America on the Road Sep 27, 2025

2026 Genesis GV70 Review, 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid First Drive, and the Truth About AI in Cars

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This is America on the Road, named Best Radio Show by the International Automotive Media Conference, and now in its 33rd year on the air. Thanks for being with us, as we bring you the latest automotive information from around the world. I'm Jacques Nierad, with me is co-host Chris Tegan. Chris, can you believe it's fall already and winter is just around the corner, I guess. I've already had the leaf blower out here, Jack. We've been, we've been with, uh, fall foliage for a couple of weeks now.

Yeah, well, we've got leaves falling in our front yard, and leaf blowers are illegal in my town, but I maybe bend the law a little bit. I have an electric leaf blower, it doesn't seem like it should be that big a problem, but it is. In any case, there's plenty of news to talk about this week beyond what's going on in Jack Nierad's neighborhood. So let's talk about that. Jeep has decided to pull the plug on an upcoming plug-in. We'll tell you what the vehicle is, and why they decided to make that decision coming up. Auto theft is down this year, but it's still a big problem.

In many areas of the country, we'll tell you where and what you can do about it. The cyber attack has continued to keep a global automaker's factory shut down. We'll have the details on that scary story coming up. I think that's kind of underreported. Volvo has announced that it will build a new hybrid SUV in its South Carolina plant. I guess that's good news for everybody. And finally, is a luxury automaker barking up the wrong tree with a new dog-friendly collection. You're a pet-friendly guy, Chris. So what do you think about that? Yeah, I like dog-friendly cars. So, uh,

if it's not Subaru, I'll be interested to hear who it is. Yeah, very good.

This is a show now. Chris lives at one end of the country. I live at the other each week we get together to talk about cars, the car industry, and how you can save some money on your car. Chris, what is your test vehicle this week? I spent the week driving the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid. It's an all-new model for this year, and I can't wait to tell you all about it. I'm looking forward to your discussion of that. My test vehicle this week is 2026 Genesis GV73.5 Sport Prestige. I decidedly non-offroad SUV. We'll tell you all about that. We have a terrific guest.

Gasoline Risk. There's a senior director of user experience benchmarking at JD Power, and she's going to be talking about AI-powered features and cars. So we have a ton of show for you. Thanks so much for being with us, and stay with us because we have a lot more coming up. We'll be right back right after this. So stay with us right here on America on the road. Welcome back everybody to America on the road with Chris T. Get me right back with you on Newstime on America on the road,

it seems like every week we talk about Jeep or Stellantis pulling the plug out of another vehicle, and this time Jeep has decided to bail on what had been a highly touted version of its midsize pickup truck, the Gladiator, the company has canceled the development of the Jeep Gladiator 4xE Plug and Hybrid. This, according to TFL Studios, I have a feeling probably onto something here. I guess that's the fast lane telling us that. The Gladiator will continue production with its

current 3.6 liter V6 through 2026. Electrification is no longer part of its future, at least its near future. You take. Well the Wrangler 4xE is the best selling plug and hybrid in America, which would suggest that it sells pretty well, but I'm sure that its numbers are relative to the gas models are very small. They're more expensive and Jeep has had some issues with the 4xE power train, the plug and hybrid system. So this isn't all that surprising to me. I mean, I guess some people might be bummed about it, but I think the Gladiator is a great example.

I think the Gladiator is just fine with the V6.

Yeah, and I think there's the chance that it will have a heavy V8. I think there's actually a fairly good chance that that's going to happen, which kind of makes some sense.

I mean underneath the Gladiator is a lot of Ram 1500. So the fact that the Ram 1500 is getting the V8 back kind of leads one to believe, maybe that would happen with the Gladiator, what's your thought about time?

Yes, the Wrangler with the 392 V8 sold very well, and so I'm sure that the Gladiator would do the same, and I wouldn't complain about it either.

Yeah, well, I certainly wouldn't as well. I like the V8 engine, so I guess I'm old school that way. I'm old school in many ways. I guess I'm old.

Let's talk about auto theft, which is down across the country, at least for 2025 through the first half of 2025.

This, of course, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, there was a big surge after the pandemic ended, a surge in car theft that peaked in 2023.

Now they're trending down back to pre-pandemic levels. I guess you could see either that's good or bad because I don't think it was all that great, you know, before the pandemic, they have dropped, car thefts have dropped 23% compared to the same period last year.

I think there's also some questions about what's being reported lately in terms of crime, but I won't dive into that. More than 330,000 vehicles were stolen nationwide.

So that seems like a pretty large number, which take on what's going on crime wise here.

Well, I mean, I think any reduction is a good thing, even if we are still elevated over where we were five or six years ago.

It is interesting, though, you know, over the last few years, we've had a few high-profile types of vehicle types that have been stolen, right?

