Latest / In Wheel Time Podcast / Electric Revolution: Hybrids, EVs, and the Future of Driving

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Electric Revolution: Hybrids, EVs, and the Future of Driving · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is your place for all things automotive the award-winning In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Today coming to you from Studio A inside the Sugar Shack Studios in Texas, usa.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Yippers.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Alex Quanton from US News joins us to talk about the best hybrid and electric vehicles.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Later, jeff has the racing calendar, mr Mars has this week in auto history and I'll get you caught up on the stories making automotive news headlines this week.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Howdy Along with Mike out of this world, mars.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: We always need more Jeff Zekin.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday here in Texas, usa.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Beautiful day here anyway.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Maybe not so in some parts of the country, but it is here, all right, let's get right to it.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Us News and World Report.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Let's talk to Alice Quanton.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Alex, it's good to see you again, my friend.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: How are you?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Hey, I'm good.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: It's good to be with you guys.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Well, as Jeff said, oh, it's Father Mulcahy.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: There are worse people to be compared to there are, that's a good compliment.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: In light of the fact that we're electing a new pope, I'm thinking, hey, this is perfect timing for everybody involved here.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Well, it's good to see you, my friend.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: When you smoke comes out, you're burning a will.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's that All right.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about how the voting came about to come up with the 2025 best hybrids and electrics.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Let's start there.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Sure, so we have been running these awards since 2018.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: We did have some interruptions during the peak of the pandemic.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: They come out every fall, and you might remember some, or or every spring, and you might remember some springs with some interruptions.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yes, but they are all about the vehicles that offer the best combination of efficiency, either in terms of gas mileage or the range and the charging capability, but they also factor in the vehicle's price and the vehicle's intrinsic qualities.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: So, you know, you might remember when you had to buy a really tiny, not very satisfying car to get great gas mileage.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: That's not the case anymore, and so we want to make sure that when we recommend something, we're recommending something that drives well, that has a lot of space, that fits the needs of the user but is also very efficient.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: So we evaluated a hundred and fifteen vehicles this year luxury vehicles, popular brand vehicles, suvs, cars, trucks and we considered all the sort of EPA range and gas mileage data and real world observations as well, and we sort of cross-referenced that with pricing information and sort of consensus opinion about whether the vehicle is a good vehicle.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, it is kind of difficult to compare really electrics with gasoline because, you know, everybody somehow has this false sense of security that oh, it's electric, I don't have to pay for the electricity.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Oh yes, you do, my friend, and I can tell you from my experience plugging in 110 volt house current here, my electric bill, the month that I had a series of electrics back to back, to back to back, my electric bill went up, my friend, and so it's not free, that's for sure.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: So how do you compare, you know, efficiency with electrics, gasoline and then hybrids?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: So I mean how much you spend in power on an electric depends a lot about where you live, how much the electricity costs and in the place you live.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: When I live in Seattle and like most of the power here is pretty cheap.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: It's all generated by hydroelectric.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: It's, you know it's very clean, but you know, like my mom lives in the Northeast and you know the power costs are a lot greater.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know exactly what they are in Texas, but you know we're basically looking for things that are going to be the most efficient in their class.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: So we don't compare directly EVs and gas cars.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: But the cost of energy like if you're plugging in at home, even if you have fairly high electric rates, you're still going to be saving versus like going to the gas pump all the time, like the energy efficiency is just a lot better.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: So, for example, like every time you break in an EV, a lot of EVs have one pedal driving, so you just take your foot off the gas and it breaks automatically.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: All of the energy you would lose in a regular car breaking is recaptured and put back into the battery and you can use it again.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: So they're just pretty energy efficient.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say every EV is all that energy efficient.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: There are EV electron guzzlers, I guess I'd say.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: But you know, most of the time EVs are just going to be more efficient to operate than pure gas vehicles.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: But we didn't just focus on either only gas or only electric.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: We also have plug-in hybrids on this list plug-ins.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: You know I I can see where there could be a market for plug-in hybrids, but I have turned into a huge hybrid nut and uh, because they're.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: They're the best of both worlds for where I am today in my life and where the auto industry is and getting the most bang for the buck and you can buy hybrids at a relatively inexpensive price.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: And that's a relative inexpensive price as opposed to a full electric.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know the price and the crop of regular hybrids conventional hybrids like a Prius has really grown.