Government incentives are money or benefits given by the government to help people buy things like electric cars. This makes it cheaper for people to choose these types of vehicles.
Stellantis is a big car company that owns several well-known brands like Jeep and Dodge. They make many different types of vehicles, but their offerings have been criticized recently.
The Ford Fiesta is a small car that's easy to drive and park, making it great for city living. It's known for being affordable and good on gas, which is why many people like it. People talk about it because it's a smart choice for those who want a reliable and budget-friendly vehicle.
The Volkswagen ID.3 is a fully electric car that's part of Volkswagen's line of electric vehicles. It's designed to be practical and affordable for everyday driving.
The Opel Astra is a small car made by the German company Opel. It's known for being comfortable and practical, making it a good choice for many drivers.
Car
DS4
The DS4 is a fancy small car made by the brand DS, which is part of Citroën. It's designed to be stylish and comfortable.
The Peugeot Rifter is a type of vehicle that works like a van but is also good for families. It has a lot of space and is practical for different uses.
The Infiniti G20 is a small luxury car that was made in the late '90s and early 2000s. It's known for being comfortable and having nice features, making it a good choice for people who want a fancy car without spending too much. People talk about it because it offers a lot of luxury for its price.
The BMW 2 Series is a small luxury car that looks sporty and is fun to drive. It's available as a coupe or convertible, which means you can choose one with a roof or one without. People talk about it because it combines luxury with a more compact size, making it appealing to many drivers.
The Toyota Supra is a fast and sporty car that many people love for its speed and cool design. It's famous for being fun to drive and has a lot of fans who enjoy customizing it. You might hear about it because it's a popular choice for car lovers.
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and can go really fast. It's popular because it has a lot of room inside and is great for families who still want a fun car to drive. People talk about it because of its powerful engines and cool design.
The Mazda 6 is a car that is known for being fun to drive and having a nice look. It's a good option for people who want a comfortable car that also feels sporty.
The Tesla Model Y is a modern electric SUV that doesn't use gas and is known for being very high-tech. It has a lot of space for passengers and luggage, making it a great family car. People talk about it because it's part of the trend towards electric cars that are better for the environment.
The Hyundai Ioniq is a car that can run on gas, electricity, or both, making it a good choice for people who want to save on fuel and help the environment. It's designed to be efficient and has a modern look. People talk about it because it's part of the trend of cars that are better for the planet.
The Toyota Prius is a special car that uses both gas and electricity to help save on fuel and be better for the environment. It's known for being very efficient, which means it can go a long way on a small amount of gas. People often talk about it because it's one of the first cars to use this technology.
The BMW iX3 is an electric SUV that doesn't use gas and is designed to be both luxurious and eco-friendly. It offers a lot of space and comfort while being better for the environment. People talk about it because it's part of the growing trend of electric cars that are stylish and practical.
A touch screen is a screen in the car that you can touch to control things like music or navigation. It's like using a smartphone, but it can be harder to use while driving.
The Mazda MX-5 is a small sports car that is fun to drive. It's known for being light and easy to handle, which makes it enjoyable for people who like driving.
The Mazda CX-5 is a small SUV that is fun to drive and has a nice interior. It's a good choice for people who want a practical vehicle that looks good.
The BMW X3 is a luxury small SUV that is comfortable and has a lot of features. It's a good option for people who want a fancy car that also has space for passengers and cargo.
Car
BYD Ato3
The BYD Ato3 is an electric SUV made by a Chinese company called BYD. It's designed to be efficient and has a good driving range, which means it can go far on a single charge.
Brake horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is before any energy is lost to things like heat or friction. It helps to understand how strong the engine really is.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that's popular because it's easy to drive and has a lot of space inside. It's known for being reliable and fun to drive, with some versions that are even sportier. People like to talk about it because it’s a good choice for many different types of drivers.
The Tesla Model S is a high-end electric car that can go long distances on a single charge. It's known for being fast and having lots of tech features.
The Volvo P1800 is a vintage car from the 1960s that many people admire for its unique style and strong build. It's considered a classic and has a lot of fans who love its design. People talk about it because it's a symbol of good quality and timeless beauty in cars.
The BMW 7 Series is a big luxury car that's very comfortable and packed with high-tech features. It's considered one of the best cars in the BMW lineup and is often chosen by people who want a fancy and powerful vehicle. People talk about it because it represents the top of the line in luxury cars.
The BMW 3 Series is a stylish and sporty car that many people consider a luxury vehicle. It's known for being fun to drive and has a nice interior with lots of features. People often talk about it because it represents a high-quality car that many aspire to own.
LIVE
Welcome to the Motoring Podcast, your weekly discussion of motoring news.
This episode 671 on Tuesday, the 17th of February, 2026.
Hello, I'm Alan.
Hello, I'm Andrew.
And this week, you'll hear several stories that you'll be charged up by.
In new, new car news, you'll learn about one car that makes us go a little weak at the
knees for.
And in points of interest, if you're of a similar age to us, you're going to feel old.
We're sorry.
Oh, so very old.
But first, we have a smidgen of follow-up.
And thank you very much to listener Susie Richards.
