CarCast Apr 20, 2026

CarCast+Edmunds - Hyundai IONIC 5 N, new Mazda CX-5 and Mercedes AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+ Coupe

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46:45

Company

Edmunds

Edmunds is a car website that helps people understand cars—through reviews and pricing info. When it’s part of the podcast name, it usually means the discussion is grounded in real-world car testing and research.

Car

Grand Highlander

This is a bigger Toyota SUV with three rows of seats. The host is saying the back row is actually comfortable enough for adults, not just kids.

Car

Toyota Highlander

The Toyota Highlander is a family SUV that can fit more people than a typical two-row vehicle. It’s designed to be comfortable and practical for everyday trips. The podcast mentions it in the context of having a third row so more passengers can ride together.

Car

Sienna

The Toyota Sienna is a minivan. They’re highlighting that it can come with entertainment screens for passengers in the back seats.

Car

Toyota RAV4

The RAV4 is a small SUV. The host is pointing out that you can get it with all-wheel drive for better grip when roads are slick.

Concept

all-wheel drive

All-wheel drive means the car can send power to more wheels for better traction. It helps when the road is slippery, like in rain or snow.

Topic

HRA drag racing

Drag racing is when cars race in a straight line to see who’s quickest. The host is saying it started with some rain, but the cars still got runs in later.

Topic

NASCAR race

NASCAR is a popular American racing series. The host is saying they haven’t been to one yet, and it’s on their list of things to do.

Topic

Long Beach Grand Prix

The Long Beach Grand Prix is a big racing event in California. The host is saying they’ve been there before.

Car

Ford Expedition

The Ford Expedition is a big family SUV. Here it’s just the car the host borrowed to travel to events.

Topic

Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach hosts a big racing event on city streets. The hosts are talking about going to that race and enjoying it.

Topic

NHRA

NHRA is a big U.S. drag racing series. It’s where cars race in straight lines over a short distance.

Concept

switch to an EV

The hosts are asking when gas prices would be high enough that people would choose an electric car instead. In real life, it’s usually more than just gas price—it’s also charging and the overall cost of owning the car.

Concept

correlation between gas prices and EV interest

The hosts describe a correlation: when gas prices rise, people search more for EVs and other fuel-efficient options. They also note that this doesn’t automatically translate into immediate sales, since buying decisions depend on more than fuel costs.

Concept

EV sales dropped to under 5% of the market

Even when people get curious about electric cars, that doesn’t always mean they buy one. The episode points out that EVs can still be a small part of total car sales.

Concept

lease deals

A lease deal is a promotion that can make a car cheaper to drive month-to-month. The episode suggests companies are using these offers to encourage EV sales.

Concept

fueling cost as a small portion of total vehicle cost

They’re saying gas money often isn’t the biggest part of what you spend on a car. Insurance, maintenance, and your payment usually matter more over time.

Concept

sunk cost

“Sunk cost” is the idea that money already spent (like insurance and the negotiated monthly payment) shouldn’t influence future decisions. The hosts use it to explain why fuel costs may not drive behavior as much after you’ve already committed to a lease or purchase.

Concept

variable cost

A variable cost is something that goes up and down depending on how much you use it. Gas is a good example because you pay it every time you drive enough to fill up.

Concept

psychological impact of gas prices

Gas prices affect more than your wallet. Because you see the price every time you fill up, it can make people change their habits and even their car-buying decisions faster than you’d expect.

Car

Land Rover Range Rover

The Range Rover is a large, luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s designed to be comfortable on regular roads and capable on rougher terrain. The podcast mentions a supercharged V8 version, which means it has a strong engine for faster driving.

Term

supercharged V8

A supercharger is an engine add-on that squeezes more air into the engine so it makes more power. The tradeoff is that it often uses more fuel, especially if you drive it hard.

Concept

miles per gallon (MPG)

MPG tells you how efficiently a car uses gas. If a car gets low MPG, you’ll spend more at the pump, so it matters a lot when estimating total cost over time.

Car

Humvee

A Humvee is a military vehicle. It can handle rough terrain, but it usually uses a lot of fuel, especially compared with today’s cars.

Term

four by fours

“Four by fours” just means 4-wheel-drive vehicles. They’re often bigger and can use more fuel than smaller cars.

Car

Mercedes E class

The Mercedes E-Class is a common luxury car used for chauffeur service. Here it’s mentioned to compare how fuel-efficient the “SUV” is versus a typical luxury car used to drive people around.

Concept

climate change is real

They’re saying climate change is real. The point is that the conversation isn’t just about arguing for or against SUVs—it’s about being honest about the bigger issue.

Concept

Formula E

Formula E is a race series where the cars are electric. People argue about whether it’s truly “clean,” because the electricity used to charge the cars depends on where that power comes from.

Concept

EV development vs clean racing

The hosts distinguish between “clean racing” as a marketing claim and EV development as the real goal. Even if charging infrastructure isn’t perfect, racing can still accelerate battery, thermal management, power electronics, and energy-efficiency improvements.

Concept

Bio fuel (solar-made) / alternative fuel

They’re talking about making fuel from renewable energy instead of pumping it from the ground. The challenge is that it takes a lot of clean energy to make enough of it.

Topic

Taycan launch trip to Spain (Moversirk)

This segment is about the hosts’ personal experience attending the Taycan Turbo GT launch event in Spain. It’s more of a storytelling beat than a technical explanation, but it provides context for why they’re discussing EV performance and public demonstrations.

Car

Porsche Taycan

The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is a very fast, performance-focused electric Porsche. The hosts are talking about going to the launch event for it.

Term

super charging bank

A super charging bank is basically a big temporary charging system. Instead of relying on a normal power supply, they bring in a lot of charging equipment to charge cars quickly.

Term

industrial level diesel generator

A diesel generator is a big machine that makes electricity using diesel fuel. They used one because the location didn’t have enough power from the regular electrical grid.

Term

fast charging

Fast charging is when an EV can recharge at a high power level, so it takes less time. If a track doesn’t have it, charging becomes slower and can limit how you run the cars.

Car

Hyundai Ioniq

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an electric SUV, so it uses a battery instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions the Ioniq 5N, which is the more performance-focused version. It’s brought up because it’s meant to be fun to drive, not just efficient.

Term

fake noises

Some electric cars add artificial sounds so the driving experience feels more exciting. It’s not the engine making noise—it’s a speaker system that creates performance-style audio.

Car

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a small car meant for everyday driving. The podcast mentions an older “Mark 1” version, which is the early generation of the Golf. People bring it up because it’s a classic design that many drivers recognize.

Term

sports seat

Sports seats are shaped to keep you in place better when you drive hard. They also tend to make you feel more “in” the car, which can make the driving feel more sporty.

Term

high belt line

The belt line is basically where the windows end and the body starts. If it’s higher, the car can look and feel more sporty and lower, even if the vehicle is still fairly large.

Term

fender vents

Fender vents are little openings in the car’s body near the wheel. They can be functional for airflow, but they also often exist mainly to make the car look more aggressive.

Car

Honda Crvs

The Honda CR-V is being used as a reference point for overall size, since the hosts compare the IONIQ 5’s length to the CR-V. This matters because EV crossovers can feel bigger or smaller than their specs suggest, affecting parking, visibility, and cabin packaging. It’s a practical way to translate dimensions into real-world usability.

