I am whelmed - 5 September 2023

FOLLOW UP: XIAOMI’S EV PLANSLast week when discussing the approval of Xiaomi’s plan to build EV, Andrew should have clarified that this was the fourth to be given permission since 2017, not the fifth. FUEL PRICE RISE HITS HARD IN AUGUST Unsurprising to anyone who’s watched fuel prices over the last few years, petrol and diesel went up in August. That month when the UK takes to roads due to the school holiday. Prices increased by nearly seven pence per litre. To read more, including some of the justification of this, click here for the Autocar article. ALMOST HALF HOMEOWNERS WOULD PAVE GARDEN TO CHARGEResearch by EO Charging found that 49 percent of homeowners would pave over their front garden, to make it easier to charge their electric car. This is despite 53 percent expressing concern in people paving over their front gardens. For further insight, click this link to read more at Motoring Research. JLR TO USE SUSTAINABLY FUELLED LORRY FLEETJLR (y’know, the lot that used to be called Jaguar Land Rover), will be running their lorry fleet on sustainable biofuel, from 2024. They estimate this will cut their road freight carbon emission by up to 84 percent. To learn more, click this link to the Autocar article referred to on the show. TOYOTA, VW AND KIA PRODUCTION HIT BY DISRUPTIONFactories across the globe came to standstill in the last week for a variety of reasons. All of Toyota’s output in Japan ceased after an issue with a systems update. Kia’s factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, was shut following a fire. Volkswagen’s Slovakia plant stopped making the T-Roc following severe flooding in the region causing damage to a supplier’s operations. Click this AMOnline article link to read more. GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES MAAS TRAVEL APPS STANDARDSThe Government has announced the guidelines for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) apps.The aim is to make them more user friendly, safer and reduce costs for travellers. These apps are thought to be developed to contain public transport, road and micro-mobility information and costings. For you to learn more, click this link to an Intelligent Transport article. Maybe Alan’s dream app will finally happen?FRENCH ROAD SIGN CAUSES CONFUSIONFrench authorities are testing a new symbol, to be displayed on digital road signs that indicate a lane is for car-sharing only. One tiny problem is, it looks a lot like the Renault logo, but following the company’s lawyers investigating no further action was taken. You can read more, by clicking this link here to a Connexion article. If you like what we do, on this show, and think it is worth a £1.00, please consider supporting us via Patreon. Here is the link to that CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST NEW NEW CAR NEWS - Mini Cooper ElectricMini has revealed their new Cooper Electric, which is the new name for the five door hatch version, which we all used to call the One. The dimensions remain, essentially, the same as the previous model, but inside has two centimetres more room. The design is smoother and more resolved, particularly around the front, than the last model. To find out more, including prices and specs, click this CAR article link here. Mini CountrymanNot content with the Cooper Electric, Mini also showed off their new Countryman. This certainly has not been kept to the same size as the previous generation. The design is a smart evolution on the existing model, again better resolved than previously. For more information, click this link to a CAR article explaining all the details. Volkswagen Passat VW has shown us the next generation Passat. Of note, it is only available in estate form, which is good news for those of us who like estates. Other than that though, there is very little that is remarkable about this car. If you wish to find out more, click this Autocar article link here. BMW Neue KlasseBMW, to much fanfare, revealed their new design language via their Neue Klasse concept car. Both Alan and Andrew struggle to see what makes it a BMW or have any enthusiasm for the design that appears to ape other brands. You can make up your own mind by clicking this Autocar link to see more. Roundup of IAA Munich Motor Show 2023The original plan was for a Special Edition to be produced this week with our thoughts on the IAA Munich Motor Show, but we are so disappointed and lack any enthusiasm for anything revealed that has been canned. Instead you can see what Autocar thought of it by clicking this link to their roundup here. For CAR’s opinion, click this link to their roundup. Polestones 01We thought the bad old days of Chinese copycat designs was over, but it most certainly is not with the Polestones 01 SUV. Defender, Toyota and Hyundai lawyers must be looking very closely at this. Filled to the brim with tech, for both the powertrain, driver assistance and entertainment, though it is, that has not stopped them throwing the kitchen sink at it. Click this Autocar link to see more and do double takes on many of the photos. Alfa Romeo 33 StradaleAgain another car the chaps should be so excited about which has failed to really ignite a fire. Alan postulates that the original was so good that anything was going to struggle. Whilst it is a good looking and impressive car, is it a £1.7m good car? We’ll let you decide if it is, which you can do by clicking this Autocar link. Seat to stop making carsVolkswagen finally throw in the towel and announce that Seat will no longer make cars. Instead they will become a ‘mobility brand’. Successive VW boards have failed the Spanish company, so much so that the promise for them did eventually happen but only when they created a sub brand in Cupra. Click this Autocar link to learn more. LUNCHTIME WATCH AND READ: RADWOOD 2023Andrew and Alan were hugely jealous of all of you that managed to make it to RADwood this year, celebrating everything ace about the 80s and 90s. We are linking you a video from HubNut, which captures the essence of what went on. Click here to watch that. Also, we recommend you read this Hagerty piece too, which tells you about the Show and Shine winners and the Hot Wheels Legends Tour which selected the UK’s representative for the global competition. Click this link to see more. LIST OF THE WEEK: INTERSTING FOUR-WHEEL-SALOONS WE FORGOT ALL ABOUTAutocar provide another slideshow for us to pour over and select the one four-wheel saloon we’d like to have more than the others. Do you agree with the selections made on the show? Do let us know your choice. AND FINALLY: SETTRINGTON CUP RUNS FOR 11TH YEAR As a reminder that Goodwood Revival is on this weekend, we link you to a piece from last year celebrating the 10th year anniversary of running the Settrington Cup, where children race to their pedal cars and are cheered on along a course to see who can make it to the finish line first. Click here to read more....