Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 83: Uncertain grants and unnecessary Mokkas

#electriccars 2025 #podcasts #kilwowatthalfhour

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Weekly, the Electrifying.com meet online to talk about all the important matters at hand. Such as the weather, what we're all having for our tea and who discarded who in last night's Love Island. Between these heavyweight topics, we likewise speak about electrical vehicles. A lot. Probably an unhealthy amount to be truthful.

And when we do discuss automobiles, we find out a lot. From industry gossip to the more ordinary functionalities of electric cars and truck ownership, it's the location where we dish the dirt on the automobiles we've been driving and provide our own decisions on the most recent 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 journalism.

We can't assure that you'll find out much. You probably will not. But if you fancy 30 minutes of idle chat and chatter 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 know.

0:00– Introduction & Introduction.
2:30– Rover Lovers Section.
8:45– Grant Rants.
15:10– Is Mercedes-Benz CLA Ready for the real world?
22:00– Renault 5 News & Market Insights.
26:30– Q&A & Community Questions.
32:00– Tesla Hot Takes & Market Shifts.
36:45– Last Thoughts.

Posted

December 20, 2025

Electric Vehicles

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Comments

27 responses to “Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 83: Uncertain grants and unnecessary Mokkas”

@Andre-cj3ec

July 26, 2025

Heat pumps, in a primary EV that occasionally road trips in cold climates, such as Canada or Scotland, are very useful. I excluded from conspiration all models without. For a family’s 2nd EV, to drive around town, a smaller battery and/or no heat pump is fine.

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1. @stephenwensley
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  I suspect manufacturers thermal management of batteries has improved as well, so it might be where a heat pump was useful 5 years ago it isn’t necessary anymore
  
  Reply
@robinparkes988

July 26, 2025

I completely agree with you Vicky about driver aids. I’ve had my model 3 for 4 years. It has braked on a motorway, twice, when a car in a different lane has braked, it has applied corrective steering when I’ve been travelling on clearly marked 2 lane roads and on country lanes with no lane markings, applied emergency braking for things ahead which I have been aware of am about to negotiate. My lease runs out in September. Bye Bye Tesla. Great car to drive but it has its downsides.

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1. @ziploc2000
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  That’s Tesla, not quite as good as they’re made out to be.
  I drove my wife Ioniq 6 120 miles from Eugene to Portland and back, using lane assist and adaptive cruise control. No phantom braking or braking for vehicles in other lanes.
  I had to intervene to change lanes, when vehicles were joining the freeway, and once when the lines were missing due to incomplete roadworks.
  
  Reply
@bernardhilton3527

July 26, 2025

When I had a Corsa with charger port in the rear quarter I didn’t need a frunk. Now I have a Kona with the port at the front a frunk is essential. Nose up to a charger, cable in the front life is simple 😀

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@markwilliamson9027

July 26, 2025

Fiat Grand Punto ,Vauxhall Frontera ,Citroen C3 aircross & then the Mocha ,600, Alfa Romeo Junior,Jeep Avenger to see if they are different enough to each other best value for money

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@PaulMeier-cu3ds

July 26, 2025

Love the KWHH as usual and the bit which caught my eye was the discussion about real world charging speeds when you get to some sort of public charger. This debate is exactly what has happened since I first got on the net in about 1991, where the ISP supplier would promise net speeds which represented optimum conditions when no body else was using the bandwidth and in practice never happened. Public charging networks are working to exactly the same play book.where you do not actually the charging speed as advertised. If you can not charge at home, little and often, this really matters.

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@roderickjames5783

July 26, 2025

Must haves for all EVs are heated seats front & rear – at least as an option. Far too many manufacturers only offer front heated seats in their upper trims and the vast majority don’t offer any for the rear seats. This is daft. Even the old Leaf had a heated rear bench seat.