Car

Hyundai IONIC 5 N

The Hyundai IONIC 5 N is the “sporty” version of Hyundai’s electric IONIQ 5. It’s designed to be more fun to drive, not just fast in a straight line. It also uses settings that can add fake engine/drive sounds and feel more like a performance car.

Car

Porsche Taycan Turbo

They mention the Porsche Taycan Turbo as an example of a really fun, fast electric car. The point is that the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N can be just as enjoyable in the right driving context. It’s a “performance EV” comparison, not a direct tech deep-dive.

Car

Tesla Model S

The Tesla Model S Performance is cited as another EV that’s “really fun,” alongside the Model 3 Performance. This is used to support the idea that the IONIQ 5 N’s track-focused tuning and driving feel can compete with top-tier EV performance. It’s a comparison of driving character rather than a spec-by-spec argument.

Concept

EV stealth mode

Stealth mode is a setting that makes an EV quieter by turning down or removing the fake sounds. It’s meant for situations where you don’t want the car to be “loud” or dramatic. You can switch it depending on whether you want calm driving or a more exciting feel.

Term

flappy paddle mode

Flappy paddle mode is when you use paddles on the steering wheel to control how the car responds, instead of just driving normally. On some EVs, it can also change how the car slows down and can add effects like sound. The idea is to make the EV feel more like a traditional performance car.

Concept

simulates the throttle cut out

Simulating a throttle cut-out is an effect where the car reduces torque briefly (or changes how torque is delivered) to mimic the “lift-off” behavior you’d feel in a gasoline performance car. On EVs, this is software-driven because there’s no engine rev drop in the same way. The hosts describe it as creating a small momentum shift and a physical “nudge” when you use the paddle controls.

Car

Ford Focus RS

The Ford Focus RS is referenced as a prior track/rally-inspired performance car the host drove and documented. The key point is engineering continuity: the IONIQ 5 N’s chief engineer is described as having worked on the Focus RS. That connection is used to explain why the IONIQ 5 N’s software and driving character aim for rally-style excitement rather than generic EV quietness.

Concept

Group B rallying

Group B rallying refers to a famous (and dangerous) era of rally motorsport known for highly aggressive, high-performance cars. The host says the IONIQ 5 N’s engineer loved Group B and 1980s rallying, and that the project tries to capture that spirit. In context, it explains the “build another Group B car” idea—translated into an electric SUV/crossover.

Term

simulated shifting

Because EVs don’t shift gears the same way as gas cars, some performance EVs add fake “shift” behavior. It’s meant to make the car feel more like a traditional sporty car.

Term

RPMs up

Some EVs can keep the car’s sound/feel at a higher “rev” level to match what you’d expect from a fast gas engine. It’s a driving-mode trick to make acceleration feel more intense.

Term

rally engine sound

It’s basically the car playing a sporty sound that tries to feel like a rally car. Instead of sounding like a generic EV, it’s tuned to feel more exciting and believable.

Car

Civic Type R

The Honda Civic Type R is a sporty hot hatch with a loud, punchy character. The host is saying the Hyundai’s sound design feels similar—like a fun performance hatch—rather than a quiet EV.

Term

brakes

The host calls out brakes as the IONIQ 5 N’s limiting factor, meaning repeated hard stops or high-speed track use may cause fade or reduced confidence. For performance EVs, brake sizing, pad compound, and cooling matter a lot because instant torque can stress the braking system quickly.

Car

Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 GT3 is a serious track-oriented sports car. The comparison is basically saying the Hyundai feels extremely quick—fast enough to remind you of a top performance Porsche.

Topic

drift modes

Drift modes are settings that make it easier to slide the car on purpose. They loosen the car’s grip and change how power is delivered so you can control a slide more easily.

Topic

low grip handling circuit

This is a test track setup meant to make the tires grip less than normal. That helps you see how the car handles when it’s easier to lose traction.

Car

Hyundai Ioniq 6

The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is an electric car model. In the podcast, Hyundai is said to have cancelled it, meaning it won’t continue as planned. The discussion is about what that means for future electric models.

Car

BMW M3

The BMW M3 is a well-known performance car that’s built to be fast and handle well. Saying the Hyundai is an M3 rival means it’s trying to compete for the same kind of “sport sedan” buyer.

Concept

lower center of gravity

Lower center of gravity means the car’s “heaviest point” sits closer to the ground. That usually helps it feel more stable in corners and less likely to feel tippy.

Car

Ioniq 6N

The Hyundai Ioniq 6 N is the sporty version of the Ioniq 6 electric car. The hosts are interested because they didn’t love the original Ioniq 6’s look, but they think the N version will fix some of that. They mention design changes that make the rear look better in profile.

Car

Tesla Model Y

The Tesla Model Y is another popular electric SUV the hosts use for comparison. They’re saying it can be quick and drive well, but it may not feel as fun or playful as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. It’s more about the driving experience than raw performance.

Car

Model 3 performance

The Tesla Model 3 Performance is Tesla’s quicker version of the Model 3. The hosts say it’s very capable—fast and good to drive—but it doesn’t feel as playful as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. So they’re comparing how it feels to drive, not just how fast it is.

Topic

Goodwood for the Good of Festival Speed

Goodwood Festival of Speed is a big car event in the UK. The hosts say they saw the Ioniq 6 N there and that’s where it was announced. It helps explain why they’re talking about it as “new” and already seen in person.

Concept

mid-cycle

“Mid-cycle” means the car gets updated halfway through its life. Automakers do this to improve styling or add changes without redesigning the whole car. The hosts are saying the Ioniq 6’s update looks better than the first version.

Concept

rear wing

A rear wing helps the car stick to the road by shaping airflow. It’s not just for looks; it can improve grip, especially at speed.

Concept

plug-in hybrid version

A plug-in hybrid is a car that uses both gas and electricity, and you can charge the battery at home or at a charger. The electric part can make it feel extra quick, but it can also add weight.

Term

SE hybrid

This is the name of the AMG’s plug-in hybrid setup they’re talking about. It adds extra electric power for quick acceleration, but it also makes the car heavier.

Car

911 Gts

The Porsche 911 is Porsche’s iconic sports car, and it comes in lots of different versions. In this segment, they’re using it as the yardstick for how other cars—like Mercedes’ AMG GT—compare.

Car

SLS

The Mercedes SLS is a previous Mercedes sports car that the speaker says Mercedes moved on from. They’re basically saying Mercedes changed its game plan and started targeting the Porsche 911 crowd instead.

Car

AMG GT

The AMG GT is Mercedes-AMG’s sports car line that’s meant to compete with the Porsche 911. In this segment, they’re mainly talking about whether it’s a good buy used—especially how much value it keeps.

Concept

residual value

Residual value is the value the lease company predicts the car will be worth at the end of the lease. It matters because it affects the buyout price—if the buyout is lower than what the car is actually worth, you can potentially profit.

Concept

lease buyout fee

The lease buyout fee is the pre-set price to purchase the leased car at the end of the lease term. The speaker describes a rare scenario where the buyout fee was significantly less than the car’s worth, enabling the owner to either keep it or sell it for a profit.

Concept

tariffs passed on to the consumer

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. If they make new cars more expensive, used cars can sometimes hold value better because buyers have fewer cheaper options.

Concept

front-engine vs rear-engine sports-car layout

Engine placement strongly influences how a car feels and handles. A rear-engine layout (like the Porsche 911) tends to shift weight rearward, affecting traction and steering balance, while a front-engine layout (like the Mercedes-AMG GT discussed here) changes the balance and can feel different in cornering. The hosts are saying the AMG GT can still deliver a “911-like” sports-car experience despite the layout difference.

