Sam Abuelsamid  0:00  
Coming up on episode 228 wheel bearings we've got the 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback sport touring the mini se The Lucid Air that says the Chevy Silverado Evie Chrysler's airflow concept and where the Chrysler brand is headed in the coming years WeMo and Julie hook up to build a Custom Robo taxi interview with Chris fuel, the CEO of the Chrysler brand, and a whole bunch of listener questions. All that more coming up next.

This is episode 228 wheel bearings. The first show for 2022 I'm Sam Abuelsamid from guidehouse insights.

Nicole Wakelin  0:47  
I am Nicole Wakelin will say Forbes wheels today.

Roberto Baldwin  0:51  
And I am Roberto Baldwin. And we're going to say Tom's guide. There's a man named Tom and he has a guide.

Sam Abuelsamid  0:57  
Guide. Tom, they do cars.

Roberto Baldwin  1:01  
Yeah, yeah. Oh, they'll do cards. Right up this review.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:09  
Gotta start somewhere. There's always a first car story. All right. Who wants to go first?

Nicole Wakelin  1:17  
Go first Sam, you never go first. All right, I'll

Roberto Baldwin  1:20  
go on the spot.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:22  
I have right now the 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback sport touring in the driveway. And it happens to be in the same shade of red is the 2017 Honda Civic X hatchback that lives in our garage, you know, 365 days a year. And you know, I'm, I like driving it. I really like driving it. I'm less enamored with the design, the new design of the 22 Civic. Really, I think the last generation when they brought that out, I really liked the design. It was such a departure from the previous couple of generations, you know, which were kind of bland looking. You know, the last one the 2016 to 2021 Civic was, I think quite a bold design both the sedan and the coupe, and, and the hatchback. And so much so that when that when the hatchback came out, my wife decided that was the car she wanted to replace the Jetta TDI wagon that was going back to Volkswagen. And we love that car. It's a fantastic car. And the new one, you know, it's, it's not bad. But it's, it's a little dull.

Roberto Baldwin  2:38  
It's got less cars, that

Sam Abuelsamid  2:39  
definitely has a lot less pizzazz.

Roberto Baldwin  2:43  
I think outside. Yeah, I think there's a lot of pizzazz with the previous generation. Yeah,

Sam Abuelsamid  2:47  
and it's, in some ways, maybe a little too much, especially on the back end of the hatchback was maybe a big fake fence in the in the rear corners. But But aside from that, you know, we really like the shape of the old one, and the new one, you know, it's roughly the same size and it gets about an inch longer. It looks very much like the current generation of the Accord, you know, like a seven eight scale accord, especially the sedan. And even even the hatchback, you know, is pretty close to that. It's almost like a like the sedan, but with the trunk, you know, for where instead of the trunk lid ending at the bottom of the rear glass, it extends up around the rear glass and the whole, the whole back end opens up. So, you know, in cars the size, I am absolutely a huge booster of hatchbacks because especially with modern, you know, compact and mid size sedans, because they've all gone to the Fastback profile, which I have no no issue with, I like it. But if you're going to do a trunk with that kind of profile, it inevitably ends up meaning you have a very small trunk opening. And even with a fold down rear seat, it limits what you can put in the back, the hatchback, you've got the big giant rear opening, you can put all kinds of stuff in there, which can be very, very handy. And then when you put the seat, the rear seat folding rear seats down, it becomes even more so. So the the current, the 22 Civic Hatchback. You've got 24 and a half cubic feet behind the rear seats, which is roughly about twice the volume that's available in the hat in the sedan. And then you can fold those seats down and you can put really large objects in there which is which is fantastic. You know, it's very handy when you're helping a child move. You can throw all their stuff in the back of that very, very useful for that. The interior is essential big step up from the previous generation of civic, and especially in the one driving, which is the sport touring, which is the top of the line model. It feels even it feels more premium. You know, they've shifted away from the, the touchscreen interface, the touchscreen being embedded in the dashboard like it was on our civic to the more typical now, you know, tablet standing up on top of the dashboard layout, but it does have a volume knob and controls for the climate control. It's got, it has rotary knobs that you can twist to adjust the temperature and everything. Instead of capacitive touch surfaces, which I think is much, much better solution. It still has basically the same powertrain that's in the 17 Civic Hatchback. So it's 1.5 liter turbo with a CVT, which, you know, the one five turbo is a lovely engine. It's quite powerful, quite fuel efficient. We've been very happy with it over the last almost five years now that we've been driving it, and it's still great, the sport, you get the sport touring, you get six extra horsepower. So it's up to 180 horsepower now, compared to the 174 that was in the 2017 that we have. Unfortunately, you cannot get a I don't think you can get a manual transmission with this one, or maybe you can, the one I have has the CVT which is you know, as CVT is Go is not a bad CVT. But, you know, if it's a CVT, it's still a CVT.

Yeah, it's not it's not as offensive as some of them, you know, it does have some, you know, steps in there so that you get some of the more traditional feel of, of the way a transmission should feel. Oh, yeah, the sport sorry, the sport touring, you can get with a manual trans six speed manual transmission, the only of the 22 civics, the only the ones that don't offer the manual, are the base LX, or the E XL, both of the the sport and the sport touring models are available with a six speed manual. So if what you're if you are one of the few remaining Americans that is interested in driving a car with driving an actual car, the regular cars, it's not a Miata with a manual transmission, this is one of the few options you have left. There's not many, not many others. And I would definitely, definitely recommend considering this, if you know if that's what you're that's what you're looking for. Yeah, aside from the styling, you know, which you know, as we said, is a little less expressive than the previous generation. It's not bad. It's just, it's just less interesting. You know, I really like everything else about this car, it you know, it drives really well the ride quality is very good. It has, you know, it's not great steering field, but it does have some steering feedback when your cornering. So it is it is very enjoyable to drive. It's quite quite reasonably quick, it's, you know, it's fast enough for what most anybody is going to need for any kind of normal daily driving. It's roomy. The, the 2022 model does have about an inch and a half more wheelbase than the, the 20, the previous generation. And almost all of that has gone into rear seat legroom. So the rear seat legroom was fine in the in the old one, you know, I can sit in the back without any problem in our 2017. But you have an extra up to an extra inch and a half in this new one. So if you're carrying taller passengers on a regular basis, that's definitely something worth considering. The Civic starts, see, where does it start? The one I'm driving is priced at $29,400 MSRP. And then with the delivery charge is $30,415. Which, you know by by today's standards, when you consider that the average transaction prices are now well over $40,000 This is quite a reasonably affordable car. It's not you know, it's not hugely expensive. And you can you can get the base Civic, you know, starting at, I think just over 20,000 I believe is what it would it goes for. And I'll find out in a second. But, you know, because cars you know, nameplates have continued to grow over the years compared to you know where they were 1015 20 years ago. Go, you know, the Civic today is about as big as you know, has about as much interior room as full size cars did, you know 25 years ago, you know, you can still get smaller cars, not many of them anymore, but you can still get smaller cars. But the you know, this is this is a very roomy cars definitely worth worth consideration. Yeah. So this, the base Civic Sedan starts at $21,900. And so that's, you know, at the, the lower end of what's available in the market today, there are a few others that you can get that are under 20 grand, but not many left. And that's all I've got on the Civic,

Nicole Wakelin  10:40  
I'd say that's it for the Civic. I like to civic I drove it a little a couple of weeks back and I thought it was good, but I did you feel like you're right about it. It just doesn't have there's some of the the, the panache Ooh, look at that cool, fun little car is, is absent, I'm assuming on purpose. They wanted to turn it down. But I missed that a bit.

Roberto Baldwin  10:58  
I think people got a little too like, Oh, this is too you know, this is too niche with that old design. They

Nicole Wakelin  11:04  
went like so they did go pretty far last time into the like,

Roberto Baldwin  11:08  
I went like two steps too far. like great, great for all the the enthusiast but I think the regular moms, or people who are

Nicole Wakelin  11:16  
like to carpool

Roberto Baldwin  11:19  
but you can get a manual transmission on this thing for the exact same cost as a CVT?

Nicole Wakelin  11:23  
Uh huh. Why would you not do that? Because you don't know how to drive it. Not you This is your chance to learn so often

Roberto Baldwin  11:32  
on race transmission?

Sam Abuelsamid  11:34  
Yeah, Honda makes some of the best manual transmissions you can find, you know, they're very easy to shift. You know, they've always got really good clutch feel. It's a it's a great way to have something a little different. I agree. Oh, and one last detail about the all the civics they all come with the Honda Sensing package now. So they have the full suite of Driver Assist features adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, that is actually one one big improvement on this one compared to ours are still has the the LaneWatch system on it, which was the camera mounted under the passenger side mirror that when you one it's only on the one side, not only on one side,

Roberto Baldwin  12:15  
only on one side, which

Nicole Wakelin  12:17  
Okay, the world, you're like on the highway, just changing lanes it like you know, 65 miles an hour like I don't need to see that. Right? Yeah.

Roberto Baldwin  12:25  
Such a weird thing. Because Hyundai did, essentially the same thing, but much better because it's on both sides. And it's so much better. Yeah. But you can't get the Hyundai with a manual transmission. Yeah. Can't get the manual. Alright.

Nicole Wakelin  12:41  
Okay. Let me go next. Yeah, I'll go next. Okay. We'll talk about this next week. But I'll talk about it this week, because I decided that while you were chatting, Sam, so I had the chance to drive for one day, they flew me down to New York, and I had some time with the Lucid Air, which was pretty cool. So they've shipped some of these they're shipping they're going to get more are going to be coming, but they started with the most expensive models which are $169,000. So not the cheapy ones, not the ones as mere mortals will be driving. But it does come down. Wow. It's

Sam Abuelsamid  13:16  
relatively mere mortals, relatively mere mortals more more mere than the people that can afford us. 75 170,160 Yeah, exactly.

Nicole Wakelin  13:25  
Exactly.

Sam Abuelsamid  13:27  
They're still cheap.

Nicole Wakelin  13:28  
It's still not gonna be cheap. I think it still starts at about 70 just under seven over 77. So it is not an inexpensive car, but that's not what they're intending they're they're you know, they're building this as a luxury car and they're doing the same thing Tesla's where they're not gonna have dealerships they have showrooms and they're opening more of them as time goes on. I met them at the one in the meatpacking district in New York. It's a beautiful showroom. I mean, it has just enough tech stuff so that you can if you go into one you can see the tech features of the car if you want to know about how the battery and stuff works, you can see the car and then there's you know, you can you can customize and build it and they have this really cute display that shows you all the the materials and the colors and all that kind of stuff. So it's neat showroom, it is neat, it feels it has that sort of scale. I'm buying something cool not just I'm buying a random commuter car at the local dealership like it feels like what they're trying to get at. I drove the dream air dream edition, which is their fanciest of Fancy Pants versions of the air. But first I got to see style wise when you see this thing in person, it's a stunning card has this very mid century modern kind of vibe. Even if you look like I posted some pictures in my Instagram and on Twitter. If you look at the way the word air is written, it's like so mid century modern, it's really cool. It's this nice sort of swoopy thing. And that sort of aesthetic that feel the way the design is in the colors and the materials. It feels like that when you sit in it, it feels like that when you look at it. So design wise it's it's really beautiful. It is a really pretty car and I was driving it on the dreariest of, you know, right any cold Blair days in New York and I took pictures and people are still saying like, wow, that looks amazing. I'm like, Yeah, with that totally grade nasty sky and dead trees and the car still looks beautiful like, okay, that's saying something. So driving it, it has this one has 520 miles of range, the range changes slightly as you go down from Dream addition to Grand Touring to touring to pure, I think I got that, right. So the highest range is 520 miles of range, which is a lot. That's the kind of thing that you don't really, you know, your your car with a gas engine may or may not get that much range, you know, on a gas tank, the thing that makes that cooler, though 520 miles of range, you can get 300 miles of that back in roughly 20 minutes. So you can charge up pretty quick. So it's not. So if you want a road trip in this, you could actually do it and they're teamed up with Electrify America and you get the first three years of charging free. It's not a certain amount, it's just like three years charge all you like, and it's free, which is another cool little incentive. And because it's a new company, you get the full $7,500 federal tax credit, you don't have to worry about anything being staged out and with how this one is selling, not that it's not selling well, but it's a small volume vehicle. It's not like you know, it's not a Civic. So it's gonna take some time for them to get to that mark, where things are gonna start coming down. Their dream editions completely sold out. Although he said they have this huge long waiting list for people just kind of like, well, maybe one guy will cancel, but the people that ordered Yeah, Right exactly. Like ah, that's cute.

