Hey, this is Matt Miller.
You listen to me every day, I hope on the Tape podcast with Paul Sweeney. I've got a new podcast though, that I'm running alongside the Tape with my friend Hannah Elliott.
She's the car reviewer from Bloomberg Pursuits.
We call it Hot Pursuit, and we tell you everything you need to know or want to know about new cars, about the automotive industry, about car events. I'm gonna drop a little sample from the Hot Pursuit podcast here.
Take a listen.
If you like it, go to the Hot Pursuit page and subscribe. You can find it on Apple, on Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.
I'm Matt Miller.
And I'm Hannah Elliott and this is Hot Pursuit.
Welcome the podcast.
Coming up today, We've got a lot about Formula one if you care about the racing as well as the event.
Plus we're gonna talk about four.
There's a really cool Bronco thing that Hannah heard about, and they're scaling back a little bit on their electric vehicle production, so maybe that's an issue that touches the strike and politics. Finally, Hannah actually drove the XM. She's written down her thoughts and she'll tell them to me. I have a much cheaper, but I think better alternative in the Dodge Durango.
Hellcat this week.
All right, So Hannah, let's start with Formula one. It's not just about the racing, it's about the circus. And now it's in like a circus town, so there could be some real what do you call that when you two things come together and they get multiplied synchronicity.
I don't know.
I'm fascinated to know what it's gonna be like when it goes to Las Vegas, which is already off the hook.
You're right, it's kind of like it's gonna be greater than the sum of its parts, like two plus two equals five. Possibly because, like you say, this is the circus capital of the country. It even has a hotel called Circus Circus. And I started getting pitches and notes about this Grand Prix race like in early summer, like May June. So the hype for this has been unparalleled, even higher than that of Miami or Austin. It's a big deal. Let's just say upfront that you know, Max
Verstappen has already clinched the title. We already know Red Bull has won the constructors championship. So the race, the race, while it still will be exciting, is even sort of more beside the point than usual because we already know how the season ends. To that effect, everything else happening in Las Vegas is going to be wild. I'm looking forward to going, and I'm also slightly terrified.
So in terms of like exciting, is Formula One do you get like amazing outcomes you would never have expected. Is it possible for somebody in like a satellite team to all of a sudden start winning and take over.
Is there a lot of passing?
Because when I stopped watching it, it was because there was a lack of all of those things.
Yeah, I'm not gonna argue with you on that. Unfortunately, you know, Max Verstappin has won the last sixteen races. He's pretty solid and predictable, and that's wonderful for him, but less exciting for racing fans. Sergio Perez, of course, is has been doing pretty okay. He's i think number two in the standings right now, but he did actually crash out at the Mexican Grand Prix this past weekend, So I guess you could call that sort of exciting. Thank god he's he was unhurt. But to your point,
the leaders are the leaders. Lewis Hamilton has actually been kind of putting on a surge. You know, he's the biggest superstar in the world right now when it comes to Formula racing, and he has been for years, despite the fact that you know, this year he hasn't been racing as as well as he has in past years, and I think that has a lot to do with the car that he's driving. So to answer your question, no,
it's it's honestly pretty predictable. I think the races still are fun to watch, but American viewers, honestly, they do have a point when they say, you know what you're gonna get, even at the start of the race.
I mean, so I would recommend people watch Moto GP, which is, in my opinion, you know, a lot more fun. There's a lot more passing, you have a lot more drama in the actual race rather than you know, drama off the circuit, which I guess is what Formula one is more about.
But oh, that's shady, that's very shady.
It's true though, right I mean, it's more about the soap opera and oh well.
I think Total Wolf would disagree with you, but.
He is like number one promoter of the soap opera, Toto and Christian Horner.
What are we gonna see around Formula one?
Like?
Are there gonna be people getting like five hundred thousand dollars dinner reservations?
That's usually the story.
There's so much happening. The number one thing I'm actually really excited to see is this sphere. It's this giant orb that we've all been hearing about. That's a concert space that you two has been performing at for the
past few weeks. It's a two point three billion dollar arena with almost eighteen thousand seats, you know, owned by James Dolan, who, of course New Yorkers will know owns Madison Square Garden and a few other sports sporting teams that I'm not gonna mention, but he's a polarizing figure and this has really been a huge project. So during Formula one, you don't actually have to watch you two
if you don't want to have the spirit. There are other people performing there like Kylie Minou, Mark Ronson, Nile Rogers, j Balvin. There's a host of people performing there, so that's kind of like for me, I would love to see a concert there. I just think it's gonna be so cool.
Yeah, I cannot wait to see the sphere. I don't even care if there's a concert there. I just want to see what it looks like in real life if I do see. I think it's interesting that Dolan said he wants to make this the future and he's building it for generations to come, and he puts the oldest people he can think of on the stage, like, ye, is there anyone older than you two? Like maybe Kylie Minogue.
