Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 105: 2 million EVs, a 930-mile range and a hot Corsa

#electriccars 2026 #podcasts #kilwowatthalfhour #china

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Each week, the Electrifying.com fulfill online to go over all the important matters 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. In between these heavyweight subjects, we likewise talk about electric vehicles. A lot. Probably an unhealthy total up to be sincere.

And when we do talk about cars and trucks, we learn a lot. From industry chatter to the more ordinary functionalities of electrical cars and truck ownership, it's the place where we dish the dirt on the cars and trucks we've been driving and deliver our own verdicts on the most recent electric car news. We likewise like to have a great make fun of the daftest littles anti-electric news that we've seen in the press.

We can't guarantee that you'll learn much. You most likely will not. But if you elegant thirty minutes of idle chat and gossip about the world of electric cars and trucks, we're here for you. If you like it/ hate it/ believe it's too long or too short, let us understand.

Chapters are listed below so you can jump straight to the topic you're most thinking about:.
0:00 Welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour.
0:10 A calmer week after Beijing Auto Program madness.
0:42 Overtaking Tom and Batch.
1:52 Batch on the upgraded Genesis GV60.
4:31 Tom's EV9 parking issue.
6:36 UK brand-new car sales: EV need keeps growing.
8:37 April's best-selling EV revealed.
9:27 Renault 5 gets one-pedal driving.
11:11 Vauxhall Corsa GSE: electrical hot hatch comeback.
12:18 Corsa GSE performance vs Lotus Carlton.
13:16 Why the Corsa GSE might be seriously enjoyable.
15:28 CATL's new battery tech discussed.
16:44 Battery switching, ultra-fast charging and UK facilities.
18:23 Why lighter, denser batteries matter the majority of.
19:09 Do we really require 1,000 km EVs?
21:40 Barnard's Bargains: Renault 5 lease offer.
22:43 Utilized Vauxhall Corsa Electric deals.
24:47 Viewer question: are EV heatpump necessary?
28:47 Listener question: Kona, EV3 or alternatives?
32:30 Finest used EVs under ₤ 10,000.
35:35 Listener performance update: Hyundai IONIQ 6.
37:03 The team's most efficient EVs.
39:58 Viewer talk about CATL battery tech.
41:32 Corsa GSE video comments and Lucas love.
43:14 Geely EX2 comments and UK prices ideas.
45:09 Wrapping up and what's coming next.

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Posted

May 9, 2026

Electric Vehicles

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#tesla, audi, Beijing, brand, catl, cheap, cherry, china, cost, electric cars, electrifying, Elon Musk, ev tax, ev2, ev3, evnews, first car, fisker, freelander, Fully charged, fullycharged, Future, geely, grant, Hyundai, id.polo, insurance, ioniq, Jaecoo, jaguar, jlr, kia, land rover, leapmotor, maintenance, Mg, mg4, Model 3, musk, new electric cars, news, ocean, podcast, polestar, polo, price, prices, Renault, robotaxi, sale, sales, Service, skoda, tax, UK, van, volkswagen, Volvo, VW, weeklly news, zeekr, zeekr 7gt

Comments

24 responses to “Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 105: 2 million EVs, a 930-mile range and a hot Corsa”

@Kiaboy60d

May 9, 2026

love all you presenters

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@DFID7Tourer

May 9, 2026

I really liked the Genesis GV60 and would definitely look again at their range when my lease comes up for renewal. At the time the deals were not quite right for me but it was firmly on my list.

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@BBingo-v5i

May 9, 2026

The Renault 5 sales will fall, the VW ID. Polo and Cupra Raval are just so much better and cost the same.
The Vauxhall Corsa GSE will be overtaken in terms of power and driving dynamics by the VW ID. Polo GTI Clubsport

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1. @BlackPointt
  
  May 9, 2026
  
  I agree i find the 4 & 5 abit too pricey for what they offer i mean they look amazing but dont think it justifies their high price and many rivals coming out end of this year and early next year its gonna be interesting to see how things turn out. Anyway atleast from where i am from they are pricey while the Polo seems it will be priced about same or slightly cheaper by the rumours only Raval being more pricey due the more “premium” brand etc.
  
  Reply
@DFID7Tourer

May 9, 2026

EV and Family Planning advice in one podcast ! The range of services grows and grows

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@DFID7Tourer

May 9, 2026

With CATL it would be great to see a half sized battery as it would get more than 450 miles as the weight reduction would improve efficiency. We are in a world now where we can shrink the batteries to give sufficient range at a lower weight and price and different options and hopefully price breaks.
A smaller car, with a lighter weight with a smaller more dense battery that will also charge much quicker a win all round.

