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EV News Updates!
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Welcome to the Plug In For More podcast! Mike, Tom, and Bryant are here to help you on your journey to an Electric vehicle future. Each episode we discuss current events, trends, and a specific topic of education related to EV's. We bring together a diverse experience set, and pair it with guests who are experts in the field. For even more information on EV's, check out www.EVUniverse.com.
In this episode the guys talk about the Tesla Cyber Truck unveiling and Toyota's promise for a 900 mile range solid state battery. Plus, more conversation on the finer points between gas, hybrid, and EV's.
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Transcript
Bryant's Return and Vacation Tales
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, welcome back to the plugin for more podcast. We finally have Bryant back in recordings with us. I mean, he was on his what fifth or sixth vacation for the year at this point. I am so jealous and obviously Bryant, like all the trips you get to do it's super cool. Hey, thanks guys. Thanks for having me back.
00:00:17
Speaker
I'm hoping you got something good for us today. I do.
Cybertruck Unveiling: Issues and Enthusiasm
00:00:20
Speaker
I mean, I was really excited because on vacation, the Cybertruck unveiled and I just could not wait to talk to Mike about this because I know Mike's so excited because he has got a hundred reservations or something, 200 reservations, but the doors don't align on the unveiling. Like if you look at the photos, the doors don't align.
00:00:41
Speaker
Welcome to Plug In For More, brought to you by evuniverse.com. EV Universe is your one-stop shop for all things related to the electric vehicle. Here on this podcast, our goal is to educate, inspire, and hopefully make your transition into the electric vehicle marketplace a lot less intimidating. And now, here are your hosts, Mike, Tom, and Bryant.
Tesla's Quality Concerns and Market Speculations
00:01:07
Speaker
guys guys guys let's let's bring this back this is consistent with tesla so they're nothing but consistent and i think you guys have all seen it not all the doors and uh you know falcon wing doors and the model x's i mean they don't always fit perfectly but
00:01:25
Speaker
I think, and we've shown too, it's pretty easy to adjust those yourself if you need to. They're more interested in getting the cars out, even with the first Cybertruck that was put up on Twitter or X as it is now called. I think as of today or yesterday is the official word on Twitter moving over to X.com. So anyways. How much is the Cybertruck MSRP?
00:01:53
Speaker
What do you think? Because I don't know either. Nobody knows. What do you think it's going to be though?
Panel Gaps: Tesla vs. Ferrari
00:02:00
Speaker
For the top of the line model that they were originally supposed to be at like $79,000, my guess is it's going to be $89,000. They're going to tack on $10,000 to it. That's my guess.
00:02:16
Speaker
How much is it if you have to adjust the gaps on your own doors? That's my question. Same price, same price. Oh. No discount, not for you. Okay. Yeah, anybody else probably would give a discount, but not Tom. Everyone wants to spend 90 grand on a car that you have to fix when you get it, right? Well, have you seen Ferraris, man? Those things are panel gap cities. They're everywhere. Come on, man. I mean, Ferraris look cool, Mike. I just have to say.
00:02:45
Speaker
Hey, did you guys see the Tesla put a Ford F-150 Lightning wrap on a Cybertruck?
Cybertruck Size and Range Discussion
00:02:53
Speaker
There's some pictures coming out just this morning of that. It's hilarious. I saw it, but it looked to me like a really bad Photoshop and not a wrap. I don't think so. I think it's a wrap. I mean, no matter what. Okay. So like, let's take the wrap out of the equation. Did you guys see the picture of the front?
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's not very, it's a lot smaller than, I mean, granted it has to be then like a Ford F-150 Lightning or the Rivian or the new Silverado EV, but that thing's, it's kind of tiny. I mean, it opens up in the same way that the F-150 does with kind of that, you know, the grill going with it. That image was kind of from a distance at a weird angle. So like giving, I, I am not one to give the, the cyber truck the benefit of the doubt, but like.
00:03:40
Speaker
I don't entirely believe the photo. Yeah. But I mean, even just looking at the other photos where it's closed, I mean, there's just not that much room up front. So we'll, we'll see what it actually, what the numbers come out to be, but I don't think the frunks would be very big.
Ford F-150 Lightning Pricing and Tax Incentives
00:03:54
Speaker
And they're talking about 350 mile range on it. That's not, I mean, the Rivian is the way I'm driving. I put in conserve mode. It's 347 miles and it's outperforming that. I mean, that's.
00:04:10
Speaker
I really hope that Tesla cannot do that. Yeah, that's a good point. That's impressive. That's a good point. I mean, we talked about the lightning. The other big news over the last five days, the lightning is cheaper now. They lower the price, right? Ford updated the pro model, which is the lowest price, the lowest base model from 59,000 down to 49.
