Car Keys with Robin Leech and Jay de Marcken – June 22, 2026

Car Keys with Robin Leech and Jay de Marcken – June 22, 2026 CAR KEYS · Jun 22, 2026

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30:12

Car

Chevrolet Silverado

The Chevrolet Silverado is a big pickup truck. The hosts are talking about the 2027 model year and how Chevrolet may be putting V8 engines back in some versions, instead of smaller engines.

Term

V8 engines

A V8 engine is a type of engine with eight cylinders. In trucks, it’s often picked because it can feel stronger for pulling and carrying heavy loads.

Term

turbo four cylinders

“Turbo four cylinders” means a smaller engine with four cylinders that uses a turbo to make more power. The hosts are debating whether that kind of engine is right for a pickup truck.

Car

Ram pickups

Ram is a truck brand. Here they’re talking about Ram trucks using smaller engines (like turbocharged ones) instead of big V8s, mainly to save fuel while still having strong power.

Term

V8

A V8 is a type of engine with eight cylinders. People like it because it can feel strong and powerful, especially in trucks.

Term

straight inline six

An inline-six is an engine with six cylinders in a single row. It can run smoothly, and with a turbo it can still make plenty of power while using less fuel than a bigger engine.

Term

turbo charge

A turbocharger is a device that helps an engine make more power. It compresses air so the engine can burn more fuel and produce stronger acceleration without needing a huge engine.

Term

four cylinder turbo engine

This means a smaller four-cylinder engine with a turbo. The turbo helps it feel strong, but it can still use less fuel than a bigger V8.

Term

nine or ten speed transmissions

This is an automatic transmission with lots of gears. More gears help the engine stay in the “sweet spot” so the truck can be both responsive and efficient.

Term

RPMs

RPMs tell you how fast the engine is spinning. The idea here is that the transmission can shift so the engine runs where it works best.

Car

The Dodge Ram is a large pickup truck. Some versions come with different engines, including a V8, and the podcast is talking about how many people prefer the V8. Engine choice can change how the truck drives and what it’s best at.

Concept

electric pickup trucks

These are pickup trucks powered by electricity instead of gasoline. The speaker is questioning whether the hype matches what you actually get in real use.

Term

range

For an electric vehicle, “range” is how far it can go before the battery runs low. Carrying a lot of weight or towing can make the battery drain faster, so the real range can be much shorter than the advertised number.

Term

run out of juice

“Run out of juice” is a casual way to describe an EV reaching near-zero usable battery charge. When that happens, the vehicle can’t continue until it’s recharged, which is why loaded-range tests matter so much for EV pickups.

Term

15 miles a gallon

“15 miles a gallon” refers to fuel economy for a gasoline vehicle—how many miles you can drive per gallon of fuel. The host contrasts this with EVs by arguing that, with a gas truck, you can still keep going until the tank is empty, while an EV’s usable distance is tied to the battery’s remaining energy.

Term

25 gallon tank

A “25 gallon tank” means the gas tank holds about 25 gallons of fuel. More fuel usually means you can drive farther before you have to stop for gas.

Term

400 mile battery

This means the EV is rated to go about 400 miles on a full charge. But when you load or work the truck hard, it may not actually reach that number.

Term

fully loaded

“Fully loaded” means the vehicle is carrying its maximum practical cargo or load. For EVs, extra weight increases energy use, so the battery drains faster and range can fall well below the advertised figure.

Term

turbos

“Turbos” are turbochargers. They use the car’s exhaust to spin a device that forces extra air into the engine so it can make more power, but they’re also extra components that can wear out if the car isn’t maintained.

Car

Audi Allroad

The Audi Allroad is a station-wagon style car made for people who want more versatility than a normal sedan. It’s usually set up to handle rougher roads a bit better. The podcast says it’s coming back to the U.S., which matters because it changes what’s available to buy.

Car

RS6

Audi’s RS6 is a sporty, high-performance version of the A6 wagon. The host is saying another wagon will look similar to the RS6 with wider, more aggressive styling.

