Episode 155: The 2023 #LucidAir Touring, 2023 #VolvoXC90 , 2023 #HondaPilot TrailSport

Episode 155: The 2023 #LucidAir  Touring, 2023 #VolvoXC90 , 2023 #HondaPilot TrailSport

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This is America on the Road named best radio  show by the international Automotive media   conference and now in its 29th year on  the air. Thanks for being with us as we   bring you the latest Automotive information  from around the world. New car prices keep   going up and now global car maker says the U.S  average price will Top fifty thousand dollars   I'll tell you who that automaker is and have more  details and our thoughts on this coming up America   on the road is brought to you by Mercury Insurance  and driving today.com if you're looking to save   some money you should switch to Mercury for  your auto and home insurance California save an   average of 670 dollars with Mercury so imagine how  much you could save get a quote today at driving   today.com auto insurance that's drivingtoday.com  Auto hyphen Insurance hyphen is important I think   hyphens are more important than we think aren't  they Chris absolutely yes yeah we're in favor of   pythons also in the news this week Tesla Motors is  being investigated again this time seat belts are   the culprit we'll tell you which model is affected  and what the problem is coming up a little later   and a new deal in the European Union is breathing  new life into vehicles with internal combustion   engines maybe to the great Chagrin of one  Christie will find out his thoughts on that   coming up Ferrari is one brand that is expressing  relief at the news so if you're a ferrarista you   might be expressing relief too we'll have more  details on that in our comments coming up but   I'm sure we'll have some comments I'm Jack Nerad  with me as co-host Chris Teague. As you already  

know Chris lives at one end of the country I  live at the other each week we get together   to talk about cars the car industry how can save  the most money on your Automotive dollar. Chris   is back this week after missing last week and  number one I want to welcome you back Chris and   just see how it's going how you doing things are  going well Jack I'm feeling much better. I want   to tell you I'm looking out the window right now  the snow is almost completely gone now that we're   on two or three days away from the end of March  and I can't wait to see some grass growing here   but it's warming up finally here in Maine how  about you? Well it's a pleasant weather here I   think we're expecting more rain in Southern  California April Fool's Day ah you know who   knows what's going to happen then I mean it's  fooling us with the weather because you're never   quite certain what's happening what's your vehicle  for this week Chris I spent the week driving the   2023 Volvo XC90 it's the B6 ultimate all-wheel  drive version I can't wait to tell you how it   differs from our 2021 XC90 that the family that my  family drives yeah some insight on that one from   driving that for years or something very similar  I have the all-new 2023 Honda Pilot Trail sport   this is their off-road version of this vehicle  I had the opportunity to drive it for more than   750 miles this past week my wife and I drove out  to Phoenix to watch some spring training games.  

Very successful test drive all around so it's  a lot of fun with that I'll share more on that   later fun to go to spring training games for any  baseball fan your access to the ball players is   is much greater in a lot of ways than it is during  the season so that's that's fun we have a terrific   guest for you this week David Lickfold is Lucid's  director of chassis and vehicle Dynamics really   smart guy I sat down with him uh recently at a  driving event based in Santa Monica California he   had fascinating things to share about um the very  fascinating Lucid air touring what a performance   sedan this is outside it just knocks your socks  off and you know he had a lot to do with the   chassis uh tuning of course so I think you'll  enjoy that interview uh you know it's more a   lot more about that vehicle than just the chassis  tuning by the way too but before we do anything   else let's bring you some of the latest Automotive  information globally and let's dive right in.   Well new car prices are going up we've seen  that ever since covet really and supply being   constrained and the average transaction  prices just shot up big time that's what   people are actually paying dealers for their  vehicles and Toyota is the brand that expects   um the prices to exceed fifty thousand dollars for  your average car can you imagine that I bought a   house for less than fifty thousand dollars back  in the day but the average car transaction price   will be fifty five fifty thousand dollars for the  first time in history demand will outpace supply   this according to to Toyota and you know this  isn't probably the guy the sky stuff either I mean   we're creeping up there to fifty thousand dollars  or transaction price I think in January was 49   000 and change so this is amazing isn't it Chris  it is it's a little disappointing but I can't say   it's surprising when you look at you know so EVS  are growing in popularity they're generally more   expensive than gas vehicles I'm just trying to  come up with some reasoning here but it's also   kind of funny you know it's hard to tell whether  it's the chicken or the egg right so automakers   make the most expensive Trends and sell more of  them do consumers actually want them are they   buying them because they're what's available uh  you know you don't really know what's coming up   there but uh vehicles are really expensive I  was at the Volkswagen dealership earlier today   and just strolling around looking at regular  old SUVs and just shocked at the prices so   um you know disappointing but not all that's  surprising yeah and Toyota expects to be very   very strong again in 2023 it in Lexus  of course Lexus is its luxury division   probably going to sell 2.1 million vehicles in  the United States alone this year I mean that's   kind of mind-boggling and there's there's still  production restraints so that