[MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90-plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. The card has no cash access and expires in six months. With the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, you can earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases you want and purchases you need. That means you earn on what you want, like trying out that new workout class, and 2% cash rewards on what you need, like a foam roller for your sore muscles. That's the beauty of the Active Cash Credit Card. It's ready when you are, with unlimited 2% cash rewards. The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. That's real life ready, terms apply. Learn more at wellsfargo.com/activecash. Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast, bringing you the world of cars from inside the car. And now your host, Carl Brouwer, Lauren Vicks, and Javier Mota. Well, here we are with Lauren in Portland, but not at the same event, different cars. And Carl, who is in LA, how are you, Carl? I'm doing good, but it's hot here. It's over 100 degrees in Mission Viejo. Really? That's unusual, isn't it unusually hot? Yeah, that's unusual. I'm telling you, this climate change thing has benefited Miami. No, no, no, wait, wait, wait. My location, 94, Miami 84. So, wow, figure that out. You know, it was funny, because I'm in Portland, but we were in, I think it was ever to ever to ever. I tried Newburg, Newburg as we were. It was 102. I'm telling you, it's weird. They're having a heat wave, but Buffalo had a heat wave, too. I mean, you can call it climate change, you can call it climate, whatever you want to call it. Miami, Miami's 10 degrees cooler. I mean, I think it's supposed to be worse. Well, but yeah, and then rest of the year, Miami's the way where everyone wants to be, right? I know, but anyway, so it's been an interesting couple of weeks, really busy going around the country and like different cars and brands. And I think, finally, someone is saying that 2030 is not going to happen for all electric cars in different brands. Not a chance. Right? So, Carl, we were at the Volvo EX90 event in Newport Beach two weeks, three weeks ago, I think it was already. And it's been that long? Oh, my God. And they were talking, this is the electric version of the flagship SUV from Volvo. And this week, they showed the regular ICE or pulling hybrid versions of the, let's get it right, the XC90, which is the original, I guess. And now they're talking about 20/40. So they're finally adjusting the number, at least, for the-- Well, so we'll see if it happens. Jaguar is also, everyone's kind of switched to hybrids or what people want. And Carl, when you probably have the numbers on hybrids and what people are paying, oversticker and antsticker and incentives, I assume ICE cars does all that? Yeah, and we definitely see, you know, lower prices, longer wait times on dealerships days on market, you know, lower transaction prices, everything, every metric that you measure or we measure on a monthly basis says lower demand for electric vehicles, that it's falling. Interesting. They had a girl here at the event time that's called Heels and Wheels. It's a bunch of women journalists and influencers, and we drive a bunch of cars that we have been driven. It's just a few that I hadn't driven, but she was saying that she believes, and of course, it depends who's paying with bills, but she believes that the millennials are going to be the ones who are going to want all electric. And I know a lot of millennials, I've got two millennials. They're not interested at all. They want three puddles, and they want gas-powered cars. So, and Carl, you have two millennials. Yeah. And I think they're probably on the same page if I'm guessing correctly. Well, yeah, one of them drives a 1988 Firebird Formula 350, so it doesn't get more non-electric than her car. And yeah, there's not really an interest from that generation to be EV as soon as possible. Yeah. I mean, the electric cars are happening, but the pace is going to be much lower. Probably, we've been saying this before. They now, quote-unquote, officially move the date 10 more years. So now it's going to be in 15 years instead of five. But that's what happens in the industry, right? And I guess in any other industry where companies or governments push policies, and they try to set something, then, like, consumers, they wait, I don't want this. Well, the consumers are always going to make the final decision. Exactly, yeah, that's what I'm saying. But there's political push going, too. I mean, it depends what happens in November. No matter what they say, we know that President Trump gets elected. He doesn't want electric vehicles. He wants you to have a choice. He's friends with Elon Musk, who appears to be-- will do something in the cabinet. I don't know what may be cost-cutting or something. And then on the other side, no matter what Kamala Harris is saying, we know that they're pro EV. That's always been their thing. That's always been their push to do the Green New Deal. And they're going to push really hard. So if you have a preference one way or the other, then elections matter. If you don't care, and you go, ah, it doesn't affect me, I'm just going to keep what I have, you know, you may not have a choice down the road, especially if you need to replace a vehicle. So everything has consequences on both sides. So remember, it's a policy not a person. Yeah, exactly. And the car companies are businesses. I mean, if they're not seeing the profits that they were projecting and all this kind of thing, they have to adjust. So like, in any other business, if you have a-- Carly, you have an Italian restaurant and you're not making money with pizza, you switch it to pasta, I don't know. Or tacos or something. Yeah. It's Italian. It's Italian. How's Italian? OK. Yeah, but