This week's episode is a repeat of the AOTR episode that was first aired on December 3, 2022. The special guest is Mike Darrow, President of TrueCar and an absolute expert on the car-buying process. He has some very educated advice about what to do when vehicle inventory at dealers is low and interest rates are on the rise. TrueCar has some solutions for you. And we’ll have the results of an illuminating new survey that attempts to answer the question: do Americans really want electric cars?

When it comes to road tests, we have some very popular SUVs to talk about. The Ford Bronco is the hit vehicle of the decade, and we test a version that is smack in the middle of the lineup. The Bronco Badlands has been equipped for serious off-roading with 33-inch all-terrain tires on 17-inch aluminum wheels as just a hint of what it offers. Our two-door test vehicle had the special seven-speed manual with the ultra-low crawler gear to enable some very Old School off-roading.

Of course, even the most gung-ho off-roader has to drive on the pavement the bulk of the time. So how the $58,000 Badlands trim negotiated the wilds of suburban South California proved just as important as any off-road trek. We’ll tell you how it all went coming up.

At the same time Host Jack Nerad was piloting the Ford Bronco Badlands, AOTR Co-Host Chris Teague and his family spent a week with a $120,000 2023 Cadillac Escalade. The big SUV’s level of luxury is off the charts with more video screens than a Buffalo Wild Wings on an NFL Sunday. Did Chris Teague’s daughters really do somersaults and cartwheels in the Cadillac? We’ll check into those claims in this edition of the show.

 

In the topline car news, Steve Center, a key executive at Kia, has spoken plainly about the effects of the federal legislation passed this summer that changed the way tax incentives are determined for electric vehicles. We’ll have the details of what he said and why he said it.

All that and plenty more coming upon this edition of “America on the Road.”

The Acura Integra is back and in many ways better than ever. And we test the performance-oriented A-Spec version in this episode of “America on the Road.” The Integra was a mainstay of the Acura lineup from the day the brand was introduced in 1986 until the Integra was discontinued 20 years later. Now, as Acura turns its back on its alpha naming system, the Integra has returned as a five-door hatchback with driving enjoyment as its key calling card.

In A-Spec form, the 2023 Acura Integra features its first-ever turbocharged engine, 18-inch alloy wheels, and the availability of a six-speed manual transmission with rev-matching capability. Of course, there is plenty of tech as well, like the 10.2-inch digital instrumentation display and the adaptive damper suspension system. And the Integra A-Spec looks the part with stainless steel pedals, red gauge needles and contrast stitching on the steering wheel, console, shift boot plus a leather-wrapped aluminum shift knob.

In the news segment, we examine the contention that electric cars will be less trouble-prone and need less service than conventional gasoline cars. Many pundits have made that claim, but a new study from Consumer Reports says quite the opposite is true. We’ll have our thoughts on all that coming up.

Also in the news, is there a “Silent Majority” of top car company execs that believes that pursuing electric vehicles to the exclusion of conventional vehicles is a giant mistake? One prominent global executive certainly thinks so, and in this edition, we’ll tell you who that is and why he believes it. Our guest host, EV expert Matt DeLorenzo, will weigh in on that as well.

DeLorenzo is the author of the new book How To Buy an Affordable Electric Car: A Tightwad’s Guide to EV Ownership and a longtime industry observer. In a special segment this week, he and AOTR Host Jack Nerad will take a long look at the assertion by some climatologists that the accelerating move to electric vehicles is not the right solution to climate issues. In fact it could be a multi-trillion-dollar mistake. Nerad is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles in addition to his latest novel, Dance in the Dark.

In the road test segment, Matt DeLorenzo will detail his recent experiences in one of the biggest “sleeper values” on the sedan market today — the Volkswagen Arteon. The highly styled and well-equipped Arteon deserves more attention than it has received, and we’ll tell you why.

The Toyota Prius has been called many things through the years. But “sexy” has typically not been one of them. After its complete re-do for the 2023 model year though, it is hard not to call the new Prius sexy. It looks good from every angle. And the good news is its good looks haven’t compromised its leading-edge fuel economy.

