It's EV News briefly for Friday, January 9th. Everything EV in less than 5 minutes. If you've got time for the full podcast, let's get you up to speed. Congratulations to the Mercedes-Benz team that put the CLA together. Already won its first big award. It is the 2026 European car of the year. And by the way, it wasn't even close. It absolutely smashed the competition on the judge's points awarding. Head and shoulders above

everything else. Second place, Schoda L Rock, by the way. Third place, Kiery v4. Yes, you've guessed it.

Another awards ceremony where it was pretty much dominated by electric vehicles. Tesla has launched

the cheaper Model 3 standard in the UK. We now get it for 37-990. But there's a lot less car for a lot

less money, not even a radio. The cost cutting reaches, the drivers touch, the seat, the steering

wheel, all manual adjustments, no touch screens in the back. And of course, lots of stripped out

content in the car, but it's a lower price.

And the same happening in Canada, but with the Model Y, Tesla slipping the cheaper Model Y into the Canadian line-up quietly last night.

Now starting at $49.99, that's Canadian dollars for the Model Y standard.

That one does get a radio, though, because

that one's made in Berlin, but shipped to Canada, whereas I guess the UK ones, what, they're

gigas Shanghai anyway, right-hand drive. And so, yeah, the old supply chain's not quite a lining there.

Tesla is still in charge of the USA, by the way, as the 2025 numbers come in, head and shoulders

above everybody else. Below the picture, below Tesla, the picture is livelier. Chevy Equinox

is ahead of the Ford Mustang, Mark E, is ahead of the Hyundai Arnick 5, but things are much tighter

further down the table. Electric cars will take a bigger share of the pie in

26 in the UK. Registrations are forecasted to hit 580,000. That's a 29% share. That's Bev's,

by the way, of the UK new car market. We've got a 33% mandate, but because of some of the ways

you can fudge the numbers and roll

things over from previous years or sell more vans, none of the carmakers are likely, despite

their protests, going to pay any more fines again for the third year in a row here in the UK,

where we'll hit a 33% Bev share by the end of the year. So you can argue amongst yourselves if mandates do or don't work.

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