Wheel Bearings

This week in the garage, Roberto has the 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Sam is driving the one of the last traditional full-size sedans in America, the Toyota Avalon Hybrid and Nicole is in the improved and refreshed 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

In the news, while Robbie was in Europe, he also got to try out the new Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot system, a level 3 conditional automation system that let's you go hands off and eyes off, but you can't take a nap yet. Stateside, Sam tried out a prototype of the updated 2022 GMC Sierra with Super Cruise that let's you go hands-free while towing a trailer but you have to keep eyes on the road. In the world of truly self-driving cars, Argo AI is teaming up with Lyft to deploy robotaxis in Austin and Miami.

Links

Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot

2022 GMC Sierra Super Cruise

Argo Robotaxis on Lyft in Austin and Miami

Crutchfield

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I messed up and linked the wrong file, this is the corrected version This week, two-thirds of the team did some travelling as Roberto went all the way to Switzerland to try out Mercedes-Benz first US market bound electric vehicle, the new EQS. Sam just took a train to Chicago and spoke with Ford Maverick… Read More »Sweet, Sweet Options – corrected

This week, two-thirds of the team did some travelling as Roberto went all the way to Switzerland to try out Mercedes-Benz first US market bound electric vehicle, the new EQS. Sam just took a train to Chicago and spoke with Ford Maverick marketing manager Trevor Scott about the new compact truck after spending some time driving the new Genesis GV80 luxury crossover. Nicole got to toss around the Mini John Cooper Works convertible with a nifty Union Jack pattern on the top.

In the news, a class action lawsuit against Ford is moving forward over destination charges on new vehicles. New car inventories across the US are at all time lows, Rivian has pushed back first customer deliveries of the R1T for a couple more months. Chevrolet Bolts that got software updates to prevent fires while charging are still igniting and the EU wants to ban new internal combustion vehicles by 2035. We wrap the show with more listener questions.

Links

Class action lawsuit over delivery fees

Rivian customer deliveries delayed

Bolts of fire

EU ban on internal combustion

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This week in the garage, Roberto is driving Volkswagen of America’s new entry level model, the 2022 Taos compact crossover. Nicole has the new 11th generation Honda Civic sedan in a strange sort of silver color with a hint of blue and same discusses the VW ID.4, the brand’s first dedicated electric vehicle for the… Read More »Dodge Will Sell American eMuscle

This week in the garage, Roberto is driving Volkswagen of America's new entry level model, the 2022 Taos compact crossover. Nicole has the new 11th generation Honda Civic sedan in a strange sort of silver color with a hint of blue and same discusses the VW ID.4, the brand's first dedicated electric vehicle for the North American market.

In the news, we have lots more electrification stuff to discuss. Croatian EV startup Rimac has taken over control of Bugatti from the Volkswagen group. BMW brings its i4 and iX roadshow to Detroit and Stellantis spends a couple of hours fleshing out its plans to sell mostly electric vehicles by the end of the decade including the 2024 launch of a battery electric Ram 1500 and a new Dodge eMuscle car and battery-powered versions of every Jeep by 2025. Also from Stellantis, Peugeot has taken the wraps off its radical new Le Mans Hypercar which amazingly has no wings. As usual we wrap up with listener questions.

Links

Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar

Rimac Takes Control of Bugatti

Stellantis Fleshes out its EV plans

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This week in the garage, Nicole has something interesting and something slightly less interesting, the 2021 Hyundai Sonata Limited and the Aston Martin DBX, you can guess which is which. Roberto has the Mercedes-Benz E450 wagon and Sam has the Mazda CX-9 Signature. In the news Volvo hosted a tech moment where they unveiled some… Read More »Interesting and Slightly Less Interesting

This week in the garage, Nicole has something interesting and something slightly less interesting, the 2021 Hyundai Sonata Limited and the Aston Martin DBX, you can guess which is which. Roberto has the Mercedes-Benz E450 wagon and Sam has the Mazda CX-9 Signature.

In the news Volvo hosted a tech moment where they unveiled some news about their electrification and automated driving plans and revealed the Concept Recharge which previews the replacement for the XC90 coming in 2022. The Concours d'Elegance of America is coming up at the Inn at St Johns in Plymouth, Mich. on July 23-25. New owner Hagerty announced that in 2022, the show will move to midtown Detroit and the Detroit Institute of the Arts. GM is partnering with Controlled Thermal Resources to develop domestic production of lithium for all of its upcoming electric vehicles and Sam has an interview with Tim Grewe, GM's director of electrification strategy. We also answer a bunch of listener questions.

Links

Volvo Concept Recharge

Concours of America

Concours of America moving to Detroit

GM Invests in low-cost, low-carbon lithium production

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This week in the garage Roberto drove a car that we agree is basically interchangeable cross-shopped with the Hyundai Accent, it's the new 2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Meanwhile, Nicole had Kia's new "not-a-minivan" minivan, the 2022 Carnival which replaces the Sedona with slightly more crossover-ish styling. Sam drives the latest sedan from the Acura, the 2021 TLX A-Spec.

In the news, some early deliveries of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee L may get delayed due to flooding in a storage lot near the Detroit plant and the Woodward Dream Cruise is returning this August with sponsorship from Ford. Honda has announced the name of the upcoming electric crossover that GM will build for it starting in early 2024, it's the Prologue. Finally Volvo decides to make lidar a standard feature on the next-generation electric XC90 coming in 2022. We answer some listener questions and Roberto tempers his opinion of the Ford Bronco Sport.

Links

Honda Prologue Electric CUV Coming in 2024

Flooding near the Jeep Assembly Plant in Detroit

The Woodward Dream Cruise is Back

Volvo Makes Lidar Standard

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In the garage this week, Nicole has the 2021 Ford F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid with plugs in the back and a work surface perfect for holding Crumble Cookies. Roberto drives the Subaru Forester Sport and we wonder if black wheels and red trim stripes can actually make a vehicle sporty. Robbie also spends time in the Ford Bronco Sport and has complaints. Sam drove the new hybrid Toyota Sienna and comes to the realization that Chevrolet was just premature in trying to make the old Uplander look like an SUV and also spends a weekend with the Polestar 2.

In the news, Toyota proves you can have too much grille when an image of the 2022 Tundra leaks out, Infiniti adopts a new design language for the new QX60 and Ferrari takes a new direction with the replacement for its long-running series of V8 sports cars by adopting a twin-turbo V6 and plug-in hybrid for the new 296 GTB. Finally, Nicole and Sam discuss their impressions of the driving the real 2021 Ford Bronco for the first time.

Links

2022 Infiniti QX60

2022 Toyota Tundra is all Grille

Ferrari 296 GTB 

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For episode 200 of the show, both of our emeritus hosts return for a special guest appearance as Rebecca Lindland and Dan Roth stop by. Sam and Dan compare notes on the Ford Ranger as Dan bought a Lariat with his new employee discount and Sam drove the new Ranger Tremor. Nicole also had a Tremor from Ford but hers was based on the F-350 Super Duty. She also spent time with the new Kia K5 during a trip to Seattle. Roberto shared his impressions of the plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4XE.

In the news we discuss the new Papal Transport from Fisker, the absurd Tesla Model S Plaid and the new 2022 Lexus NX. We wrap up with another round of listener questions about mini cars, Raptors, selling Miatas and our favorite cars.

Links

Tesla Model S Plaid

2022 Lexus NX

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