Roberto Baldwin  16:34  
I will say I don't

Nicole Wakelin  16:35  
want it after all. It feels like you know what, I saw this in person. Now I changed my mind. Give it to the next

Roberto Baldwin  16:40  
that's the problem. If you see it in person, you don't change your mind. You don't

Nicole Wakelin  16:42  
if you see this in person, okay, because like I'm looking at on on my computer screen right now. And it looks fine. Like it's fine. Looks okay, looks fine. Like, okay, it's an Eevee. I saw it in person. And I was like, wow, that looks really good. So it really is one of those vehicles, when you see just images, it doesn't do justice to how good this thing looks in person. And in fact, we were as we were driving, we went up to this Bear Mountain State Park, which was like an hour outside of the city. And as you're trying to get out of the parking lot a family was just walking across like families do and literally the boy is like pointing and looking and stopping in the road and mom's kind of like, come on and then Mom looks at her husband like No Do you see what he's crossing him like and then half the parking lot is turning around and looking at the car like wow, I'm like I appreciate it guys but already killing Eve you can you stare at point from the sidewalk. Even Yeah, even and then we pass the My Favorite Things. We passed a guy in a Tesla. And as we pass the guy in the test, we passed him and he's just driving along and then all of a sudden the test that comes speeding back up and I can see the guy looking like what is that? I'm like he's checking out the car. So it was neat to see the reaction people like little give like it Tesla owners like it. Random homeless guy in New York City was like, thumbs up. Nice car. I'm like, thanks. I don't even know what to say to that. So, so style wise it has it has that range, it has that federal tax credit. And there's three drive modes. There's smooth, Swift, and sprint and in the dream edition is smooth and the Swift are only unlocking like half the horsepower in the vehicle. So you're working at like 600 and change for horsepower.

Unknown Speaker  18:19  
If only 600 100 I

Nicole Wakelin  18:22  
know right?

Roberto Baldwin  18:24  
What is it even? How do you even why even even turn?

Sam Abuelsamid  18:28  
I know it's amazing, right? Why would you even leave the house for

Nicole Wakelin  18:31  
that? Why would you even bother getting in the car. So because you do want to bother getting in the car, you push the sprint button and it gives you a warning like, Be careful though it's it doesn't say this, but it's basically the warning is don't be stupid. Now we're giving you all the horsepower. That's what the work. Okay, so you push that button, it gives you your Don't be stupid warning and you have 1111 horsepower, that is worth leaving the house for 100% worth getting in a car leaving the house. You don't even have to push the pedal. I feel like if you breathe a little bit heavy, and the air hit that pedal, you're suddenly pushed back in your seat and you're flying. It is aggressive and what made it so neat was I don't know. I mean, it's a lot of people don't have a chance to drive a car with high horsepower. Forget the 1011 even like a Hellcat or something that's like a 700 600 these high horsepower cars where they're really cool. And that that sense of being pushed back in your seat is amazing. But depending on the car if you mash that gas pedal you have a moment where you fight the steering a little bit like you're it's it's not it's it's not like this. You just accelerate and go in a nice straight line. It's like hold on tight because you might have steered left little still torque steer happening like this thing you when you mash on that pedal. It just is like here's all your power and I will continue going exactly where you have me pointed the way you had me pointed. It was so controlled and so well mannered. Other than that, you know, feeling that way against your chest, which is just a fantastic feeling when you hit that pedal. It's so controlled and so well mannered. I think I was very impressed. I like driving it was quiet we took it. There's that section roads in the meatpacking district that are cobblestone. And when I came when they dropped me off, they dropped me off in a GMC Yukon was the car that they had hired to drive drop me off and commingle the cobblestones like like, okay, we're in the cobblestone section, we drove out on that same section it was, you barely feel it. And because I had just been so conscious of it another car, like, wow, this is doing a fantastic job and even over the really crummy streets that you have there. It's the city. There's potholes everywhere, there's seams in the pavement, there's construction, there's metal pieces covering where there's covers and holes in the ground. It's very well mannered and very relaxed and very easy to just feel like okay, I'm in a nice, smooth luxury cruiser. So it does this great balance between, I'm going to put it in sprint mode, get my Don't be stupid warnings and have at it, or I'm going to keep it in either smooth or Swift. And I'm just going to drive this like this beautiful, elegant, luxurious, smooth, comfortable luxury car. The thing is, you have to be willing to spend luxury car at least 77 grand or for those who got this this dream edition 169k Does it feel like it's worth it? If I had $169,000 that I was going to spend on a car this would be on my list? Because it's that good. And the inside is just like I feel like part of spending that much money on a car like for this you're looking for the Eevee you want one with it has that crazy range that charges really fast. We want that horsepower a lot of people do. But you want it to feel like a luxury car. Like I feel like some Evie makers make their cars feel so like they're so focused on we're going to be sustainable and clean. And that it's

Sam Abuelsamid  21:46  
a one particular Evie maker. Yeah,

Roberto Baldwin  21:49  
yeah. This is really costed?

Nicole Wakelin  21:53  
Look, it makes some but there's other EVs out there that are not the Eevee maker that you're talking about that still when they go to, to that there's there's a fine line between making your car look very like that Swedish unfussy kind of thing, you know, where there's not a lot of flash and chrome and you know, and like, even though you use this super expensive textile on your dashboard that was recycled and saved all these, you know, saved many seals or whatever it looks, it looks cheap. Like I you know, you don't want a luxury car to look like a luxury car.

Sam Abuelsamid  22:27  
Yeah, most of those, most of those other brands are not charging $160,000 for the car, either.

Nicole Wakelin  22:36  
That's true, but sometimes they look like they should be charging $1.95 Like there's, you know,

Roberto Baldwin  22:42  
you can't call a car luxury and then the interior not live up to luxury, you can just say it's a nice, it's an expensive sedan, you can say, you know, but but sometimes people are like, well, it's a luxury car. Like there's a comfort level that comes with luxury. There's, there's a there's an anticipation there's a there's something that you're expecting, especially after years of Mercedes, and BMW and Audi. Like building these cars, and you're like, Well, this is luxury to like.

Nicole Wakelin  23:08  
And I think you expect a certain amount of like it, there has to be a sort of a design aesthetic that you can see, like, it shouldn't just look like we made a dashboard that fits, we made seats that fit, we made a roof that fits like this has that glass roof, and it's very open, and it has this, there's only one piece down the middle. And it's only because it goes down to the middle to where like, they have to have a part mounted to the dash, like where the dashboard and excuse me where the windshield is. So put us it's like really thin little vein across the top and has a light down the middle. That's the ambient lighting it they could have just made it a piece of black and said, Well, it's up there and it is what it is, but they paid attention to it. I know that sounds like a stupidly small detail, but in a lot. That's the kind of things that luxury cars do. They take into account all these random details that sometimes you don't even realize what it is and you just sit down you think this looks and feels so well put together. And that's what this one does.

Roberto Baldwin  24:01  
Yeah, I've talked to PETA CEO Peter Rawlinson, I don't know a bunch of times at this point. And every time it's very much we're not competing with Tesla we're competing with the German automakers we're competing with luxury automakers and you know, they're going to be compared with Tesla regardless for because, hey, it's a sedan as long range so you're gonna hit Tesla also, it's lucid is just populated with former Tesla engineers, the person who is a major starting with Peter, who was the man who's like, Hey, here's the Model S Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin  24:32  
Well, they had a guy that was wait so I had one of their PR folks that was with me through the ride because it was just me it wasn't like an official like program program. But they had a guy in the following car that was just there in case there was like another mechanical failure like the car breaks or like if you get a flat tire it's not like we have drive shopper somebody here to fix that. We want some you know, somebody here in case anything you need anything. And he was falling on. He was formerly from Tesla like he cuz I was asking him different things. And he's like, Well, I didn't notice that over Tesla. I haven't seen it yet. So it's interesting, like Is anybody here not not been at Tesla, although my, the guy that was riding with me was a former Volkswagen and Audi guy. So, but Germans,

Roberto Baldwin  25:11  
Germans, the German Tesla or the Germans, that's really that's really the company is the Tesla, the German,

Nicole Wakelin  25:17  
you know, aside from the fact that it's an Eevee. So you could say they're chasing Tesla, it feels much more like a car that's chasing the Germans. It really, really does. Like you're like, Okay, I get it's an Eevee. That's the Tesla and things but in every other way, this feels like it's a new version of a German car, even just like the way the door is like they tried to make it. It's so open, it feels gigantic in there, the door panels, instead of sort of coming out like rugby, you probably had this happen in cars, because when your legs are long, you'll hit like where the where the handle is, like you hit the edge of the door panel because your knees don't have room, these curved way in. So it's almost unless you're like doing the ultimate manspreading. As you're driving. You can hit Yeah, just like oh flailed about, but you have all this, you have all this room, and it's like, even front to back. So my, the guy with me, he is six foot four. So he's a tall guy, and he just threw the seat all the way back, like to be comfortable. When we stopped. I said, sit behind the seat, you just tossed all the way back, he sat behind side behind it, he still had room for his knees, like six foot four in front of six foot four. That's pretty impressive.

Sam Abuelsamid  26:19  
Yeah, back back in 2017, or 16, whatever it was that they that they were first showing off the the air. And this is actually at the LA Auto Show before they really shown it publicly. They were doing some private briefings. I had a briefing with Peter Rawlinson and Derek Jenkins, the head of design there. And at the time, you know, they talked about, you know, what they're talking about, you know, aiming for Mercedes Benz. Yeah. And what they wanted was something that had the luxury of a Mercedes Benz, the interior roominess of an S class, but the exterior footprint of an E Class. So you know, the mid size, you know, so it's smaller on the outside, larger on the inside. And, you know, I think that they really did, it really feels like they achieved that, you know, when I, when I sat in the thing for the first time, you know, sitting in the back with with Peter, it was it was amazing how much room there is in the back of this thing?

Nicole Wakelin  27:18  
Well, and even in terms of the roominess, like, you know, they've used every last conceivable space, like nothing, it's like, well, could we make that space for people? Could we make that space for cargo? Why don't we do that it kind of feels like they looked at everything like, Well, why do we have these unnecessary things jetting out into the cargo area in the trunk, get rid of them, like we don't need that. So like when you open the trunk, you know, normally it's a relatively sort of straight ish line into the trunk. But it's so wide at the opening, there's these extra little pieces. In fact, on the floor, they open up two little pods to either side. And like you can easily fit a like a golf bag at the very front of that trunk. That's how long it is. And then the floor opens up and there's a huge amount of space under there. And even in the front, when you go up to the Fronk. Huge space you think wow, that's a huge fungus, like, bigger than you think. Again, there's an under floor even in the front where you lifted open, and there's more space like, Good lord, I feel like this has more space than like some crossovers that I've fitted. You know, it's, it probably does. And it's it's it's an impression of

Roberto Baldwin  28:20  
a Honda Fit. It's the Honda Fit of luxury sedans for space in Europe. It's a TARDIS.

Nicole Wakelin  28:27  
It's the the TARDIS of electric vehicles. Yeah. I because as I'm lucky, you're sort of almost like you're sort of surprised. It's like yeah, yeah. Okay. There's like, holy cow. There's more space. Oh, there's more space. Oh, inside, there's more space. Oh, you've done. It's just there is an attention to detail in terms of the design of this. That makes it really, really an impressive vehicle. Impressive car. I liked in case you can't tell. I like aside for the fact that I will never be able to afford $169,000 Evie, that's the only thing I didn't like.