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@stephenwensley

May 9, 2026

Hopefully charging providers will start giving us charging rate options, especially at sites where they want dwell time to boost onsite sales e.g. offer a driver the choice of a stop & go 5 minute stop 1MW @ £1/kWh, Coffee/toilet break stop 20 minute 350KW @ ~60p/kWh, lunch stop/gym 1 hour stop 150KW @ 40p/kWh, Cinema/Restaurant meal/Shopping 2 hour+ stop 50KW @ 30p/kWh etc. (random prices for illustrative purposes only)

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1. @AJames-jr8kw
  
  May 9, 2026
  
  Maybe the cars could come with the control. There is debate in China on social media about BYD flash charging overheating the battery.
  
  Reply
2. @stephenwensley
  
  May 9, 2026
  
  @AJames-jr8kwPorsche had that, you could opt to charge a Taycan at 200KW instead of ~320KW as a battery saving measure. Only car I’ve heard of that offers that, although some let you limit the amps when AC charging
  
  Reply
@stephenwensley

May 9, 2026

The only two advantages I can think of for very long range cars are a.) Tow vehicles as we know they’ll lose 50% as a minimum and probably more in winter. B.) people without off-street charging who want to do a week or two of commutes between charges

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@stephenwensley

May 9, 2026

EV clinic have a kit to upgrade an e-golf to a 60kWh battery, which should double that real world range

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@stephenwensley

May 9, 2026

SmartEQ ForFour is the lowest insurance group at 9, Renault Twizy is 10, Fiat 500e is 10-13, VW e-Up & Seat Mii 10-12, Renault Zoe 14, VW eGolf 15, Hyundai Ioniq 16, Mini Electric 17. VW ID.3 & Kia Soul 18 According a Cinch article from last December

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@worldofcars_ldn

May 9, 2026

Are they retro fitting the already sold Renault 5’s with paddles and 1 peddle driving? Can imagine all the early owners being miffed theirs don’t have that feature

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@Waldemar-10811

May 9, 2026

Thanks so much for answering my question about heat pumps, there seems like a lot to learn as a newbie to EVs.

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1. @simondehaas8784
  
  May 9, 2026
  
  There were loads of discussions on heat pumps when early VW iD cars came out. Experience in the UK is that they are not worth it as a money saver, but if you would really value an extra 10-15 miles of range in winter it could be worth it. Of course many people pay £000s extra for bigger battery options so it is worth considering, but definitely not essential.
  
  Reply
@J500ANT

May 9, 2026

Tom’s EV9 friend – get him to turn down the AC current in settings, so his multi storey charging is slower and therefore a bit less costly.

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@neilrwilliams218

May 9, 2026

I don’t have a heat pump in my EV3, but I do have one on my home. When that comes on in winter, it peaks at a high consumption for 15-20 minutes before dropping down. If the heat pump in an EV works in the same way, I’d imagine it’s great for those doing longer journeys, but potentially not great if you’re doing lots of short trips.
Of course an EV heat pump will be much smaller than the unit on the house.
If you do get around to the comparison test please include a range of different journey types.

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@worldofcars_ldn

May 9, 2026

Hi Team, back in episode 92 Ginny agreed to take up the challenge I set to only use public charging over winter and report back. Could I ask when this feedback is coming please?
Many thanks, much love and may the downforce be with you!

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@AJames-jr8kw

May 9, 2026

One youtuber in China put 5 temperature sensors on the battery cells of his BYD FCB Tai3 and live streamed the flash charge. The max temp was 76.4°C on one cell while the car said max was 71.
Early days of discussing on whether this could be a problem for BYD Re: battery health etc.

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@Andre-cj3ec

May 9, 2026

Heat pump’s relevance depends on climate (I’m in Montreal, Canada), if it’s your primary or secondary EV (we have only one) and how much winter mileage you do.

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@simondehaas8784

May 9, 2026

A new Kona is bigger than an old one. Rear legroom is ok. I think it might actually be bigger than a Niro.

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@Jonty60

May 9, 2026

3:23 switch on the ignition??? It’s an electric car, it doesn’t use ignition.

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@lauriahonen2892

May 9, 2026

Corsa get 208 Look ..nice

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@lauriahonen2892

May 9, 2026

But on lfp and yellow please

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