But don’t let us be the only voices to tell you about the new 2023 Toyota Prius. Our special guest this week is Thomas Sondej, Toyota’s Senior Planner of Product Education and the expert on the all-new hybrid. Host Jack Nerad sat down with him at the recent first drive of the vehicle, and he has special insight on Toyota's goals for the vehicle. We’ll have that interview coming up later in the show.

In the road test segment, AOTR Co-host Chris Teague will take a long look at the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV battery-electric crossover utility. Of course, battery-electric vehicles like the cold about as much as palm trees do, so we’ll see what Teague says about his week in the vehicle. Did it survey the rigors of late fall in Maine? Did the spotty New England EV infrastructure ruin the Teague family’s experience with the affordable EV? We’ll tell you all that and more coming up.

The 2023 Hyundai Elantra HEV was the other vehicle we road-tested this week. Host Jack Nerad put the hybrid version of the Elantra to the test over the course of a lengthy trial period in Southern California. With fuel economy topping the 50-mpg mark, the Elantra has efficiency going for it. But does it have the stuff to be a pleasant everyday driver? Jack Nerad and Chris Teague will give you their opinions on that key question later in the show.

In the news, the CEO of a major car company says the auto industry will rebound strongly next year. But a survey of auto dealers indicates they are pessimistic about their prospects for 2023. We’ll have our thoughts on all this coming up.

And though many politicians claim that a shift to green cars will add jobs to the American auto industry, a vehicle manufacturing plant in Illinois is about to close. And the company that owns and operates claims the expenses involved with electric vehicles are responsible for the closure.

In a related story, the Swiss government’s proposed regulations on energy use are stopping electric-vehicle sales dead in their tracks. We’ll tell you what the Swiss are proposing and how similar regulations could be instituted right here in America. And you could be the loser.

The Mustang Mach-E doesn’t get the publicity it received when it was introduced, but it continues to have an impact around the world. As proof of that, Ford has just produced its 150,000th Ford Mustang Mach-E since starting production two years ago. And this marks a significant milestone as the automaker scales EV production to a rate of 600,000 annually by late 2023 with plans to produce two million annually by 2026.

In this episode, we’ll discuss the Mustang Mach-E, Ford's EV goals, and what the market is likely to hold through the end of the decade. Right now Ford is the number two-selling electric vehicle brand in the U.S., and the continued strong demand for Mustang Mach-E has a great deal to do with that. Almost all of Mustang Mach-E’s growth to date is coming from customers who are replacing an internal-combustion-engine vehicle — more than eight in 10 U.S. customers and nine in 10 European customers. Ford likes those stats and wants to keep the momentum going. We’ll tell you more coming up.

Do you drive a Honda CR-V, HR-V, Jeep Compass, or Ram 2500 pickup? If you do, you’ll want to hear about the just-instituted investigation of those vehicles for safety issues. Stay tuned for that.

And Apple is hitting the brakes on its upcoming Apple self-driving car, something its occupants won’t be able to do. More details on why the Apple car is progressing slower than planned coming up.

In the road test segment, Co-host Chris Teague will take a long look at the all-new 2023 Mercedes-Benz C-300 4Matic. Mercedes-Benz has incorporated a large portion of S-Class technology in the new C-Class, and Teague will tell us if he thinks it hits the marks it should.

In the meantime. host Jack Nerad and his family spent much of Thanksgiving week driving around Southern California in the 2023 Mazda CX-9 midsize crossover SUV. The drive helped solidify the CX-9’s position as the best-handling, most-responsive three-row SUV in its class.

Our guest this week is Russell Wager, Vice President of Marketing at Kia America. As we’ve mentioned in previous shows, Kia has been on a strong roll lately and he’s been a big part of it. In the interview with Jack Nerad, he’ll tell us what Kia has in store, including the brand’s big push toward an electric-vehicle future.

