Zapheap, Secret Launches & Breaking Down The New EV Grant! | Everything Electric Podcast

28 Jul 2025 · 48 min · 23 chapters

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In short

The hosts recap filming Zap Heep Challenge episode 1 (their pilot), tease upcoming secret EV-related shoots, and then debate the UK’s newly announced £3,750 electric vehicle grant for cars under £37,000—especially how it interacts with charging infrastructure, VAT on public charging (20% vs 5% at home), and grant complexity/confusion. They also discuss clean transport progress in London and upcoming content shifts toward North America (hydro, lithium processing, electric boats).

Guests

No external guests appear in this episode. The “guests” are the regular hosts: Robert Llewellyn, Jack (name not given in transcript), and Imogen (surname not given). They reference interviews previously done with Ed Miliband, Chris Stark (Clean Power Mission 2030), and Michael Hervitz (Transport for London/clean transport work).

Key claims

EV sales continued rising after earlier grants ended; charging complaints are often perception-based; incentives help but current grant rules are confusing; VAT differences make public charging more expensive; second-hand EV grants could reduce bureaucracy.

Notable examples

Zap Heep Challenge filming from 7am to midnight; London air quality improvements; a Volkswagen ID.3 battery test after 107,000 miles losing ~8 miles range; Norway as an example of incentives driving adoption.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Filming the Zap Heep Challenge

1:52 to 3:03

Discussion about filming the first episode of the Zap Heep Challenge.

“But before we get to that, first of all, a very quick advert break.”

Experiences on Set

3:03 to 5:20

Hosts share their experiences and memories from the filming day.

“Yes, because what we're sort of referring to is that last week we filmed episode one of Zap Heep Challenge, our first pilot.”

The Challenge and Team Dynamics

5:20 to 7:40

Insights on the challenges faced by the teams during the filming.

“I know that sounds really like, oh, so present, but it was just a fantastic day and so lovely to connect these like electrical things to a mechanical product.”

Post-Filming Reflections

7:40 to 10:00

Discussion on the aftermath of filming and personal updates from hosts.

“We were just commentating on people working hard.”

Upcoming Secrets and Future Projects

10:00 to 14:03

Teasing upcoming projects and experiences in the electric vehicle space.

“But I suppose other than Zappeep, we've all been rather busy.”

Weighted Blankets and Family Chores

14:03 to 15:03

The hosts discuss their experiences with weighted blankets and family logistics.

“So weighted blanket was not what I guessed.”

Busy Times at Everything Electric

15:04 to 17:22

Imogen shares her recent activities, including the Goodwood Festival and upcoming content shifts.

“A little insight into the rock and roll champagne lifestyle of Robert Llewellyn.”

Transport Changes in London

17:23 to 18:46

Discussion of London’s evolving transport system and cleaner air due to electrification.

“Many times I caught the train, I'd get out of the train at Paddington, walk up onto Parade Street and go, oh, my God.”

Insights on Electric Vehicle Grants

18:47 to 20:55

The hosts analyze the implications of the new electric vehicle grant announcement.

“Turns out he's like much older than 28, but he just looks fantastic.”

Charging Infrastructure Challenges

20:56 to 23:00

The conversation shifts to the current challenges and perceptions of EV charging infrastructure.

“you have to give people money to buy them.”
Show all 23 chapters

Cost Implications of Charging

23:01 to 25:24

Discussion about the economic aspects of home and public charging for electric vehicles.

“But I do think it's like 60 % in favour of it and think it's really good.”

Taxation on Electric Vehicle Charging

25:25 to 27:54

The hosts explore the complexities of VAT on charging and its impact on EV adoption.

“But yeah, I mean, how on earth do you manage?”

Exploring Electric Vehicle Charging Options

28:00 to 30:04

Learn about various charging alternatives for electric vehicles, including home and destination charging.

“Charge a large external power bank and then run the car off that.”

Understanding EV Grants and Incentives

30:04 to 31:59

Discuss the complexities and perceptions surrounding new electric vehicle grants and their impact on consumers.

“agree with Bobby in that it's most definitely better than having no incentives.”

The Case for Second-Hand Electric Vehicles

31:59 to 33:46

Examine the potential benefits of focusing on second-hand electric vehicles and the barriers to their adoption.

“Here are the cars that qualify for the grant.”

Transitioning to Electric Cars: Challenges and Opportunities

33:46 to 36:53

Explore the challenges of transitioning to electric vehicles and the importance of accessible options for all consumers.

“I mean, because that would, that you could see then substantially lowered, you know, like you could even get to sub 10 ,000 pounds for a secondhand vehicle that's perfectly good and it's in good condition, you know.”

The Long-Term Viability of Electric Cars

36:53 to 38:23

Discuss the longevity and maintenance costs associated with old electric vehicles compared to traditional cars.

“You know, the fuel lines would be blocked.”

Zapheap Episode Insights and Future Plans

38:23 to 40:46

Hear about the upcoming Zapheap episode and the excitement surrounding new electric car developments.

“But the other quick thing I want to say is the government figures are, I think it's actually slightly under 60 % of UK households have somewhere off the street to park a car.”

Upcoming Electric Vehicle Shoot

42:00 to 43:36

Discussion about an exciting upcoming shoot featuring a high-end electric car.

“But aside from Zap Peep, what are you looking forward to in the next couple of weeks?”

Sneak Peek of New Jaguar Models

43:36 to 45:34

Insights into new Jaguar electric vehicles spotted and their anticipated features.

“So it was so obvious it was the Jaguar because the shape of that, even though they did stuff over the park.”

Speculations on Electric Range Rover Release

45:34 to 47:36

Discussion about the delayed release and features of the new electric Range Rover.

“But interestingly, because we had Rorden Glover from Jaguar on the podcast the other day.”

