EVs stand for electric vehicles. These cars run on electricity instead of gas, which makes them better for the environment because they don't produce exhaust fumes.
The Honda Prelude is a two-door car that was made by Honda. It's known for being fun to drive and has a sporty look, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
The Kia Telluride is a family-friendly SUV that has a lot of space inside and comes with many features. It's known for being a good value for the price.
The Jeep Recon is a new electric SUV that will still be good for off-roading, just like other Jeeps. It's important because it's part of Jeep's move to make electric cars.
A concept vehicle is a car that is made to show new ideas and designs, but it usually isn't sold to the public. It's more like a preview of what a car could look like in the future.
Off-road means driving on rough surfaces like dirt or rocks instead of regular roads. Some cars are specially made to handle these tough conditions, making them great for adventures.
The Raptor is a special version of the Ford F-150 truck that is built for off-road driving. It has a strong engine and special features that help it handle rough trails and dirt roads.
The Palisade is a family-friendly SUV made by Hyundai. It has a lot of space inside for passengers and their stuff, and it comes with many modern features.
The Ioniq is a small car made by Hyundai that comes in different versions, including electric and hybrid. It's designed to be good for the environment and save on fuel.
A hybrid vehicle uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to power the car. This helps save fuel and is better for the environment than cars that only use gas.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a new electric SUV that looks different and has a lot of space inside. It's important because it can charge quickly and is part of the trend towards electric cars.
Car
Jeep Rekon
The Jeep Rekon is a new electric vehicle from Jeep that offers features like removable doors, similar to the Wrangler. It's designed to be a larger version of the Wrangler, making it versatile for outdoor adventures.
The Jeep Wrangler is a tough, boxy car that's great for driving on rough roads and trails. It's popular because it can go almost anywhere, and now there are electric versions that are better for the environment.
The Wagoneer S is a new electric SUV from Jeep. It's designed to be a modern version of their classic Wagoneer, but with electric power instead of gasoline.
Electrification means changing cars from using gasoline engines to electric motors. It's happening because people want cleaner and more efficient vehicles.
A skateboard platform is a design for electric cars where the battery is placed in a flat area, making it easy to build different types of cars on top of it.
The Dodge Ram is a big truck that's great for carrying heavy loads and doing tough jobs. It's talked about a lot because it's a popular choice for people who need a strong vehicle.
The Rivian R1S is a new electric SUV that's built for adventure and can fit a lot of people and gear. It's interesting because it's designed for outdoor activities and is part of the growing trend of electric cars.
A range extender is like a backup generator for electric cars. It helps the car go further by using a small gas engine to create more electricity when the battery runs low.
The Dodge Charger is a big car that looks sporty and is known for being fast. It's often talked about because it's a classic American car that has a lot of power and is now changing with new electric models.
IRS means Independent Rear Suspension, which helps the back wheels of a car move separately. This makes the ride smoother and helps the car handle better, especially when turning.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that many people like for its good balance of size, comfort, and performance. The Mark I is the very first version of this car, made a long time ago.
The Ford Ranger is a smaller truck that's good for carrying stuff and driving on different types of roads. It's popular because it can be used for work or fun, and it has some new features that make it even better.
The Lucid Gravity is a new luxury electric SUV that promises to be very fast and comfortable. It's important because it's trying to compete with other high-end electric cars on the market.
The Chevrolet Blazer EV is a new electric SUV that looks stylish and is designed to be efficient. It's important because it's part of Chevrolet's plan to make more electric cars.
The Genesis GV60 is a fancy electric SUV that has a lot of luxury features. It's important because it's part of a brand that wants to make high-quality electric cars.
The Tesla Model Y is a modern electric SUV that doesn't use gas. It's popular because it can go a long way on a single charge and has lots of cool technology inside.
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Hello, welcome to the Edmunds Podcast podcast. I'm Matt, the moderator at The Andrew here with
Alistair Weaver. We're just back from a whirlwind day at the LA Auto show. Kind of a lot to see.
I thought the press days were like two days. Maybe I'm wrong about that,
but I remember years ago was like maybe like a Wednesday, Thursday or something,
and now it's just kind of one day. That's right. Years ago, the LA show was a big media presence.