Hyundai and Kia, with the NOAA mobilizers, there were a big thing on social media for a while being stolen.

The Dodge Challenger and the Charger Hellcats have been stolen a lot.

So I'm personally happy to see these numbers go down, even if it is not back to where we really don't want it to go.

Right, Washington DC, through the first half of the year, had the highest theft rate, nearly four times the national average, California, my home state, quote unquote, followed at 178 per 100,000 people, 178 thefts per 100,000 people.

Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado were also among the top five.

At the other end of the scale, states like your state, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho and Kentucky reported the fewest thefts per capita.

As you mentioned, there are popular models that get stolen, the Hyundai Launcher, the Honda Accord, Chevrolet Silverado are top targets.

What should people do to stay safe and avoid car theft?

Well, I think there are a lot of things that you can do, and a lot of them require you to have a place to park your car that's safe.

I would say park in your garage, or in a garage, a well-lit area if you're able to.

Don't leave personal items laying out in the seats, people, any even the smallest thing that you think could motivate somebody to break into your car.

And then I would just be as smart as possible, try to avoid some of the higher crime areas.

But as you mentioned, Maine is not on the list of the most stolen vehicle states, so I don't think too much about it around these parts.

Yeah, I mean, do you leave your vehicles open and with the keys in them and that kind of stuff?

Because there are places in the country that people do that, and then there's a lot of places in the country that that would be totally foolhardy.

I lock the doors. I don't leave the keys in them. I'm from the South. I grew up and spent a lot of time living in Charlotte, North Carolina.

So I have the habit of locking my door even when I just go into pay for fuel or something like that.

So my wife doesn't have the same paranoia that I do, though.

Well, that little paranoia maybe helps us every now and then stay safe, which is not a bad thing.

Let's talk about this cyber attack. I think, and I think I saw you nodding along when I said this was kind of under reported.

This isn't a cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, and it's keeping their factories shuttered.

I mean, shut down, basically, and has done so since I believe August. I mean, late August.

Production was originally set to resume this week, but now they're saying they need extra time to make things work well.

I mean, this is frightening from a lot of points of view, not just to Jaguar Land Rover, but I think to the whole industry and maybe to us as a nation as the world.

Yeah, we're now a few weeks into the impacts of this thing, and you know, you hear about cyber attacks, but you don't hear about the fix or how long it takes.

And this has been a really crippling issue for Jaguar and their suppliers, I should say, because you know, the no production lines running means that they're not buying parts from suppliers, they're not keeping those lines running either.

And dealers are having to complete purchases on paper as I understand it. So they've got sort of a multifaceted issue going on here.

Yeah, I mean, doing that, you know, going back to paper and for making a deal. It seems so archaic, right?

And it's got to be a very difficult thing. They have consulted a lot of different security areas, including the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Center, to try to trace the source of the attack.

But man, this can come from anywhere around the world. A lot of places where it's the Wild West or worse. To me, it's a frightening thing and maybe a harbinger of things to come, I hope not, but could be.

Yeah, you know, you hear about ransomware attacks and things like that. This one we don't know who did it. We don't know what the purpose was other than it seems to just cripple Jaguar Land Rover doesn't really seem like they're getting much out of it other than to just shut the automaker down.

So it is scary for other companies too. And they're working hard to fix it or take, you know, close some of the vulnerabilities. But I don't know that they're going to get ahead of everything.

Right. Volvo is adding a US bill hybrid to its line up versus it's going to do that. That sounds nice. They're still trying to figure out how to fill up the Ridgeville South Carolina plant with vehicles.

But I think their goal had been to build a lot of electric vehicles there and that's kind of gone off the table a little bit. What's your quick take on what's going on with Volvo and vis-a-vis the United States?

I'm happy to see the movie more production here because I was always worried that their Chinese and European production arms could cause them some issues with tariffs and everything. So I'm happy for more American jobs too.

Yeah, that's good stuff. Bentley is the vehicle brand that's going to the dogs quote unquote. They have come up with new ped accessory range for the Bentayga SUV, you know, giving the same comfort to dogs that their owners enjoy, which is pretty good comfort.

I would say there's all kinds of accessories here to catch muddy paws, padded bumper guards for enthusiastic leaps, they say and custom seat covers to protect the buttery leather within the Bentley's.

You have your dog in the in vehicles on a fairly frequent basis. I think what should take on all this.

Yes, my dog ready kit involves a towel for the seat and a clicker leash holder for the seat belt and that's about it for him. But these are Bentley we're talking about, right?

So like this has got to be over the top and I'm sure this probably costs a few thousand dollars even though it's just a handful of things. But more power to them, right?

They come out with these things all the time. They have like a hunting kit and a champagne drinking on the tailgate kit and stuff so good for them.