shows you how strong   and how dominant Toyota has become uh an American  car maker kind of through and through really I   mean with plants all over the place you know based  in Texas outside Dallas and Plano Texas they're   North American operation so they expect the first  half will be maybe a little bit behind last year   in terms of overall sales but they will catch  up and the market will catch up in the second   half of the year I think as we work through this  supplies chain stuff that's still going on it's   kind of amazing kind of amazing what Toyota  has been able to accomplish isn't it Chris   yeah you know they they were one of the early  proponents of the just-in-time manufacturing   process and they kind of created I think or at  least laid the road map for the manufacturing   processes that we see going on today so uh to hear  them you know kind of acknowledge that they're   struggling with these things when they're the ones  that kind of laid the foundation for a lot of this   it shows you just how serious things have gotten  yeah well let's switch gears here and talk about   Tesla it seems like we talk about Tesla every week  and there's always a Tesla story hot copy as they   say and people like to talk about Tesla the and  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has   opened a probe into the Tesla Model X this over  front seat belts they're going to look at about 50   000 of these vehicles out there that's  their big SUV a pretty expensive vehicle   and I I'm kind of scratching my head over this  because they're looking at this after two two   reported failures usually it's a much larger  number before they open a probe and I wonder   if there's a little well who knows there might  be more to this than meets the eye uh that Nitza   is is looking at Tesla but in any case they're  looking at 2020 2022 and 2023 model year model X's   and the front seat belt anchor has a tendency  or could I guess has a tendency actually it's   probably not correct we have two instances maybe  of this becoming loose and the seat belt becoming   loose and of course that's terrible this was  a a complaint from Larkspur California Tesla   was moving at around 10 to 15 miles per  hour and the auto braking system activated   when the driver's door and the large truck park  on the side of the street opened unexpectedly   I guess then the vehicle saw that door open and  activated the brakes with the deceleration this   is written by the driver my upper body flung  forward in the force of my weight caused the   seat belt anchor on the lower seat belt to  detach completely well you don't want that   to happen that is sure we're far from a recall on  this but I'm curious to see your reaction Chris   well it's scary obviously I'm glad that they found  that out at 15 miles an hour instead of 75 miles   an hour but I will say this and this is kind of  a tongue-in-cheek thing but it's good to finally   have a more normal Automotive investigation into  Tesla's products instead of you know the autopilot   engagement times and who was in control of the  vehicle and all these other things but seat belt   failure as scary as it is is kind of the standard  thing that we hear about when we talk about   recalls so I'm going to say that this is a little  bit less a little bit less out there than some   of the things we've heard about them lately yeah  what's your take on them looking at this after two   complaints I mean I think that's maybe a little  aggressive but uh you know certainly you don't   want anything bad to happen no I mean I agree  with that you know maybe they're they're kind of   already a little touchy given the the number or  the volume of the recent investigations they've   had to to initiate but uh two like you said they  usually wait for there to be at least what a dozen   or more of these reports before they start an  investigation so that part is surprising right   well Switching gears again here's something we've  talked about on the show and that's infrastructure   right and um certainly we are proponents of  electric cars and especially in urban areas   I mean they seem to make a ton of sense in urban  areas where you're liable to have more pollution   anyway and you know they it really kind of seem to  fit a need you can have a smaller car and it makes   a lot of sense easy to park all of that stuff  the only fly in the ointment there is charging   right and so many people live in apartments and  they don't even live in apartments with garages   frequently they're parking on the street you've  probably been in that situation I think Millions   upon millions of Americans are in that situation  this has been pointed out as a problem I don't   know that we have a solution what's your take  yeah I don't know that we have a solution here   in New England you frequently have large apartment  buildings with no parking because there's no room   to jam a parking lot into downtown Boston or  downtown Portland Maine but you know I've seen   some countries I'll say not the United States  necessarily install these Chargers on Street   side parking uh units and things like that but if  we're aiming for even half of the country's new   vehicles to be electric by any point in the next  decade we have a long way to go and I've said this   to all the listeners and you are probably tired  of hearing it but smaller Chargers destination   Chargers anywhere you can park a car there should  be at least a few Chargers available and that's   going to have to be the reality before we can  reach even half of what we want to get to so   um I I think I agree with what you're saying  it's going to be tough for apartment dwellers   especially yeah apparently 44 million people 44  million Americans live in apartments that's not an   inconsequential number of people and uh plenty of  those I think would be a good e-vehicle customers   well let's talk about this European Union deal uh  Matthew Lorenzo and I talked about it a little bit   last week the fact that it was imminent and now  they have okayed the the use of e-fuels in some   some small production uh Vehicles going forward  past 2035 it may open the door to use more e-fuels   as we go forward we'll see um Ferrari