I used to get flown over by Land Rover most years. It was always a treat when you lived
in the UK because you came to LA in November. You saw the sun for the last time. You did
your Christmas shopping because America was cheaper in those days, and you had a great
auto show. I think now it's very much more of a consumer show, but the Korean brands in particular,
Jeep also had a new car we're going to talk about in a moment. There was more than that has been,
for sure, but it wasn't like two-day spectacular with like 50 new models or something. It was,
but there was still enough to see. I think for consumers, for car shoppers going to the show
and being able to carry, there's a lot to see and an opportunity to go and
sit in stuff and kick some tires in an environment that's perhaps a little bit more laid back.
I still think it has a value, and I enjoyed it. I wasn't there all day, but I enjoyed the time that
I was. Again, if you're in the proximity of LA Convention Center, even if you're a state or
two away, it's a good show to go and visit. They run it for like a week or 10 days or something
during the Thanksgiving break as well. You can go, you can see these cars, you can get in these
cars, oftentimes ask a bunch of questions about them, and all under one roof get a nice look at
what is out there and soon to be out there without so much pressure over the dealer and
hopping from one dealer to another. It's still a pretty good size show for the West Coast.
We've got Detroit, we've got New York, those auto shows and stuff, but this is a
decent show to go to. There's a bit of fun stuff as well, isn't there? There was a
couple of car collections there. There's always a bit of Exotica, there's a few concept cars.
It's still a decent family day out. When I was a kid, I used to queue for hours. I remember
like going to the British Motor Show and you'd stand and queue for hours to sit in a Bentley
and go back with a billion brochures and everything else. Whenever I get jaded or
tired or like, oh God, I've got a little bit of five, then I do think back to those days and
how lucky I am now to go on a press day when it's pretty quiet.
It's more experiential as well. Now that we have EVs, they drive the EVs indoors,
so there's like a little off-road thing going on inside the convention center.
Not just EVs, there was Broncos going up and down. I remember in the days,
they said, no, you can't bring every car out to be empty because I don't know what's
changed. They didn't want fumes and stuff in there, but the cars are so clean these days anyway.
It's like if you walk in through there with a leaf blower, everyone would be choking and dying,
but you could put 50 cars and drive them all around and it's fine.
Anyway, so a few things that kind of stood out for me.
Hyundai and Genesis had some things to talk about. We can get into Porsche Cayenne EV finally.
Although not at the show. Not at the show. I mean, that was a bit cheeky,
like launched in LA, but not at the show. Yeah. Talk about down regressing.
Like Porsche used to have the best display, a whole room, and now it was just like Porsche
of downtown LA. That was a little weak for sure. But that's some interesting stuff.
A Honda Prelude, you get to see in person up close now if you want to see that car.
And they announced some pricing information we can hit on as well. This might take us
two or three hours. I think we've got a couple of weeks to go here, but like Kia Telluride was
obviously really big news. Jeep Recon, Hyundai Crater. I mean, Hyundai Crater is maybe a good
place to add a great conversation with Sangyup Lee, a guy that I've met a couple of times.
These ex-general motors, ex-Volkswagen now heads up Hyundai's design and has done for the best
part of a decade, I think. Very charismatic guy. Only he's sort of mid-fifties. He's not,
you know, and has done a fantastic job of overseeing Korean design. And yeah, the Hyundai Crater is
a... This is a concept vehicle, to be clear. This is not necessarily heading to production
that we know. Well, it's not. It's a concept vehicle, but there was a lovely sign-off that
he did. And he looked at me and he said, you know, we don't really do concept vehicles at
Hyundai. So he was... Okay. You know, there's a very clear signal that they want to do
something like this, which probably will, you know, like you think about like the Arionic 5 came out
and, you know, it had all that sort of like 80s arcade game vibe about it and everything else.
And he was like, oh, well, I'm going to build that. And actually the production car looked
pretty much identical. So there's a lot of like fantasy stuff on this, particularly as a roll
cage inside and things like that. But the basic design feels eminently doable. It's about the size,
it's slightly smaller than Ionic 5. It's got a, you know, it's a proper family SUV,
but this whole XRT thing, remember they brought in XRT as being a trim level. So it's like,
you get an Ionic 5 XRT, which is the one that looks like it's... But I've got prototype
panels on it, you know what I mean? Yeah. And like a token off-road thing. But it feels like
they're now going to turn XRT into something more like a brand. So you'll have end for performance,
then you'll have XRT will be like the off-roadery thing. Like Raptor. Yeah, like a Raptor. And I
think they have a real desire to go after Jeep and Bronco and everything else with something
that's maybe a little bit more road focused, but has that kind of overlanding vibe about it.