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: They're a lot more affordable than they used to be, to the extent that some automakers are really making their higher trims hybrid only, and some automakers have made pretty popular models hybrid only.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: So the winner of the best hybrid car on this list is the Toyota Camry, which, for this year is hybrid only.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: There is no regular Camry which for this year is hybrid only.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: There is no regular Camry anymore.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: It's only a hybrid.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: So what's nice about that is that, compared to the other hybrids in its class, it's about $2,500 to $4,000 cheaper, model for model, which is a lot to start with.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: And it gets, you know, 44 to 51 miles per gallon in a mid-sized car.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: It's not slow, you know.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: It doesn't have any of the kind of old, like maybe 20 years ago hybrid stigma of being kind of like slow or, you know, not satisfying to drive.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Fumpy.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's a pretty good deal and you know that efficiency.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: You know it just doesn't cost as much as it used to and there aren endure any sacrifices with it.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Really well, I have to tell you that it wasn't that long ago that I had a chance to drive the new camry hybrid.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Uh, and it was everything that you say it was, and for me personally, I was pleasantly surprised.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: Um, it got around town just great and got great gas mileage, almost 50 miles to the gallon, if you remember, and I touted the fact that I couldn and got great gas mileage, almost 50 miles to the gallon, if you remember, and I touted the fact that I couldn't believe the gas mileage.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: It got in such nice surroundings, I mean the interior, everything about the car was spot on.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know the other two hybrids that we awarded here are kind of similar in that respect.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: We have the Tucson Hybrid, which is best hybrid SUV.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: The Tucson wins a lot of things because it's just a really good all-around vehicle.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: You know that one's rated for a 35 to 38, but the last time I drove it I got 41, I think.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Just driving around New York City stop and go, it was just really, really efficient.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: And the Lexus NX Hybrid is the best luxury hybrid and that you know.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I also saw probably 36, 37 MPG and I know you were just talking about the Nautilus, which does come as a hybrid.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: You know, compared to a gas version of the NX or any of the gas rivals like GV70, like you know, 36, 37 miles per gallon is a lot more than you're going to get in the regular versions even with the mild hybrid systems and like the GLC or the BMW X3.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Yes, and I'm spot on with you when it comes to that.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Lexus NX Got a chance to drive.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: That Also got a chance to drive the UX, which is a much smaller vehicle.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, lexus seems to have a foot up on many people.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Many brands out there Of course they've got the Prius under their belt.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Brands out there Of course they've got the Prius under their belt.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: It's a proven technology and all of these vehicles are based on that Prius setup and it just works.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know there was at one time there was a regular UX and I think the people spoke with their wallets right Like they bought the hybrid because it was just so much, the gas mileage was so much better, there was no penalty and really the cost was very, very little cost difference.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: So, uh, lexus just stopped making the regular ux and just only makes the hybrid now and I think, like people are voting with their feet you know they want hybrids.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Um, you know I will say that the plug-in hybrid it's a solution for if you really are taking advantage of it, if you are charging at home and you do charge it up every night, you really can see a lot of savings.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: But it's a limited set of people who are willing to take the inconvenience to do that and also, maybe not everybody can charge at home.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: You basically have to have that charging infrastructure at home if you live in an apartment building or you live in you know, like I'm from the Bronx, if you live in the Bronx in an apartment building, you you can't really charge in the apartment park on the street so let's talk about
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: electrics.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we have, uh, several very exciting electric vehicles here.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Uh, you know, the best uh luxury electric car is the lucid air.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you guys have been in the lucid air.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: No, I know I've seen it, but I've not been.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but that is a super impressive vehicle.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: So every version of the lucid air has over 400 miles of range.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Uh, the grand touring one which I drove in 2023 had 512 miles of range and I drove it for a good six and a half hours through the cascades and up to bellingham and through the skagit valley and then back down to seattle and back up to the skagit valley and I could not run the battery down below about 30% in hours and hours of driving.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Nice, it just has that capacity and it charges really fast and it just feels like a proper luxury car.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: You know, lots of great features, a little screen-heavy, but most EVs are.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: The best luxury SUV is the Rivian R1S, which is newly improved this year.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: They have added all kinds of configurations.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: So there's a dual motor, there's a triple motor and later this year there's going to be a quad motor.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: I expect that that quad motor is going to, you know, rocket to 60 miles an hour in about 2.5 seconds.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I mean it's really fast.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: But what I love most about the Rivian R1S is that you can take it off-road.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: So if you're into like Ford Broncos and Toyota 4Runners, this is kind of a really good electric equivalent.
