Episode 7 of Watts & Wheels – TechCentral’s electric motoring show – opens with mock outrage: the South African Car of the Year results are in, and the Alfa Romeo Junior didn’t take the overall title. Hosts William Kelly and Duncan McLeod demand a recount – though they concede the Junior’s best design win takes some of the sting out of a competition in which Chinese brands claimed half the categories, with the Jetour T2 named overall winner.
In episode 7, William and Duncan get stuck into:
- Ferrari’s first EV – and the meme storm that greeted it. Is the departure from Maranello DNA brave or bewildering? And with Jony Ive involved in the design, are we looking at a glimpse of the Apple car that never was?
- How to build a car, part 2 – continuing last episode’s deep dive, William unpacks how “local content value” really works, why local plants no longer build the sub-R400 000 cars that make up 64% of South African sales – and why the tariff question is becoming impossible to ignore as India signs a trade deal with Europe and Morocco builds EV factories.
- An interview with Mike Whitfield, CEO of Stellantis South Africa, on the group’s plans for the local market – including a possible play in micromobility.
- The death of the subscription model – why paying monthly for heated seats deserved to fail, and how all-inclusive Chinese cars helped kill it.
- Robotaxis get real – Hyundai’s Motional targets Las Vegas by end-2026, while Tesla’s full self-driving goes live on European roads.
- Solid-state batteries – Finland’s Donut Lab claims 400Wh/kg and a website – donutbelieve.com – to prove the sceptics wrong.
- Mad Chinese cars – a gargantuan luxury SUV with zero-gravity massage seats (foot massage included) and BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao two-seater – the electric sports car the hosts reckon Ferrari should have built.
Watch episode 7
The episode closes with Hot or Not, where the Ferrari EV and Toyota’s R1.18-million bZ4X – the company’s first battery-electric model for South Africa – both feel the heat.
Watch S1E7 of Watts & Wheels now. Don’t forget to subscribe, and please share the show with your friends and colleagues.
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