Roberto Baldwin  28:58  
It'll be cheaper. No, it will. And they said they literally

Nicole Wakelin  29:01  
started with the dream edition. And you know, those folks that spent that big money got theirs first. And as they go out through 2022 they'll be getting down to the ones that are more traditional luxury car prices,

Sam Abuelsamid  29:13  
you know, what every new automaker does, you know, yeah, the premium trim, you know, Tesla's had their founders series of every model they brought out and you know, Fisker is doing the same thing. They've got a launch edition. And even the even the legacy automakers you know, our, you know, coming out with, you know, edition one for the Hummer launch edition board, you know, that they pack everything conceivable in there. Yeah, they

Nicole Wakelin  29:39  
all do it. Now. There's, yeah, there's always some special launch edition that we come up with that, you know, that Bronco did it too, right when they're launching, like everything. I mean, that's an off road vehicle. It's like every doesn't matter the category. I think it generates buzz too and excitement because people are like, oh, I want one of those. There's only in this case 520 And or there's only 300 There's only 1000

Roberto Baldwin  30:00  
You're literally putting your best foot forward when you do.

Nicole Wakelin  30:03  
And it really do, would you want to put your? Well I know these are ever going to be a rental car, but would you want to put your rental car special out is the first one. And it was like, wow, this is this is great. Like, that's what you want to do.

Sam Abuelsamid  30:17  
Yeah, I know, you know, Peter in the team would have loved to have this car on the market a couple of years ago, at least if not earlier. But, you know, they, it took them quite a while to raise the capital, they needed to build their factory and get into production. And, you know, from from everything I've seen, it looks like they used that, uh, that extra time that they had available to really refine this car and get everything working right. You know, so that it minimized, you know, the bugs that they had available. And even even, you know, in the course of 2021, they, they pushed back to the official production launched a few months, you know, as they continued to work out some, some details in the in the production system and in the vehicle itself. So, you know, it's looks like they used the time to good effect.

Nicole Wakelin  31:07  
Well, and I know they were they were at least in some cases, two part of their I'm sure that was the supply chain issues that have affected everyone. Because weirdly, there was a feature that wasn't on this one, but that is on all them. So when you open the frunk and then you lift up the underfloor storage thing. It's sort of like an accordion piece, like bends in half and pushes back to give you the extra little piece. But it wants to spring back at you like you kind of have to hold it. And I was like oh, he's like actually he said, it's not on this one. But the production ones there's a magnet there so it holds it in place. So that when you open it, it stays and then you pull it and it's no How come is in on this one. He said honestly, we just supply chain stuff. We couldn't get this as one we're using for press we're using for media. We gave the magnet to one of our consumer ones like fair, you know, so but like there's so they're having, you know, that's a small thing, but you gotta imagine there's other you know, a magnet that was hard. The weirdest things that that caused little delays and

Roberto Baldwin  31:59  
previous certain size and certain strain.

Nicole Wakelin  32:03  
Exactly. Apparently that magnet was in high demand. That's the last

Roberto Baldwin  32:07  
thing we need for the car. Just need the day. I can't believe we don't have that damn.

Nicole Wakelin  32:12  
Forget microchips or semiconductors.

Roberto Baldwin  32:16  
Mike's magnets on the phone again, get them over. Me my magnets.

Sam Abuelsamid  32:23  
Alright. Mr. Baldwin, what about you what have been driving?

Roberto Baldwin  32:27  
I drove Z Mini S E electric now it's been around for a while. And someone's like, Hey, can you do a review of it? I said, Okay. And I remembered it before and it was it was right. Like at the beginning of COVID. During lockdown. So you couldn't I couldn't really Yeah, it's it was it was hard to be excited about literally anything back then. But now. I mean, that now. Now's like crazy better. But it's it's let's just say much better anyway. So I drove it I had for a week. And I absolutely love that car. It is it is the I don't want to call it like a compliance car. Because you know, a lot of companies are like, Oh, here's a car with 100 ish miles of range. It's it's an Eevee based on a gas platform. And that's it. That's literally what this is. But it's so it's everything that you would expect from a mini that happens to be electric. It's actually it's probably, it's kind of like the 500 E. You know, where the the the Fiat 500 D or the Fiat 500 was the best Fiat 500 was like you got it. You're like, Oh my God, why did they even make the other one and they're like, oh, because they lose money every time they build the mini se, I absolutely adore it. It's fun. It's one of the funnest EVs you can buy and it really gives me it really. I did an interview with mini North America at the LA Auto Show, and they're like, Yeah, we are going all in on EVs because it really fits and I think it really fits with the brand you have this very go kart you feel you get this instant torque that you're not going to get with the regular mini unless you get the you know, the John Cooper Works in the throw a bunch of money at it. And it's you know, I've autocross this vehicle before,

Nicole Wakelin  34:13  
what was how was that?

Roberto Baldwin  34:15  
It was really fun. It was you know, it's it everything about this is just like fun performance and it's exactly what a mini should be. And you know, and it's just happens to be electric. And it's, I guess kind of a compliance car. I don't I don't it's such a weird, weird thing because I mean, many is not kind of called a compliance car and when you drive it it doesn't feel like a compliance car doesn't feel like you're just sort of like well, here you go. It's

Sam Abuelsamid  34:40  
it, didn't it? In some ways. I think it's a compliance car because it's a convert. You could call it a compliance car because the conversion of an ice but you know, BMW no there, you know, minis are lumped in with the rest of the BMW lineup in terms of how many EVs are plugged in They have to sell every year. And, you know, I think that they, you know, be from on the BMW brand side of the house, I think they sell enough plugins in between the plug in hybrid 357 x five and so on, as well as the the i three, and now, you know, the i Four and the the eye X coming, you know, I don't think they actually need the mini se to be compliant. Exactly. But, you know, they, they, I think they felt that they wanted an electric, you know, battery electric Mini and, you know, I think there There have actually been people asking for this, going back to when they did the original Mini e and t document, which was, you know, that was a pilot program before they started building EVs. You know, they built this fleet, this test fleet of 500, and some electric minis, that they loaned out to consumers for a couple of years to better understand how people use EVs and that ultimately led to the the i three

Roberto Baldwin  36:03  
Yeah, it's, it's, it's such a fun car. I can't and I mean, I don't know if it's the you know, it only has many says it has 114 miles of range, which is not a lot my test, I got to 120 during my test, I think, you know, many and other automakers, especially the Germans have been very, like underserved reporting, what their range numbers are. But it's, you know, there's, I live on in the East Bay, and, and the East Bay has backroads and twists and turns, but they are very rough, they you know, they haven't been up you know, the upkeep isn't that great as opposed to MYRIN where I also go and drive where the roads are very nice and smooth. And you know, you have a lot more tourists so you want a nice smooth road, some of the best roads in America over there in MYRIN so I drive these back roads and I'll drive Moran and on these back roads I mean I've had Aston Martin Vantage is just having problems I mean there's there's very few cars that can handle these corners without just like you feel like you're just going to get bounced off the road. The I think the STI did really well because I mean that's essentially what that car is built for. And this mini did really really well on these like very rough roads. You know, it's it's a stiff ride. But it is a it is a joy to be behind the wheel actually has a stick for the audit for the transmission which I'm always a big fan of sort of push buttons are whatever weird thing people are coming up with now to to to to shift their vehicles

Nicole Wakelin  37:30  
I would love I'm with you on that I would love to just be able to get into a vehicle and not have to think for half a second like wait a minute. I get myself out of the way it is the most disconcerting. Like I know how to drive cars I do this for a living and the number of times I sit down it's like hold on, hold on where is it?

Sam Abuelsamid  37:48  
Change controls just for the sake of change.

Nicole Wakelin  37:51  
Like just to mess you up like some engineers like haha, gotcha

Roberto Baldwin  37:55  
push button we have that on our on our Kona electric and every time I get in and I'm like hold on and we've had it for like four or five months at this point. Right Hold on. Let me push the stupid button. Yeah, that's that's the big thing I don't like about the Kona but yeah the Mini is if you're looking for a fun Eevee that you're not you know it's not going to be a road trip Evie it's only you know can only charge 50 kilowatts it's got a range of 100 You know 14 120 miles you know if you want to do a road trip on it it's gonna take a while but if you need to get around town I used it for my errands. I drove over you know outside the East Bay I drove into the city I drove you know, I just drove it around like I would any of my cars and it was fine it wasn't you know, you know, there's still that little article I want to get 20 miles left and like well see what happened. You really do become like Well, here we go. And what's what's really interesting is it starts at 2900 So about 30,000 but it still has you still get the federal tax credit on it plus any local or state credits you can get to it. So you know you can bring that down to like 2322 And so now you're getting a really fun mini for 23,000

Sam Abuelsamid  39:10  
which is probably cheaper than any of the gas I know it's probably better than yeah

Nicole Wakelin  39:13  
gas mini Yeah.

Roberto Baldwin  39:14  
Which is Yeah, it's so it's it's it is it's just a fun little CAR If you're looking for a sort of you want an Eevee you want something that's fun, and it's a second car I mean all minis are second cars Mini is very upfront about that like yeah our cars are typically second cars then yeah, this is this this is something you should you should get to and I feel like I'm not you know this this car again this car has been out for a little while so it's not like this is anything new. But I think he's just reiterating just how much fun this is and you know after driving the i 40 i x this year, and talking to many at the LA Auto Show. I'm really excited where the Eve where many is going. When it comes to EVs when it when we started getting like proper like purpose built EVs for many. I think that's, that's, I think a it's right. It's on brand. And B, it's going to like sort of give it a little revitalization because I think people are going to be like, Oh, this is the fun that I'm missing. And we're going to get an Eevee mini convertible. I made them I used to happen. I didn't make it happen. But I just kept asking somebody until finally they said, Yes, we're going to have an Eevee mini convertible. And they also talked about maybe having a smaller mini that'll be an Eevee a smaller vehicle. So I got them that so maybe we'll have a tiny little, you know, an actual mini mini mini mini that's an electric which is if you've ever driven it doesn't have to be the original styling. I mean, you can get you could have got these back in the 90s in Europe, one of those tiny minis those actual mini minis those are so much fun to drive even if it takes you a couple minutes like me to get in and out of because you're tall Yeah, cuz the stereo was more like a bus. So it's not like in my way I can shift gears and yeah, left hand drive or right hand drive ups. Outstanding anyway. Yeah. 2022 hardtop. Weird Yes, sir. Compliance vehicle, but probably the funnest compliance vehicle out there that you can still get the golf, he was a great, great vehicle. Also one of those vehicles that was, you know, essentially a compliance vehicle. They just happen to be awesome.

Sam Abuelsamid  41:26  
So, okay, right now, we've got two roughly 100 mile EVs that are in that low $30,000 price range. Many Mazda MX 30 Mini none of us were particularly enthusiastic about the MX 30. What? Why, why are you so much more enthusiastic about the the mini versus the the MX 30

Roberto Baldwin  41:53  
The mini delivers on that mini promise that's the I think that's that's where you you you really you have to deliver on the promise that you're making to your customers as an automotive brand. If Mercedes came out with a S class that just like felt like trash on the inside? Doesn't it doesn't matter how much range it had, people are going to be like a I think many, this delivers on a promise. And it's actually got better specs than it's been out a while. It's it you get it. It's one of those cars is just it, you know, it you It exudes joy. And that's, you know, what the Mini has and Mini has been making bigger and bigger vehicles. We had a countryman for a while, my wife and I it was it was okay. It was it was sort of like she wanted many I wanted something with all drives, I could go snowboarding. So we got the Countryman and it's like, sort of the least mini mini. Did you know that it didn't have any low end torque, it had the same engine, I think as the s. But a larger you know, it was it was it was lugging around a lot of weight. And it was it was fine. This is this is this goes back to like when you know when many when the minis were first reintroduced. And you're like, Oh, this is a fun car to drive around. And it's it's sort of the antithesis of a lot of stuff, other stuff that's on the road. And when you drive it, you're like, Oh, I get it. I get it now. And that's what you're you're getting with this. And I think

Nicole Wakelin  43:13  
that's really well put many of it. That's part of I think the problem with the MX 30 It doesn't live up to the expectation of Mazda. Like that sort of fun. Yeah. drivers car is it is it a perfectly fine little 100 mile range, Evie? Sure. But does it feel like like, wow, this is a Mazda 100 100 mile range. Evie that feels like a monster like

Roberto Baldwin  43:40  
I feel like it would been better if they'd done a Mazda three wagon with like a little bit more, or even a Miata. I don't know what the, you know, if they had done like a special Miata, we're only meant to make 1000 of them. They only get 120 or 110 Miles

Nicole Wakelin  43:53  
made it a Miata people.

