We chat with award-winning journalist and Editorial Director at AutoTrader, Erin Baker, to get her two cents on the ever-evolving automotive industry.

Erin has sought to bring the automotive conversation into the 21st century, to broaden and diversify its audience, to narrow the gender gap and to take the conversation to the places where we know automotive is heading – beyond powertrains and V12 engines to sustainability, connectivity, self-drive and beyond.

See more interviews from our ‘Electric Insights’ series, where we interview key industry players about electrification, sustainability and renewables.

Guests include, Robert Llewellyn - Fully Charged, Imogen Pierce - Fully Charged / ex-Arrival, Graeme Cooper - National Grid, Natasha Robinson - Head of OZEV, Emma Pinchbeck – CEO of Energy UK, The Met Office, DPD, Volkswagen Financial Services.

View more: https://pod-point.com/electric-insights

#ElectricInsights @Pod_Point

Emma has been CEO of Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry in the UK with 100 members (including lil’ ol’ Pod Point), since September 2020. Previously, she served as Deputy Chief Executive of Renewable UK and Head of Climate Change and Energy for the World Wildlife Foundation.

Highlights of Part 2 include:  

- Diversity matters and passive measures aren’t getting it done fast enough 

- The role of diversity allies and senior leaders in the energy sector

- Emma stuns us by revealing she is not a 50 year old man

Previous guests: 

- Robert Llewellyn - Fully Charged Show (Watch on YouTube)

- Andy Palmer - Ex Aston Martin CEO  

- OZEV (Previously OLEV)  

View more: https://pod-point.com/electric-insights  

Learn about Pod Point: https://bit.ly/3s8rSqz

In this Electric Insights episode we talk to Emma about the current energy crisis, the pandemic giving rise to more flexible working practices, sustainable tech and realising the value flexibility, and getting proactive in the pursuit of diversity and modern leadership. All great stuff, and somewhere in there Emma also committed to making her first car an EV!

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Who's Emma Pinchbeck?

Emma has been CEO of Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry in the UK with 100 members (including lil’ ol’ Pod Point), since September 2020. She previously served as Deputy Chief Executive of Renewable UK and Head of Climate Change and Energy for the World Wildlife Foundation.

Emma is a passionate advocate for greater diversity and inclusion within the energy sector and has won acclaim for seamlessly balancing her high-pressured leadership role with raising her young child.

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Highlights of this episode include:

- Reforms to help electrons fix the energy crisis

- Pandemic or not - undertakers can’t work from home

- How energy is undergoing an exciting transition, awaiting the “Brunel of electrons”

- Heat is BORING, but she’s still pumped for heat pumps

In this Electric Insights episode we talk to Andy about his career, his role in the electrification journey and his views on the majority role of the EV in a suite of zero emission technologies. Turns out he's not a big hybrid fan...

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Andy has over 40 years experience in the automotive industry. He’s been the COO of Nissan and President and Group CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda.

Now Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of SWITCH Mobility Ltd.; Founder & CEO Palmer Automotive Ltd.; Vice Chair Inobat j.s.a.; Chairman HiLo Ltd.; Senior Advisor Falcon Group ; Founder The Palmer Foundation; Honorary Group Captain RAF; and commentator on all things automotive.

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Interested in a home charger for you electric car? Learn more over at pod-point.com.

Could coronavirus deliver a tipping point for fleet electrification?  

James McKemey (Head of Insights, Pod Point) explores the following themes with Mike Coulton (Fleet Product and Policy Manager, Volkswagen Financial Services):  

- The biggest challenges the fleet sector faces today as a result of Covid-19 

- How will fleets operate post coronavirus 

- To what extent will the coronavirus impact on companies’ electrification and mobility strategies 

- Demand for EVs seen at VWFS since the onset of the virus

The National Grid Electric Insights with Graeme Cooper explores the rise of EVs and National Grid’s role in driving the transition to electric. 

Key points from the talk include:

Part 2: 

- Project Rapid and why it's critical to the success of the market 

- Why it's important to incentivise BEV over EV and the role of the PHEV 

- Decarbonisation policy matters: 1) the Treasury's upcoming national infrastructure plan, 2) DfT's 1st Decarbonisation of transport plan for the UK 3) CCC's 6th Carbon budget and implications of

We're delighted to be joined by Graeme Cooper from The National Grid.

This episode explores the rise of EVs and National Grid’s role in driving the transition to electric.   

Part 1: 

- How National Grid coped with lockdown, including employee and business perspectives 

- The role of smart charging on the grid 

- Perspectives on the consultation on ending the sale of non-zero emission vehicles by 2035 or earlier

We’re joined by the Head of the Government’s Office for Low Emissions Vehicle (OLEV) for episode 3 of our Electric Insights series. 

Natasha Robinson is Joint Head (with Vicky Edmonds) of OLEV. She also drives a 2014 Nissan Leaf.  OLEV is a joint unit between the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the UK Government.   

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In this episode James and Natasha cover a variety of topics including: 

 - The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the uptake of EVs… Is there reason for optimism?  

- The Pathway to NetZero, closing the 2030x consultation and balancing the views of the industry with that of the consumer and fleet manager 

- How to get to 2030 ICE ban and the importance of Project Rapid  

- What to do if you don’t have off-street parking   

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About Electric Insights:   

This brand new series sets out to explore EV technology and infrastructure, the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition to electric and the impact of Covid-19 on the EV industry with key industry figures.  

View more information on the Pod Point blog: https://pod-point.com/electric-car-news

Ralph James is FM & Technical Project Director at The Met Office. Ralph has a vast engineering background and is enthusiastic about sustainability. He shares with us some incredible sustainability initiatives that the Met Office have implemented. Plus, we hear about space weather forecasting which is pretty cool...

Olly Craughan has been with DPD for over 8 years and has vast experience in Operations. Now, as Head of CSR, Olly is on the forefront of DPD's plan to become the most sustainable delivery company. Can you guess how many parcels they expect to deliver in one day after Black Friday over lockdown in 2020?