Motoring Podcast - News Show podcast | Listen online for free

Available Episodes

5 of 317

Less meh - 16 September 2025
FOLLOW UP: JLR WOES CONTINUEAs expected, there is no quick resolution to their IT woes, following the hack reported on 1 September, 2025. Also, again as expected, they have confirmed that data has been accessed including personal data. However, we do not know who’s data that is. Reports suggest the company is losing around £5 million per day, thanks to the global shutdown. As a result there are increasing calls for the Government to step in and support the JLR. To read more about the situation, click this Autocar article link here. SHOCKING FAIL FOR MG3 DURING EURONCAP TESTSDuring the latest round of EuroNCAP tests the MG3 driver’s seat, when in the frontal offset crash test, twisted upon impact due to the latching mechanism failing. MG has confirmed that this has now been rectified but cars bought before August 2025 will not get the fix. Added to this is that the driver’s airbag was only sufficient for an “adequate” rating. If you want to find out more, click this Autocar article link here. EU AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY SUMMITEU politicians and the continent’s car manufacturers have met to discuss the state of the industry and the future. The EU is sticking by its 2035 ICE ban but is open to a new car category, for small efficient vehicles, similar to the Japanese kei car. For more on this story, click this electrive article link here. VW ID.GOLF TO BE DELAYEDThe woes for Volkswagen continue as news comes out that they are delaying the launch of the ID.Golf and ID.Roc, as well as seeking a partner for their battery subsidiary PowerCo. The ID.Golf had previously been delayed from 2028 to 2029, but now 2030 is the target. You can read more, by clicking this article link here from electrive. BMW INSTALLS CHARGERS IN NATIONAL PARKSBMW has spent the last three years helping to install 135 charge points in the UK’s National Parks, costing the company around £1 million. On top of that BMW helped fund projects within individual parks. Click this Motoring Research article to read more. ALEXANDER DENNIS OFFERS RETROFIT EV POWERTRAINSAlexander Dennis, the bus manufacturer, is offering a service where they replace older diesel powertrains with new electric ones. This will save some costs for operators the full cost of a new electric bus. If you wish to learn more, click 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Munich Motor ShowThe Munich Motor Show was last week, we run through a summary of what happened and what caught our eye, for good and for bad. Click this Motoring Research article
--------
49:37
--------
49:37
Mood boarded to death - 8 September 2025
NEW CAR REGISTRATIONS AUGUST 2025August registration figures are down on 2024. Typically a quiet month prior to the number plate change in September, it was still a disappointment. We also do not know how much of an effect the mishandling of the ECG approval list had on the overall numbers. BEVs took a 26.5% market share. There are also some returning models to the Top Models list and a newcomer. To read more, click this link from the SMMT. JLR HIT BY CYBER ATTACKJLR have been hit by a cyber attack that has halted all sales, aftersales and production work. The group claiming responsibility are the ones who hit M&S and others on the UK highstreet. The company has employed specialists to help address the problem but communication has been limited as to what has happened and what is going on. If you want to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. PORSCHE CHANGES TACK ON BATTERIESDue to recent financial performances and market conditions Porsche has reviewed their high performance battery projects and decided to shut some down. They have a battery subsidiary called CellforceGroup which they are reorganising and CellForce will become a small R&D company focusing on developing batteries. This will result in approximately 200 jobs going. For more on this, click the link here from electrive. ZOOPLA TO SHOW PUBLIC EV CHARGER LOCATIONSOccasionally there are stories you hear and think “why hasn’t that been done before” and this is one. Zoopla, in partnership with Vauxhall, are adding whether a listed house has a home charger and if not, the location of nearby public chargers. This is a great initiative. Click this Autocar link here to read more. 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Kia EV5Kia has revealed the specifications and pricing of the EV5, prior to going on sale later this year. Looks wise, it is very similar to the EV9 but smaller and without the third row of seats. Pitched against the Skoda Enyac and Renault Scenic. Kit will be comprehensive, especially as you move up the trim levels and it come with up to 329 WLTP miles. Expect to see these everywhere. Click this EVPowered to find out more. Audi Concept CAhead of the IAA Munich show Audi revealed their Concept C, inspired by the TT but is not to be seen as a replacement for one. The design is similarly executed that of the Jaguar 00 concept. Design chief Massimo Frascella claimed that this is virtually the production ready design, although we have to wait until 2027 before that is shown. Click this Autocar article link here to read more. Porsche culls the 718Linked to the Porsche battery story and the Audi Concept C story, Porsche announced that the 718 models...
--------
40:36
--------
40:36
Own stupidity - 2 September 2025
FOLLOW UP: ECG TWEAK AND FIRST BAND 1 CARS ANNOUNCEDThe Government has tightened the loophole where if one vehicle in the range is eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG) then all others with the same powertrain configuration are, no matter their price. This has been capped at £42,000. Click this Autocar story link here, to read more. Additionally, the Government has announced the first two cars to be eligible for Band 1 of the grant and thus the full £3750. The Ford Puma Gen-E and the E-Tournio Courier. Click this Motor Trader article to read more. LOTUS CUTS MORE STAFFIn the continued troubling news from Lotus there is the announcement that they are cutting another 550 jobs in the UK, roughly 40%. This follows another poor first half to the year, as sales dropped 42%. If you wish to learn more, click this Autocar article link here. DACIA LOSE A CEO BUT FIND ANOTHERDenis Le Vot has decided to leave as head of Dacia, with Katrin Adt taking over the reigns. This is one of several changes in Renault Group management. