Toyota C-HR+ Interview, BYD Blade Battery 2.0 and Flash Charger, MG4X Semi-Solid State Battery, Leapmotor Ireland Launches "Take The Leap Champion", CUPRA 2025 Dealer of the Year, Save the Date Kildare Nevo Driving Experience

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Welcome back to the Nevo EV News podcast.

If it's Tuesday, it must be Nevo EV News Day, season two, episode one.

On this week's episode, we are just back from the Algarve where we were there with Mercedes-Benz,

but we can't talk about that for a couple of weeks.

But we were also there afterwards with Toyota, driving the new CHR Plus,

and we got to interview the chief engineer for the project.

We have some news about BYD's Blade Battery 2.0,

MG's solid state model coming to the market, Leap Motor,

and their drive to, what is it?

Take the Leap initiative ahead of the VHI Women's Mini Marathon.

Cooper revealed the retailer of the year for 2026.

Zooks are partnering with Uber.

If you're a regular on the podcast, you'll know what a Zooks is.

And then we're also going to be chatting about our next regional driving experience

in partnership with Bank of Ireland coming to County Kildare.

For those who don't know, my name is Derek Riley,

and on this podcast, we chat about all things electric vehicles.

Nevo's Ireland's only dedicated EV platform,

and we'll be covering where we were this week,

what we've been driving, and what we've been doing between the podcasts.

If you haven't already subscribed or followed us, wherever you're listening to,

please do so, and if you enjoyed the episode,

please leave us a rating and a comment.

It really helps us out, and it doesn't cost you anything.

So let's get stuck in.

And I think we get stuck straight into the interview

with the chief engineer for the Toyota CHR Plus.

My name is Masaya Uchiyama, chief engineer of CHR Plus.

Thank you very much for your time today,

and I'm just back from driving the CHR Plus.

I was lucky enough to be here at Meet the Engineers

a couple of months ago in France.

Can you bring me back to when you started thinking

about developing a C-segment battery electric vehicle?

So that's back to the year 2021, that's almost four years ago.

So that's the start point of the CHR Plus.

Because CHR 2016, a super popular car, very much in Europe as well.

But now we have the Plus element because there is a difference.

Yes. So CHR, it has our identity, which is the emotional design

and emotional driving, and then that electrical power

amplifies that character even further, that means Plus.

Very good. A larger battery than BZ4X, and so bigger range as well.

Your largest range in the front-wheel drive with the large battery.

Yes. So why we have the largest battery in the CHR Plus

is CHR Plus launched later than the Abz4X.

We have a technical improvement for that, yes.

And it joins the rest of your electric lineup now as well.

We may not get them all in Ireland, but I have international listeners as well.

So we have Urban Cruiser, CHR Plus, BZ4X, and BZ Touring now.

So a big lineup, bringing back to CHR Plus.

Can you tell me about some of the development of that project

because you talked about making it more stiff.

So it's nicer to drive on the road.

So we started with the BZ4X, which is the D-segment global size.

But when we look at each area, so when we look at the Europe 4,

probably Compact R is best for the Europe 4.

So we decided to expand the lineup down to the C-segment

and also the Urban Cruiser B-segment.

And the C-segment, that's good for the couple, single, and also the small family.

We just have small babies.

And also we want to put more emotional design on that.

So that's the start point of the CHR Plus.

Very good. And I think you're saying small babies, but I'm a big baby

and I can fit in the back of the CHR Plus.

So it's not small by any means. It's a nice size SUV.

Yes, I think that's a very nice side for small family, which has one or two kids, I think, I think.

You also talk about the noise, the vibration and harshness

and making sure that it's a serene drive, a quiet drive.

Can you talk to me about some of the engineering involved with that?

Yes, so we think the babe kind of experience, the drive feeling is very clean.

So to have that kind of characteristic, also vibration and the noise

that have to be very quiet and clean.

So to do that, we put a lot of insulator into the body and also the body itself.

It has 30% torsional rigid versus the current generation CHR

that helps to reduce the noise and not noise, it's the vibration.

Yes, also the practicality of the CHR Plus.

You have a over 400 liter trunk or boot, as we would say in Ireland and a control as well.

Very important.

Right, I think that's very important.

So the CHR, that was a very emotional compact SUV.

But we have many feedback about the luggage size or something like that,

the rear seat comfort or something like that.

So we decided to have a little bigger space for the boot and also the rear seat,

which is very practical for the small family.

Yes.

Can I ask what was the biggest challenge with developing the CHR Plus?