The Ford Bronco is the hit vehicle of the decade, and in this episode, we test a version that is smack in the middle of the lineup. The Bronco Badlands is engineered for serious off-roading with 33-inch all-terrain tires on 17-inch aluminum wheels as just a hint of what it offers. Our two-door test vehicle had the special seven-speed manual with the ultra-low crawler gear to enable some very Old School off-roading.

At the same time, even the most gung-ho off-roader has to drive on the pavement for a percentage of the time. So how the $58,000 Badlands trim negotiated the wilds of suburban South California proved just as important — and probably more daunting — as any off-road trek. We’ll tell you how it all went coming up.

Also coming up in the road test segment, Co-Host Chris Teague and his family spent a week with a $120,000 2023 Cadillac Escalade. The big SUV’s level of luxury is off the charts with more video screens than a Buffalo Wild Wings on an NFL Sunday. Did Chris Teague’s daughters really do somersaults and cartwheels in the Cadillac? We’ll check into those claims in this edition of the show.

If you plan to buy a car in the next two or three years you’ll want to hear the interview with our special guest. Mike Darrow is President of TrueCar and an absolute expert on the car-buying process. He has some very educated advice about what to do in the current situation in which vehicle inventory has conspired to make car buying both difficult and expensive. TrueCar has some solutions for you.

In the news, we’ll have the results of an illuminating new survey that attempts to answer the question: do Americans really want electric cars?

At the same time, Steve Center, a key car company executive at Kia, is speaking plainly about the effects of the federal legislation passed this summer that changed the way tax incentives are determined for electric vehicles. We’ll have the details of what he said and why he said it.

All that and plenty more coming upon this edition of “America on the Road.”

The Toyota Tacoma has long had a strong off-road reputation, and that reputation will only be enhanced by the introduction of the 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Double Cab Trail Edition. This is the third year the Trail Edition has been in the lineup, and it is the best version yet.

The front end features a new 1.1-inch lift thanks to taller coil springs. The standard SR5 front air dam has been removed to help improve ground clearance. And the combination of the changes gives a better approach angle (34 degrees.) At the same time, the rear suspension has been lifted 0.5 inches thanks to a spacer between the rear axle housing and leaf springs. This offers better departure and breakover angles.

As Host Jack Nerad found when he tested the truck, it has bronze-finished wheels that provide a 0.5-inch wider track width for a broader stance plus Goodyear all-terrain tires with an aggressive sidewall tread. Skid plates borrowed from the TRD Off-Road trim provide added protection over uneven terrain. In all the Trail Edition is better than ever, and Nerad will offer his personal opinions in this episode.

Also in the road test segment, Co-Host Chris Teague tests the all-electric Ford F150 full-size pickup in the frigid temperatures of late-fall in Maine. Was the Lightning able to stand up to the challenging weather? And was the infrastructure able to support the innovative truck in a way that owners of the vehicle would find acceptable? Teague will answer those questions and more in his report.

Our guest this week is Jenny Chang, a product planner at Kia. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, Host Jack Nerad sat down with her to discuss the details of the heavily revised 2024 Kia Seltos. It promises to be much more exciting than before with more horsepower and a new level of fun to drive.

In the news, the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year Finalists have just been announced. Here they are along with some predictions by the North American Car of the Year jurors. And of course, Jack Nerad and Chris Teague offer their comments as well.

The finalists for each category, in alphabetical order, are:

North American Car of the Year

Acura Integra

Genesis G80 EV

Nissan Z

North American Truck of the Year

Chevrolet Silverado ZR2

Ford F-150 Lightning

Lordstown Endurance

North American Utility Vehicle of the Year

Cadillac Lyriq

Genesis GV60

Kia EV6

Also in the news, General Motors says its electric vehicle sales will be profitable in 2025, thanks to more than a little help from its friends. We’ll tell you who those friends are and have some additional comments coming up in this edition of America on the Road.

