audio only,What Drives Us episode
#390 Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Tiny Costly Red Machinie
Expanding Equity In Electric Mobility
The Kandi is ready to sell.
This Week In Tesla
Chicago’s MetraRail introduces dedicated Bike Cars
Convert an original Mini to EV
Mustang Falls short with EPA Ratings Allegedly
Ford Invests in Kansas City Plant
They can’t ditch the proprietary InfoTainment systems fast enough
The doesn’t have a battery. The car _is_ the battery
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battery, Car, chicago, electric, epa, EV, Ford, infotainment, LE, mobility, Tesla
#387 Hummers for Humanity
This week we do a deep dive on the debut of the GMC Hummer EV. We go through all the editions and talk about features and pricing. Also, we discuss disposable packing, cover This Week In Tesla and GM’s new battery plant.
00:00 Show Start
05:10 Hummer EV
30:20 This Week in Tesla
37:36 GM Converts old Saturn Factory to EV
1:12:28 We have Convenienced Ourselves to Death
1:03:00 Shout Outs and Go Home
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battery, Convenience, debut, EV, Feat, feature, features, gm, Hummer, LE, Tesla
#385 Tail Gating on the Moon
This week, we talk about the ongoing Nikola saga, solid state batteries in Mercedes buses, This Week in Tesla with new catchy theme music, Plastic eating enzymes, a cheap EV in China, and Toyota’s Lunar Cruiser.
00:00 Show Start 05:15 New Allegations with Nikola Motors
13:00 Mercedes Introduces Solid State Battery Buses
20:05 This Week in Tesla
28:55 Plastic Eating Enzymes
40:30 A $5,000 EV in China 49:25 Toyota’s Mars Rover
54:10 Shout Outs and Go Home
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batteries, battery, bus, china, EV, LE, nikola motors, solid-state, Tesla, Toyota
#374 The Fast and the Dead
00:00 Intros 04:10 Ford Mach-e Battery Reporting
12:45 Dodge Hellcat SUV
17:50 Pandemic Brings Fewer Crashes but More Fatalities
25:25 Suzuki Across PHEV is the RAV4 Prime
31:10 Moving Forward Act moves to the Senate
38:00 Solar-Powered Level-2 Charging Station
42:45 Muni Cutting Bus Routes
55:55 Let’s Go Home
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battery, bus, Charging, EV, Ford, LE, prime, RAV4, solar, SUV
#371 You Don’t Need To Be A Dick To Rule The World
This week:
00:00 Introductions
03:45 Best and Worst EV Battery Performance
18:53 Tesla Cancels Solar Roof Orders
41:48 “Transportation Fairness Alliance” is actually an anti-EV shill
48:00 Internal Emails indicate Carlos Ghosn was Set up and Forced Out
57:00 Rumble Motors moving Production to California
1:03:30 Shout-outs and Go Home
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#370 AutoStupid
- As though Sequester in Place wasn’t harming locally owned business enough, riots across the globe have indiscriminately crippled or fully shuttered small businesses. Please support your local businesses.
- A study (with a very small sample size using self-reporting) found that drivers with autonomous features tend to be less attentive and perform actions unrelated to driving.
- The Ford Escape Plug-in is expected to get 37 miles per charge before the ICE kicks in. It is expected to have a base MSRP of $5,000USD lower than the RAV4 Prime but, due to its smaller battery, will not qualify for higher incentived.
- Hyundai has reached a point where they are making great strides in market share for their EVs. Could this be their tipping point? Will we see even more Hyundai/Kia EVs and perhaps even a Genesis EV?
- Even with the drop in carbon emissions as a result of Sequester in Place, all major car manufacturers are expected to miss the Paris Agreement targets for emissions. As the targets and deadlines slip by, maintaining a habitable environment gets harder and harder.
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autonomous, battery, bus, Car, CARB, emissions, EV, Feat, feature, features, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, LE, LED, Plug-in, prime, RAV4
#368 Let’s Return to Better
- Russell spent some time with a Tesla Model Y and a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Both reviews are available in our “Car Reviews” playlist. Make sure to check out “The Tesla Life” to get Russell’s full Model Y review.
