Bob Flavin (motoring journalist) & his views on EVs

unkel

KCross wrote: »

On this MG thing he is doing... sounds like its ecocars.ie are giving him the car so its they are sponsoring it, not MG, so I'd say that allows him to say what he likes about the MG. It wont be any skin off ecocars nose as they are not MG dealers....

Ecocars are effectively grey importers of MGs

n.d.os

Coming back to this thread as Bob has been spouting off about EV’s again on his TiK Tok page. Does anyone know why he’s so hell bent on people being ripped off at public chargers? He very rarely mentions home charging and how affordable it is. He seems to enjoy driving EV’s but has a bit of a misinformed know-it-all attitude towards running and charging them. I don’t use public chargers, as like most EV owners I have no real use for them, unless on very long trips. I save a lot of money by home charging, yet I am constantly seeing videos of Bobs where he is generating this sort of fake narrative that EVs are bad and you should stick with your Diesel. I have no issue with that, but a lot of what he says is just fault-finding.

Gumbo

He’s an a$$hole.

Simple really. I called him up on the same thing and he blocked me from his page. He was spouting about charging while not understanding the charge curve.

Old diesel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118905588#Comment_118905588

My opinion is that I think he has a target audience - who include EV critics/sceptics.

He doesn't want to alienate them too much.

I find that Mark of Nobby on cars is much better and does it all without the "influencer" vibe and big drama.

What's more annoying is that he has the ability to do better.

There was a young teenager from Kerry killed tragically in an accident.

A car mad guy who had his own Lexus IS200 - there was a little event to pay tribute to the chap and Bobs video of it was genuinely fantastic.

Id like more of that quality from him and less drama and "me trying to be a BIG influencer like a Boss" vibe.

Old diesel

See i absolutely loved the way Bob interviews the mum here.

Reflects well on the man

https://youtu.be/Co_QHIlDP9M

Mad_maxx

He's fine on cars ,becomes a bar stool bore when he starts on other topics

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118906061#Comment_118906061

Indeed. Saw one of his covid rants and it very much put me off him. Very intolerant of anyone not towing the government line

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/116276911#Comment_116276911

I wouldn’t go that far but there is something about him- comes across as quite amateur barstool-ish to me and no doubt has an opinion on everything that he believes is correct.

I used to watch his videos a fair bit but got a bit sick of him, there is lots he doesn’t know about various Marques and their histories

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118902721#Comment_118902721

I don’t have an EV but often thought about the public charger thing too- it’s like if you had a diesel/petrol tank at home how often would you be buying it publicly? Not very often would be the answer.

Unless I was away on a long trip down the west or something then there’d be no need to ever really use assuming the car had a reasonable battery range as standard. If buying an EV the essential is install the home charging point like my neighbors have for their Nissan Leaf. No doubt cheaper too

road_high

It’s true I don’t think I’ve seen him do a recent Hyundai video despite them having lots of new models

eagerv

Whenever I see clickbait titles such as "Is this the best EV yet" or "Should Tesla be worried" I normally don't watch. Not singling out Bob here, but just in general..

Killer K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118905588#Comment_118905588

Your first line explains why he blocked you from his page.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118907179#Comment_118907179

+1

If your gona start a technical rant, at least try and understand the tech your ranting about.

He couldn’t understand why the Audi he was reviewing wouldn’t charge at the full rate despite arriving at the charger with a high SOC.

johnf2020

Just my little observation, but he's always singing the praises of VAG products and always seems to be on Trips to wherever to review them, and moreso than any other brand 🤔🤐

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118909497#Comment_118909497

Seems to be fairly well in with the PSA/Stellantis brands too.

crisco10

I would assume given his "influencer"status, that he takes what he gets given to drive really. So my guess would be that the VAG marketing team are a bit more proactive in contacting Bob than other brands.

I too get really frustrated to hear him talking about EVs. There is lots that's different about them, and doesn't suit everyone but he always seems so ignorant of the facts beyond the basic ones (e.g. his views (or lack of) on charging curves, home charging)

kanuseeme

Here he explains why you cannot achieve the max charging speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxi7jR-Ig0

LOL

DrPhilG

Ahhh, it's that froth I always see forming around the plug.

Makes perfect sense now...

crisco10

About the only bit I agree with is his comment on charging network. It isn't good enough. I was walking around Glasgow this morning, and happened upon 12 x 50kW chargers (0.20p/kWh) in the city centre. And looking at Zapmap, it's not the only show in town! (but I digress)

But he contradicts himself on the AC point, at start he comments that 7kW (when limited by onboard charger) is poor. But then when he talking about the Zoe, he says its clever because it has a small battery.

He finally comes around to it at the end with his mention of home charging (but even downplays that with the reference to 3 pin charging).

All in all, another half baked video!

zg3409

To be fair to Bob he "plays it up" a lot. One if his first EV videos showed him not knowing which cable on a triple head charger to use and how to get it working. Afterwards he admitted it was staged and he knew what to do. His justification was that is should be as simple as plugging in a kettle, no faffing needed. He tends to play up the bad points and his technical detail may not be as good as it could. At the start he had no home charger which would greatly influence his reviews and as a motoring "journalist" living outside of Dublin he would not be typical driver performing local commutes.