Yeah, I think it kind of makes sense actually and when you think of what the interior of a Bentley costs, right? I mean, what it would cost to say fix a rip in the leather seat or something like that, it kind of makes sense to have this kind of thing.

And I also have got to believe that a lot of Bentley owners have designer dogs that are more expensive than my house or something like that, maybe not quite like that.

And they want to pamper them, so I guess that makes some sense too.

Well, I have a designer dog and I don't who didn't cost as much as your house. He's currently fine just laying on the floor, so we'll see if he needs such an upgrade.

Yeah, well, remind us of the vehicle you'll be testing this week that's coming up. I reviewed the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid.

Yeah, well, it should be fascinating to hear about and we haven't had a Subaru I think in a while.

I'm going to be talking about the 2026 Genesis GV73.5T Sport Prestige. It's a vehicle I immediately fell in love with so stay with us for that and we'll be right back with all of that and more coming up on America on the road.

Welcome back to America on the road with Christine Jackie Rampback with you. It is road test time and I have an interesting group of SUVs. I guess two is a group of SUVs to talk about here in this segment.

Tell us about the Subaru Forester Hybrid. A vehicle that I barely knew existed. Tell us about it.

Yeah, I thought it came out next year as I mentioned to you a little bit earlier. So I guess we're both a little bit behind the times on this, but this is on all new model for 2025. It's based on the regular Subaru Forester.

You can get into the base Forester, the gas only model for around 36, I'm sorry, $30,000. My vehicle as tested was a little bit over $36,000. Jack, what do you think of the Forester in general, the size, how it's evolved from where it was before that sort of thing?

I think they've done a good job with it. I mean, I think it's a pretty likable vehicle. I mean, it kind of makes sense for a Subaru fan to like that kind of vehicle. I think it's kind of right in a sweet spot for them.

Yeah, you know, it has grown in size like the outback. So it's more of an SUV now than it was in past years, but that's fine. You get more interior space and it's pretty practical.

But the hybrid comes with a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder engine and a single electric motor. They make it combined 194 horsepower, 199 pound feet of torque.

All we'll drive as with most Subaru's come standard and you get a continuously variable transmission.

As with all continuously variable transmissions, this one is pretty noisy, especially under heavy throttle left the engine wine and whale, but Subaru's CVT is smoother and more refined than others.

So you get a good linear acceleration and it does a do it's not as noisy as the others on the highway and things like that. So I don't want to make it seem like it's unbearable.

You do get good torque from the electric motor and Jack, I want to get your thoughts on this. So torque from hybrid off roaders. What do you think about the benefits that they get from electrification?

I think it's a big benefit. Maybe I think my voice just changed there, but I think it's a big benefit. And I think I kind of under reported benefit too.

I mean, we're talking about under reported things on the show today. I think having that instant torque at the low end, I mean like when you immediately wait into the throttle is a big advantage off road.

I agree. And so this is not a fast vehicle by any means you're not going to it's not mind blowing, but as you mentioned, the torque at low speeds is what is super beneficial when you even doing light trail driving in this car.

We took it to a campground last weekend and the rutted the rutted rocky road, even with street all season tires and the regular suspension on this vehicle, it does phenomenally with the extra torque and the all wheel drive system. So no complaints there.

Inside, I tested the premium model. So I got cloth upholstery. It's nice cloth upholstery and heated seats, but you can get synthetic or genuine leather in this vehicle in higher terms. And you can also get heated and ventilated front seats.

The front seats are very wide, very spacious and nicely supportive. And there's good ergonomics. You can see the digital gauge cluster. You can see the screen. You can see out very well. And it's easy to reach into the back and reach all the controls. So no complaints there.

The back seat is also very spacious. The the forester has a very upright roof, which kind of looks funky to some people, but what that does is it gives a lot of interior headroom.

And then you also get good cargo space at 27.5 cubic feet behind the rear seats. Jack, what do you think of Subaru's interior design? I think it's utilitarian. It's not the easiest to look at it sometimes, but it's very comfortable and it works.

Yeah, I think it works pretty well. I think there's some issues or I've had some issues in the past with its infotainment system being a little complicated or a little unusual.

Let's put it that way. I think once you learn it, you're fine with it. I applaud the fact that this is an upright vehicle with a lot of interior space. That's what an SUV should be.

And I think that's exactly what the forester provides. I think it's great for a Subaru-type customer.

Yeah, you know, the materials aren't the nicest inside and the design isn't the most pleasing, but it's built for what it is to go to go off on the trails.

Take your throw your dogs into the car, not throw your dogs, put your dogs lovingly into the car, and that sort of thing.

But on the infotainment, which is what I really wanted to talk about here, you get a nice big screen. You get a 11.6 inch portrait oriented screen.