Well, the biggest challenge is to understand the European market expectation

for this C-segment vehicles.

So we have a D-segment VZ4X, but it's kind of a global car.

But when we look at specifically for the European market,

you have a lot of road conditions, a lot of kind of experience.

It values country by country.

So to meet these expectations, we need to learn a lot about European kind of customers

and situations.

That starting point, that was very challenging.

But an exciting market too, because the size of the market in a global context is important to Toyota.

And Toyota is a very important brand for Europe.

And you have a number of different powertrains, different models and makes,

as you said, different countries have different journeys towards going fully electric.

So the biggest challenge was this, what's the thing you're most proud of with the CHR Plus?

What are the most, I think that's difficult questions.

So I prioritize, I think, three things.

One is the BEV practicality, and another one is the packaging,

which is the most important part of the practicality.

And also we automotive, so BEV for car lovers, that essence.

These three, I think important part for the CHR Plus.

Very good.

And when you say BEV is important, but for car lovers,

can you explain that a small bit and explain what you mean by this?

Well, the BEV for car lovers, that means the CHR has kind of that essentials,

emotional drive, responsive, agile, and fun.

Those elements, I think we are very important for this kind of vehicle.

So to do that, we have a very solid body, which is the Toyota dedicated E-TNG platform.

And also we have a special tune, suspension, and EPS, I mean, electrical power, motor,

map, and also air-to-body control.

These things, technically, these things support this element.

Support that car makes more responsive and agile and fun.

At the presentation last night, you talked about the suspension also,

how important it is because with a battery, it's a very, it's a heavier car.

And the CHR, that's currently on the road.

So you talked about different suspension elements within the presentation.

Yes, we have a specially tuned suspension, coil spring, absorber, stabilizer.

So these things are dedicated to the European road conditions.

Because sometimes they're not always.

Yes, not always.

Not always.

When we were here back in France, I was speaking to your colleague who's also in the room today

about design, and he likes the big 20 inch wheels.

Okay, that looks very cool.

It looks cool, but not very efficient.

Well, not as efficient as the 18 inches.

So if anybody's interested in listening back and having a listen to that.

With such a great lineup now of BEV, but you also have hybrid, plug-in,

hybrid fuel cell electric vehicles, there's a great choice within the Toyota lineup now.

Yes, I think that's very important for the country by country.

Each country has its own situations.

So to meet that, we need to prepare the multi-passway vehicles.

So some country needs hybrids.

Some country still needs ice engine.

Some country is okay for BEV.

So to meet all these expectations from the customers, I think the lineup like this,

the multi-passway lineup is very important for Toyota.

Very good.

Some difficult questions.

What is your favorite color in the CHR Plus?

Well, I like Minelow.

Oh.

Yes, greenish gray.

Yes.

That color.

Yes, I love that color.

I like the metal oxide.

It's all metal oxide.

That's a good one too.

Nice.

And then if you were to pick up the four electric vehicles that are currently

on the Toyota lineup, five with Hyland.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, actually, we just announced the Hylander BEV in US.

Yes, I'm going to have to get over to the US to have a drive of this.

So you give me the thumbs up there.

But I have a big US audience.

So six, Hilux?

Hilux, Albon Cruiser, CHR Plus, BG4X, Touring, and Hylander.

So you have six to choose from, which is your favorite?

Like a child?

Well, probably no answer.

Every vehicle has its own kind of target customers.

You have to pick one for my family.

Yes.

Busy for X.

Oh, very good.

Very popular car in Europe and very popular car in the Scandinavian countries also.

And a lot of people back home are now looking forward to getting the next generation

with all the improvements.

With the last night, we were listening to the presentation

about the charging speed and the importance of that charging speed.

Toyota has done a great job with regards to the efficiency of the charging, the heat pump.

So 28 minutes.

28 minutes.

But even at minus 10 and minus 20 degrees,

hopefully we never see these temperatures in Ireland.

But you do get it in Norway, et cetera.

Less than 30 minutes.

Yes.

So that's a good point.

So that's a big request from the northern countries

because they have about zero, minus 10, minus 20 degrees usually.

So if you change, if the battery charging time varies, depends on the weather,

that is not practical.

We think the consistency of the charging time,

that is part of a practical point, yes.

It's great consistency for everybody, no matter the temperature of the market, et cetera.

Last question.

What are you most excited about the future of Toyota in the electric side of things?

Well, we have now kind of full line up for the bev.