He now has a home charger, and rumours he was loaned an MG EV for a year. Journalists hate being called out on their free flights, accomodation and food to review cars, and I presume on his budget any freebies are grabbed.

It's nice to have an Irish view point, but like others I have grown tired of very long videos, low production quality and mistakes in fairly basic things for an EV reviewer. The reviews are definitely not independent, but neither are ", independent" fully charged YouTube either. I would like unbiased, uninfluenced, and showing warts and all, along with comparison to nearest rivals in new car market. Is it too much to ask? If a video goes above 15 minutes I start to skip.

n.d.os

He posted a video the other day talking about the increase in price of ESB public chargers. I couldn’t quite work out what he was saying but he hinted at the price of a 400km round trip costing less in a Diesel car when the price of Diesel eventually comes down. I think he said a driver would use their home charger for most of this journey but in the same sentence said the price of charging the car for some of this trip would eventually cost more than Diesel. On the one hand he was saying the journey would cost more for the small amount of range gathered using a public charger but he was also sort of saying the trip would cost less in general in a Diesel. He had over 200 comments with people thanking him for changing their minds about ever buying an EV. I don’t think I need to explain the obvious miscalculation he has made here. I don’t quite get him. I think he enjoys the press cars but the idea of someone actually going out and buying an EV brings out all kinds of criticisms that don’t really hold much weight.

unkel

He should really double check the maths before coming out with stuff like that. I called him out on that before where he completely got the charging costs wrong. If you want to be an "influencer", you gotta show some responsibility.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118912026#Comment_118912026

100% he plays up to his target audience, which to me appear to be young kids who can’t get over that an IS200 isn’t the best car in the world!

One of his videos, in fact the one he blocked me over, he was reviewing an Audi from memory and in the background a Gen1 Leaf drove by. He stated that the owner pulled up and couldn’t figure out which charger to use. I pointed out that there was only one option so how was it confusing for them?

He actually replied that he knew the owner and that car was used in one of his reviews. So proofing your point exactly, click bait, thrash videos.

Lantus

Bob has been pretty consistent in the need for a home charger to own and use an ev. He has said it over and over. The charger network is an issue and lacks consistency. Needs highlighting to keep improvement.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913632#Comment_118913632

I think Bob does his research and to a large extent knows what he’s talking about. He’s a car journalist after all. He just does that thing that really bugs me. He looks for faults in EV's because they are quite simply put, the new thing. It’s like that uncle or guy at work who pulls facts out of the air just to critique a new car.

I keep saying it. The charger network is fine. I live close to Gorey Circle K. It has roughly 10 public chargers. At any one time there might be one, max two EV’s parked up. Most of the time, the charging stations are empty. Whatever direction I travel in Ireland, there is a Ionity charging station on the motorway. As more people buy EV’s, this will grow.

I honest to god think that Bob just enjoys the cup of coffee at the N7 charging station. Unless you are doing a cross country trip without a hotel or family charger on the other side, there is absolutely no reason to stop there. If it costs a few quid to charge. Who cares. You’re saving a home 95% of the time.

People now have the option to buy EVs with minimum 350km winter range. I’d be very surprised if anyone in this country wakes up every morning with that kind of range in their ICE vehicle.

Orebro

I just take issue with the term motoring "journalist" - should be motoring reviewer or something.

And judging by the video posted above this "journalist" hasn't a clue whats hes talking about - embarrassing really. Pouring coke into a McDonalds cup to explain battery charging, give me strength.

zg3409

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118913852#Comment_118913852

A bit off topic but at ionity gorey all chargers were in use on bank holiday and only one esb charger so anyone in a brand new leaf would be queuing for one public esb chargers. There even was a vw on the AC on the esb charger.

We need treble the number of 50kW chargers right now. Often all 50kW chargers in North Dublin are all in use. (Except maybe easygo).

Definitely Bob has a point on mid trip public charging and buying an EV when you have no possibility to home charge. Also be be fair all YouTube reviewers play the whole like, subscribe, put a comment even if comment says nothing, just so they get better YouTube ratings. Anyone can become a car reviewer these days, and I don't believe Bob flavin actually has a real paying job reviewing cars for any publication, he might get pennies from YouTube ads and the odd freebie loaner car for a year. He does seem to create tons of "content"

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118946319#Comment_118946319

Bank Holidays will always be the exception. I managed a restaurant on the N11 for a year and there were queues of cars trying to get in on a busy weekend. It's just how it is. Those public chargers at Gorey are empty 90% of the time, so it makes absolutely no sense to add any more at this time. I get that there will be times when you are stuck waiting, but it's much the same with anything on a Bank Holiday.

RedorDead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118906274#Comment_118906274

Hyundai Ireland are being very selective over who they give press cars to currently and withdrew all their cars for being considered for irish car of the year later this year after having a hissy fit after Ioniq 5 was beaten by EV6 for Irish car of the year. Real amateur stuff. I know Bob is on the panel of organisers for ICOTY and maybe Hyundai are using this as a retaliation. Real petty stuff.

A lot of the journalists that vote hadn't driven the new Tucson or Ioniq 5 on extended tests and therefore couldn't allocate a proper vote for it, leading to some extreme hissyfits.

slave1

It's hard when he's compared to Johnny or Carwow as those guys in a different league, he come across as arrogant to me but I could be picking him up wrong