is breathing  a sigh of relief among other companies because   they they would like to have internal combustion  engines going for it now what's your quick take   on that whole thing are we talking about e-fuels  as an alternative synthetic fuels are we talking   about just straight up fossil fuels here well this  is e-fuels that are apparently carbon neutral is   what they're talking about so yeah so Porsche's  got a big leg up on this they've got a factory   in South America that's already turning this  stuff out and they can run cars on it without   modification you know look I think we've talked  about this before and I've I've kind of converted   to your way of thinking as many Avenues as we can  take to zero zero emissions the better right so if   it's hydrogen if it's e-fuels if it's electric  vehicles if it's whatever uh that's the best   you know as long as we can get some of these gas  powered vehicles off of the street e-fuels have   yet to be truly proven I think I've read you know  somewhere they're less efficient or you know some   of these things the cars won't turn out the same  level of gas mileage but the reality is they're   not burning their fossil fuel and they're not  producing carbon I think that's a net positive   yeah that should be a good thing and we'll talk  about that in future shows when we go forward   we're going to be Road testing some pretty cool  vehicles including the Volvo XC90 and the Honda   Pilot Trail sport all new so stay with us  for that with Christie this is Jack me red   with you and thanks so much for being with  us right here on America on the Road [Music] Welcome back to America on the road with Chris  Teague this is Jack Nerad back with you we're so   glad Chris is back with us after a week off and he  has a really interesting vehicle to talk about the   Volvo XC90 his family vehicle among other things  but he was driving an all-new tester for the past   week or so Chris tell us how it worked yeah this  has only happened a couple of times to me I think   it happened with Golf GTI and then maybe a Subaru  Outback in the past but having a vehicle to test   of one that we already own in a different year is  always very interesting so this is a 2023 Volvo   XC90 I drove the B6 all-wheel drive ultimate which  is a mouthful they changed the powertrain naming   from the year before it used to be called T5 T6  and T8 now it's called B5 B6 and still T8 so you   have to wrap your head around that it took me a  while to understand it but owning one actually   helps so this powertrain Jack they moved from a  turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder which   is what we have in the 2021 that one made around  315hp horsepower pretty good for a vehicle this   size it feels energetic they move from that and  added a mild hybrid system to it and changed the   name to a B6 so power is actually down slightly  295 horsepower 310 pound feet of torque torque is   up a little bit and I want to get your feeling on  this in just a minute but the difference here is   really interesting because the mild hybrid system  takes the place of the traditional starter motor   so that system starts the vehicle it also provides  a small acceleration boost when you're taking off   it allows the vehicle to Coast when you're on the  highway or going down a hill it also activates   the start stop system which annoyingly cannot  be turned off so I want to get your feeling on   this have you driven the new mild hybrid Volvo  powertrains in any other vehicles I have I have   it and I like them actually and I like them  because of the torque that's available right   I mean I also and I I've never experienced the the  fact that the the turbocharged supercharged thing   uh it always struck me as Super complicated right  I haven't experienced any service issues and maybe   you haven't experienced any server service issues  so that's that's really good news but this strikes   me as kind of a better way to go uh I think it  improves fuel economy I think overall drivability   is as good or better with the new system so pretty  much like it I like it too and you're right about   the torque it does feel torquier off the line the  acceleration does feel more immediate it does feel   more energetic like I said so uh not positive  there you go up to 26 miles per gallon on the   highway which isn't great but it's not terrible  for a large three-row SUV with all the features   and the things that this one has this vehicle  has 21 inch wheels the optional air suspension   on this thing is awesome it rises it raises  and lowers the height depending on if you're   getting in or getting out it also lowers on the  highway for better aerodynamics and in the snow   it helps keep the wheels planted because I did  get to drive it through a snowstorm for once uh   and it actually is very comfortable over the bumpy  icy kind of rocky surfaces that develop here over   that while the roads are being plowed and kind of  chewed up a little bit so all around a very quiet   peaceful ride but you got plenty of energy plenty  of power when you need it eight-speed automatic   transmission all-wheel drive like I said earlier  so this is a luxury vehicle the price tag on this   guy climbed to over 78 000 with options that  air suspension system was an option it had a   uh Bowers and Wilkins sound system that was a  very expensive option so but you can get into   it for much cheaper around fifty seven thousand  dollars for the base B5 powertrain uh you still   get leather you still get a great safety equipment  array uh so you don't miss a lot by you know   going for the 21 000 cheaper model um inside the  ultimate has Napa leather heated and ventilated   front seats my tester came with a six seat option  which was Captain's chairs in the middle instead   of the bench which I've often been a proponent for  it kind of helps keep some distance in between the   kids a little bit better and it also allows access  to the third row seats even though you do lose the   middle bench seat which nobody wants to ride there  anyway so I think that's probably okay the other   options this vehicle came with massaging seats  um it has a head-up display as part of its safety   equipment