So interesting stuff. All right, Let's get to Ford because you have found out about a Bronco event that I think is pretty interesting. And also, you know they just finished the strike, so they're gonna be building Broncos again.
There's a lot going on surrounding the Big Blue Oval.
Yeah. So this experience that Bronco is opening up to everybody and early November is called the Bronco Off Rodeo Experience spelled road like the road, and it's basically it was a nice perk that Ford gave people who bought a new Bronco, which was a day of training, off road training and one of four locations from Moab to a place in Texas to outside Nevada, and there's one in New Hampshire as well, and it was this complimentary day of off road training, learning how to use the technology,
some safety courses, et cetera. So now Ford has, I think wisely realized that other people might like to do this too, and they have. They're going to open up some reservations November second. It's going to cost a little under eight hundred dollars for a half day of the same type of instruction. It sounds a little expensive to me, but the good thing is you don't even have to bring your own car. They will provide the vehicle for you. And that does include space for four people in the vehicle.
So when you break it out like right, and you can switch drivers. So when you break it out like that, it's kind of cool. Yeah, I think it sounds fun. It's a good a good idea for them.
It doesn't sound too expensive to me.
I mean, I do a lot of track days, motorcycle track days, and they're very inexpensive. If you bring your own bike, if you want to use you know, the manufacturer's bike or you know, the the event organizers bikes. Then it's much more expensive because you know you're highly likely to wreck it, and I guess the same thing would be true with with off roading. I love the Bronco and I think we've talked about this before. To me, the design is just they nailed it. Yeah, And I
don't even hate the V six. You know, traditionally I don't love the eco boost engines, but for some reason I love the two point seven leader in the Bronco. In terms of ford they have gone so whole hog like against the V eight for the most part. Right, they stopped making their big V eights and the Raptor, and they put a an eco boost in it, and they were going so forward into EVS that it was
costing them three billion dollars this year. Then they updated those loss figures to say it was going to cost them for and a half billion dollars just this year. And now it seems like the demand for evs isn't there, at least not at the level that they that everyone thought it was going to be. So they're shifting back towards more hybrid vehicles, which I think is the way forward anyway. But Bill Ford also pointed out EV's are getting truly politicized. It's almost like vaccine.
Yeah, it's really interesting. I was looking at some data from Bloomberg Hyperdrive, which really focuses on electric vehicles, and it made the point that this year EV's in the US will comprise about ten percent of new car sales. But ten states have already surpassed that benchmark, and all of those ten states are Democratic states. So I think that's really interesting exactly. I also, you know, it is true that the Republican Party does tend to want to
repeal ev incentives. Contrastingly, Biden has said that he'd liked half of all new vehicle sales to be electric by the end of the decade, which I think seems a bit optimistic.
So I and that's hard to square with wanting people to keep their jobs. Well, yes, it just far fewer people to build an electric drive train than it does to build an ic email, of.
Course, and that that was a real sticking point with some of the strikes that we've seen at Ford. And now that Ford has agreed to a twenty five percent increase in wages, it's going to make it even more
difficult for that company to eke out some profits. And I was going to say, you know, the other thing I think about this though, is yes, EV's are political, but also I don't think the automakers like Ford and General Motors can just rely on that as an excuse for not making evs, because the truth is electrifying big pickup trucks is very difficult. They're very big, they weigh a ton, and to keep those prices competitive. It's honestly,
I think it's they're finding it's very difficult. They're having supply chain issues as well.
Good point.
So it's yes, they are political, and yes it's fair to say that some people may not want an electric vehicle, but I don't think that's the only reason that they're walking back their target.
But they're using this as an excuse, like when retailer says we didn't sell enough jackets because of the weather.
Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
It's a little bit tired. I think it's interesting.
I spent a lot of time on forums, you know, car forums like Beamer Post and Challenger Talk and Docotti dot ms and stuff. All of the ic old guys are so against evs. It almost does feel like a vaccine thing, Like they're starting to accuse evs of being planted by Bill Gates or listening to what you do after work, and I think that's a load of bs. Well, we have to all be able to agree that it's a great propulsion system to get you from A to B works really well and if you want to go fast,
EV's really are an incredibly efficient way to do that. Now, on the other hand, I feel like the infrastructure is not there yet, and we are going to have to pay a lot, as you know, a country if we want to get to a competitive position with other countries like China. So if that's important to us, you know, maybe we take that on as a goal. If it's not, I think hybrids are are a really good way.
Or you love your hybrids. I mean I really was thinking about that last week, your love for hybrids, because I think just they're like a bit of a band aid. But you did make a good point that if you really keep it charged, it could be worth.