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here. STELLANTIS SHELVES LEVEL 3 AUTONOMOUS DEVELOPMENTStellantis has pulled the plug on deploying their SAE Level 3 autonomous driving system. In February they were saying it was ready to be rolled out. No reasons have been given but the reality of how expensive it is to developing such systems and the flawed path chosen must be part of the reason. To read more, click this Yahoo! Finance article link here. BATTERY RECYCLING CONSORTIUM RAISES £8.1MA consortium, made up of JLR, LiBatt Recycling, WMG at Warwick University and Mint Innovation has secured £8.1 million investment for their battery recycling plans. They intend to perfect recovering lithium, cobalt and nickel from end of life EV batteries. Click this electrive article link here to read more. TESLAMATE SERVERS OPEN TO ALLTeslaMate is a self-hosted data logger for Tesla owners that records all the data that is sent out by the car. A security researcher has discovered he could access thousands of these self-hosted servers and get all the information from the vehicles. To read more, click this link from TechCrunch 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Changan Deepal S07Changan are one of the biggest Chinese car makers, but you’ve probably not heard of them. You will now as they’re coming to the UK, with the Deepal S07, a similar size to the Skoda...
--------
25:08
--------
25:08
Unoffensive - 26 August 2025
GOVERNMENT CUTS RESTORATION RED TAPEFollowing a long campaign from the Historic and Classic Vehicles Alliance and other similar associations, the Government has simplified the red tape around modifying and restoring vehicles. Notifications can be sent to DVLA for ‘significant structural modifications’ and the vehicle can retain the original license plate number and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). This is a big step forward. Click this Hagerty article link here to find out more. ARIEL DOUBLING PRODUCTION CAPACITY WITH NEW FACTORYAriel, the Somerset based specialist performance vehicle manufacturer, have agreed a deal to buy more land that will allow them to double their production capability. If you want to read more, click this Autocar article link here. HMRC RAISES EV MILEAGE CLAIM RATEAfter lots of complaints were raised over the last announcement of the rate business mileage for electric cars could be claimed back at, HMRC has revised them. Now there are two tiers, home charging and public charging. However, the rates still aren’t great and frankly totally inadequate if you charge via the public network. To find out more, click this Autocar article link here. PLUG-IN VAN AND LORRY GRANT EXTENDEDThe UK Government has extended the plug-in grant for van and lorries, until “at least 2027”. However, the money is coming out of the £650 million we were told was for the Electric Car Grant (ECG), which turns out to also be improving the charging infrastructure across the country. Click this Autocar article link here, to read more. DO NOT HOON YOUR EV FOR MORE BATTERY LIFEA recent study has been misreported, according to Aviloo, battery experts. Many read the results to mean one must be very heavy with the right foot to extend the battery lift of one’s EV. That is not the case. You can find out more by clicking this Carscoops article link here. TESLA DOES HAVE TO FACE CLASS-ACTION OVER SELF-DRIVING CLAIMSA recent hearing, in front of a judge, between those trying to pursue Tesla in a class-action over mis-selling their self-driving system that has yet to make it to market even though they have taken money from people for it, has resulted in permission being granted to pursue the company. If you want to read more, click this Reuters article link here. To read Ed Niedermeyer’s coverage of the hearing, click this link to his Bluesky post. 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 PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - BYD Atto 2BYD has revealed details of their Atto 2, a C segment electric SUV. Priced aggressively, at £30,850, it will
--------
39:12
--------
39:12
In A Bit of a Huff - 18 August 2025
FOLLOW UP: GOVERNMENT CONFIRM ECG ELIGIBLE CARSThe UK Government has released the list of car models that are eligible for the Electric Car Grant (ECG). There are a few surprises, including how no cars meet the Band 1 £3750 grant requirements. Click this link here, from EV Powered, to read more. To see Nick Gibb’s Bluesky post, adding context to the question of how the Nissan Ayria was eligible, click this link here. For the UK Government’s official list of eligible car models, click this link here. FOLLOW UP: CITROËN ADDS MODELS TO ‘STOP-DRIVE’ RECALLCitroën has now added new models to the previous ‘stop-drive’ order over faulty airbags. Car Dealer is reporting that before this around 120,000 vehicles were affected by the issue. Now that the C4 and DS4, built between 2010 and 2011, plus the DS5 built between 2010 and 2013 there is just a fraction under 10,000 additional vehicles. Citroën was already receiving a backlash on the perceived slowness in addressing the problem, this will not help. If you wish to learn more, click this Car Dealer article link here. ROAD SAFETY CONSULTATION LAUNCHEDThe UK Government has launched a road safety consultation, with a number of issues being given prominent place. For example, once drivers reach 70, they will have to have formal eye tests every three years to show they are fit to drive. Drivers with non seat belt wearing passengers will receive points on their license. There are more besides. Click this Autocar article link to read more. UNSAFE ROAD VEHICLE NUMBERS RISE IN UKIn 2024, nearly 50% more vehicles that were found to be unsafe than the previous year. Tyres were the biggest issue but defective brakes too an alarming jump with 1190 drivers charged last year compared to 181 in 2023. To read more, click this Autocar article link here. LONGBOW ADD MANAGEMENT HEAVYWEIGHTS TO BOARDLongbow, the electric sports car start up, has announced that Mike Flewitt, Michael van der Sande and Dan Balmer are now on the advisory board. Flewitt was CEO of McLaren, van der Sande was at Alpine and Balmer was the boss of Lotus Europe. They will help the company as it works to bring a £65,000 lightweight two seater electric sports car out in 2027. If you want to find out more, click this Autocar article link here. JLR THREATEN RIDICULOUS LEGAL ACTIONJLR sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter to the Rail Delivery Group, who run the National Rail website, due to them using the phrase “ranger and rover” to refer to ranger tickets and rover tickets. The car company decided that you are all too stupid to work out a rail company was not referring to a Range Rover. You will now only ever see the words if they are as follows, “ranger tickets and rover tickets”. If you wish to learn more,
--------
44:30
--------
44:30