Car

A6 wagon

Audi’s A6 is a mid-size car, and “wagon” means it has a longer roof for more cargo space. The host is using the A6 wagon as the base idea behind the RS6’s sporty look.

Car

Q6

The Audi Q6 is an electric SUV. The host is saying it looks like it has the right size and proportions, and that could help it do well in the US.

Concept

blending their electric vehicle lineups

The host is talking about how European car companies are mixing different kinds of electric cars in their lineup. Instead of only one type, they’re spreading EVs across multiple styles and price levels.

Car

Mercedes EQS

The Mercedes EQS is an all-electric Mercedes sedan. “EQS” is part of Mercedes’ lineup of battery-electric cars.

Car

Mercedes EQE

The Mercedes EQE is an all-electric Mercedes sedan. It’s one of Mercedes’ EQ battery-electric models.

Car

Mercedes Class C

The Mercedes C-Class is one of Mercedes’ common, everyday model lines. Here it’s mentioned as an example of Mercedes bringing electrification into models people already recognize.

Term

ICE power train

ICE powertrain means the car uses a traditional gas or diesel engine to move. The host is comparing that to battery-electric setups.

Term

full ICE hybrid

A “full ICE hybrid” is a car that uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. It can drive using either system depending on conditions.

Car

Mercedes CLA class

The Mercedes CLA is a smaller Mercedes car line. Here it’s mentioned because Mercedes wants to offer the same model in different versions—gas/hybrid or fully electric.

Concept

common platform

A “common platform” means different cars are built on the same basic skeleton. That lets a company make both gas and electric versions without designing everything from scratch.

Car

Ford F150

The Ford F-150 is a large pickup truck made for things like hauling and towing, but many people also use it for daily driving. It’s a major model because lots of other trucks are compared to it. The discussion is about whether an electric smaller pickup could become as popular as the F-150.

Car

Ford Maverick hybrid

The Ford Maverick hybrid is a small pickup truck that uses a gas-electric hybrid system. It’s meant to be more efficient than many trucks, and the hosts are talking about whether it’s worth the money.

Term

all-wheel-drive

All-wheel-drive means the car can send power to all four wheels. That usually helps it grip better on slippery roads like rain or snow.

Term

pre-orders

Pre-orders are customer deposits placed before a product is fully available, often used by automakers for vehicles that aren’t in production yet. In this segment, the hosts discuss taking pre-orders with a down payment while the vehicle is still not manufacturing.

Term

aerodynamically designed

It means the car’s shape is made to move through air more easily. A smoother, more sloped design can help reduce drag.

Concept

square box in

They’re imagining trying to load a boxy item. Even if the car looks like it has room, the sloped rear and door opening can make it harder to fit bulky shapes.

Term

liftgate

A liftgate is the rear door on many wagons and hatchbacks that swings upward to open the cargo area. The host mentions the liftgate’s attachment point and how it clips into the lower section, which affects the usable cargo opening and how easily you can load “square” items.

Term

tailgate

A tailgate is the rear door on a truck bed that you open to load and unload items. Its size and shape affect how easy it is to move cargo in and out.

Term

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is about how smoothly air moves over a car. If the shape is better, the car can waste less energy and go farther—especially important for electric cars.

Term

mileage

Here, “mileage” means how far the car can go before it needs more energy. The hosts are saying the car’s shape can affect that.

Car

Volvo wagons

Volvo makes station wagons—cars with extra cargo space behind the rear seats. The hosts are talking about the older Volvo wagon look that many people still recognize.

Car

electric Porsche Macan

The Porsche Macan is a small, sporty SUV from Porsche. The hosts are talking about the electric version and comparing it to other electric SUVs.

Car

Rivian R2

The Rivian R2 is an electric SUV from Rivian. The hosts are comparing it to other EV SUVs of similar size, especially focusing on how the prices differ.