It, yeah, because you know, you can just drive around town doing your little errands that for which you use the car most often on ev power, and then when you're going on a long trip you can stretch out your legs with the gas engine. I mean, obviously they are going to be good hybrids and bad hybrids. Sure.
I just think if you go full.
B EV, there just aren't a lot of people who want one, and almost no one can afford one. So I know that we want to be competitive and we need to keep our eye on that ball as well. But it's an interesting topic, it's an interesting debate. Let's get to speaking of hybrids. Number three on my list
of things to talk about today. That's the BMWXM. We touched on it last time, but you hadn't really spent a lot of time with it, and I really want to know, you know, beyond the ugly headliner, which I think we can all agree on, what the hell are they thinking?
What do you think about the XM.
I think it is very Obviously it's very powerful. This is the most powerful sub we've had from BMW. It does have a lot of space. It's longer than the g Wagon, it's wider than an Audi Q eight. It does offer a lot of space for those of us who are taller. I do love that curved screen on the dashboard that is basically two twelve inch screens under a single pane of glass. It's very beautiful. It does resist sticky fingers, and Claire and I did eat some cheetohs and you know, do my best on those. So
those are those are some nice points. I still think that it just it drives in an unsophisticated manner. You know. It's it's incredibly jerky. I know. I think if they had had perhaps an air suspension instead of a coil setup, that might have helped a little bit. I'm not an engineer, but I at least know that, uh, that might have helped. It just feels unsophisticated to drive. The steering is not elegant. I don't know, matt Am I head I totally agree.
With everything you're saying.
As soon as I drove it out of the garage and Chelsea, when I spend a week with it, I thought, I can't believe. This feels like they haven't finished it. It feels like a pre question vehicle. Yes, you know, and I thought maybe they rushed to get it out, but why because I hadn't hadn't really heard much about it, you know, in sort of mainstream media.
It is a jerky.
I think the transmission has all kinds of issues, which a lot of these, you know, a lot of these hybrids.
That's really a down.
Uh, that's really a minus point for some of the hybrids, like the Jeep four by E.
It has the same tests.
And by the way, I when people saw on social media that I was driving this, I got unsolicited multiple people already riding in saying they were having issues with it, which is not a good thing because it hasn't been out that long either.
Yeah, I know, I agree with all those points. I think it's cool in terms of design, but a lot of people obviously hate it.
Yeah.
I like the throwback ms that they put on are the BMW logos that they put on each corner of the windshield in the back.
I like it so big because I'm so big, you know.
I think you use the term brutalist last week, which I thought was very charitable of you. I really tried to keep that in mind when I looked at it. I think it might be a touch heavy handed in general, but brutalist is a nice way to put it.
Yeah, I could see that, you know.
I will say also about the XM, and I really don't know why, but somehow it's designed where it's really difficult to sense where in space you are when you park it. I don't know if you experienced that too, And I don't think it's just a function of the size or my inability to park, because I think park other big things. There's something about it that I would pull into the curb thinking I'm very close and I've still got, like you know, twelve or sixteen inches I got in and out of it.
I will admit that that's a problem I have in any car, like I have that problem in Mini Cooper. I'm horrible at parking, which is why I'm so happy to be back in America, in Westchester, where you could put a dump truck in the parking spaces that we have compared.
To what I lived with in Germany for years and years.
I'm not good at parking, yeah, but so I didn't really notice that because I'm bad at it.
With everything. I will say that this.
Week, I'm driving a truck that I think no one is cross shopping with, the BMWXM. But it's so much better and for so much less, even though I'm driving the Dodge Durango Hellcat. Right, it's a three row kind of grocery getter. It's a dad car, you know, but it's got one of the greatest power plants ever invented in front of it, Like the Supercharge six point two liter V eight from Dodge is just a slice of heaven. I mean, there's so many things I don't really like
about the Durrango. It's not terribly comfortable, the seats are much smaller than in like the Challenger or the Charger.
You know, I don't love the layout of the gauges.
And even though the entfotainment system's okay, it's not anything to write home about. But even if I disliked more things about the Challenger, the engine outweighs all of those concerns, Like it's just so effortless when you touch the pedal, and it's addictive.
I mean, the way the power comes on.
Is just intoxicating. And it's I think, so much better than the Challenger or the Charger hell Cat because it's got all wheel drive, right that motor. With just rear wheel drive, you're spinning your tires all day long. But when you put a four wheel drive system on it, it's just unbelievably good. So and it's expensive for a Durrango, right, like ninety thousand dollars out of the box, but and over one hundred the one I'm driving. But it's nothing
near the one hundred and fifty six. I think the bmwxim starts for one fifty six, starts.