2023 Acura Integra

The 2023 Volkswagen Golf R offers a wealth of good stuff: 315 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG transmission, adaptive-damping suspension, a giant display screen, and impressive driver assistance technology. With a starting MSRP of $44,740, it is an amazing performance bargain. But at the same time, one of our testers asks the question, “Is it too smart for its own good?”

While there is no doubt that the Golf R delivers more than enough performance per dollar spent, the interface between the car and its driver might blunt some of its goodness. Depending upon your point of view, the car's systems could require the driver to make too many choices. And those choices must be made through a touchscreen display that isn’t all that easy to use, especially at speed. Guest co-host Matt DeLorenzo, author of How To Buy an Affordable Electric Car, and Host Jack Nerad will explore that in this episode.

We’ll also explore the all-new 2023 Kia Sportage compact utility. Jack Nerad and his wife had the opportunity to test all aspects of the Sportage HEV (hybrid) on a recent tour of Central and Southern California that took them from the SouthBay of Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast and then to the desert east of Palm Springs. It was a revealing drive, and Nerad tells all about it in this show.

In the news this week, an all-new, upcoming version of one of the seminal SUVs has just been revealed. The International Scout has achieved legendary acclaim (and it is also the vehicle driven by the hero in Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark.) Now Volkswagen has purchased the rights to the Scout name, and it will begin selling off-road-ready battery-electric SUVs under that brand starting in 2026. We'll tell you what we think about the whole thing coming up.

And despite rosy predictions, this year has been an extremely tough one for electric vehicle start-up manufacturers. Rivian, Lucid, Lordstown, and Canoo are among the EV makers suffering big losses as they try to reach profitability. We’ll give you the gory details a little later in the show.

An all-new version of the Honda Pilot, one of the most popular SUVs in the country, has just been unveiled. And we were among a handful of journalists to see it, sit in it, and ask Honda product experts questions about it. The 2023 Pilot rides on a new chassis, has a new engine, and it is filled with innovative features like a disappearing second-row middle seat. Under its new longer hood is Honda's most powerful V6 ever, an all-new dual overhead cam 3.5-liter engine that delivers 285 horsepower.

Other good news: The off-road-oriented 2023 Honda TrailSport trim adds impressive new tech like the second-generation i-VTM4 torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system. It also offers additional ground clearance and dedicated all-terrain tires on special wheels, so its days as an “appearance package” are over.

The 2023 Pilot has the most cargo room in the model's history, and it’s the only vehicle in its class with eight-person seating and an opening panoramic sunroof, which is standard on Touring and Elite trims. Heated seats are standard across the lineup, just an example of the added luxury the new Pilot offers.

In the road test segment, co-host Chris Teague put the all-new 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 to the test as temperatures in Maine dipped into the 30s. So how did it survive the cold? We’ll tell you that, and we’ll also tell you the Electrified G80 is a battery-electric luxury sedan that can compete with the best of the Mercedes-Benz and BMW luxury electric vehicle offerings. It is a truly stunning sedan inside and out.

Also in the road test segment, Host Jack Nerad had the opportunity to flog the 2023 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium on some very challenging roads in Southern California. With its four-cylinder engine, the Mustang EcoBoost might not get the respect it deserves from ponycar fans. The fact is the EcoBoost Premium might be the best performance-per-dollar value in the entire Mustang lineup.

While many automakers are touting an all-electric future, an executive from a major global automaker is warning about problems that could de-rail EV sales before they even get started. We’ll tell you more about that and much more in this week’s show.

The 2023 Nissan Ariya crossover SUV is the long-awaited production model based on a battery-electric concept that was first displayed in 2019 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The Ariya’s American launch was postponed until late 2022, based on COVID-19 concerns. And with that Nissan lost what could have been a strong competitive edge. In the interim, several other automakers have introduced new crossover EVs, leaving Nissan to play catch up.