Wrap-Up and Show Announcements

47:36 to 49:21

Final thoughts, encouragement to attend the Farnborough show, and audience engagement.

“You know how Bobby feels about Northern Scottish.”

Wrap-Up and Show Announcements

50:06 to 50:31

Final thoughts, encouragement to attend the Farnborough show, and audience engagement.

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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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1:35Robert Llewellyn:Hello and welcome to another episode of the Everything Electric podcast, where today we've got a bit of a treat really because Robert, Jack and myself are sitting down for a little chin wag, which actually doesn't happen that frequently. So we are delighted to probably share a bit of nonsense with you. We'll see where we go. But before we get to that, first of all, a very quick advert break.

2:23Imogen Bhogal:I mean, the thing is, is that because of the beauty of editing, we actually didn't need to pause. No, no. It's amazing. I was waiting for the advert to finish. We're all just politely waiting.

2:33Robert Llewellyn:We could, we have, I think we hear it in our minds in Farnborough, Vancouver, Sydney.

2:41Imogen Bhogal:Melbourne, Sydney. Keep all of that in, George. But hello, how are you both? I'm very well. I miss. We've all been doing very well. Slightly, yeah, we had a big old week last week, didn't we? I'm sure we'll talk about what we've been up to, but many big sleeps were had over the weekend, ready to do it all again.

3:03Robert Llewellyn:Yes, because what we're sort of referring to is that last week we filmed episode one of Zap Heep Challenge, our first pilot. It might be just Zap Heep. Zap Heep, episode one of Zap Heep. We started the day at, I think, 7am. Oh, that's when we're having breakfast anyway, on site at 7.30. And the 10 hours of the challenge probably began in earnest at about midday. Yeah. So it was a late day.

3:35Because I was thrown out at about 10.30. People looked at, let the poor old man go to bed. So what time were you there till? You were there till late, late.

3:48Robert Llewellyn:I was there till midnight. So slightly before Jack. And Dom said, he was like, you know, you have wrapped. You could go to the hotel. And I was like, there is no way I'm leaving. We are so close. I need to see this thing turn on. And then Jack, you were the force to be there till the bitter end because you did some reviews at the end.

4:06Imogen Bhogal:Yeah, my main piece of presenting that was required of me came at around 12.30 a.m. We had the right idea that without giving too much away, we thought it'd be fun if I did like a mini car review of these contraptions that they built as I had known for doing on the YouTube channel, which I did. And it was great because the problem with that is you have to wait until the things are built, which they weren't until quite late at night. but it was extraordinary and as someone who you know grew up watching that show religiously it

4:34Robert Llewellyn:means a lot to me it means to a lot of people who are there um making it and seeing how it gets made

4:40Imogen Bhogal:has not taken away from the magic of it at all which i think is probably very unusual of a show

4:46Robert Llewellyn:yeah yeah i so agree and i and i was kind of reflecting at the time like and i it's so difficult to talk about this without giving any spoilers away so for anyone listening sorry we're speaking in kind of vagaries, but to actually see something physical and mechanical get built, it was just the most extraordinary experience. And actually, bizarrely mindful, because whilst we're on site, there is one mission, or rather, there are two challenges, two teams building something. That is all that can be done. That's all that can be focused on. So you're so in it and so present. I know that sounds really like, oh, so present, but it was just a fantastic day and so lovely to connect these like electrical things to a mechanical product.

5:29Robert Llewellyn:It was awesome. Yeah. No, it was wonderful, wasn't it? And many aspects of it, I've sort of stayed with you. I mean, I think for me particularly, it was having Kathy Rogers visit. So Kathy Rogers, who was the originator of the programme, I can't remember, we did work out how long ago. It was a long time ago. And I sort of remembered back to the first time I met her and how bonkers the idea seemed and this will never work and this is going to be another one of those one-off Channel 4 things that doesn't last and everyone forgets about. And definitely not that. And she was so, so thrilled to see we were doing it.

6:04I mean, she really was made up by it. So that was very...

6:06Imogen Bhogal:It must have been surreal for you, Bobby, because there you were back in that same coat. We had the same directors and soundies as you had 25 years ago. Your son, Louis, who was sort of bouncing around the set as a toddler, is there working one of the cameras. Actually working really hard. Was it bizarre for you? Yeah, it kind of was, but it was also, it's so exhausting that I think I was, I remember how exhausted I was, but I was also 20 years younger, you know, so there were more than 20 years younger. So that it was, I did find it very tiring to kind of, because you've got to be able to switch on.

6:40I mean, you were doing, you were so good at it, but you know, that thing is, you know, you're sitting, because a lot of it is, there's quite a lot of hanging around for us where we're not doing anything where all the focus is on the teams and the machines as it should be. and then suddenly it would go, can you say something about this? Oh. You have to be kind of ready to jump in.

6:57Robert Llewellyn:So I've got a question for you because on that day, I don't think I've ever been hungrier in my whole entire life. Like by 10 a.m. I'd had three croissants. I'd had like, you know, entire portion of fish and chips by like 4 p.m. I'd like a panini at 9 p.m. Because it was a marathon. Did you always have to eat that much? yeah i mean we had i mean we had like um on-site catering so like a proper catering truck where they cooked hot meals and everything like that but you know they had to you know the crew was it was a huge team it was over 60 people were on the set so actually there so they had to cater for over 60 people so that's quite a big thing and yeah we did eat a lot i think yeah i seem to yes i can't quite remember now but i know i do remember eating and someone saying you really should wash your hands and i looked at my hands they were absolutely filthy i hadn't even thought about it but then everybody else was absolutely filthy i mean yeah because you you naturally absorb dirt and dust that you know and that that is a relatively clean uh environment we were in uh you know for this for this new series and there's there's less sort of engine oil and smoke and latting engines and all that stuff oh sorry oh oh you go you go uh worth noting that while