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: The all-wheel-drive control with the electric motors is really great.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: You can crawl with it.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: There's not a lot of other electric SUVs that can really do that and the Rivian it's just a really good design.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I will say a lot of these cars, as I said, are very screen heavy, which not everybody likes.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: But speaking of the volume ones, we have the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as best electric SUV and best electric car.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Both of these are really distinctive designs.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: They look nothing like each other but they do share the same electric architecture.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: So in the Ioni ionic 5 you can get up to 318 miles range, in the 6 you can get up to 342.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And what's really nice about the ionic 5 is that it offers kind of any kind of configuration you want.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: There's like an off-road one.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Now the xrt, there's a high performance one, the ionic 5n, which kind of looks like an electric uh, lancia, delta, integrale, um, and drives like one too, uh, so these are really great, uh, overall vehicles.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Uh, I suppose, being in texas, you guys definitely want to talk about the best electric truck hello, hello the f-150 lightning is a repeat winner of our best electric truck, and you know what I love about the f-150 Lightning is a repeat winner of our Best Electric Truck.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: And you know what I love about the F-150 Lightning is that, with one notable and glaring exception, it does everything the regular F-150 does, but better.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: So it's faster, it's quieter, it's much more energy efficient, but it offers all the stuff you get in a regular crew cab, short bed F-150, and more.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: The notable exception, of course, is towing.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: If you're going to be towing something regularly, like if you tow a race car to California from Texas like three times a year, this may be not the best vehicle for you, but in every other respect it's a really good vehicle or a really good truck, and you can use all the normal F-150 accessories.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: All the normal F-150 experience is entirely preserved.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: You know, a lot of the electric trucks offer a very different truck experience than a conventional gas truck, but this one doesn't.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: It's basically, you know.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: If you didn't know it was electric until you step on the gas pedal or the accelerator pedal, uh, you would just think, oh, wow, it's just a regular f-150 and it does all the things that people like about that vehicle speaking of that, I have to ask you this do you think that the cyber truck is going to last?
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: do you think they're going to make it?
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Because I mean a big boom in sales when it first came out, but, boy, the sales have gone down the toilet.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna go way back and I'm gonna give you a private theory of mine.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: So yes, y'all know the amc pacer, right?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Oh?
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: yeah, yep.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: Very well.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: The fishbowl yeah, everybody hates on the AMC Pacer, although it's kind of a cool little car.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: But when it was brand new it actually sold really well that first two years, like 75, 76.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: So they couldn't keep them in stock.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: But once everybody who had one had one, who wanted one had one, it was like, okay, that's all the people who are going to buy this.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now what?
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: And I feel like the cyber truck, I have to give it to them for being really bold.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: It looks like nothing else on the road.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Uh, it's refreshing to see an exciting design or something really different.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I will say, the semiotics of it, you know, depend on how you feel about certain things.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Uh, you know, I kind of wish trucks in general were a little less aggressive.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: My favorite trucks are like jeep j10s and international.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: There you go, international trucks from the 70s, so they're a little less aggressive than today's trucks.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: But, um, you know, I think it's it's more of a lifestyle vehicle than a, than a truck.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: And you know there's lots of people who buy lifestyle trucks, like you know, the, the gmcC, sierra Denali's and stuff like that.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Listen, we have the trophy in Texas for that kind of thing.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: That is it.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, granted, I'm in a different world for most in the fact that I'm in the media business and I don't use a truck like a work truck Mars doesn't.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Mars uses his truck to haul around equipment for this broadcast.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: When we go places, jeff has a station wagon, basically suv buick.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: So here in texas there are trucks by the tens of thousands that have never, ever, had their bed put anything to scratch it.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: It's just, it's pristine back there.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: What you're gonna scratch my bed?