Roberto Baldwin  43:56  
Exactly. They would have lost their mind. I think it was it's I think it was a slight misstep from from Mazda. And again, to me, it's not it's not a sprint right now when it comes to EVs. I think you know, you don't want to be too far behind. But as long as you're doing something that's good, because they were to every something you do. You're learning as an automaker to do the correct thing. That's correct. For your brand, and for the people who buy your vehicles.

Sam Abuelsamid  44:20  
I agree. All right. Well, we're recording this on New Year's Eve. But this this show actually isn't going to come out until next Wednesday, January 5, which is in the middle of what should be CES. None of us I don't think you're going Are you robbing? No, none of us are going to Vegas in person at this point.

Nicole Wakelin  44:43  
But I'm only just not going because I have other plans that happen to overlap. Otherwise, I have to say I would be there I would still go.

Sam Abuelsamid  44:50  
I was going to go. I cancelled my plans this past week. And I've been rescheduling meetings did oh yeah. decided that it was just simply not worth the risk to both to myself and to my wife when I come home. And so a lot of manufac a lot of companies that were going to be there have also canceled their plans, including General Motors. Interestingly enough, at least as of yesterday, when I spoke to Steve Lantus, they were still planning to be there. Although they had during that conversation, kind of kind of hedging a little bit, there's there's still a possibility that they might stay home. But a lot of manufacturers are saying, decided, no, we're not sending people there. And, you know, I think that's wise, you know, under the current conditions, it's just, you know, with so many people, even with the precautions that the Consumer Technology Association is, is putting in place they're, you know, they're still there's still a huge amount of risk to people. So that doesn't mean there's not news coming out of CES. And actually, last week, early last week, yeah, before just before Christmas. I went to a background briefing in Warren, Michigan with General Motors and this this was two days before they announced that that their in person keynote that Mary Barra was going to do was going to be as canceled was going to be virtual only got a chance to see the new Chevy Silverado Evie which it's it's a it's a combination of a lot of the hardware from the GMC Hummer and the old Chevy Avalanche and we as we're recording this i I'm the only one of the three of us that has actually seen this thing in person. The Did you see the inside? I did see the inside

Nicole Wakelin  46:52  
is it actually better than the other? Oh, it

Sam Abuelsamid  46:55  
is so much better. rato

Nicole Wakelin  46:57  
is so like,

Sam Abuelsamid  47:00  
yeah, it is. It is. It is much much, much, much better. Really. Yeah, it is. It is way better. I

Nicole Wakelin  47:05  
know. By the time this comes out, everyone will have seen it. But I'm sitting here being skeptical. Like yeah, come up with that interior.

Sam Abuelsamid  47:12  
Yeah, I mean, aside from the Silverado nameplate on it. This thing unlike the F 150 Lightning actually shares almost nothing with a gas Silverado including the interior, nobody work ah, you know, when I say Chevy Avalanche, and the avalanche was the pickup truck, that G that Chevrolet launched almost 20 years ago now that was basically a suburban with the back cutaway to give it a bed, a truck, the pickup bed in the back. And that's kind of what they've done here. You know, they they've used the opportunity because they have a dedicated truck Evie platform from the Hummer. And it doesn't it doesn't share any mounting points you know, with before did the F 150 Lightning you know, part of the constraints was you know, in order to keep the costs under control and make this thing affordable, they used most of the upper body structure of the standard F 150. So the mounting points for the frame still had to be the same as for the gas truck, and then they you know, it is a dedicated frame but it still has the same mounting points so that constrains them somewhat in terms of how much battery they could put in the thing. And GM didn't have any of those constraints. So they have an all new body for the the Silverado Evie that like the avalanche it doesn't have the separate pickup bed you know it's all you look at it, it's all one piece all the way down the side more like a Honda Ridgeline and then then a Silverado and the styling is different, it's updated styling, it's you know, I think it's it's quite an attractive truck. You know more more so than the current gas Silverados the you know, it's still truck shaped. You know it's not it's not shaped like a flying stainless steel doorstop. So do that. It has you know that the you know the sort of hood area at the front. But you know, it's got a frunk in there. And like the f150 the when you open it up and also the Hummer for that matter when you open it up, you know what would have been the grill area goes with the hood. Now it looks they haven't given all the specs on this thing yet as we record this. It looks like the frunk is a little bit smaller than on the F 150. But not not by a huge amount. One advantage they do have because they've gone to this one piece design. You know when you when you have a separate cab and bed. There's inherently some space that's taken up by the back wall of the cab And the front wall of the bed. And within a given length that's going to limit how much how long the bed can be. So on the f1 50, as with most Crewcab full size pickups, it's a five and a half foot bed on the Silverado Evie, because they've eliminated that part of it, you now have a five foot 11 inch bed, so it's a almost a half

Roberto Baldwin  50:22  
foot Oh, burn.

Sam Abuelsamid  50:25  
But like the like the avalanche, it also has the mid gate, remember the mid gate on the avalanche. So you can fold down the back seats and then you can fold that down. And so now you can fit nine feet within from the with the tailgate up, up to the back of the front seat, you can have nine feet of length in there to put stuff in. And like a little softer. This thing also has the the multi flex tailgate thing that came out on the the current generation Sierra a couple years ago. So you have the the Swiss Army Knife tailgate. So with the tailgate down and the the little stop thing up there, you can have up to 11 feet from that stop to the back of the front seats. So wow, you have you can take really long items in here big stuff.

Roberto Baldwin  51:17  
This is this is a Home Depot machine is what you're saying.

Nicole Wakelin  51:22  
The most you can put in there so much

Roberto Baldwin  51:24  
mold, and and lumber. Because sometimes I'm like, Oh, I got a truck this week. What should I get? I guess I get sometimes I'll just go for things I'm not going to do for like,

Nicole Wakelin  51:35  
buy stuff the week I have a truck. It's like what do I have in the house that I should be taking? Well, what dump that's my

Roberto Baldwin  51:41  
I gotta do truck things with this.

Sam Abuelsamid  51:45  
And what am I going to need in the next couple of months until I get another truck?

Roberto Baldwin  51:48  
Yeah, yeah, exactly. But 11 feet, like with a pass through and that's huge. That's pretty nice.

Sam Abuelsamid  51:54  
Yeah, it's like 10 feet. 10 inches, I think but you know, almost 11 feet. So there's that. That's great. The interior to your question. Yes. Is, at least on the one we saw is really, really nice. So, initially, there's going to be two trim levels of this thing. There's going to be the work truck you know, like the F 150 Lightning Pro. And the rst which is the high end loaded with every conceivable option in the rst it's got a 17 inch center touchscreen, Levin inch instrument cluster display. You know, lots of storage space in there because it's you know, it's an electric vehicle. On the the work truck, the center touchscreen is only 11 inches and then eight inches for the cluster display. You know, a mirror you know, 11 inches for the center.

Nicole Wakelin  52:50  
Yeah, so so we be in tiny.

Roberto Baldwin  52:52  
Okay, what I I'm gonna keep, I feel like I'm gonna start harping on this for the rest of my life. Now. It's anything above if like eight to nine inches, anything bigger than that. It's just like, Alright, fine. Now you're just showing. Yeah,

Sam Abuelsamid  53:07  
pretty much. Yeah,

Roberto Baldwin  53:09  
yeah, let me okay, I guess I could watch a movie on this like a widescreen camera vision.

Unknown Speaker  53:15  
While you're waiting for it to chart while you're waiting for cinema scope.

Roberto Baldwin  53:18  
Let's watch Lawrence of Arabia again.

Sam Abuelsamid  53:22  
Yeah. And the initial versions are only coming with the same 200 kilowatt hour battery that's in the Hummer. And the work truck is going to launch in the spring of 2023. So a full year behind the F 150. Lightning availability. The F 150. Lightning is coming out this spring, spring 2022. The work truck is launching the spring of next year. And then the rst is coming out six months after that in the fall of 2023. So 18 months after the f1 50 hits the streets. They're not talking about the price of the initial work truck. But the rst because what they're doing the work truck they're selling through GM fleet operations and they're dealing directly with fleets. So you can't just go to a regular dealer and order one of those your Oh operations and they're not saying like the price of that one's going to be the rst loaded with the addition one or whatever terminology they're using. RST $105,000 Ah, both of them are gonna have a range of a lot of money 10,000 pound towing capability, but only 1300 pound payload which is considerably even though it's got a lot more space in the bed. You got to put light stuff in there so much okay. filling it up with bags of concrete and not so much. Where's the lightning is going to have 2000 pounds payload capability. So,

Nicole Wakelin  55:03  
that's a pretty big difference. Yeah,

Sam Abuelsamid  55:04  
they will, you know, in 2024, you know, a few months after they do the rsgs then they will start launching other trim levels with smaller batteries. And there at some point will be a $40,000 work truck version with an as yet undisclosed battery size. The regulars Yeah, that'll probably be somewhere comparable to the $40,000 Lightning somewhere in the 220 to 240 mile range. The the rst are actually both of those initial versions, because they've got that dual layer battery pack, they will charge at 350 kilowatts. And you can add, I think it was at 60 miles of range in five minutes, something like that. On a 350 kilowatt charger, which is, which is quite impressive. But you know, I think, you know, considering that GM has been working on this Altium stuff, you know, they first announced this in late 2017. So, that's over four years ago now. And they've been harping on how fast they were able to turn around the cell, the the Hummer, you know, they did that programming, only two years from the time they give the ball,

Roberto Baldwin  56:21  
they were like, Yeah, we're the bolt he was like Lika we made and like no time at all, and then nothing else happened for a long time.

Sam Abuelsamid  56:28  
You know, Ford was just quietly working away. And now they're there. It's going to take so long to get this thing into production. It's going to be it's going to be a year and a half. You know, till you get a consumer version of the Silverado. Evie, that is going to be at least $15,000 more expensive than the most expensive version of lightning Yes, it will have more range you know, the lightning will be about 300 miles of range versus you know 400 for the for the the Silverado RSC. But it just seems to me like you know, this should have been this should have been one of the things they did first, simply

Roberto Baldwin  57:09  
Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin  57:10  
Yeah, it's it is yeah. 2024 Chevy Silverado. Evie, this is really way ahead of them. We're gonna see any of these that's

Roberto Baldwin  57:18  
just gonna be like a five ribbons up by them. Yeah, maybe, and maybe a maybe a cybertruck. Some

Nicole Wakelin  57:26  
diskurs a whole bunch of looses? Yeah.

Roberto Baldwin  57:31  
Because it's

Nicole Wakelin  57:33  
tons of other EVs are gonna be maybe not even. Yeah, just

Roberto Baldwin  57:37  
Altium. And I think we're all having the same sort of like, questions if you're

Nicole Wakelin  57:43  
confused. If there's someone behind the scenes that could tell us unofficially, like the reason this is taking so long guys is like there has to be a reason. It seems like a weird decision. I'm sure there's, I'm sure there's a decision that somebody that knows far more about the situation than we do is has symbol This is why we did it that way. It's just completely

Roberto Baldwin  58:01  
here they are they concerned that it's going to to, to cannibalize Hummer, Evie sales, because I think those are two completely different. They're two totally nuts.

Nicole Wakelin  58:12  
You're not paying V is a work truck.

Sam Abuelsamid  58:14  
Yeah. It's not gonna cannibalize the Hummer. But I just I don't know why. Why it's taking them so long to get these you know, especially you know,

Nicole Wakelin  58:26  
the thing about do they have that in their their spiel at all, Sam? Is that the timing? They didn't address it at all?

Sam Abuelsamid  58:33  
No. Another notable thing that they declined to address was I asked them the question, how much is this thing going away? Because the Hummer variably, weighs 9000 pounds. And he said, Well, we're not ready to talk about that yet. And I asked, I said, Well, let me ask the question a little different way. Well, this at least be a light duty truck. And they declined to answer that question. Oh, which tells me that this is probably not gonna be a light duty truck. You know, this is this thing is probably going away somewhere. Curb weight, somewhere between 70 508,000 pounds, maybe more.