8:14Imogen Bhogal:it was legitimately exhausting for us as presenters because it's a very long day and you've got to be ready at any moment to be on. We were just commentating on people working hard. Those teams, teams of three, mind you, I think there were four back in the day, but only teams of three. You could barely tell them apart by the end of the day because they were just a pair of eyes and then grease, a body covered in grease and oil with sort of lightly singed bits on their t-shirts yeah yeah those guys i think they're probably still asleep those two they must be yeah but i tell you the other thing which a person we haven't mentioned is colin who was one an absolute joy totally you know enthusiastic about it and there was a wonderful moment where i glanced in at the because i can't now i've completely forgotten the names of the teams the ones the ones that were the first the we don't need to give it away oh no we don't need to give it away no sorry it's you forgot on one of the teams but there were two people welding and one person grinding and i went oh my god i've seen this so many times this is in the dark just noise and sparks and flames and everything just chaos but but clearly colin really enjoyed it which i was very you know it was a great thrill to see him and he's such an enthusiast and such a knowledgeable guy about that sort of bodging together things it was very and he can really

9:33Robert Llewellyn:worker telehandler as well fair play yes i've never seen anything like it yeah goodness yeah and he was complaining it's he said oh it's really hard to drive and i went doesn't you don't make it look like it's hard to drive god yeah so jack i don't know if you've had this experience um since last week as well but there was a picture that was put on instagram and we were all tagged in it and so was colin first he was also tagged in it and we're all collaborators on the post as well and it means that you know because he has such an extraordinary high number of followers but I've had loads and influx of his followers now follow me the trouble is is that they all have Instagram handles of things like Kevin in the garage or Stuart builds stuff I'm like oh man you guys are going to be so disappointed when I blast you with content of my dog and being like oh look at this lovely sustainable bottle of wine la la la la so um apologies to any of those people out there.

10:31I'm sure they'll love it.

10:36Robert Llewellyn:But I suppose other than Zappeep, we've all been rather busy. Jack, you immediately went from Zappeep straight to another shoot, which I'm not sure how much you'll even be allowed to share about that.

10:48Imogen Bhogal:Yeah, I'm potentially about to be the world's worst podcast guest because the thing that I went and filmed straight after Zappeep is even more secret than Zappeep. So I'm going to choose my word very carefully here and tease it. I went somewhere in Europe to visit a certain legacy car maker and take a first look at their new electric vehicle. Can you tell what it is yet? You've kept it mysterious, mate. Well done. We're moving on. But this is a car brand that I think it would be fair to say has not been leading the pack in terms of their commitment to electrification and the technology within their electric vehicles.

11:31Imogen Bhogal:And this car changes that radically. This is a brand that for me has been slightly lagging behind and is potentially now right at the cutting edge in terms of battery technology, in terms of software. it was a remarkable i've never been quite so astonished on a launch and i've never had so much information chucked at me which i've then had to very quickly kind of process put into my own words and then deliver to a camera um all while quite tired from being on yes before so did you actually do that on friday jack was that i flew out the following day so i went on thursday filmed on the friday um yeah i wish i could say more and i i'd like to come back to the pod once that video goes out yeah we should do in september imogen i think it is i think it is currently and

12:19Robert Llewellyn:i'm actually going to look here because i have it in front of me and i can see the words and it's so tempting to say them out loud uh so 5th of september stay tuned yeah but if anyone's willing

12:28Imogen Bhogal:to guess i wish i could say more i'm sure it's very annoying to listen to but there's a big video coming early september and uh it's worth keeping an eye out for but if anyone is willing to guess

12:40Robert Llewellyn:what we might be referring to, feel free to write in the comments. There you go. Yeah. We can speculate. We cannot, what's that one? Oh, we cannot confirm or deny. Rob, what have you been up to? Well, I have actually been writing the script for the next Everything Electric News, which just requires a lot of reading and research and checking, because I'm now doing three sources of information about any topic, which is really annoying because about three of the topics I really wanted to do, there was no backup, there was no verification. It just sounded like someone's opinion. So I'm trying to avoid people like me, loudmouths, opinions, and actually get to some relatively reliable actual facts.

13:29So I've been very immersed in that and also helping my daughter move, move which is it's quite it's more stressful than you might think dad can you carry this that what the hell is that here's the thing i've learned about the younger generation what the beep beep beep is a weighted blanket i had to carry one upstairs i almost broke my back carrying the damn thing it's like

13:57Robert Llewellyn:carrying an elephant huge thing i did not know where the end of that sentence was going to go So weighted blanket was not what I guessed. Oh, right. I've become obsessed with weighted blankets. I know they're very good and very reassuring or something, but I don't know. Yeah, they're heavy. It's supposed to be very calming.

14:14Imogen Bhogal:It kind of presses down on you in a reassuring way. I feel like I would feel trapped. Yeah. I haven't had a go with it. I've got to have a go with it.

14:23Robert Llewellyn:I suppose it's the adult version of, you know, being tucked in when you're a child. Yes. Yes. That's true. And when my lovely daughter was a tiny child, She always made me tuck her in. My son didn't want any tucking or anything anywhere near it, and she liked to be tucked in. I shouldn't be talking about her now. She'd be very upset. But she will be living with you for a few months. She's living with us for a few weeks while they're between houses, yes. So it's all – and there's a lot of – yeah, there's a lot of logistics. It's wonderful. And I really tried to get them to use an electric van, and that didn't happen.

14:57Basically, we've got two – there's two men about to arrive with another van load of stuff. So that's all. So that's yeah. Sorry. That's so off topic.

