Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 98: Audi’s throwback, VW’s touch-up, and Vauxhall gets serious

#electriccars 2026 #podcasts #kilwowatthalfhour

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Weekly, the Electrifying.com satisfy 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 disposed who in last night's Love Island. In between these heavyweight subjects, we also speak about electric cars. A lot. Probably an unhealthy amount to be truthful.

And when we do talk about vehicles, we find out a lot. From market gossip to the more ordinary functionalities of electric car ownership, it's the location where we dish the dirt on the vehicles we have actually been driving and deliver our own verdicts on the most recent electric vehicle news. We likewise like to have a good laugh at the daftest little bits of anti-electric news that we've seen in journalism.

We can't assure that you'll learn much. You most likely will not. But if you fancy 30 minutes of idle chat and chatter about the world of electric cars, we're here for you. If you like it/ dislike it/ believe it's too long or too brief, let us understand.

Chapters are listed below so you can leap straight to the topic you're most thinking about:.
0:00 Welcome to the Kilowatt Half Hour.
0:10 Tom returns, Mike is back, and Lucas signs up with the podcast.
1:25 What have we been driving today?
1:37 Do electric automobiles need running in?
5:29 Things that apparently suggest you're old.
7:57 Lucas drives the Kia EV3 and EV4.
10:02 Mike's long-term Volvo EX30 Cross Nation.
11:02 EX30 infotainment bugs and menu disappointments.
14:45 EV news: Audi A2 set for an electric return?
17:25 Tom's wild VW 3-litre Lupo helicopter story.
20:33 Volkswagen ID.3 getting a second facelift.
23:30 Digital keys, haptic controls and everyday inconveniences.
25:55 Lucas' pick: the brand-new Vauxhall Astra.
26:48 EV, plug-in and gas Astra now at cost parity.
30:03 Barnard's Deal: Skoda Enyaq 85x SportLine offer.
30:48 Listener comments and concerns.
31:26 Smaller Sized EVs, Ohio winter seasons and Hyundai wishes.
32:27 EV tariffs withdrawn, altered and complicated over night rates.
36:44 New EV owners share their first impressions.
37:19 Should federal governments require the EV transition?
38:48 Real-world EV running costs and charging cost savings.
39:19 Do EV tariffs still make good sense for low mileage drivers?
40:00 Is a granny charger enough for everyday use?
41:37 No home charging, range anxiety and public charging costs.
43:14 Final ideas and outro.

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Posted

April 3, 2026

Electric Vehicles

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Comments

24 responses to “Kilowatt Half Hour Ep 98: Audi’s throwback, VW’s touch-up, and Vauxhall gets serious”

@EcoFP33

March 22, 2026

Hi Lucas, Good to see a new face (not that the others aren’t liked. lol)

Reply
@koseku3

March 22, 2026

any news about ioniq 3? i saw it on road today in İzmit.

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1. @gavkenny
  
  March 22, 2026
  
  I hear its going to be officially shown at Milan around 23rd April
  
  Reply
2. @koseku3
  
  March 22, 2026
  
  @gavkennynice
  
  Reply
@andy1977

March 22, 2026

The A2 e-tron is an Audi version of the ID.3, not of the ID Cross. It uses the regular MEB platform with RWD.

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1. @whittaker52
  
  March 22, 2026
  
  I’m not sure it’s been made public which MEB platform is being used for the Audi A2 yet, it’ll either be the regular MEB platform that’s rear wheel drive like the ID.3/Cupra Born or the front wheel drive MEB+ platform that’s being used in the ID.Polo
  
  Reply
@RonStanley-u4h

March 22, 2026

Did you miss the court ruling saying that 20% VAT on public car chargers was not lawful and must be reduced to 5%. The article I saw even quoted Ginny Buckley!

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@Sparky783

March 22, 2026

If you’re getting 5p off-peak and paying 35p peak, a home battery makes perfect sense. If you size you’re battery correctly you could run completely on your off-peak rate.

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@KennethPaul

March 22, 2026

The easiest way to compare energy tariffs is to work out the percentage of energy you use at the day rate and night rate. Check your bill. Now multiply the day rate advertised by any supplier by the percentage you use during the day e.g. 45%. Then multiply the night rate by the percentage you use at night e.g. 55%. Then add the two numbers you got together, that’s your average pence per kWh. Lower is better.

This works because if you have battery storage and use 90% at night then even if the day rate is 80p per kWh, the average will be low.

If you use 50% day and 50% night then you would need to consider a tariff that may have a slightly higher night rate but cheaper day rate but using the average pence per kWh will all you to work out your specific best offer across many suppliers easily.

ignore the standing charge, if it went from 50p to £1 it only changes your monthly bill by £15 and likelihood is you’ll save more by getting the best average pence per kWh tariff than worrying about saving a few pence on the standing charge.

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@Finglebat

March 22, 2026

Welcome Lucas, just following on from the ‘do you turn off your computer & do you use MS Word’ discussion. Do you go around your home checking the top and bottom of your radiators? If so, pop down to M&S and purchase a pair of dark brown or racing green corduroys, or beige chinos
You are officially old.😂

Personally my way of identifying if you are old, is that you can no longer book club 18-30 holidays, but you can book SAGA holidays and river cruises. 🤭

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@Pierwalker

March 22, 2026

“Running in. Please pass. If you can!” 😉

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@gavkenny

March 22, 2026

The Kona EV has had two facelifts as did the Niro EV. Also wlecome Lucas!