Term

V8

A V8 is an engine with eight cylinders. It usually means strong power and smooth acceleration, but it can use more fuel than smaller engines.

Concept

cusp of the weather

They’re talking about doing something right when the weather is about to change. That can make the conditions harder and more dangerous, especially for hiking.

Car

Volvo EX60

Volvo’s EX60 is an all-electric SUV with seating for two rows. The hosts are saying Volvo is trying to make it more efficient—so it goes farther—by shaping the body to cut wind and by reducing noise. They also mention different versions (single-motor and dual-motor) that change how it drives and how far it can go.

Car

EX60

The EX60 is an electric car, meaning it runs on a battery. The podcast mentions it as an all-electric model and focuses on that basic fact. The excerpt doesn’t provide more details beyond the name and electric nature.

Concept

aerodynamics and road-noise efficiency

On EVs, how the car moves through the air matters a lot for range. If the shape is more slippery, it takes less energy to keep going. Reducing road noise is also part of making the car feel more comfortable and refined.

Term

single motor rear wheel drive

This means the car has one electric motor, and it powers the rear wheels. It’s a simpler setup than having two motors, and that can help with efficiency. How it feels to drive can be different from dual-motor versions.

Concept

battery size affecting range and performance

In an EV, the battery size matters because it determines how much energy the car can store. More energy usually means more range. It can also affect how strongly the car can accelerate, depending on the car’s overall design.

Concept

0 to 60

“0 to 60” means how fast the car goes from stopped to 60 miles per hour. It’s a quick way to compare performance between cars. Lower time usually means the car feels quicker when you punch the accelerator.

Term

10 to 80 percent

They’re talking about how fast the battery charges when it goes from about 10% up to 80%. That range is usually where EVs can charge the quickest. It’s a practical measure because most people don’t usually charge all the way from empty to full.

Term

350 kilowatt chargers

“350 kilowatt” is how powerful the fast charger is. More power can mean faster charging, but the car still has to accept that power. They’re using it to show how quickly you can add driving range during a stop.

Concept

over the air updates

Over-the-air updates mean the car can get software improvements wirelessly, like a phone update. That can help the car run better over time, including how efficiently it charges. It’s useful because you don’t have to bring the car in for every change.

Term

wireless CarPlay

Wireless CarPlay lets you use your iPhone in the car without plugging it in. It usually makes setup faster and reduces cable clutter. They’re saying the newer car fixes the earlier “needs a cable” experience.

Car

Volvo V60

The Volvo V60 Cross Country is a wagon variant positioned for more rugged, outdoorsy use compared with a standard V60. In this segment, it’s mentioned as a recent drive where the speaker disliked that it lacked wireless CarPlay. That makes it relevant as a “what they fixed” comparison point.

Term

NVIDIA chips

Using “NVIDIA chips” implies the vehicle’s infotainment and/or driver-assistance compute platform is built on NVIDIA’s automotive-focused processing hardware. This can translate to faster graphics, smoother interfaces, and more capable real-time features. The segment frames it as making the system “very fast.”

Car

Volvo EX-90

The Volvo EX-90 is an all-electric SUV Volvo planned for the future. The discussion says it had some early launch issues, and Volvo is making changes to fix them.

Concept

facelift them yet again

A facelift is like a refresh for a car—usually updated looks and features—without making it a brand-new model. The point here is Volvo kept updating the EVs to stay competitive while EV demand changed.

Concept

EV pullback against EVs

They’re saying EV sales and excitement didn’t grow as fast as some automakers expected. Because of that, Volvo had to keep working on current EV models instead of moving on immediately.

Term

mid-spec

“Mid-spec” is the middle trim level—usually more features than the cheapest version, but not the most expensive one. They’re using it to guess what the car might cost depending on how you configure it.

Car

Kia Telluride

The Kia Telluride is being used as a comparison point for what you’d normally pay for a big, family-friendly SUV. The hosts are saying the Volvo might cost more than you’d expect compared with this kind of rival.

Concept

market share

Market share means how much of the market a car model sells compared to all the other cars in its category. Higher market share usually means the model is more popular or more dominant right now.

Car

Rivian R2

Car

Rivian R2

The Rivian R2 is an electric vehicle mentioned in the podcast. The hosts are talking about it as something that could be a good choice for people who want an EV. The excerpt doesn’t include specific features, but it’s described as a strong option.

Concept

anti-EV thing

“Anti-EV” refers to political, cultural, or consumer resistance to electric vehicles. The hosts worry that this sentiment could cause interesting new cars to get overlooked or delayed in adoption.

Concept

wheelbase

Wheelbase is the length of the car between the front and back wheels. A longer wheelbase usually means more room inside, especially for passengers in the back.

Car

Mazda CX-5

The Mazda CX-5 is a popular SUV. The host is saying the newer one may drive fine, but it doesn’t feel as fun or distinctive as the older model.

Concept

customer clinics

Customer clinics are meetings where car companies ask customers what they want. The host’s point is that if you only build to what people ask for, the car can end up feeling generic instead of special.

Concept

default choice

A “default choice” is the car people think of first when they’re shopping. The host is saying it’s hard for other brands to convince buyers to switch away from those obvious picks.

Car

Volkswagen Tiguan

The Volkswagen Tiguan is another compact SUV that competes with the CR-V and RAV4. The host is saying VW is trying to get people to consider it instead of the usual favorites.

Concept

identikit CR-V

“Identikit” here means a near-copy—making a vehicle feel like the same template as a dominant competitor (the CR-V). The host uses it to criticize how some redesigns chase the market formula instead of preserving unique traits.

Car

Tesla Cybertruck

The Cybertruck is Tesla’s electric pickup. The point here is that regular truck buyers want a lot of practical details that take time to get right, and it’s hard to make a brand-new design fit every “work truck” need immediately.

Car

Lightning

The Lightning is the electric F-150. The hosts are grouping it with other EV pickups because they’re all trying to win over the same truck buyers.

Car

Ford F150

The Ford F-150 is the benchmark full-size pickup in the US market. Mentioning it sets context for why Tesla’s Cybertruck and other EV trucks are being compared—because they’re trying to compete with the most established, high-volume truck.

Car

Chevrolet Silverado

Chevrolet is also working on an electric pickup using the Silverado name. The point is that multiple automakers are trying to crack the EV-truck market, not just one.

Concept

body on frame

Body-on-frame means the “car body” is mounted on a separate sturdy frame. Trucks often use this because it can handle heavy work and rough roads better than designs where the body and frame are one unit.

Car

Hyundai Genesis

Genesis is a luxury car brand associated with Hyundai. The podcast mentions it as part of a group of brands trying to do well across different markets. It’s being referenced more for the brand’s direction than for one specific car.

Car

Telluride

The Telluride is Hyundai’s family-focused SUV with three rows. The hosts mention it because it’s been popular and profitable for Hyundai.

Car

Palisades

The Palisade is Hyundai’s larger family SUV with three rows. They’re using it as proof Hyundai can sell big, mainstream vehicles successfully.

Concept

halo cars

A “halo car” is a special, exciting model that makes people think of the brand as cool and fast. Even if it doesn’t sell a ton, it helps the brand sell more of its regular cars.

Term

high performance manual transmission sports car

They’re talking about bringing back a sports car that you can drive with a manual transmission. Enthusiasts like manuals because they feel more connected and more fun to drive.

