Unfortunately, the audio is a bit weird this week, Robbie's audio stopped recording after 26 minutes so there are some gaps, but most of it is there.

Nicole is back and she drove the new 2026 Subaru Outback Premium. It doesn't look much a like a wagon anymore, but its still a Subie through and through. Sam had the Honda HR-V AWD EX-L and Lexus UX300h, two very different compact crossovers.

Lots of news this week with both Sam and Nicole attending CES. Nicole spoke with BMW about the new iX3 and learned about the Tensor robocar. Sam went to the Nvidia keynote to learn about their new world driving model Alpamayo that debuts in the Mercedes-Benz CLA this quarter and is coming to Lucid later in the year. Lucid plans to have eyes-off driving in 2028 and brain-off in 2029. Ford is also bringing eyes-off driving to the new universal EV platform in 2028. If Afeela ever actually starts selling cars they may have brain off around then along with a second model that that they showed at CES. Aptiv's new Pulse sensor could make auto parking a lot faster. Volvo is teasing out its new EX60 and Stellantis is killing off all of its North American plug-in hybrids. Sam went for a ride in a Zoox robotaxi while he was in Vegas. We've got more listener suggestions for Nicole's car buying journey and Sam has a conversation with Glen de Vos, CEO of Microvision.

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Links

NVIDIA Announces Alpamayo Family of Open-Source AI Models and Tools to Accelerate Safe, Reasoning-Based Autonomous Vehicle Development

Lucid Gets Nvidia Driving Model, L3 in 2028

All Jeep and Chrysler Plug-In Hybrid Models Are Officially Dead: Exclusive

AFEELA Prototype 2026

Kodiak AI and Bosch Partner to Scale Autonomous Trucking Hardware

Ford's Simple Vision for Smart Tech: Make It for Everyone

Aptiv PULSE™ Sensor

Walk-Around of the Pre-Production Afeela 1 at CES 2026

The new Volvo EX60: best-in-class 810km range and charging as fast as a stop for fuel and coffee

250000-Mile Champions: Commuter Cars That Last The Longest

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