00:04:31
Speaker
And they brought it back to where it was or even still slightly above where it used to be. I think it was originally like 47. And then it was a 59 because everyone wanted one and now it's back to 49. And they did the same. It was kind of across the board, I think, for all the models as well, which gets them all now to qualify for the tax rebates.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think you have to adjust the doors when you get a
The Humor in Door Gaps and Car Imperfections
00:05:01
Speaker
lightning. I think they're already adjusted. I think. But I really like, you know, being able to tune my car and to customize it the way I want. So like just having a quickly adjustable door panels so that if I want a bigger gap, I can, would that be really nice to have? Oh my goodness. I mean, you're right. I'm jealous. I wish my doors were like super gappy.
00:05:21
Speaker
Maybe I'll have to adjust from something that way. Your door has got a big chunk missing out of it from just what, driving down the highway? So let's just call spade a spade. That cyber truck's not going to have chunks missing out of it. It's a good deal. A rock hit me because I have 21,000 miles on my car. A rock hit the side panel for the window.
00:05:45
Speaker
And if I hadn't pointed out, you would not even notice. No, I would have. It's jagged and sticking out like a sore thumb. It smells painted green. It didn't come from the factory that way that just say that. Most of the things that are on your car didn't come from the factory. I don't know. That's that's done. Let's keep that in. I'm staying in now. Everyone needs to know. Everyone needs to know.
00:06:12
Speaker
All right, let's bring this back together. I think, uh, the only other thing I think that happened since we recorded last, well, I mean, a lot of things happen. The only cool thing I thought was if he wanted to buy a Lamborghini that is a hundred percent gasoline powered. Sorry, you can't do anymore. Every single Lamborghini has been spoken for is on order. You have to now go towards a hybrid Lamborghini. So sorry, I don't know, Mike, how many Lamborghinis did you
Lamborghini's Transition to Hybrid Vehicles
00:06:36
Speaker
have an order? Maybe seven or eight. Yeah, no, none. I'm good.
00:06:40
Speaker
Um, and let's go back to the cyber truck. Only I had three. And I think we talked about this before in a previous episode. That was a mistake. Cause of the unveiling night, the site was not working. So I kept hitting submit and now I have three out of order and they're all spoken for. So could be working. I think Tom, you and I heard the real story from Mike's wife over, uh, the hallway. Right. Right. Should we share that with the listeners? Have the listeners heard the real story here?
00:07:11
Speaker
I don't think so. I mean, we have Mike's narrative. That's about all we got. I think we need a counter narrative. I know Barb's listening. So, uh, unlike my wife, she does not listen to this podcast. No, Renee does not listen to our podcast. No, she does not. But so the, so listener, the real story here from, from
Mike's Cybertruck Reservation Fiasco
00:07:28
Speaker
Barb, Mike's wife is she was, uh, and correct me if I'm wrong on the part of this, this is my recollection, uh, but this is like fourth of July weekend. So my recollection could be, could be fuzzy.
00:07:37
Speaker
But she told Mike that he could get a reservation as long as the truck looked cool. And, uh, and so of course she, you know, she wakes cause it's midnight. Like Mike talked about the website was glitchy, whatever. So she wakes up in the morning and talks to Mike and she saw it and she's like, Oh, like I'm glad you didn't get a reservation for that. That kind of looks janky. And Mike said, yeah, we don't have one reservation. And then what Mike, it took, how long did it take for you to admit you didn't have one yet? Three.
00:08:06
Speaker
I thought, well, I mean, I was just going by technically what she said. And then three days later, she, I can't remember exactly how she found out, but she's like, Hey, so, uh, what the heck is this? Uh, you've got three on order and I, yeah, I've got three. You said, I, you said you didn't have one. I'm like, no, I didn't have one. I got three. So, um, you know, slight discrepancy of the words and how things happen, but end of the day. Yeah.
00:08:36
Speaker
We got three on order. So if you guys want one, I know you guys really excited for it.
EV Driving Experience vs. Hybrids and Gas Cars (Q&A)
00:08:42
Speaker
Tom, especially I'm a heart. No, Tom's in. I love it. I love it. And then, uh, just one, one more story from when we saw Mike, when he was up for the fourth, these guys ripping me for old man mode. I will say this, this actually came back to bite me. We're just having like a spirited driving. We weren't doing anything crazy, but, uh, Mike had his, his mom's Tesla.