while I was talking to someone who actually knows a lot about the infrastructure and does a lot of the work producing infrastructure that is electric-based and bolstering existing infrastructure. And he's also an enthusiast. And so his business is helping cities set up to have massive battery packs, massive solar and massive transformers to help run their public fleets on electricity, which I think is brilliant, right? We're talking about electric cars and where they do and don't make sense. And I think all of us would agree whether it's postal vans or Amazon vans or school buses. Anytime you have a predicted, consistent route, especially if it's only going to be between 50 and 200 miles a day, and then you come back to a home base, everyone of those cars should be electric. Love it, love it, love it. Make all those vehicles electric. We know how far they go. They never deviate. And they're usually operating in urban areas where you'd most like to have a drop in noise and air pollution. But that's totally different than a private citizen who may or may not have a home charger, may or may not be able to afford the higher cost of the EV, may or may not have consistent routes, may or may not have multiple vehicles and have a second what I call, still we'll call a real card, that can get them 300 miles, 400 miles in a single day because grandma or a best friend or a pet got sick and they had to go rushing off on an unexpected three, four, 500 mile journey in the next 12 hours. Those people can deal with electric vehicles, but the actual single individual living in a multi-unit housing doesn't have a home charger and only will afford a single car in their fleet. That's still a lot of people out there and has no consistency on what they're driving and how far they have to drive, maybe 80, 90%. But I was telling the story about how I had a recent ionic 5N, you know, fun little performance car from Hyundai. And I had to screw around, I usually use another word, but I had to screw around for four hours on a Friday from four to eight PM because I couldn't find a functioning charging location. - Really? - And they were broken. - I mean, how long did you tend to find one? - Well, it took me like two and a half hours to find one or you know, I mean, honestly what happened was I found one where only the level two was working and I'd gotten down to, in the running around process, I'd gotten down to two miles and there was another option, four miles away. - That's a panic. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So I had to pull in and use the level two for like 45 minutes to get up to five miles from two miles of range that I scampered over to the one that was four miles away. And only because there was another person who had more mileage range left and she went to the other one and was willing to text me and call me and say, okay, these A are working and B, there's not a line behind me. So if you come over now, I was like, well, I'll get there as soon as I can. I'm only at three miles range on this level two and I'm not gonna drive four miles away when three miles on my range distance. So, whole process took four hours. And I was just talking to somebody at lunch today who's got one electric vehicle and they were kind of the second vehicle for the household and he's like, yeah, yeah, we're not going electric for the second. We have to have one non electric. So he was admitting it. And I told him, but he's wealthier. He's got multiple car fleets. He's got a home charger. So he likes to tell it like so many people do that they charge at home most of the time. And I said, yeah, that's all great. Let me tell you right now, in case you didn't already know, one experience of panic, almost out of range, broken chargers, lines for chargers, four hours, screwing around, trying to solve the problem. And I'll take a gasoline, you know, like that was all it took for me, whatever leanings I was thinking about electric cars, done. I'm back to buying a gas car. I drove by about 12 or 15 gas stations in the process of those four hours, all of which would have solved my energy problem in seven minutes. - So what happened? - Yeah, Carl. What happened to the Prios you were gonna buy? - No, a Prius Prime. I wanna buy a Prius Prime. Prius Primes are awesome. I think that's the best car you can buy. You came to me and said I need the most capable, widest range functionality vehicle for the lowest cost and the least post-purchase price. You know, that means not putting gas in it and also not fixing it 'cause it doesn't break down. If I had a Prius Prime, everyone listening out there, $34,000 including destination charge for a base Prius Prime, go 50 miles on a charge and then run on gasoline afterwards. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. - Yeah, so I guess that's the bridge that we're gonna extend from 20, 30 to 40, plugging hybrid thing and then like eventually when all these problems and someone in South Korea or in Germany or in Japan, finally get the right formula for a battery that can last 500 miles and charge in 10 minutes, that's when we're gonna see-- - And not causing that $100,000 and not have a big backlog and take forever to make. I mean, this is the joke I'd tell guys, you're gonna like this, but you talk to these advocates for these EVs and they will cost too much. Well, we're gonna fix that. Well, we're gonna fix that. Well, the infrastructure's there. Well, we're gonna fix that. Well, you know what? - You're gonna fix everything then fix it. - Yeah, well, well, we're gonna have a pill someday, guys. There's no doubt in my mind. Someday, someday, we're gonna have a pill that you take it and it cures lung cancer. So you know what, guys? Just start smoking now. Just start smoking now. - Yeah, really? ♪ He's better over here ♪ - Now at T-Mobile, get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade-ins. All