Car

BMW ix3

The BMW ix3 is BMW’s electric version of its X3 SUV. The hosts mention it as one of the EV SUVs they want to compare.

Car

Audi Q6

The Audi Q6 e-tron is an electric SUV that uses battery power instead of gasoline. The podcast is talking about it as a new model that could be added to Audi’s lineup. That matters because it means more options for people shopping for electric SUVs.

Term

body on frame

Body-on-frame means the car has a sturdy base “frame” underneath, and the rest of the body mounts to it. The host is using this to explain why two vehicles can look alike but drive and feel different.

Car

Rivian R1S

The Rivian R1S is an electric SUV, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions it because another Rivian model (the R2) is said to look similar to the R1S. That helps explain how the brand’s design is consistent across different electric vehicles.

Term

license plates

A license plate is the tag on a car that identifies it. The discussion here is about cameras reading those plates to help figure out what car is where.

Term

Print of the Car

They’re describing a system that uses cameras to create a kind of visual “fingerprint” of a car. It uses what the car looks like—like color and shape—to figure out what it is.

Term

roof rack

A roof rack is the bars on top of a car used to carry luggage or equipment. The point here is that cameras can spot that feature too.

Term

convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together. The speaker says the camera system can identify which cars you’re driving with in convoy, suggesting coordinated tracking of multiple vehicles.

Concept

utilitarian modes of transport

They mean using cars mainly for practical commuting. The point is that on normal public roads, you don’t really need a super powerful car to enjoy driving.

Brand

Alfa Romeo's

Alfa Romeo is an Italian car brand. Here it’s mentioned as a European option for fun sports cars—cars people enjoy driving, not just commuting in.

Brand

byd

BYD is a car company from China. The hosts are saying you see a lot of BYD cars around, and they look like a Tesla-style electric vehicle but with a more solid presence.

Brand

tesla

Tesla is a company that makes electric cars. In this part of the conversation, they’re using Tesla as a comparison for how the cars look and what kind of size they are.

Car

Kia Telluride

The Kia Telluride is a family-sized SUV with three rows of seats. The host is saying it can look similar to a Range Rover depending on the angle, even though it’s a different brand.

Term

Motor Trend

Motor Trend is a car-focused magazine/website that covers new vehicles and automotive news. The host is saying they saw the Telluride mentioned there.

Car

Land Rover Range Rover

The Range Rover is a luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s designed to be comfortable on regular roads and capable on rough terrain. The podcast mentions it because some other vehicles can look similar to it from certain angles.

Concept

market trends

“Market trends” refers to the shifting preferences and demand patterns in the car market—what buyers are gravitating toward at a given time. The host argues that some manufacturers respond creatively to these trends, while others may stick to older design directions.

Car

Hyundai Santa Fe

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a popular SUV model from Hyundai. The host is using it as an example of Hyundai changing its look more dramatically than some competitors.

Term

C-class

Mercedes uses names like C-Class, E-Class, and S-Class to mean different sizes/levels of cars. The host is saying the styling can be so similar that you can’t easily tell which one it is just by looking.

Term

E-class

E-Class is Mercedes’ name for a mid-range car in their lineup. The hosts are using it to make the point that Mercedes cars can look similar across different “levels.”

Car

Mercedes-Benz Eclass

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a luxury car that sits in the middle of Mercedes’ sedan lineup. It’s meant to be comfortable and refined for everyday driving. The podcast notes that the styling can be similar across different Mercedes models, so they may be hard to tell apart from far away.

Car

Mercedes-Benz Sclass

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is Mercedes’ top luxury sedan. It’s built to feel very smooth and high-end, with lots of features. The podcast says that Mercedes’ design can look similar across different models, so the S-Class can be hard to identify from far away.

Car

Kia EV9

The Kia EV9 is Kia’s big electric SUV. The hosts are using it as an example of a newer Kia that looks very bold and different in shape compared with what people might expect.