So now we are launching a lot of bev to many customers, many lifestyles.

And then now we are waiting for the feedback from those lifestyles.

So I'm very excited to hear that feedback and improve our vehicle again.

Oh, very good.

And last night when we asked questions afterwards, we were talking about

which you feel will be the most popular car in Europe.

And we think it will be the CHR plus as well as part of the range.

We think that that will be the most popular one in Europe.

So hopefully that will be the case.

But they're all good.

That's CHR plus.

Thank you so much for your time.

No problem.

Thank you.

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throughout your journey.

Visit medexpress.co.uk slash podcast to learn more.

Thanks very much to Zoe Bradley in Toyota Ireland

for arranging that interview with the chief engineer.

And thank you very much to him and his team for their time.

Next up, we have the blade battery and came in from Hall Pure.

BYD removes the final barrier to electrification with the new blade

battery 2.0 and the flash charger.

So what the press release talks about.

It's BYD is ready to break down the final barriers to widespread EV adoption through

its self-developed flash charging, delivering 1,500 kilowatt through a single connector,

coupled with the second generation blade battery.

With the introduction of this new blade battery 2.0 and the self-developed flash charger,

said to be the world's most advanced power battery working in tandem with the fastest

mass-produced EV charger, their new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD is setting its sights

on making recharging as easy as refuelling.

Resulting from intensive development by BYD, the two new technologies can deliver

remarkable charging speeds, regardless of the conditions.

Featuring a unique T-shaped overhead design that helps remove many of the less appealing

aspects of recharging procedures, the 10 to 70 refill takes as little as five minutes,

with 10 to 97 requiring only 9 minutes, even with temperatures at minus 30 degrees celsius,

conditions that would normally result in a significant reduction in charging speeds.

The flash charger can take a blade battery 2.0 from 20 to 97% in only 12 minutes,

thanks to a 5% gain in energy density, the blade battery 2.0 is capable of longer distances on

a single charge, with ranges of more than 1,000 km now achievable.

With 4,239 flash charging stations already installed across China, BYD expects to have

20,000 in operation by the end of this year to support the scale and speed of the throw out

a wide variety of locations. The station is paired with an ultra-fast discharge energy

storage system that helps to break down through grid restrictions, using the battery that gets

recharged at a slower speed. It acts as both an energy reservoir to prevent grid overload and

amplifier that enables high power charging. The first card to feature the flash charging

and blade battery 2.0 to reach European customers will be the Denza Z9 GT, the flagship shooting

brick, Grand Tour from BYD's premium brand Denza. BYD is committed to making the flash

charging stations available globally, with announcements on overseas rollout plans expected

in due course. Fast charging folks and we're getting to the stage where, as it says in the

press release, that it's going to be as convenient as filling up a petrol or diesel,

not that that's a very topic that people want to talk about at the moment with the prices of that.

Moving over to MG and their semi-solid-state battery that's coming out with their MG4X,

so it's their chunkier, higher riding sibling to the existing EV4 and 4EV Urban

Electric Hatchbacks. It measures 4.4m long, 1.8m wide, 1.6m tall, according to Chinese media,

making it slightly smaller than the S5 EV that's currently offered in the UK and Ireland.

We don't have confirmation that this 4X is going to come to the Irish market but

the fact that it is coming with a semi-solid-state battery is moving away from the cyber stir

inspired grill split front end on the S5, the 4EV Urban and the various ICE models.

Technical details have yet to be confirmed but MG said all examples of the 4X would be

fitted with semi-solid-state batteries. These use solid and liquid gel electrolytes instead of

solely liquid ones, improving energy density, performance and extremely hot or cold weather.

To that end, it's 53.95kWh pack will have a range of 317 miles over 500km,

that is China's CLTC test. The 4X interiors will be revealed in the coming months,

bringing digital interface development in partnership with phone maker Oppo.

That's the third model to be badged as MG for the 4X turns the Chinese brand Lamarck Hatchback

once the Ireland's and UK's cheapest EV into a full family model.

MG said it's targeting younger buyers in its home market of China but it remains to be seen

how the 4X will be positioned if it's brought to the Irish showrooms.

The launch of another mid-size electric crossover may only serve to steal sales from the S5.

Nonetheless, MG is expanding its model range at a great price. It recently launched the MG for

Urban and the S6EV will soon introduce the S9PHEV also, so keep an eye out for more coming from MG.

Next story, we'll take a break first.