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: don't scratch the bed.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we can relate to all of that.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just had to say that yeah, I mean I, I think like, if you, if you want, the style of it, I think the thing is like the form factor of it.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: You know, there's a reason why trucks are the way they are, right.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: There's a reason why the shape is the way it is, the way it is and the cyber truck kind of like contravenes a lot of those things that evolved for a reason.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: You know, like we can change controls and stuff, we can change designs, but like there is a reason why those trucks evolved that way.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: It's a thing and it's not mine, but it's okay.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: Well, what else do we have?
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: That's it right.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Did we cover all of the award winners?
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: You know we didn't cover the P-Hefts.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: So we have the Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid which you know the regular CX-90 comes with a straight six, which I love, that straight six.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: It revs really great.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: But if you buy this plug-in hybrid it's actually a little faster, even though it only has a four-cylinder engine, because it has these beefy electric motors and some plug-in hybrids.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: They don't operate that well when they're in pure electric mode.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: They kind of are a little bit sluggish, not this one.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: This one's good to drive in electric or combined or gas only, and if you do plug it in you'll get 26 miles of electric range.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: So if you're just doing errands, like you know going and taking the kids to school and back every day you really can save a lot of money with that.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: The Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid is our best luxury plug-in hybrid and I have to say that it's good looking, it's really roomy inside, it gets 35 miles of electric range, which is quite a lot, and it has 455 horsepower.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: So if you step on it it's just like a Camaro in a straight line.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: It's really quite satisfying.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: And you know, both of those vehicles are relatively affordable for what they are compared to other plug-in hybrids.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: So you know, even though the Volvo is a luxury model, you know there are some other plug-in hybrid luxury vehicles that are quite a bit more expensive.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: So we thought they were both really good deals and good vehicles.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Alex, I'm sorry, go ahead, Go ahead.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, if anybody wants to research these, they can go to carsusnewscom.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: We've got all of them ranked.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: You oh yeah, if anybody wants to research these, they can go to carsusnewscom.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: We've got all of them ranked.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: You can check out the story we did on these best hybrids and electrics and you can look up any car you want.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: That's awesome.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: It's always great to talk to you, my friend.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Good luck on this upcoming week's conclave and we hope to talk to you again soon.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Call us anytime, we'd love to have you on.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: All right, take care, guys.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Thanks, you do the same.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Thank you, I loved it.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: I loved it.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Father Mulcahy, that's nice.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: All right, just ahead, jeff's racing calendar.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Mars has this week in auto history and a couple of news headlines still ahead here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Back show back in a flash.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: The Tex-Mex dining experience is defined by Loopy Tortilla, your destination for Texas' best beef fajitas and frozen margaritas.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Since 1983, loopy Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience at Loopy Tortilla, all developed in a little house near Highway 6 and I-10 in West Houston.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Visit any of the Lupe Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Start your Lupe experience with queso, flammeado and guacamole, along with a classic frozen margarita.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Dine on famous Lupe beef and chicken fajitas or pepper shrimp brochette, or a fish or vegetarian entree, and finish with a scrumptious flan for dessert.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Find Loopy Tortilla in Houston College Station, beaumont, austin, san Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: There's a Texas location near you.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: The recipes are authentic and time-tested, the ingredients always fresh.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla it's pretty good.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: The Emerald Time Car Talk Show thanks you for 14 wonderful years, yep.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Our first show aired May 7, 2011 on a local radio station.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: Then it was a move to the digital world and social media and you followed.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: Thank you, we continue to build and grow our fan base and it's all because of you and your auto enthusiast friends.