Car

skyline

The Skyline is a famous Nissan performance car name. When they say “bring back the skyline,” they mean they want a new car that captures that same enthusiast excitement.

Car

Jaguar F type

The Jaguar F-Type is a Jaguar sports car. When they call it a “halo product,” they mean it’s the kind of car that helps make the brand look exciting and desirable, even if it’s not the only car people buy.

Concept

halo product

A “halo product” is a standout car (or product) that makes people think the whole brand is cool. It may not be the biggest seller, but it helps the brand’s reputation and can pull customers toward other cars too.

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ziprecruiter.com slash zip. Hello, welcome to the Edmunds CarCast podcast on Matt the

here with Alistair Weaver. Hello, how are you doing? I'm all right. Thank you. End of the week.

It's sunny, shouting life is well. I'm all right. Recorded on a Friday. Gonna head out to more

events this weekend. You missed it. I went to an HRA drag racing last weekend. Now there was a little

bit of a rain out in the beginning, but I saw that before I hit the road. So when I got there,

all the cars were just getting ready to go back out. They ran till late in the night. I didn't

stay in the whole time, but you got to put that on your bucket list. We got to get you out to the

drag races. It's there. Do you know what's my shame? I've never been to a NASCAR race,

which is a shame that's also on the list for this year. I have been to the Long Beach Grand Prix

for IndyCar a few times, but I'm not sure I'm going to make it down this weekend because the

in-laws are in town. So I borrowed a Ford Expedition and apparently I'm taking an expedition to a

Cowboy Festival. I am not going to an IndyCar race at Long Beach. Are you going to stagecoach?

No, it's a Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival. I think it's like Southern California does Texas,

basically. Yeah. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but we'll find out. I guess there's a

number of those things because Tammy just went to Austin to meet her family for some kind of

music festival, country music festival. But I stayed. I stayed back because I want to go to

the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to that. So I'm going to go out on Sunday.

You usually got to get out. So I guess you're listening to this after the Grand Prix of Long

Beach. It was a great race. It was a great race. We had such a great time. It was the best one I

met. And everybody won, I think. I don't know. Participation prizes. Yeah, everybody won.

They caught up with friends. It was a great time. Although at NHRA, I did

chat with Ron Capps and Alexis DeGioria. And I think Ron Capps came in second in a funny car.

Tony Stewart, I believe, won top fuel for the weekend. It's not Tony Stewart. I didn't

follow drag racing particularly. Is that Tony Stewart of NASCAR fame? Yes. That is the same

Tony Stewart. He has switched over to drag racing. He married a drag racer. They have a little son

named Dominic and now he is running top fuel. So you missed it. You missed all whatever happened

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some cards. I know you've been driving a few things. I was driving a few things, went to some

debuts, saw some new stuff. And where we are with gas prices and EV and one of the things that came

up that I saw recently was this was a question that was kind of posed out to the community going,

at what point would gas prices get expensive enough that you would switch to an EV? And that

was a weird question in my opinion because that just implies you would buy a whole new vehicle or

sell a vehicle and buy a new vehicle just based on gas prices, not really based on the vehicle

itself, how good it is and things like that. So it's kind of a weird question to ask. But

I would imagine you guys being at the forefront with Edmunds and seeing data and search responses

and things like that. There must be some correlation at this point with people going,

I would consider buying an EV or I'm more interested in EV or something to that point

being with gas prices, especially in California because we pay 650 a gallon.

Yeah. I mean, if you look at our website, obviously our website is this is national data.

And whenever you get a surge in gas prices, you always get a surge in interest for how do I,

for more fuel efficient vehicles. So we did see, as soon as the war started in Iran, gas prices

started to shoot up or oil prices started to shoot up initially, we saw a spike in interest

in EVs. We also saw a spike in interest in things like hybrids, which is common sense.

Whether that then translates into sales is a bit of a mute point. It's interesting some data this

week saying EV sales are now dropped to under 5% of the market, despite a lot of manufacturers

throwing a lot of money at, particularly at lease deals. So I think the gas prices would

need to stay high for a long period of time for you to see a really strong shift in sentiment.

So let's say the war went on and in two or three months time or gas prices start to

normalize at a much higher price point nationwide, then I think you would start to see a shift. I mean,

there would be a massive irony if Donald Trump saved the electric car by going to war with Iran,

wouldn't it? It's sort of a kind of an extraordinary turn of events. But there is also,

in most people's minds, I mean, if you think about the purchase of a vehicle, lease a vehicle,

the cost of fueling it, unless you're doing mega miles is actually a relatively small proportion

of the total cost of the vehicle. If you think about, you know, not just the vehicle, but the

insurance and everything else that goes with it, the maintenance. However, everything else is a

sunk cost. So once you've decided, once you've, you know, negotiated your monthly payment,

once you've done your insurance, all of that's a sunk cost. It's like gym membership. It's out

of your mind. Whereas filling up every week at the gas station is a variable cost that's very

much front of mind because you see it in front of you every week. And so the psychological impact

of gas prices greatly outweighs the sort of basic economics, if that makes sense. So any

sort of change in price, consideration goes up. If there's a longer term increase in cost,

then you do start to see a transition in the marketplace. So I mean, as we sit here today,

the straight is now open, oil prices are coming down, you know, but who knows, you know, I don't

anybody expected this in the first place. So right. So it's obviously it's tough to base it off of

like a war and the current gas prices because there's, you know, you, you, you shop online for

pricing and then the next minute there's, you know, gladly there's a ceasefire. Let's, let's

hold off. Let's try to negotiate this and fix things and open the straight and let's get oil

going again. Or when we start opening pipelines here in California to get oil in and, you know,

so it's, it's not the best decision to just base it off of the current politics, the political

situation. I mean, you can go, you can go completely the other way. I used to race against the guy,

friend of mine, still a friend of mine. He bought a supercharged V8 Range Rover in the UK

when gas, you know, bear in mind gas price in the UK can be double what they are even in California

because he was, he was an accountant by trade and he was just got like a stupid deal. So he's

like, I paid 15,000 pounds, 20,000 bucks for this vehicle that used to be a hundred thousand.

Yeah. Because nobody is willing to fuel this thing because it does like seven miles per gallon.

But it done the maths and it was like, I'm just, every time I go to the fuel stop, I'm going to

remind myself that I paid 20,000 bucks for a hundred thousand dollar car. And if you do the

mass over a three year cycle, as long as you're not doing 50,000 miles a year, it totally made

sense. But it was like a big sort of psychological leap. And meantime, he drove around in a supercharged

V8 Range Rover, which is very nice. Thank you very much. Yes, which is a great vehicle. Do, do,

do people shame you out there for having a vehicle? Like we went through that phase of where

people were destroying like Humvees on a dealer lot because they're like, oh, you're killing the

earth with your Humvee. And by the way, only if you put a hundred thousand miles on your Humvee,

are you, you know, in the bad gas mileage. But if you bought it and you park it, you drive it eight

miles a week, like what are you doing nothing? There was always a thing, you know, I've been here

since 2018 now. But before I came here, I used to do a lot of the BBC would ring me up British

Broadcasting Corporation. And I used to call it Rentagob. Because basically, I got this

reputation, they just wanted somebody to come on and say something on to particularly on breakfast

TV and breakfast BBC breakfast in the UK had a huge audience. So I'd get this call and say,

can you come on and we want to talk about driving SUVs or they always call it four by fours, four

by fours in London. And then they'd bring in that, you know, they'd bring in like an anti four by four

protester. And the BBC has this reputation of a very kind of fair and equitable, not like US news.