Car

Ford Bronco

The Ford Bronco is an off-road SUV that’s known for a rugged, outdoorsy look. The host is saying the Kia they’re talking about resembles that kind of tough SUV design.

Car

Toyota Land Cruiser

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a tough off-road SUV. The host is comparing the Kia’s upcoming off-road look to the Land Cruiser’s rugged style.

LIVE

He is Robin Leach. He is Jada Markin. This is Car Keys

Hello to our

listeners and this week's version of Car Keys with Jada Markin and Robin Leach as we are

Heading towards July. We haven't gotten there yet. We're still in June

The

2027 cars are starting to be introduced

You know, how early can you get before you get looking? You know, we're halfway through the year

Just about halfway through the year of

2026 and they're already bringing out

2027s or at least they're being written about and

One there are a couple things Chevrolet

Silverado trucks are coming back. Oh, also besides 27s coming online

V8 engines are coming back to

some of the trucks that lost them to four cylinders and six cylinders and

General Motors is one of them that are bringing back the V8 to their Silverado pickup line for

2027

Hallelujah, you know this whole problem of what engines should be in cars has been going downhill towards four cylinders for the last couple of years and

For the life of me. I've never driven. I haven't driven a general motors truck in a long time

But for a while and they still are producing them

They have got turbo four cylinders in this in some of their Silverado lineups and I don't know why I

Would want to have a pickup truck with a four cylinder turbo in it

It's pick up truck like a Silverado or even a Ford 150

And I think that that's what the manufacturers are the makers of pickup trucks are finding out

Dodge took their V8's out of their

Ram pickups

I think there is now I think there are now V8's back in certain lines of the RAM pickups, but they

Reduced them all to six owners and they've got this new straight inline six. I think it's a turbo charge

Engine which was supposed to replace all the V8 powerful engines of the of the yesteryear in the RAM pickups

In any event that's what you want to know pickup truck land go ahead

You should know why why we could have four cylinder turbo engines in pickup trucks

There's no reason we shouldn't those engines make more power and more torque than

V8's of just a few years ago and probably then half the V8's that are offered as no alternatives

you know four cylinder turbo engine these days produce easily 300 power 300 horsepower and

That is a and they're more economical and more compact and that would be a very good reason to replace the V8's with them

Especially if you factor the you know the fact that you can

Have these nine or ten speed transmissions that actually keep the engines in their their ideal

operating

RPMs

So there's a good reason

But to have smaller engines whether it's the four cylinder turbo or the inline six that

Ram has yeah, but people want the V8. So

V8's your point is your points are well made and well taken

That's certainly from the manufacturers point of view

I think the problem is up in the heads of the of the users of pickup truck like vehicles

Which is what you were just touching on as I interrupted you

In it the problem is really with the thought process of our heads

I as I said earlier not my never well

I know I know but you neither of us have driven a loaded pickup truck

You know the whole thing with the electric pickup trucks was sort of a fraud

Because electric pickup trucks when Ford 150 and even Chevy came out were great as well as long as they were unloaded

They were faster than the V8's in acceleration

They cost a lot less to run

both in maintenance and then

cost of charging

But they didn't take off and then there were tests about

Loaded electric trucks and they all ran out of juice in the first hundred and fifty miles of their so-called 300

250 to 325 mile range

I don't know whether that happens. Yeah, I'll let you know

Of course it does but you if you load a

Gas-powered pickup truck or vehicle or diesel pickup truck or vehicle

And I've said this over and over before when I tow my big my SUV with my diesel which is designed to

Pull and is capable of towing 7000 pounds. I get half the mile my mileage

Okay, then when the vehicle is empty, which means I have the range

So it's exactly no problem with all that Jay. I have no problem with all that for our listeners either

The problem is the range is not limited

Is not limited by by 15 miles a gallon your tour egg because you've got a 25 gallon tank

whereas

400 mile battery and a pickup truck you only have whatever the battery comes with it and when it's loaded you run out

