The Drivecast

The business of concept cars is faltering. Every year, automakers spend many millions of dollars building full-size, one-off concept cars to market-test new ideas, flex design capabilities, experiment with new technologies, and just get people excited about what's next. They are a showcase of what a company can do when they're freed up from pesky things like crash regulations and mass production budgets. Most never make it to the showroom, at least not without a lot of compromises, but that's not the point. The point is to push, see what happens, and apply those findings to the cars of tomorrow.

The signal that a concept car is supposed to create for both sides, for companies and consumers, is getting weaker. When people are geared to greet concepts with suspicion because they represent anxieties about the future instead of hope, the market research aspect breaks down. When car companies can't get valid data from that response, their aim falters. And when companies build fewer ambitious concepts because it feels like a waste of money, the one window for both sides to have a conversation about what the cars of tomorrow should look like or do or represent gets smaller and smaller.

Are concept cars going to disappear? Why? What will happen? The Drive's Editor-In-Chief Kyle Cheromcha is joined by Jon Ikeda from Honda and Acura to break down the business of concept cars.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

How Flock Cameras Wrongly Tracked Me for Days Over ‘Stolen’ Plates and Sent Police After Me

Do concept cars matter anymore? 5 top Designers explain

00:00 Intro

04:19 - Jon Ikeda and his background

5:40 - What's the ROI of concept cars?

11:39 - How expensive are concept cars to create?

15:53 - The Internet and digital consumption changed things

17:33 - Design studies vs. public concept cars

28:33 - Powertrains and proportions

37:38 - The Precision Concept

42:48 - Public reactions

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For a moment in time it looked like a hard shift to the electric future was taking place. When America's best-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150, is available with an electric powertrain, there were signs. But various automakers took different paths towards the electric future, and by many accounts history might show the first round of electric trucks were a failure with large price tags, sales volume that quickly cooled off, and what resulted in massive losses for automakers.

Now the next-generation of EVs are taking shape, and of course, because this is America, trucks are at the forefront. But this time things are going to be different. From how these electric trucks are being designed and built to how much they will cost, what they can do, and even what they offer in terms of features.

But do electric trucks even make sense? The Drive's Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder, Executive Editor Andrew P. Collins, and Senior Editor Caleb Jacobs break down the electric truck segment, what happened, where we are today, and what's coming next.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

Ford F-150 Lightning EV Is Dead, Next Gen Will Have Gas Engine Backup

GM Delays Full-Size Electric Truck and SUV Redesigns: Report

Ram Gives Up On Its Electric Truck

2026 Rivian R1T Quad First Drive Review: When Too Much Is Just Enough

2024 Tesla Cybertruck Review: Impressive Engineering Hamstrung by Hubris

Spied: Ford’s $30,000 Electric Truck Caught Next to an Expedition

Slate’s $24,950 Electric Truck Gets More Range, More Tow Capacity—and 450 More Pounds

I Rode in Slate’s $24,950 Electric Truck. It Didn’t Feel Like a $24,950 Electric Truck

Pour One Out for Canoo, the EV Startup That Dared to Be Different

00:00 Intro

08:59 - Quick history lesson

13:58 - Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck paved the way into the future

16:58 - Ford's $30,000 electric truck

17:39 - Slate

19:41 - Lightning replacement

22:31 - Telo

27:11 - Today's trucks are big

29:41 - Canoo

31:06 - EREVs are coming

36:51 - Do electric trucks make sense?

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Who's allowed to fix the car you own? Who's allowed to choose the mechanic that wrenches on the vehicle you own? As cars have become more complex and computerized, and corporations have become more fixated on gathering data, the topic of right to repair has become more intense. It's been thrust back into the limelight with recent comments from automaker CEOs and the White House.

The Drive's Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder and Executive Editor Andrew P. Collins break down what right to repair is, what's happening, how we got here, and what it means for you.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

Feds Might Flip the Script on Right to Repair Vehicle Emissions Systems

Ford CEO Jim Farley’s Right To Repair Comment Should Make Every Car Owner Uncomfortable

Want To Stop Your New Car From Transmitting Your Personal Data? It’s Possible

Replacing Brake Pads on a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Requires a Professional Mechanic’s Login

00:00 Intro

06:05 - What is right to repair?

07:53 - How did we get here?

10:49 - Why are we talking about this? Where are we now?

12:44 - Ford CEO Jim Farley claims it's about Safety

21:14 - Modern cars are complicated and computerized

22:49 - The future

32:32 - What can consumers do?

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The devices you carry will enable law enforcement and the government to track your every move. Scary thought. Time to break out the tin-foil hats.

A new kind of license-plate reading camera is said to be far more than its name. It will be able to scrape the smart devices you take with you and wrap all that data in a nice little bow for law enforcement and government agencies.