And you know, this is a big concept car, but there's quite a lot of tech on there that feels
realistic. They've got the projection onto the windscreen that's quite cool. They've got these
little kind of modules that little screen things that you can unplug and take with you for navigation
or speakers and that kind of thing. A lot of really nice attention to detail. There's one
thing that I really love there is explaining to me in the backseat, it obviously rides quite
high. And he said, we know from all like the research that kids, you know,
little kids struggle to get into them. And me, and me, and I wouldn't, you know,
I get it. No, I appreciate it. I didn't want to have a human resource. I didn't want to have a human
resources moment. But, but to continue the anecdote, they've put on the roll cage,
like little hands. It's really cute. So it's almost like saying to a kid, put your little
poor here, but another poor here and to climb in. There's lots of like really fun stuff in the car.
And they've got this little, we got this little got this like little caricature that again has a
slight hint about of sort of 80s arcade game about it. This little character that peppers
the car as well. I thought it was was cool. The other thing from a technical point of view,
this is presented as an EV concept, but they were talking about doing
multi-platform. You know, today, Hyundai's basically said, right, gas and hybrid over here, like the
Palisade, Ionix, which are pure electric over here, I think they're going to move in like the same
way that everybody else does, where you can basically get one car and then pick your powertrain.
So I think this could be the same. This I feel like this needs to be, again, with the off-road
vehicles and kind of going away for the weekend or whatever, I kind of feel like I'm fine with
hybrid and range extenders and stuff, but just pure battery electric is not my choice when it comes to
these types of vehicles. So I really think this thing would do well with some sort of gas component,
right, range and hybrid. Yeah, like a hybrid or something like that. Something like a hybrid.
Yeah, but I think a vehicle like this could do really well for them and would be a natural
fit alongside like the two Sons and everything else that's in the line up. And again, it's just,
you feel like the cool stuff is coming out of Korea at the moment. They've got, you know,
it's looking around, they've got the Hyundai Ionix 5A, Ionix 6N, which I saw at Goodwin
in the summer that's headed here now. That looks great. And at the same time as this was
happening in LA, we were also, you know, Genesis was launching stuff in the South
France. Maybe we should talk about that separately in a moment, but you do feel like the cool,
exciting stuff is coming out of Korea at the moment. Yeah, for sure. I agree.
And Jeep also had the Rekon. Yeah, Jeep had the Rekon, which is, so the crater is kind of
would be a rival to the Rekon potentially, which is an electric Jeep. It's kind of an
electric Jeep Wrangler really, but a bit bigger. I'm gonna see if I can bring it up real quick.
Here we go. Jeep Rekon. So again, if you guys are on YouTube, you can guys check out some of the
cars that we're talking about here. The one that they showed, you know, had
all the removable panels and stuff like what Bronco is doing, what Jeep's been doing for a
while for a long time, removable doors and all that stuff that are just making it a little bit
easier. But this thing is, this thing's fast. Yeah, I mean, it's got good power. 600 horsepower,
isn't it? 650? 650 horsepower. Again, you've got to think, do you need like a
off-road Jeep Wrangler with 650 horsepower? I mean, it's fun for a moment, but like,
is that the priority? I don't know. For me, this is a really interesting car. I mean,
they've already done the Wagoneer S, which is their electric SUV. So they've now, off that
technology, they've now spun something that's much more kind of off-road focused and is
really a kind of Wrangler in the EV world. And I mean, it's not going to be cheap. We're
starting at $67,000. Yeah. And if you look inside, it's much more kind of Wagoneer S in
terms of you've got the big screen in the middle and everything else. So it's almost
like Wagoneer S meets Wrangler. But the thing that struck me about this car is thinking about it
while I was wandering around the show, when all these cars were signed off, this would have been
signed off probably four or five years ago, that we're going to do this. And now it's hitting
market, but it's hitting market just at such a weird moment where everybody's,
like there's been this big pivot away from EVs. And I think we're going to see this
from more and more brands suddenly that these cars that have been in development,
Cayenne EVs, another one, that if you were making a decision today, are you going to do a Cayenne EV
or are you going to do something that has multiple power plants and blah, blah, blah. You're
going to do the multiple approach. But five years ago, the world looked like a very different
place. Five years ago, even the US was saying, we're done with gasoline, everything is going
to go to electrification. So you better get on with it. So all these decisions were made back
then and they're being launched into a market that says, I don't see myself, you know, I'm not
going to buy that. I think the Cayenne EV is going to be a struggle for Porsche. I think this is
going to be a bit of a struggle for Jeep. I mean, I like it. I haven't driven it yet.
