lists of the week.
And it's always a winner.
What about you then?
Giving us 20 of those.
I would ask the ladies and gentlemen to scroll back to number four in their slide pack
to the 1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Prajo Coupe 102.
I just think it looks gorgeous.
And I got, well, yeah.
This was an option.
I said to you, there was probably out of the 20, there was probably 15 or 16 I could have picked.
But this, I just love the shape of this.
I love the chrome.
The amazing license plate, how small it is and fits into the indent in the bumper
right below the Alfa grille, the twin headlights and the curves on it.
And how much glass it's got as well.
And how happy the driver looks.
That's being photographed as they go around this.
It's a two-door four-seater coupe that was based off the 2000.
Chassis had a 1975 CC four-cylinder engine.
I like that a lot.
I like the idea of that.
I shame it never came to be.
Well, there was one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It'd be pocket change.
Nobody likes classic very rare Alfa Romeo.
It'd be fine.
Fine.
Yeah.
No, it's very useful.
It's lovely.
It's very much of its time.
Very much into the sort of, I don't know, the front's not pretty,
but the rest of it probably is.
It's under that pretty car.
Lovely.
Not least then.
And finally, now there were complaints the other week,
specifically from us about the age of the Citroen Saksa.
And the Citroen Saksa is now 30 years old,
and that makes us all feel very old because we remember when it was launched.
Well, we just refused to believe it.
Well, you're older than I am.
So that's...
This hurts you more than it hurts me.
Yes.
Nathan Chadwick has written a piece for Hagerty again,
and it is the Renault 21 at 40.
The Renault 21 was really quite a game changer for Renault at that time.
It's signified Renault moving into maybe...
I was going to say better cars.
That's not very fair, is it?
But it was very much...
There's actually a more mainstream car style
than perhaps some of their previous models had been in this sort of segment.
And yeah, obviously, I mean, it's Sierra Cavalier 405 size.
It was available in a saloon and an estate.
Estate was particularly popular among the Scottish prep school set.
Because you could have it...
You see, it was one of those cars that replaced the Citroen CX.
Had to replace the Citroen CX because you could have it as a seven-seater.
And similarly, it was like if you couldn't quite afford it,
you didn't really want a Peugeot 505, or you wanted something newer than a 505.
Of course, the 405 wasn't available with seven seats.
Then the Renault 21 Savannah as it was called in the UK,
Nevada, in France and the rest of Europe was your option.
And I know at least one family that replaced a 505 with a Renault.
21. But later on in life, it came in the hatchback as well.
And of course, it's most notable thing was the fact you could have it in four different wheel
bases because the transverse and the longitudinal engines...
Because why not?
Because why not?
Transverse and the longitudinal engines that sat the wheel of the front wheels
in a slightly different space in the wheel arch.
And then of course, you had some saloon hatch and you had the estate wheel bases.
So two engine variants by two body models.
You imagine someone suggesting that to a modern car company now, particularly Renault,
who lifted the dashboard from the five and stuck it in the four EV and going,
you know what, how about we have four different chassis that we're going to build this on?
The mounting points would be slightly different, but you know, it's more pieces.
Economies of scale.
It's just completely in the bin.
We can make the economies of scale work by selling more.
Yes. Well, they sound really well. I mean, they're like hands-to-mouth,
but they were really quite popular.
I mean, France, you know, they're not as common.
But the one that really gets me is the Renault.
Most of the pictures here are the Renault 21 Turbo, which was always rare.
And was it really on four-wheel drive as well, if I remember rightly?
How good does it look in the silver picture, sir?
It looks so good.
It really... I love those wheels.
The wheel is amazing.
But that was a particular...
That was, to me, is a very Renault wheel.
And I really, really like it.
And I know people don't like them because they're kind of error fans.
And so they're always the wrong way round on one side of the car.
I still really like them.
But anyway, go have a read, consider it a bonus lunchtime read.
It's quite cool.
Yeah. And we will not be held responsible if that upsets your world order and makes you...
You also think that cannot be true, as he's not 40.
I don't want to be held responsible for that.
I'm sorry.
Just because I'm me, I would much rather have a Renault 21
than any equivalent Cavalier Mondeo Sierra.
The Renault... The Peugeot 405 is tricky.
I think that would...
Having driven an equivalent Cavalier and been in a Sierra,
I have no interest in those whatsoever.
Thank you very much.
Never need to be near them again in my life.
There was a really interesting discussion about all that stuff on Bluestcoad last week.
Which is quite good.
Yeah. It started from the Carvback Doids or something,
done posting broach pictures of the Sierra.
Okay.
It all went off from there.
So that's about it this week, I think.
Parish notes a reminder of the not guilt minute.
Yes. I am about to remind you about the Q&A and questions for that, please.
So that's going to be by Thursday, the 23rd of April.
We'll be recording it live to the world at 8 p.m. BST.
If you could have good questions in by a couple of hours beforehand,
at least that would be really nice.
Earlier, they're in the better.
More likely I'll have to get into the running order.
We'll see how we go.
I suspect a couple of questions will fill us up for an hour quite easily.
I'm... I don't know what you mean that we can fill time at all.
Exactly.
Right. So that's our quick recording tonight.
It has now reached one hour since we hit the record.
Yes.
Don't forget that if you're now in next week,
you can give us any feedback and share your thoughts
with the show at motringpodcast.com on Blue Sky,
at Motring Podcast on Instagram and Facebook,
and on the contact page at www.motringpodcast.com,
the hub of all our activities.
Remember you can support us financially via Patreon
and please leave a review and rating on Apple Podcast YouTube
or however your podcast app lets you do such a thing.