00:09:04
Speaker
What is that? A three performance or, um, sorry. Yep. Y performance. And then obviously my EV six and Tom's, um, Maki. Yeah. I might've been, uh, in old man mode trying to, uh, out accelerate Mike. It was pretty embarrassing and even put in sport mode. Yep. And it wasn't going to be a fair fight anyways. I mean, you have a wind all wheel drive and it wasn't the GT and yeah.
00:09:34
Speaker
And even in your old man mode, it's probably still faster than the Mach-E, so. I was just disappointed in myself, guys. I was disappointed in myself. It was time for old man mode. It was time for sport mode. That was time for sport mode. We're disappointed in you, too. It's okay. I just appreciate you guys letting me keep up in the corners. Yeah, Tom smoked us in the corners. That Mach-E's like on rails.
Toyota's 900-mile Battery Ambitions
00:10:00
Speaker
It's good.
00:10:02
Speaker
All right. Now it's just trying to read up on the Toyota 745 miles of range solid state battery. Yeah. There isn't a ton of like, like specifics available because it's not going to happen. I don't think, um, anytime soon to me, it's Toyota is trying to, um, they're behind on EVs and they're trying to find a way to stay in the news that people should hold out, wait for.
00:10:30
Speaker
the Toyota product that may or may not show up, um, and, you know, not jumping to EVs. I mean, to me, I think I can see what they're doing from a marketing perspective, but it really, I mean, if you had a solid state 900, you know, range battery, fantastic. But right now, I mean, they've been in the, you know, the hybrid game.
00:10:54
Speaker
for a long, long, long time. Yeah. And that's the way they're still pushing things is still, you know, the hybrid. Um, and they're saying it's because of the lack of batteries and then that kind of thing, which, you know, I think there's some truth to that. Um, but I think there's two things are missing with it. One is that a lot of people use hybrids, um, especially the plugin hybrids don't always necessarily plug them in, but then you also have the fact there, you know, you're still building.
00:11:21
Speaker
You know, all the parts for a gas car and electric, and then you got to combine the two, um, which just makes it a lot more complicated. Um, so I, I'm, again, I'm not, I'm not the biggest fan of that, um, that process, but what do you guys think? Well, I think it's one, it's super exciting. I mean, that making that progress to a solid state battery, if it comes, if it really does have that sort of range, I mean, it looks like their, their talks is saying like 2025, like.
00:11:51
Speaker
which is pretty quick honestly at this point, but reducing weight and
00:11:59
Speaker
I'm increasing that amount of energy that that battery is going to be able to store, and it's going to make the cars way more efficient. I just liked where that's headed for the electric vehicle platforms as a whole, regardless of its Toyota, Tesla, or Ford. This is as long as that solid state's getting out there, and it's usable, because it's making everything better. Oh, yeah. If it's true, yeah.
Hybrids vs. EVs: Environmental Impact Over Time
00:12:22
Speaker
I mean, that's the thing is.
00:12:24
Speaker
AW can lighten these vehicles. That's, that's a great thing. It's going to help with efficiency. We all know the performance is going to be better. Um, yes, absolutely. Let's do it. But, um, what I don't like to see is, um, you know, over promise under deliver, flip it where it's under promise over deliver and we're good. That's been Tesla's name of the game for however long. It's a good point. That's a good point.
00:12:52
Speaker
They definitely, especially on the timelines. Um, I will say on the specs of the vehicle, you know, when the model three came out, I think they were talking under five seconds zero to 16. Well, now we're 3.1. So, you know, the range has gone further, but it's definitely their, their timelines have been off. There's no doubt about that. That's clear as day. So I was thinking about it. Um, I was thinking about it. Like I talked about the Lamborghini.
00:13:17
Speaker
no longer selling any gas powered vehicles. It's going to
Toyota's Hybrid Strategy and EV Market Challenges
00:13:20
Speaker
be all hybrids. Ferrari has a new hybrid as well. I think we're seeing a slow shift from a full adoption for EVs to this middle ground, right? And so I think we had this conversation too over the fourth, actually, because Mike's wife drives a hybrid, right? She likes them. She's going to switch to Ford. Yeah, it's the Jeep Wrangler 4 by E. So she loves that thing.
00:13:46
Speaker
but she really wants the EV version. But it doesn't exist.
00:13:52
Speaker
You're listening to the plugin for more podcast. If you're looking for information on electric vehicles, electric vehicles, components, or information on how to reduce your carbon footprint, look no further than evuniverse.com evuniverse.com is your one-stop shop for all things related to electric vehicle. I think something else, um, and I've got some thoughts on this, something else that I never thought I'd hear Mike ever say in my life, but he'd said it is the new Prius is cool.
