Motoring Podcast - News Show

Andrew had a Hyundai IONIQ5 on test, for a week. What does the family man make of the multi award winning car from Korea? Listen to him tell Alan about it, the looks, the tech, the tasks that are easier to be actioned via voice control and orientation of volume control icons. Andrew keeps us all in suspense as to his overall verdict until right to the end!

FOLLOW UP: EXPANSION OF LONDON ULEZ ANNOUNCEDFollowing weeks of rumours Sadiq Khan has announced his plans for cutting congestion and improving air quality, by increasing the ULEZ to cover all of London, which appears to deal with only one part of the problem. To learn more about this story, click here for the YesAuto article. FOLLOW UP: SONY HONDA JV EXPLAINEDNick Gibbs, in this linked Autocar article, goes into more detail of what the Honda Sony joint venture probably means. Click the link above to better understand what it means and why it might just work. FORD ANNOUNCES 7 NEW EVS BY 2024Ford has announced that it will launch seven new EVs by 2024, comprising of three passenger cars and four light commercial vehicles. Ford has previously promised to be EV only for passenger cars by 2030. By teaming up with VW and using their MEB platform Ford says it will be able to fulfil this push. For more on the story, click the MoveElectric article here. BMW BUYS ALPINABMW has bought the rights to Alpina, who undertak

FOLLOW UP: GREG KELLY GIVEN SUSPENDED SENTENCEGreg Kelly, the former Nissan executive who was tricked into flying to Japan, has been found guilty on one of the charges brought against him. His sentence was suspended and he has flown back to the U.S. AS the Asian Times article, linked here, points out the ruling is “flawed”. FOLLOW UP: FELICITY ACE SINKS WITH VW GROUP CARS ONBOARDThe Felicity Ace, with it’s cargo of VW Group cars, has sunk following the fire onboard. This follows work for a couple of weeks to rescue the ship following the removal of the crew. To find out more, click this Autocar link here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES FEBRUARY 2022The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released the February 2022 data on new car registrations. The figures are up on the pandemic market but still 25% below the before times. Electric, as well as hybrid and plug-in hybrid registrations rose dramatically. For more on this, click the SMMT article here. CAR INDUSTRY EFFECTED BY INVASION OF UKRAINE

KIA WINS CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDThe KIA EV6 has won the prestigious Car of the Year award, which was announced in Geneva but not whilst the motor show was on due to changes with the event. The EV6 is the first KIA to win and it fought off the Renault MeganeE-Tech Electric and the Hyundai IONIQ third. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. STELLANTIS EXCEEDS FINANCIAL EXPECTATIONSStellantis announced their financial results, for 2021, which exceeded expectations. Their nett profit, operating income and nett revenues far outpaced 2020, which is to be hoped and expected. All of which makes the announcement that they expect their suppliers to shoulder a bigger slice of the costs for EV tech rather hard to swallow. To read about this, click here for the Autocar article. ASTON MARTIN NARROWS LOSSESIn 2020 Aston Martin loses were £466 million, during 2021 they reduced that figure to £213.8 million. Added to which their revenue was up 79% to £1.1 billion. Aston is hopeful they will deliver between 75 a

Andrew had a Volvo XC40 Recharge, with the twin motors, on loan for a week. How did he get on? You’ll have to listen to find out. Additionally, you get in-depth discussions on curry hooks and good fonts for driver display information. You cannot say we do not know how to treat you!

SHIP CARRYING VW GROUP CARS ABLAZEA ship carrying cars from Volkswagen Group companies, is on fire in the Atlantic Ocean. Conflicting reports state where the fire originated but that this has spread to the rest of the ship, including the cargo. Whilst Porsche has confirmed some of it’s vehicles were on board, it is not clear what other cars are involved. For more information, click the Autocar article here. RENAULT BACK IN PROFITSAfter two tough years and burying the hatchet with Nissan, Renault has returned to profit in 2021. In doing so it has achieved some longer term aims well ahead of schedule. Renault do make it clear that the semiconductor crisis is and will continue to hit business in 2022. To learn more, click here for the Autocar article. NEW FLOATING LOTUSLotus has announced it is going to float the company, which got us all excited that there would be another car/boat model but then quickly dashed on what it actually meant. The plan is to put the EV division on the stock exchange, which they are h

FOLLOW UP: MANCHESTER CAZ “PAUSED’Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced that the Government has agreed on a delay for the region hitting clean air requirements, until 2026. Burnham has argued that due to the pandemic there is a problem in sourcing the zero emission vehicles needed by commercial and private hire companies. To read more, click the YesAuto article here. FUEL PRICES CONTINUE TO RISEA new record average price was hit over the weekend for both petrol and diesel, at £148.02 and £151.57 respectively. Crude oil nearly at $100 per barrel the retailers are quick, as ever, to pass that straight onto drivers. For more depressing information about this story, click here for the Autocar article. NEW ELECTRICITY RULES TO PREVENT STRAIN ON NETWORKThe Government is introducing new rules, which includes residential EV charging points, that must be able to prioritise charging when demand is lowest or renewable energy production is high. Included in the changes is the need for security and provisi