You get a 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster. Plenty of great features. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, Serious XM, and all the rest.

The thing I want to point out here, and we've talked about this until we're blue in the face, is that Subaru packs every single control into the infotainment system.

Climate systems, heated seats, stereo, everything. Navigation. And it takes a while to get started. So it's trying to load like weather data and all this other stuff when you start the vehicle.

And that means that you can't change the temperature, the radio volume, or anything in the vehicle until it's through with all this startup.

And it takes a while. I posted a video to Facebook and Instagram the other day of me swiping four times before the screen actually moved.

And to me, Jack, if you're going to put everything in one place, it has to work. And this just doesn't work consistently.

Yeah, I mean, you just need more computing power, right? It needs to be speeded up. And that stuff can go with the speed of light, but it doesn't sound like it is in the vehicle you tested.

Yeah, I mean, I get saving money on the systems and everything, but put a better chip in there. And this whole thing would be transformed. I think just a little bit more processing power.

And you do get Subaru eyesight here. So you get a lot of safety equipment standard for emergency braking, automatic emergency braking. I should say pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control.

And then my premium trim added blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alerts. So a hybrid for 36 grand. I think you get a lot for the money here.

36 is not super cheap, but it is more affordable than an EV or a plug and hybrid. And I enjoyed my time with this vehicle. So I think if you're not expecting a thrilling ride, you'll be perfectly happy with this.

Did you get the fuel economy you expected?

I did, although I didn't write down the fuel economy that I was that I got, but now you're making me embarrassed because I don't have my notes right in front of me.

But it was strong. I'll say that.

Yeah, good, good, good. Well, I drove a vehicle that we've talked about a lot of Genesis vehicles. I take on the show and we kind of universally praise them for their good looks.

And I hate to be redundant, but that's exactly what I'm going to do with the GV70 3.5 T sport prestige that I just just test drove. It's a 2026 model.

This is the top tier in this compact SUV luxury SUV lineup. It has a twin turbo V6 all-wheel drive and just a very lengthy list of standard equipment.

It's targeted buyers who want performance technology and luxury amenities, of course, but I think it's good looks or it's chief calling card against some of its competition.

This is a vehicle that simply looks sharp. I think it drives with purpose. It surrounds its occupants with a lot of features and upscale features that are usually reserved for more expensive vehicles, which kind of makes some sense here.

I think this is one of the ways that Genesis is trying to distinguish itself. It's just to load on the luxury and I think they do a nice job with luxury without being over the top if that's possible to have that combination.

I mean, what's your take on that?

On the level of luxury, I think it's fantastic. You get more for your money than you did with other brands. This is kind of what Actura and Lexus were 20 years ago. So I'm in favor of it.

I mean, obviously the German luxuries, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Audi might be maybe more prestigious, but man, I think Genesis is really coming on with its exterior and interior designs.

I think this is a vehicle when it sits in your driveway just makes an immediate impression. I don't talk about paint color much because this is a radio for one thing, but a lot of times you can choose the paint color.

But in this case, I think the paint on this vehicle, just the quality of the paint job, not just the color, but the quality of the paint job was stunning.

I mean, it's just gorgeous. This was a series blue, kind of a deep blue. It added $650 to the cost, but I think well worth it. It's just so good looking.

And I think you agree with me, Chris, that with all the kind of premium details that these vehicles have, they just look more expensive than they actually are. And I think that's a big, big plus.

Yeah, you know, I have the same vehicle on the same color testing for this week in my driveway. You know, some of the body lines, the way the metal is creased, the way that the folds are put together.

You can tell they put a lot of thought into it, and it's more expensive to do some of those touches too. So it does lend it an air of exclusivity, even though it is, you know, slightly less expensive than maybe some of its competitors.

Yeah, I mean, it has puddle lamps. I like those puddle lamps. I hate stepping in the puddle. You probably get more puddles than I do in Maine versus California.

But it has its major grill, which I think is assertive, but not overwhelming, right? Not ridiculous. We've seen some ridiculous grills for the last 10, 15 years.

I think 21 inch alloy wheels on this model, panoramic sunroof, and hands-free liftgate. Of course, that's all good stuff.

Where I think it's kind of just okay is, you know, under the hood, three and a half liter twin turbocharged V6. That sounds good. 375 horsepower and plenty of torque, 391 pound feet of torque.

The solid drives through an 8-speed automatic transmission, and it's all-wheel drive in this variant here. And that works just great. I don't think it's leading edge. And when I get to fuel economy, you kind of see that.

A lot of the competitors now will have a mild hybrid. And while that adds complication, and I question that, I also think it does a good job with fuel economy. What's your take on this vehicle's powertrain?