But having driven the all-new Ariya we can say with assurance that the vehicle is all it should be to compete in the segment, and a whole lot more. With coupe-like exterior style and an innovative and simply beautiful interior, the Nissan Ariya seems destined to find more than its share of buyers when it comes to market toward the first of the year. It leverages the learnings Nissan has gained as one of the mainstream electric-vehicle pioneers. And it takes those learning from the Nissan Leaf in an entirely new direction.Initially, only front-drive Ariya models will be offered, but later they will be joined by variations with the innovative e-4orce all-wheel-drive system. In addition to the choice of front-drive or all-wheel-drive, buyers will also be able to choose between long-range and standard battery arrays. Prices for the 2023 Ariya start at $43,190 for the front-drive Engage trim. Our test vehicle, driven at North American Car of the Year testing in Michigan, was a 2023 Nissan Ariya Premiere with an as-tested price of $58,850.

Also in the road test segment, AOTR Co-Host Chris Teague took the 2023 Subaru BRZ sports coupe through its paces in the beauty of the Maine fall. The 2023 BRZ test car was powered by a 2.4-liter 228 horsepower “boxer” engine paired with a six-speed close-ratio manual transmission. (A six-speed electronic direct-control automatic transmission is optional.) Offered in two trim levels, The Subaru BRZ has a starting price of $28,595, and is a true bargain in driving fun.

The BRZ’s list of standard features includes a Torsen limited-slip differential; keyless entry, LED headlights, stability control with track mode and dual-zone automatic climate control. But the big question is this: Could it contain the six-foot-tall Chris Teague with his daughter in a booster seat behind him? We’ll answer that question and others in this week’s edition of America on the Road.

This week our special guest is Mark Bole, who is Vice President and head of Battery Solutions for General Motors. His arm of GM is ready to deliver electric power, not just to your cars, but also to your home. And he’ll tell that fascinating story in an interview with Host Jack Nerad in this episode.

The all-new 2023 Honda CR-V is one of the most important vehicles to be launched in the United States this year, and we’ll have a special report. The CR-V compact SUV was one of the industry’s original “crossover vehicles.” And for the past quarter century, it has consistently built sales momentum to become one of the most popular vehicles in the Honda lineup. In fact, Honda claims the CR-V has been the bestselling of all SUVs of any size since it was introduced in the 1990s.

The 2023 CR-V marks the beginning of the vehicle’s sixth generation. It’s available in front-drive and all-wheel-drive configurations and powered by either a turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a hybrid drivetrain. In comparison to the previous-generation CR-V, the 2023 is longer and wider than before and 15 percent torsionally stiffer as well. This gives it a good basis for the tuning of its heavily revised suspension. Host Jack Nerad had the chance to drive both the conventional and hybrid versions of the CR-V during North American Car of the Year testing this past week in Michigan. He’ll have a detailed driving report and guest co-host Geno Effler, Director of Corporate Communications at J.D. Power, will give his consumer-based perspective on Honda and the CR-V.

This week’s interview segment features a discussion with Mark Savino, who is the Product Strategy Manager for SUVs and Trucks at Kia. He and Jack Nerad will take a very detailed look at the all-new 2023 Kia Niro. Available as an EV, a plug-in hybrid, and a hybrid, the Niro seems poised to graduate from specialty-car status to become a more mainstream offering. In this era of high gasoline prices and runaway inflation, the Niro seems right on target for the times.

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, thousands of flood-damaged cars and trucks will enter the new and used car markets in the next several weeks. And they can become nightmares for those who buy them without suspecting that they could experience big problems. We’ll tell you how you can avoid being burned by one of those vehicles coming up.

Also in the news, Toyota is considering a big increase in its production of battery-electric vehicles, but if it happens it won’t come right away. Instead, Toyota has a future date in mind. We’ll tell you what that date is and why Toyota thinks that’s a good place to start.

And formal talks have begun between representatives of the European Union and the United States as the result of the passage of the Inflation Act, which could have a devastating effect on the sales of electric vehicles in the United States. Ironically, that’s directly opposite to the goals of the new law. We’ll tell you what it could mean to you going forward in this episode.