Friday 23rd March 2018. RIGHT HAND DRIVE MODEL 3s Firstly I can see from the podcast stats there’s a 2:1 chance you’re listening North America. This show has about twice as many listeners in the USA compared to everywhere else. Second by the is the UK, and then it’s Europe. So a note from any Model 3 reservation holders hoping for a right hand drive car – Elon Musk tweeted at 10:22am on Thursday morning in reply to a question. Tom on Twitter said: “What I really want to know is some info on the roadmap for Model 3 in the UK. How long do I have to watch and cry at amazing YouTube reviews?”. Well Elon saw it, from all the thousands of mentions he gets each day, and replied: “Probably mid next year before we are able to make RHD. Wish it could be sooner. Maybe try a Model S, used or new in the meantime? Used is better than a new 3 imo, unless you want a smaller car”. And that’s the problem Elon…you’ve been to the UK, you know everything is smaller here from hotel rooms to parking spaces. American’s come to Europe, book a hotel room, and go “where’s the rest of it?”. A Model S is biiig. However, I agree. I’ve been looking on the approved used Tesla website for a while now and £50,000 buys a great car, with warranty, direct from Tesla. My monthly train ticket from down here by the beach in Poole to London is £800 a month, the same price for finance on a used Tesla Model S. I can’t tell you, as I sit on a crowded train 5 days a week, how much I’d rather be driving a Model S instead.   DAIMLER TRUCKS HIT THE ROAD Everyone is talking about the Tesla Semi Truck but Daimler Trucks handed over the first all-electric trucks to customers this week. They are smaller, 7.5tonne trucks with 100km range for urban, last mile use. Trucks destined for the Europe and the USA are made in Portugal. And this model is already being used since last September in New York, Japan and Germany.   FASTER FAST CHARGING AT HOME American EVSE maker ClipperCreek just launched the new 64amp EV charger for $969, the cheapest 64amp system around, which can deliver 15.4kW of power. If you want to charge your EV at home with this, whilst it’s a great price, you’ll probably need to beef up your home power installation a bit. They say they’re launching this Level 2 charger because more EVs are on the market which can charge at faster speeds.   SEAT ANNOUNCES NEW EV The 4th Gen SEAT Leon will go into production in 2019, and confirmed to be a Plug In Hybrid, which could mean there is hybrid tech in the rather rapid, and very hot, Cupra variant. And actually rather than being badged Seat, could be badged Cupra under it’s own name rather than a sub brand. Chances are they might do what their owner, VW, do with the Golf GTE. It will be on sale in 2020. Also in 2020 will be their first full Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) built on VW’s MEB platform. 311 miles is the range given, so this basically the VW I.D. but in SEAT form. Only 15% of SEAT sales are outside Europe so if you’re listening to this and a bit in the dark as to who they are, they’re the Spanish, slightly less premium and and slightly cheaper bit of VW.   MAINSTREAM VIEW OF NISSAN LEAF Here in the UK the Huffington Post has reviewed the new Nissan LEAF. Youtube videos and reviews of the new leaf are now quite common, but let’s see what a mainstream, non-EV focussed publication has to say. Highlights include: “Nissan leaf: it now has a range of 235-miles, can be charged to 80% in just 40mins, and can drive itself even in slow-moving city centres” So just to stop there – 235 miles? You’ll be lucky. Self-driving? I think Nissan would like you to call it driving assist. And as for rapid charging, Nissan PR are doing a good job of addressing complaints from people whose LEAF gets grumpy on a rapid. Let’s continue: “The interior looks and feels about as futuristic as Windows 95, which is a real shame. Considering the industry’s desire to actively move people over to electric cars, this feels like a missed oppor