on America's largest 5G network. (upbeat music) - Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month without a paid discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge. Phones would be a 24-monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire accounts to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement too. Bill credits end if you pay off devices early. See T-Mobile.com. - With the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, you can earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases you want and purchases you need. That means you earn on what you want, like trying out that new workout class and 2% cash rewards on what you need, like a foam roller for your sore muscles. That's the beauty of the Active Cash Credit Card. It's ready when you are with unlimited 2% cash rewards. The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, that's real life ready. Terms apply, learn more at wellsfargo.com/activecash. - And that's really, that's really the whole thing. - Yeah, that's what it is. It's like, guess what guys, don't tell me someday when if. Call me when these problems have been solved and we'll already discuss my EV purchase. When they've been solved. - Okay, but can we talk about that EX90 that we drove? I mean, that car has solved some problems. - Yeah, that car has solved some problems, at least in the design, in the engineering, in the functionality. Do you agree with that car? - What problems has it solved? - I don't know, and it drives nice. It's luxurious, it's like-- - Well, they all do. - They ignore that kind of thing. - That's every EV, like you just said, Lauren, that still takes, you know, they talk about the 250 kilowatt charge capacity, which is 10, which gets it from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes. I always say, yeah, it's like airplane crashes. They don't happen 'cause something fails. They happen because like eight things fail and think of a moving set of eight walls and there's a little hole in each wall and if you can shoot the bullet at just the right time when all those things move randomly, you might get through all eight things. That's how these charge figures, when you hear these what I often consider bogus charge figures. If the car can handle that capacity, if the charging infrastructure, the charging station has that capacity, if it's not broken, if the pay system works, isn't anyone else using it? 'Cause remember, there's three kilowatt, there's three 350 kilowatt charging stations sitting next to each other and you drive up and one other one is in use at that charging node. You ain't getting 350 or even 250. - Yeah. - Out of that. You've already lost half the charge. - I was talking more about the actual car. You didn't like anything about it? - I love the audio. - I like the audio system. I think it looks pretty cool and it's very comfortable. Honestly, it had some real issues for me. I have no interest in opening the glove box with a button on a virtual button on a digital screen. I have no interest in toggling between the front and rear window controls with a third button that has to toggle me between the front and rear. - That's true, that's true. - Because I have a 100% agreement. - Yeah, I have no interest in going through five pages on the center control system to adjust the suspension or steering from soft to firm 'cause I counted and that's it. You're driving along in a normal screen and you decide you want a firmer suspension. You're coming up on an entrance ramp. Yeah, this is an entrance ramp, big clover leap. I want the suspension to go firm. Most cars, where's the sport button? Boom, let's do it. - Yes, car? - Well, wait, I gotta get into the vehicle thing. Okay, now I gotta go to the dynamic setting. Now I gotta go to the setting setting. Now maybe I've got the screen that has firm and soft. Now I gotta go to the boom. - You already passed the young ramp. - Yeah, that's right. - You already onto the highway struggling. - Oh, yeah, that's not unsafe at all, right? From the Volvo safety leaders. So that, the lot of the controls on that car did not work for me at all. I was not done. By the way, I don't know if you guys tried out the firmer suspension setting. Of course, we were in the cars with the biggest 22 inch wheels. That was not a usable setting in that car. Okay, the ride quality fell apart and you and I, we all hear no enough. - It was rough, it was rough. - If you put a car in firm and you start, any mid-quarter bump starts upsetting the chassis because it's such a stiff ride between the small sidewall and those 22 inch wheels and the firm suspension setting, that's worse. Actually, you don't want that firm setting going through corners. So maybe it's okay that it takes five steps 'cause every time I put it in that setting, I'm like, this is worse for handling. If you were trying to drive aggressively on a twisty road, this stiff setting would probably upset the chassis. You don't want the tires to come off the suspension from a bump and it would have because of how stiff it was riding. - Yeah, it's too bad that neither of you are gonna be in Miami this weekend because I still have the Aston Martin Bantash in my driveway. - Oh, I just drove the DBX-707. - I know, is that great? - I think it's great. - Yeah. - It was good, finally, and improving, but I will, to be honest, had three Aston Martin's as loner cars. We all hit these different loner cars. And so the first one I got was the DB, the one you have the DBS, the Super Legera. - Bantash, the Bantash, I have. - Yeah, and it started raining and the car didn't run. Water got on the fuel pump, it was done. I had to get a flat bedded. So then they sent me a DBX. I get in the car, it's August in Florida, and I'm like, "Oh, this is great. "What a beautiful car." Get in at the next morning, air conditioning