I thought I liked the look of it, you know, for like my family, I thought, yeah,
this could be, this could be a fun alternative, but it's a lot of money.
Yeah. That's kind of the thing. And then like Cayenne EV though, like that's,
you know, very rarely did those things ever go off-road. So definitely around town and having
an EV for that makes more sense than having the off-road vehicle EV without any sort of,
like we said before, any sort of hybrid or range extender or something like that. So you can
go a little further and just pop to a gas station and top it off. Like,
so the pure play EV off-road vehicle, I think is a little bit tougher sell. And for this particular
one, it's price, it's nice looking. The interior looks great as well. And I guess that's
sort of the elevated component to it that you're paying for as well. But
the whole EV thing, like you said, and this has been coming from Ford and the other
automakers now as well, Ford hinting at ending the F-150 Lightning, they're saying we need
a much more modular platform. We need to start with smaller vehicles and we need a platform that
can become a small truck, a small SUV, a medium-sized truck, a medium-sized SUV, maybe even,
you know, sedan or something. But if they're going to do an EV platform, they need sort of that
roller, that skateboard, if you will, with the battery, you know, and build up on top of
that several different vehicles. The other struggle, I spent some time yesterday morning
talking to executives from different companies. And what was really striking to me is nobody
knows where this whole EV thing is. Everybody's like, like the show, we're launching it. I spoke to
one of Nissan's marketing executive, Mike Suter, and he said, he's hedging, he reckons that the
market after the end of the tax credit has dropped to about 4% nationally and he expects it to
stay there somewhere between 4% and 5% in the market. It's been 8% for the last couple of years,
20% in California. He expects it to get down to 5%. If you talk to the GM executives, they're saying
we always knew it was going to dip when the tax credit finished, but then we expect to slow
ramp up and it won't be dramatic, but it will creep up and up and up and surpass the level
that it was before we got rid of the tax credit. So they're much more bullish about it.
But nobody knows. Nobody knows. So Jeep's just launched the Wagoneer S. Now they're launching
the Recon, both of which are expensive. It's a tough sell. And then at the same time, they're
relaunching a V8. It's really hard. And then part of the issue is you kind of have to have
your narrative follow your products. So as an executive or an engineer or designer
at one of the car companies and you're releasing an all-electric off-road vehicle like this Jeep,
for now, you kind of need your narrative to go, no, we think this is a good market. We think
people are going to buy EVs and go off-road. You don't have much of a choice. This is
kind of what you've got to say. You can't just completely take a crap on this product that you
just released. If you're killing the whole product line, I get it. If you're killing the full battery
electric RAM, it's going to do whatever the range extender version, then you can go our mistake.
Or even Ford's going, it's not really a mistake. It's more like all the regulatory stuff and all
the zeitgeist was heading in this direction. There's been a kind of sea change of regime
and not the investment in the infrastructure hasn't come. We've got a new president who's
like unwound all the EV mandates and everything else. So the world has changed and we have to
change. But the reality is, they've killed the RAM EV, but the recon was done.
They spent five years and x billion doing this. It's done. So it's almost like, well,
you can't just ride off, you can, but it's highly unlikely that you ride off all that money. So let's
get it into market and hope for the best. But then they're into a world of will they have
to incentivize it. Again, talking to some of the people on the ground, they were sort of
saying, you got the basic cost of producing EVs too high. So you've got two choices. Either the
government subsidizes it, which has been happening up until now, but no longer, or the manufacturers
subsidize it, which has also been happening up till now. But now they're all saying, can we afford
to do this? So it's really interesting. You look at the show and this is quite a cool thing. I
hope it's, well, I'm quite excited to drive it. I think it's going to be, you know.
Well, here's the thing is so many SUVs and off-road vehicles, if you will,
don't really go that far or go off-road anyway. So for Ram to say, we're going to kill the full
battery electric Ram truck, right? They can say, we're not, we didn't hit the market yet.
Let's cut our losses. Let's not spend the marketing dollars. We've looked at
the sales results of Ford and Chevy Silverado. There's competition out there. We know what
could happen with our Ram truck. So let's kill it. But then they go, but we got Jeep, we got Recon.
There isn't really a competitor out there. There's no electric Ford Bronco, right? And
there's nothing else that you can remove the doors and the roof and you can go off-road.