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Welcome back after the break and we are Leap Motor launches the Take the Leap Challenge

initiative ahead of the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon 2026. Leap Motor Ireland is proud to announce

the launch of its new Take the Leap Challenge initiative celebrating the inspiration stories

behind the 2026 VHI Women's Mini-Marathon, marking Leap Motor's inaugural year as the

official motor sponsor of this much loved national event. Running from March to May 2026,

the initiative invites people of Ireland to nominate women taking part in this year's event,

who deeply personal what means me stories, sorry about drives me stories, reflect the incredible

resilience, courage and emotional transformation that define both the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon

and Leap Motor's Take the Leap ethos. Each month from March to May, one outstanding nominee would

be named as the Take the Leap Champion. They will receive one of a brand new 262 registration

Leap Motor for six months through to the end of the year. The VHI Women's Mini-Marathon has always

been defined by emotions behind every step, for those running in memory of loved ones,

to those doing it for somebody who can't be there on the day, said Mark Brennan,

marketing manager of Leap Motor Ireland. Through our Take the Leap Challenge initiative,

we want to shine a light on those special who drive me stories, so they are synchronous with

the Mini-Marathon. It's anonymous, apologies, and celebrate the inordinate women who do extraordinary

things year after year. Now in its 44th year, the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon continues to empower

women of all fitness levels to participate, supporting causes close to their hearts while

celebrating strength, community and purpose. David O'Leary, the race director of the VHI

Women's Mini-Marathon said, our participants care deeply about the community and making choices

that reflect their values. The Take the Leap Champion initiative is a fantastic way to recognize

these stories and we're delighted to see our partners Leap Motors bring this to life

and lead up to the race day. Nominations for Take the Leap Champion initiatives can be submitted

on a dedicated link in the description of this podcast hosted by Leap Motor Ireland. The campaign

will be promoted across Leap Motor Ireland and VHI Women's Mini-Marathon digital channels

in the months ahead. As official motor sponsor, Leap Motor Ireland will provide a fleet of its

exciting all-electric vehicles including the recently launched SUV, the Leap Motor C10,

the compact T03 CityCare and the brand new Leap Motor B10 SUV to serve as official support

vehicles throughout the event. The fleet will also include a lead car guiding thousands of

participants along the iconic Dublin route into the heart of one of Ireland's most beloved

sporting events. The VHI Women's Mini-Marathon takes place on Sunday, May 31st, 2026.

Next story we have is the CUPRA retailer of the year. Great to get the email from Caroline.

Cork dealership recognized for outstanding performance across key business criteria,

cementing its position as Ireland's leading CUPRA retailer. Finbar Gavin Limited and Bandon

County Cork was named the retailer of the year 2025, apologies I said 2026. Family-run business

celebrating 50 years and founded by the late Finbar Gavin in 1975. The award recognizes exceptional

overperformance across key business criteria including sales, customer experience and after

sales. It was already an award-winning dealership based in County Cork. The most prestigious

individual accolade that the CUPRA retailer network can bestow upon a dealership for the

retailer of the year. The award which is determined by exceptional overperformance across a rigorous

selection of key business criteria places Finbar Gavin Limited at the very top of CUPRA's national

retail network score hurt. It's not awarded lightly. CUPRA evaluates the entire network

against a comprehensive set of performance benchmarks encompassing sales achievements,

customer experience, after sales excellence and brand representation and recognizes only

those dealerships that demonstrate consistent and significant overperformance across each area.

Justin Galvin, the managing director of Finbar Gavin Limited, we're absolutely thrilled to receive

the recognition from CUPRA. This award belongs to every single person on our team. Their dedication

to delivering an exceptional experience for every customer is what drives everything we do

that they have recognized at national level is incredibly rewarding. Martha, the brand director

of CUPRA Ireland, Finbar Gavin Limited is a shining example of what it means to be a CUPRA

partner. Their results in 2025 were exceptional and this award reflects the very high standards that

they set across every dimension of their business. We're proud to recognize that them as the CUPRA

retailer of the year 2025 and look forward to continuing growth together. The dealership itself

based in Bandon County Cork began with modest premises and a straightforward philosophy to

treat people fairly and do a job well. Now led by their son, managing director Justin,

the business has grown from one of Ireland's leading most decorated motor retailers,

as mentioned celebrating 50 years in 2025. Congratulations to all at

Finbar Gavin Limited and Bandon County Cork. Zooks is partnering with Uber, if those of you

that follow the podcast, but also the YouTube channel will have seen I did a ride in my first

ride in the Zooks, which is a driverless autonomous vehicle and got the email during the week that

Zooks is partnering with Uber. We're excited to announce that Zooks is partnering with Uber to

bring our RoboTaxi experience to Uber's growing autonomy platform in selected cities. As part of

this multi-year agreement, it's dedicated fleet of Zooks, RoboTaxi's will be available

through the Uber app beginning later this year in Las Vegas. And then in Los Angeles,

what we will continue to offer our services through the Zooks app in addition to rides being

available through Uber in those cities. So it was built for riders from day one. It was founded in

2014 and a bold belief if you're going to reinvent mobility, you have to start from scratch.