She found almost immediately as soon as we published our episode last week that Ox Delivers
has actually in fact gone into liquidation.
There is an article from thebusinessdesk.com that she sent to us that will explain what
has happened.
And unfortunately, it turns out they just could not get the funding they were desperately
searching for.
As we said last week, it's a real shame.
We hope everybody involved in the company finds new jobs asap.
And I'm sure we'll find a bit more detail about just what happened and why the swivel
and what then happened in due course.
But yes, that's a real shame.
Huge proponents of that, but it was taking a long time to develop.
New news then, moving swiftly on from the bad news, Ford.
Thought you said moving on from the bad news.
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
Ford has posted a £5.9 billion loss due to EV struggles and is outsold by BYD.
So it's $8.2 million of loss last year.
Most of that, similar to Stellantis that we're talking about last week, the result of a massive
breakdown due to, it says an overhaul of its struggling EV business here in this AutoCara
article.
I think we'll probably discuss that in just a second.
But it's also now dipped below BYD in terms of global sales.
Ford sold or recorded 4,394,000 vehicles sold, 4.6 million for BYD in 2025.
Struggling EV business.
Yes.
We've noticed this recently in a lot of articles.
There is a tendency to start saying, the EV bet they got wrong and things like that,
implying as though it is completely the company's fault for the situation where they find themselves,
particularly in the US market.
When in fact, they actually made the moves that they did for EVs purely down to government
mandates, government incentives, and the way that the government wanted the car industry
to go.
That all changed 180 degrees when the new regime came in, and that is what the problem
is.
It is for Ford very much.
There's a few things with Ford, like everything's quite expensive.
But yeah, I mean, it's not like, I mean, Stellantis did not have a great, great offering anyway,
and then it just got worse.
Ford had a reasonable offering, looked to be refining that offering, but there's not
a hope in heck that we can make any money at all on this.
Rip off the Band-Aid, as they say, on the other side of the Atlantic, and deal with
it.
Just write it all off.
There is no point in us doing anything with what we know-know for the next two and a half,
three years, until the next equivalent of the big, beautiful bill.
And I cannot believe that that's its official name comes, you know, whatever it is that
gets rid of that, because it in turn got rid of the whole President Biden's infrastructure
bill, which was what was mandated and what everybody was using as their guide for strategy
and direction, and basically the drivers from the environment.
The environment has shifted on these folks so hard.
It's not just that, but stuff like Ford, for example, planning to build stuff five miles
away from its headquarters.
Just happens, that's a different country.
You never guess what, somebody decided that there were going to be tariffs.
Yeah, there's a trade war now, so they can't do it.
Somebody seems to think that Canada, the Canadians, are going to pay for it, but Canadians aren't
really going to pay for it.
And it all it is, it is manifested in just making this worse and worse and worse.
And yet somehow we find out, and we really don't.
It's not often we lay into auto car, but this isn't an all, you know, the story
LinkedIn show notes from auto car, it's not an auto car specific thing.
No, but it's like, oh, for bet wrongly, you know, whoever bet wrongly.
It's like, no, they didn't.
They made the right bet at the time, given what was all around them.
Yeah.
And for what it's worth professionally, I'm not someone who's going to defend Ford
because reasons, not just like actually quite like their cars and stuff.
Anyone who's listened to us has heard us put the boot into decisions they have
made, which have been very, very poor from their senior management.
This wasn't that this was not that.
Exactly.
This was not that for planning.
You know, we've made so many jokes about it over the years, not this time.
No, not this time.
I absolutely can't know.
It's just just crazy.
So hopefully.
Hopefully it'll sort it'll sort itself out.
I'm sure that there will be a rumbling undercurrent of EVs and range extenders,
or at least things engineered for that over the next few years
in the hope that there is a change.
Yeah.
Well, don't forget what the Ford are doing in Europe is different to America.
Yes, because Ford in Europe have tied in with Renault to try and produce a small
affordable EV because they've realized getting rid of the Fiesta was a bit of a
mistake, although you can sort of understand why they did it at the time.
Yep. Again, sort of they off.
They are following or trying to meet rules and regulations that are in the
markets they are in.
And that's tricky.
And of course, right at the minute for EVs have buddied up the Volkswagen as well.
Yes.
I've started seeing quite a lot of ID threes around.
Sorry, tangential to that.
Remember when we're talking about stuff we quit often just talk about the cars
and Ford commercial arms actually do really very well at the moment.
Yeah.
Right, I'm going to move us on to Stellantis because further to last week,
they are now actually going to be reintroducing diesel models back into Europe.
They are going to have a diesel Peugeot 308, a diesel Opel Astra and a diesel
DS4, also included on that will be the Opel Combi van, the Citroen
Balingo and the Peugeot Rifter.
Once again, gets diesel engine as an option.
I have no idea if this is coming to the UK or not.
I would imagine not the way that our zero emission vehicle mandate is still in
place as it is.
Yes, I would imagine the Combi's are like that, but then the commercial
versions will still be available.
Yes, because they have a different timeline and requirements.
Yes, because a battery van doesn't go as far as it needs to.
It's partly that.
Yeah, and also companies are set up for diesel fleet as well.