blind spot monitoring forward Collision  alerts just an array of safety equipment here Jack   these are top safety pick plus worthy vehicles  Volvo has always been the kind of Pinnacle of   safety equipment and it just continues here the  updated infotainment system is a nine inch touch   green same size as before but they change from  Volvo's census infotainment to Google based   infotainment so it's a lot faster the menus load  quicker it's a little bit more intuitive you still   have a lot of swiping back and forth we've talked  about this of all those kind of weird with how you   have to navigate in and out of the functions but  it is much faster there's no delay when you start   the vehicle like in my 2021 you have to wait  for the system to boot up before you can change   the radio system stations and all that but much  faster the Bowers and welcome stereo system will   shake your house to the foundation from outside  in the driveway I found that out by accident when   I turned it way up so really no complaints of the  technology here I think you know it's an excellent   family vehicle I've said this many times if you  have the money and you want to spend it you know   we're an only vehicle family now I got rid of my  GTI so you know we kind of put all of our eggs in   the XD 90 basket and that's really what it's good  at it's good at being the all-around I would do   everything family vehicle Jack nice yeah certainly  is a terrific vehicle luxury vehicle from a luxury   brand and I think it offers a lot and I just  like the Swedish touches of it too well I was   driving a vehicle that's all new and you don't see  complete makeovers in the midsize SUV segment all   that often but in making changes Honda has  pulled out all the stops on its new pilot   is brand new completely revamped exterior design  is completely different it was drawing a lot of   stairs and parking lots across the the country as  I was driving cross country a little bit I drove   from Southern California to Phoenix and back and  a lot of people were staring at it it was also in   the the lead color which is kind of a baby blue  I mean kind of an electric blue so that gets some   attention too there's a new more Upscale Interior  as well including a new infotainment system uh   that we could talk about actually two variations  of the infant the infotainment system it has the   same 3.5 liter V6 engine that it had before with  been revamped somewhat five more horsepower uh   but the bigger change is the replacement of  the nine-speed automatic transmission with   a new 10-speed Auto which I think is a good  change um front drive is standard all-wheel   drive is optional and as I said the Honda has also  upgraded the infotainment systems and tweaked its   standard and optional safety off offerings which  is good there's more safety stuff than ever before   the pilot now comes in five trim levels the  sport the EXL with a hyphen in it and who were   a hyphen show trail sport which I was driving the  touring and the elite as I said I was driving the   trailsport model which is the off-road trim I  was driving many many miles on road and very   few miles off-road and didn't do heavy off-roading  and I don't think the trail sport is designed for   heavy heavy duty off-roading all over that has  more off-roading capabilities than it had before   but it does have all-terrain wheels and tires  especially tuned suspension second row captains   chairs and it listed about almost fifty thousand  dollars with the destination fee I think quite a   value actually I think there's a lot to like  about this this had capture Captain's chairs   in the second row some of the other models  have a special insert that goes between those   Captain's chairs that allows the pilot to be  an eight passenger vehicles three across in   the second row and then three across in the rear  and there's actually room enough to do that so   um that's a nice thing uh the 3.5 liter V6 now  delivers 285 horsepower 262 pound-feet of torque  

10-speed automatic transmission I frankly wish  I could get to that torque a little quicker or   maybe that there was more of it I mean when I went  to push down to passes I was doing a lot on I-10   going back and forth between here and and Phoenix  uh passing slower traffic of which there was quite   a bit uh I I kind of wanted this to be a maybe  a bit more responsive than it was uh but overall   you know quite good I think 285 horsepower is is  pretty decent it had the ivt M4 all-wheel drive   system that's a mouthful jot that down it's that's  standard on the trail sport and Elite and it has   a stronger rear differential uh it uh responds  faster than before it also has multiple Drive   modes five standard selectable Drive modes normal  econ snow Sport and Sport and Tow and then the   trailsport adds a sand mode and a trail mode which  I didn't get much use to to I think maybe the most   off-roading I did was pulling into the parking lot  at Bass Pro Shops uh during the during the drive   V6 with a V6 engine the only engine the trail  sport is rated at 20 miles per gallon combined   and I confirmed that on my uh drive cross country  where I was probably going it I hate to admit   this and don't use it in court but maybe extra  legal speeds at times uh more safety equipment   um overall I think this is a really good value  and and I blathered on about this Chris do you   have a quick comment on this before we get out of  this segment yeah I like the Honda V6 I think they   stuck with a pretty steadfastly through a bunch of  generations of the pilot that the passport and the   uh and the Ridgeline it'll be interesting to see  going forward if they move to kind of like what   Toyota did with the Highlander to a turbo 4 to get  more torque out of it as you mentioned but I like   their V6 I like the pilot I like the 10-speed  automatic so not too many complaints there   I think they've really done what they needed  to do with this vehicle so I like it a lot I   think we have two great family vehicles  on on the show the Volvo XC90 uh revised   for 2023 and the all-new Honda Honda Pilot  Trail sport version and then other Honda   Pilot versions so look for those when we  come back