Yeah, I love the V6 engine and these vehicles. It's a little bit muted. You know, you can tell they tried to bury it behind some sound insulation to kind of make it feel a little bit more luxurious.

But acceleration is strong. Fuel economy, as you mentioned, is definitely not the strongest point. But it's a fine powertrain, and I think it makes a good match for the SUV.

Yeah, I think it is a good match. And what this provides is, it's a fun to drive vehicle without, I think, being a performance vehicle. If you get my nuance there, it feels like it has plenty of power, but at the same time, it is comfortable, controllable, and quiet.

I think all things that luxury vehicle buyers want, and especially luxury SUV buyers, I think if you really want to get after it, you know, get a sports sedan, get a sports car, you know, don't look for that in your luxury SUV.

That's my take on it, maybe a little different than others. Everything is pretty much well managed in this car, and I like that. I was mentioning the fuel economy a little earlier.

It's only 21 miles per gallon combined, so I think there's a lot of others that outdo it in its competitive class. But at the same time, if you're buying a $70,000 car, I don't know that you're going to quibble that much about fuel economy.

I think inside, this is just a gorgeous vehicle. I mentioned that before, but NAPA leather seating surfaces, carbon fiber trim, which is kind of cool, swayed headliner.

It just looks, again, more expensive than it is. And then it has this ergo motion system in the driver's seat that shifts, and it starts massaging you just when it feels like you need it.

You know, we drove out to the desert in this thing, and it starts about an hour and a half into it, and suddenly it started massaging my back, and I said, you know, thank you very much.

So this is a vehicle I just like a lot. I think there are others that are higher tech, but I think this is certainly a vehicle to take a look at. What's your quick thought? I agree.

And that's it. Two vehicles are very worthy of consideration, and when we come back, we will have a great guest for you, so stay with us right here on America on the road.

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Welcome back everybody to America on the road, Jackie Redback with you. We have a terrific guest for you.

Talking about something that's kind of on everybody's lips, I think. Artificial intelligence, AI is the talk of the town, right?

And with us is Kathy Risk. She is senior director of user experience and benchmarking and technology at JD Power.

Number one, thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

Oh, thanks for inviting me, Jack. I appreciate being here.

You are among other things in charge of the US Tech Experience Index Study from JD Power.

Why don't you describe that for our listeners and then we'll dive into more things.

The Tech Experience Index Study has now been around for 10 years. This is our anniversary for it this year.

And what the study does is it looks at the voice of the customers by that I mean the consumer who buys these vehicles.

What do they think about these advanced technologies before vehicle manufacturers put them across their product line?

So it's really that early insight into what's happening with consumers across some of these advanced technologies.

So we cover over 40 technologies in the study and we update it every year to make sure we have the latest and greatest technologies.

And as a recent, as you mentioned, we've added a whole category on AI based technologies.

Yeah, it's really the coming thing, isn't it?

Before we even get into that though, in broad strokes, and this is something we talk about on the radio all the time, consumers reactions to all this technology.

It seems like there's almost a deluge, a waterfall of technology flowing over us, flowing over people who haven't bought a new car in four or five years.

It's their reaction to all this.

Yeah, anyone who hasn't bought a car in a few years is really going to be surprised when they get in there because the changes over the last few years have been significant.

We've just made so many advancements in what technologies are being offered in the vehicle.

And so if you get in and you haven't been in there, there's going to be a wealth of technology.

And what's happening for some consumers is that it's more than they can process right away, right?

So when they're picking up a car at the dealership, there's really about 30 minutes that customers really want to spend in terms of delivery.

And at that time, the dealers trying to introduce you to service and set up your phone and get your vehicle app set up.

And so there isn't time to go through all the advanced technology.

And when people try and learn some of this on their own, if they even know it's there, sometimes it doesn't go as well as we expect or hope.

Right, I mean, I get the sense that some people, maybe a lot of people, have tech in their car that they never use their entire ownership period.

It's there. They don't know how to use it. They don't even know necessarily that they have it. It's kind of an issue, isn't it?

Yeah, we call that a lost value tech because automakers spend millions developing some of these technologies.

And there are times people don't know it's there at all.

In fact, our survey is after 90 days of ownership and we see several technologies that customers have not used at all.

And when they're asked why, they'll say, you know, lots of several reasons. But one of them is, you know, I need more training on it. I haven't gotten around to it yet.

But a lot of times, they're not even aware that it was there until we've actually probed on that in a survey.

Yeah, kind of interesting that you're the one who lets them know that they have that in their vehicle.

Let's dive into this whole AI thing because I think we're now starting to see in pretty regularly available vehicles, some artificial intelligence tech being applied to various systems.

Talk to us about that a little bit.

Yeah, we're starting to see more and more. As I mentioned, we created a whole category around it this year in our studies.