• 19:07
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• 19:09
  Speaker 1: It's always great to see you at our remote broadcasts and we hope you'll continue to stop by and say hello.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: It's been a great ride and we hope to bring you more fun and adventure right here on the In Real Time Car Talk Show.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to In Real Time.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Looking forward to seeing you at the Lone Star Street Rod Association State Run in Granbury on June the 12th.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: If you can't be there in person, join us for our live broadcast 9 to noon.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: That's on June the 12th Time.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Now for the racing calendar.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey, yep got it.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Oh, sponsored by the Texas Muscle Car Club Challenge.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you for that.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, crestman Trucks ran yesterday.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: I don't know who quite finished in first or second, but they did run yesterday.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: Today is at Texas for the Xfinity race.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Tomorrow is Texas for the big boys on the NASCAR Cup side.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: You've got Formula E.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: We're bringing that back.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: They're at Circuit de Monaco.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: The Monaco E Grand Prix is today and tomorrow in Monaco.
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: Is it Delmonico?
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: No, just Monaco.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: No, that's a bean.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: I think You've got the Grand Prix of Alabama, del Monte.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, del Monte.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: Grand Prix of Alabama is at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, alabama.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: They ran qualifying.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: I watched a little bit of the rebroadcast this morning.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: It's going to be great.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: Then you've got Formula One at the Miami Grand Prix, which we talked about, because they're introducing the Cadillac F1 car there.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: That's going to be tomorrow 57 laps at Miami International Autodrome in Miami.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: I guess it's a street race, street course, and NHRA is off this week.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: So more to come, more happening, all right, mr Mars.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Huh, howdy, looks like you drew the short straw on auto history.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: Well, I want to tell you.
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: I found a couple of interesting stories this week.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: For example, in 1957, the Fiat 500, a compact, affordable car that was aimed at post-war Italian families, was launched in July and it actually became a cultural icon over there because of the proximity, as practical city cars.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: But then they came to America with wide, open highways and not so much city cars.
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: But then they came to America with wide, open highways and not so much so.
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: Also this week, in 1967, gm introduced the Camaro Z28 package.
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: Now, this was the package.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: It was designed because they wanted to compete in the SCCA Trans Am Racing.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: It featured the high revving 302 V8.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: Mark.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Donahue.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: And a lot of heavy duty components, gorgeous, and it actually started a lot of the American Muscle car variations that were ever made.
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: Now they sold 602 of those vehicles in 1967.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: It actually had 290 horsepower out of that 302, which was actually very underrated because they needed to sell the cars.
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: So they had to get it in because of the insurance that was going on at the time for street insurance, plus the racing classification.
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: Did you know?
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: Do you know, where the z28 name came from?
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: No, I don't.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: It came from rpo z28.
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: Now the rpo is the regular production option, for example.
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: Z27 is the ss camaro.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: So if you wanted to buy an SS Camaro, you bought a Z27 Camaro option.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: So naturally, the next one out, z28.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: Just a numerical thing, and then Z29 and Z30.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: They never got that far.
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: They just kept using Z28 as far as they got.
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: They had a winner, so they just quit and used it for all the other stuff that came out.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: That's my car right there.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: Also in 2008,.
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: Tata buys Jaguar and Land Rover.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I beg your pardon, you can't say that on the radio.
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: Well, that's the main premise of this story.
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: Indian automaker Tata officially completed buying Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3 billion.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Did they ask any American male what you thought of the word?
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: Tata.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: It was more of a tit-for-tat kind of thing.
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: A lot of people thought that that was the end of those two British marquees, but they actually put a lot of money into it.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: They always put a lot of money into Tata, that's right, always have you seen them?
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: lately.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: If.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: I can remember.
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: So also this week in 2004.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: No, I want to talk more about Tatas.
• 23:16
  Speaker 4: Well, we can do that.
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure that we keep our License, yes, ability to stay on the air or our female audience, but we can do that.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Well, we're not trying to offend anybody.
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: I didn't make up the name.
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: The guy that founded the company.
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: That was actually his name.
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: No, george Tata.
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: I don't think it was George, but could be.
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he kept hanging around.
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: So in 2004, the final Osmobile was built, and it was a Lero Sedan that rolled off the line in Lansing Michigan.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Uninspiring design by any stretch of the imagination.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: Very true, even though Oldsmobile had lasted 107 years.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: They blew it once again.