we have a terrific guest for   you David Lickfold is loosen's director  of chassis and vehicle Dynamics so stay   with us for That interview and we'll be right  back right here on America on the Road [Music] Welcome back everybody to America on the Road  Jack Nerad with you and we're in Santa Monica   California about to drive a car that I'm really  excited about the Lucid air touring with me is   David Lickfold who is the chassis engineer just  chief designer of chassis engineering at Lucid   this is an exciting Pro program for you um tell  us about it tell us what's most exciting about   this vehicle to you yeah good morning it's  it's an incredibly exciting product It's a   combination of many years of work by a large  very dedicated very talented team and then we   get to see what you folks think of it which is  both nerve-wracking and exciting yeah well uh   this is a car with remarkable capabilities in all  kinds of ways right and certainly straight line   capabilities but handling uh is maybe a question  mark for some EVS tell us a bit about what you've   been able to do with the loser air touring yeah we  think we think the Lucid air is a fantastic very   compelling product in many areas it's extremely  efficient at very long range it's very comfortable   um but it also has some some handling shots when  you want it to So today we're gonna head out on a   drive on on Route 1 PCH first of all you'll get  to experience the car being very comfortable in   in kind of cruising environment and then we'll  head off open to the canyons and we'll switch to   our own mode and then hopefully you'll you'll get  to experience what the car can do on the twisties   what are some special challenges with an electric  vehicle in terms of chassis engineering certainly   there's weight to deal with is that the the key  thing that's a difference between that and an   internal combustion engine car it's certainly  a large difference yeah it's no secret that EVS   tend to be heavier than their ice counterparts  we put a lot of work in on the Lucid Air making   the car feel very light very agile we've really  kind of switch at the details of chassis tuning   of Economics tuning we have the benefits of a  very responsive very powerful very high torque   powertraining as well which can really wave the  car up made you feel very alive very responsive   um yeah so it's it's uh there are several  challenges so it's a double-edged sword   with all that and all that talk we need to  manage all that power and all that talk so   from a traction control and civility control  perspective for an engineer it's challenging   and it's taken us kind of years of very very  hard very detailed development to get it to a   point where it is now but from a customer  perspective it's seamless it's extremely   responsive very quick it's exhilarating to drive  and the benefits of an EV powertrain are that   because it's so responsive compared to a  combustion engine which we'll take in the region   of kind of 100 milliseconds 150 milliseconds to  respond to any any control we will intervene with   to help the driver and EV is instantaneous so so  we can very precisely very quickly make the card   do exactly what we want to do and the experience  for a customer then is just a super low handling   very agile vehicle how do you go about handling  weight I mean what are some things you can do to   kind of mitigate the feel that that weight brings  to the party yeah yeah it's all about in my mind   it's all about response so we want to make sure  and I'll try to avoid nerding out too much here   but we want to avoid that we want to ensure that  the the front and the rear axle are very in Phase   together so when the customer makes a steering  input the car immediate response on both the   front and the rear axle we want the car to to kind  of quickly take a set in the corner so it's very   predictable we carefully manage roll we carefully  manage all that or our transient body motions   um really how we've achieved that is through a  very high specification suspension system we've   spent the money where it counts we have  a very high spec set of dampers steering   system brake system all designed in-house a  fantastic suspension architecture which gives   us lots of tuning flexibility um so yeah it's  uh it's all about switching the details really   here you have a Powertrain that instantaneous  torque an immense amounts of it right I mean   that can get people into trouble I I would  think um almost unknowingly uh because it is   so much it could be so much quicker uh than  the typical car even the typical luxury car   the typical luxury performance car talk about  that that challenge you know keeping people on   the road is kind of an important thing isn't  it it is impossible yeah yeah with um that's   the old saying goes with great programs great  responsibility and the lucida touring would be   driving today has 620 horsepower uh Peak so it's  it's quick there's a lot of power on the tablet   um and as you mentioned with an EV you have  the uh it's extremely quiet it's smooth it's   seamless so uh drivers can be traveling a lot  more quickly than they think they are you don't   have the reference points of engine noise or gear  shift points um instead you get this one seamless   surge of acceleration so yeah there's there's a  huge responsibility on us to make sure the car is   approachable by all drivers and in all conditions  as well whether it's a nice Southern California   weather like we'll have today or whether you're  in snow out in New York Minnesota or wherever   um and really that's through we achieve that  through our in-house controls so we've we've   developed our own traction controls to put the  control systems um we we also work with kind of   leading Partners in the in the automotive  world to develop these types of systems   um and yeah I I was obviously sound like a broken  record it's about switching the details it's about   ensuring that our tuning is absolutely spot on and  we've catered for every possible scenario customer   um and yeah we we have to ring in all that power  and all that talk that's available and make sure   the car is approachable by any driver no matter  