We cover seven different technologies that are AI based right now.

And while there's more AI technology in the car, these are ones that consumers that help the consumers or consumers will notice, right?

So there are things like smart ignition. So that's a technology on electric vehicles on some of them where you don't have to actually push the start button.

And you would say, well, how hard is it to push a start button to start the vehicle?

But customers love it, right? Like one thing out of the process to make their life a little bit easier.

And for some, it's just the cool factor of that, right?

Like they don't even have to start their car or stop their car.

It does it automatically for them.

And we have some other technologies in the study this year, like smart climate control.

So each one operates a little bit differently, but the theory is, instead of having to go into that complicated infotainment system,

you know, this automatically will change the where the vents are aimed at.

Like if the sun is coming in the passenger side, it will aim the vents over to the passenger side.

It may turn up the fan. It may turn down the temperature to keep the cabinet, the user's desired setting.

So that stops them from having to do all this work.

Yeah, I think a lot of people listening to this might be saying to themselves, well, I've had automatic climate control on several vehicles.

But this is beyond what they're used to, right? And this is actually kind of machine learning.

The machine is learning your preferences as a driver and passenger.

Right. So we've had auto climate. And in fact, Americans really never embraced auto climate.

So auto climate is just that you set it and it'll, you know, maybe turn the fan speed up for you to get you to that temperature.

But this is doing a lot more than that, right?

It's learning your behaviors and what settings you like it at.

And it's adjusting not only just the fan speed, but it's adjusting the temperature.

It's adjusting the vent placement. And so it can keep that cabinet your desired temperature.

Yeah. One of the things where I think there's a great deal of ability to move the ball forward to make things better for consumers is with autonomous driving and send me autonomous driving, right?

I think a lot of us, like I, for example, have had some experiences and some autonomous vehicles and they drive themselves okay, but they don't drive the way I would like them to drive, right?

And I think that's an issue and talk to us about that.

Yeah, that's one of the biggest issues we see with ADOS technologies, right? So, you know, they're designed to, you know, either support the driver or perhaps some of them make the road safer.

But what happens is people aren't comfortable with them and they don't have trust in them because they don't drive the way you do.

So take active lane changes.

If we look in our study, we're going to see, you know, half the people say it's too aggressive and another half say it's too slow.

So when it's changing lanes, I'm not comfortable because it doesn't do it the way I do it.

So it's hard to, you know, make that technology, you know, represent the way everybody drives.

And AI has the ability to start to help that technology learn how the customer drives.

And hopefully we'll start to see greater acceptance of some of these technologies.

Because right now what we see Jack is that people are willing to overlook issues when it's a technology that helps a known issue.

So a blind spot backing up or a blind spot changing lanes.

So they're more open to like a blind spot camera to reverse, you know, automatic emergency braking because they know they have an issue there.

So even if that support isn't perfect, they want to embrace that.

But when we look at other technologies like active automatic emergency braking, you know, when they see, you know, phantom braking.

By that, I mean, you know, it might break automatically for no known reason.

You know, they start to have trust issues with that technology and they feel like, well, we can see driving forward.

I don't need this added support.

Yeah, I mean, even lane keeping and lane centering.

I think causing a lot of ways, serious dissatisfaction in a lot of people when they're designed to help them, right?

Those are some of the lowest scoring technologies in the study, right?

Is the lane support technologies because customers, a lot of times are functioning as intended.

But customers don't understand all those limitations.

Like if the lane markings aren't clear, perhaps there's a shadow or glare from the sun.

Whatever those factors are, they don't always understand why all of a sudden it doesn't work.

And then a lot of times they don't understand the vehicle's reaction when it doesn't work.

So it can disengage, right?

And they have to be ready to take control on a moment's notice.

Right. And sometimes drivers want to cross those lane markings.

And there's really good reasons to do that.

But the machine doesn't quite understand that and kind of tries to nudge you back into your lane.

Right.

I want to talk about reverse automatic braking, too, because my co-hosts for example has a very steep driveway

and has difficulty with those systems just because the sensors assume that there's something behind them,

as opposed to the fact that he's just going down a driveway, backing down a driveway.

That's something that maybe the car can learn, right, or the AI can help with.

Tell us about that.

That's the hope over time because that's a very common problem that we see customers complaining about the fact

is that the brakes will go on or alerts will go off when you're backing out of your driveway.

Just because of that slope on the driveway.

So imagine day after day after day how many times you go in and out of your driveway, right?

It can create a real pain point for owners with that situation.

And so it's something that the industry is looking at AI to try and help overcome that issue.

Were there any surprises in this year's study about AI, or just in general,

where something stuck out at you as being different than you expected, or different than the industry expects?

I think there were really two surprises.

One was on generative AI.