The Drive's Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder and Senior Editor Adam Ismail are joined by security expert Matt Hurewitz, who is currently the CISO at Ent.AI, to sort fact from fiction and dissect what's really going on here.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

License Plate Cameras Will Soon Track Phones, Wearables, Infotainment, and Even Your Pets

Want To Stop Your New Car From Transmitting Your Personal Data? It’s Possible

Cops Are Already Using License Plate Readers to Stalk People

00:00 Intro

04:14 License plate cameras are about to track you

07:42 Should you be concerned?

13:56 The danger that lurks

16:42 Slippery slope

18:40 Cars are incredibly complicated and connected now

20:37 What can people do?

23:04 Final thoughts

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Almost two decades ago General Motors almost changed pickup truck history, and would've changed the entire market. A new, smaller, Baby Duramax turbodiesel V8 was set to launch and reset the bar for torque, fuel economy, and technology in the half-ton market.

The engine was done, but the entire thing was scrapped with the crash of 2008 when GM filed bankruptcy. The automaker claimed all the prototypes were crushed, but at lest one escaped into the wild.

So today, we dig into the history books and dissect the story of the unreleased Baby Duramax and a prototype surfacing in the real world.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

The Recession Killed GM’s 4.5L Duramax V8, But One Escaped the Factory

I Found the Canceled 4.5L Duramax V8 Prototypes, Then They Disappeared

We Found GM’s Lost Duramax V8 Prototype That Could’ve Reinvented Modern Trucks

00:00 Intro

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Rivian, by many accounts, has become the darling of the automotive industry. It’s a hot topic despite its current volume and scale. To date, it’s not a mainstream brand with a mass-market offering. But that changed yesterday with the launch of the R2, which costs between $45,000 and $60,000 while hitting at the absolute heart of the compact crossover SUV market at 186 inches long, which is the size of the Toyota RAV4 and Tesla Model Y. The former is one of the best selling vehicles period while the latter is one of the best-selling EVs by the widest of margins it’s not even funny.

Now it’s Rivian’s turn to step into the arena and aim for the masses. This is the moment RJ Scaringe and his team has been building towards for years. Everything is riding on this.

This week, The Drive's Director of Content and Product, Joel Feder, is joined by Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe to dissect how we got here, missteps, where the company is today, and what's about to happen in both the immediate and longer-term future.

So, today, it’s behind-the-scenes on Rivian going into the mass market arena, what that looks like, how it plays out, and addressing how the automaker aims to tackle it all.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

2027 Rivian R2 First Drive Review: The Perfect Car for So Many PeopleSomehow, Rivian’s Cheaper R2 Is Its Most Refined Vehicle

The Rivian R2 Needed a Rear Wiper That Didn’t Exist. So Rivian Invented One

2026 Rivian R1T Quad First Drive Review: When Too Much Is Just Enough

Rivian Is Going RAD. But Can It Stick the Landing?

Rivian Won’t Talk About the Missing R2 Tri-Motor. The Reason Why Is Big

Rivian Sidesteps Apple CarPlay With Built-In Texting

00:00 Intro

04:05 R2 profitability

07:43 R2 launch

10:49 Service

16:54 Rivian Adventure Network

20:03 RAD

25:47 R3X

26:25 R2T?

29:13 R4

29:31 Patents and a winch for R1

30:57 Repairability

35:32 Buttons, knobs, and the Halo wheels

37:43 Voice controls

39:07 RJ's final thoughts

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Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, who for decades has been known for building more reliable cars than anyone else. But lately, some big cracks are starting to form in that foundation.

Last month, Toyota added another 44,000 vehicles to its ongoing recall of Tundra pickups and Lexus SUVs with the company’s troubled 3.4-liter twin turbo V6, bringing the total to nearly 270,000 trucks over the last two years. And this isn’t some precautionary move—metal debris left in the engine during assembly is causing sudden and catastrophic failure, a previous attempt to stop it didn’t work, and so far Toyota has had to replace tens of thousands of engines for free.

So today, it’s Toyota’s reliability crisis—how it ended up here, what’s really happening beyond the headlines, and what might be next.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

Toyota Turbo V6 Recall Campaign Grows to Include More Than 250,000 Trucks

We Finally Know Why the Toyota Tundra V6 Keeps Self-Destructing

‘Total BS’: Engine Teardown Specialist Says Toyota’s Explanation for V6 Failures Doesn’t Make Sense

Toyota Will Replace Over 100,000 V6 Engines in Recalled Tundras, Lexus SUVs

Toyota Recalls Another 127,000 Tundras and Lexus SUVs Over Self-Destructing Turbo V6s

Is Toyota’s New Twin-Turbo V6 Really Less Reliable Than Its Old V8s?

Toyota Dealers Brace to Replace 100,000 Tundra V6s

00:00 Intro

06:07 How did we get here?

09:40 What's happening?

18:26 Where do we go from here?

25:51 What do you tell potential buyers?

30:06 The competition

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Stellantis has been rocked. The automaker built its current foundation upon loud noises and fast times at the drag strip all while making loud boom boom noises thanks to the Hemi and a legendary Hellcat V8 powertrain. Then the party ended. It was late to the electric game, many of its EVs didn’t even launch and were just DOA from the get go, SRT was mothballed, and things just looked bleak, again.

