This week, Robbie didn't drive anything, but Nicole got time with the Ram 1500 RHO and Honda Civic Hybrid hatchback while Sam had the Kia Niro PHEV.

At Art Basel Miami, Jaguar showed off its new design direction with the Type 00 Concept and it's different. Toyota is taking advantage of its joint venture factory with Mazda to offer Soul Red Crystal as an optional color on the Corolla Cross. Carlos Tavares has been ousted as CEO of Stellantis. Hyundai has a new version of the Palisade coming and Genesis is building a race car to go to Le Mans in 2026. Nissan's Ariya can use Superchargers now but it needs an extra adapter for its adapter. Ion Dynamics has a cool little mobile EV charger and we recommend tires for winter driving in West Virginia.

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Links

Ram 1500 RHO

Jaguar Type 00 Concept

Toyota Corolla Cross gets Soul Crystal Red

Carlos Tavares is Out at Stellantis

Genesis Shows New Le Mans Racecar

Nissan's NACS adapter needs an extra adapter

2026 Hyundai Palisade

Ion Dynamics Mobile Charger

Michelin CrossClimate 2

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This week Sam has been driving the Ford Ranger with the 2.7-liter V6 and Kia Carnival Hybrid. Nicole had the Toyota Tacoma and Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Robbie had the outgoing VW Tiguan.

In the news, Acura has a new entry-level crossover, the ADX and Toyota is working on a new generation Celica. California's governor has a plan to preserve EV incentives in the states if the Trump administration pulls the plug, and it doesn't include Tesla. Cadillac is joining the F1 circus in 2026 and Dodge is slapping some big money on the hood of the new Dodge Charger Daytona and Jeep Wagoneer S. ConnectDER has a solution for installing EV charging on older homes and smaller apartments. Edmunds range tests the Chevrolet Equinox EV and decides to unload their Fisker Ocean while they still can and we answer listener questions.

We've updated the Wheel Bearings merch store and there's now a lot of new stuff including hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, stickers and of course T-shirts. Until December 13, you get 25% of every order at http://shop.wheelbearings.media/

Links

Acura ADX

Mercedes-Benz in-drive brakes

Toyota Working on New Celica

Tesla left out of new California EV Incentives

GM/Cadillac To Go F1 in 2026

ConnectDER

Map of NEVI sites

Dodge Charger Daytona Leases

Edmunds unloads its Fisker Ocean early

Edmunds Gets 356 miles with Equinox EV

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The whole team is back this week with lots of LA Auto Show news. Nicole drove the Audi SQ8 around Los Angeles for the week. Robbie had the new Toyota Land Cruiser.

In the news, Jaguar has launched new branding ahead of the reveal of concept version of its next new EV. Stellantis talked about the STLA Frame platform for its new EV an EREV large trucks and SUVs, and we spoke with Stellantis executives including NA COO Antonio Filosa about where Jeep and the other brands are headed. Nicole got to try out the new GMC Sierra EV Denali. Lotus is also bringing out some EREVs. We also discussed some of the products announced at the LA Auto Show including a refreshed Genesis GV70, new VW Tiguan, the Hyundai Ioniq 9, and the NACTOY finalists. We also answered some listener questions.

Links

Nissan N7

More on Mercedes-Benz CLA

New JaGUar branding

Stellantis talks about STLA Frame

GMC Sierra EV

2026 Genesis GV70

2025 VW Tiguan

Honda Solid State Battery plant

Acura ADX

Jeep Giving Customers What they Want

Hyundai Ioniq 9

Lotus Shifts to EREVs

NACTOY Finalists

Mercedes-Benz in-drive brakes

OTA Cost Consideration Guide

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Robbie at a gas station chicken sandwich and the results were predictable so it's just Sam and Nicole both driving Hondas this week with Sam in the Prologue and Nicole in the Odyssey.

In the news, automakers need to stop with electronic door switches, and while Teslas are generally safe in a crash, bad driver behavior is still leading to more fatal crashes than any other brand. Honda has revealed a new 2026 Passport and Acura has their own version of the HR-V, the new ADX. Toyota is offering a dealer installed shield to guard against catalytic converter theft on Priuses. Dodge is about to launch the electric Charger Daytona, but pulling ahead production of the gas version to mid-2025. Jaguar has released the first images of camoflaged prototypes of its new EV and Lexus is adding a cheaper front-drive RZ. Jose Munoz is being promoted to global CEO at Hyundai and GM laid off 1,000 people by email.

Links

People still being burned alive in Teslas

2026 Honda Passport

2025 Acura ADX

Tesla is deadliest car brand in America

Catalytic converter shield tested

Dodge pulling up production of gas Chargers

First images of new electric Jaguar

GM cuts 1,000 jobs

Lexus adds cheaper FWD RZ300e

Jose Munoz becomes CEO of Hyundai Motor

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Kia WKNDR concept

Mercedes-Benz CLA preview

Volvo EX30 arriving in America this year

Mazda Iconic-SP to get produced

2026 Cadillac Vistiq first look

Cadillac XT4 to give way to new Bolt

Bentley To Launch EV in 2026, delay full transition to 2035

SEMA 2024 Roundup

Mercedes-AMG Electric SUV

A2RL

Roman's New G-Wagen

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This week Robbie and Sam both spent time driving the Volkswagen ID Buzz and came away surprisingly delighted. Sam also spent a week with the Toyota Land Cruiser while Nicole got to drive the 2025 Camry.