whether they're alert and ready to arrive or   they're tired at the end of a work day and they  just want to get home right and uh you have   um a buyer base is probably fairly varied  right and not necessarily Enthusiast drivers   um you want a comfortable vehicle as well as one  that handles really well that's something you have   to balance how do you go about doing that yeah  good question um as we'll as we'll talk about   today the Lucid is is kind of many cars in one it  can be a very comfortable long distance Turing car   it can also be a really engaging company on  the Canon on Canyon Road like we will do today   um and we do that through we have three Drive  modes available in and we change our chassis setup   hugely between the three to give the customers the  choice of essentially three different cars in one   yeah so it's it's uh it's a very compelling  product I think describe how you do that in   a little more detail how do you give that  three different steps yeah yeah we have   um we have several systems on the car we have  many systems on the phone which can change   their character hugely so going between smooth  which is relax to drone mode as the name suggests   from when we're in smooth we run our dampers  in a software setting our steering is quite   light our brake pedal is quite aligned  quite quite boosted um we will run the   powertrain in its most efficient manner  and we'll we'll kind of we call it the   the Autobahn sneeze test we want to make sure  that when you're cruising at high speeds and you   the lane you don't change your vehicle speed  so we apply a lot of kind of filtering and   smoothing to our powertrain controls as we  then step up from smooth drive mode into our   more aggressive mode Swift and Sprint we  make the car come alive through changing   calibration of our adaptive damper system we  put in a whole lot of body control and build   control make the car really responsive and  lock down on the road we firm up our brake   pedal to make it easier for a driver who's driving  enthusiastically to modulate their brick torque   uh we apply a bit more weight to the steering when  we switch steering calibration to give more Road   feedback as well so the driver can feel what what  the tires are doing um and then the powertrain   gets a whole lot more responsive as well we um we  up our power and torque limits we also change our   current talk curves and a big detail there is we  become more rear biased in where we're throwing   that power and torque so as you step through  into Swift and Sprint we become more like a real   world row Sportster yeah and tell me a list is why  we're biased is helpful in in terms of apparently   sure sure yeah so of course a tiger can only do  so much and we typically kind of look at Thai   behavior in well many different plots but one  of those is a friction Circle and if you are if   you imagine you're you're asking your tire to  do a lot on the studently okay so acceleration   or breaking it limits what it can do in lateral  Force generation in steering for quantum so when   we go more rear biased we're kind of taking off  some of that longitudinal load from the tire and   freeing it up to do more lateral regeneration so  that gives you a sharper more responsive front end   and it allows the car to drive more like some  of the kind of historic rents of real drone   Sports atoms like E39 M5 if that we reference  a lot during 90 London what do you think is   the highest achievement you've made with this  vehicle I mean there's a lot of things you've   done but what is the one that you think wow  this this is really I've really done something   here we we've got something here that's really  cool I think we're as a team we're incredibly   proud of the fact that this this vehicle Lucid  air does everything it has plus leading range   triggers has classified ride and refinement it's  a fantastic car to throw around the Canyon Road   it has extremely quick charging and it's all in  the case of touring it is at an attainable price   point I think if if people can compare US versus  EV all combustion in United Sim on the price point   the Lucid air does more it's so many cars in  one um and it's it's I won't say easy but it's   easier to engineer a car or design a car to do a  single thing well it's incredibly difficult to do   everything well and I think we've achieved them  and I think it's a it's a really exciting car   for that reason so it's really a combination of  things rather than one thing that you think is   the achievement because you've combined things  to enable that yeah exactly exactly the the   way we work at Lucid is different to anything  I've experienced before all of our teams are   incredibly tightly integrated nobody makes any  decision in isolation nobody is going to siled   just looking out for their attributes and their  performance Target we're all one team together   and we have this in turn when we call it the the  jelly setting design approach which comes from   Peter Rawlinson a CEO CTO where no single part of  the car is ever locked down early on everything   is fluid everything's evolving together we keep  stirring the jelly and gradually everything will   start to solidify together into a fantastic  product and that's worked really well for us   yeah give us uh and give our listeners some  some idea of pricing and availability and   the tourings I'm gonna have to look to our  marketing and media folks for some help here   um touring Consulting press it's 107.4 hundred  seven thousand four hundred dollars so it is   attainable it's attainable yeah yeah I think the  part of the Lucid mission is to kind of um evolve   sustainable mobility and we want to keep making  EVS more attainable to more people so we started   off with our kind of Premium products we started  with the Lucid and a dream crematorium rental and   performance and now we're on to the the touring  package which I think is a is kind of a sweet spot   in the range really you get you get a lot of the  class reading benefits higher range trim levels at   a more attainable price point terrific terrific I  can't wait to drive this uh I'll have more to say   when that's over but thanks so much for