Roberto Baldwin  59:09  
I mean, they're all kind of heavy. But still, I just, I mean, GM has been like, we have the old TM, we have old TM, we have old TM and we're like, okay, cool. You're gonna be moving quicker than then a lot of other people. And then you watch them and you're like, what is happening over there is like, we have this great thing. We'll get to it. Yeah, we'll get to it. We're we're, you know, we're gonna lead the topic in a good game. Yeah, are talking

Nicole Wakelin  59:32  
a good game, even though they're releasing this though? Like, I guess like you were saying they released the fancy pants version of things first, right? You got that? But that along with the work truck, but that feels a little odd. Just like we're gonna do the fanciest of our truck. Like, because people want trucks to get stuff done. And then the worst like there's, ah, this feels weird. The whole strategy feels weird. I get it. It's up. I'm not a marketing person. Clearly, I don't know the strategy at all.

Sam Abuelsamid  59:57  
Yeah, but the rst does have 20 Four inch wheels

Nicole Wakelin  1:00:04  
I love the GM estimated in wide open Watts Wow,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:00:08  
that VGF wow that's that's the mode they have on the Hummer as well. So if you want to do the 1000 horsepower, acceleration freedom or you have to put it in Why don't

Roberto Baldwin  1:00:20  
the Hummers watch the freedom as it wants to freedom? It's what's the freedom Okay. All right, I wrote a whole article

Nicole Wakelin  1:00:25  
on ETF

Roberto Baldwin  1:00:28  
freedom ended up being I did I round up when I was at Car and Driver and I like what's the freedom happened this in 2020 or whatever. And I was very happy that that headline made it through to the

Nicole Wakelin  1:00:40  
very good eye all I can think of when I see Wow, is that a Schoolhouse Rock with the exclamation one? Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Any? Oh, yeah.

Roberto Baldwin  1:00:49  
Because Wow. Wow.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:00:53  
Wow. Yeah, for for the for the work truck, it's gonna have 505 110 horsepower, 615 foot pounds of torque. So both of them are two motor. They claimed to be specific, the declined to answer the question of whether there'll be a three motor version. But you know, at some point there, there may well be a three moto version, like you have on the Hummer. On the rst. It's the same two motors, but they've got this wide open Watts mode. So in normal driving, it's 500 and some horsepower. And then in wide open Watts mode, it goes up to 664 and 780 foot pounds of torque. Oh, and it does have four wheel steering, the same four wheel steering mechanism that's on the Hummer. crabby, kind of but they're not doing the crab walk mode in the in the Chevy's only only the GM only the Hummer gets the crab lock mode. So they're they're using it, you know, for tighter turning circles and better stability on the highway.

Roberto Baldwin  1:01:52  
You know, when you when I go to the hardware store, which I feel like is all the time for some reason. Every time like yeah, the homeowner, that's why exactly wheel steering is the greatest thing I drove that EQ s around for like a week and week and a half with it's 10 degrees of rear steering. And it's after that I'm just like, I don't know why cars even made without four wheel steering. Why even bother anything that's that's that's, like, a large sedan or bigger record should have four wheel stereo as far as I'm concerned. And, you know, even it doesn't have crab walk, which I'm like, Yeah, fine, whatever. The fact that that has that is pretty sweet. And it's again, you know, and I keep saying, well, it's not a race, you know, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. So, you know, when these things come out, they come out at the same time. You can't just tell us you have Altium for years, and then just sort of like plugging along meanwhile, Hyundai's over here in Korea just like spitting EVs out left and right

Sam Abuelsamid  1:02:45  
now yeah, they're gonna they're gonna have three of them three three more on the market by spring with the ionic the kiya Evie six and the the Genesis gV 60 and more coming later in the year you know, and but you know by next spring we should also have the Cadillac lyric as well. So there's there's the Lyric, but which is really inexpensive. Yeah, Surprisingly so. You know, it's only 60 grand. Yeah,

Roberto Baldwin  1:03:11  
I don't Okay, I don't understand. Okay, you know, Jim you do you will see how you know.

Nicole Wakelin  1:03:17  
Throw your hands in the air. I don't even know.

Roberto Baldwin  1:03:19  
Okay, fine.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:03:21  
Oh, one more thing the Silverado Evie does have is they've copied Ford's pro power on board system. So you get an A gun just slightly higher, they get 10.2 kilowatts in 10 outlets instead of 9.6 on the board. So you get 10.2 kilowatts of power from 10 out string including a 240 volt outlet and one one thing they do differently from Ford is on the Ford trucks the the outlets in the bed are only on the pat on the driver side on the on the left hand side and GM has split them so there's some on each side of the bed.

Roberto Baldwin  1:04:01  
Oh that's cool. Yeah, okay, that's like point to a lot also a 240 volt that's pretty you can just charge you know your other cars with it. Yeah, point to you. In my house. No way. What's my house doing right now? Yeah, I think it's more than what my house is is putting out to our Kona so you could charge my Kona I mean it's not a good idea but you could do

Sam Abuelsamid  1:04:19  
it well before just to just this past week for did put out a press release you know showing that yeah, you can you can charge an Eevee from either from the F 150. Lightning or from the from the hybrid from the power boost hybrid. If you have the the 7.2 kilowatt output you can you can plug in a charging cable and recharge your friend's Eevee from it and GM isn't saying that they'll or GM did say that that it can do that. They won't have the Pro power backup system house backup system so you won't be able to plug your whole house to the church or house

Roberto Baldwin  1:04:55  
it you can also do it the Hyundai ionic which is on the market now just saying that's all it is.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:05:00  
Yeah, although with the ionic you only get one point 1.8 kilowatts out. So it's like, it'll take a while and 20 volt outlet.

Roberto Baldwin  1:05:08  
It's you know, that's, you know, take a look you got time. Yeah, I guess the time you can. Yeah. And it's, it's here sale on sale. You just drive it around, you could

Sam Abuelsamid  1:05:17  
actually customers that have received their ionic fives. Yeah,

Roberto Baldwin  1:05:21  
they're like three people, people, five people 10 people I don't know not a lot but at least it's you know, it's the end of year everyone's zero of number graded zero like people like they've gotten their ribbons or Hummer EVs and the ionic fives. Yeah, a number greater than zero and all three of those vehicles. With the ribbons. I

Sam Abuelsamid  1:05:40  
think it's I think they've delivered about 600 so far. Almost all of them to employees

Nicole Wakelin  1:05:46  
still actually made it out the door.

Roberto Baldwin  1:05:48  
I should have talked about the rivian

Sam Abuelsamid  1:05:51  
Oh, but that trucks

Roberto Baldwin  1:05:55  
Yeah, no, I drove the river. And the thing is, though, I had it for a few days I took it the Hollister and the rain and the in the mud. And a lot of people stared and is really, for as when you think about the everything that's working against a company like that is like a there a new company? B It's a new car. So a so there's a lot of things you're expecting, and you kind of get the benefit of the doubt. I think a Tesla got the benefit of the doubt for years. And then at some point, they're like, Okay, you're building hundreds of 1000s of cars, you don't get the benefit of the doubt anymore. You have to build quality cars. You need to be building Toyota quality, at least Toyota in the 90s quality cars you can't go you know at Toyota Yeah, you can't be building at GM quality cars you need to be Toyota 90s quality um yeah, it fell really, really well. Bell built a belt. It is yeah, it was a really fun car. And I think it's Oh, man it's it's that's kind of when I when I look at the Silverado and what it is, you know, I haven't seen it. But you know, if it's essentially the avalanche, whoo. That's a tough because if they're also going for that sort of non work truck person, I mean, the reviens there. It's there. It's, you know, 314 miles or you pay 10,000 bucks for an extra 86 miles to get 400

Sam Abuelsamid  1:07:13  
miles. That's, that's actually not going to be coming until 2023. Yeah, but 314 miles.

Roberto Baldwin  1:07:19  
I mean, we drove the Hollister we stopped on the way so we'd have a lot of charge to drive around the holsters to an off road Park. I'm sorry, I didn't. In Northern California. We drove it around. But we still had so much energy and we were going to stop on the way back. But we're like a, you know, it's raining and we're going to be hitting traffic. Let's just go back and we went all the way back. No big deal. It's about two hours from my house. So it's 100 something miles is was yeah, whatever. Yeah, yeah. No, it's It's uh, yeah, that's, that's a tough clue. That's gonna be tough for the Silverado if it's not.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:07:59  
Alright, so another, Evie, new Eevee that is being revealed during CES is the Chrysler airflow concept, which is actually only kind of new, because in 2020, the last time that everybody showed up to CES in person, the company that was then known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, on their stand, had something called the Chrysler vision airflow, which was not a full vehicle concept. It just showed you had this the silhouette of something new that they had not previously built the crossover ish type of vehicle. And that concept was designed to focus on the interior. And it had all kinds of interesting interior stuff like a passenger side video screen, and big center touchscreens and a lot of stuff that has since appeared in new Jeeps this year, or in 2021. And the but the the shape of that body buck, which had no sides on it, it was you know, it was a non functional thing. The shape of that silver, or the vision airflow concept, has now been completed into a complete working vehicle. And we actually saw this thing teased a couple of times during 2021 During virtual events that still Lantis did their Eevee Day event in the June or July. And then in the fall, when they did their AI Day event. It showed up in there and they never they never talked about it. It was just kind of there in the background. You saw it. You saw it hanging around shadows, but that wasn't even a shadow that was right out in the open. They just never really didn't say anything, but they never they never said Chrysler airflow or really said anything about it.

Roberto Baldwin  1:09:44  
It's like a horror movie where the bad guys in the background you don't notice like oh wait.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:09:50  
It was Chekhov's crossover. Yeah. So anyway, what we have now is more detail On on the actual Chrysler airflow, which is is going to be coming as a production model for Chrysler and a couple of years and believe it or not, apparently, Chrysler, the Chrysler brand actually has a future. I spoke as we record this yesterday, I spoke yesterday with Chris fuel, fuel sorry. She is the CEO of the Chrysler brand, for still Lantis. And right now, as we speak, Chrysler has exactly two models in its lineup, the 300, which has been around for about 100 years. I think it was the original Chrysler if I'm not mistaken. And the Pacifica minivan. And you know, the 300 is still a great car, but it is a little old. And yeah, and after this segment, I will insert the interview I did with Chris, but she said that, yeah, there is a future for the Chrysler brand, it's getting more new models by 2028 the brands gonna be all electric, no more, no more internal combustion. The airflow, a production version of the airflow should be arriving by no later than 2025 Maybe it'll be possibly a little earlier than that. But there is more stuff coming even before then to the Chrysler brand. So there will be new models added to the Chrysler lineup in the next few years. And additionally,

Nicole Wakelin  1:11:22  
this one comes this comes in 2025 but there's gonna be new stuff between 2022 and 2025 they have on TV or electrified in

Sam Abuelsamid  1:11:30  
some way they they wouldn't get into any details but your product can't come in exactly the other usual but the the airflow you know this is it's an E crossover Evie concept it's built on the Stella large Evie platform that they talked about the textbook for Evie platforms first elantas style a small, medium and large and and the truck platform. And this is on Stella large. It's she said it's you know, they haven't shown given specifics of the dimensions. But she said it's a D class vehicle and looking at the photos, you know, and people in the photos for scale. Assuming that these are not either giants or dwarves, it looks like it's close to the same size as a Mustang Maki, or Tesla Model y. What do you think about

Nicole Wakelin  1:12:22  
it? I think it looks good. And I say this in in the best way possible. I suppose uncreased are looking Chrysler I've seen in ages. And that's a good thing. Like it really looks sharp, I think in the exterior looks sharp the inside shots that they have here. The abundance of screens because of that really high tech field, but it also looks very open. They've done a good it looks like they've done a neat job of designing something that makes use of all the space in the car and looks forward thinking and futuristic rather than like just holding on to old design ideas looks completely different for Chrysler. I think it's good.

Roberto Baldwin  1:12:57  
Yeah, I really dig it. I think it looks nice. I think it's along the same design vein as the EB six and the Mustang Maki. But no, I and I you know what, I'm a fan of both of those vehicles. So yeah, I think this is this is going to do really well for them. I wish it was going to be out sooner.

Nicole Wakelin  1:13:17  
25 so far. Three years.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:13:21  
Yeah. 25 model year or calendar year?

Roberto Baldwin  1:13:26  
Maybe 2024. Yeah, maybe late maybe late late. 2023. Yeah. Which is we get lucky if we make it that

Sam Abuelsamid  1:13:33  
24 is more likely. Maybe more.