And they go, well, is there a market if we're the only one out there like this?
And we do upscale a little bit to help justify the cost, the nicer interior, to also make it
a little different than just an electric Jeep, right? And go, is there a market for it? I don't
think it's a bad decision. I think if they had to choose between the Ram electric and this,
I would have gone with this. Yeah, this makes more, this definitely makes more sense.
And, you know, look, for something like me, you know, we have an EV and the family we
talked about before on the show, kids would love this. This would be a fun thing. I just
worry about the price because if it's starting at what, 67,000, you know, when you think what a
normal Wrangler starts, you know, a normal Wrangler, what starts in the, so Wrangler costs now
30s, isn't it? 40s. You know, a nice Wrangler is in the 40s. You know, that's a big premium.
And it's probably, you know, it's a bigger vehicle. It's probably going to be a nicer
vehicle in many ways, probably better on the road. But yeah, that's, I mean, yeah, 30,
30, God, it seems to be, you know, like 30, 32 grand starting for a very basic Wrangler,
probably in the 40s for one that you would, one that you would kind of probably want.
You know, and this is, this is 70 by the time you've got it on the road. I mean, that's a big,
that's a big leap, bigger vehicle, cooler vehicle, nicer tech, probably much nicer interior.
I'm sure it'll be better to drive on the road. But again, like the whole 600 horsepower thing,
like, really? I mean, like zero to 60, those ones saying, you know, 3.6 seconds. But again, like,
are we targeting the wrong thing? Because I don't, you know,
I mean, you know, Rivians found a niche with it, right? They're trying to get people to take
their vehicles off the grid a little bit. Maybe that's the other problem. They're
investing in their own infrastructure. But also, you know, this, this is getting on
for the price of a Rivian. You know, that you're saying that the R1S is actually a big three row,
you know, big three row SUV. So, you know, that's the other thing is, you know,
the Rivian scene is like a bit cooler, a bit upmarket. You know, I'd argue that Rivians brand
right now is probably a little bit stronger than Jeep's in many ways. So we'll see.
I got another thought on that. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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Okay, so Rivian for example, right? They've been pushing that kind of get off the grid thing, take
this thing out for the weekend. We've got all sorts of accessories and stuff for it now.
A little bit longer range than a lot of competitors that are out there.
But I'll tell you, I hit the LA Auto Show and I was impressed to see
scout in person. Bigger vehicle, really kind of cool. And I know when that was first announced
that we're going to do an electric version. And now it seems like something with a range
extender or a small gas engine located in the back of the vehicle. Probably an all electric
version as well. But now I think people are kind of getting the attention of this little range
extender. Kind of like with the Ram Charger. I don't know if they renamed it.
I got a little confused. Is it Rev?
The Ram Charger was, I think, is now the Rev.
But that's the other thing she needs to do. It's just stop calling, like wagon
IRS. What does that mean? Now that's the EV one. Yeah, let's just tidy that up as well.
No, I do. I went back to the office in the in the afternoon. I got a few things to tidy up.
We were talking, there's a couple of members of the team there, and we were talking
and we were talking all the way into the show. Scout, you know, it's been around a little bit
now. It's been a lot, you know, it's a long, you know, it's a long tease, isn't it,
before we get to drive it. But we all said it looks really cool. And then I shared on my
Instagram, I did an Instagram story, and I shared the interior with the bench seat at
the front where you can sit three of us in the front. And it's got this kind of
like wood chip fascia that sounds terrible, actually looks really cool.
And two of the two of the local dads who follow me on Instagram suddenly sent me a note
and said, should we order one? That looks cool. And they I think they're onto something. I took
a look at it. I mean, it's big as well. It's huge, isn't it? I was like shocked by how big it is.
That was the thing. It's like, it's bigger than I thought it was going to be. It definitely
like sits higher, just had more of a presence to it. I'm just clicking around on the website
to see if I can find some of the interior shots, big, big tire and stuff on it as well.
But look good, like just overall looked way better in person than I thought. I thought it was just
going to be, you know, a little bit more of a straight up Rivian competitor, you know, with
the SUV and the truck. But I don't I don't think so. I think they're doing something
where Rivian is making smaller vehicles, so then get hopefully sell more vehicles, go more
to an on-road. You know, I mean, the Rivian, what did they have the R2 at the show?