being with  us we really do appreciate it thanks for having me   and uh stay with us everybody we'll be right  back right here on America on the road [Music] Welcome back to America on the Road with Chris  Teague Jack Nerad with you and it is listener   question time we love to answer your listener  questions it's very easy to get us a listener   question as well and we'd love to hear from you  love to hear your comments just tell us what you   think about the show I hope you like the show and  I hope you pass it along if if you do like it to   somebody else you think might like it um it's easy  to get a question To Us by sending it to editor   drivingtoday.com editor driving today.com we'll  answer your question on an upcoming show and Chris   uh here is a question uh from Lenny in Davenport  Iowa I think on the Mississippi River there in   in I've been there beautiful Town yeah it's a cool  town I think uh I was very into this is what Lenny   says I was very interested in your recent talk  about e-fuels it seems like EVS require a lot   of changes and aren't very convenient I think  maybe it means lifestyle changes or changes   to how you do things uh do you really think  e-fuels could allow us to keep our regular cars   Chris oh well you know let's break out the  crystal ball right how many times has that   been pretty cloudy for both of us I mean look the  answer is this e fields are brand new they're not   even anywhere near Commercial viability yet uh  Porsche as I mentioned earlier in the show as   a factory in South South America they're working  on this um now I've done some reading in the break   here I realized that burning e-fuels does still  release carbon dioxide emissions I think the   process here is just a little different than  that we're not extracting fuels from the the   earth I think the problem is that it's going to be  very expensive and it might not be as efficient as   regular gasoline nor will it be as efficient as a  kilowatt hour of electricity or whatever you know   the unit of measure that you want to use there so  I think we could be a ways off from seeing this   become a reality but again I think any more the  more Avenues we can take to zero emissions future   the better um and I can't wait to see what formula  one does with it in a few years when they change   their rules so uh you know you know you never  know it could be something that I'll be eating   my words in a few years I hope but uh we'll see  well yeah I'd love to see more research on this   I think it's this is unproven technology and you  know we've been looking for battery breakthroughs   for years and years and years now maybe decades  and I haven't quite got there yet that would lower   charging times make this a lot more expensive  so maybe that we can have a breakthrough on   e-fuels or maybe we can't you know maybe it's  impossible to do I think looking to balance out   carbon emissions from uh fuel release and I to me  there's always been something uh very intriguing   about the ability to drill holes in the ground  and bring stuff up out of the ground and then   you know drive cars based on what comes out of the  ground it otherwise would be useless right I mean   so there's a lot to like about that there's a lot  to like about how much power can be stored in a   gallon of fossil fuel uh the the sticking point of  course is the carbon dioxide that's being released   so maybe there's a way to mitigate that in in ways  or capture that in ways that we just don't know so   I think it's too soon to tell Lenny whether this  could allow us to keep regular cars regular cars   within internal combustion engines but I think  it's certainly worth examining anyway absolutely   oh very good well Cindy has a maybe a little bit  more down to earth or uh immediate question she's   in Vista California this is what she writes this  what do you think is the best buy among all the   EVS under fifty thousand dollars I think it's  time I bought an electric car but I don't have   a ton of money and she's not alone there uh  can you help what do you think about that I   think we can help but I think the good news is  that there are some some really really nice EVS   under fifty thousand dollars right so we've got  the Kia ev6 and the Hyundai ioniq 5 those both   started under fifty thousand dollars you can  option them both over fifty thousand dollars   but even the base models of those are both very  nice uh let's see what else do the Tesla Model   3 with its recent price drops you can now get  into that guy for under fifty thousand dollars   if that's your flavor then you get the Ford  Mustang Machi which is a pretty good buy too   um and then if you really want to go you know  a little bit different you got the Toyota   bz4x although that range is a little shy of the  other ones and I've had some experiences or some   colleagues with experiences of slow charging with  that so you know I think the world is kind of your   oyster at under fifty thousand dollars here you've  got a lot of great choices and if you want to go   even cheaper than that you can hit the Chevrolet  bolt or the Chevrolet bolt euv which are both   fantastic values yeah I was going to talk about  those too and uh I think the the Hyundai Kona EV   is is another one to take a look at it's a pretty  inexpensive a lot to like about it there are also   other versions of that including a I think a  hybrid is their basic version of that vehicle   that memory serves right but um you know certainly  if you're looking at all EV there are some good   choices now under fifty thousand dollars and as  we were reported later in the earlier in the show   um fifty thousand dollars is liable to be the  average transaction price out there so while fifty   thousand dollars seems like a heck of a lot of  money for me uh for a new car um I think there are   some very good EV choices there I think in Vista  California which I'm some semi acquainted with you   can get by without tons of rain so maybe even a  Nissan Leaf with 150 miles of range would be okay   if you're charging overnight uh Cindy if you have  your own house you can install your own at-home   charger I think that's a pretty good solution too  and maybe uh one of