One episode of the Kilowatt Half Hour managed to touch both extremes of the electric car market at once. The Electrifying team reports that Ferrari's first electric car has sold out its initial allocation in China, with the hosts noting buyers there pay roughly 30,000 pounds less than in other markets. At the opposite end, Dacia has cut the price of the Spring by about 4,000 pounds to 11,990 pounds, which the hosts describe as not just the cheapest new EV in Britain but the cheapest new car of any kind. In between, the podcast runs through the last of the Fisker Ocean stock, a batch of listener buying questions, and a roundup of seven-seat electric cars.
What makes the Dacia number land is where it sits against everything else on sale. A new car under 12,000 pounds is cheaper than a lot of small petrol hatchbacks, and it arrives while Chinese-built models are pushing hard at the bottom of the UK price ladder. The podcast points out that Leap Motor briefly claimed the cheapest-car crown at 12,995 pounds after boosting its grant, only for Dacia to undercut it within a day. The hosts are honest about the catch, though: the Spring is a compromised product, and for similar money a used EV can offer a lot more car. That tension, between a genuinely low sticker price and what you actually get for it, is the real story a buyer needs to weigh. It is also a reminder that the cheapest new EV and the best value EV are rarely the same car, which is the kind of nuance a raw price headline tends to flatten.
On the Ferrari, the team says the initial run of 88 cars sold out in China, and one host who saw the car up close argues it looks better in person than in photos, while conceding it does not read as a Ferrari to everyone. The hosts also cover the Fisker Ocean wind-down, saying the liquidators are selling the remaining right-hand-drive stock, around 80 cars, at a steep discount, and that a group of former Fisker technicians has set up a separate servicing operation with a software deal in place, though the hosts stop short of recommending the car. Elsewhere the podcast shares driving impressions, including a Mazda 6E returning about 4.4 miles per kilowatt hour in hot weather, which the hosts note is built on a Chinese Changan platform, and a Renault 4 near 4.6 miles per kilowatt hour. One host has taken on a BMW electric SUV as a long-termer and says the plan is to see whether it can clear 500 miles on a charge. There is a recurring gripe about car apps too, from having to type long VIN numbers to set them up, to notifications that keep arriving after a test car has moved on. Reader questions cover used buys such as the Kia EV6 and the Skoda Enyaq, and a running tally of how many EVs listeners have owned. Figures are quoted as the hosts stated them.
Bottom line: If you want the cheapest possible way into a new EV and your trips are short, the Spring is now hard to argue with on price alone. For most people, though, the smarter buy at 12,000 pounds is a used EV with more range and space. The Ferrari story is the more telling one: a car many online have mocked still sold out, which is a reminder that at the top of the market, scarcity and a badge still do the heavy lifting. Watch whether Dacia's cut sparks a wider price war.
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