- Toyota recently introduced the PROACE van, offering a warranty of 15 years or 1,000,000 miles, whichever comes first. After that time, they promise the battery will still have 75% or more capacity remaining.
- People will only return to riding the bus when they feel safe doing so. We spend some time discussing how buslines can maintain ridership by helping people feel safe.
- BloombergNEF predicts that by 2040 new car sales will favor EVs over ICEs. Interesting side topic, they also predict that ICE vehicles peaked in 2017.
- Volvo has taken the bold step of limiting the top speed of all new vehicles starting next year. This will be done in the name of safety, referencing the amount of vehicular fatalities attributed to high speeds.
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2017, battery, bus, Car, EV, first, hybrid, LE, Model Y, review, Tesla, Toyota, van, Vehicles, Volvo
#365 The Rise of the EVs
- Paul talks about the ground-level pollution created by gasoline powered lawn equipment. It’s better for you and the environment if you swapped them out for something with a plug or battery.
- Tony discusses that Lincoln has cancelled their anticipated partnership with Rivian to produce a luxury SUV EV. We would like to think that this is just a temporary thing.
- Kacey tells us about Tesla’s latest software update and how it improves stoplight recognition and smart summon mode.
- Georgia talks about a JD Power survey indicating people’s heads are still stuck in the sand when it comes to alt fuel vehicles.
- Mark talks about Rivian declining to accept a $1 million grant that was guaranteed to them from Normal, IL where they have their factory. Normal promised that if Rivian invests $22 million the town would kick in $1 million. Since then, Rivian has secured Billions in funding and decided the town could put the money to better use.
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battery, Eco, EV, funding, gasoline, law, LE, LED, pollution, rv, Software, SUV, Tesla, update, Vehicles
audio only,Chicago Auto Show,What Drives Us episode
#353 AWD and the Chicago Auto Show
1) Russell has just returned from a Toyota event in which he was driving their brand new AWD systems they are introducing in their sedans.
2) Tony and Jon B spent two days at the Chicago Auto Show and provide their impressions of what they saw.
3) Jon B provides speculative insights as to what the upcoming RAV4 Prime might reveal about possible changes coming to the Prius Prime.
4) Jaguar is having to temporarily stop production of the I-Pace due to a battery shortage.
5) Why is it extremely possible that ICE vehicles are not going away anytime soon?
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auto show, battery, chicago, EV, LE, prime, Prius, prius prime, RAV4, reveal, Toyota, Vehicles
#349 Whose Data is it, Anyway?
In this week’s show:
1) The current NTSB requirements for black box data is woefully short of all the data required to determine the actual situation of a modern-day crash. Manufacturers are not required to hand over additional data. Should owners be able to pull the data themselves to turn over to the police? Should they be able to pull data from a used car prior to purchasing it?
2) Tesla’s stock has soared recently to the point that the company is now valuated higher than GM and Ford, combined! It doesn’t help that Ford and GM have seen their own valuations dropping in the recent months.
3) The Boring Company’s 0.8 mile tunnel is completed under Las Vegas between convention centers. It’s likely not going to reach 140mph like previously advertised, it might use skates to move cars or not. Details are few and far between.
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autonomous, batteries, battery, boring company, bus, Car, CBC, Charging, concept, Convenience, Cyber Truck, Cybertruck, Diesel, Eco, Efficiency, electric, elon, elon musk, Employees, epa, EV, eVolution, FICA, Ford, FSD, fuel cell, Full Self Drive, General Motors, gm, Government, Gratification, hybrid, ID.3, id3, Incentives, las vegas, LE, Lexus, LimePod, lyft, Micromobility, mobility, Model S, model X, motorcycle, nissan, Oregon, Plug-in, porsche, Portland, Range Anxiety, RAV-4, RAV4, review, robots, rv, RVing, Software, solar, Starlink, tax, Tax Credit, Technology, Tesla, the boring company, Toyota, Tracking, TriMet, trump, tunnel, update, Updates, volkswagen