the most cost effective yeah   I think now that we're talking about this too we  need to take tax credits into uh account here so   I think the VW id4 which is built in Chattanooga  the Ford Mustang Machi some of these some of the   American built EVS are the ones that would give  you the 7 500 credit back haven't heard much on   Hyundai and Kia yet those don't have the final  assembly locations that they need to to qualify   yet so we'll see that but some of these are  you know they can become even cheaper with the   tax credit at the end of the year so it's always  worth right well I hope Cindy is making enough   money to take advantage of a 7 500 tax credit that  would be good I think a lot of people are working   full-time probably pay more than 7 500 in federal  income tax so that's something to look at you also   have to look at the fact that you don't get that  right away it's not like a discount immediately   you're going to get that uh when you file your  next year's taxes so that doesn't help with things   like down payment or something like that like a an  incentive would but uh something to keep in mind   let's take another question David in Myrtle Beach  South Carolina says this we're looking at minivans   but it seems like the prices are so high with four  kids I guess I don't have any other choices what   do you think we should do well with four kids a  minivan would probably be your best option uh you   know I think there are some very good ones we've  talked about these before on the show if you want   a hybrid minivan with all-wheel drive you have two  options basically you have a Chrysler Pacifica and   you have the uh Toyota Sienna and if you want  something a little bit more upscale which is   personally my favorite minivan right now is the  KIA Carnival if you get the higher trim levels   of some of these you get a lot of luxury inside  quilted leather you know backseat entertainment   systems and all that but I really do I keep  coming back to the Sienna for the sole reason   that uh it's got the Toyota predictive reliability  it comes only in a hybrid powertrain and it comes   available with all-wheel drive which for somebody  like me living in Maine it turns the vehicle into   a year-round it's just a very confident vehicle to  drive all year round so I think that would be my   pick even though the carnival is my favorite  I think the Toyota is more practical from my   uses yeah and I I'm a giant fan of the Toyota  Sienna and we've taken them on a couple of family   vacations now and they've just been super Champs  and the hybrid powertrain is great you know I   you might like the uh Ikea a little better but I I  really love everything about the Sienna so I would   look at that the other thing I would point out  to David is look at a vehicle maybe that's a year   or so old or two years old a CPO version of this  can probably get the price down at least somewhat   not a ton these days because supply has been so  constrained and they probably haven't had a lot   a lot in the market and a lot coming off lease but  I'd look to maybe do that as an alternative I mean   to maybe keep the price under 50 or 60 thousand  dollars I mean most family folks I think family   folks with the four children probably pretty  cost constrained so I'd look for uh something   like that as it may be a way that you can lower  the overall outlay on the vehicle I agree oh very   good well Chris I you do great things on your  testdriver.com why don't you tell us about that   yeah I mentioned this before but we're running a  giveaway the where I'm going to extend it through   the end of April just so we have a little bit  more chance to sign up we partnered with skip   Barber racing school and team O'Neill rally  School up here in New England to give away   two one day driving school passes now you can go  to any of the skip Barber locations I think they   have three or four and they're at some really  nice race tracks across the country if you look   at some of the pro drivers right now there are a  lot of pro drivers that came through skip Barber   racing school so it's a great program then if you  want to get in the dirt we have uh Team O'Neill   here in New Hampshire they do rally schools  they have Ford focuses Subaru wrx's they have   the whole range of vehicles up here for you to  try you get a one day pass unfortunately I can't   fly you there myself but we can get you there and  get get the ticket in your hand to go driving to   find out everything you need to know go to your  testdriver.com or head to at your testdriver on   Instagram there you can find our post and  sign up it's very easy and it's free to do   those are such wonderful opportunities I'd love to  go to a rally School sometime I've been to a lot   of on-track driving schools including skip skip  Harbor which I loved a lot so uh great opportunity   people should take you up on that Chris very  very cool I'd love to have people take me up   on at least checking out my newest book which is  called Dance in the Dark it's a crime Thriller   it's based on true crime and uh of course I have  studied crime for years and years and years I have   not committed many maybe a little speeding is is  the most uh heinous crime that I've ever committed   but beyond that uh but I'm sure interested in why  people do what they do so look for dance in the   dark we'd love if you like our show we'd love  to have you pass it along to people who would   also like the show that would be great for uh the  show so if you listen on the radio tell folks what   radio station on which you listen to the show and  let them know what time you're listening and they   can sample it they can also sample it as a podcast  it's on all the major podcast Outlets America on   the road and of course we'd like to thank our  Sports map radio network stations for carrying   America on the road you can find uh the podcast  on the sports map Radio website so uh thanks so   much for listening to America on the road thanks  so much to Chris for being a great co-host and   we look forward to seeing you again next week  right here on America on the road oh [Music]

2023-05-15 17:59

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