You know if you run out of

Range and a pickup truck fully loaded at 150 miles

You don't run out of range in your tour. I get a hundred and fifty miles

You'd run out from maybe 350 down to 275 or something like that

No, I go from 600 to 300 exactly. Hey, but you still got 300 minimum

Which is a psychological barrier. I think a lot of people have been talking about all right

So we're going around I know I want to stop

I do want to say a couple things in favor of the V8 versus the four-cylinder turbo

There are less

There seem and I'm being very cautious. There seem to be

less

Reliability issues with the V8 said there's no turbos that can that can blow or

become defective after certain mileage and

they seem

Yeah, they overall seem more reliable than the smaller turbo charge

engines

But again like in the ramps case the six-cylinder whatever they call their

fury or or

Drag is it in a hurricane six hurricane, but maybe that was it the hurricane

You know spec to spec it is a better engine a more capable engine than their V8

It's neither here or there, but on the other side of things. I just read a blurb about a

Rivian pickup truck having towed a pretty substantial camper trailer. It looked like a 26 to 28 foot

Tag trailer and they had gotten I think 350 or 400 close to 400 miles of

Range towing that trailer

That's great. So maybe they were going all downhill. I

Okay, but I you know again

We can move on from the whole truck. Yeah. Yeah, I was getting into the

2027 model year vehicles and I got stuck on the trucks with their with the return to the V8 engine in the Chevy's

I'm looking at a picture of the of the

2027

A6 Audi all-road coming back to the country and

Is a picture of it in motor train? You probably saw it. It's coming to America

They the headline here in the article is new dirt ready wagon, you know

So a couple of things about that a six. Yeah, okay, go ahead. It has the flares the wider body

The same as the RS6 which is a high-performance sporty

A6 wagon and they're and they're putting the same body work on the

All-road and I'm not sure why it certainly gives it an aggressive stance and it looks good

And I'm sure they'll sell them because people want these all-road type vehicles if they're gonna have anything resembling a wagon

Oh, yeah

But what I was also gonna say is I saw on the road this morning

And now the Q6 and I'm not sure whether we have the Q6 stateside or not

but the Q6 is an electric

SUV and

I looked at it and it

It's kind of bland and kind of kind of Audi-esque

But it also has all the right proportions and

Quote-unquote the right size. It's not too big. small and it's an electric vehicle

I do not know the specs

But I thought huh that would do really well on on our side of the pond

What I'm sure and and maybe it's on I didn't I haven't had time to check whether it's it's

You know on the market in the US or not or whether it will be I believe it is Jay

Okay, if it is

Good because they're gonna do well with that

It is also the trend what I see here with European European manufacturers is that they are

blending

their electric vehicle lineups

with the

ICE

Lineups, there's no distinction anymore with the E this and electric this and and funny looking vehicles

just because they're electric and

Since they've been doing that they seem to be doing a lot better

Case-in-point Mercedes started out with a pretty weird-looking line up of

electric vehicles with the

EQS and EQE and their newer vehicles whether it's the Class C or the SUVs coming out now

Look totally quote-unquote normal

and and well and they're doing quite well

Part of that I think it's because they've designed the new platforms to be able to be built with either an electric

Power train in within it and or an ICE power train in it. So that that takes away

Yeah, some are like the the CLA class Mercedes is designed to be either

Full ICE hybrid or full electric

Which is a pretty pretty tough

Thing to do from an engineering standpoint, right?

But it's the only way to do it for I think for the economics of production capability

And allowing them to try to build both types of vehicles

With a common platform instead of having to have two separate platforms

Which is the way of what's in the beginning until everybody goes full electric every day

Well, I know you're you're ready for that and some day that will be there

But I think it's a long way off

Our

Engineer producer produced an email of something called a kilo pickup truck J

Which I had not known anything about before

That email came in this morning about our show

I didn't really I looked at the pictures

I do not know what level of readiness it is to to a match something like or to compete with something like the slate

Which we have talked about off and on

Do you have any comment about it? I?