Andrea, what's the best way to semaphore you?
I did dip back into Blue Sky thanks to Furious Anger,
so maybe there and I might see it if not LinkedIn.
And Alan, if people would like to get in touch with you personally,
what's the best way for them to do that?
LinkedIn does work, but it's best to use Blue Sky,
where I'm at AJP Bradley.
That's B-R-A-D-L-E-Y dot B-Sky dot social.
Let's say we'll be back very soon until then.
I've been Alan Bradley.
I've been Andrew Clews.
And Safe Motoring.
About this episode
Alan and Andrew kick off with fresh NTSB fallout over Ford BlueCruise “hands-free” level 2+ driving, arguing the core issue is human vigilance and that safety/oversight gaps contributed to fatal crashes. They then turn to UK motoring politics: DWP cuts to Motability and new black-box rules for under-30 drivers spark anger about penalizing disabled people. After a lighter MOT update (EV checks, anti-ghost-MOT measures), they debate US EV brand moves (VW Scout delays, Lucid UK plans) and cover new UK EV pricing (Kia EV2) plus a Leapmotor 805 “ID3 rival.”
Original notes
FOLLOW UP: NTSB REPORTS ON FATAL BLUECRUISE INCIDENTS
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has published their report on two fatal incidents that involved Ford’s BlueCruise semi-automated driving system, that allows for ‘hands off eyes on’ driving. Some blame is being put on the driver’s “over-reliance” in the systems, but also it is made clear the company and regulations played a part. if you wish to read more on the findings, click this CNN article link here.
However, the findings fail to discuss the inherent flaw in the system that has been documented from as far back as April 1948, when it comes to humans supervising automated systems. Click this Sage Journals link to N H Mackworth’s research examining this issue.
MOTABILITY DRIVERS SINGLED OUT AGAINThanks to the victimisation of those using the Motability scheme, originating from a far-right ‘think-tank’, all drivers under 30 and those newly entering the scheme will have to have black boxes fitted. These boxes will record their journeys and from the binary inputs of those drivers they will be ‘judged’ on how well they drive. This is despicable because the technology cannot judge because it is only using the binary inputs on braking, accelerating and steering with absolutely no knowledge of the environment or anything occurring around the vehicle. For more on this story, click this article link here from The Canary.
NEW MOT RULES FOR 2026There are new MOT rules, for the UK, in 2026. Most of the onus is on the garages themselves, but you should be aware of them. The Government is asking for the centres to do more but is keeping the price cap where it is. To find out what the changes are, click this link to a MotorCheck article link here.
LUCID COMING TO THE UK IN 2027Lucid is bringing their next to be revealed car, the Cosmos, to the UK in 2027. This will be an electric SUV which is aiming at the likes of the BMW iX3 and Volvo EX60. There are no images yet, nor any technical details. Click this Autocar article link here to find out more.
SCOUT LAUNCH IN THE US PUT BACK TO 2028The launch of Scout, in the US, by Volkswagen is being delayed until 2028. Thanks to the change in Governmental policy the company is reportedly re-engineering the cars to take range extender technology when they were to be EV only. For more on this story, click this electrive article link here.
STELLANTIS RECALLS 44,000 UK CARSAround 44,000 Stellantis cars, fitted with the 1.2 litre petrol engined mild hybrid, are being recalled in the UK due to a potential fire risk. The vehicles were built between 2023 and 2026. To find out if you car or the car of friends and family is covered, click this Autocar article link, which breaks down how many from the individual brands.
On Thursday 23 April at 20:00 BST, we will be going live with a Q&A on our YouTube channel. We need your help though, send us your automotive and motoring related question you would like to hear us answer. To send one in use our Contact Page, linked to here, and put “Q&A” in the Subject Line so it does not get lost in all the spam.NEW NEW CAR NEWS -Kia EV2Kia has announced the EV2 prices, ahead of them going on sale later this year. There is some complication to all this as there is a First Edition option, which will be, yes you guessed it, the launch edition but that starts at £26,995 and has a 42kWh battery and 198 miles range. However, the entry to the range, available later, is the Air trim which will get a 61kWh battery and 281maximum range. Click this Motoring Research article link here, to run through the trim levels and see if one meets your needs.
For the link to the Special Edition about Kia at Milan Design week, click here.
Leapmotor A05Leapmotor is expected to be bringing the A05 to the UK later this year. The car is aimed at the VW ID.3 and is expected to be priced around £25,000. Unfortunately, the external looks leave a lot to be desired. Click this Autocar article link for more.
Seat and Cupra Ateca sales endSeat and Cupra are ending the sale of the Ateca. Originally launched a decade ago, this SUV is now not seen as worth updating in its current guise. Click this Auotcar link here to read more.
LUNCHTIME READ: THE ISUZUS JUST GET US THEREHagerty and John Voelcker are our recommendations to you this week. John explains why he and friends take their old Isuzus on a long road trip and how the car is just the ‘vehicle’ (pun intended, for a change) for friends to get together in a shared joy. Click this link here to read more and maybe you too will be inspired to do something similar.
LIST OF THE WEEK: 20 ALFA ROMEO CARS NEVER MADEClassic & Sports Car has a list of 20 Alfa Romeos that were never made, for you to peruse and chose from. Do you agree with Alan and Andrew’s choices? Click this link here to see your options.
AND FINALLY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE RENAULT 21We refused to believe that the Citroën Saxo is 30 years old, recently. As did some of you. Another car that we cannot believe is the age it is, is the Renault 21. Once a common sight on UK roads, time has not been kind but when a company decides one platform/layout is not enough, it is easy to see why. Click this Hagerty article link here for more.
Motoring Podcast - News Show
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