There and goes up from there. And I'm curious now because I see that this is climbing seven hundred and ten horsepower on this Dodge, which is more than the BMW. Yes, so that I mean, okay, I'd like to get behind the wheel.
It's just one sounds cool. It's one more reason that BMW missed the mark. Yeah, well why say it's our most powerful car ever? And talking right about the power when you detuned the motor, you know, why not go over seven hundred which seems to be the level that you know, that's the raptor TRX level. And I feel like they could have done that. Every time I see a super expensive foreign car now on the road and I'm driving this Durango, I'm like, yes, American superchargers.
Well, I should say, in BMW's defense, they are coming out with a special XM label version that they say they'll be delivering in November and we'll have over seven hundred horsepower, and of course that starts at about one hundred and ninety thousand. Wow, So there's so maybe they sort of, you know, they should have launched that suitor, so we'd be talking about that because that seems quite a lot.
That's also the supercharger in the Durango makes me wonder about the turbos and BMW and pretty much every other car, especially European. Why do you think they all European and Japanese went turbos and Americans stuck to superchargers, Like why would you not want the power low down from a supercharger. I feel like it's the best way to force induction.
I think that's a case of straight roads versus curby roads. And when you're on I know this, when you're on curves, you can really really utilize the turbo boost and it feels incredible when you're driving, like up in the hills up Angelee's Cress, if you really know how to use it well. And I've driven and been with driver who use it incredibly to their advantage and it's amazing. And I don't know if you would get the same feel
from a supercharger. I tend to think American cars were based on straight, open highways and European and Asian cars were based on you know, tighter, smaller, curvier roads.
You're probably right, that's my theory. The turbo chargers.
Maybe there's more sophistication there, and maybe there's a learning curve, Like Americans just want to get into a supercharged truck and be able to stomp the pedal, and we care about the quarter mile. That's why the nine point thirty was like the widow Maker. When any American got behind the wheel right, they wreck, which.
I think is a total, total misnomer. That to me was a case of wealthy men getting behind the wheel not understanding how to drive that thing properly. Because when driven properly, it's a beautiful car. You just need to know what you're dealing with. That's my soapbox.
You're probably right, by the way. I don't know. This wasn't listed as a topic, but I saw my first wreck this morning.
And I was, oh, no, tell you what.
I always missed them, and it makes me so mad when I see someone pulled over off the Henry Hudson. But today I was trying to execute what we call the Jersey Jump, which is, you know, everybody's like in the right lane for an exit, and I sneak up me and everybody from New Jersey and iro y right. We sneak up on the left and then cut in at the very last minute, making the people in the
right lane have it wait longer. So I'm trying to execute that move, and there's a guy in like alexis two point fifty next to me, and he's left a gap, so I'm going to go in there right in between him and the Cherokee in front of me. But he sees that I'm trying to take it and he puts his foot on the gas. I pulled back to the right, like okay, buddy, I see you're not gonna let me in. But he acceleeried so hard he slams into the grand Cherokee in front of him.
No, And I was like, yes, oh that's wonderful. Not your fault, not your fault. No, no, I mean no that Nope. Did they get out of the car.
The jeep pulled over to like stop and talk exchange information, and the guy in the Lexus was like either so angry or so embarrassed or both that he just kept driving and like took off.
But don't worry. I took down his plate number and sayone needs Do.
You want to read it, read it online or read it out?
Just waiting for someone to call me to be a witness.
Yeah, I think that's probably enough for the podcast, right, we can wrap it up.
Do you have anything cool coming up?
You know what I'm doing tonight. I'm gonna go see Guns and Roses at Hollywood Ball. I've never I've literally never seen them. My expectations are not high. And I don't mean that in a shady way. I just mean I've I know, I've never seen him, and I know they're getting to be.
Elderly, yeah, dude. And also the singing that he does is hard. Yeah, that's not easy on vocal cords, you know.
Yeah.
Black Keys are opening for them, though, so that should be fun.
I have seen GNR three times, okay, like once a decade, for the past thirty years, and I'd say that the first and the third time we're the best.
I think.
Okay, actual, like on a good he'll impress you, but keep your expectations low, so that's okay, so that you can beat it.
I will give you a full report.
That does it for the podcast this week.
I want listeners to know you can tune into my radio show every weekday from ten am to one pm. You can watch me on Bloomberg TV from one pm to two pm most weekdays as well. And I'm on Instagram at Matt Miller nineteen seventy three, and.
You can find me on Bloomberg Pursuits on Bloomberg dot com. Sometimes they go on mass radio so to talk to him. And you can find me online on Instagram at Hannah Elliott XO.
We'll be back, same time, same place next week. I'm Matt Miller
And I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Bloomberg