Yeah, the R2 is coming. The one that looks like the Mark I Golf. And I mean, Scout, of course,
is part of the Volkswagen group. This has spun off the Volkswagen group to try and be this kind
of electric brand. And then fairly early in the process, they did this pivot and said,
hang on a minute, the EV thing's not not really happening as we thought it was. So
let's do a range extender. So I like I look at this thing. I say, I think they do also
doing a good job with how they're introducing the brand, you know, it's always outside. It's
always like looking a bit kind of, you know, tough and outdoorsy. And it's not unlike, you
know, it's not sitting on carpet. It's, you know, they they did the same standard CS
there at LA. It's, yeah, there's some there's some cool. I think that goes the interior.
I mean, it's very, I mean, it looks, I mean, it's very Rivian like, but then to be honest,
everybody now just has a screen in front of the driver and a big screen in the middle.
So your options are limited. But I'm, I'm more excited about this thing than I ever
thought I would be. I think it looks pretty cool. And, you know, it is Volkswagen group.
So you do feel like there's something behind it. And the Ranger extender thing totally makes
sense. It is an IRA that Volkswagen has now spent billions investing in Rivian.
Yeah.
Try to find that. Did you, did you, who, who posted the bench seat? Because it wasn't on
the website. It's me. It was me. Weaver on cars did it. Weaver on cars did it. I'm gonna,
I'm gonna look that up real quick. Because I, I think that's one of the things they were like
trying to show off at the LA auto show, which they didn't, they didn't have.
No, the bench seats cool. I mean, I don't know the question would be like,
does it have enough support as a driver, particularly if you're going off road,
you're going to be bouncing around in it. But it's a cool, it's a cool idea.
Yeah.
My kids are fight over who gets to ride up front. But I don't know whether,
it'd be interesting whether you can put a kid up front.
I mean, I get it's like, it's like a fold down thing, right? Like a fold down.
Yeah.
See that again.
It's very, it's very cool. While you're doing that, did you, I should also say that we've
just done a launch the latest Edmunds U-Drax, which is the Rivian against Lucid. So while
Matt's fuffing around trying to find a photograph, but the, you checked that out when you get
I was trying to get photos while I was there, but the scout had like tons of people around it.
Normally I would just bring up some of the photos like that I took while I was there,
but this one was really tough to do. But anyway, here's the bench seat. You can see this is
clearly a fold down. Yeah. It's got a fold down thing, but it has that,
it has that sort of retro thing about it. It does. It looks good.
I think the whole, the whole thing feels, feels pretty convincing to me much more.
I know when they launched the brand, I was like, okay, this, why would you launch yet
another brand? And, you know, you're struggling as a main business and everything else, but
I'm getting more excited about it. But yeah, the U-Drax, we did a Rivian R1S Tri-Motor
against Lucid Gravity Grand Touring. That's up on the YouTube channel now.
That was, that was fun. That Rivian launches. It is unbelievable how good that Rivian is
off the line. Yeah. So interesting vehicles, right? We got to see these. I mean,
obviously you spent some time with them, but both of these vehicles are at the LA Auto Show as well.
So to be able to go in there and, and climb in these things and take a good look at them,
I know the Lucid still kind of looks like a minivan, but when you kind of see it in person,
it's kind of sits low. It's not like super high. It's like easy to get in and out of. And
it looks, it looks good in person. Yeah. I think it looks better in person than it,
than it photographs. It has a different feel about it. The Rivian is much more,
sorry, the Lucid is much more of a clearly a road vehicle, a family SUV. It's not trying to do the,
I mean, it will do a bit of off-roading, but it's not trying to do the kind of stick
a tent on the top, you know, go, go right out into the boonies like you are with Rivian.
So it's kind of nice that they are separated. They're not just two versions of the same thing.
You know, I think, and I think Rivians did a really good job of that kind of,
you know, industrial feel. You know, Rivians, one of Rivians thing was, was having
pretty good range, certainly more than a lot of vehicles that are out there.
However, you guys had tested one of the Lucid gravities. I'm sorry, Lucid had good range.
Yeah. Well, both actually. I mean, that's not true. Yeah.
But didn't quite, didn't quite meet what they were claiming. You did the Lucid grand tour,
right? That's the big battery, big range version. I think Lucid was claiming around 450 miles. You
guys didn't quite get that on the Edmonds range test. We didn't. We got a four. I'm just looking
at the figures here. So yeah, they claim 450 miles. We did 400. This was an early car,
and I think there was still a few things that they were sorting out on it.
But I mean, 400 miles is still a, you know, a good effort.