died. I'm like, "Oh my God, it's 100 degrees outside, "100% humidity in Florida." I was very peeved. So by the time I got in the third vehicle with apologies, the DBX-707, I was gun shy. I was waiting, like every time I got in the car, but it ran perfectly fine. As did the one I tested, I loved it. Actually, it was a really amazing car, but I was a little gun shy by that time. - So anyone did. - It seems that we're gonna have car problems anyway, either gas, hybrid, pluggy, heavy. So by what year, you predict that all the problems will be solved in the car industry. - Never, never. - Now they're two advanced machines, and they've got two new things going on. And it's just a constant learning curve. Honestly, if you're wanting a car that's not gonna break anymore, I think all of us have experience with this, you're actually better off with like a three, four, five-year-old car or older from a company like Toyota that's already been fully vetted. And after, you get a car like that and maybe it has zero problems from day one, but certainly once it's got like 20,000 miles on it, you get like a Toyota Corolla or something like that, it's gonna, you're gonna have no problems with that car. From like 20,000 to like 250,000, it's just gonna drive because it's already been vetted and it's not a some cutting edge technology thing. It's just like functional straightforward car. - Maybe that's why Toyota only has one electric car, full electric car, and they're not selling, it's not selling, it's funny. You were talking about Honda and all these other brands going electric, Honda partnered with General Motors and they got the Blazer EV and they made it the prologue and then they have the Acura. Well, if you look, they go to the dealers and you look on their website, they're already offering brand new car, Acura ZVX, same thing as the prologue and the Blazer, essentially. Brand new, $3,000 off the sticker. You have a brand new car and a brand new model. - No, it's not 3,000, Lauren, it's 30,000. - Off the sticker? - Off of ZVX. - Whoa, let me do something, none. - The ZVX price was dropped by $30,000, less than six months after it was introduced. - Jeez. - Well, anyway, interesting conversations. I have another topic that I haven't talked to you about the Chinese car I drove in Chile. That's surprising, so well-- - They know it, they want to bring them here to be by the just close, just how they're planted. They're starting to build a plant. They're planning to come into the US and they're gonna wait now, they said, until November in Mexico, right, they're waiting 'cause they want to see if Trump gets in, they're not gonna finish a plant. If Kamala Harris gets in, they're gonna finish a plant 'cause they know she'll let those cars come in and it will destroy jobs here in the US. - Well, well-- - I'm not necessarily by controlling things, the free market should rain. - Yeah. - But there's also, if you come in at half the price, it's what's gonna be seen-- - Well, some argue, some would argue, Lauren, that the alignment between certain countries, governments and certain countries, industries, doesn't really make it free market. - Exactly. - It makes it highly subsidized by the government. So, you know, I'm a big believer in free market too, but that doesn't count if one of the markets is cheating by getting massive government spending and subsidy to prop them up. - Right, and they also have mandated that we buy the batteries from China 'cause it's only gonna work. And that means that China basically owns the electric industry, even though in Russia, they are the number one M-only car supplier is the Chinese cars. So they want-- - And they're not electric. - They're not electric. - They're all gas. They're not even hyper, they're gas-powered cars, cold there. They've gas-powered cars, they took over the whole market as part of their deal. But now they went from 0% in Russia to 200% of the market, 100% of the cars go from them. So they had 200% growth in middle brands, you know. And that's almost like-- - It's almost like this. - They let them come in, they let them take over. - Almost like the Chinese are stacking the deck so no matter which market they're trying to sell cars and they can make sure they sell plenty of cars and make money. - Yeah. - I would almost think they're doing that, you know. - I would say you're 100% correct, Karl. - Well, we're gonna have to go out because I have to go down and charge my electric cars. (laughing) - Okay. - All right, all right. - Okay, you can find out here at hobby. You can find out here at hobby or mo-ta and you can find Karl with a cat, Karl, bro, or cars. He's on YouTube, he's also on social media. I'm at Lauren Fix, which is carcoach reports. Please share this podcast, please subscribe and we'll look forward to talking with you next time. - Thank you, Lauren, thank you, Karl. - Thank you. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - Thank you for listening. For more, check us out online at totalcarscore.com. (upbeat music) - With the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, you can earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases you want and purchases you need. That means you earn on what you want, like trying out that new workout class and 2% cash rewards on what you need, like a foam roller for your sore muscles. That's the beauty of the Active Cash Credit Card. It's ready when you are with unlimited 2% cash rewards. The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, that's real life ready. Terms apply. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com/activecash. - Imagine earning a degree that prepares you with real skills for the real world. Capella University's programs teach skills relevant to your career so you can apply what you learn right away. Learn how Capella can make a difference in your life at Capella.edu.