Good to remember that.
You, yeah, partner here is available on the electric diesel.
Just to say, we're probably going to be drip fed these little snippets
of changes in their strategy up to the end of the month when there is
their full call for the end of year financial results.
And I would presume in that call, the new head honcho is going to be
very bullish about here's our new strategy going forward to try and
deflect what looks like is not going to be great results for the year.
Yes, yes, yes.
But then you can always blame them on the last guy.
Well, yeah, exactly.
So he needs to come out swinging with here's our new strategy.
We've got it all under control.
It's going to be great.
Yeah, we know it's not good at the minute.
And this is what we have been doing and are going to do to sort it.
And that helps keep investors sweet.
If they really, if you can say, we've got a problem, but here's the solution
and we're already doing it.
Yeah.
So, yeah, yeah.
Oh, we didn't.
I'll tell you something we didn't mention jumping back two stories to forward.
We also didn't mention the quite spectacular number of recalls
and all the rework that had to go into that, which will hit things as well.
Yes, but I think the we're doing a write down for EVs was useful
in hiding that in all the noise.
Because in America alone, you probably don't know this, dear listener,
but Ford recalled nearly 150 times in 2025.
These are separate recalls, which is quite like three a week.
I mean, well done.
It was basically a new record and it's quite spectacular.
They had that many vehicles ready to be recalled.
But there we are.
And quite a few were recalls on recalls.
Yes, this is not always a good thing.
No, but talking of recalls, but in blighty.
Yes, what struck me to remind me about that is BMW is advising
almost 25,000 drivers in the UK not to leave their car unattended
with the engine running because of concerns that faulty starter motors
could overheat and catch fire.
Certain models built between July 2020 and July 2022 are being recalled.
And this is as a result of internal quality control tests.
They discovered that defects in the starter motor switches could cause increased wear.
Specifically, it's 24,732 cars in the UK, 187 in Ireland.
In total globally, it could be up to 575,000 cars affected.
In the UK, those include
gracious alphabets.
Here's a new list of the week for you.
Yes, it's the G42 series, the G20 slash G213 series, the G22-234 series,
the G26-4 series Gran Coupe, the G30-31-5 series, the G11-12-7 series,
the G01-X3, the G02-X4, the G05-X5, the G06-X6, the G29-Z4.
There is the potential, not sure if it's in the UK as well, to affect the Toyota Supra.
The Gura Supra, yes, it will do.
If the G29-Z4 is affected, then the Gura Supra will be affected as well, given the same drive package.
But I've not seen anything out in the press about that.
There aren't the same numbers, really.
No, but if you do have a Supra, just pay attention to your emails.
Yeah, yeah, have a wee chat with your dealer, I think.
Similarly here, if you own any of those, and built between July 2020 and July 2022,
time to have a little chat to your dealership and get it booked in.
The company has not indicated how long the repair itself will take, but we're giving
a timeframe for addressing the entire batch of models.
Yeah, in the meantime, don't leave it sitting alone running, which you shouldn't be doing anyway.
No, right, I'm going to keep us in the UK, and we're going to move on to charging news.
And b.ev, Psy, is a Manchester-based charging company, which has charging networks across
the north of England as well as in the midlands.
Well, they've now expanded to cover the south of England by taking over the European operator
Mer, which has added 1,600 charging bays across a further 450 sites.
That brings them up to 2,500 bays in more than 680 locations.
Now, he's going to rest in the top 10 of the largest rapid and ultra rapid charging capacities
in the UK. There's a lot of expansion and spending money.
I was reading this, it turns out that's because it's majority owned by the
Octopus Energy Generation Sky Fund. So lots of it runs on octopus renewable energy,
but the sort of the fund for the Sky Fund backs renewable energy infrastructure projects around
the world and has raised more than 2.5 billion pounds from institutional investors.
It's sort of pension funds and that kind of thing.
They should have some solid dependable long-term backing for this.
But yeah, I think we're getting to the stage where we're more likely to see consolidation
of the many, many providers than of new providers popping up here, there and everywhere.
I'm not saying that won't happen, but I think that's going to slow and there's going to be
a certain amount of consolidation.
Yeah. We're having spoken to a network representative from a network operator.
I am now a much better understanding of how difficult it is to make any profit,
which it worries me.
There's an interesting thing is that they're saying here that they're not trying,
they're going to try not to close any charging sites. What they're going to try to do is upgrade
existing ones. And that makes a lot of sense because of course if you're upgrading stuff,
then you don't necessarily need a brand new connection to the national grid.
You don't need new planning permission, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
So I can see how just buying one where somebody's done all that hard work starts to make a lot of
sense.
Yeah. Well, I mean, fingers crossed because we need more charges and you're going to hear
the next couple of stories. They're very much centered in a certain part of England,
as opposed to the rest of the country. So the fact that B.EV is across the north and the
midlands and now the south, all power to them. And I hope they are successful,
just from a purely selfish point of view.
Yes, exactly. Meanwhile, in the south of England.
The poor, uncovered south of England, do you mean?
The poor people of Harrow.
Yes.
The London borough of Harrow has partnered with a chargeable operator called char.gy.