But the reality was they always wanted somebody on both polar opposite ends of the spectrum.

So I was supposed to go in and be this kind of like, you know, arch, arch advocate for it. And

then you'd get some, you know, some, you know, kind of somebody wearing hemp on the other on the

side of it. But it was always hilarious because you'd go in and you'd sit down and I'd try to be

reasonable to a point. And then the BBC always used to send a chauffeur. So the BBC would pick me

up in a chauffeur, which would be like a Mercedes E class or something. And he always made me laugh

because the protesters would always take the chauffeur. Because you'd see them arrive.

Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah. So, you know, I remember sitting there one day, there's like four million

people watching, you know, it's interesting. I mean, because the vehicle that you've just quoted

actually is more fuel efficient than the chauffeur driven limousine that arrived in this morning.

I hope you said that on the air. I did. And then I got like a hundred text messages from

everybody who had it on over breakfast about a minute later. So yeah, there was lots of,

you know, all people using like diesel, old diesel Land Rover's to tow anti-globalization

bars. And I mean, it's, you know, it's very easy to start picking holes in some of this stuff.

I'm not like a headbanger. I believe, you know, I think climate change is real and everything

else. But yeah, it's sometimes, sometimes amusing how these things play out.

You know, I would say Leno is famous for this one quote, but I'm sure he's been asked this

question a million times. People have asked him and said, you have so many cars, aren't you worried

about, you know, the environment, whatever. And he's always just responded the same way going,

I can only drive one at a time, just like you asking me questions. You drove here to ask me

questions. You're driving your car. You'd, you know, you have one car. I have 300 cars,

but I only drive one at a time. He doesn't have a fleet of people driving his cars all around the

earth. You know, he's just like, it's, it's him. It's pretty much him. I mean, they may move a car

from one warehouse to the other, but you know, he's pretty much drives his own cars. He's like,

I just drive one at a time, you know, although we have also seen some funny images of

like formula E, right? They're out there and they're running the batteries and it's the clean

version of racing, but kind of off, you know, behind, you know, the drapes or whatever that they

have is these massive, massive like diesel generators to charge the batteries that are there

being raised. And so it's, it's, and I know people post that stuff and they laugh and are like,

this is insane. You're doing the exact opposite of what you're preaching. I'm like, no, I think this

is more an exercise in EV development than the R&D thing. It's not really about clean racing

because we have, we have, what's the, well, I forgot the name of it, the alternative fuel that

like most of the Porsche has been working on. Bio fuel. The bio fuel that, you know, is clean and

made from solar power and they can only make it around the equator because we need massive

amounts of solar power to make that fuel. I think that's going to be a great solution for

racing. So I think, you know, they were talking about running GT3 cups and things like that.

No, I do remember that. I think my favorite example that we were talking about with the

formula E, I went on the Taycan launch, Taycan turbo GT launch in Spain. I might have talked

about this years ago. This is only probably a couple of years ago now. And so we all flew to

Spain. So to this right in Moversirk in Spain. So I think that was fly to, if I remember like

fly LA to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris, Paris to somewhere in Spain. So we've all flown in.

And then they were showing us the car and then he was like, what's over there? They're like,

nothing to see, nothing to see. So obviously we went to have a look. And they had like, they'd

like hidden, but they had these, they had this massive super charging bank, which was run by

this sort of industrial level diesel generator. Like one of those big porter cabin things you get

on construction sites, this thing turning over. And because it was a remote circuit in the middle

of nowhere, no race circuits have got fast charging at the moment. So yeah, yeah. I mean,

you can pick holes in all of this stuff, but you're right. I mean, it's a formula E is,

I struggled to get into it myself. I don't find it the most exciting form of racing, but

it is about developing, you know, electric battery technologies and everything else.

Yeah. Yeah. And I agree with that. And speaking of that, I've been driving

the Hyundai Ioniq 5N. It's a, it's a bright orange and it is fun and it is quick and it makes

all kinds of wonderful fake noises, but they sound amazing and it's, it's, it's fun.

Tammy went in it too. And I know we've kept saying like, you got to like understand the

size of an Ioniq 5. It's the size of a kind of a, you know, like a little SUV, but this one,

because it's lower and stuff, it just feels small. It just feels like a zippy little small car.

And she even said, she's like, this little thing is fun. And I was like, yeah, is it little?

No, it's always way, and Ioniq 5 is always way bigger than you think is. I think part of it,

because it looks like a Mark 1 Volkswagen Golf, which was tiny. Yeah.

So your, in your brain, just that kind of hatchback silhouette, you instantly think small,

but actually the footprint of it is, is big. It's a, it's a sizable SUV.

Yeah. I mean, this one, I mean, cause it feel, you feel low. It has like a high belt line,

right? So you feel like you sit low in the sports seat and it kind of feels low and it's got a

little bit of a more fender, a little more pronounced fender in the rear with a little

vents in it. So it feels like a little wider and lower. But what a blast to drive.

I was just, while you were talking, I was just quickly Googling, yeah, like,

it's basically the same length as a Honda CR-V. And the Honda CR-V's got big.

Yeah. So yeah, it's kind of easy to, I think it's an inch shorter, but it's, it's, it's easy to kind

of forget how that, how much, you know, how much everything's grown, but also how big an Ioniq

5. But I love that car. You know, I think that is including things like the Taycan turbos and

stuff. That is the most fun EV. I think the Model S performances, Model 3 performance is really fun

as well. But I love that Ioniq. I'd have one in a heartbeat for, you know, driving on the track.

I've done it on the track. We've done it at Edmunds U-Drags. We've done it. We've driven it

everywhere. And yeah, I love it. I took this kid, you know, I love the fact you take the kids to

school in it. You put it in like EV stealth mode, and it's just another electric car. Then you can

play with the gadgets and you suddenly you're in like flappy paddle mode with fake sound or

anything else. And it really works, doesn't it? That, that, that the way that you can, each paddle

shift up and down, you get like the, it simulates the throttle cut out. So you get that little,

little nudge in your back, a little momentum shift. There's a couple of people I've spoken to who are

more kind of gas up performance car orientator engineers who were like, almost like begrudging.

Like it's really good and it's really fun. Yeah. They didn't want to have that opinion that we're

going into it. Because everything's fake. So nobody likes anything that's fake, but actually

they've done it so well. And I know I shot a TV documentary on one of, on a development of Focus,

Ford Focus RS years ago. And one of the chief engineers on the Ioniq 5N was the chief engineers

on the Focus RS. And when it came out and I drove it, I sent him a note and I said, he loved Group B

rallying. He loved 1980s rallying. Yeah. And I sent him a note and said, basically you've tried

to build another Group B car, haven't you? But at this time, electric and he sent me a note back

and said, yeah, pretty much. You know, we've seen a number of SUVs, even my truck, my lightning,

has like simulated sounds and propulsion sound. And I didn't like any of it really. I turned

mine off. I was like, maybe it just be quiet. But when I got into the, the Ioniq 5N, I, you know,

I kind of put it in its race mode and, and you can put it, you know, like you said, the simulated

shifting and holds the RPMs up. I was like, none of that is real, but they did such a great job

with simulating it with, with that kind of rally engine sound that didn't make it sound like a V8.