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@chrishunter974

July 26, 2025

Hi guys, you may remember a few months back, I bought a Skoda Elroq 85. I’m now sat in Santa Susanna (Spain) having driven here from Yorkshire 1835km. The journey took 3 days (could have been 2 but I’m knocking on a bit 😅). I charged exclusively at open to all Tesla supercharger trouble free, cost me 90 euros in total. This was my 1st road trip in a EV. why why why are people reluctant to change. Love the show, ty Chris

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1. @ziploc2000
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  People who think it’s difficult are the ones who have never driven an EV.
  
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2. @Chris-mh3vf
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  Good job Tesla built all those superchargers then.
  
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@ronjonmakin85

July 26, 2025

Went on holiday to the new forest from the midlands and stopped to charge at Winchester. A great hub with a Costa on site and they’re doing a special rate for charging. Couldn’t believe how unused it was too. On another note, there were plenty of charging points all over the place in the area including all the car parks by the sea…. Lots of EVs to be seen. My countryman’s range was amazing, due to the 40 mile speed limit around the park…. Keep up the good work folks ❤️

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@MarkAldridge-h6z

July 26, 2025

I have finally joined the EV family. Buying a nice used BMW I4 M50 replacing my Audi s4. First drive was 350 miles home and managed to charge with no issues 🎉

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1. @Finglebat
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  A great car, I am super happy for you, a great car choice, I wish I could afford one, not jealous, just dreaming for the future… Maybe one day I could buy one.
  
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@evready6672

July 26, 2025

I agree the execution has been shambolic, but am supportive of what I assume is the idea behind the grants, which should boost the market for new, reasonably-priced EVs in the UK which helps incentivise manufacturers to focus on this segment now and will benefit the used EV market down the line when these cars become genuinely affordable to many more people. And it also provides manufacturers with some incentive to source from countries with greener grids, or to help pressure countries where they manufacture to go greener. Hopefully the current confusion will turn out to be just temporary teething troubles.

(And while I am in favour of the grants, it doesn’t stop me being personally frustrated that I bought my own new EV back in March and if I’d known then what I know now, I’d have probably made different choices that would have saved me thousands of pounds!)

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@terrysankey3982

July 26, 2025

Great podcast again.
Just two points
1) I think claimed charging speeds are an idealised figure and can go into the same discussion as EV range and I.C.E. cars mpg/0-60/top speed – all have just become marketing tool
2) I don’t use the froot/frunk in our Volvo EX40 because the bonnet/hood is quite difficult to open (poking your hand under to release the catch) and the cables are in a bag under the floor in the back, where the ‘G*DD*MN SPARE WHEEL SHOULD BE!!! …Sorry, don’t know what came over me there, must be how our £60,000 2025 car is less well equipped than our £6,000 2008 Citroen C1. Ah well, progress…

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@richardpiper4828

July 26, 2025

Two comments on this week’s video:
Firstly, I agree with Ginny that the weight of many SUV style EVs detracts from their driving enjoyment. These cars rarely have any personality because of their size and indistinguishable styling but to remove any fun from the equation completely negates their generally fast acceleration. I recently had a long 150 mile drive in a 5 year old VW e-Up and was really really impressed with the little car. TBH it was a bit underpowered for motorway cruising but it really zipped around the corners and the steering was light but direct. The visibility was great for placing the car on the road, the ride was excellent for the size and the build quality was amazing – virtually Golf standard and interior space was not that much smaller. Refinement was good and there were no creaks or rattles. I even loved the logical, intuitive and precision switchgear. Did I miss a large centre touchscreen? No although it might have been better if I was able to hook an iPad up rather than just an iPhone. Made me wonder if small cars have really improved in since the Up was launched in 2012. I would certainly take a used example over a Dacia Spring or Leap T03.
Secondly, I agree that the fall off in charging speeds rarely registers as a factor when considering buying an EV. Everyone is just fixated with range/battery size and charging speed whereas a charging curve that starts to really dip at 80% capacity equates to a battery size up to 20% smaller that can be speedily charged up to over 90%. With the cost of batteries making up such a high proportion of the overall cost of EVs it makes sense to keep moderate the size which has the added benefit of reducing weight and increasing efficiency. My BMW i3 will carry on charging, circumstances allowing, up to 50 KWh to 90% and really only tails off at 95% so I can minimise my stops. I would definitely like to see charging curves published by manufacturers.