00:14:22
Speaker
I said, it looks cool. Let's be accurate with the words. I said, I think it looks cool. I'm not, it's yeah. I mean, I think they did a good job with it. Don't get me wrong, but I would rather have it be a full EV.
00:14:37
Speaker
Yeah. So I think, you know, as I was looking up, so Tori does obviously the 900 mile range battery like Tom talked about. We'll see if it actually comes out or not.
Porsche's Innovative Gasoline Creation
00:14:48
Speaker
But it's interesting listening to, as I was reading and listening to Tori's president talk about this still.
00:14:55
Speaker
As we know, Toyota was the first one 25 years ago, the Prius came out. There's just a lot of, I think, lagging in Toyota, right? They have an EV, but it's not a top seller. And I think they still continue to drive home this point. It's from Toyota's president.
00:15:12
Speaker
where he talks about 100 kilowatt battery, which is about the Tesla Model S battery, or very similar to most EVs on the road right now. You could divide that to 10 Prius plug-in hybrids, which deliver about 30 miles of electric range.
00:15:28
Speaker
And then if most people drive about 40 miles a day, that was a Department of Transportation, Department of Energy report. You'd get a lot more people driving on full EV power. You get 10 people driving most of the day on full EV power versus one Tesla. And that's continues to be their logic. So I think it's interesting from their perspective, rather than one test that goes 400 miles, you get 10 plug-in hybrids that go 40 miles. And that's, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's sort of logic. I mean, but.
00:15:57
Speaker
How many Priuses are sold or even that size vehicle are sold now versus trucks and SUVs? So I think that logic is a little skewed. So you'd have to look at a plug-in F-150 or something like that. Really look at the high selling vehicles. Same thing with the big SUVs. Everyone's driving an SUV these days pretty much. So are you going to divide that battery? It's not going to be 10.
00:16:25
Speaker
Is it going to be three or four that goes into one of those vehicles to achieve that same range? Yeah, and I think we've talked about it in previous episodes, but there's been a lot of studies done around which is more family friendly, environmentally friendly.
Complexity of Hybrids Compared to EVs
00:16:41
Speaker
Full EVs are hybrids. And initially, it's the hybrid, right? It kills the EV. Over time, though, the EV becomes much more efficient and better for the environment, right?
00:16:54
Speaker
So, well, I think one like interesting technology I was reading about this weekend, actually, and, um, the newest issue of Hagerty's magazine is Porsche has this new concept where they can actually like take carbon out of the atmosphere and create gasoline from it or a version of gasoline from it. And right now they're not putting out too much, like a couple hundred gallons a day, but they're driving their Panameras on it and the plant in South America. It's really interesting article.
00:17:23
Speaker
I'm not sure, you know, the article finishes where they're going to open up a few plants across, you know, South America, like I said, but then the US, but it's very, very time intensive and very, very, it takes a lot of energy to create that gasoline, but it's super fascinating thinking about that's actually a pretty green, um, as a pretty green gasoline energy source. And if you put, if you put that into a hybrid, so you're running a battery and then you're running on gasoline, that's literally created out of the air. That would be pretty good, but.
00:17:52
Speaker
I'll just have to figure out more and the article didn't go into it, didn't go into specifics. I don't know how much energy it actually takes to make gasoline out of air, but it's a really cool concept. Taking the carbon that we put into the atmosphere, taking it back, creating gasoline out of it, and then putting it back in the atmosphere.
Driving Experiences: EVs Shine Over Others
00:18:09
Speaker
You're not adding carbon in the atmosphere, just recycling what's already there. Fascinating concept. Yeah.
00:18:17
Speaker
the energy that's pulling it, you know, down and making it into gasoline. I mean, that's kind of the plus factor, right? So, yeah, I mean, if you can, if you can find a way, and this is beyond my knowledge base to, to make it where it's truly, you know, carbon neutral, I mean, I think
00:18:37
Speaker
A lot of people enjoy the sound of an engine, especially, you know, well-tuned, you know, V8 or V12. Um, they sound fantastic. I mean, I think you're, you know, for a lot of people would be crazy not to think, um, that there's some benefits to that. So I think, I think we touched on it a little bit, but you know, Tom, what are your thoughts on hybrid? So, right. So we know where Mike stands. Mike doesn't think, you know, they're good for the environment. They're, they're a compromise of both.
00:19:03
Speaker
Where are you at? I think my view on the hybrids is going to be comparing them to a Rube Goldberg project and that you have so many complicated systems that are trying to complement each other, but they don't really. And the biggest part of the EV driving that I've really come to enjoy is its simplicity and its smoothness.