That'd be silly. They made it sound like, I don't know, like a little turbo four or something in it,

like a high winding. I think that's what they've done, done well. And I think it was very deliberate

that they wanted it to sound, again, it comes about that rally thing. They wanted it to sound

like a two to four, like one of the sound realistic to the car that it is, because it would have been

quite easy to put like a V8 or a V10 somebody, but it would have felt sounded incredibly synthetic.

But the noise that it makes is believable for that type of car. Yes, it sounds like a little

buzzy hot hatch, like a Civic Type R or something of that nature. And they did such a great job

doing it that you do kind of forget it's an EV for a second. Like once it's in those modes and

you're kind of trying to figure out the gauges and what it's doing and hearing the sounds,

it takes that away, that sort of silent EV version of it and turns it into a really fun car. I'm

just looking for a place to kind of stretch its legs a little bit. And it's brutally fast. I mean,

it's 911 GT3 fast to 60 in the quarter. The one thing it struggles with for me is just needs

better brakes. That's the Achilles heel for me. It just needs better brakes, but

that's true of a lot of road cars. Once you get it on a track or we had a kind of adventure,

as it drags, the brakes, we can't speak, we had Edmunds U-Drags and this brakes went

pretty quickly, but it's unbelievably fast and it's fun and it will go, you know,

got all the little drift modes and everything else. We had it on our little handling,

low grip handling circuit, the test track, you know, you can drift that thing around.

It's, it's, I think it's fantastic. I think it's really fun. And they are going to bring the Ioniq

6N in. They've cancelled the Ioniq 6, but they are bringing the a few versions of the Ioniq 6N,

which is a kind of like BMW M3 rival, which is the Ioniq 5, but with the margin of lower

center of gravity and a slightly different setup, I think that's going to be an absolutely stonking

car. The Ioniq 5N is 66 grand, 68 grand somewhere in the range. It is a ton of cash. That's the,

it, it is. And then when you get into the interior, it just kind of feels like, you know,

they definitely invested all that money into the performance of the vehicle. Not that the

interior is terrible, but it, I don't think, I haven't been in the regular Ioniq 5, I don't think,

but it doesn't look like they've done a massive difference. Like they might have changed the

trim up a little bit, give it sort of a faux carbon look to it, but overall just like a big

plastic bucket and massive cup holders and it doesn't feel very cockpit-ish.

Yeah, they've done, I mean, all the dials and stuff, which is all digital anyway. So that's

upgraded, the steering wheel, the seats are really big and chunky. I like those. They've done,

they've done that kind of performance car makeover bit, but you're right. It doesn't,

you don't get into it and say, well, this is 70 grand. You know, it's, it's,

yeah. I mean, there's some incredible lease deals on the normal Ioniq 5 at the moment,

but I don't think they extend to the end. But yeah, I would, I'd have one in the heartbeat. I

think they're really cool. And I am excited to buy the Ioniq 6N. It's the first EV that I've really

driven. And I think that actually the Model Y, Model 3 performance is also really good,

but it doesn't feel as, hasn't got as much kind of like amusement factor. It handles really well

and it goes really fast, but it doesn't, doesn't feel as kind of funny as the Ioniq 5N. So I think

it's really cool. Ioniq 6N, I never really liked the design of the Ioniq 6 and maybe the N has

changed it up a little bit. They like, they like cut the back. They make this black line kind of

pitch up so the back doesn't look like such a sad face. Like from the profile, it just looked

like a sad face, but they, they try to do it with the black plastic trim and stuff along the bottom.

But you know, I guess we'll see it in person, see how it goes.

I saw it in person last year. I was at Goodwood for the Good of Festival Speed where they announced

it. The facelifted, the mid-cycle Ioniq 6 looks, looks I think nicer than the original one,

which is quite rare. They've sort of tidied it up a little bit and then the N has got this big

kind of rear wing, which apparently actually needs, because it's got this streamlined aesthetic,

but it needs, it needs the rear wing. I think it looks cool and it's going to be, you know,

it's going to be a pretty exclusive car as well. So yeah, it appeals to me.

Okay. So that's the performance EV side of things, but the performance non-EV side of things.

You were driving Mercedes. I drove a, because we had some guests down at the test track and I was

asked just to do a, do a few whole laps and I jumped into it and I thought it was a,

a standard AMG GT 63. And then I kind of realized after that, because I just literally jumped in

and went, but actually I thought this is really good and feels different to what I remembered.

But it's actually the GT 63 Pro Coupe. 2025 Mercedes AMG GT 63 Pro Coupe. Mercedes has the

longest names in the industry. So we talked before, because we ran it at the U-Drags, a

plug-in hybrid version of the GT 63, which I think is the SE hybrid, which has got like

1,000 pounds of torque and all the rest of it is unbelievably fast,

but very heavy and not particularly, you know, and slightly, and as a result, slightly unappealing.

Mercedes engineers or AMG's engineers obviously decided they also wanted to build the car that

they really wanted to build, which is basically this and it is the same price. So you've got the

hybrid, the plug-in hybrid version, which goes faster in a straight line and has a lot more power,

or for the same price, you can have a GT 63 Pro, which is obviously the engineer's favorite,

doesn't have the hybrid system, doesn't have as much power, isn't quite as fast in a straight line,

but is 500 pounds lighter, has a load of sort of standard stuff, standard carbon fiber brakes and

carbon ceramic brakes and everything else. And I thought it was so nice. I mean, it's still quite

heavy and it's still quite big, but it sounds so good. You've just got a, you know, this wonderful

kind of V8 howl. It's still really, really fast three seconds ish. I can't remember exactly what

time we ran, but somewhere in the three second range. It's a first car that you kind of get into

and think, hmm, maybe I wouldn't have that 911. Maybe I'd have one of these instead.

It's a rival to the, it's just over 200 grand, which of course is an absurd amount of money,

but it makes it a rival to the 911 GTS, the hybrid ironically, or a 911, a 911 S with quite a lot of

spec on it. So after the SLS, when they canceled that and started going to these GT cars,

they've really been going after 911 and the different variants of the 911, right? The hybrid

version, non-hybrid version, different performance versions of it. And a great car. I don't know

that it quite found the audience as enthusiastic as the Porsche audience is something that's been,

you know, massive now with events, air, water and Lufka Colton, rent, sport and all these other

things that community they built around it. I don't think Mercedes has quite that community,

but, and I haven't looked at it in a while other than the SLS cars. I wonder if these cars are,

are they holding their value like some of the 911s? Like, I don't know if the AMG GT versus the 911

or the 911 S, you know, where are they on value? Or do you get into like the GT3, which does better,

the GT Porsches do better as far as value than the normal 911s?

Because this car is still relatively new, it's probably, you know, we haven't got three-year-old

examples and stuff yet. It's probably a little bit early to say, but generally,

generally speaking, they don't tend to hold up as well as the Porsches. But again, you know,

it has got that exclusivity factor, which, you know, there are less AMG GTs than there are 911s

knocking around. But yeah, that has been the thing that they don't tend to hold the value as well,

which can make them really appealing as they're used by. The Porsche thing's interesting,

remember, a guy who lives locally to me was just handing his lease back and the dealer ended up

giving him money at the end of the lease because the residual value was now higher than the buyout fee,

which is quite something to get your head around. Normally, when you hand the car back,

then probably the lease buyout fee is more than the car is worth. In this case,

the lease buyout fee was significantly less than the car was but was worth. So he said to the dealer,

well, I can either keep the car, I'll either buy the car out and sell it myself and pocket the

difference or let's do a deal. And the dealer did a deal. Now, a lot of that has been driven in the

Porsche market because of all the tariffs where Porsche has passed on the cost of the tariff

to the consumer. So the price of the new cars has gone up. And as a result, the price of the used

cars tends to go up, which is the kind of inverse of what's happening in the EV market where

their incentives are so high that the real cost of the car is that much lower. So the residual

values of the used cars gets hammered and you end up in this vicious circle. So I think this

Mercedes AMG, they've got the 53, which is V8. There's the entry level, I think the 43,

which is a two-liter four-pot, I think, I don't know about. Then you've got the 53 and then the 63.

