Molden and Schmidt: the sustainable motoring podcast

Molden and Schmidt
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The podcast which explores the big questions about the future of motoring - and how we make it more sustainable. We cover the latest talking points with electric vehicles (EVs / BEVs), internal combustion engines (ICE), powertrains, tyres, decarbonisation, regulation, tariffs, emissions, taxation, and the cost of motoring. With Nick Molden, founder of Emissions Analytics, the leading independent testing and data specialist. And Oliver Schmidt, the automotive engineer best known for the Volkswagen Dieselgate saga. Podcast produced by Poppyfield Productions.

  1. 09/25/2025

    The midnight washing machine

    Let's talk about the E in EVs. The electricity. Where's it going to come from? Can wind and solar provide enough power to charge our batteries? Can it be reliable enough? Or will this end in a terrible irony - that we have to use *more* fossil fuels, simply to drive the cars which were meant to decarbonise motoring?  In this episode we look at whether renewable energy can keep track with a mass transition to EVs. What happens if the whole plan (electric cars = clean transport) gets out of kilter? Would we be better off encouraging people to keep driving their old, small, ICEs? And does the whole project rely on flawed assumptions about behaviour change - like doing your laundry overnight? Our special guest is Kathryn Porter, founder of Watt Logic, and one of Britain's leading energy analysts.

    52 min

  2. 08/07/2025

    Going nuclear

    Could nuclear power be the key to sustainable motoring? We don't mean putting atomic reactors under car bonnets. What we mean is: whether nuclear power could generate electricity so cheaply it could be used to mass-produce biofuels. They work in conventional engines, and altogether this could make it much easier to  decarbonise motoring.  So far so logical, but is it achievable? That's the question we discuss with Dr Tim Gregory, nuclear chemist and author of ‘Going Nuclear - how the atom will save the world’.

    46 min

  3. 07/23/2025

    EV v AI

    What does the explosion of AI mean for the electrification of motoring? Will there be enough power to sustain both? And if push comes to shove, won't governments prefer sexy data centres to humdrum EVs? That might well be true of Donald Trump, who's making hay from a pushback on eco-policies in the US - where, as it happens, sales of hybrids are on the rise. The US seems happy to let the best tech win, while the UK and Europe have put all their chips on BEVs. But in the long run - which will prove better for sustainable motoring? We discuss all those topics and more with special guest Tammy Klein, chief exec of Transport Energy Strategies, in Washington DC.

    38 min

  4. 07/15/2025

    The great road-pricing debate

    What happens to taxes on driving when we stop using petrol and diesel? Governments will have a big fiscal hole to fill. One answer is road pricing for electric vehicles. But will it put people off BEVs? And would motorists baulk at having their mileage tracked? With special guest Michael Dnes, road-pricing advocate and former senior official at the UK Department of Transport.

    34 min

  5. 02/03/2025

    Critical Mass 4: the politics

    We've heard about the big idea - taxing cars by weight and mileage, not engine type. We've looked at the science, the money, and the practicalities? But what about the politics? What could persuade governments to revolutionise the vehicle taxation system? How could this concept overcome the scepticism of the press, public, and politicians who don't like meddling in the costs of driving. Those are the big questions we explore in this final episode of series 2.

    27 min

  6. 01/28/2025

    Critical Mass 3: the money

    So how would this radical new system work in practice? How much would motorists actually pay? Would petrol still be taxed, too? And could you cheat your way around it? Those are the questions Nick and Felix set out to answer in episode three of our second series. Their new book - Critical Mass - explores the concept of taxing cars by weight and miles driven, not by type of engine. Oliver's here to 'stress test' their proposition, and see if their answers really stack up.

    29 min

  7. 01/21/2025

    Critical Mass 2: the science

    In the last episode, Nick and Felix pitched their big idea - to tax cars by weight, not type of engine. They say mass is the critical environmental factor, in an electrified world of motoring. But what's the science behind it? Do the sums and formulae add up? That's the subject of this second podcast of series two. We're joined again by Felix Leach, Associate Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. He and Nick are the authors of a new book - Critical Mass: The One Thing You Need to Know About Green Cars. And Oliver's on hand, too - to put Nick and Felix through their paces.

    29 min

  8. 01/14/2025

    Critical Mass episode 1: the big idea

    Tax cars by a formula based on weight and miles driven. That's the concept we're explaining in our second series, where we're joined by Felix Leach, Associate Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. He and Nick are the authors of a new book - Critical Mass: The One Thing You Need to Know About Green Cars. It unveils a radical new concept in sustainable motoring, and how to harmonise it with governments' need to raise revenue. But how would it really work? Oliver's on hand to put Nick and Felix through their paces.

    27 min
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About

The podcast which explores the big questions about the future of motoring - and how we make it more sustainable. We cover the latest talking points with electric vehicles (EVs / BEVs), internal combustion engines (ICE), powertrains, tyres, decarbonisation, regulation, tariffs, emissions, taxation, and the cost of motoring. With Nick Molden, founder of Emissions Analytics, the leading independent testing and data specialist. And Oliver Schmidt, the automotive engineer best known for the Volkswagen Dieselgate saga. Podcast produced by Poppyfield Productions.

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