00:19:23
Speaker
And I think from an EV compared to a gas car, it really accentuates how harsh a gas car is to drive with your transmission shifting and being off the gas, then on the brake, and then the transmissions engaging. Even with the smoothest, buttery transmission, automatic transmission on a gas car, you still feel that.
00:19:42
Speaker
And so for me driving the Mach-E with the one pedal drive, like you're on the accelerator, off the accelerator, and the car slows and stops, and that has so much less stress on the body.
EVs for City Driving and Road Trips
00:19:58
Speaker
And maybe that's a weird way of looking at it, because for years I drive a gas car and I don't really think about it.
00:20:04
Speaker
but you feel that difference after time. My work vehicle is a 2019 Dodge Charger with a Hemi. I feel that every shift and every time I get on the brakes, it gets a much different experience. Now, put the hybrid into it and the idea there where you're going to have these two systems now that are going to be switching back and forth from gas to electric. I think it adds one more step, one more layer of transition that you're going to feel.
00:20:34
Speaker
things that could go wrong. Yep. I mean, that's exactly what we noticed with the Jeep 4xe is. But I think what makes it stand out even more is that with the 4xe, you're in the car, it's buttery smooth for EV, and then it shifts over into the hybrid or into gas mode, and the engine turns on. And then you get the transmission shifting at that point in time, too. So it's like you get this.
Debating Hybrids vs. EVs and Cybertruck Humor
00:21:01
Speaker
super smooth like you're being in like you're in your Mach-E and then while you're still sitting in the same seat instantaneously all of a sudden you're in your charger like that it's not a you know 20 minutes or switching from getting out of one car getting into the other it's like during that same drive and to me that just accentuates how like smooth one is versus how unsmooth and how rough a gas you know power driving experience is and for me the
00:21:30
Speaker
I guess I would put more weight on the driving experience than I do on the environmental concerns. I'm not saying the environmental concerns are not important. I think they are. But when you get me into a car, I'm going to be more concerned with that feel and how it drives and all of that.
00:21:44
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree. I think you bring up a good point, Tom. I think the thing I like about my EV is two things. One, there's like no maintenance besides rotating your tires and getting some updates. That's really like, that's it, right? About taking my car in for 21,000 mile service, rotating tires, getting an update, which I could just wait and do over the air and then changing the cabin filter, which I could easily do myself. That's not hard, right? Versus a hybrid, you still have to do oil changes, you still have to do all that stuff.
00:22:14
Speaker
Um, and then when I'm driving my gas car, when I'm driving my gas truck, I hit this, this might sound weird, but I hate it when I put my foot on the brake and I feel like I'm just not recapturing that energy. Like I'm not recharging my battery. I'm just wasting heat, which I love in the UV. You can just recapture most of that and not all of it, obviously, but you can recapture that energy and you're charging the battery and you don't feel like you're wasting it. Like now I feel like I'm wasting something when I'm breaking. It's weird. It's not that I dislike.
00:22:41
Speaker
other vehicles, I really like gas cars. I like all cars. And that's why part of the fun part about this podcast is we're exploring something that's kind of new and trying to shed some light on it. But even just before this recording, I ran down to our local farmer stand and I took the Miata just because I wanted to drive through the corners and have the top down and run that little car. And it's slow by comparison to the Mach-E, but that connection to the road and the feeling of driving a manual, I
00:23:06
Speaker
wanted that in that moment and that's great. Yeah. Good point. So I think, uh, you know, last thought for me on this is still, still all in on, uh, EV fully, but I will say that one advantage, if you're going to take a lot of road trips and we've talked about this a ton on this podcast, it's very possible with EVs, but you just have to plan out your charging and plan it out a little bit, especially as you know, everyone's getting ready to switch over now to test that charging network. And that happens. That's going to make everything way easier.
00:23:35
Speaker
If you don't want to plan your trips, or if you take a lot of them, an EV might not be for you, you might have a hybrid. I've driven 21,000 miles in a year, so I've taken a lot of trips, no problems. But if you're looking for that convenience event, I'm just going to stop and just fill up wherever I want, not plan anything out. But if you're just going to do city driving or occasional road trips like myself, I've had no problem with an EV.
00:23:57
Speaker
Cool guys, I really appreciate having the chance to sit down and talk about the hybrid and EV conversation and making fun of Mike for the Cybertruck, which he has no control over. Yep, that works for me. Thanks, Tom. It was a good episode, like usual, guys. All right, take care. Have a great day. Thanks for joining, Brian. I'll see you.
00:24:17
Speaker
Thank you for listening to plug in for more. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. In the meantime, check out the one-stop EV Marketplace, evuniverse.com. Until next time.