15:06Imogen Bhogal:A little insight into the rock and roll champagne lifestyle of Robert Llewellyn. So not. I've also been clearing up all the clippings that my wife has done in the garden. So she says she's done the job. I just this is something that has been weighing on me like a weighted blanket. it so doing the job that i see clearing out a bit of the corner of the garden involves getting all the stuff you've clipped off or dug up or whatever and putting it in the recycling vegetable bin thing we've got no you leave it on the floor and then your husband goes and has to pick it all up

15:42Robert Llewellyn:there's a bit of stress partnership there you know but she says i've done all the work and i go well you haven't done all the work i've done some of it anyway that's enough that's enough ranting about

15:55Imogen Bhogal:that. Imogen, what's been keeping you busy?

15:58Robert Llewellyn:Oh, what has been keeping me busy? Well, there's been quite a lot of exciting things recently, I suppose. Last week, we were at Goodwood Festival of Speed, which was very hot, very, very, very hot. And sort of always interesting to see what electric stuff people bring out. We've got an episode going out tomorrow, that you will, it will be in the past it will be tomorrow for us but last week for anyone listening to this um that you shot and then a lot of my time has been spent either doing podcasts or um scripting stuff for Canada because we're starting to shift our content strategy towards um North America stuff so next week I'll be going out to Canada um having a look at some stuff to do with hydroelectric dams some lithium processing technology which is really really interesting more on that once i've got a little bit more into the weeds on the detail um some electric boats also this huge industrial farm which is totally powered by renewable energy so very much been in the clean energy camp more so than the electric vehicle camp of late i would say um but a couple of highlights i sat down with Ed Miliband recently and then followed that up with Chris Stark as well who's head of Clean Power Mission 2030 um so yeah it's been it's been it's been busy but it's always busy here at Everything Electric Show.

17:23He never stopped well also I should mention lovely Michael Hervitz so

17:26Robert Llewellyn:we just that's just gone out today at our time like we're in a different continent but you know we'll be last week's podcast but if you haven't heard it is really worth because he just is such an absolute mine of information about how the the transport system in london has really been changed very dramatically in the last 10 years um with you know the electrification of a lot of the transport so the buses and the taxes and many of the delivery vans and now the cars and it is cleaner i mean it's not perfect by any means but my goodness it doesn't smell as as basically as toxic as it used to 20 years ago was really bad you know you would you know I think you only noticed it if you didn't live in London.

18:09Many times I caught the train, I'd get out of the train at Paddington, walk up onto Parade Street and go, oh, my God. It was really, really, you really notice it when you don't live there. I lived there for 14 years. I don't remember noticing at all. Except when I blew my nose. I won't go into any detail, but you did know that. If you cycled across London, then blew your nose. You.

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18:29Robert Llewellyn:I was going to say, I think the blowing the nose thing, that's something that even in Jack and I, I think, in our recent history we can remember sort of seven years ago you blew your nose after being in london and it was it was not a pretty sight and now it's a little bit more pretty but i i would

18:45Imogen Bhogal:just like to go on record and say i have never blown my nose and looked into the tissue and been like well i must have been in london today you guys do you guys really i'm not really analyzing my bogeys all that much at all guys i'll be completely honest with you

18:59Robert Llewellyn:either you have a much better personal hygiene than myself and robert or you you are london

19:04Imogen Bhogal:born and bred so perhaps yeah no it is just two streams of lava but i assume that's normal because

19:09Robert Llewellyn:that's what it's always been for me michael is such an interesting character for two reasons yeah he's absolutely incredible he has been so instrumental in this clean transport journey across london a career spanning sort of 20 years he became like the most senior civil servant that you could possibly be when it comes to the government and clean energy and transport and uh i remember the first time i met him which was about five years ago he was giving me a bit of a whistle stop tour of his of his career and some of the things he'd done at transport for london some stuff he'd done for the department of transport blah blah blah blah blah and i was like yeah all right there's no way that this guy has done it because he's like 28 years old and he's just like a little bit of a slightly arrogant graduate i'm gonna say yes and then i was like hang on a second you just physically couldn't have squeezed all of this into your you know four-year career that he's had so far.

20:01Robert Llewellyn:Turns out he's like much older than 28, but he just looks fantastic. So clearly there is something energising. Yeah, it's very, very unfair. I would say it's cruel how much hair he's got and how dark it is when you compare it with his age. That's just not fair. That's left the rest of the white male race

20:22Imogen Bhogal:just reeling in depression and self-loathing, particularly me.

20:27Robert Llewellyn:The other thing is that he was very instrumental in setting up the original Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and the grants that existed, I guess, about seven to ten years ago now. Yes. Which means that it's particularly interesting having this conversation now because as of last week, there's been the announcement of the new electric vehicle grant of£3 ,750 for cars that fit the criteria that are under£37 ,000. And we've all kind of been observing the commentary around that news. What are your thoughts? Well, I'll do very briefly. I think it's not bad. It makes me, there is a side of it that always makes me slightly worried and did before in the sense that, you know, it's such an easy target for people who are opposed to any change in transport policy in that, oh, they're so rubbish.

21:22you have to give people money to buy them. The government has to, you know, and that. So, you know, in a sense, I want, you know, any technology you buy to be worth it because it's better and it's, you know, it's cheaper to live with and run. And, you know, I want it to stand up on its own two feet. So that's, and it has been interesting that since the original grant has disappeared, which is, I don't know, well, not that long ago, three or four years ago. Something like that. When the old grant stopped. the sales of electric vehicles have just continued to rise. So if they just immediately dropped off a cliff and no one was buying electric cars, then we've got a massive problem.

22:02But I think it does send a message, though, that the government are serious about this transition. And I think one of the aspects that I thought it was a shame in the timing, so it's nothing to do with the grant, but they've actually allocated£63 million funding funding for on-street and off-street charging, so to support the charging network, which is now all the complaints I hear from people, they're not about the cost of the cars, they're not about the reliability of the cars or the batteries. It's always everyone talks about the charging. Oh, I'd love to use an electric car, but there's no charging infrastructure.