FOLLOW UP: PRIVATE PARKING FINES CAPPEDPrivate parking fines and the rules surrpounding them are to be tightened up. Read the BBC story here.JLR REVENUE BOOST IN Q3 2021JLR’s revenue has ramped up in the third quarter of 2021, and they also have a new EV platform on the way.ROAD PRICING COULD BE EN ROUTEA story from Evo magazine says that GPS-based road pricing could be here by 2024.BORTISHVOLT AND GLENCORE TO OPEN RECYCLING PLANTBritishvolt and Glencore are to work together to open a new EV battery recycling plant in Kent according to Autocar.TREASURY URGED TO RECONSIDER UNFAIR TAXAccording the YesAuto, the UK Treasury is being urged to address the discrepancy in VAT between home EV charging and public EV charging.BP ACQUIRES 30% OF OIL COMPANYBP has acquired a stake in a UK producer of hydrogenated vegetable oil that be used of biofuels. More in the Autocar story here.UK GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS DECIDING WHAT IT MAY DO ABOUT e-SCOOTERSThe UK Government is considering introducing a new vehicle class for e-scoote

GREY IS THE MOST POPULAR COLOURGrey is the most popular colour chosen by British new car buyers for the 4th year in a row. You can read the release from the SMMT here and analysis from Autocar here.COUNCILS COULD ENFORCE MOVING TRAFFIC OFFENCES FROM JUNECouncils in England and Wales could be able to follow the examples of London and Cardiff and enforce some traffic offenses from June. They will have some hoops to jump through though. You have read more here.STREETLIGHTS TO GAIN MORE TECHSome streetlights could gain additional tech to help aid car to car communication as part of their scheduled refurbishment. More information about this here.CALLS FOR AUTONOMOUS CAR USERS TO BE USERS, NOT DRIVERSA report on legal changes required to enable autonomous vehicles in the future has called for four significant law changes. You can read more in the BBC article here.ALLIANCE OUTLINE LATEST EV PLANRenalut-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has outlined its plans for 35 new EVson 5 platforms across the next few years, but we wo

Alan had Volkswagen’s most important new car since the Golf for a week. Is the ID.3 People’s Car 2.0 or does its hurried gestation in the light of Dieselgate shine through?

FOLLOW UP: MYTHS ABOUT HIGHWAY CODE CHANGESLast week the chaps had an article on the changes to the Highway Code as the Lunchtime Read as they are significant and we all need to understand them. Apparently some did not listen to us, with reports from mainstream media outlets not correctly explaining the issues. In case you didn’t read last week’s recommendation then click this article from The Guardian, so you are well informed. FOLLOW UP: MORE DETAIL ON POSSIBLE LONDON ROAD TRAVEL CHANGESAs Andrew and Alan stated during the article, as they were confused with the change in price, they have found some more detail which helps to explain the possible new rules better. Click here for the Move Electric article. POLICING LEVELS BLAMED FOR STATIC ROAD DEATH FIGURESBetween 2010 and 2019 the level of road deaths, on British roads, has remained stable, after three decades of reduction. The main blame for this is the level of visible police on our roads. Added to this, Panorama found that roughly 50% of static speed ca

TOKYO AUTO SALONAlan and Andrew are rounding up the highlights from the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022, a tuner focused show that is worth paying attention to because a lot of ideas and themes get explored at their most undiluted form, by manufacturers experimenting and trying to wow audiences. PERFORMANCE CAR HIGHLIGHTSThere is a huge performance car contingent to the show, with the following highlights discussed. Toyota GR GT3 ConceptToyota GRMN YarisToyota bZ4X GR SportSubaru Solterra STiSubaru E-RA ConceptNissan Fairlady ZHonda Civic TypeR ConceptKEI CAR CONCEPTSKei cars are the small vehicles that are tightly regulated to take up minimal space and run with very small engines, that Japan is famous for. Some of the highlights include the following;Daihatsu Atari Camper ConceptHonda N WGN Picnic ConceptHonda K Climb ConceptMitsubishi K EV Concept X-StyleJACK IT UP AND SHOVE IT ON KNOBBLIESMuch of the show was either slammed to the ground as though suspensions had just given up or jacked up and shoved on knobblies. W

SMART MOTORWAYS HALTED BY GOVERNMENTThe roll out of new smart motorways will be halted for five years, as the Government wants to use that time to collate more data on the safety of the existing sections. Those schemes that are already being built will continue, however. In the meantime, £900 million has been pledged to improving the safety of existing smart motorways. For more on this story, click the Autocar article here. FUEL DUTY LOSS ESTIMATED AT £5 BILLION THANKS TO EVSThe RAC Foundation has estimated that the Government could lose £5 billion in revenue from fuel duty, with the rise in EV adoption, by 2030. This brings up the thorny problem of how will that be recouped, especially as car owners already feel they are over burdened with costs. To learn more, click here for the YesAuto link. LONDON MAYOR CONSIDERING A DAILY CAR CHARGESadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has commissioned a City Hall report into achieving the net zero target for London of 2030. One of the recommendations is for a daily charge of

Andrew had a Hyundai i20N, for a week, to see if it could be as good as so many are saying. Listen in as he chats to a jealous Alan about what he found out whilst battling his local mud strewn roads.To listen to Alan’s review of the i20 Premium, click this link here. To listen to Alan chat to Andrew about his driving day with Hyundai, that included a quick run in an i20N, click here for the link.