We think it's becoming a thing that you have to have a dot in the middle of your name if you are
some kind of charging firm.
I don't think they're allowed to connect to the network unless they do.
It must be it.
No, it's one of the things that National Grid insists on.
Yes.
But it's putting in place 500 new on-street EV charging points and it's aiming to target
motorists who don't have a home charger. This is lower speeds charging 7 to 22 kilowatts.
From 7am to 12am, the day tariff will be 59 pence per kilowatt hour.
The night saver tariff is priced at 39 pence per kilowatt hour.
That's outrageous that daytime charge for 7 kilowatt.
59 pence?
Yeah, I think they really want you to do the overnight one.
From 2023 to 2026, they were named the UK's most affordable public charging point.
Okay.
The bar isn't very high, let's be honest.
It really isn't.
When you think about that and that 20% of that is VAT,
charge points are going to be fitted to lamp posts.
They have already fitted to 225 of the 500 and the remaining 275 will be put in place by
the very specific October the 8th, 2026.
We shall hold them to that.
The good news is that the CEO is delighted to be expanding the network, which is a wonderful
surprise, isn't it?
But yes, they're aiming for places where there isn't off-street parking.
Right.
Well, sticking with the poor southeast and how it doesn't have any coverage at all,
well, Kent is aiming to help that by going to roll out 10,000 on-street TV charges.
They've awarded a 20-year contract to Urban Fox.
They're using more than 12 million of government funding to be able to do this.
The idea, like with the last story, is to expand access to those who do not have off-street parking.
Can you imagine the first vehicle with a foreign number plate using one of these in Kent,
those immigrants coming over here using our charging points?
Will they not be just festooned in English hugs?
Yes, they will be.
Yes, they'll be.
St. George's Cross is over everything.
Yeah, upside down because they can't get that right.
Oh, dear.
They're going to begin.
They're going to start doing the first phase in the summer of 2026.
And then what they are doing, I'm not very happy about this next bit, though.
This next bit worries me.
The locations are going to be assessed based on local demand and suitability.
I understand the suitability.
Oh, the areas with the most English flags in.
But local demand, that's local demand now.
That's not local demand in a couple of years when more people have EVs.
That always worries me that unless they've got some sort of future planning involved in this as well,
my hopes are not high, I have to say, having seen how councils have done things.
But hopefully it's Urban Fox that's doing the planning and not County Council.
Do you reckon?
I have to be strong and positive at some point in this story,
other than making fun of people of Kent.
No, but it's great.
This 10,000 charging points can everywhere else start doing the same.
Please.
That is just my, I mean, I know I put the, we have our tongue firmly in our cheek when we're
taking them, we're extracting the Michael out of the Southeast is, you must be tripping
over charges down there compared to the rest of us.
According to press releases, now let's be careful, let's be careful here.
According to press releases, we would think that there is every second parking spot in the
Southeast of England.
It's hot from charger to charger.
Meanwhile, poor people in the Southwest are limping gradually along their tiny country
lanes trying to get to the nearest two kilowatts charging point.
Finding the largest hill so they can recharge on that by breaking all the way down.
By rolling down it.
They're going to the middle of Bodmin Moor where there is one solitary charger.
In fact, there is a charger in the middle of Bodmin Moor.
We used it.
It was quite a good one actually at the time.
It was vital at the time.
Yeah.
Yes.
So I'd forgotten about that when I started the joke.
It was only halfway through though.
Anyway, I think for a change, not like the last couple of weeks,
that is the end of the first part of the show.
And you'll notice that we haven't really got grumpy either, which is a relief for us.
Must be for you as well, the Lister.
The people of Kent might complain, but never mind.
In the flash that has gotten us here in 29 minutes,
Ali, it won't be by the time he's chopped bits out.
It's Guild Minute, the quick break in the show where we ask for a tad of financial support
to keep the lights on and the hosting running.
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including being able to watch the show Recorded Live.
We also have a small range of merchandise in our spring store,
from stickers to mugs and t-shirts.
All of the above might change in the next little while,
or be added to about the time, hopefully by next week,
I will have time at the weekend to actually sit down and sort out
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we completely understand that you can help us by following for free
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so thank you very much everyone who does that, that is really appreciated.
Yeah, very nice. And similarly on YouTube and stuff as well.
People saying nice things about podcasts.
Especially as we got off, finished recording last week and went,
don't think that was a very good one.
Yes.
We had much back and fro between us going, yeah, wasn't I?
Yeah, there was a good one, and that's the week.
Everyone felt that this, that was the week to say really nice things, so thank you so much.
It does make a difference.
It really does.
Helps us through the dark times.
We don't want, so we don't want stroked every week, but you know, it just,
your timing was impeccable with them.
Anyway, new, new car news.
Yes.
Mazda6.
A new Mazda6 is coming along, it's going to be badged in terms of the Mazda6e.
It will be a sleek rear wheel drive electric fastback.
It says to mark to rival the Tesla Model 3.
Certainly in looks, it gets the Tesla Model 3 picks up and chucks it into the ditch.
The 6e will be priced from £38,995.
In the UK, you'll only be able to get it in the highest Takumi or Takumi plus specs.
