Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 122: Renault tweaks 5, Lepas leaps and the Defender no-show

#electriccars 2026 #podcasts #kilwowatthalfhour #china

Listen on Apple podcasts:
Listen on Spotify:
Listen on Acast:
Listen on Amazon:

Follow Electrifying.com ⬇.
INSTAGRAM:.
FACEBOOK:.
X:.
TIKTOK:.

If you have an automobile purchasing question or wish to be consisted of in our postbag, include your comment below or message us at podcast@electrifying.com.

Weekly, the Electrifying.com meet online to discuss all the concerns at hand. Such as the weather condition, what we're all having for our tea and who dumped who in last night's Love Island. Between these heavyweight topics, we likewise discuss electrical automobiles. A lot. Probably an unhealthy amount to be honest.

And when we do talk about cars, we learn a lot. From industry chatter to the more mundane practicalities of electric vehicle ownership, it's the location where we dish the dirt on the automobiles we have actually been driving and provide our own verdicts on the latest electric automobile news. We also like to have an excellent laugh at the daftest little bits of anti-electric news that we've seen in the press.

We can't promise that you'll discover much. You most likely will not. However if you expensive thirty minutes of idle chat and gossip about the world of electrical cars and trucks, we're here for you. If you like it/ dislike it/ think it's too long or too short, let us know.

Chapters are listed below so you can jump straight to the subject you're most thinking about:.
00:00 Welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour.
00:55 Your Remarks: The "Kilowatt Whatever" Podcast?
02:13 Where's the Renault 5 Turbo 3E Video?
04:14 Socks, Bath Water & Electrifying Merch ?!
05:10 Why Does EV Servicing Cost A Lot?
07:24 Kia EV2: Nicola's New Favourite?
09:19 Coping with the Volvo EX60.
10:06 Kia PV5 Wins Over an EV Sceptic.
11:25 Living Without a Home Charger.
12:51 EV News: Renault 5 Gets an Upgrade.
14:30 Google Gemini AI in Cars.
14:56 Electric Land Rover Protector Postponed Once Again.
16:27 LEPAS L6: Another Chinese EV Brand Name Gets Here.
18:27 Renault 4 vs Kia EV2 & What's Coming Today.
19:37 Smart # 1 vs Volvo EX30: Which Should You Purchase?
22:07 Toyota bZ4X Touring vs Subaru E-Outback.
23:13 Why Are UK Dealers Using Left-Hand-Drive Cars?
26:45 Toyota C-HR+ Owner Has His Say.
27:40 Which EV Has the Best Sign Noise?
28:13 Are Tire Blowouts More Typical on EVs?
30:03 Tesla Semi, Electric Trucks & Megawatt Charging.
32:31 Nicola Gets Place On the Naughty Step.
32:39 Alpine A290, Public Charging & Your Comments.
35:17 Should We Price Estimate Real-World Range at 80%?
39:59 Vehicle-to-Grid Charging: Why Is It Taking So Long?
42:20 Did We Really Make a Brief Podcast?!
42:42 What We're Driving Next Week.

Useful Links.
More EV evaluations & guides: Electrifying.com.
Subscribe for weekly EV podcasts & news.

Posted

August 30, 2026

Electric Vehicles

EVCarNew

Tags:

#tesla, a2, a290, alpine, alpine a290, BMW, bmw i3, brand, cheap, cost, dacia, defender, electric cars, electrifying, Elon Musk, EV sales, ev tax, ev2, ev3, evnews, ex60, ferrari, first car, Fully charged, fullycharged, Future, grant, gt, Hyundai, insurance, ioniq, Jaecoo, jaguar, jeep, kia, lepas, mercedes, Mg, Model 3, musk, new electric cars, news, performance, podcast, polestar, polestar 5, price, prices, pv5, Renault, sale, sales, semi, Service, skoda, spring, tax, toyota hilux, twingo, UK, van, Volvo, VW, zeekr, zeekr 7gt

Comments

22 responses to “Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 122: Renault tweaks 5, Lepas leaps and the Defender no-show”

@mrstoives2444

August 30, 2026

If anything did happen to Ginny and Nicola traveling together, my first suspect would be Batch 😂

Reply
@djhayes2023

August 30, 2026

Dealers have got us by the short & curlies when it comes to servicing pricing, because of the Warranty terms & conditions of having to use an approved garage for the ‘inspections’

Reply
1. @UnknownUser-rb9pd
  
  August 30, 2026
  
  I’m sure the EU introduced a rule a long time ago that dealer warranties had to be honoured if an independent garage was used for “servicing” as long as they met all the manufacturers requirements. And for an EV that’s pretty much inspecting a list of items.
  Some like Toyota have tried to get around it by offering an “extended warranty” above the regular warranty if you get it serviced at their dealers every year but the original warranty should not require a dealer service if you purchased the car (PCP may be different as you don’t own the car).
  