Generative AI is being applied to making recommendations and learning that behavior

and a lot of it around the voice assistant.

And so the voice assistant for anyone who's ever tried that in their vehicle has been a pain point for customers

for the 10 years it's been offered in the vehicle.

And what we're finding with generative AI is that it's more accurate.

So customers are starting to embrace it and actually use the vehicle manufacturer's system more than they have in the past.

So again, investing millions into developing that and then they can go use CarPlay or Android Auto.

And what we saw this year is that people are indicating people who have generative AI are indicating they're using the manufacturer's system more.

So that's really great news for the vehicle manufacturers who want those customers to stay in their infotainment system.

Yeah, and voice control is very helpful when you have a lot of the controls, quote unquote,

buried deep in various screens and so much is being put into infotainment screens these days.

But I think maybe we're seeing a trend away from that.

I mean, what's your take on that?

Oh, for sure.

Manufacturers are looking at how to redesign those infotainment systems so that they're not buried in layers of menu structures.

So they're trying to keep things, especially high use case items more high up in the system.

So maybe it's one or two touches to get to that option or that setting because it's too difficult.

Are we seeing more AI stuff in luxury vehicles kind of from the luxury premium brands versus main stream and what's your prediction going forward?

Right now we are.

We're seeing a lot more, in fact, it's predominantly in premium vehicles right now.

But, you know, we've seen a trend.

So vehicle manufacturers like Hyundai and Kia, they're offering a lot of advanced technology in their mass market vehicles.

So normally we used to wait many, many years for technology to disseminate from premium vehicles.

Maybe they make it to mass market, but we're seeing brands like that launching technology in their vehicles.

But right now, AI specifically is in premium vehicles.

Do you have a favorite technology or something you think is a big advance and maybe people aren't using it enough?

Yeah, there's, well, I have a lot of favorite technologies.

But I think as we start to look at automated vehicles, so more driving itself over the driver having to be involved, I think is really an interesting one.

And I think it's going to take time for customers to start to accept a level four which is a vehicle that can drive itself to embrace that technology and truly trust it.

So we test that right now and we get feedback from consumers in markets, such as in Phoenix or LA where manufacturers are offering that type of technology to get that early feedback.

And it's very interesting to see what happens among those people who actually get in the vehicle and ride in one.

They're way more willing to overlook any kind of issue.

Perhaps it stops in an intersection than people who live in those cities and interact with them from outside the vehicle.

They walk away with a completely different experience thinking it's less safe and it's problematic.

So, the adoption is going to take a long time but I think where we are going to be in 20 years will be really interesting to watch.

Yeah, well, it will be passing with Kathy Risks. Thanks so much for being with us. We do appreciate it.

You are, of course, Senior Director of User Experience in Benchmarking and Technology, of course, at JD Power.

We appreciate you being with us. It's great to talk to you.

Thanks, Chef.

And stay with us everybody. We'll be right back right here on America on the road.

Welcome back to America on the road with Coach Kristi.

This is Jack Neared back with you. It's Lister Question Time.

We love to get your questions and your comments. So send them along to editoradrivingtoday.com.

That's editoradrivingtoday.com. We'd love to hear from you.

I think this is an interesting question. This is from Quentin in Yuccaipa, California.

This is what Quentin says and asks.

With all to talk about electric cars and plug-in hybrids, it seems like we are going to see an end to normal cars.

What brands, if any, do you see making a comeback?

It's kind of two questions there, Chris, but what's your thought about it? Either one of them.

Yeah. Well, given the rate at which automakers are walking back on some of these aggressive electrification plans,

I don't know that within the next 10 or 15 years, we'll see, quote-unquote, regular cars going away.

What you're hearing now is automakers saying they're going to stay committed to gas well into the next decade.

Whether that's hybrid or not, I don't know, but we'll still see gas cars.

Well, brands make it comeback. I don't know. I'd love to see Pontiac come back.

Maybe Saturn. I thought Saturn would come back with EVs, but maybe not. Jack, what do you think?

Well, we've kind of seen the revival of Hummer right under the GMC brand.

So that's kind of interesting and I wonder if Stellantis, the last thing Stellantis needs is another brand.

But I think maybe they can revive the Chrysler brand that seems almost more about now,

but I think has some juice to it. So that's possibility as well.

Yeah, that sounds like reasonable.

And that wraps up our show for this week. My new crime novel. Only one thing stays the same is now available in both

ebook and paperback format Amazon. So please look for that. We'll link to that in the show notes.

If you like our show, pass it on, listen on this radio station each week,

and let your friends know where you hear America on the road. I'm a big fan of terrestrial radio.

I think you probably are too, right, Chris?

Absolutely. A quick Google search for America on the road podcast will bring us to you on all the major platforms.