Roberto Baldwin  1:13:36  
But uh, yeah, no, I think you know, it's it looks nice. It looks like a production vehicle. It looks like something you would want to eat you know, if you walked into the dealership be like, Oh, what's that? And you know, I think a lot of people like these, these sort of, I guess crossover small suvs essentially raised hatchbacks at this point that everyone is building and I for one, actually like these these little race hatchbacks as a fan of hatchback so we can know what we're fine. Fine. You want to you want something that's called this sure I just switched the seating would let me see a little bit lower. That's always my

Unknown Speaker  1:14:10  
my thing the upright seating amaze you like to be there's always so lot

Roberto Baldwin  1:14:13  
high and I always feel like it could go like another inch or so lower. But you know, everyone's

Nicole Wakelin  1:14:18  
giant now I

Roberto Baldwin  1:14:19  
know that's, that's true. So, you know, as the giant of the group Hulk Smash, I guess I don't know.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:14:28  
Yeah, what what they what they did reveal about the airflow, it's expected to have about a 350 to 400 mile range. So you know, right in the ballpark of what is going to be the industry standard, I think, you know, for vehicles in this class. A two motors with about 400 horsepower combined between them. It's a pretty standard layout. There's nothing really earth shattering about all this. You know, the the whole

Nicole Wakelin  1:14:58  
there's a fancy little Like crystallized start stop button. It's super fancy and for the GCA well this

Sam Abuelsamid  1:15:07  
is the concept who knows what's gonna make it in production Allah Vaughn the dough does

Nicole Wakelin  1:15:12  
not gonna have a crystal button, you have a whole image devoted to this stupid button Chrysler, their best be a crystal button when this thing comes?

Roberto Baldwin  1:15:20  
Well then you have Volvo has crystal and now the i x has crystal as well. And the if you want to which one is crystal, when the light hits those things that hit you right in the eye, and you got a cool rainbow shooting through your iris didn't have that

Nicole Wakelin  1:15:33  
problem. Maybe Hulk size tight, maybe for everybody else, it just goes right over our heads.

Roberto Baldwin  1:15:37  
I had it with the eye X. And when I was driving it around, I had like little like, things that mean like Dark Side of the Moon issue,

Nicole Wakelin  1:15:47  
never a problem I've experienced with a crystal shift or anything. But now I'm going to be super hyper aware.

Roberto Baldwin  1:15:53  
Oh, god, my eyes, that's Robin was talking about?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:15:57  
Yeah, they, you know, they also say that, you know, this will feature what they're calling Stella brain, which is their new electronic architecture that allow over the air updates for everything. So it'll have, you know, you'll be able to get new features that you can pay for over time. And, you know, features are things that they fix that you don't have to go back to the dealer for, for an update. And then also the Stella cockpit, which is the infotainment interior system that they're developing through their joint venture with Foxconn. So all that, oh, yeah, all that stuff is going to be in this as well as other vehicles that share this platform. So, you know, I think it's, it's good to hear that, you know, they are finally paying some attention to the Chrysler brand. And, you know, it's I think it's a good looking vehicle and hopefully it turns out to be as as good a vehicle in reality is it as it seems to be at least in these in these images?

Roberto Baldwin  1:16:59  
You know, they're gonna come out that that Pacifica Evie, and people are gonna lose their minds. Yeah.

Nicole Wakelin  1:17:06  
Go I love that Pacifica.

Roberto Baldwin  1:17:08  
Civic is great.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:17:10  
Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me. That's something they do before this thing shows up. Is one of

Nicole Wakelin  1:17:16  
the cars get electrifies before this. Yeah, people people really would go nuts. Can you imagine a fully easy Pacifica? Oh, do that. I forgive the crystal crystal shift on Chrysler, if you can give us a fully Eevee

Roberto Baldwin  1:17:30  
Yeah, we'll just have to make like spa you know, they have to make cut outs in the battery. We still do. Stelling go.

Nicole Wakelin  1:17:36  
Oh, yeah. What would you do with you lose a stone go, wouldn't you?

Roberto Baldwin  1:17:39  
You have to do because hydrogen earring there something hybrid didn't have stone go in the backs?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:17:46  
They the middle the middle row? They lost the Yeah, the middle? Yeah. Because the battery went into the same cavity where the seats used to

Roberto Baldwin  1:17:55  
be for the seats would go? Yeah, yeah. I remember like he did a video where I had to pick them because you could take them out. And we did a whole video of me carrying these giant stabby things how they were like, well, you can do it. But don't.

Nicole Wakelin  1:18:08  
Yeah, you could if you wanted to. But don't, don't play in that.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:18:13  
Hey, everybody, it's Sam. A few days before still Lantis showed off the new Chrysler airflow concept. Ces 2022. I had a chance to sit down and chat briefly with Chris few. Well, she is the CEO of the Chrysler brand for North America. And we talked a bit about what quite what's going on with Chrysler, whether the brand is going to survive and where she sees it going in the coming years. Enjoy talking today with Chris fuel, the CEO of Chrysler brand for still Lantis Chrysler is making some news this week at CES with a new concept vehicle. And we'll talk about that in a minute. But before we get into that, Chris, I want to talk with you a little bit about the Chrysler brand first, and kind of where that where that brand stands. You know, obviously it was the the origin of what was Chrysler Chrysler Corporation a long time ago. And the brand is kind of shrunk a little bit over the last decade or two down to two models. What what is the status of the Chrysler brand and where's the Chrysler brand going?

Chris Feuell  1:19:25  
Okay, great question, Sam. And is is you pointed to Chrysler has been an iconic brand for almost 100 years now. It it was a company and has since evolved to a portfolio of products which unfortunately over the course of the last 10 years is now only two products. We're at the forefront of an enormous revitalization of the brand, you know really transforming that the product line, what we stand for in terms of Clean mobility and connected solutions to really improve that driving and ownership experience. But also respecting the fact that Chrysler's heritage has been really rooted in delivering breakthrough innovation for the mainstream market, and also creating new segments that really fill unmet needs. And if you think about Chrysler's heritage, and the time with the airflow, the original airflow concept was first introduced in 1934, is a unibody constructed vehicle with a lot of advanced technologies like automatic transmission and push button start. And so if you think about what that represented back in the 30s, and what we're showing at CES, with the new airflow, in terms of our battery, electric technology, and all of the new stuff, Atlantis connected technologies, like stellar brain, with artificial intelligence, smart cockpit, which really enhances the driver and passenger experiences, seamlessly connecting their personal digital life, with their mobile, digital life, and then sell auto drive with level three, autonomous driving capability, all brought together in one vehicle is just really exciting. And it's really relevant to be able to showcase the airflow concept at CES, which is such a technology forward event.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:21:31  
So clean mobility connected solutions. You know, that's what we're seeing, really, across most of the industry, and again, everybody's moving in that direction. And what, what is what is beyond that, you know, as you mentioned, you know, the Christ the Chrysler brand, you know, going back to its origins when Walter Chrysler started it, you know, over its history has always had a history of doing some really unique innovations, what is it about the brand, going, what is the brand going to stand for going forward that distinguishes it from other companies in the industry.

Chris Feuell  1:22:11  
But what will distinguish Chrysler from other brands in the industry is the integration of clean mobility, and by 2028, being a full battery electric portfolio, and incorporating that with the seamless connected technology that really improve the driving in the passenger experience within the vehicle. And then leveraging the technology of sell the brain to incorporate those over the air updates that keep the vehicle fresh, the ability to add new features and technologies on demand, and improve that and service experience for the customer so that each day they're driving the vehicle is better than the previous state that they had it before. It's it's about clean mobility, but it's about really the enhanced experience because it's not just about getting people from point A to point B anymore, we're creating that seamlessly connected hub that brings the customers lifestyle along with the vehicle.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:23:23  
So today, Chrysler has the 300 and the Pacifica which in in both of them are still excellent vehicles. You know, I'm a big fan of the Pacific and and even though the 300 has been around for a while, you know, it's still a remarkably good vehicle but they're both in market segments that are in decline shall say, you know, it'd be honest. Where you know, what we do? Can we expect to see more new models coming beyond the the airflow additional new nameplates coming to the Chrysler brand over the next five to 10 years? And what kind of segments do you see the brand growing into?

Chris Feuell  1:24:06  
Yeah, great. Great question, Sam. Clearly, in order for Chrysler to grow, we need some new products in this segment. Interestingly, through COVID, the minivan segment has actually been on an upswing as people have been moving to more suburban areas from urban areas and they need transportation for their families. But nonetheless, it's critical for us to launch new products in key growth segments like sport utility, and airflow is definitely representative of that large to mid size crossover segment that you can expect us to come out with some new entries within to serve. Okay,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:24:51  
so getting to the airflow now, a little more detail two years ago at CES 2020 on those what was then the Fiat Chrysler stand? There was this vision airflow concept, which was a body silhouette, but it was really focused more on the interior concept. But that silhouette is what we're seeing now, in its fully fleshed out form, with the with the airflow that you're showing this year. Tell us a little bit more about that vehicle. And, you know, you know, from the materials we've seen so far, you know, there hasn't been a lot given out in terms of its dimensions or anything. But where does that where do you see that fitting into the the market,

Chris Feuell  1:25:35  
the air flow from a dimensional perspective really slides nicely in that d t size crossover utility segment. From an exterior design perspective, it really speaks to the new design theme and direction that we're looking to take Chrysler in more contemporary, very technology forward exterior design. And we're really excited to introduce the new Chrysler wing logo that's fully lit with LED crystallized lighting, and carried through the tail lamps as well. So it's a very aerodynamic stance, which helps with the fuel economy. And in the range, we're expecting to deliver between 350 and 400 miles of range with the battery electric technology, along with fast charging capabilities. And we want that dynamic proportion and that really contemporary theme to extend to the interior as well. And we want to take that theme of clean mobility and sustainability by using sustainable premium, high touch materials on the interior as well. A lot of battery electric vehicles today have very plain, somewhat sterile interiors, and we want the airflow and the future Chrysler interior to really be welcoming, comfortable, but also high tech and have all of those premium touch points that consumers expect from Chrysler, we've been really well known and packaged versatility so you'll see us introduce some really interesting breakthrough configurability and personalization of the interior space so that whether a driver or passengers in the vehicle, they can customize that experience for themselves.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:27:36  
When you talk about customization, going back camera 2017 or 2018, Chrysler showed a concept called the portal smaller minivan, you know, that was also had that same idea of configurability being able to slide seats forward and back take them out. Are you planning to go to that kind of degree with the airflow or is it something maybe not quite that extreme?

Chris Feuell  1:28:02  
Yeah, well, it you may not see it in the airflow, but we are completely rethinking the portfolio strategy for the new Chrysler products and you can expect to see us much like we did almost 40 years ago and creating the minivan segment we're looking to completely transform that segment again. And so, you know really interesting and breakthrough concepts with seating design and configurability to accommodate the shifting needs that consumers have for personal use of space and transporting both passengers as well as things and then with the growth of ride sharing going on in the United States. You know we want to be able to make sure that the the passenger spaces can be configurable but also sanitary and safe at the same time those are very high needs that our customers are looking for and we want to be able to deliver that in new breakthrough solutions

Sam Abuelsamid  1:29:13  
okay with the airflow at the Evie day last July. They talked about for Evie platforms across the Atlantis The the the truck platform and then the small medium and large Stella large medium and small Evie platforms which one does the airflow sit on is that medium or large?