In both cases, they use a 78 kilowatt hour lithium iron phosphate battery,
which will help achieve a range of 348 miles in its most efficient form.
Power is delivered by a 255bhp rear motor that will push it to 62 in a steady 7.6 second.
I don't think anything needs to be under 7 seconds unless it's a hypercar.
No, no, 7.6 is more than more than zippy enough for joining motorways, etc, etc.
Yep.
There are other powertrains available in continental Europe,
generally giving a little less range, but with different types of battery as well.
Mazda said it's offering the UK setup because this combines the best of both in terms of
range performance and charging times. I think it just helps make it simpler, really.
UK model should be able to charge from 10 to 80% in 24 minutes,
thanks to a 195 kilowatt DC rapid charging system. As standard, it'll have a heat pump,
dual zone climber, heads up display, powered tailgate and electric front seats. If you go for
the Takumi plus trim, you'll end up with Napa leather, panoramic glass roof and titanium detailing.
I like this. I like this a lot.
There's a few aspects of this that I find a bit challenging and I'm a bit disappointed in.
I understand the overall shape because they're going for slipperiness, so it's not going to look
quite like the 6, particularly when it comes around to when the car moves across the profile
to the rear. If you notice the way that they've, I think they've quite cleverly managed to get
sort of along the lines of the Prius, the Ioniq, but still make it look like a normal car.
If you see what I mean.
But don't forget that the 6 has, for as long as I can remember, been available as a hatchback
as well as a cylinder. It's very much leaning on that, but yes, you're quite right. It's got
this sort of sharp end and it's got active arrow as well to make it actually sharper
and more arrow. It's got a little pop-up spoiler. Yeah.
I don't like the daylight running thing through the grille. I find that irritating in any car,
I see it in and I've done an awful lot of night driving recently and it is
such a pain seeing it on the road.
Do you see this doesn't bother me. What I don't like is when they outline the grille.
Oh, that's, that just looks, that looks very wrong.
Yeah, sometimes it looks like a toilet seat. Yeah.
It's an Alfa I saw with it outlined and I think that was in the US and it looked like a toilet
seat. It actually looks like someone's gone and got LED strip and just put them around themselves
at home. It looks so naff.
On the BMW iX3, it is just the most tastelessly naff rubbish. Sorry. So that's the one that I hate.
I don't mind this more subtle approach.
But what I'm really disappointed with is the interior, not most of the interior,
but the fact that they've removed physical controls. Bear in mind Mazda stuck for so long
with having that dial, which I found was one of the best interfaces for a driver to use.
Plus they also banned you from accessing certain bits if you were driving.
Yes, it was that and the fact it was a touch screen when you were stopped,
but then it was the dial when you were moving over like five or 10 miles an hour.
Yep.
And various bits disabled themselves from as well when you were driving. I had, of course,
a what's now a relatively early incarnation of that in my AMX5, in DMX5, and it was quicker.
But I understand why it's happened because this was, this was a Chinese model first.
Yes, it was.
And apparently, we are all told reliably the Chinese market must not have any buttons.
It must all be a massive screen.
We were also told that the Chinese market likes really ugly cars, which I think was
quite a bad excuse for really ugly German cars.
Yep.
When you sit in there, the finish and the materials will be super,
it'll put to shame some of the premium brands.
You sit in CX5 and then you go sit in an IX, an I3, not an I3, an X3, pardon me,
and the Masters, the nicer, the nicer interior.
It's just better, it's nice looking, it's better, it feels better quality in most places.
Yep.
Yeah, I'm sure that's going to do well. I'm really impressed with the range.
I'd love to know the efficiencies though.
Anyway, I'm going to move us on and BYD has updated the Ato3.
Now, if you're trying to remember what an Ato3 is, like we have regularly done in recent
we have done in recent weeks, it is one of their SUVs and it is now going to be rear wheel drive.
For the range topper, it's going to have up to 443 brake horsepower for some reason.
And apparently, because of its four-wheel driveness and that brake horsepower amount,
it's going to get 62 quicker than a VW Golf R, which is just what we want people to have on the roads.
More interestingly, it can be used to power external devices up to three kilowatts.
There's also a bigger battery and the range is jumping up from 260 to 317 miles,
which is a good thing to see.
I do worry about just the performance arms race there is in just
what are very much family cars.
I think that there's going to be, at some point, there's going to be a terrible nasty accident
with a young driver and then there's going to be a lot of politicians jumping up and down
and then this kind of thing is going to be banned.
There's going to be massive ringing of hands and because people have ignored others going,
hang on, this is getting ridiculous.
But the other thing as well with all this is I think that the car manufacturers have completely
lost their minds when it comes to advertising or marketing these cars.
Instead of promoting the positives of having no pun intended, an EV like the quietness,
the smoothness, all that sort of stuff, they go, look how fast it is.
What's an EV? Of course, it's fast off the line.
For goodness sake, just grow up and stop being little boys.
One of the things is that it's fast without the cues of speed.
So there's no increasing vibration.
There's no increasing engine noise or all these kind of things.
And that's one of the things that actually makes it really quite dangerous.
I don't outright have a problem with fast cars.