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: But they finally bailed out.
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: Also this week in 1957, Chevrolet introduces the 283 with the optional Rochester Ramjet fuel injection.
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: Yeah, baby, Now this made this the first production engine that actually could achieve one horsepower per cubic inch.
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: Wow, it was offered in the Corvette and in the Bel Air and it's literally paved the way for modern fuel delivery systems and actually underscored Chevy's push into trying to build better engines back then.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: Let me tell you something From what I know about the fuel injection system, that one that you're looking at.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Right there on the top of that 57 motor, there was one guy, ken Nabors.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: He knew how to fix that thing and make them work, because for a regular shade tree mechanic like myself, you looked at that, you opened it up and you go shade tree mechanic like myself, you looked at that, you opened it up and you go, I don't get it, no, and if you don't get it, you ain't gonna fix it.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's.
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: When I found this, I found some diagrams and stuff of it and it was like who thought of this?
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: you know, you know, there was late talk here recently about oh, we're not going to put am radios in cars anymore because of the noise, because of the electric.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: Well, there's a perfect example.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: Do you see what they've done to the distributor?
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Shielded, they shielded it.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: So the distributor was underneath that chrome thing at the back of the engine, back there, along with, if you'll notice, the wire covers all the way down to the spark plugs.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: And that's how they kept the radio interference out of the car radio in the dashboard of a Corvette, because there was no metal, it was fiberglass, fiberglass yeah, and that's why so?
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: I thought I'd just pass that along Pass it on More stuff and so what did we do?
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: We took them off, exactly, yeah, what is this?
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: We don't need this.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: Get that out of here.
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we need to get rid of these 10 ounces.
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: Where's your wire?
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: All right, so finally, also this week in 1953, the Kaiser-Darren sports car debuts.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: Now this is the Kaiser-Darren 161.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: That is one of the earliest American fiberglass sports cars Came shortly after the Corvette.
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: It was actually supposed to debut before the Corvette.
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: They were trying to beat the Corvette to the market.
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: They did not make it.
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: They only built 435 of the units Units I love that, that's the way they call them and it was considered very collectible at this point because they didn't make very many of them and there's not very many of them left around.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: So I just thought it was an interesting design this week in automotive history.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you, sir, story here from ford motor company.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: It's killed a program to develop the next generation electrical architecture, the brain of modern cars, that its executives have called pivotal pivotal in competing with electric vehicle pioneers such as tesla.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Ford had had heavily invested in the system known internally as FNV4 for fully networked vehicle, to streamline vehicle software functions.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: The goal was to cut costs, improve quality and add profitable features in both electric and gasoline-powered vehicles.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: The project was abandoned because of ballooning costs and delays and probably recalls of ballooning costs and delays and probably recalls Ford has extended its employee pricing for all discounts by more than a month, to July 6th.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: So if you want a Ford, go get it.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: You'll get employee pricing and Elon Musk will likely remain as Tesla Incorporated CEO for years, despite tension with the board directors that repeatedly led some members to start a search for his replacement.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: According to Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, he said that on April 30th we're going to finish up today's In Wheel Time Car Talk Show Right after this quick break, please stay with us.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: You own a car you love.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.
• 27:56
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• 27:58
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• 28:13
  Speaker 1: Curbed your wheels.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired?
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: How about a professionally installed radar detector?
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield does that too.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshieldcom.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest Freeway, and get a personal tour.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Call them today 832-930-5655 or gcautoshieldcom.
• 28:45
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• 28:50
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• 29:01
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• 29:11
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• 29:14
  Speaker 1: Well, that's all for this week's In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
• 29:22
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• 29:23
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• 29:27
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• 29:29
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• 29:44
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• 29:53
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• 30:00
  Speaker 1: The InWheelTime video technical director is we always need more Jeff Zekin, the booking agent, video editor and people finder, Mike out of this world, mars and chief engineer David Ainsley.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Be safe out there, have a great week and thanks again for following the award winning and real time car talk show.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, youtube, twitch and our InWheelTimecom website.
• 30:56
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• 31:05
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