Cheap EVs, Rural Chargers & -20°C: What Could Go Wrong?!

12:43Jack Scarlet:Yeah, no, it was good. I just want to quickly add that my password for the app that we had to download is the most, because I have sometimes created rather obscene passwords, it was the most blatantly, ridiculously, immaturely offensive password I've ever put together.

13:01Robert Llewellyn:I'm so glad you said that because so is mine. Mine was like quite a PG-13 variation of like bum bum poohead.

13:13Imogen Bhogal:yeah i heard more swearing from you robert llewellyn in that in the space of five minutes in that welsh car park than in the five years that i've known you prior it was uh it was an

13:24Jack Scarlet:emotional evening in the rain trying to put the bloody and i i mean because that it is definitely that is an age thing there's a time there was a time even 10 years ago where i could have completed that task quite easily and something happens to a brain my age where you just go oh for goodness sake what i can't remember whether i put my name in right what's the number of the

13:46Imogen Bhogal:thing oh god just yeah don't enjoy it in terms of any kind of vaguely sensible takeaways from that video we won't spoil it too much we won't tell you which of the cars was our favorite or anything like that i'm not certain that we proved that you can in fact do massive road road trips in the cheapest smallest range evs on sale it's actually quite challenging if the truth be told but Certainly it highlighted what a wonderful variety there now is at that Sars 20 ,000 pound price point, which was unthinkable two years ago, three years ago. And we're tripping over them now. We could do that video again tomorrow with three different ones.

14:27Imogen Bhogal:We could, you know, there are cars that we missed out because, you know, we couldn't get them booked in on time. So very encouraging trip and a real kind of sign of the times, I feel.

14:37Robert Llewellyn:And I think the other thing that, you know, as Roberts mentioned, it has rained relentlessly since about November. And it was raining throughout this entire journey. However, it was sensationally beautiful. And I think it was a really good reminder that actually, despite this bleak rain that is getting into everybody's soul, there are just some fantastic landscapes here in the UK. It was breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking. and Hlandidno, such an interesting town because, you know, one of those ones that obviously the Victorians decided that holidays were a thing and made all of these seaside towns and it's got these gorgeous tall buildings.

15:18Robert Llewellyn:It just, that is the joy that we get to see these strange, obscure locations that we'd have no reason otherwise to go to. So that was a good school trip. Really good.

15:26Jack Scarlet:It was, it was very good. And also I think, I mean, I just want to say that I tried to do a similar trip 12, 13, 14 years ago in a Nissan Leaf, so in the first generation Nissan Leaf, and it was much, much harder. You know, in terms of charging, the only chargers I could find were at bed and breakfasts, where people who ran bed and breakfasts that put a charger in their car park area or whatever, outside the house. So it took three days to do the journey we could have done in a day. I mean, we took it easy because we were filming this, but it took three days to get to Snowdonia. and then and it was nightmare because i mean and also because that car could only do about 65 70 miles in the weather we were doing whereas the leap motor for all its many restrictions was doing 120 miles on a charge i could have actually got home when we finished in cardiff i really but that was unnecessary i did stop and charge because i needed to stop but i didn't their car didn't and And I thought, that is amazing that this tiny little car can do those sort of distances in the rain at motorway speeds.

16:36Jack Scarlet:You know, I was very impressed. I got more impressed with it as we went on. You grew very fond of your new motor. I got very fond of it. I was quite sad when it went. That was a real love affair over the course of that video. Yeah. Because it started out, when it arrived, I went, oh, for pity's sake, why have I got this one?

16:52Robert Llewellyn:I did love the fact that they were all in variations of blue. So together they did look cute. cute it was like some kind of um i don't know fully charged budget version of the italian job with the minis unfortunately none of us went over over any cliffs so we didn't write we didn't rob

17:09Jack Scarlet:any banks we really we really let the side down but jack you've had quite a kia ev2 heavy start

17:17Robert Llewellyn:yeah which i don't think you're sad about at all yeah it's funny the way it's worked out it's very

17:22Imogen Bhogal:much defined my first few months of content because we went and looked at it in a studio the production ready Kia EV2 at the start of the year and then moments in fact on that launch we were informed that we might have the opportunity a couple of weeks later to have a world exclusive first drive in it the first video has already gone live we went to Norway and we participated in the world's biggest and harshest EV range test. So this is something the Norwegian EV Association, I think, does every year. They basically get as many new cars as they can. They all drive north from Oslo until they die.