Or is it 55 and 63? I forget, it's one of the two. But I think this is going to be a canny one to

watch on the used market because it does the 911 bit really well. Obviously, it's front engine,

not rear, but it does that sports car thing really well. But then if you flick a switch into comfort,

it also does Mercedes really well, like a big comfortable, almost like an old-school grand tourer.

So I was a big fan of it. I think it's a cool thing.

I'll share this. I clicked on these models.

Yeah, there you go. 43 is the entry level.

So the AMG GT 43, a GT 55, a GT 63, a 63 SE performance.

That's the plug-in hybrid.

And then a 63 pro-formatic plus coupe. That's the one you just drove.

Yeah, that's the one that you really want, but it is 200 grand.

I think a 55 is probably the sweet spot in terms of cost. It's about 100.

Yeah, so it's 138 and 140 grand, yeah.

There could be options like 911 options.

Yeah, I actually had a quick look at that. It's not as bad. You probably get it to 150 or something,

you know, if you put some metallic paint on it and various other things or the paint that you want.

So it's an awful lot of money, but actually 150 grand in the 911 world these days doesn't actually

get you that much.

See, but looking at these cars, this is the same kind of thing with 911.

If you're not super tuned in to all the variations,

you go the $100,000 version looks like the $200,000 version.

Correct. And they all look a million dollars. It's a beautiful looking car.

You're right. And how fast do you really need to go?

Because frankly, the 55 gives you the V8 and is more than enough for the road.

Yeah. All right, we're going to take a break, but I wanted to ask about BioPro.

You've been taking your BioPro? BioPro Plus?

I've been taking my BioPro. I've stupidly just agreed.

I don't know what we're going to do. It's right on the cusp of the weather, but we've got

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And one of my friends got a permit to climb to the top.

So that would be like a 22 hour hiking day. So I need to get fit, sharpish.

When are you supposed to do it?

October. So it's right. It's difficult because you get into it.

Once you get into winter, obviously like the snow comes and I'm no mountaineer.

If like it's just like an arduous trudge, I'm up for it.

But putting crampons on and all the rest of it, that it's not for me.

I don't do rock climbing. It terrifies me.

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Okay, so I got invited to a presentation over here in the Culver City area where Volvo was

unveiling one of their new cars that it's not a secret that's been on their website and stuff for

a while, the EV60. This is an all electric. EX. I'm sorry. EX60. I keep thinking EV and then

we've had so many of like V, VC, VG. It's just getting so confusing to understand all these

cars. But this is a new EV from Volvo. It is a two row SUV and it's very nice. It's very sharp

looking. They definitely spent time on trying to make this thing as kind of sleek and aerodynamic and

every little thing that they could have done to make this thing more efficient as far as

aerodynamics design and road noise and all that stuff. And this is one of the things we've been

talking about before. You'd mentioned that. I think it was Ford was talking about going,

oh, you know, Ford grabbed a Model Y Tesla and they said, we've over engineered our Mach E.

Like it's got, you know, way more wiring and cables and cooling and all this stuff that it

never needed. So how do we make these cars more efficient, more aerodynamic, lighter weight?

And for Volvo, this is the evolution of that. The EX60 is very, very nice looking.

What I understood is there's going to be three trim options. There is a single motor rear wheel

drive and there will be two dual motor all wheel drive options and the battery size will also

contribute to the range and the performance. So I think on the low end, it's about 325 or so miles

of range and on the high end up to 400 miles of range. Again, I don't know if this is the European

testing or their US spec. Definitely something you guys want to put on the Edmunds range test.

But they're saying, you know, 670 horsepower, you can see some of the specs, 3.8 seconds, 0 to 60.

And one of the things they were very, very proud about is how quickly it can charge from roughly

10 to 80 percent. They were saying, hey, on average, this says 19 minutes here, but they were doing a

thing. One of the engineers was saying, listen, on average, you pull up to a gas station, you spend

about seven minutes like adding some fuel to your car, maybe not going from empty tank to full tank,

but like if you were driving from here to Vegas and you stop and you needed to, you know, you had

half a tank or three quarters of a tank and you weren't quite or sorry, a quarter of a tank

and you needed to top it off. This was the thing saying if you pulled up to a significant charger,

one of the 350 kilowatt chargers, you can add something like 170 miles of range in

seven minutes or nine minutes or whatever it was. They wanted to make it almost comparable to

filling up with gas. And even before this car is released, they've already figured out optimizing

the software, which they were able to do just over the air updates and to make it even more

efficient. So yeah, it looks good. Some of the issues that I had in driving recently like the

V60 cross country was, you know, it didn't have wireless car play. You had it still use a cable.

All of that stuff has been revised. It's got the latest newest gear. It has this big touch screen

in the middle and a nice little screen in front of the driver. This has the latest NVIDIA chips,

so it's supposed to be very fast. We got a little bit of a demo on the interface, but

we're very limited on time because it was sort of in a studio with a bunch of pressed people around,

but overall looks good. Have you guys driven this yet? Have you looked at this yet?

Yeah, we went to Sweden, not me personally. I think Clint on the team went to Sweden to

have a look at it a while back. I mean, it looks great. I think the design looks, it's very Volvo,

isn't it? It's very minimalist. It's very Swedish. It's very kind of simple, elegant.

This is the vehicle that was supposed to be the brave new dawn for Volvo, that they were

getting rid of all the gas cars. They were going to do the EX-90, which came out. The EX-90 was

launched with a few problems, which I believe are being overcome, but the EX-60 was going to be,

these two cars were going to be the future of Volvo, both electric, all in. This is what Volvo

is now, and they've hit the Porsche problem, which is, oh God, some of the world is going electric.

The Scandinavian countries are, and China is, but not the US and not large swathes of Europe.

That's why they ended up having to re-engineer the EX-90 and the EX-60 to facelift them yet

again to try and keep them going. In the meantime, launched the car that actually was the plan all

along. It's no surprise that everything that you're saying, this was supposed to be the brave

new dawn where all the new technology was, where all the new design was. This is where Volvo wants

to be, but because of the market and the pullback against EVs, they've had to keep going with the

EX-60 and the EX-90 as well, which are now as old as the Hills. EX-C90, how old is that? That's like

12, 13, 14 years old now. I remember driving it years ago. That's like, I remember going to the

tech presentation. I think I was about 12. It's a very old car, and it still was just about okay,

but it was never the intention to keep going with it. The EX-60 is all in on,

this was the car that they were hoping to build and they're hoping to be issue success.

And it certainly looks good. We'll just have to see how many people are starts at 60. So let's say

it's 70 grand for mid-spec or something. It's quite a lot of money.

