Simon Harris

The fleet.

#Caturday

Latest EV Fleet World.

I don’t think Jaguar using the word “clients” instead of “customers” or “owners” really understands how that makes the company sound. 🥴

Started writing this a year ago, and completed around half of it to keep me busy for four months during unexpected redundancy. It hasn’t been as easy to devote time to it since starting near full-time work in January. Almost finished now, and hoping it will be available in November.

Anyone else watching BBC Gardeners’ World and wondering if there’ll be complaints to Points of View about how Monty was handling the growing aubergines on the plant? 😬

BBC commentator on the high jump in the Diamond League Ultimate Championship said “the sky is the limit”. The limit is definitely lower than the height of the sky.

First service completed at two years old. Typical efficiency for mixed driving in this ambient temperature is around 5 miles per kWh, making a full charge last close to 250 miles, and costing around £3 from an overnight charge at home.

#Caturday

Range anxiety in a V12.

A bit behind with sharing this as the next issue is only a couple of weeks away. Anyway, quite a lot of interesting EV stuff here.

The first K13 Nissan Micra I’ve seen deployed for takeaway delivery. After the sterling service of the K11, and incremental replacement by the K12, this represents a momentous changing of the guard in the UK.

Drove the new Mazda 6e last week on splendid roads in North Wales. Loved it. Report coming soon in EV Fleet World.

#Caturday

New test car: Kia EV5.

If the Mandalorian never removes his helmet in the presence of living beings, why does he have a moustache? Surely he needs to put a false moustache on the front of his helmet.

New Toyota Hilux 2.8 D4-D 48V Hybrid and Toyota Hilux BEV. High and mighty or strong, silent type.

Visited a cat cafe last week. This is Jack.

The story about the phrase “throwing one’s name into the ring” reminded me of my pet hate of people saying “the proof is in the pudding”, when the correct phrase is “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. I’m not a violent man, but I have worrying moments when I hear the former.

I support the semantic reclamation of the word ‘humbled’, which is now routinely used incorrectly by people accepting awards or accolades. Humbled comes from the Latin ‘humus’, meaning earth or soil. It literally means being pushed into the dirt – a description of defeat, or punishment, not success.

First issue as editor of Fleet World.

Just letting those interested know I am now posting on Substack from time to time.

New Substack: how some car brand spin-offs work better than others.

I’m now on Substack delivering occasional automotive insights. If you like that kind of thing delivered to your inbox, go there and hit subscribe.

New test car: Kia EV4 GT Line.

Week one at Fleet World complete. Busy, messy, creative – and plenty of fun reminding myself why I’ve loved this industry for more than 25 years.

Very pleased to have won Business Writer of the Year at the Guild of Motoring Writers’ awards last night…many thanks to the Guild and the judges. Congrats to all the other winners!