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@johnkellett7797

March 22, 2026

Damn. I still own an A2 but just bought a Renault 4 e-tech to replace it. An A2 EV would have been an option!

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@PaulDee-k4p

March 22, 2026

In the last podcast you asked for feedback about what sort of efficiency are we seeing on our EVs. Well I don’t normally monitor it but today I visited a friend in Sutton Coldfield and returned home in Walsall, in my Kona Electric 2021 (bigger battery version). I was informed I got an average usage of 5.1 Miles per kilowatt. So okay maybe even get 300 miles out of it on a trip.

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@urbanstrencan

March 22, 2026

Lads great podcast episode, great to see new young addition to the team.
Can’t wait to see what Audi brings as a A2 will they just rebadge iD3 or will be properly done?

Reply
@kevinmair7571

March 22, 2026

Can anyone on the team explain why we (the UK) cannot separate the gas and electricity prices?

Reply
1. @UnknownUser-rb9pd
  
  March 22, 2026
  
  Do you mean gas being used for electricity generation ? Or are you talking about “gas” as in petrol?
  Electricity prices are not directly affected by oil prices (which equates to petrol and diesel) though many industries like transport obviously are.
  Below is for the UK.
  Gas is used to generate electricity in this country (28% of our electricity last year) and the way the electricity prices are determined is via an electronic auction system.
  Natural gas prices have been significantly affected by the lack of gas supplied from Qatar.
  Broadly speaking electricity costs are determined by the most expensive electricity generated to meet the demand. Or at least this is the way it used to work.
  In general terms the National Grid estimates how much electricity we are going to need in a half hour period 48 times for each day and the generators bid to supply this electricity.
  If was assume the that 100MW is required for a half hour period and the cheapest bidder says they can supply 40MW then we take that. Then if the second cheapest bidder says they can supply 30MW then we take that and so forth until we reach the 100MW estimated amount.
  Then to make it a fair system the money that the final generator to reach the 100MW limit receives is given to all successful bidders.
  This means that if the cheapest bidders come from wind power and nuclear and so forth but gas generation is required to meet the full 100MW then all successful generators (and hence all supplied electricity) will get the same rate and cost the same as the electricity generated by gas power stations.
  It’s more complicated as certain generators are guaranteed minimum amounts for historical reasons and certain generators can’t just switch their power stations on and off every 30 minutes, the grid requires a base load plus estimates are not always accurate and emergency power can be required at short notice ( at huge expense) to balance the grid if demand exceeds supply or there are technical faults from generators who can’t meet their promised obligations and so forth.
  Plus we import around 10% of our electricity from France plus around 3% from other European countries because it is cheaper and also export electricity to Ireland.
  So very complicated but as mentioned above the electricity costs what the highest costing electricity generator we have to use to meet the demand.
  
  Reply
@w1lliemartin

March 22, 2026

Good to see Mike in his long term EX30. It seems like the Volvo EX30 has gone from one of Electrifyings poster children to that jailbird uncle nobody talks about at family get togethers. Could you possibly look into the ongoing battery problem with some of the EX30’s and see if there’s any word on when owners can expect a fix. Yes I am an owner of an EX30 with a faulty battery so can only charge safely to 70%, giving me about 150 miles between charges.

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@PorthLlwyd

March 22, 2026

Why would you not turn off your computer “at night”. You’re not using it!! Turn it off.

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@fredbloggs72

March 22, 2026

I drove one of the first EX30’s delivered to dealers, I don’t recall ever driving a worse car, I’ve never been in a Volvo dealership since since then.
p.s. I’ve also driven the Smart #1 Brabus, which I like.

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@MathewAyrton

March 22, 2026

Hi, good to see you back. Do you know if there is any plans for an over the air update to the renault scenic to improve the rear camera? Its so bad! Like trying to use an 80’s tv to reverse! My I Pace just did an update to improve the rear camera at night, to be honest it was already good but now its really good. Would be nice if renault could do the same!

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@WagnerGimenes

March 22, 2026

It’s nice to see Lucas on the channel and see the team growing, but I’m of the opinion that people like Tom, Ginny, Mike and their anecdotes are just as important for content. It’s a fun and fact-filled channel. Thanks

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@neilrwilliams218

March 22, 2026

Don’t think running in is really a thing, but surely the guidance on giving the tyres a few hundred miles is probably a good thing. Of course the old guidance on giving the brakes time to bed in is probably not relevant due to how little the friction bakes get used.
A good running in story for you, back in May 1995 my parents were invited on the local dealer launch for the Rover 400. They were factory fresh cars and it was a week or two before the car was fully launched. Off we went in a torquoise 414i, getting lots of attention as very few people recognised what it was. My dad had no issues, but my mum tried pulling away with 4000 rpm when the limit was 3500. Luckily this was half way along the route when they swapped over and no one from the dealership came with us.

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@judebrown4103

March 22, 2026

Tom, you don’t need to convert to a nocturnal lifestyle just work out your daily usage and get a battery sized sufficiently to cover it. Charge at cheap rate overnight and you’re running your house on cheap electric without turning into a bat!

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