I just want them to tell you that they're going quite fast.
You know what I mean though, don't you?
No, no, no.
Yeah, I'm not anti-fast cars.
I'm not anti-powerful cars or anything like that.
But I think people need to or companies need to realize who their market is.
And if you're giving, I don't know, the guy just trying to commute to work or the mum
going on the school run, nearly 450 brake horsepower, you need to think, why?
Why are we doing that?
Why are we giving them that?
What does it add to the experience in any way?
This is an SUV for crying out loud.
It doesn't need 450 brake horsepower.
It's not going to go around corners on its door handles or anything like that.
You are running the risk of it being dangerous.
That's the problem.
That's part of it is that it doesn't, the rest of the vehicle isn't necessarily up to the
440 horsepower and the 5.5 second 0-62 mile no dash.
Well, almost certainly the person behind the wheel isn't.
That's what worries me about some of these.
And the person behind the wheel probably, I know that I'm not necessarily.
No, I'm not pretending I can.
Shall we go from that to something far nicer?
Yes.
We've spoken about Neil Van Roy and his design company a number of times before.
The first time he came to prominence was with a Tesla Model S,
station wagon, the green one.
And he's played lots of other things since, including Ferrari's and all sorts of stuff.
He has started a new division of his company and it's called Autoformer.
And the idea seems to be to use those kind of, basically the design skills that exist
and apply them to restomers.
And it's not a Porsche.
And it's not a Porsche.
Yes.
That's what's good.
And 964 has not been sacrificed for this.
Mostly because it is based on a classic Volvo P1800ES, the shooting rate,
three door estate ones.
And in this case, it's five cylinder turbocharged motor from the Volvo T5 engine.
You can do whatever you want, really, depending on how much you're prepared to pay.
There's going to be five cars each year, is the count.
But there's a sort of, there's kind of starting specs that you can sort of begin from.
So there's Heritage Heaven, Modern Marvel or Forward Fashionista.
The Forward Fashionista is the most radical of the sort of styles.
Prices will start from €300,000 excluding taxes.
That's about £261.
£61,000.
£261,000, yes.
Otherwise, we're forming an orderly queue.
I'll have all five, please.
Yeah, there's some great pictures in this motoring research article.
I'll also link to the Autiformer website as well, so you can really have a good,
take your time when looking at these things.
I love what they've done and just, it just looks really good.
I'm always a big fan of LEDs on older cars anyway.
And I know quite a few people really don't like that look, but I've always liked that.
That doesn't defend me.
I mean, it depends, person.
This doesn't have dead eyes.
No.
Seems to be very much the minis.
Any of the, though, mini Metro and Defendant Resto Mods,
probably because it's the same flippin' light.
Yeah, probably, yes.
It will be, won't it?
They've just taken the candle out and now put a bulb in.
Give or take it.
Yeah, well, give or take a fitting or two.
And I don't like those, but certainly these renders.
And what they've also been pains to stress is that the idea is they want to keep the
analogue driving experience, but their main effort is to improve the reliability and ease of use.
So this is, if not chuck these engines in under the oily bits and everything else they've upgraded
to make it do 0-60 in 0.3 of a second or anything silly like that,
it's just so that you can use them all the time and make it your daily.
Neil does that with his stuff, though.
Yeah, because what I love about his stuff is he's so sensible in the approach, but
has such beautiful details in the cars.
The Rolls-Corniche shooting break is the other one that's similar to this,
which I think that was the last thing they announced, which is very much a one-off.
But I love that it's for a Dutch client.
And so in the back, there's a fold-out bike rack,
much like you could at one point speck on a Corsa or a Mareeve.
But it slides away and it's invisible and then you bring it out.
You don't have to hang stuff off the back and stuff.
I just love all the little bits like that, which are so cool.
So I would love to see one of these in the flesh and just have half an hour to just go over it.
Look at all the details.
Yeah, great looking car.
Love the fact they've done this.
Do click on the links in the show notes because you're just going to enjoy
looking at what they're proposing to do.
The name of the model is the Norsken, N-O-R-R-S-K-E-N,
which is the Swedish word for the O-R-R-O-R-H-S.
Right, okay.
I have never learned something.
Right, I'm going to move us on to points of interest.
And we're going to start with the lunchtime read from Top Gear.
And they have interviewed a chap who decided,
yes, I do want to go from Paris to Tokyo.
But I'm not going to be one of those that spends a ton of money on a fabulous camper.
No, no, no, no.
I am going to take a Peugeot 104, an old Peugeot 104.
Which was his first car as well.
So it wasn't as if he even went out and bought another car for this.
104 was a five-door hatchback for those of you who need reminded that came before the 205.
And when you think about it, to drive from France down across Greece, across Turkey,
and right through all of that area across Mongolia, and through a little bit of Russia,
until you eventually get to Japan, it's actually a very, very sensible car to take.
I know that sounds silly.
There's not a lot of space in it.
You're going to get a packed light, I guess.
But it's a small car, so you can dodge between the worst obstacles.
It's so simple, you can fix it with a hammer and a coat hanger.