22:39And you bite your knuckle again, well, there are 83 ,000 rapid charges in the country and there's about 1 ,000 being put in every week and they are, you know, charging infrastructure. But if you don't use it, you don't rely on it, you don't see it. You know, it's very easy to ignore it. But so, I mean, I guess I'm a bit torn, but not newly torn. I was already torn with the old grant as well. But I do think it's like 60 % in favour of it and think it's really good. So my reservations are in the minority.

23:12Robert Llewellyn:And the charging thing is really interesting because I was listening to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 when the announcement was made. And I really, really cannot abide that show most of the time because I just find it incredible that, you know, they'll be like salt gritters up and down the country are causing outrage. And it'll be this sort of, you know, they'll sensationalize any topic basically. And I think they were looking to really sensationalize this particular topic. And lots of people were ringing and saying, I love my EV. I will never go back. It's great. Okay. but the charging infrastructure is a challenge.

23:48Robert Llewellyn:And then there were a couple of people who were slightly more negative towards electric vehicles or electric vehicle transportation. And they were like, my electric vehicle is great, but I had these two terrible experiences of the charging network and I will never buy an electric vehicle again. So exactly as you described, so interesting that the gripes on both sides of the spectrum, for EVs and against EVs, came down to this perception of the charging infrastructure, which is something, until you live with an ev you can't you can't yeah yeah yeah and especially because everyone's the way that people travel and where they go is so different so your experience of the charging infrastructure is so unique to you your household your job the way you live your life um so it's difficult to or it's just not reflective talking about it in these like huge sweeping terms yes Well, I mean, also the three of us are kind of interesting example.

24:42You know, I do have room, you know, off the street to park a car and plug it in. You know, I have all those advantages. And both of you drive electric cars and you don't. You have to use the public charging. So what I would imagine is my fuel costs are, you know, it's the absolute opposite of virtue signaling. I drive around shame signaling. I'm going, oh, I feel really bad. I've just driven 200 miles. wasn't it? The fuel cost was zero because it was all from my solar panels, you know, so it's so unfair. And that is a really new twist. It has something to do with income and with wealth, because, you know, you've got to have a house with a garage and or a house with a driveway to do that.

25:21And then you've got to have solar panels and then, you know, to take full advantage of that. But yeah, I mean, how on earth do you manage? It's impossible to have an electric car I'm not having to drive. Well, it's not impossible.

25:34Imogen Bhogal:I'm very lucky that I, you know, the charger that matters the most is the one at home. And at home might mean on your driveway, if you're lucky, or it might mean the charger nearest to your home. In my case, fortunately, on my street that I plug my car into overnight and grab it in the morning and unplug it. So I kind of get the experience of having my own driveway charger. The problem is it's way more expensive because I pay tax on my charging and you, Robert, don't. And as we all know, there is actually a bill of parking. Less tax, exactly. Yes, less tax. This is currently being discussed in Parliament, isn't there?

26:04Imogen Bhogal:There is a bill to slash the tax on public charging, which I would argue is as instrumental, if not more instrumental, in enabling electric vehicles in a big way. Because then there is no if, buts, or maybes around it being much charger to run an electric car, because the charging would just be so much more affordable for everyone if they slashed that tax on public charging. In regards to the... I'll just make it clear for people overseas who may not know, when you're at any household, it's VAT, it's called value-added tax, which is on many products and goods that you buy in this country. But at home, when you buy electricity, you pay 5 % VAT on top of your bill.

26:44And when you plug into a public charge, you're paying 20%. So it's a big difference. It makes a big difference. If it was 5 % for public charges, it would be really a lot cheaper.

26:55Robert Llewellyn:But the challenge that it comes with all of that is that I think I'm right in saying, and if I'm incorrect, then someone in the comments, please do feel free to correct me. But in this discussion that's going through Parliament at the moment about reforming the tax structure, it's not necessarily bring public charging down to 5 % to match home charging. There's speculation that actually it's just made the same. So actually there could be a scenario where it's 20 % VAT on home electric charging. Wow. which then there's this all this complicated stuff around well if you've been generating your own power on your own solar panels do you really mean to suggest that you're being paid charge tax on stuff that you're suggesting is that that you that only the electricity that goes into your car you have to pay 20 the electricity that runs your lights is still five percent how the the The technological and bureaucratic complexity of separating those two is...

27:52Robert Llewellyn:It's nonsense. It's like total faff. If that was the case here at my house, the first thing I'd do is run my extension cable out of the kitchen where I plug the kettle in.

28:03Imogen Bhogal:Charge a large external power bank and then run the car off that. Yeah, brilliant. I mean, anyway, yeah.

28:09Robert Llewellyn:It's so silly. And if ever you ask a politician about the 20 % VAT thing versus the 5 % VAT thing, they're like, oh you'll have to ask the tax office because we don't know and i'm like oh god it's so and it just kind of points to the fact that there's lots of i really believe that there are so many people who have opinions about this or are forming policy about these sorts of things who haven't actually lived with the technology and experienced it because when it goes right when you have your sort of setup of either you know if you have home charging dreamy because it's you're paying basically nothing with those really lovely tariffs that you can get through OVO and Octopus and the likes of that.

28:46Robert Llewellyn:Or you do figure out how it works for you without a home charger and you do experience like a better overall experience. And it is slightly more comparable with the cost of petrol and diesel if you don't find destination charging, but it is generally speaking much more seamless. And like for me, I don't have a home charger, which is kind of annoying. I wish we did. But either we live, you know, 10 minutes from a rapid charger or I go to the gym where there is free charging. And that is a good incentive to go to the gym. I'll just do another hour on the treadmill. Like generally today.

29:21Imogen Bhogal:And by the way, why have more businesses not realised that it's a fantastic way to get people through the door and staying for longer?