18:04Imogen Bhogal:And it's basically to assess if you are a Norwegian and you're trying to drive to your cabin in the fjords, which I think you just get assigned one at birth in Norway, as far as I can tell, what would be the real range? So we did that on Kia's behalf in an EV2 prototype. The results were very impressive. You can see that video on the channel already. And then in a couple of weeks' time, or maybe shortly after this podcast goes live, in fact, the first drive and kind of mini review of that car is going to go live, which Imogen, I can see Imogen rapidly scanning the production schedule to make sure that I'm right about the timings.

18:45Imogen Bhogal:At some point, roughly before or after this podcast goes out, a video will be live, which is our world-exclusive first drive of the Kia EV2. Spoiler alert, it's quite good.

18:57Robert Llewellyn:I can confirm that this podcast will be going out on a Monday. And tomorrow, if you're listening to this live, Tuesday the 3rd of March, you can see that first world-exclusive first drive.

19:09Imogen Bhogal:Can I tell you the thing that I really liked about that car? Because I think you'll appreciate this, Imogen. I think, and I said this in the video, I think it's a real tonic for our big SUV fixation because it's got all the good things about a big car, but it's a really small car. you feel fantastic at the wheel you feel high and mighty and imperious and it's hugely spacious inside and all of that good stuff you know the reasons we buy big cars that we don't need is to kind of feel like you know safe and secure and up high it does all that for you but it's teeny weeny you sort of look out over the bonnet and it confuses your brain because there's so little of it um so i was very impressed with that very excited for that video to go live you have

19:56Robert Llewellyn:totally summed me up there because that is precisely why I enjoyed the Citroen EC3 it's a big car for a small person it's a small big car a big car that's what I love I love the seat of a SUV but in a small footprint um so I can't wait to see it and I'm very envious although just tell us you went below minus 10 and I don't think that was pleasant no no it was we saw we

20:24Imogen Bhogal:saw minus 20 um during the ev range test actually when we when the car died as it was getting dark it was minus 20 which was fun and interesting um i've always wondered what minus 20 would feel like it feels a bit like minus five for the first two or three minutes and then you start to die is what that would be the is how i would describe it quick story from that event um one of the other cars participating was driven by two norwegian television journalists i think they were doing it for the local news and when they ran out of range they were up the top of a big hill where it was minus 30 and they phoned the kind of organization said you can come pick us up in the tow truck now but don't do it just yet because we've got a tv spot in 30 minutes so don't come too soon so they delayed their pickup time i think they were up there for a good hour and apparently some of their fingers were multiple times the size than they were originally by the time they got back down the hill so yeah i would advise against if ever you find yourself participating in a norwegian ev range test in winter don't delay don't delay rescue when it's offered to you

21:36Robert Llewellyn:i just i just think that sits so low down my bucket list of things i am not good with the

21:42Jack Scarlet:cold as we also discovered in wales we did discover yeah and i was cold not so much because

21:48Robert Llewellyn:of the weather but the hotel that we did stay in on the middle night was um cold

21:55Jack Scarlet:i was going to be kind and say less than warm but you're right it was cold

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22:39Robert Llewellyn:but Jack you you've got quite an exciting next few months as well which um we've been planning for for quite some time to kind of you know make this a seamless transition but do you want to do you want to tell the listeners where what's happening next yes I'm going traveling this year

22:58Imogen Bhogal:I'm taking a little sabbatical and I'm going to do a little bit of traveling for three or four months with my other half. It's a trip that we've been dreaming of doing for a very long time. We're going to go gallivanting around Japan for three months, which is the stuff of dreams. And thankfully, Everything Electric have been very supportive and have said, yes, you may have a job when you come back, which thank you again. We've been stockpiling really great episodes to ensure that you don't miss me too much on the channel while I'm away. But it's extremely exciting. What I am finding very quickly is the FOMO is setting in because we're now in the window where I'm receiving emails inviting me to launches of stuff that I'll not be here for.