Took a quick look at their website. I wasn't really aware of them either. I think it's not even producing yet

Are they I think it looks a little like a tonkatoi or that vehicle that's for sale

Yeah, I'm grateful

But it's an interesting concept

I think it's

from

What I think the size of it is it seems a little overpriced to me and it seems like it's coming into a very

Limited I was going to say crowded market

But which actually it isn't because there are not a lot of small pickup trucks on the market

That are fully electric pickup trucks on the market just yet, but I think that will change

So I think boys got one under development J

Yeah, it's a mid-size or small size smaller size electric truck

I don't know when it's coming out and I haven't read much about it, but I think you're right

I think that's going to be

Electric all electric smaller pickup than the f-150

Whether that is going to take hold like the f-150 apparently didn't I don't know I did I did a quick

A few clicks on the a Tilo

Configurator, and I think I came up with a price of just under $60,000 for that. What?

Yeah

Well today, so I quick quick comment about that

I will go out and buy I would go out and buy a Ford Maverick hybrid before I'd even think about

$60,000 for that little mini pickup and or I'd buy a slate wouldn't you I mean, I don't know

You know Jay Leno might buy one, but I don't know whether Jay the market or Robin Leach would and I'm at

$60,000 you you spec'd it out and that's what you've got to I think it was in the high fifties and that was my own all-wheel-drive model with

I might have added one or two options, but I didn't I didn't option everything

So I don't know and and I don't know what the size is. I did not look at the specs. I didn't look at the motor specs

We'll see where that looks small in the pictures, right?

Yes, you compared it to the blue mini that's for sale on our route 44 to Millerton Road

Look it had kind of the same look like which was you know, we don't know if it's a flat nose or if it's gonna have a

Front hood it seemed like an in-between situation, but

We'll see I don't even know

We'll find out more by next week. Yeah, I add in since I'm the one to send it

Yes

It's it's a flat nose Jay and interestingly enough it accommodates four people

It's about to the size of the minis as far as the overall and that's the big thing

It's a small truck with a lot because the bed is out there at four foot wide plus

And the fold down in the front allows you to put in material. It's eight feet in length as well

And I was hanging off the back without hanging off the back

Yeah, you can open it up to a full 88 foot bed if you put down the rear seats

So it's a it's a truly interesting concept that I was looking at and you know

As I said something that I would almost entertain in an electric because of all the parameters around it

So and no it's not manufacturing yet, but they're looking at some point to get it manufacturing soon

They're taking the pre-orders with a hundred and 52 dollars down

So that's the long in the show. Well, it's supposedly the length of the vehicle or something like that that dimension

But yeah, it's still an interesting thing. It's very different from the slate though in that

You know, it has that fold in for the bed

I don't think it has a lot of add-ons and stuff to it

But again, you know as you were saying it's a blunt nose

So it's more like a van on the front there the old style vans

Used to have with no bump out whatsoever and then a big

You know, we we know what became of minivans in the US, right? Yeah, that was that we do

But time the big thing for me on a truck bed is I always look for a working truck to have at least

You know an eight foot bed on it and this does have a four foot by eight foot eight foot bed

Available to you when you want to use it. So anyway, I will back away now and

You guys thank you for your interjection. I

Will wait to see if we see one around our corner. I don't think it's gonna be any time soon

but you know, I'm you I'm looking back at this Audi off-road wagon and

wagons the way

They used to be and that's way back for many of our listeners who weren't around

Which squared off at the back and they were actually

functionally

Designed as opposed to aerodent aerodynamically designed

Which is what I'm looking at with this Audi off-road and J

His nose and the probably the Q6 and all of them the slope of the back

Look makes it look like if you were to pot try to put a square box in you would lose about

Well, I can't I don't know what the real depth between the roof line top is and the tailgate the liftgate

Attachment where it clips into the lower half, but it is a real sloping

aerodynamic design which to me would

You know, they show a picture of the interior and it looks like it's a huge interior where the seats are down and all that

For story things, but well, you can't put square packages anywhere near the rear of the loading deck of this car

