Driver's Republic Podcast

Mark is just back from Goodwood and fills us in. Paddy thinks we're at crisis point when it comes to new EV sales versus public charger roll out. And we're testing the new diesel Passat this week, is it a case of careful what we wish for when it comes to killing most diesel cars?!

No surprises, the additional EV grant sold out within a couple of hours of going live on July 1st - will it come back in 2027?Mark has seen the new BMW X5 and not everybody is a fan.Just how good is the Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50?Plus the other car bits and news relevant to Ireland this week!

Mark has decided to see how hard it is to pass a driver theory test 20 year+ after he last did his driving test.Paddy has more cars that should be on your radar if you're considering the new €8,500 grants.Is the Tesla Model 3 standard THE one to buy in 2026?

With new EV grants announced earlier today, Paddy takes us through what it means for motorists. We've also test driven the new Cupra Raval, Honda Prelude and even been to Slane Castle to check out the new Jeep Compass.Ian Tolan from Honda Ireland and Mark McGrath from Cupra Ireland are our special guests this week!

We discuss lots on this one!Paddy has been crunching the numbers when it comes to drink driving breath tests and the numbers are well... sobering. Skoda have finally released the Epiq with prices detailed in this episode. Honda get a new Irish brand ambassador and Mark is having another mid life crisis!

Busy one this week... (yes we say that regularly but it's true)!Mark has been to China for a week with BYD and tells us all about it.Paddy has a big birthday coming up, will he sell his VW eUp! as a present to himself?!And VW boss Thomas Schäfer sits down for an extended chat about his 'True Volkswagen' era.

We're back after a little break and we have a LOT to catch up on including the new Mercedes GLB, Skoda Peaq, Kia PV5 and the True Volkswagen presentation in Hamburg.Why Mark is a little nervous ahead of his first trip to China with BYD!And Paddy gives us an insight of living close by to the only oil refinery plant on the island on a week that has seen one of the largest protests ever by the Irish people.In association with DoneDeal cars.

A busy one for car launches this week with MG S6, BYD Seal, Polestar 5 and the dynamic drive in Spain of the new Mazda CX-5 which Mark travelled to.Just who is behind the "Mind The Gap" voice on trains in Ireland?Paddy caught up with Zac Hollis from Polestar at their new showroom in Dublin.How was the steak at the annual SIMI dinner in Dublin and who won what?And on a week where DoneDeal Cars launched an integrated Chat GPT app, Paddy caught up with some of the people behind it.Brought to you by DoneDeal Cars