23:41Imogen Bhogal:and for goodness sake all the stuff that I really, for example three days after I leave the country to go on my big trip of a lifetime, three sodding days after I leave, Ionic 6, press launch, first drive drifting it around a racetrack yeah, that's you you'll be drifting it around a racetrack Polestar 5, that's coming up I'll miss that, that'll be you Bobby I know, I'm so excited So I might be the first man ever to sort of be traveling around Asia on the trip of a lifetime while sort of grumbling that I'm not somewhere in Europe driving a new car. But, you know, these things aren't going anywhere.

24:23Imogen Bhogal:I'll catch up on them when I get back. What I am doing is getting as many in as I possibly can before I go. And two, I have managed to squeeze in in the time before I depart are the world car of the year, the Mercedes CLA, which we are overdue. um a review one i'm going to get really in depth with that one and spend a good week and a half with it before filming it and then we've got the bmw ix3 uk launch coming up in a few weeks time which is a biggie that car rocked my world when i saw it in the studio uh and everything i've heard from people who have driven it very much echoes that sentiment so god what a year what a

25:01Robert Llewellyn:year for cars yeah yeah it's it's been a funny old thing because i know that your fomo as soon as you are away, it will just completely dissolve. But I can well imagine how it feels at this present point in time. And especially because I think as we distribute episodes between us presenters, you guys obviously take most of the car stuff. I do a lot of stuff where I don much PPE and it's very techie. Either in a premier inn or an industrial estate, some combination thereof. And so you going away does open up a, I need to do a few more cars. That's just sort of the nature of the resources that we have.

25:37Robert Llewellyn:And I'm not sad about it. And when Swingo came in and were like, could you go to Ibiza in March? I'm like, yes. Oh, I forgot about that one. Yes, I can do that. Fine.

25:48Imogen Bhogal:So unfair.

25:49Robert Llewellyn:Can you go to Barcelona for EX60? I can do that. That is okay. So it's, I mean, you are going to be absolutely missed. And I'm so glad that we've bagged a load of stuff so that, you know, as far as the audience is concerned they won't notice too much and hopefully won't miss you too much because you will still be on the channel but it's like a couple of silver linings i am very

26:12Imogen Bhogal:excited genuinely to see you guys driving some of the amazing cars that are coming out this spring summer and and seeing those episodes go live on the channel because my goodness there's it's just a relentless slew of incredible new electric cars this year it really is i'm really noticing that so far this year i mentioned this when we did our new cars guide at the top of the year that we always do one of the kind of trends that i predicted is that electric cars cars in general just going to get a bit more interesting again this year a bit more desirable and i really think there's something in that i really think that everyone's been so stressed about platforms and software and batteries that yeah that other thing of like is this button nice to press has been neglected somewhat and is making a bit of a comeback this year so that's exciting

27:02Robert Llewellyn:well i think the thing that was um was i had a little chuckle to myself was that pole star five which robert you obviously drove last year yeah that next drive has come through and i'd say normally there's a lot of politeness of like who's available but robert you're straight and was like yep oh but also if anyone else is available that that's also That one has to be you when you did the first one.

27:27Jack Scarlet:I mean, it is one of those cars where I've definitely, you know, there's numerous mental frailties kicking in as the years pass. But, you know, there's been times when I've said, oh, we should review this car and everyone's gone quiet in the team because we already had reviewed that car and I'd reviewed it and I'd completely forgotten. But I've never, never forgotten for one moment my first drive of the Polestar 5. You know, that made, I think that's the thing you can sense. So that's made an impression. And with all the caveats, you know, it's an expensive, high-end, luxury sports car that's all absolutely, you know, taken into account.

28:03Jack Scarlet:But it is an extraordinary machine. It really is. It's the first time I've, for a long time, I've gone, oh, my God, okay, this is a huge next step. This is a really big change in the materials that are used in the technology that's at play there. It is an extraordinary machine. And I really only drove it around, you know, the Millbrook test track. You don't really get an idea of what it's like to drive any distance. But, yeah, it was very impressive. The other thing I thought I just wanted to mention, and if we can, I'll try and make sure we can put it in here, a fascinating advert by Volvo. Did you see that?