And it has extremely compliant French suspension that from the time when
Peugeot's worked in North Africa, it seems like a really quite an inspired choice of vehicle,
to be honest.
But yeah, it's a great, don't spend, I'm not going to go through and tell you the whole story.
As outlined in Top Gear, you should really go read it yourself.
It's really interesting.
When we can find adventures in cars, we love to bring them to you to share with you.
Because we just love the fact that I'm living vicariously through these people,
going off and doing these crazy, mad things and having a brilliant time.
One of the pictures will show you that he's got a YouTube channel as well,
which I presume there's some, I've not looked it up.
I've not had a chance to look it up.
I presume that there's quite a bit about the journey as well in that.
Do click the link in the show notes, do read it, and then if it takes you fancy,
then see if you can find out some more.
But yeah, brilliant idea.
Super cool.
Another good one is this week's list of the week.
Well, it's good, apart from fact that it makes us feel old and that's bad.
Yeah, because it's that thing where people say, oh, this thing that happened,
or this song that came out, or this film came out, and it was X number of years ago,
and you suddenly go, no, that was, it was only five years ago, wasn't it, 10 years ago?
For those of us who play Cardle every morning, we have this quite often.
It's the whole, I can't believe it was that long ago thing that many of us feel most mornings.
So you fall at the year then?
Oh yeah, I always fall at the year.
It's a thing.
I'm very good at falling at the year.
Well, the title of it is called 25 cars that are 40 in 2026.
Yes.
We're sorry, but not sorry.
Oh no, I'm in mourning.
Andrew, what have you chosen?
Well, there could have been a lot I could have picked in here.
There was some that I had no idea about because there are a few American cars in there,
or American only market cars.
Yes.
That I've not seen or recognized, but most of them you will, you should recognize.
And again, Link will be in the show notes.
But if everybody could turn to slide 26 of 26, and I have selected the Volvo 480,
I cannot believe that is 40 years.
There's no way that's 40 years old.
Not no.
No.
That was from the last time that Volvos were hugely unreliable.
I will go as far as 20 years.
I'm not going because we're not in 2026, so that doesn't matter.
We're only in about 2010.
I would give you a 30 years to be honest on this one.
But yeah, it was sort of ground shaking that they came out with that at that time.
Yeah, absolutely.
The thing is that my memory of the 480, I mean, it does look good.
I saw one not so long ago, and it's still a distinctive car.
And the thing is that Volvo at the time, everything was absolutely square.
Yeah.
And you can see they were trying to recreate a little bit of the P1800 we just talked about as well.
A little bit, yeah.
Yes, yes, yes, you could, but still the front with the pop-up headlamps and everything.
That was so un-volvo.
It always makes a car cool.
One day I long towed in a car with the pop-up headlamps.
I know everyone's going to give that good, actually.
They're really practical.
And they always wait, they can't flash things, and I don't care.
I just want the pop-up headlamps, all right?
That's simple.
Don't start telling me all those practicalities.
Yeah, don't give me reality.
I don't want reality.
I'm at the other end of the scale.
I have chosen slide number two, which is the E32 BMW 7 series.
And I remember this because my dad was a finance director at a BMW dealership when it came out.
I actually had the launch brochures, which my mother subsequently banned,
as is the story of these things.
That's one of the reasons why I can't believe it's 14,
but because I remember quite distinctly when it was launched.
And the other thing about it, of course, is that it was 7 series,
first 7 series that was available from factory with a long wheelbase.
And the other thing in there was the 5-liter V12 that you got in the 750iL.
And the lady who owned the dealership my dad worked for, she had one as her company car.
It was the demonstrator.
And then there was one time when she didn't need it, and I don't know what was up,
dad's, which demonstrated that he drove most of the time, which was normally
another one on the list here, an E30 BMW 3 series,
being through a multiplicity of them over the years.
And yeah, he brought that, collected me from school one evening in it,
and I got to sit in the back like that, the Lord Fong, or in my feet on the little
lamb's wool covered, covered foot rests and this massive, you could press buttons and things
happened. And it was amazing because of course it was dealer demonstrators thing.
So I have a very soft spot for the E32 7 series.
They look good as well. They really look good.
Those tail lights with the L shape, so they actually had two indicators and two
brakes as well, sections in it, so there was redundancy if something happened,
if the bolt went out and things, can bust of everything, so it would tell you on the dashboard
if something was up. It was really cool at the time.
Anyway, do click the link in the show notes and see which out of those makes you feel old,
if it's not just all of them.
And that brings us on to the end finally. We're sticking with classics and sports
cars and it's more motoring art and this time from a gentleman called John A Fry.
And he is an illustrator, but he is also an industrial designer and he creates art that is
sort of a retrofuturistic style where there is a, and Alan came up with this great word before
because I was stumbling horrifically trying to explain it, but a fusion of vehicles,
but based on cars mainly, but then elements from other types of vehicle.
And there's some, I just, I always love this sort of stuff and there is some absolutely
lovely diagram, images here and stuff that he's got and it's like done fake model box lids.
Tamiya style model lids, that kind of thing for these vehicles.
Yeah. Yeah, they're just, it's just very cool, very clever.
