#171 - Calum James

Episode notes

Calum James, General Manager of Farizon UK, joins Paul and Sara to talk about what it actually takes to land a brand new electric van marque in one of the world's most demanding fleet markets.

Calum walks through Farizon's lineage inside the Geely group - the same family tree as Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, LEVC and the Mercedes-Benz Smart joint venture - and the role of Jameel Motors, the 80-year-old distributor putting the brand on UK roads. He explains why the SV (Super Van) and the newly launched V7e are built ground-up as EVs rather than adapted from combustion platforms, and why details like a standard ventilated seat, three-pin sockets in the load bay and a payload monitoring system are aimed squarely at fleet managers worried about driver welfare, compliance and downtime.

The conversation digs into:

Farizon's "fast follower” playbook and why the SV picked up MCFT's fleet after a TCO comparison that delivered £1,500–£2,000 per van per year in savings
The AA partnership that puts mobile service, maintenance and repair on a 72-hour SLA - built around owner-operators who can't afford a day off the road
What Calum and Paul Kirby saw at the Beijing Motor Show: driverless Farizon vans on public roads, robotic 500kW chargers, and the gap between legacy OEMs that dream the future and Chinese manufacturers shipping it
The V7e's sub-£200-mile range, 1.3-tonne payload and 18-minute 80% rapid charge — and why charging speed has overtaken range anxiety as the fleet conversation
ZEV mandate pressure (10% market share against a 24% target), the shifting TCO maths as Middle East fuel volatility bites, and why 95% of electric van buyers are still fleets
Calum's path from part-time chef and Swindon banking grad to 11 years at Mercedes-Benz vans, and the leaders who shaped how he runs the team now
Regenerative leadership, the anonymous fortnightly mood meter Farizon publishes uncensored to its leadership team, and why Calum walks his dog around the same lake twice a day to stay grounded

LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/calum-j-b4328059/>

Website: https://farizonauto.co.uk

#170 - Stephen Clegg | Topspeed

Published 10 Jun 2026

Stephen Clegg founded Topspeed Couriers in 1985 and has spent the last four years (and roughly £4.2 million) ripping diesel out of a logistics business that moves dangerous goods, radioactive material, and time-critical government samples around the UK. He sits down with Paul and John — joined briefly by Webfleet's Richard Parker before technology has other ideas — to talk about what actually happens when you stop talking about sustainability and start spending money on it. The conversation gets into the specifics most operators avoid: why carbon emissions go *up* before they come down, why a Carbon Reduction Plan is essentially accountancy with different units, and why the much-repeated line "you'll save money by going green" is closer to "we're going to the moon in ten years" than a business case. Also covered: - Winning a King's Award for Sustainability — and the team back at base who actually did the work - Why maintenance costs dropped to roughly a quarter once the diesel vans left the workshop - The shift to overnight, event-critical work and what that does to fleet utilisation - Driving 15mph slower, the bonus scheme that makes it stick, and a 75% reduction in claims after rolling out AI-based driver and forward-facing cameras - Public charging discounts that kick in when you're plugging in three or four times a day - The smash advert theory of refined fuels (you'll need to hear it) - One missing Volvo EX90, one nine-year-old Land Rover Discovery pressed back into service, and a verdict on 15-year-old in-cab tech A useful listen for anyone running a van fleet who's been told the transition is too hard, too expensive, or too early — and for anyone who's been told it'll be easy. **LinkedIn:** <https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-clegg-b0179242/> **Website:** <https://www.topspeedcouriers.co.uk>

#169 - Dev Chana | E.ON Drive Infrastructure

Published 03 Jun 2026

Dev Chana started his career as an oil broker in Kensington. Three decades later he's running E.ON Drive Infrastructure in the UK, and his ambition for public charging is unexpectedly modest: he wants it to be boring. Reliable, standardised, unremarkable. The kind of refuel you don't post about because there's nothing to post. Paul and Sara catch up with Dev after first meeting his team in a rain-lashed Welsh car park during the EV Rally, where the curb-free bays, weighted cables and a small dog set the tone for what EDRI is quietly building. What's on the table: - How a 10-person team has put 300+ bays in the ground in three years, when the industry average to install a *single* charger is 18 months - The 39p–44p/kWh opening price, why there's no app or membership, and what "no faff, no fuss" actually costs to deliver - Accessibility decisions baked in from day one: no bump stops, five-metre cables, CCTV on every HPC site, drainage that doesn't dump a puddle at the driver's feet - Why EDRI tiers its food and beverage partners instead of building its own forecourts — and why two early petrol-station sites won't be repeated - Vans now make up 25% of utilisation. Nobody invited them. What that's telling EDRI about the next phase of the network - The Shanghai motor show, BYD's jumping supercar, and what the XPeng/VW partnership signals for European OEMs - Dev's car-club mates who told him EVs would never take off — and have now switched their dailies - The mentors who shaped him: Ann Buckingham, who pulled him into the sector, and his father's moral compass - Where consolidation in the CPO market needs to land for the consumer experience to finally standardise Dev is a self-confessed petrolhead with a V8 from the early '90s and a 1981 classic with fewer than 15 survivors. He's also the leader most likely to tell you the industry isn't done learning — and to ask what *you'd* change. **LinkedIn:** <https://www.linkedin.com/in/dev-chana-1228b94/> **Website:** <https://www.edri.com/>