FOLLOW UP: PROPOSED MANCHESTER CAZ TO BE REVIEWEDGreater Manchester’s Mayor has announced that the proposed Clean Air Zone will be reviewed, ahead of the implementation on 30 May. There are concerns that it will impact businesses heavily. Andy Burnham has called on the Government to do more to support those trying to transition to cleaner vehicles. The CAZ will only charge commercial and private hire vehicles, not private cars. For more on this story, click here for the BBC News article. FOLLOW UP: OXFORD ZEZ GOES LIVE FEBRUARY 2022Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have announced they will be opening the city’s first Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) in February this year. Initially it will be a very small number of streets in the city centre that will charge petrol and diesel vehicles to enter. The second phase will be larger but has yet to be confirmed in size and when it will come into force. To learn more, click the Motoring Research article here. To find out more about clean air zones and if you

FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO CHARGER RULES ROLLED BACKOver the festive period, the Government quietly rolled back some of the changes they had outlined would have to happen when it comes to installing charging points at non residential properties with a large car park. Now only new or refurbished commercial properties will be required to install at least one charging point. To read more, click The Guardian link here. FOLLOW UP: NEW GREG KELLY EVIDENCE EMERGESInformation disclosed to Asia Times seems to show that Greg Kelly is innocent of the charges brought against him, yet is still facing trial. In a damming report, outlining the tale of what happened, how both he and Ghosn were tricked and how those inside Nissan have behaved has to be read to be believed. For more information, click here for the Asia Times article. FCA RULES SHOULD REMOVE NEED TO HAGGLE INSURANCE EACH YEARNew rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should mean that when it comes to renewal time we will not have to haggle to get the bes

FOLLOW UP: CHANGES TO TOWING RESTRICTIONS NOW IN FORCEAfter recently confirming that the changes to the towing rules had not, in fact, changed, we were informed by one eagle-eyed listener that as of 16 December 2021, they have changed. To find out who is allowed to do what, compared to who was allowed to what previously, click the Government’s own guidance link here. PLUG-IN CAR GRANT ALLOWANCE CHANGED AGAINOnce again , the Government has changed the eligibility of the plug-in grant with no notice at all. The criteria is that if you select a car that has a book price of less than £32,000 new, you will receive £1,500 grant, down from £35,000 and £2,500 respectively. To learn more, click here for the Motoring Research article. Some manufacturers have reduced their prices so that certain models are still capable of collecting the grant, to find out which no longer qualify at the time of recording, click the YesAuto link here. CONGESTION CHARGE TIMING ADJUSTED OVER CHRISTMASBetween Christmas Day and 3 January 2

FOLLOW UP: VW RESHUFFLE COMPLETEDVolkswagen Group announced a host of senior management changes, which didn’t occur in quite the way some reports suggested, in the previous week. The main one is that Thomas Schäfer is moving from Skoda to head up VW. Brandstätter, who was tipped to take on more responsibility from Diess is sent to head up their China operations. Added to which Diess will take control of Cariad, their software division. For more information, click here to read the Autocar article. RENAULT ZOE GETS ZERO STARS FROM EURO NCAPThe latest Renault Zoe is the third car in history to receive zero stars from Euro NCAP, but it is not just a case of safety moving on, Renault has removed part of the safety capability from the previous model, by reducing the protection to occupants with airbags. But this does bring up the worry that people may think they are buying a safe car, particularly second hand, but are in fact not. To learn more, click the Autocar article here. PEUGEOT LATEST TO ANNOUNCE ALL ELECT

The Swiss company, Bcomp produce lightweight, natural fibre composite materials and panels which are beginning to find their way into the automotive sector. Listen in as Andrew talks to Per Mårtenson about how Bcomp started, what they do and how these clever products can be used. Thank you to Per for chatting with Andrew and giving us this fascinating insight into a different material.

FOLLOW UP: MORGAN HINTS AT FUTURE DESIGNSRecently the chaps discussed the new appointment of Matthew Hole as CTO and idly wondered what that would mean for future designs. Seems Morgan heard, well, okay, they probably didn’t, but let’s not dwell on that as they have teased out some sketch designs of how future Morgan’s could look. To find out more, click the Morgan article here. NEW CAR REGISTRATION FIGURES NOVEMBER 2021 The SMMT has published their monthly new car registration figures, for November, which shows a continued issue due to supply. To read more, click the SMMT link here. SHARP RISE IN CYCLIST DEATHS ON RURAL ROADS89 people lost their life on English rural roads, whilst cycling, in 2020, Department for Transport figures confirm. A campaign from NFU Mutual, British Cycling and British Horse Society has begun to raise awareness in driving to the conditions and dangers of rural roads. For more information, click here for the BBC News article. 1 IN 50 CARS UNINSURED ON UK ROADSThe Government has revea