Because if they were square to the depth of the to the height of the roof

they wouldn't be able to close the the back end and

I guess it's all about

Aerodynamics and mileage as opposed to functionality as you as they call wagons

You think no no, Robin

You think back to the Volvo wagons and you see what a wagon really used to look like and still does in in relation

Jay go ahead and Robin

Wagons are all about style and class and you the either have it or you don't and not that's when you're saying

There's some function, but what I like last

But so I want to get back to that q6. I was talking about we for sure have the q6 is is a vehicle

That's offered on the US market and it brings me to something else. I was looking at in the last few days

We know I'm a I'm a big fan of the electric Porsche Macan and I'm also very

Interested by the new Rivian R2 and arguably those two vehicles are

Kind of the same size kind of do the same thing, but there's a different in price point between a Rivian R2 and a

Porsche Macan so what I did I

Went to Google AI and I did hey

I would like to see a little comparison and and some charts

Comparing the following SUVs and I had put in the

BMW ix3 the Rivian R2 the Tesla Y and

I remember and one more and the new BMW no BMW I mentioned and Anna Anna Mercedes and

and

Since then I've added the new Volvo and this is the Audi Q6 is something we could do we could add on to and so the

Volvo the Audi and the Mercedes are

Definitely in the in the 60 and the BMW are in the 60

$65,000 plus range and the Mercedes goes easily up to $80,000

And that's still substantially cheaper than the Macan which is anywhere from just under a hundred to well over a 100000 dollars

But it's also a lot more money than

a Rivian or Tesla why and then you know

But when you look at the at the charts and the comparisons of these vehicles, they they they all

Offer some pretty compelling arguments

And in the end, you know the great thing with AI is I just said hey, this is what I kind of like

I like to stand out. I like to stand out in the crowd

I don't want to drive the same thing as everything else

And the first thing that AI responded to me was like well

you definitely don't want to get a Tesla why then because it's a best-selling car on the planet and

And I

And so it came down to a the the the Rivian was a great choice

But you know, we also know that the Rivian is brand new to the market

So we don't know nobody's ever sat in one nobody's ever driven one

We're just relying on

It's just different. It's just a smaller R1. So if you've driven an R1, no, it's very different. No, it's totally different

Well, no, it looks the same, but it's not the same one

Right body on frame and the other one is an auto body. They're completely different vehicles

They look the same. That's about it. Is it the most square look of all those vehicles you've just listened as far as the back end goes

Well, the the Rivian R2 looks like the R1S

The two Rivians look alike even though they're very different vehicles. They look alike

The Audi Q6 looks like, you know, like what you wouldn't expect a Q5 or Q7 to look like looks like

Like it looks like an Audi SUV the BMW looks like a BMW SUV

And same with the Mercedes and the Tesla why is its own thing?

And that's fine

And it's all the more fine that it is the best-selling electric vehicle on the planet

It's not the best-selling vehicle

Well, we both agreed in a previous show that the R2 is gonna be very successful. I think

Well, we don't know that and and well, I think so. I mean, I think I hope so

And it's attractive and I you know if it remained exclusive enough

The price point of it is much more attractive than the R1 from the standpoint of

Cost factor for for people not able to pay the R1 and some of these other lines of vehicles prices

price points, right

correct

and

Yes, anyway

That's my take on those cars and the usefulness of using AI

Okay, what's going on in Europe? You're over there

For this show anything new to talk about or is it all the same stuff lots of cameras keeping everybody going to the

Yeah, but their cameras are a little more regulated than our 80,000 flock cameras

That we've talked briefly about that are monitoring our roads and

not only picking up license plates, but actually

building a

Print of the

Car you're driving the color of the car the shape of the car

So it can determine what the model of the car is what you put on your roof rack if you have a roof rack

What cars you drive with in convoy

You're talking about European? No, no, no, the flock cameras and

We have a lot of cameras. We just kind of

Misuse them or have or can be or they can be easily misused

But speaking of Europe, I've been driving here for three or four days and I'm just you know

reiterating what we already knew is that

Driving on open roads on public roads has just become a

Means of transportation. I mean, there's no you're not going anywhere. There's absolutely no need to have powerful cars

And you can't have fun. So we're going back to purely

utilitarian

modes of transport

And that's fine. Yep

Um, and and and we're still lucky to have nicely nice roads where we live and have our little sports cars or fun cars

They don't have to be fast. They just have they just can be fun

Well our our

Europeans, what do the Europeans have for fun sports cars?