28:39Jack Scarlet:I only found it online. It was like a TV commercial. but it says thank you to all the people who were early adopters of electric cars and it shows all the things like trying to get the charger to work in the rain but plugging in in the snow and standing outside waiting for it sitting in a cafe with a coffee because you've got to wait for your car to charge i mean quite depressing dark swedish footage of a volvo it's a volvo yeah they're all volvos but they are admitting this was really tough this is really hard and what reminded me of it is their last line jack is what you just mentioned and at the very end of it they say thank you to all the people who've done this because now it's okay and there's a wonderful bit where a woman's driving and looking anxious and her battery gauge goes from three percent to two percent she can't find the charge then she sees the charger and the lights are on and it works and she you know that moment that we now all experience oh there's the charges oh there's loads of them and they all work and there's lights on and you plug the damn thing in and it works and it said thank you to all those and now we've reached the point where we've made a car for those people which is the new volvo jack you'll know which one ex60 i would guess yes it's smaller

29:57Imogen Bhogal:not a massive one which you actually basically never have to charge because you never have to 9 ,000 miles of range. It's astonishing.

30:05Jack Scarlet:Yeah. And there's a fantastic shot of it coming out of a tunnel, and it says, we've made this car for you to say thank you, and we no longer call it an electric car. Now this is just a car. And I just thought that is, at last, that first hint of that thing, because that's the thing I've sort of waffled on occasionally. You know, I'm looking forward to that moment. We just call it a car. And you, I think, inadvertently, Jack, today said, there's some really exciting cars coming out but we all knew you meant electric cars but you didn't need to say it yes it's a long way around commenting on that moment but it's it's an intriguing advert because it doesn't pretend it finally doesn't show a car driving through an empty city which there's so many tv adverts and uh you know car commercials where they're always or either a beautiful mountain road or an empty city where's who's where's the empty city i want to go there where there's one Volvo driving down a really wide street with nothing else there oh do you know it's so funny because I think Jack you started in the business five or six

31:13Robert Llewellyn:months before I did so we're coming both coming up to having been here for five years and the change in that time is extraordinary let alone the 16 years that you've been focusing on this as well Robert so it just and I always you always wonder did Volvo listen to to your rambling about can we just call them cars yeah it really does that does feel like the kind of

31:37Imogen Bhogal:right tone of voice with which to discuss this going forward it's not niche anymore you don't have to kind of know unless you live somewhere obscure inconvenience yourself in order to enjoy one a friend of mine is buying his first car uh quite soon he's about my age being a londoner he doesn't really didn't need one growing up yeah and i think with some gentle steering from myself I think he's going to end up getting a Renault 5. He's not interested in electric. He's not interested in cars. It's just the thing that makes the most sense for him financially in terms of his requirements. He's not buying it because it's electric or because he wants an electric car.

32:14Imogen Bhogal:He's buying it because it's just the right choice for him.

32:18Robert Llewellyn:Well, in Fabrice Campbell's interview that we did yesterday, and that interview will have already gone out, he did talk about how Renault are still pursuing hybrid cars, which I know will cause some consternation to our audience and definitely generate some debate. But he was like, you know, you've got to choose the right powertrain for the right car to some extent. And some people just said, oh, can't you make a hybrid version of the Renault 5? And he was like, no, because it is better as electric. Obviously, that car should never have a petrol engine. It should not be a hybrid. That would totally compromise it.

32:50Robert Llewellyn:This is an electric car. It is a leading electric car, and it is fun because it's an electric car. And I was like, wow, that's nice. And that's also going to mean that people like your friend buy it because it's great, not because it's electric. It's essentially just a really fun automatic, basically.

33:07Jack Scarlet:Yeah. Yeah.

33:08Robert Llewellyn:Yeah. Oh, goodness.

33:11Jack Scarlet:We've gone quiet now. I'm agreeing and thinking how – I mean, it's very hard not to, because I don't want to harp on about the past, But it's hard not to reflect occasionally on how rapid the change has come and also how there's still resistant, you know, there's still kind of negative voices about it when and, you know, plenty of that going on. And yet all the statistics are showing constantly increasing sales against all the odds. I mean, it's a really confusing world to make sense of, I think, is that you will hear. And also things like the ban on the sales of combustion-only vehicles. You know, I was always skeptical about that anyway.

33:58Jack Scarlet:But it's just they always get pushed back and pushed back. But they don't get pushed back because the wind's blowing. they get pushed back because there's an enormous army of very well-funded people lobbying and pushing and criticizing and publishing articles and getting front pages to say EVs don't work and everyone hates them.

34:18Robert Llewellyn:So there's still a battleground there. Well, I think because I'm like, God, we could go down a whole new rabbit hole. So let's definitely save that debate for another time. But before we come to the end of this podcast, the thing we have not mentioned today is that it is, in fact, Jack Scarlett's birthday.

