- Women in the Driving Seat podcast features EV leaders Fiona Howarth and Vicky Read discussing leadership, work-life balance, and innovation.
- Topics include delegation, imposter syndrome, gender in leadership, and the fast-changing EV sector.
- The series continues to highlight women’s experiences in automotive, with new episodes released every Thursday.
Insights from industry figureheads on navigating leadership and the evolving automotive world on the latest Women in the Driving Seat
Auto Trader’s podcast Women in the Driving Seat is back with episode five. Host Erin Baker welcomes two leading voices in the electric vehicle (EV) space: Fiona Howarth, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, and Vicky Read, CEO of ChargeUK.
The series, launched earlier this year, aims to spotlight women’s experiences in the automotive and EV industries. It tackles issues such as the EV gender gap, motorsports representation, and the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated field. Previous guests have included industry pioneers and rising stars who share both professional insights and personal journeys.
This episode focuses on leadership, work-life balance, and the fast-moving EV landscape.
Howarth discusses how delegation strengthens teams and shares insights on the Kraken tech platform, which allows rapid development of EV charging tariffs. Read opens up about leadership pressures, imposter syndrome, and how she sees criticism as a chance to educate rather than defend.
The conversation also explores gender and leadership. Howarth notes that female leaders often feel pressured to adopt traditionally male behaviours, while Read emphasises the importance of asking good questions over pretending to know everything.
As always, the episode features the Podcast Pit Stop round, where guests answer quickfire personal and professional questions.
Women in the Driving Seat is part of Auto Trader’s effort to drive change in the industry by giving women a platform to share their stories. This includes their headline partnership of the Top Women in EV campaign, which propelled women’s successes in the industry earlier this month. The latest episode is available now on all major podcast platforms, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