Yeah, there will be also a link to his own website as well in the show notes so you can,
you know, look around even further from outside of what's been put in this article.
But they're super cool, they're really nice. Just, they're just very different.
Obviously there's just so many great, you know, motoring artists that you can follow and commission
and things on Blue Sky, I'm sure on Twitter, maybe there are some amongst the AI junk,
but you know, Blue Sky and stuff as well. So do, guys, this is a great way to get a
surprisingly reasonably priced present of people sometimes that don't forget to
support motoring artists. Yep. Yep. There's, yeah, I follow quite a few on Blue Sky,
not that I'm on Blue Sky at the moment, but I follow quite a few on there and I've purchased
art from them. I'm just waiting to put it up. But yeah, no, there is a ton of really
talented people out there. So if you're on a weird car, Blue Sky or whatever it's called,
you will find them there and you will see people retweeting them. So even if you can't buy them,
retweet their stuff, repost their stuff, because that may get them a sale. And in today,
that makes a big difference. And of course, John Fry here, fantastic stuff, too. So that was the
sort of inspiration and the link between the two, that's not to say. This is such a cool thing. I
really like some of these sort of Tamiya style boxes. I like the Team Tirolia project. Well,
Projeuvert. Yes. With the 1975 Type 35x4 autonomic and you probably got a slight hint of what that
might be like from the name, but it's very cool. It has six wheels, that's all you need to know.
That's it for the week, isn't it? It is. We have every intention of being the normal setup again
next week, which is good and reassuring. I'm looking at you just to make sure you're nodding
at the minute. Yeah, I can't think that I wouldn't be, but who knows.
Very well, exactly. But between now and then, you can give us any feedback,
share your thoughts on the show at motoringpodcast.com on Blue Sky, at Motoring Podcast on Instagram
and on Facebook, and on the contact page of www.motoringpodcast.com, the hub of all our activities.
Remember, you can support us financially via Patreon and please leave a review and rating on
Apple Podcasts, YouTube or every other podcast app that should do such a thing. And you're in
the meantime, what's the best way to get in touch with you? The best way to get in touch with me is
if you look for me on LinkedIn. And Alan, if people want to get in touch with you personally,
possibly about great ideas for a car with pop-up headlights as a future purchase,
what's the best way for them to get in touch with you? The best way to get in touch with me is
always Blue Sky, where I'm at AJP Bradley, that's B-R-A-D-L-E-Y dot B Sky dot social.
We'll be back very soon. Until then, I've been Alan Bradley, I've been Andrew Clues and Safe Motoring.
About this episode
This week's episode dives into the latest automotive news, including Ford's staggering £5.9 billion loss attributed to its struggling EV business and its recent drop in global sales behind BYD. The hosts discuss the implications of government mandates on Ford's strategy and the challenges faced by Stellantis as it reintroduces diesel models in Europe. Additionally, they cover BMW's recall of nearly 25,000 vehicles due to faulty starter motors and the expansion of b.ev's charging network across the UK, highlighting the ongoing evolution in the electric vehicle landscape.
Obviously on the day we published last week’s episode the news came out that OX Delivers had failed to find the funding it needed and has entered recievership. Thanks to listener Suzie Richards for sending the article link confirming this. You can read more, by clicking this link from The Business Desk here.
FORD POSTS ANOTHER BIG LOSS
Ford has announced their financial results for 2025, with $8.2 billion in losses. A large portion of this being a write-down in the final quarter after the US changed their national policy on electric vehicles. The results for the final quarter of 2025 was a $11.1 billion loss. Adding to the gloom, BYD outsold Ford on the global market. To read more, click this Auotcar article link here.
STELLANTIS BRINGING BACK DIESELS
Stellantis are bringing back some diesel models, in Europe, following their pivot from an electrified centric future. They have added Peugeot 308, Opel Astra and DS 4 options, on top of which Opel Combo Van, Citroën Berliongo and Peugeot Rifter. To read more on this, click the electrive article link here.
BMW RECALL ANNOUNCED
BMW is recalling 575,000 cars, globally, due to starter motor issue that could result in a fire. In the UK 24,732 cars are affected by this recall, with BMW stating that the car is not to be left unattended if the engine is running. Click this Autocar article link here to find out which cars are involved.
BE.EV EXPANDS THROUGH ACQUISITION
Be.EV, the UK public charging network, has expanded by aquiring the UK arm of the European charging network Mer. By doing so, they have added 450 sites, with 1600 charge bays. For more on this, click the electrive link here.
HARROW TO INSTALL 500 CHARGE POINTS IN BOROUGH
Once again the neglected South East is getting some charge points, this time in the London Borough of Harrow. 500 on-street charge points are to be installed char.gy and the project will be completed by October 2026. Click this electrive article link to read more.
KENT TO INSTALL 10,000 ON-STREET CHARGERS
More good news for the South East, as the disparity of charge points compared to the rest of the country will hopefully be one step closer to being rectified as Kent County Council announce that 10,000 on-street chargers are to be installed across the county dependent on demand and suitability. You can read more, by clicking this electrive article link here.
If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCASTNEW NEW CAR NEWS -Mazda 6e
Mazda has now released details for the UK version of the...
