Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 90: Big Smarts, little Hondas and getting EV charging out of the gutter

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Each week, the Electrifying.com fulfill online to talk about all the concerns at hand. Such as the weather, what we're all having for our tea and who discarded who in last night's Love Island. In between these heavyweight topics, we likewise talk about electric vehicles. A lot. Probably an unhealthy total up to be truthful.

And when we do go over vehicles, we learn a lot. From industry chatter to the more mundane usefulness of electric cars and truck 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 electrical car news. We also like to have a great laugh at the daftest littles anti-electric news that we've seen in the press.

We can't promise that you'll find out much. You most likely will not. However if you elegant thirty minutes of idle chat and chatter about the world of electric cars, we're here for you. If you like it/ dislike it/ think it's too long or too brief, let us know.

Chapters are below so you can leap straight to the topic you're most interested in!

0:00– Invite to your weekly electrical automobile news recharge.
0:14– This week's subjects: Honda's little EVs, Smart's huge resurgence, record plug-ins & home charging.
0:25– Mike and Tom go back to the Kilowatt Half Hour.
1:03– Long-lasting test: Coping with the Cupra Born.
1:56– The expense of charging … and McDonald's hold-ups.
3:04– Tom's unfortunate Vauxhall Grandland repair work saga.
4:53– Driving the Tesla Design Y Performance– is it worth it?
6:54– Citroën e-C3 van: turning an automobile into a van (actually).
8:26– Tokyo Motor Show wrap-up– Honda's tiny new EV revealed.
11:22– Why weird small vehicles never ever rather sell.
12:09– Good news for EV owners without driveways: charging gullies described.
14:43– New Smart # 5 prices & first impressions.
15:58– Smart # 1 and # 3– why aren't we seeing them on UK roadways?
17:04– New Chinese plug-in hybrids with huge electrical variety.
17:56– Barnard's Bargains: the very best used EV offers this week.
21:01– Cheap EV leasing deals: MG5 from ₤ 227 a month.
22:57– MG IM5 and IM6 tech features– and a little track enjoyable.
23:58– Your questions addressed: real-world EV purchasing advice.
24:15– Listener Laura buys a Genesis GV60– welcome to EV life!
25:08– Tom's Renault Scenic Techno deal– is it a deal?
26:09– EV buying questions: finest family SUV for ₤ 25K– ₤ 28K.
26:47– Life without a smartphone– can you own an EV without one?
31:49– Nigel's MG ZS dilemma: upgrade or lease for long journeys?
33:15– Finest long-range utilized EVs under ₤ 18,000.
34:03– Kona, Enyaq, ID.4 and Tesla Model 3 suggestions.
35:00– Why Tesla's charging experience still beats everyone else.
36:00– Alan from Island of Male: the very best EVs without local dealerships.
38:41– Nissan Ariya, Suzuki eVitara, or Skoda Enyaq for island life.
40:19– Ending up with some silly stuff: the Dacia Hipster curse.

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Comments

23 responses to “Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 90: Big Smarts, little Hondas and getting EV charging out of the gutter”

  1. @J500ANT Avatar
    @J500ANT

    I’d guess the reason the new smarts haven’t sold is they started out with 17 dealers across the UK, huge areas with no dealer. It’s filled out more now, but still way way less than BYD or Omoda/Jaecoo.

  2. @chrisduffill5248 Avatar
    @chrisduffill5248

    Why o why is the current government holding the 40k limit now includes electric cars , with approx 30 percent inflation when this target was put in motion by the conservatives for petrol and diesel cars .

    1. @RuislipResident-v7p Avatar
      @RuislipResident-v7p

      Labour don’t cut taxes.

  3. @neilrwilliams218 Avatar
    @neilrwilliams218

    Getting a cheap android tablet would let you have the apps to control the charger and manually start heating the cabin. It’s a halfway point towards having a smartphone, but is easily left at home. Some home chargers can be controlled via a web portal, so that would get around the app, also some chargers use an RFID tag to authorise the charge, negating the need for an app.
    Perhaps that’s an interesting article for the website – home chargers, are they single or three phase, app control, website control, RFID, warranty (standard and upgrades), tethered or untethered etc.