  Reply
@JjaysYoutube

August 30, 2026

When I ordered my R5 before launch, the dealer assured me that Yellow was not being ordered in any numbers and was going to be the rarest one 😭😭 he must have seen me coming, they are everywhere and yellow seems to be the nose popular colour! 🤦

Reply
1. @KISS_paulstanley
  
  August 30, 2026
  
  Our Volvo ex30 had its 2-year inspection and they did not move the car from where it was parked in their car park. Unsure what they actually did for the time they had it, but it does feel more responsive, like a petrol cars engine loosening after its first service!?
  
  Reply
@Petelmrg

August 30, 2026

We will soon be in the market for an EV2-size car and we usually head for top of the range models; why do we get penalised with lower range and poor ride because they insist you have to have these ridiculous bicycle wheels and tyres on the more expensive ones. Can we please have some cheap to repair steelies and nice squishy tyres please!

Reply
@seannorth6968

August 30, 2026

Nicola best burper in the business 💖🙏

Reply
@Jorgen926

August 30, 2026

Are you going to test the new electric Mercedes GT 4 door coupe ? It seems to be an interesting car

Reply
@Secretsquirrell82

August 30, 2026

I asked MG why the service was so expensive given how little they did. They said it “was hard to justify”!

Reply
@robsmith1a

August 30, 2026

Renault 5 in red, yes please

Reply
@gavkenny

August 30, 2026

Nichola – we still need the grand indicator test – get all the sounds of indicators together from review videos and get Nichola to react and rate them all

Reply
@DFID7Tourer

August 30, 2026

Dealerships back to doing what they did in the past, ripping people off because independent garages are not yet able to satisfy warranty inspections / servicing on EVs.

Reply
@1966Birger

August 30, 2026

I learned to drive in a red Reanult 5 with a black roof 🙂

Reply
@GaryBush-o1u

August 30, 2026

Hi why doesn’t Nico8 just charge the A110 in site at Silverstone? So why not just plug in and leave it to charge while at car feast?

Reply
@taloire43

August 30, 2026

It was good to be able to see Ginny and Nicola without them being hidden behind microphone kit. My view is that Nicola was right to refer to the range limitations of the Alpine. She would have been wrong to pretend that it could make a journey beyond its range without charging.

Reply
@michaeldann6578

August 30, 2026

Had one of the first #1 Brabus. Only had it a month before Smart bought it back – so may software issues, faults with body work also was advertised with heated steering wheel as standard and my car didn’t have it and Smart couldn’t say whether it would come in a future software update. Very rare on the road, lots of EX30’s

Reply
@michaelhastings7441

August 30, 2026

Has anyone tested the 2 Changans ? And try the S05 for indicator noise it’s really good and when indicating right comes out of the right speaker and when indicating left the left speaker but that’s just one of its many talents !

Reply
@BigFlash24

August 30, 2026

My old 2020 Hyundai Ioniq electric went in for its Main Dealership service and was told it’s a 2hr service so dropped it off but watched it in the Hyundai Bluelink app. It showed my drivers door open then close then it moved from the parking spot I left it into the workshop. Then 30 mins later drove back out and parked back in same spot and locked.
I called asking if it was already finished? Told that it’s still getting worked on. Then 3 hrs later send a vid of the underside of the car and tyre depths.
That’s it! So much for £230 for 2hrs! Used Cleevely EV every time after that. Now have a 2026 Tesly Y with NO Service intervals or costs scheduled.

Reply
@neilrwilliams218

August 30, 2026

When I had the Kia Soul, the first visit to the dealer was about £85. The three year service and MOT was closer to £500 as it included a battery coolant change. Managed to get out of that as it had been done as a recall a year earlier.

Reply
@PattyTheGeek

August 30, 2026

To charge or not to charge, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The public charging time and outrageous fortune,
Or to take the avenger to avoid the stop
And by avoiding, get home.

Drive what makes you happy on the day. Go a little wild and get your vroom vroom on but pay the charging penalty, or be the buttoned up sensible one and just tide yourself over with the turn signal sounds that make your heart sing. It’s a win/win either way.

Reply
@sxsquare

August 30, 2026

Yay for chapter markers!

Reply
@jimchoff

August 30, 2026

Nicola brought out her excavator for the BYD Seal anecdote.

Reply