Stellantis says there’s hope, and even a plan.

This week, The Drive's Director of Content and Product, Joel Feder, is joined by The Father of the Hellcats, but his official titles include Ram CEO, Head of American Brands for Stellantis, and Head of SRT, Tim Kuniskis.

From Cooperhead and Scrambler to the the return of the Rumble Bee with a Hellcat powertrain and the Ramcharger nameplate, Kuniskis dissects it all with Feder.

So, today, it’s behind-the-scenes on Stellantis' turnaround plan and what comes next.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

Stellantis Announces Huge Turnaround Plan, 60 new Vehicles and 50 Refreshes by 2030

2027 Ram SRT Rumble Bee Revealed as a Shorty Street Truck With 777-HP V8

Dodge Has a New Completely Unhinged Halo Car Coming and It’s Not Called the Viper

Jeep Is Building a Wrangler Scrambler SRT With Removable Roof, Backward-Facing Rear Seats and Probably a V8

Stellantis Promises Dodge Dealers New Small SUV, Refreshed Durango, and More SRT

Can Chrysler Be More Than a Minivan Brand? It’s Betting Three New SUVs Under $40,000 Can Prove It

Ram Is Bringing Back the Dakota and a New Compact Truck Both Under $40,000

Stellantis Is Launching 9 New Vehicles Under $40,000

Ramcharger SUV Name ‘A Pretty Obvious Guess’ Says Ram CEO

The New Dodge Charger SRT Has a Wing Straight Out of the Superbird Era and It Looks Ready to Fly

00:00 Intro

04:59 Copperhead

09:21 Viper

11:57 Scrambler

16:13 Jeep

22:33 Recon

23:49 Ramcharger

26:52 SRT

30:37 GLH/Hornet

33:01 Chrysler

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Years ago EZ Lynk was in the news for its products, how they were being used, and what they were enabling consumers to do with their vehicles. Now, five years later, the book has been opened, again, and the department of justice is looking at how EZ Lynk enabled customers in modifying their vehicles in a way that violated laws. This time? The DOJ is targeting consumers and their data, which is a whole new set of issues.

So today, it’s The Drive's Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder and Senior Editor Caleb Jacobs discussing EZ Lynk, the DOJ, diesel defeat devices, and the Pandora's box that is being opened.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

DOJ Orders Apple, Google to Hand Over OBDII App User Data in Emissions Probe

US Government Sues Diesel Truck Tuner EZ Lynk Over Emissions Defeat Devices

Fast Times and Million-Dollar Fines: Inside the EPA’s Messy War on Dirty Diesel Trucks

Trump Administration Guts Framework Behind U.S. Auto Emissions Regulations

Emissions Defeat Devices No Longer a Top Priority for EPA

Feds Won’t Pursue Criminal Charges Against Tuners for OBDII Tampering Anymore

Previously Imprisoned Diesel Tuner Receives Federal Pardon

00:00 Intro

01:33 About last week

05:25 History and how we got here today

08:20 EZ Lynk

09:38 Consumer privacy

13:02 The scale of the situation

14:13 From President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump

17:43 What comes next?

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Believe it or not but one automaker is about to copy another’s idea—and neither are who you’d expect. Porsche is an unquestioned leader in the world of performance cars, and its careful treatment of the 911, Cayman, and Boxster is often imitated, never duplicated. But now? It’s about to steal a controversial move from an unlikely source— Hyundai—as it tries to figure out the magic formula for a fun-to-drive electric car.

What a world.

So today, it’s The Drive's Editor-In-Chief Kyle Cheromcha and Director Of Content And Product Joel Feder discussing fun versus electric cars: how a company like Porsche ends up copying Hyundai, what the various tricks automakers are trying means for the next generation of EVs, and why this all matters more than you’d think.

Stories mentioned in today's episode:

Porsche Is Adding Fake Gear Shifts to Its EVs, 2027 Taycan Will Be First: Exclusive

Future Porsche EVs in frame for Hyundai-like simulated gearboxes

Porsche Says It ‘Learned a Lot’ From the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: TDS

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N Review: A Racing Sim You Can Drive on the Road

2026 Hyundai Ioniq 6 N Preview Drive: More Fun Than Most Sports Cars

Fake Gears, Real Fun: A Pro Driver Makes the Case for EV Gimmicks

2026 Cadillac Lyriq-V First Drive Review: Succeeding Where Mercedes Failed

2026 Rivian R1T Quad First Drive Review: When Too Much Is Just Enough

Rivian’s RAD Tuner Is Like An Equalizer For Your EV’s Powertrain

00:00 Intro

06:49 Porsche is about to copy Hyundai's fake gear shifts in EVs

08:47 What is a virtual transmission for an EV?

17:06 The Dodge Charger Daytona

22:28 Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz

24:12 A limit to the efficacy of these systems

25:02 Hyundai Ioniq 6 n

27:23 Maserati

30:54 Rivian

32:32 Lucid

35:26 Legacy vs. startup automakers

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