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.
Prefer audio? No problem
Subscribe for free
To subscribe to any of TechCentral’s other shows, including TCS, TCS+, Meet the CIO and TCS Legends, please use the links below:
- Subscribe to TechCentral’s daily newsletter
- Get breaking news alerts on WhatsApp
