Fifth Gear might’ve ended its run on Channel 5 in 2011, but the motoring show continued its journey on Discovery Channel in 2015, before moving to History in 2015 and finally Quest from 2018 onwards.
Now, the show is making a return under the new name of Fifth Gear: Recharged and has signed up former Top Gear presenter Rory Reid, to be on hosting duties.
The relaunched show will focus on electronic vehicles, something more people are likely considering in the UK right now, and the current fuel shortage seems to have been the drive to get the show on the road sooner rather than later.
The news was broken by Deadline and they have been speaking to North One founder and Fifth Gear exec Neil Duncanson who said on the new format: “Almost every car manufacturer in the world has bet their house on electric so this seemed like a sensible thing to do rather than a massive leap of faith.”
When Fifth Gear: Recharged starts, it will be dropping episodes weekly on both Discovery+ and Quest. Joining Reid on the show will be Jason Plato and Vicki Butler-Henderson, alongside former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandho. Grace Webb, an EV consumer journalist, and engineer Jimmy de Ville will also be joining them.
Duncanson also went on to add about the educational aspect of the show: “People want to know what happens when their EV runs out of juice or how to get a charger installed in their house, and we are a trusted resource.”
Fifth Gear originally started life on Channel 5 in 2002, with several of Top Gear’s ex-presenters, including Quentin Willson, Tiff Needell, and Vicki Butler-Henderson, being hired by Channel 5 to present the series.
Its latest host Reid was a main presenter on Top Gear alongside Chris Harris and Matt LeBlanc for three series between 2017 and 2019.
We’ll keep you posted on a release date for Fifth Gear: Recharged as soon as we have it.
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