29:30Robert Llewellyn:Literally, because today at the gym, A, I wouldn't have gone to the gym if I didn't need to charge. And the reason I need to charge is because I'm taking my nephew to lego land on wednesday need to get there uh very important auntie duties but i know that it's an 11 kilowatt charger which is pretty good but so i'm gonna have to gym for a bit and then i'm probably gonna have to be there for a little bit more time i will buy a coffee or whatever um so you know there's ways to reconsider that dwell time and the opportunity opportunity i

29:58Imogen Bhogal:think that that presents yeah definitely um back to the grant very quickly i would yeah i would agree with Bobby in that it's most definitely better than having no incentives. Having incentives is better than no incentives. I do understand, Robert, your point about the sort of perception issues around, oh, we have to make this cheaper. But I wouldn't worry too much about that because as we've seen from countries like Norway, where they're very good at electric cars and everyone drives them, the way you get people into them is almost immaterial. It's just about getting people into them all the surveys that we've conducted prove that once people go electric they do not go back it's just about getting them into those electric cars initially so i think anything we can do to incentivize that is beneficial my issue with it is that it's confusing and convoluted there are many many caveats and it's not as simple as all cars under this price get this much of a discount it's about how sustainably they were built how sustainably the battery was made and that sounds worthy but there's a lot of problems with that number one being almost all batteries are made in china and i think that disqualifies cars from a certain amount of the discount so we now have this situation where no one knows how discounted cars are going to be anyone car is i've been googling this morning looking for some article from one of the big automotive outlets saying here are the cars that qualify and here's how much but no one knows.

31:22Imogen Bhogal:And I think a bigger, more valid issue we have right now in terms of getting people to go electric, a more valid issue than price, more valid issue than charging infrastructure is confusion. Anxiety about it being a bit daunting and confusing remains a valid anxiety about going electric because people are talking about kilowatt hours and kilowatts. What the hell are those? They're different things. And we've just added more complexity with this grant that is massively varied in terms of which car and which brand. So I'm a bit frustrated by that. I hope that that will become clearer over the coming weeks because there is a lot of uproar about how confusing it is.

31:58Imogen Bhogal:My hope is that the government will now clarify and before long, we will have just a shopping list. Here are the cars that qualify for the grant. Here's how much you get off them because that's what we need for this to be useful, right? Yeah.

32:10Robert Llewellyn:I think that's such a valid point. And actually Ginny Buckley, who runs electrifying.com, said something along the lines of like if you have this grant that doesn't just sort of blanket apply to all vehicles under 37 000 pounds you're actually reducing the competition and the perceived choice which then of course has its own problems as well um so that's a challenge and also the confusion and this has been really interesting for me on a personal level because my dad he's a proper eco warrior he you know his house is pretty much off grid he you know has like 30 second showers in the spirit of saving water that kind of thing but his car is the last thing that he's gone to change and he is like a super smart human being and yet he's like honestly Imogen can you just tell me which one I need to get a bike on the back that is pretty much my only criteria and I think that's an insight of someone who's not in the weeds on this like we all are it's like oh for god's sake there's just like all of this information to navigate and I can't really be bothered um so I think yeah the confusion is is it's really interesting and i think many people out there would argue should we just be putting that effort towards what's happening in the second hand market where of course like i think seven out of eight car purchases are made or six out of seven i forget the exact number um especially here in the uk and the charging question which remains a challenge that's

33:35Imogen Bhogal:being floated that actually investment would be better spent in uh some sort of grants around used electric vehicles. I can't quite get my head around how that would work. Do you think that would be a better model, given that that's what people are mostly buying? I mean, I think it probably would. I mean, because that would, that you could see then substantially lowered, you know, like you could even get to sub 10 ,000 pounds for a secondhand vehicle that's perfectly good and it's in good condition, you know. I mean, I think it generates, any of those sort of government ideas just generate bureaucracy that is, by definition, confusing.

34:12And that's the problem with it, I suppose. But, I mean, in a sense, I would be much more enthusiastic about second-hand ones because new cars are generally bought by, you know, big leasing companies. And that's, I mean, you know, I lease my car. Because I never, never went in a new car until I was in my mid-50s. So, you know, who could buy a new car? I mean, I didn't know anyone who could buy a new car. I never met anyone who would like go into a showroom and buy a new car. It was just unheard of. Everyone had second, third, fourth hand cars. You know, that was just normal.

34:45Imogen Bhogal:I suppose one of the legacy car makers would jump to say in response to that is like, we are hurting enough right now. Yes, already. The decentivizing buying new cars. And I think this is as much about helping POEMs as anything else. They are all, even ones who are trying in earnest, like, you know, the Vauxhall managing director for the UK has posted this thing on LinkedIn kind of going, look, we've done everything. We've electrified every model in our lineup. We have electric versions of cars that are cheaper than the petrol version of the same car. And we're way off targets. We're way off targets for net zero.

35:19Imogen Bhogal:And we're facing a one and a half billion pound fine this year. We need a leg up. So maybe we're thinking about it wrong. Maybe this is as much about helping the OEM get through this tricky, sticky transition as it is about getting more people

35:32Robert Llewellyn:into electric cars quickly yeah and i think the thing we have to remember like jack the reason you and i drive electric cars is because we're fortunate enough to have a salary sacrifice scheme at work that is what enables us to do it if we did not have that we would be waiting for like desperately waiting for the price to come down and down and down and down such that you know probably a second-hand ev would be feasible or that the grants are available on on slightly cheaper models the dog is normally really still but she has started like i was wondering what that was she used to get her nails clipped tomorrow so she'll be less noisy next time um but i think the thing we have to remember in all of this so we have the salary sacrifice that is a level of like privilege that we experience there are lots of people out there rob i'm gonna put you in this camp who have off-road you have a driveway you can charge your home going electric just makes so much sense because it's like the more affordable option sort of long term but there are many people for whom a no salary sacrifice b no driveway and we do need to lower the barrier such that electric vehicles are more accessible and that whatever mechanism we choose to get there is a good thing yeah i mean i i firmly believe we will get there because it's just it's such a big global movement you know that there's going to be countries where it's slower and there's going to be places where it's not you know it's harder to do the charging all those things are all real concerns and real challenges but i think it will happen and i think one of the things that i think is very hopeful uh one is one of the stories i covered in the news which uh which is you know a a random volkswagen id3 had its battery tested after 107 000 miles and it had dropped eight miles, it lost eight miles of range in that time.