And now the show, they also launched the touring version. So the grand touring is the faster,
more expensive than they got the touring version, which will be probably the bigger seller.
I'm not sure they're going to do the pure version, which you get as the air,
which is much more affordable. I think they're going to try and sell them at a higher price
point and see how it goes. But yeah, the gravity, we did a big film about it, and we did quite a
lot of work with it. It's, they still got a few niggles with it. They're not quite there with it
yet from a build quality perspective and also from some of the electronics. So it's just not,
it's not quite, quite, but in six months time, I think hopefully they can get on,
get on top of it. It's going to be a, it's going to be a really good vehicle because the
fundamentals are really sound. Right. So when you guys tested this and it has a, you know,
when you guys drove the, when you, when you bought, when you guys bought your first Lucid,
there was a few issues with it. And you had said many times that
there were subtle changes on the production line over time that made the vehicles better
as well as the over the air software updates. That's right. I mean, our Lucid
changed dramatically over the sort of three years that we had it. It was way better
vehicle at the end. And if you get an air today, then it actually feels like a,
you know, pretty well made car and the software is robust too. The gravity is so hard as a,
you know, a car when you're not building like thousands and thousands of them, it's hard.
And, you know, they've got it into market, but there's still a bunch of stuff that they
really need to fix. So, you know, there's nothing, there's nothing that new here,
like every board, every car that comes into the market new normally the foot needs
six months for them to kind of iron out some of the, some of the issues. But I think Lucid is
probably gone a step further when that was some of it. But the fundamentals of this car are really
strong. And I think once they get on, get on top of some of those like little niggles,
I think it's going to be a really good vehicle. Every car has a few little issues for sure.
But when it comes to the physical build quality of Lucid, the software updates and
stuff, I get that there's changes that they can make. And, you know, you go to bed at night,
you wake up and it's already been revamped and it's ready to go. But you would think some of these
companies Lucid, not just Lucid, but anybody, especially the startup companies that they'd
learned the lesson of releasing too early, going, if there are physical issues like,
you know, doors aren't closing flush and weather stripping is not correct or
something like that. Those are the issues that you'd expect them to
not run into as often on the second car on the third car, you know, I get it,
you know, Rivian, for example, they release a truck, right? Then there's an SUV and then
there's an R2 that's coming out and then an R3. You expect each one of those to be
physically built better and bugs worked out on the software. It's a big issue with releasing
these cars too early. Yeah. And it's always about, I mean, to be fair to Lucid, it's not just the
startups, you know, you think about the Dodge Charger EV we've talked about in the show before.
Again, car that basically isn't, isn't fully resolved. And, you know, there's been a lot
of problems and a lot of criticisms because of that. So it's not, it's not just the startups.
It's not. You guys had the big issue with either the Equinox or the Blazer, which one of the show
is? Yeah, the Blazer EV GM, General Motors, you know, one of the biggest manufacturers in the
world. Huge problems with the Blazer EV. And the problem with all these cars is you get to a
point, you know, you get to a point financially, you know, there's everybody's clamoring for
the vehicle, the dealer's needy, you've got to start selling it, you've got invested
all this money, you know, you've got to start getting some cash flow going. And
so there's always the temptation to launch it and get it out there because
you've got to start the, you know, the cox turning. The other thing is, you know,
actually getting it out there gives you more data, you get all the kind of the early adopters,
you get more feedback, you know, and it kind of becomes an iterative process. But it does
mean that anybody who jumps on board at the beginning is, you know, taking a bit of a punt
in that respect. But I would buy a Lucy there today. I think Lucy, I think it's a fact,
you know, I think it's a really, really good car and the car it always promised to be.
And the gravity, I think, will get there. But it's got some, it's got some distance to go.
Yeah, I just, some of these vehicles we're talking about are $80,000 plus $100,000.
And I'm just not sure I want to be the beta tester, you know, for your company after spending
$100,000 on your vehicle, you know, and just have that be kind of the new norm going,
you know what, we're going to sell these vehicles, there's $100,000, you should get
one. And if you have any issues, just let us know. I was like, okay, but I don't want the issues.
You know, I don't, you know, how about, how about no with the issues? Yes.
I want my washing machine to wash my clothes. Thank you very much.
If, if there was a program where they said, for example, something maybe realistic going,
we're going to, we're going to sell a lucid gravity, for example, but
they're only going to be available for lease for the first thousand vehicles, 1500 vehicles.