#168 - Elliot Richards | Everything Electric APAC

Published 27 May 2026

Paul and John take listeners deep into the heart of China’s electric vehicle revolution with Elliot Richards, long-time Shanghai resident and driving force behind of Everything Electric APAC. Fresh from Auto China, the conversation covers: - How Elliot went from a three‑month visit to China to 20 years immersed in its EV industry. - The rapid transformation of cities like Shenzhen to all‑electric taxis and buses in under two months. - The rise of BYD, Geely, and other manufacturers, and how vertical integration is giving Chinese brands a massive global advantage. - Game‑changing innovations in batteries, from sodium‑ion grid storage to five‑minute flash charging and upcoming solid‑state technology. - Autonomous driving, LiDAR‑equipped vehicles, robo‑taxis, and cargo bots that already operate in Chinese cities. - The commercial vehicle sector, battery swapping, and why Europe’s legacy manufacturers are now partnering—or being outpaced—by Chinese firms. ## Elliot Richards (LinkedIn) <https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-richards/> ## Everything Electric APAC <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVtrDZAqOFM8_wIZHHzsqvg>

#167 - Tanya Sinclair | Electric Vehicles UK

Published 20 May 2026

This week: Tanya Sinclair, Chief Executive of Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK). Tanya shares how EVUK is tackling misinformation about electric vehicles, supporting both current and future drivers, and working with the wider e-mobility sector to build collaboration rather than competition. She discusses the organisation’s approach to public engagement, from hosting hands-on events like Everything Electric to street-level outreach in city centres and even driving Members of Parliament around Westminster in EVs. Tanya explains how EVUK balances the need to educate hesitant drivers with the fast-paced innovation happening in the industry, all while building a sustainable organisation from the ground up. **There’s insights on:** - Combating EV myths and online “guff” - Engaging millions of future EV drivers beyond the enthusiast bubble - The role of vans, taxis, and fleets in accelerating adoption - Collaborating across the entire e-mobility ecosystem - Bringing joy and positivity to serious industry work Events mentioned include Everything Electric West (12–13 June in Cheltenham) and upcoming city-centre activations in Manchester, plus EVUK’s continued presence at political and industry showcases. ## Tanya Sinclair (LinkedIn) <https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyasinclair/> ## Electric Vehicles UK <https://electricvehicles.uk> ## Everything Electric <https://uk.everythingelectric.show>

Episode notes

Calum James, General Manager of Farizon UK, joins Paul and Sara to talk about what it actually takes to land a brand new electric van marque in one of the world's most demanding fleet markets.

The conversation digs into:

Farizon's "fast follower” playbook and why the SV picked up MCFT's fleet after a TCO comparison that delivered £1,500–£2,000 per van per year in savings
The AA partnership that puts mobile service, maintenance and repair on a 72-hour SLA - built around owner-operators who can't afford a day off the road
What Calum and Paul Kirby saw at the Beijing Motor Show: driverless Farizon vans on public roads, robotic 500kW chargers, and the gap between legacy OEMs that dream the future and Chinese manufacturers shipping it
The V7e's sub-£200-mile range, 1.3-tonne payload and 18-minute 80% rapid charge — and why charging speed has overtaken range anxiety as the fleet conversation
ZEV mandate pressure (10% market share against a 24% target), the shifting TCO maths as Middle East fuel volatility bites, and why 95% of electric van buyers are still fleets
Calum's path from part-time chef and Swindon banking grad to 11 years at Mercedes-Benz vans, and the leaders who shaped how he runs the team now
Regenerative leadership, the anonymous fortnightly mood meter Farizon publishes uncensored to its leadership team, and why Calum walks his dog around the same lake twice a day to stay grounded

LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/calum-j-b4328059/>

Website: https://farizonauto.co.uk

#171 - Calum James | Farizon

Episode notes

More episodes

#170 - Stephen Clegg | Topspeed#170 - Stephen Clegg | Topspeed

#169 - Dev Chana | E.ON Drive Infrastructure#169 - Dev Chana | E.ON Drive Infrastructure

#168 - Elliot Richards | Everything Electric APAC#168 - Elliot Richards | Everything Electric APAC

#167 - Tanya Sinclair | Electric Vehicles UK#167 - Tanya Sinclair | Electric Vehicles UK

Our Partners

#171 - Calum James | Farizon

Episode notes

More episodes

#170 - Stephen Clegg | Topspeed#170 - Stephen Clegg | Topspeed

#169 - Dev Chana | E.ON Drive Infrastructure#169 - Dev Chana | E.ON Drive Infrastructure

#168 - Elliot Richards | Everything Electric APAC#168 - Elliot Richards | Everything Electric APAC

#167 - Tanya Sinclair | Electric Vehicles UK#167 - Tanya Sinclair | Electric Vehicles UK