  4. @albertoporras04 Avatar
    @albertoporras04

    For info, you can change the text size on the Tesla screen to a larger font – of course you have to be able to see the option on the screen in the default size in the first place to do this! 😂

  5. @rogerfinch7651 Avatar
    @rogerfinch7651

    Tom, you can increase the font size in the Tesla 🤓

  6. @taloire43 Avatar
    @taloire43

    Oxfordshire County Council is advertising pavement gullies at a cost of £500.

  7. @chrishunter974 Avatar
    @chrishunter974

    Hi guys n gals ..cable gullies, I have asked Bradford Council 3 times, going through the proper channels . Its a BIG FAT NO NO.. my council is living in the dark ages. Keep up the good work ..

    1. @ElectrifyThis Avatar
      @ElectrifyThis

      I guess that’s about to change

  8. @alancolledge1936 Avatar
    @alancolledge1936

    Thank you for trying to answer my question. Unfortunately the used ev market on the Isle of Man is virtually non-existent at the moment so none of your suggestions are available here for my £25000 maximum budget. If I bought a car in the uk, would the warranty be honoured here, assuming a main dealership exists on the Isle of Man?

  9. @pawthing Avatar
    @pawthing

    Caring about the dealer name on a number plate! You sad people!😀

  10. @stephenwensley Avatar
    @stephenwensley

    Really like the Smart #5, shame efficiency and Range aren’t quite class leading. Why are all the press versions the Brabus version? I’m much more interested in the Summit version and how that handles potholed rural roads and active family life than something non-sporty pretending to be sporty. It’d just makes it resemble your average aging, beer bellied village cricketer in pristine whites with a brand new Gunn & Moore bat. Leave that to its Zeekr 7x cousin

    1. @MigV40 Avatar
      @MigV40

      I’m also more interested in the Summit Edition, and we test drove one last week but they gave us the option between Pro and Brabus, so we took the Brabus. It’s a lovely car and the suspension is very good and still very comfortable. I’d be interested to test drive a non-Brabus to see how that compares

  11. @russvhill2 Avatar
    @russvhill2

    Great to have two sensible presenters for once! More grouting tips please.
    I agree with the thoughts about potential parking space warfare because approval for a car charging channel across the pavement may well confuse the home owner into assuming The Council has deemed the road outside homes as belonging only to that home, especially if a fee was charged.

  12. @Andre-cj3ec Avatar
    @Andre-cj3ec

    Glad you’re back!

  13. @ElectrifyThis Avatar
    @ElectrifyThis

    When you think about it, when someone has a driveway they’re effectively privatising the public street parking space out the front of that property. With gully charging you maintain that street park for everyone. It’s an elegant solution that’ll make a huge difference to uptake. We need to address the inequality in charging costs between those who have off street parking and those who don’t.

  14. @jamesl3546 Avatar
    @jamesl3546

    Be honest, not having a smartphone is not only a serious handicap with an EV, but being a luddite precludes the work arounds.

  15. @MigV40 Avatar
    @MigV40

    We test drove a smart #5 Brabus last week Saturday and it’s amazing! The back seats are incredibly huge, they recline electrically very far and it’s S-Class levels of space.

  16. @johnnodge4327 Avatar
    @johnnodge4327

    The Ioniq 5 is usable without a smart phone. Obviously remote accessibility for preheating and stuff wouldn’t work, but home charging and preconditioned can all be set up in the car.

  17. @TassieEV Avatar
    @TassieEV

    Wow thought you guys had dropped the Podcast as I went looking for it and couldn’t find it and double checked has been 3 weeks since the last one. Glad it’s the boys this week for a change just need Batch with you.

  18. @davidpearn5925 Avatar
    @davidpearn5925

    Why do Brits complain about the indicator of a BYD or Chinese BYD having the indicator on the RH side ? The EU forced you to adapt to their way …..and shouldn’t you be happy with TAKING BACK CONTROL ???😅

  19. @robsmith1a Avatar
    @robsmith1a

    Great to see the traditional middle aged white male motoring format back! I bought a Polestar 2 in March, love it other than it’s a bit big for me and doesn’t fit in my garage. I didn’t consider a long range Cupra Born and wonder if I should have now.

  20. @davidpearn5925 Avatar
    @davidpearn5925

    Evie in Australia is simply plug and walk easy.

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