Instead of retrofitting cars with autonomous technology, we designed the world's first

purpose-built RoboTaxi, fully autonomous, all electric, bi-directional and internationally

engineered around the driver experience. Since the very beginning, we focused on our vision of

delivering safe and enjoyable mobility. I was only talking to a taxi driver about this this morning

in his Volkswagen ID4. Like Zooks, Uber was founded in San Francisco with a vision of

improving urban transportation. It started in 2010, Uber as a ride-hail app connecting riders

with cars that quickly evolved over the past decade. It expanded into shared food, food delivery,

freight logistics, micro-mobility, and now moving into and building the autonomous vehicle network.

So if you're in these states and you're on Uber, you can potentially one of those cities

get a Zooks. And if you're wondering what the hell is a Zooks, you can head over to the YouTube

channel and have a look to see what it's all about. Last but by no means least, we had a

nominal weekend last weekend in the Marina marker in Cork with our first 2026 regional

driving experience in partnership with Bank of Ireland. We had 1700 attendees, we carried out

275 test drives. It was one of our largest regional events to date, and we are going to take it to

the next level and to the next location at the end of April to the car racecourse in County Kildare.

Date is the, where is my dates? Sunday, the 26th of April in County Kildare. So if you're

interested in attending, if you're in the area, if that date works for you, tickets will be

announced soon on nevo.ie. And once you get your ticket registered, you can actually then go and

get test drive books in, et cetera, et cetera. So stay tuned for more information on that.

On the day, lots of electric vehicles, lots of local expertise. We have the stages where we chat

about all things electric vehicles, whether you're on the journey, just started on the journey,

or you're thinking about your next electric vehicle. And then around that off, we have some

amazing test drive experiences as well. So hopefully you've enjoyed season two, episode one of the

Nevo EV News podcast. If you haven't already subscribed, please do so. Hit the like button,

leave a rating, leave a comment. All the interaction has been great. And thank you so

much to everybody that sent their congratulations messages after season one, 52 weeks, 52 episodes

of the podcast. Thank you so much. Didn't miss a week. And we're back on track with this again.

And I look forward to chatting to you next week.

If you're heading into the new year wanting a fresh start, MedExpress offers a simple way

to explore weight management treatment from home. Start with our short online consultation to check

your eligibility. There's no pressure or big resolutions, just small achievable steps at your

own pace. If eligible, treatment is delivered discreetly with support from UK registered

clinicians throughout your journey. Visit medexpress.co.uk slash podcast to learn more.

Did the kids get home safe? Where is the dog? With Arlo's early warning system and new cameras,

Pro 6 and Ultra 3, you'll always know Arlo's AI doesn't just detect, it recognizes your dog on

the sofa, your kids coming home, unfamiliar faces and even fire. Get real-time alerts so you can

protect those who matter most. Arlo, home where you need us to be. Discover more at Arlo.com.

And for extra satisfaction, here's the T's and C's. Let's rock!

Toyota C-HR+ Interview, BYD Blade Battery 2.0 and Flash Charger, MG4X Semi-Solid State Battery, Leapmotor Ireland Launches "Take The Leap Champion", CUPRA 2025 Dealer of the Year, Save the Date Kildare Nevo Driving Experience

About this episode

Toyota C-HR Plus

Blade Battery 2.0

Take the Leap initiative

Leap Motor

Toyota C-HR

Toyota bZ4X

Toyota Urban Cruiser

noise, vibration and harshness (NVH)

boot

European market expectations

C-segment vehicles

powertrain

BEV

Toyota dedicated E-TNG platform

EPS

suspension

stabilizer

coil spring

absorber

hybrid

multi-passway vehicles

metal oxide

Toyota Hilux

heat pump

Dodge Charger

BYD

flash charger

fast charging

energy density

CUPRA

RoboTaxi

Uber

Request an Explanation

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Help improve this episode

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