Apple, Spotify, all the rest. Like our show, leave us a review and download us so you can take us with you wherever you go.

Yes, we have YouTube and rumble channels. So check those out. Subscribe to those and look for our America on the road videos.

And on our YouTube channel, we have some shorts there so you can get bite-sized bits of America on the road.

Our thanks to Mercury Insurance for sponsoring the show and to our sports byline network stations for carrying it.

And most of all, thanks to you for listening. We do appreciate the fact that you listen to America on the road

and join us again next time for another edition of America on the road.

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And before the roller coaster ride stops, he learns quite personally and very finally that only One Thing Stays the Same.

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About this episode

A comprehensive review of the 2026 Genesis GV70 and the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid highlights their features and performance. The Subaru offers a practical, spacious interior with a hybrid powertrain that excels in low-end torque, making it suitable for light off-roading. The Genesis impresses with its luxury design, powerful twin-turbo V6, and upscale amenities, though fuel economy is a drawback. Additionally, a discussion with JD Power's Kathy Risk delves into the impact of AI in vehicles, consumer tech experiences, and the challenges of integrating advanced technologies into everyday driving.

Bentley Bentayga Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger Honda Accord Hyundai Genesis Jeep Gladiator Jeep Wrangler Nissan Leaf Rolls-Royce Phantom Subaru Forester Subaru Outback

Original notes

Description:
This week on America on the Road, we get behind the wheel of two standout SUVs—one that screams luxury, and another that leans into green. Host Jack Nerad road tests the 2026 Genesis GV70 3.5T Sport Prestige, a twin-turbocharged powerhouse wrapped in premium materials and loaded with high-end tech. Co-host Chris Teague takes a first drive in the 2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid, as the rugged favorite evolves with electrification while staying true to its roots.

Our special guest is Kathleen Rizk, Senior Director of User Experience Benchmarking and Technology at J.D. Power, who joins Jack to discuss how drivers are reacting to AI-powered features in modern vehicles. Are consumers onboard—or overwhelmed?

🚗 Road Test #1:
2026 Genesis GV70 3.5T Sport Prestige
Jack dives into Genesis’s compact luxury SUV flagship, packing 375 hp, a 27-inch OLED display, and Nappa leather comfort. From its show-stopping Ceres Blue paint to its refined ride and strong warranty coverage, this GV70 shows Genesis is going the extra mile to make its mark in the hotly competitive luxury SUV market.

🌿 Road Test #2:
2025 Subaru Forester Hybrid
Chris explores the newly hybridized Forester, testing how it blends Subaru’s signature all-weather confidence with improved fuel economy and a smoother ride. Will this be the electrified SUV that wins over both loyalists and newcomers? And does hybridization add more than just better fuel economy?

🎧 Special Guest Interview:
Kathleen Rizk – J.D. Power
We unpack new research on how drivers feel about AI-powered features like driver assist, voice controls, and automated parking. Are automakers moving too fast?Or is progress not fast enough?

🗞️ In the News:

Jeep cancels Gladiator 4xe: Stellantis pulls the plug on its plug-in pickup, citing changing customer demand.
Vehicle thefts drop in 2025: National auto thefts are down 23%, but hotspots like D.C. and L.A. still lead in this dubious statistic.
Cyberattack halts Jaguar Land Rover: JLR plants remain closed until October after a serious breach.
Volvo to build hybrid SUV in South Carolina: New U.S.-made hybrid coming before 2030 as part of $1.3B investment.
Bentley goes to the dogs: New luxury pet accessories for the Bentayga mean even your pup rides first class.

📬 Listener Question:
Quentin from Yucaipa, CA asks:
“With all the talk about electric cars and plug-in hybrids, it seems like we are going to see an end to normal cars. What brands, if any, do you see making a comeback?”

🎙️ Hosts: Jack Nerad & Chris Teague
📢 Presented by: DrivingToday.com & Mercury Insurance
📚 Book Plug: Jack’s new novel Only One Thing Stays the Same is available now on Amazon.
📺 Watch: Subscribe to our YouTube and Rumble channels for videos, reviews, and shorts.
📨 Listener questions? Email us at [email protected]

Don’t Miss the Next Episode

If you enjoy America on the Road, make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, check out our YouTube and Rumble channels, and spread the word. And don’t forget to send your questions to: [email protected].

Check Out Matt’s Book:

Pick up a copy of co-host Matt DeLorenzo’s terrific new book How to Buy an Affordable Electric Car: A Tightwad’s Guide to EV Ownership.

Look for Jack’s Newest Crime Novel:

Jack is now offering his newest crime novel, Only One Thing Stays the Same, at a 67%-off price of just $4.99. Click here to buy from Amazon at this special limited-time price.

America on the Road

Jack Nerad - Host

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