37:24Well, the range is 250 miles. So, you know, it's not really made a big difference, which means you can buy a car that's, you know, I think, I'll step back, this is a bit I cut from the news, but I went on a huge rant about how much it cost me to have old cars that I bought for 400 pounds, you know, as a third or fourth hand rusting golf, I would spend thousands of pounds in the next three years keeping that car going, because it It was constantly breaking down. It would blow gaskets. The exhaust manifold would come off. The carburetor would get stuck. You know, the fuel lines would be blocked.

37:59The brakes wouldn't work. You know, everything went wrong with them because they were old cars. Well, it's quite possible that in, say, 20 years' time, you know, you buy an old second-hand electric car, you know, it might get punctures. It might need the steering realigning. It might need some work on the brakes or suspension. But it's just not going to cost as much to keep that going. So the long term, I think, is hopeful. The short term is painful. But the other quick thing I want to say is the government figures are, I think it's actually slightly under 60 % of UK households have somewhere off the street to park a car.

38:36Probably 5 % of those people, of those households, currently have an electric car, if that, probably even less, i.e. there's a massive wodge of the human race in this country that could take huge advantage from having electric cars. And then they would then therefore produce second-hand and third-hand ones and they'd hand them to their kids or whatever the system is. So, you know, I think there should be focus on the people like yourselves who can't charge at home. But I think there should be some pressure, could be moral, on the millions of people in this country who will still have a diesel SUV parked in front of their house off the street which they then have to get in start it up drive down the road to fill it up with toxic imported fossil fuels sorry i won't rant anymore yeah if you have your own driveway

39:25Imogen Bhogal:and you do not have a lifestyle that requires that you drive hundreds of miles in all different directions every week what are you doing what are you doing not getting an electric car at this

39:37Robert Llewellyn:point it's that's bizarre to me yeah especially what is the tariff like seven people kilowatt hour or something like that it's like it's so at night yeah yeah and you know if we take like i'm gonna do some live maths here not in my head i am using a calculator but let's say like the average battery size is about 60 kilowatt hours yeah so and you never really go nop to 100 so yes you could say 40 45 kilowatt hours is your top up overnight yeah i mean we're talking like three pounds to four pounds 20 for like 270 miles of range i mean it's just it's it's hard to argue with um oh i had an interesting point it probably wasn't interesting at all so i won't i won't mention it but i am aware that we are coming towards 40 minutes of of rabbiting on um so much more rabbiting to do so much more rabbiting and i'm so grateful that we have all of zap heap episode two pilot to catch up in more detail as well because we definitely get the easiest ride compared to the teams the all of the camera crew we get a lovely time it's nice no it's wonderful yeah yeah um i think yeah it's very exciting as well we don't need to go into details about the teams this week but just to very briefly explain the teams we had last week are very experienced in terms of putting electric motors in and batteries in things let's leave it there Whereas the teams that are coming this week, they might know what a battery and an electric motor is.

41:07They might know a great deal about them on a very academic level, but they haven't actually possibly done quite what they're facing them.

41:16Robert Llewellyn:And also the teams from last week, they're all colleagues to each other. The teams this week are a slightly more hodgepodge collection of people. One of them is actually, I know quite well, we're married. He's been recruited. So I'm quite looking forward to... Yeah.

41:35Imogen Bhogal:I'm planning on selling a subplot into this episode across the day. I'm going to do little bits to camera. One of these engineers is married to one of us presenters. But to whom? And to whom? It's Robert and that big Yorkshire bloke with greasy thumbs over there. That's what they've been for. It's been lovely years.

41:57Robert Llewellyn:Do you know, actually, there are two people married to each other who are going to be on site.

42:03Imogen Bhogal:Oh.

42:04Robert Llewellyn:On set. Yeah. I didn't know that. So the plot thickens. Yeah. Oh, right. Don't tell us who. We'll see if we can work it out.

42:09Imogen Bhogal:A sub sub. Wow.

42:11Robert Llewellyn:But aside from Zap Peep, what are you looking forward to in the next couple of weeks? What have we got on?

42:18Imogen Bhogal:Oh, I know. I know. Yeah. I think you're about to say the same thing. Go on.

42:22Robert Llewellyn:You guys have an extremely exciting shoot next week. Oh, yes, we do. We do have a good shoot next week. I still haven't heard, Jack, but I will remind them. So we're trying, there's a particular vehicle we're trying to get slightly earlier than it was offered to us so that we've got the only day we can film it. We can do what we're planning to do. No, I'm very excited about that.

42:41Imogen Bhogal:This is the world's worst podcast because we're just talking about lots of things that we're not allowed to talk about. But we'll again tease it and we'll say this. Robert has a very special, extremely high-end new electric car. And we're going to put it up against an old car that's been turned electric and ask the question, if you're well off and you want a special car for six figures that's electric do you go shiny and new or do you electrify something classic and old? The only little addendum is it's not my car. I haven't bought the most expensive. You know, it's a press loan.