Alfa Romeo's

Same as ours

They must ours. Okay. Let me get back to the utilitarian

cars here

Every good looking I kind of seen us you not SUV

But a nice like something that looks a little like a tesla

Something between a three and a one and a tesla y

But it looks a little more substantial and have a little more presence. Guess what it is

byd

Okay, they're all over you think they're gonna be you think they're gonna be a lot of uh of those

Those production cars looking a lot like our cars

Those cars are gonna look like

Or range over looking likes and that kind of thing

I I saw on Motor Trend magazine the

TV the latest uh kia telluride

From some angles it looks just like a Range Rover

And I think I think there's some of these europe these Asian

Factories or and maybe the chinese all that are trying to imitate their styles to make them look like these cars that

Look alike

I don't think so. I think I think they've gone through a period where the higher

Designers that have come from uh european uh studios or american studios

um car design

Uh studios are still

Primarily many of them in california and I wouldn't I don't know about the chinese manufacturers

um, but I'm pretty sure that some of them do have design studios also in california and um

That's where the trends uh

Start and and I think

Both the kia

You know and the Hyundai

Uh suvs have a look alike the Range Rover a little bit, but I think they're they're carving their own

Style and I think the chinese are going to do the same thing and they're basically

Uh being creative and responding to responding to market trends

and maybe some of the uh

Quote unquote legacy manufacturers are just stuck with their styles are not as uh bold

Um as as for instance Hyundai. I mean look at what they did with the what is it the Santa Fe?

They had a good-looking vehicle and they went to a new model and it became radically different

And there's we've discussed it before and from one model to another within the brand

They don't necessarily stick to the same style whereas if you look at Mercedes

You know from a distance you can't tell if it's a c-class an e-class or an s-class same thing with bmw same thing without

Um, and you can argue the pros and cons of each approach

But I think um, you know

the the kia ev9

and the the um

What is it called the telebride?

Uh are great looking vehicles

They're very bold designs

Yes, I agree

I don't know where we started with this. I went on the slide on the side. I mean styling we

I got on to a little bit with the squareness

idea of what wagons used to look like and functionality and you poo pooed it and said it's all about styling and

and sleekness

Hell with the the start does the design of the actual body of the vehicle if it doesn't look good

Don't build it. Um, I didn't say quite that but well, I know you did read my mind you did

But I think that uh

You know, I'm watching the Asian car makers. I guess I should say hundae and and uh, kia

Trying to make inroads in some of the

Areas where they haven't and that uh off-road vehicle

Yes, it looked like a bronco or by a toyota land cruise or something that kia is about to bring into their country

Is is a point in case a case in point. So, uh

So what we've done what our buying habits have shown

or or kind of indicated is that

We will be driving chinese cars in 10 years. I mean when I say I think you're absolutely right. No question

You cannot convince me otherwise if you look

Uh, I won't try first of all we buy chinese every other type of consumer product. There is

Second, I don't think that you know the the this idea that they build

Lower tech or lower quality product is that's a thing in the past

Very way past

Where if you look at the inroads that made in both europe, uh

In mexico and and what they're about to do in canada

There's no way hopefully we get to get see some of those products on the on you know in the us

But anyway, we'll see well with uh that this has been car keys uh with jay and robin and and we'll see you in another week or so

Car keys with robin leech and jay demarkin is produced at the facilities of w h d d 91.9 f m

robinhoodradio.com

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