Chris Feuell  1:29:34  
It sandstone large okay.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:29:38  
And with with the you talked about, you know offering potentially offering vehicles in some of these other kinds of segments or to target other parts of the market. Do you see something at some point maybe like the portal being available as as a solution For ride hailing or Robo taxi platforms, yeah, potentially,

Chris Feuell  1:30:04  
as I mentioned, we are working on several concepts to really redefine the MPV segment as we know it today. It was a segment that we created over 40 years ago. And we don't want to come out with just an updated Pacifica, you know, we really want to rethink what consumers are looking for in that segment, and how can we contribute continue to transform and deliver differentiated solutions that improve the riding driving experience, you know, safety is always going to be a paramount need in that segment. And we've been a leader in safety, as well as the only minivan in the segment with P HEV. Technology. So we think that we positioned ourselves well, in having a battery electric solution, connected experiences, and then also delivering that really unique configurable interior space as well.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:31:12  
Yeah, I think that, you know, that the combination of the plug in hybrid and that configurable interior is something that it's made the Pacific quite popular among various companies around the world developing automated driving systems, you know, it's, it's been one of the most popular solutions there. Because the the sliding doors and everything, you know, WeMos, obviously, using many of them, and auto X, and quite a few other companies have used the Pacifica hybrid. So I think that's, you know, something like, that seems like it would be a great solution. How potentially how big do you see the Chrysler lineup getting? You know, we've got maybe four or five models? Fewer than that, more than that? Yeah, obviously, specifics, but, you know, kind of, I can't,

Chris Feuell  1:31:59  
I certainly can't give you specifics, but I think you're, you're in that range. We we only have two nameplates today, right. And so we're looking to develop and launch a new vehicle pretty much every year from 2025 forward.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:32:20  
Is that when we're gonna see the airflow launches the front end 2020 fives the first new Chrysler,

Chris Feuell  1:32:26  
the first new Chrysler Bill launch in 2025, I can't tell you whether, in fact, it will be the airflow.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:32:34  
Okay. All right. And will we see any aside from you know, ongoing updates to Pacifica? Can we expect to see other anything else new from pricer? Before 2025?

Chris Feuell  1:32:51  
Yes, for sure. We we have to keep the portfolio fresh for the next few years until the brand new models start to launch. And so you can see that we will be launching by the end of the year, new 300 Buzz models and as well as doing some relaunches of the the major enhancements that we had on the Pacifica in 2021. That, because of some production starts and stops with Chip shortages really didn't get amplified in the marketplace. So we'll be talking again about the addition of all wheel drive, the pinnacle series, certainly, you know, promoting the plug in hybrid in the clean technology and great fuel economy that that delivers along with the stolen go seating that we're so well known for in our minivan lineup.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:33:44  
Yeah, the the 300. You know, it's it's become over the last 20 years, almost 20 years, you know, since it launched in its current form, it has become something of an icon for Chrysler. You know, as as that platform goes away, and as you make that shift away from internal combustion engines, you know, which has been a key part of that. Do you see a vehicle like that continuing to be a part of the the Chrysler lineup? Is there still space for something like a big sedan?

Chris Feuell  1:34:16  
We think that there that there isn't that there could be and the 300 brand name is so well known and so well recognized and positively viewed in the market. We haven't ruled out the possibility of launching a large sedan in a battery electric form in the Chrysler portfolio.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:34:44  
Alright. Anything else about where we're Chrysler's going that I haven't asked you about that? I think listeners should be considering and thinking about

Chris Feuell  1:34:55  
Yeah, I think the the one thing I would like to mention is is the fact that when you're transforming a brand, like Chrysler that has been really well known as a company is, well, we have to make sure that we're respecting the fact that people still think of Chrysler is a company and take good care and how we go through that transformation process. And so it's not just about creating and launching new products, but it's really about also transforming that customer experience. And the kinds of things that customers who want battery electric products and more advanced technologies, they want a different kind of purchase and ownership experience as well, that is highly digitized. They want to have that closer relationship with the company that they're doing business with. And so we are looking at ways to completely reinvent that process and improve that experience and deliver on that Chrysler brand promise from day one throughout the ownership cycle as well.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:36:03  
Alright, well with that, I'm gonna let you go and get ready for your for your next call. I really appreciate your time today. This has been really helpful and understanding where Chrysler's going and what you're doing with the airflow. Chris fuel, thank you so much today.

Chris Feuell  1:36:19  
Thanks, Sam. Appreciate it. Nice to meet with you.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:36:23  
All right. One other thing that, in all likelihood, would have appeared at CES had WeMo not canceled their plans to appear at CES is an announcement that just came out that they were partnering with jieli for a Custom Robo taxi. And so this, Julie's the Chinese automaker that also owns Volvo and Pollstar and a number of brands that are sold in China, including a brand called zeker with a Zed or Z, depending on where you're from. And so they they've developed this Custom Robo taxi for Waymo. That it's electric, as you would expect. And it's it's basically a small minivan. And unlike, you know, things like the cruise origin or the Zooks, Robo taxi, all the seats are facing in the same direction. It doesn't use carriage seating, which I thought was interesting. You guys have any thoughts on this thing?

Roberto Baldwin  1:37:27  
I wish they would just make this and like sell it to people as a car. And not a rope. I mean, they can make the robo taxi whatever that's gonna. Who knows when that conversion with controls? Yeah, like this is it's like a tiny ID Buzz is what it? Yeah. Like if said, they were like, Hey, you go here's a here's a nice small minivan. That's an electric. And it's it's funny because it's designed in Sweden. Well, I wonder what company helped them design it?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:37:51  
Yeah. Who knows?

Roberto Baldwin  1:37:55  
So yeah, no, I dig it. I think it is weird that it doesn't have you know, carriage seating, if it's going to be a robo taxi, like everyone's, I mean, if you can sit, if you're all gonna just be sitting in there on your way to wherever you're going. You can talk to each other. Maybe it's, you know, because some, you know, you'll have like group like, you know, you pick up one person in person carpooling. And then maybe those people don't want to talk. I guess you could do that. But then maybe you could just have the wheat the, the the seats, spin around, like you get in, you're like, No, I don't want to talk to you spin it around.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:38:25  
Well, I get the impression that they're, you know, they're also going to sell a version of this at least in China. For ride hailing taxi services. Yeah. self driving. Yeah, there's a conventional version of this. But yeah, yeah, I think it would be cool. If they did offer something like this. I think they're I don't know how huge the market would be, at least in North America. I think, you know, maybe in other regions, that would probably be a bigger market. Probably wouldn't be a huge seller here. But it'd be cool to have something like this, you know, a smaller type of minivan.

Roberto Baldwin  1:38:57  
Yeah, I think, you know, I think people want to go and do things with their minivans now and they

Nicole Wakelin  1:39:02  
feel like it's smaller than a minivan. A lot of people like the whole sliding door access of a minivan, but don't necessarily want the minivan like, yeah, sighs Yeah, so I guess,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:39:11  
depending on actual mini mini van, like

Roberto Baldwin  1:39:15  
a mini mini mini van. Yeah, a mini mini mini mini van. Oh,

Nicole Wakelin  1:39:18  
this would be the mini mini and if you wanted something that was just the minimum, you should sell it that way.

Roberto Baldwin  1:39:24  
Like they got much room it has because there's a really high ceiling as low, you know, entrance so you could put so much so much. refractivity says well, you get

Nicole Wakelin  1:39:31  
minivan without having to say you drive a minivan. Instead, I drive this really cool way mo thing. You get a Z know what is the name that zeker I drive a zeker which sounds like a name for a muppet. But I drive the seeker got really crazy orange hair that bounces back and forth.

Roberto Baldwin  1:39:50  
arms move in tandem. Yeah, exactly.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:39:54  
Alright, let's answer some listener questions. First up from Adam J. Have any of you watched the new comedy American auto on NBC? I highly recommend it. It wasn't wasn't expecting much, but it's actually very funny and the auto industry jokes are great. You can watch on peacock too.

Roberto Baldwin  1:40:12  
I watched the two episodes that are out. i Okay, so my my rule of thumb were for shows is they get three episodes the pilot is always going to be a little wonky because that's you have to get the shoot that right it shoot it and you have to induce all the characters and everything this shows about in 22 minutes, right and so you're doing a lot of work and so the second one you're like okay, months later after that pot has been ordered, we can do the second episode and so now they're trying to like figure out the characters you know, trying to massage everything by the third episode, that's when you feel like they have like a little bit of a of a stride and then you sort of figure it out from there. The first two episodes I just the creator is he just created some other things that I like and it just kind of I felt like in missed on a lot. I feel like I was trying too hard. That's my feel on the first two episodes and I'm like okay, well so I'm gonna give it one more episodes yeah goes That's my

Nicole Wakelin  1:41:12  
feeling the one that I'm with you on the episode give it three shots and see but the only thing that I really thought that it really did actually make me laugh was when they were revealing the car and there were the guys I don't know like breakdancing in front of it and the crazy music and like they were mocking the whole show of when you reveal a car and rip the sheet off in an auto show. I'm like that was cute and like sloppy but cute. I got it but I I don't know. I will see after episode three. I'm with you Robbie. I need one more episode but I'm so far not super keen on it.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:41:45  
I have not watched it so I might give it a shot. We'll see.

Roberto Baldwin  1:41:49  
Give it a shot. I mean there's there's there's parts of it and but there's some parts of this like

Nicole Wakelin  1:41:54  
is it less funny because we do work in the auto industry?

Roberto Baldwin  1:41:58  
The from I think people get you get very it's it's very, you know, the the suspension of disbelief is really difficult when you work in an industry like any show about newsrooms? You know, like, I can't say there was a show because newsrooms and I've worked in like a working newsroom like a big open. It's just people swearing and yelling at each other the entire time. And that should be fine. But there have the like these long soliloquy E's and he's just like no one does that. No one has time because you got to file and so you start getting in your head about those sorts of things. So it's easy. That's it.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:42:28  
Maybe that's why I think I might have just been because it was written by Aaron Sorkin.

Roberto Baldwin  1:42:32  
That's also true. Somebody

Sam Abuelsamid  1:42:33  
else did a newsroom show that might be different. But

Roberto Baldwin  1:42:37  
so yeah, I think yeah, there's give it if you know what, I'm not going to yucky or yum. Adam. I think if you enjoy it,

Nicole Wakelin  1:42:45  
if you enjoy it, enjoy it. Keep watching it. Watch what you like,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:42:48  
exactly. That's what everyone should do is watch what you like, or listen to what you like. Yeah. Darkwood the facts. As I was listening to this conversation, I was wondering, and referring to our previous discussion of solar roofs. I wondered, could solar powered passenger carrying trains be successful in America?

Nicole Wakelin  1:43:08  
I guess we'd have to get trains to be more successful first.

Roberto Baldwin  1:43:13  
People in America, hey, Trey, I train they absolutely love trains, which is sort of where I'm from a town that has a prompt to hatchapee. And if you're a trained person, you automatically know what tach B is because it's a hatch B loop, which is a thing when I mean, California where the heck is its Intel it's in. It's in California, it's it's it's above the mountain. It's above Bakersfield in the mountains. Okay, if you're super into trains, you know exactly what I'm saying. Like all the tach be loop and blah, blah, blah. So, you know, there are trains and actual hobos would hop off the trains. In my hometown, we

Nicole Wakelin  1:43:48  
have a stick with a little red and white, like, never had

Roberto Baldwin  1:43:50  
a stick, I'm very disappointed. Um, but then on the other end, everyone's like, Oh, trains are dumb. Why would you take a train, and then when you go to Europe, and you get on a train, like, this is awesome. This is how we should be doing trains. But

Nicole Wakelin  1:44:01  
we don't know what happened. It was time when America was like super injured, like I think of but it's his grandfather. He was super into trains. But the man you know, be 105 years old right now. Like, that's not?

Sam Abuelsamid  1:44:14  
Yeah, I think you know, if you if you live in the Northeast, and you can take the Excella Yeah, I think a lot of people like taking that or if you live in Connecticut or, you know, other other places around New York, and you take commuter trains, you know, like people people appreciate that. You know, I when I if I have to go to Chicago, I love taking the train to Chicago. Yeah, it's a it's better than flying to Chicago. But yeah, I mean, I think part of the problem is us is compared to Europe and a lot of other regions. It's the population centers are so spread apart that it becomes really hard to take a train.

Roberto Baldwin  1:44:53  
Yeah, cuz you like like, just get on a plane and the planes like $30 or $50, or whatever weird deal, Southwest Airlines Has at the time.

Nicole Wakelin  1:45:01  
So you feel like the answer to his question is yes solar power passenger carry trains could be as successful as non solar powered passenger.