43:20Robert Llewellyn:And you know, this is it because we're so aware that when things creep over a certain price point there's a very small minority of our audience who who will ever legitimately consider those vehicles although for any of the prs listening to this please continue to give us those cars anyway um and so we know that we need to do something a little bit more exciting and fun with those episodes so that i think it's going to be quite silly it'll be fun actually the other thing quickly while i remember and this is in a sense relating to expensive electric vehicles I have now seen two JLR, heavily camouflaged vehicles, definitely both electric.

44:00The one was the Jaguar. So it was so obvious it was the Jaguar because the shape of that, even though they did stuff over the park. It was basically a bonnet came around the corner and about 10 minutes later, it was followed by a windscreen. And it was towing a huge trailer, heavily laden trailer, up a hill, I would say at or slightly above the speed limit. It was really pelting up the hill.

44:22Imogen Bhogal:This is a tasty scoop because the Jaguar have a facility very near where you live in the Cotswolds, don't they? Yes, so I'm not far from there. That is interesting to note that whatever pre-production car they are working on sufficiently resembles that bonkers concept that you can recognise it. It is hard to say. Yeah, it was coming the other way. It was very wide, very long, and very low. that's all i can say because it was very heavily covered it had some weird lumps on the on the roof that won't be on it but then the other one i saw on friday there's no question it was a range rover well it was and i was in static traffic and it went the other way i was in a queue and it went fast so it may have been a new hybrid version i don't know but it looked like the electric one and it was again covered in the weird uh camouflagey stuff so but i've just heard that They've delayed the release of it till next year, the electric Range Rover.

45:21Robert Llewellyn:I was going to say hot off the press, but actually it's not that hot. It's more like lukewarm off the press. Yeah, they're delaying it by all accounts. And I mean, that's a sadness and it's also not totally surprising. But interestingly, because we had Rorden Glover from Jaguar on the podcast the other day. Yes. And I was like, how closely will the real car resemble the Type 00 concept that we've all seen? He was like... Because it was at Goodwood, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And he was like, it should be really, really similar with the exception that it's four doors rather than two doors. And I was like, really?

45:54Robert Llewellyn:It's going to be that long here in the UK? And I was like, surely it won't be available on the, you know, exec company car scheme. He's like, I think it will be. I think it's made for it. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, that thing is... The bonnet is comically long, isn't it? I mean, it's like Cruella de Vil. It's that sort of... Yeah, and also just like nothing, like there's not really going to be that much functional stuff in there. It is an aesthetic choice rather than an engineering one. But I mean, you know. You could put a 250 kilowatt hour battery, you know, in physical size, it would easily, you know, from what I can judge of the size of the battery.

46:33Imogen Bhogal:But I mean, that would weigh two times. I wonder if it might be sort of quote unquote front engine. Yeah. Just a thought.

46:39Robert Llewellyn:but yeah i mean i mean either that or it's got the most monumental frunk in the whole entire world and you could have moved uh your daughter back to your house in it so yes i look forward to taking the the weighted blanket back to bristol that might have been what they were testing i reckon they were that jaguar were testing towing a trailer with a weighted blanket in it oh man but no what was impressive with that was i was behind a truck going down a hill uh you know and that's a hill i've seen many jaguars and land rovers with camouflage over the last 30 years that that's one of their obviously their favored routes but it came the other way because i was going quite so it came the other way at speed and i could see it coming around this going oh my god that's that thing i think it's got a trailer and it went past me so it's got some it's got some you know it's got some oomph whatever else it's got um well i think you know for today we we've shared some piles of sort of wisdom and some piles of less wisdom but done some chatting which is good um but that probably is all that we have time for um so as we wrap up i guess anyone who's listening if you could like comment subscribe all of the stuff share with a friend it's always appreciated it's always really handy um any

48:01Imogen Bhogal:other final thoughts come to Farnborough see the contraptions do battle in October on those dates that I definitely have memorized 11th and 12th 11th and 12th of October that is definitely a that is a must do if you're in the UK anywhere south of Aberdeen it's worth the trip. And if you're in Aberdeen, stay away. You stay up there. You're not welcome. You can come. You know how Bobby feels about Northern Scottish. Everyone would be very welcome. It is a long way from Aberdeen, as it's fair to say. But it will be. I'm really looking forward to that.

48:38Robert Llewellyn:Yeah, because we'll be doing the actual competitions between the contraptions live at our Farnborough live show. And that is, I mean, that is such a scoop for anyone who is planning on attending. um it'll be really fun so um but that's it do you want to do you want to do the thing the you know if you have if you have been oh i saw should i do that okay yes you've done this you've i can try and do that you've done the subscribe thing i always want to say tell your pals and your friends and your uncle who's annoying and anyone else that you love uh about the about the everything electric podcast yeah there we go and uh that's it if you have been As always, thank you for watching.

49:21Bye.

49:23Imogen Bhogal:Bye-bye. Now visit electricvehicles.expert where you can follow everything electric and keep current with Clean Technica, The Driven, Electric, and many more. We learned how to love dogs from the dogs that loved us and waited for us to get home from school. They were the dogs that raised us. We return the love with Pedigree Dog Food. It was good then, and it's better now. Every bowl has 100 % complete nutrition, supporting six health essentials, and now it includes vitamin good bites, a nutrient boost your dog will love.

50:02Robert Llewellyn:Pedigree. Good then. Better now. Some people use ChatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With ChatGPT work, you bring the goal, plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data, and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control, giving direction and choosing the final output. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT.com by selecting work mode. Available on Plus and Pro plans.

From the publisher

This week on the Everything Electric Podcast Robert Llewellyn, Jack Scarlett, and Imogen Bhogal sit down for a rare and relaxed behind-the-scenes chit chat. Join them for a meandering conversation about filming the pilot episode of Zapheap, super secretive EV launches in Europe, electric adventures in Canada and the big clanger - the brand new £3,750 EV grant! Enjoy!   @fullychargedshow   @EverythingElectricShow 


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