And it's going to be an affordable lease program because you are agreeing to like a beta test
program, right? You know what I'm saying? Like you're kind of agreeing to, you know,
take a survey now and then or bring your car in for a deal or, you know, for, for work.
And that happens, right? Like I kind of like Apple has, you know, has testers in the field,
you know, you are, there are people, there are people who, who, who do this. Yeah.
But I get it, but I think the money that they spend on the tool, on engineering,
the tools that they have available to them now, you know, you shouldn't really arrive at this place
really by the time it, you know, I don't think, I don't think it's an interesting idea,
but I think it's a bit tenuous. Well, I mean, I'm just thinking of a scenario like
Apple can get 10,000 phones out there and beta tests and nobody knows about it,
but they don't, they don't need to sell those 10,000 phones. They can make, you know,
they're so profitable. Lucid can't, Lucid can't put a thousand cars on the street and go,
these are beta testers and give them back when you're done or whatever, right? But if they did
like a beta test lease program, they have a list of, of people that they want the cars to go to
or could go to, you can sign up for it or whatever, you agree to it, you give the car back and, you
know, it's a short lease, maybe it's 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, and then you, you bet it,
but then they still have a little bit of revenue coming in and you didn't spend a hundred thousand
dollars. And then when the vehicle after the year of testing or whatever comes out,
yeah, then you can go buy it normally or lease it normally, you know,
you're not, have to be a part of that program. But yeah, it's just an idea of like how to
generate a little bit of revenue. Yeah, there you go. I'll get nothing from it, but,
but, you know, it's a nice idea. I like it. Yeah. Okay. Well, there you go.
All right. Before we wrap up, is there anything else? There are so much coming from
the LA, I think we're going to have to do a part two next week. I mean,
we haven't even talked about the Genesis supercar and this amazing wagon concept
that's done 3.2, last time I looked 3.2 million views on the Edmunds cars Instagram channel.
It's gone crazy on real. So huge amount of interest in that. We should talk about that next week.
Yeah. Genesis supercar as well. Kia Telluride, we've much more information on that. So, and we've
launched a whole swathe of videos this week. But to be clear, the Genesis stuff and the
wagon and stuff, that's not at the LA Auto Show. They simultaneously did a launch event.
A full recovery. I think we had a man in the south of France. He got the short straw.
Darn. Yeah. Okay. Darn. So, yeah, it was also driving the GV60 Magnus. So, we've got a ton of
stuff to talk about next week. We should probably start there with the cool concepts.
Cayenne EV we haven't really got into. We have all the details on that now.
So, there's a ton of stuff. If you can't wait for Matt and I to wax lyrical about it,
head to edmunds.com slash news and it's all there. All right. There we go. Let's do that. Of course,
check out the YouTube channel as well. Has the Model Y performance as well. So,
I was just looking at the page. Yeah, yeah, test them. Just driven the Model Y performance.
Another thing. We've tested all the small SUVs. It's crazy time. Like, we're super busy
at the moment. Check out the Edmunds YouTube channel and the U-Drags. Like you said,
there was Lucid and Rivian. It's one of the latest videos that go up there and CarCast. So,
the CarCast YouTube channel, definitely a bunch of content from SEMA. We've been releasing some of
the podcasts, but often in the podcast because it shows her, I don't know, 40, 45 minutes
long. We'll do two or three interviews. But I've been breaking them up into individual
interviews for the YouTube channel. So, if you just want to see Ring Brothers or you just want to see
Steve Strope or you just want to see that, these 18, 20 minute interviews, you can go to the YouTube
channel and you can watch them all there. And I've been putting in as much B-roll and photos and
stuff of the cars and stuff that they were talking about or new products that they were
talking about. So, yeah, trying to put some more effort into that YouTube channel. It is
typical to do is one man band. It's just so benevolent.
But all right, thanks guys. And yeah, until next week, keep the air and the spare and the bag and the wheel.
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About this episode
The LA Auto Show showcased exciting new concepts and vehicles, including the Hyundai Crater and Jeep Recon. Hosts Matt and Alistair discussed the shift in auto shows from press-focused events to consumer-friendly experiences. They highlighted Hyundai's innovative design approach and the potential of the Crater as a family SUV with off-road capabilities. The Jeep Recon, an electric Wrangler variant, raised questions about the practicality of high horsepower in off-road vehicles. The episode also touched on the uncertain future of EVs, with insights from various automakers on market trends and consumer preferences.