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1. @Finglebat
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  I miss the VW EUp!, I wish they updated it rather than discontinued it. That was a great little car. I wish Toyota produced an IQ EV too, another great little car.
  
  I had a look at the T03 the other day, and was surprised how good it was, too small for me so I have not driven it yet.
  
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@ziploc2000

July 26, 2025

Adaptive cruise control is the one feature I miss in my EV, having used it in my wife’s EV.
I’m going along a road with a 55 limit at 55. Come up behind someone not using cruise control, going 52. I slow down. They accelerate to 55, I speed up, then they slow again, I have to slow down again. And on and on. Adaptive cruise control, I can set to 55, come up behind them at a safe distance, and just let the car match their inconsistency.

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@johnnodge4327

July 26, 2025

Our Ioniq 5 never gets preconditioned before using a Tesla O2A, and it charges at the full speed that it can at a supercharger.
Looking at the energy monitor shows a short period of battery heating when first plugged in if it’s cold, but in reality, the charge limitation of 98kW at a 400V charger makes no difference to charge rate, preconditioned or not. Also most rapid charging is mid journey, where there will already be heat in the battery.

Froot is where we keep the charge cables, and smelly football boots after a game.

So many EVs could have one, but they dont for some reason, but they’re pretty handy for stuff that’s used occasionally, or is smelly.

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@richardpiper4828

July 26, 2025

Useful: Heated seats and heated steering wheel. A must in the winter to save on having to heat the car. It is very irritating to often see that heated seats are only available on the top trim models in a range.

Useless: Moving all controls (buttons, switches, dials) into an arms length touch screen. And whose brilliant idea was it to remove indicator stalks on the Tesla Model 3? Tesla clearly had a change of heart when they updated the MY but were too dogmatic to reverse turn on the M3. This reeks of decision making evolving around the prejudices of Elon who seems to Tesla’s only consumer market research person.

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@colin7425

July 26, 2025

I picked up my first EV 2 weeks ago. A Dacia Spring Extreme 65.
I love it! It has more than enough poke for daily driving, and not too many annoying features. It has the Renault two press button to switch off all of those things anyway.

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@mikadavies660

July 26, 2025

A GSE Mokka is the only way to make it interesting! Second hand they will be a great purchase.

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1. @Finglebat
  
  July 26, 2025
  
  Apparently they are bringing out another Mokka soon, it is so fast, you need to sit and take an exam. They are calling it the GCSE Mokka 😂 …. Sorry, I will get my coat.
  
  Not sure that the GSE (apparently grand sport electric) is right for the Mokka , a nice car though it is, is it ‘grand’?
  
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@mikadavies660

July 26, 2025

Digital wing mirrors can burn in hell, along with haptic feedback buttons!

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@williammillard687

July 26, 2025

My son reckons the aircon/heatpump fitted (as an extra) to the eGolf has better aircon than newer/non-heat pump vehicles..

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@Foucault2001

July 26, 2025

My nomination for a useless feature is gesture controls, though these aren’t just on EVs. They take longer than normal controls, often don’t work at all and you’ll end up making gestures it definitely won’t recognise out of frustration.

Another nomination would be digital rear view mirrors if you wear progressive lens glasses, which I do. The problem is the close focus vision is at the bottom of the lens, meaning you have to tilt your head back to see the mirror, which is hardly safe. This isn’t a problem with normal mirrors as the reflected image is at a similar focal distance to where you are looking when driving. Unfortunately this does mean the Polestar 4 just doesn’t work for me, which was a disappointment as otherwise it was a nice car.

On a completely different subject the average height for women in the UK is 5 foot 4 inches.

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