34:39Imogen Bhogal:Yes. Birthday, Jack. I'm old. And I'm going to ask you, you're the youngest on this call. That's true. That is true.

34:51Robert Llewellyn:Thank you. I'm going to ask you the question that I ask my family. Sometimes they like this question. Sometimes they're like, oh, please shut up. um but on your birthday what is the best thing about your previous year and what's the thing you're most looking forward to this year and it can be however small or big work related or non-work related biggest thing this year easy good doing embarking on the trip of a lifetime going to a

35:22Imogen Bhogal:country that I've never visited before and have always wanted to go to. Best thing from the last year. I wouldn't necessarily pick an individual moment, but as I was saying to you guys off camera a moment ago, I just think I'm getting better at being happy with each passing year. I think I, and this is not a revelation, everyone realizes this, but just care less about what other people think, more self-assured, understand myself better, better at looking after myself. So if you're listening to this and you're 25 and you're riddled with anxiety don't worry I was too and it's it's uh 32 is the new 21 I've decided

36:08Robert Llewellyn:no I think that's something I think that's just like the best thing to hear um and in this world especially this world that feels largely uncertain to be able to feel happy in oneself is such a privilege and I do think it's something that becomes easier with age um there is no way

36:28Jack Scarlet:I would go back to being 23 24 no it gets better I can tell you with the great wisdom of my many years that it is still possible at my age to say the most inappropriate things that you then regret for the rest of your few years that you've got remaining. I still manage to screw up plenty of times. Well, I will use a slightly rude term. When I was in Australia, my wife and daughter were there and I got up one morning and was making breakfast for them. I don't know how it always ends up me doing that. But anyway, I said, oh, I woke up this morning and my first thought was, oh, wait a minute, am I the arsehole?

37:10Jack Scarlet:As in, I'm the really awful person that they have to put up with because that's how, yeah, so that can still happen.

37:19Robert Llewellyn:And there's a question, Jack, that I hope you ask your other half as you can make your birthday today. Hopefully, her answer is no.

37:29Jack Scarlet:Not today. Because what I got was two people sitting at a kitchen table in total silence. It wasn't a comment one way or the other. No, they were mirrors. That's how Judy explained it. We were mirrors to show you that, yes, you are the asshole. Isn't that lovely? Sorry about that. Use some bad language on the podcast. It's not sensible at all.

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38:29Robert Llewellyn:Well, before we round out, what have you got in store for your birthday today to celebrate?

38:34Imogen Bhogal:I'm going to go to a lovely dinner this evening with my girlfriend and my mother, whose birthday it was also a couple of weeks ago. It was all of our birthdays inside the last two weeks. So it's sort of everyone's birthday dinner. And then I'm going to go to the pub and get pissed tomorrow. The old one too. Well, I mean, I think I speak on behalf of also the audience

39:00Robert Llewellyn:that just A, happy birthday. B, when you get to your travels, have the most important time. We're not jealous even a little bit. No, we're immensely jealous. And we can't wait to have you back when you do come back as well.

39:15Imogen Bhogal:Well, thank you very much. I will, of course, be hanging on to every episode while I'm away and watching your excellent work driving cars. I wish I was driving, albeit from possibly a beach with a pina colada.

39:33Robert Llewellyn:Why should we leave it there, chums?

39:35Jack Scarlet:I think we should. I think we ought

39:38Robert Llewellyn:Who's going to do the honours? Round us out

39:40Jack Scarlet:Go on Do you think you ought to? Oh, I don't mind You do it, Imogen

39:45Robert Llewellyn:You do it, Robert

39:45Jack Scarlet:I'll do it, I'll do it As always, it's been a delight This has been too much fun This doesn't feel like a difficult podcast interview Or anything like that It was really a joy to speak with you And yes, as Imogen said, Jack Please do have an amazing time I really look forward to hearing how you get on. I would just like to say to everyone, please do come along to our live events if you're ever near where any of them are. There's plenty of information about them around. Please do tell your friends and family and your annoying uncle who thinks that hydrogen is the future. I just thought I'd throw that in there.

40:29Jack Scarlet:To watch this show and to subscribe to us. and please subscribe if you haven't. And also, as always, if you have been, thank you for listening.