Roberto Baldwin  1:45:11  
I think the solar power I mean it the solar power is not enough to actually run the train I think I think we have we had that technology. But you could use a solar power to do other things, you know, that the train still have to use electricity for all the fancy things yet, you know, the lounge car itself probably uses electricity making, I don't know mixed drinks. I don't know what happens in the lounge car, but I'm sure that's probably I'm sure they're making pina coladas non stop the whole time. Microwaving burritos,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:45:34  
modern trains are all diesel electric hybrids, so they're all electrified anyway. And, you know, if you can put solar panels on the roof of the cars, to collect some energy and put some batteries in there, yeah, it's certainly something you could do it would be it would be worthwhile, to, you know, to add solar to trains to, in order to make them more efficient, but they're already way more efficient than aviation or, you know, road you know, driving a vehicle. So, you know, when you look at the amount of energy it takes to move, either people or freight by train, it is by far the, the most efficient way to get stuff around.

Roberto Baldwin  1:46:13  
Plus, you get to say, I'm on a train. Yeah, train. Trains are cool. I love it.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:46:19  
I love taking the train when I can, just because you don't have to go through all the hassle of going go into an airport going through the airport and security and all the other nonsense. You can show up five minutes before the train gets there. You know, step on the train, and go and more often than not, usually, you know, the train stations are right downtown. You know, Chicago, you get off at Union Station, you're right in the middle of downtown. It's way better than flying to Chicago.

Roberto Baldwin  1:46:46  
And you can get seats that have little tables and you can play Uno. Yeah, there you go. I mean, you can't play Uno on a plane because it's all flying and everyone's like in the same direction and

Sam Abuelsamid  1:46:55  
even a coach class, you get a way more room to move around than you do on a plane.

Roberto Baldwin  1:47:01  
You just like get up and go to the lounge, you get a microwave burrito, or you can bring your food on. Yeah.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:47:07  
Alright. Z bm 327 on Twitter asks, Will BEVs open up opportunities for some cars manufacturers entering the North American market due to emissions no longer being a factor?

Roberto Baldwin  1:47:19  
I think it's possible. But you also have to take into like a lot of the safety regulations like the front of the car. Yeah, they're so yeah, you had to do so many different things to a car to bring it to the United States versus what the rules are in Europe or Japan. And I think that's one of the excuses that Honda uses for not bringing this to Honda II. I don't know if it's real reason, but I think it's an excuse. It's yeah, I bring the Hyundai II over here. I don't know why you didn't do that. But fine. We got the mini se so whatever. Yeah. though. I have so Honda so I emailed like, essentially every Honda person I knew. I wrote like multiple articles about it. We're not getting the Honda II and I understand that. It's not happening. Yeah. Stop making stop trying to make fetch happen. You're not getting on the bus. Yeah.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:48:08  
Rules. Yeah, say say the crash safety regulations and a lot of other stuff are still very expensive. Yeah, it does make it simpler. But on the other hand, you also have to set up some sort of distribution network you know parts and service and you know a lot of that's that's there's still huge investment involved with that. So some some will try to enter the market whether they'll be successful we'll see. All right. Credible Lemoyne here's a question does the Honda Accord really deserve to be on current drivers 10 Best list every year nice car but it almost seems like a gimmick that they put it on her every stinking time as as as the alumni of the current driver staff

Nicole Wakelin  1:48:53  
yes to this Sam Lane laying yourself him explain yourself

Roberto Baldwin  1:49:00  
a card every shirt right now that like during one of the things no you know what car driver the testing team over there they're not messing around that is not they don't take anything lightly there they take their they take their their job very seriously everything they do they do with purpose. And you know, get in a Honda Accord. That's all you have to do. Just get in a Honda Accord. Every few years and when you close that door you're like, oh, wow, okay. Yeah, this is why this is why this car is what it is. And it'll continue to be what it is. As long as Honda does it. Mess it up. It Yeah, I sort of deserve the 10 best car

Nicole Wakelin  1:49:42  
is there anybody who would I mean journalists that not even if your current robot is there anyone who's like no, the Honda Accord that that thing's a piece of poo. That's terrible. Nobody really says that. About the court, right? Everybody like you like oh, I don't maybe this little thing or maybe that little thing or I don't like this change or don't like that change but Overall no darn good car. So that's make sense. It's not it's not unwarranted that it shows up there.

Roberto Baldwin  1:50:06  
It's it's one of the things you get in a Honda, you close that door. And that let every other car in that segment, like when you close the door like okay, but just for some reason that like, oh, that's quality right there. That's the That's the stuff right there. Yeah,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:50:20  
it's a good car. Alright. So the answer is yes, deserves to be there. As long as there is BMW,

Roberto Baldwin  1:50:28  
maybe they you know, they're not gonna put it there just because they're putting it there. They're, you know, the team over there. They're again, they're not messing around. They're not like, yeah, this will be fun to do for for the for the lols. No, that's not, that's definitely not the testing. Having worked with them. They are definitely not for the lols type people.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:50:48  
Alright, while we're recording, another one came in on Twitter from Brianna Wu. She asks, Should I install an aftermarket stereo with CarPlay? And my 997? So that's a late 90s Porsche 911? Or should I wait until next year and see a Porsche puts out the mythical PCM plus, that has been rumored, rumored forever. So that's Porsches aftermarket solution that provides CarPlay support for older nine elevens. I would say, you know, if I think I think the 997 I believe is the one that Brianna just bought this past summer, somewhere down south and drove back up to Massachusetts, that she was thinking about flipping, I would say go ahead and put in, you can get a double din jet. For you know, to install any doubled in stereo head unit in a 997. Just go ahead and do that there's lots of good CarPlay and Android Auto aftermarket head units available now and five, 600 $700 range, there's even some, some decent ones, you know, in the three to $400 range now. You know, go, go get one of those and drop it in there and you'll be a lot happier. And it will probably work as well or better than anything that Porsche eventually puts out. If assuming they do put it up.

Roberto Baldwin  1:52:12  
You have a tape player, a CD player and the current one and her nine seven right

Sam Abuelsamid  1:52:18  
now I I don't know what she's got in there.

Roberto Baldwin  1:52:21  
If she I one hand and like, you know, CarPlay makes things so much easier because of text messaging really comes down to the text messaging and navigation. Like I can get out being able to do that by voice. Yeah, that's I mean, that's that's that that is really the selling point of CarPlay. To me. If that's something you really you feel like you need to do it if you think they're I mean, I'm sure Porsche will probably do it. They're there. They're going to if you buy, you know, the double Danny throw it in and then Porsche comes out with it. Just take it out and sell it. It's double. It's universal double NINE, you could sell to. Yeah, and you find you find it

Sam Abuelsamid  1:52:59  
back in there, too. Right, right.

Nicole Wakelin  1:53:00  
Yeah. Does that keep all

Roberto Baldwin  1:53:02  
the original stuff? Make sure the person if you're installing it, which I feel like brianna is probably going to be installing in herself because she knows, you know, she knows what she does that. Yeah, so you can you know, get you can get a Crutchfield kit, and then just put the little thing in and then it's very easy to sort of reverse that. Don't let you know, random guy 3000 Do it. That just ruins your day, she ruins your eye. In the 90s I used to help people put stereos in their car. And there's a lot of bad stereo and stuff. Like what is going on back here? Like what is just open wires sitting there like? Yeah, so you know, you can always swap it out. And then you know, when the when the Porsche one comes out. Every BRC owner needs a better stereo. As far as I'm concerned. It's double Dan. So you could just go on Craigslist, like, Hey, you want to be rz? Hey, you're tired of trash?

Nicole Wakelin  1:53:54  
I got something for you.

Roberto Baldwin  1:53:56  
I got something for you.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:53:58  
Alright, final question from Wes, asked if you didn't review cars for a living and get to experience so many regularly, what would your daily or weekend drives be? I would imagine being able to test drive so many means that you no longer have to seek a particular vehicle you'd normally obsess over. Well, we all own vehicles of our own. But if you weren't a reviewer, what would you drive?

Roberto Baldwin  1:54:22  
I prefer I would be driving what I'm driving now which is the BRC just because I like that rear wheel drive, but it has to be something with a mound transmission. If I wasn't you know, pre being a reviewer, I was driving, you know, all the cars I owned up until someone gave us that the X type was a manual transmission. And of course the Kona because it's an Eevee. But yeah, I'd probably be driving the BR Z or something else in that sort of I don't even know what else maybe a GTI Gosh, I don't know. Golf GTI is a great car. By the way.

Nicole Wakelin  1:54:55  
It is a great car like the GTA so um gosh, I have A charger that's a 2010 And the reason it's older is because they don't need to buy a new car because of what you're saying I'm a reviewer, but if I were to review I probably replaced it. But I don't know I feel like I still would have picked something. Probably not a great bigger sedan like that. But some sporty little crossover probably I'd like to cross everything I have, you know, kids until recently we're both home all the time and you need that little extra space for kids stuff. And whenever tiny cars a press car I always fight feel like I wish I had a little bit more room in the trunk like even have to be like I got to get another car and come home for that thing, you know, for the bolt. But I think I probably drove a sporty little crossover, some fun little crossover. I don't know which one I don't know what I would. I don't know what I would drive if I didn't do this. I'm doing this for 10 years I can't make that decision.

Roberto Baldwin  1:55:48  
For like my I saw like it was a a Datsun 2069 to 2000 than a 90 Honda Civic Hatchback. And then another like a 92 Honda Civic Hatchback. And then a del Sol and then there's like, I mean, I'm essentially just leading up to like I'm pretty predictable when it comes a WR X Sportwagon if that hadn't exploded, I would still have my 2000 and I have the weird Sportswagon

Nicole Wakelin  1:56:13  
I have like the first car that was uh, that I bought was a Jetta with a manual transmission. I had the turbo beetle I had a Jeep Liberty. I had a Scion XD The satin. Yeah, right. And now I have a charger so there's no rhyme or reason to what I drive. So I'm like, What do I know? No, it makes no sense whatsoever. Whatever strikes my fancy at the moment, I decided I need to buy a new car.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:56:38  
Yeah, I mean, I've gone through you know, when in college, I had an 84 GMC s 15 went to a 91 Mustang five liter LX then went from that to a Dodge Stratus that I drove for a few years when the kids were younger. And I was commuting a lot, then to 2005 Mustang and then C after that all that's that's when I had the got the Miata after the Mustang. And on my for my wife feeling the years we've been married, she's gone from a Mercury Sable to a VW Passat wagon to a Jetta wagon. And now the Civic. So and we keep our cars for a long time anyway. I mean, I've always done that. We've always, always put a lot to keep as long as we can.

Roberto Baldwin  1:57:27  
I've never purchased a new car. I've leased two cars released the 500 That's after the WR s exploded and I was the only my wife was in schools. And we lived in San Francisco, so we couldn't afford to buy anything. And the the Fiat 500 lease, it was a managed reservation which was which was what we wanted. And it was you know, sort of cutesy and weird and it had got easy to find a place like an easy to park and you know, it was $120 a month. Yeah, um, so yeah, so it's Yeah, we don't I've never been the Kona electric which we're releasing but but other notes. I've never like both of those were sort of like, well, I guess the electric you got to be new. But before that, like I never the only new vehicle I've ever purchased is my my Best Buy.

Nicole Wakelin  1:58:11  
Wow, I've never bought a used car. I've always bought new cars. And I wouldn't you know what I would say I wouldn't have an electric or hybrid probably if I wasn't doing this. Because I think I'd be so it'd be like, whatever. I really do. I would be that person. I'd be the person like I don't need this new I just give me my guess. Definitely. Yeah, until it was Yeah, I don't I don't know that I would have had hybrids, or Yeah, I would not really look at hybrid in my driveway right

Roberto Baldwin  1:58:34  
now really is once you drive on, you're like oh yeah, that's it.

Nicole Wakelin  1:58:37  
Like yeah, you kind of have to like experience when to go Wait, these are actually kind of cool with like an Eevee or a hybrid, you know, otherwise you're like, I don't know,

Sam Abuelsamid  1:58:46  
when the time comes to replace the Civic, we probably will replace it with an Eevee but for now, you know by Wi Fi only drives it 7500 miles a year. So it doesn't doesn't really make any difference. Yes. 34 miles per gallon.

Roberto Baldwin  1:59:03  
Yeah, last for 1000 years. Yeah.

Sam Abuelsamid  1:59:07  
Alright, that's it for for this time. Thank you so much, everybody. Happy New Year. Bye bye.

Roberto Baldwin  1:59:19  
All the barking happened at the end.