In the news, VW is adding enhanced hazard alerts to its latest models and Polestar and Volvo finally have Supercharger access for their EVs. Ford is now shipping Lectron NACS to CCS adapters to customers instead of Tesla made adapters. Cadillac is bringing a Lyriq-V in 2025 and Lucid is about to open the order books for the Gravity SUV. Hyundai has a new fuel cell vehicle coming in 2025 with a new look for the brand and sister brand Kia is launching the Tasman pickup but it can't come to America because of the chicken tax. Rivian doesn't believe in buttons and they are wrong. FSD can't see deer at night and the Ferrari Enzo had different sized mirrors. We also have a bunch of listener questions.

Links

VW integrates enhanced hazard alerts

Enhanced Hazard Alerts

Polestar & Volvo turn on Supercharger access

Lectron NACS-CCS adapter

Cadillac Lyriq-V coming in 2025

Lucid Gravity Pricing and Orders announced

Lucid Gravity Design Tour

Peter Rawlinson on Efficiency

Hyundai Initium concept

Kia Tasman

Rivian Software Chief is Wrong about Buttons

FSD completely ignores a deer

The Ferrari Enzo's Asymetric Mirrors

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Hey everyone, we're back with a standard episode this week. Unfortunately a family emergency came up at the last moment and Robbie couldn't join us. Fortunately, our friend Perry Stern was able to step in and join Nicole and Sam. Perry was driving around in the new Subaru Forester while Nicole had the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Sam had the Kia Sorento Hybrid.

It was good to have Perry on the show, because he was the only one among the group that was able to attend the reveal event of the new Scout Terra and Traveler which are due to arrive in 2027. Stellantis has started assembly of battery modules at its new factory in Windsor, Ontario, and plans to try out semi-solid state batteries in 2027. They have also updated their Auburn Hills wind tunnel and are planning to sell their Arizona proving ground. Ford has cut prices on its F-150 Lightning Pro and Mach-E for 2025. Costco has installed its first DC fast charging station and Nicole shares some highlights from this week's semi-finalist drive for North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year.

Links

Scout Terra and Traveller

Stellantis to try semi-solid state cells in 2027 Charger

NextStar Energy Starts Battery Module Production

Ford Pro Cuts EV prices

High speed trains are awesome

2025 Mach-E gets price cut, GT look

Stellantis updates wind tunnel/Proving ground sale

Coscto gets in to fast charging

NACTOY Drive

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Hey everyone, this week's show is a bit different. Sam is on his way to South Korea for the week, Nicole is visiting her daughter in Wisconsin and Robbie is Lake Tahoe for a gig with one of his bands. But rather than leave you with no content, we've got some material from the Nissan Fast Forward event that Sam attended in Nashville this week. Nissan unveiled the new 2025 Murano and Sam has some thoughts and then we have presentations from 4 Nissan executives including chief product officer for North America, Ponz Pandikuthira, VP of sales and marketing Vinay Shahani, VP of aftersales Kim Less and SVP manufacturing David Johnson. Lots of interesting stuff in here about where Nissan is going for the rest of the decade including plug-in hybrids, e-Power, and extended range EVs. We'll back with a regular episode next week.

Links

The 2025 Nissan Murano

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Nicole is back and she drove the Honda Prologue while Robbie spent more time with the GMC Hummer EV SUV and Sam had the VW GTi.

Links

2025 Jeep Compass

2025 Bronco Free Wheeling

2025 Chevy Silverado EV Updates

Volkswagen Tayron

MCity 2.0

CyberCab

2-seat robotaxis

Carlos Tavares to retire in early 2026

Stellantis EV price parity

More cheap EU EVs

Fisker reaches bankruptcy deal

https://carbuzz.com/fisker-faces-new-government-probe/

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Nicole's Saturday morning flight home from Venice was cancelled so she'll be back next week. In the meantime, Chad Kirchner joins us to talk about what's going on. Robbie has been driving the GMC Hummer EV SUV and Sam had the Mazda CX-70 and a weekend with the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato.

In the news, Mazda has launched a new electric sedan in China that goes for just under $23,000 but we can't have it. Lots of charging news this week with Enel X Way shutting down it's US operations, but Ford is offering EV buyers free chargers and installation. Ionna has started construction on its first charging station with just 29,990 chargers to go. Ford had cut pricing on BlueCruise and launched a somewhat-new Expedition. Our pals at TFL finally got FSD Supervised on their Cybertruck and Toyota pushed back the launch of their 3-row electric SUV by 6 months. Rivian cut its 2024 production forecast but an R1T survived the Hurricane Helene flooding with flying colors.

Speaking of the hurricane, if you have a few extra dollars, send some to Feeding America for TacoTober to help out those affected by the disaster. Also check out The Kirchner Report and buy a copy of Racecar by the Drastic Cats

Links

Mazda EZ-6

Ford Home charging

Enel X Way shuts down

Ionna breaks ground on first rechargery

Ford cuts BlueCruise pricing

TFL tries FSD on their Cybertruck

2025 Ford Expedition

Toyota delays 3-row EV

Rivian cuts production forecast

Rivian R1T survives Helene

The Kirchner Report

tacotober

Hummer HX Concept

Noodoe

Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato

Chargelab

Drastic Cats - Racecar

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