Yeah, that's going to be the issue. That's one of the things we talked about

in the recent Volvo's that I was driving going, oh, this is a nice little SUV,

or the wagon's kind of cool, but it's 60 grand and works its way up to 68 grand with a few options

when something like a Kia Telluride or even the nice Palisade calligraphy 60-ish grand,

and it just feels like a little bit more than the Volvo. But we'll see with this EX-60,

maybe this thing will be a home run for them because if it does come in with the performance

and the range, that could be a significant factor because when we start looking at close to 400

miles of range. I hope so. I hope so. It's a big opportunity. Somebody's got to come along

and do the Tesla thing. I was looking at the data the other day. It's like 49%

market share or something like 48, 49% market share still for the Model Y.

So you've got to hope that somebody's got to catch it. I think the Rivian R2,

which we talked about the other week, is a great opportunity. This Volvo is not trying to do the

off-roadery things that the Rivian is, but it's a great looking car. I hope there is a kind of

reset now and we can go forward again because I think there's some really interesting good cars

coming out and I hope they just don't get lost in the whole anti-EV thing. Yeah, I agree with that.

And then one other thing I wanted to talk about real quick before we wrap up is again,

non-EV looking at more affordable SUVs. The Mazda CX-5, this has come up a couple of times in

conversation with us because it's always ranked pretty well with you guys. It's always been sort

of a top three, top five SUV in its category. But now there's the new version of the CX-5

that's out there. You drove it, right? Yeah, I spent last weekend in it. I think we're running it

through the full testing process this week. I don't want to prejudge it because we haven't

running through all the testing. The only thing for me that slightly disappointed me, the old CX-5

had a real character about it. It was sporty to drive. It had an interior quality that was a kind

of match for, you know, much more luxurious cars. There was a real reason to buy one. The Achilles

heel was that the interior space wasn't as good as everything else. The rear space in particular

was really tight. So if you're a family person and you're trying to put kid seats in or you were

tall or something, it didn't, you know, it didn't stack up. So it didn't tend to win our group test.

What we tended to say is, if you're not looking for ultimate space, go for a CX-5. If you need the

space, then we can get something like a CR-V. So I think what Mazda has done with this car is say,

right, why are we being criticized because we're not going to have enough space? So let's extend

the wheelbase. Let's make it bigger. And they've done all that. So it is a lot bigger, particularly

in the rear than the old one. But the interior quality doesn't feel quite as good. It feels a

little bit bland. They've gone for that big screen in the middle of the dash routine that

everybody does now. And it just feels a little bit stuck on. And some of the character of the old

car has been diminished. And it's okay to drive, but it doesn't feel quite as sporting as the old

one. So I suspect it's going to be one of those vehicles where when we run it through the test

and kind of run all the objective analysis, it actually does well. But some of those kind of

little surprise and delight thing, which was always the success of the old CX-5, it feels

like they've just lost a little bit of a little bit of that. But let's see when we run it through

all the testing stuff. But I, you know, I did come away thinking, you kind of lost a bit of

like who you were here. You just, you know, a lot of these cars, they do all the customer clinics,

and they write down everything that a customer wants, and they build a car to that specification.

And then you end up with a RAV4 and a CR-V. The hard thing for a brand-like master is to say,

right, how can we get people out of a CR-V, out of a RAV4, and to consider a master,

because it's not the default choice. It's what Volkswagen's trying to do with the Tiguan as well.

And but just by doing another identikit CR-V, I don't really see the point.

Right. So it lost a little bit of its uniqueness, right? Like to be a little bit different than the

RAV4 and the CR-V. And so a little bit of its charm. That's your initial reaction.

At first, I spent the weekend, I just thought it just, it just, you could take the master

bash of it. And frankly, it could have been, it could have been anything. Whereas the old CR-V,

you know, you did think if I could live with the lack of rear space, this is it. So almost like

take the old one, add six inches of wheelbase and job done. But anyway, they haven't quite done that.

We'll see how it, we'll see how it stacks up when we run it through the test. But

just a bit boring. It's interesting because we've talked about this before, where we've seen so

many car companies going, this is the future. This is what people, we got to get them to, you know,

get used to these changes, right? Except in the truck world. The truck world is every press event

and was always like, we listened to the customer. We asked everybody in the world that owns a truck.

This is what they want, which makes the truck space competitive. Like, do you get into that

market with something new and can you compete? Cybertruck try to do it, right? Cybertruck's going,

we looked at F-150 and we're going to come up with Cybertruck or we even look at Lightning or

the electric Silverado. We're going to come up with Cybertruck. But and it's fine, but there's just

so many little things that they figured out over years and years and years that truck owners want.

It was a little tough to turn the Cybertruck into the new work truck for everybody that's out there,

right? Excuse me. But I'm hearing that Hyundai, Hyundai and Kia, or is it just Hyundai?

No, Hyundai and Kia are going to do a body on frame.

They want to do a body on frame truck. They want to do a pickup truck. And this one is interesting

to me because they've been hitting home runs. They've been doing well with a lot of their vehicles.

And now it'd be interesting to see if they can pull it off with a truck.

Yes. I think basically that I'm actually going to career in a couple of weeks with Kia.

I haven't been out to sell for a long time. So I said, I would go and spend some time with them.

They, that company, you know, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, they just want to win everywhere.

And they've got the resource to do it. So on the one hand, they're building Ioniq five ends.

And on the other hand, they're going to build a body on frame truck to try and dominate the US

market. So, yeah, they are, they are super, super aggressive, super ambitious. And frankly,

they're doing a great job. So we will see. They're doing a good job because they're building cars

like the five end that gets attention and they're building good cars like the Telluride and Palisades

that earn them money. One of the things that has come up recently with Nissan is Nissan with new

Nissan and Infinity with new bosses in charge and car guys in charge. They are saying we do need to

get back to, you know, some halo cars. We need high performance SUVs. We'd love to see a high

performance coupes in sports cars. And, and they said, we understand that we won't sell a lot of

those, but those are part of the DNA of the brand that performance. So we need halo cars to sell

the rest of our cars. And they're like, we don't expect to sell a lot, but we'd love to have a

high performance manual transmission sports car, you know, bring back the skyline.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's an age and old trusted thing, isn't it? That's what they,

you know, that's this race on a Sunday sell on a Monday or, you know, have some halo product

product. That's why Jaguar came back with the F type, which is, you know, I still think is a

beautiful looking car and it's going to be a good car in the, in the US market. But yeah,

there it's, it's interesting times, but Hyundai, of all the brands out there, Hyundai, Kia, you

know, they're the guys on the move right now. Yeah. All right. So a lot to look forward to.

I'm getting ready to head out to the races and enjoy, enjoy your concert series, music, music

fest. I'm a little concerned about the kids doing ax throwing, but you know, cowboy fest.

Tammy went out to this event in Austin and she found a baseball cat that just said cowboy hat

on the front. She's like, this is my cowboy hat. I thought it was very charming. It was very funny.

So she's, she's out there wearing her cowboy hat, if you will. All right, guys. We appreciate

you listening. A lot more to look forward to next week. So we'll see you guys then until then.

Keep the air in the spare and the bag in the wheel.

And yours at Toyota.com. Toyota, let's go places.

0:00

46:45

CarCast+Edmunds - Hyundai IONIC 5 N, new Mazda CX-5 and Mercedes AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+ Coupe

HRA drag racing

Humvee

climate change is real

EV development vs clean racing

Taycan launch trip to Spain (Moversirk)

high belt line

fender vents

Goodwood for the Good of Festival Speed

front-engine vs rear-engine sports-car layout

cusp of the weather

EV pullback against EVs

Telluride

About this episode

Original notes