Cruise control streamed live every Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern. Watch us live on Facebook and YouTube. Details are in this podcast. Episodes, information. This is cruise control. You're on air. Automotive magazine co-hosts French star and Liz Jackson comb through everything you need to know about new and used cars. Industry news will fix or repair your car on the air. Fasten your seat belts and let us take the wheel. Your ride is about to begin. You're screwed because you're on cruise.
Control is control. And hello. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Cruise Control. This is your on air automotive magazine. And you know that because you know us. I'm less Jackson. That guy is Fred Staab. We are here as we have been for many years and we cover the auto industry we think pretty well when you say Fred. I think so, Les. It's always about new vehicles. Tips for buying a vehicle are reviews of vehicles.
So we tried to update you and let you know what's going on and maybe help you out if you're buying a new vehicle. That's right. We're just we're giving information out and sometimes we tell you what not to buy. But but fortunately, that doesn't happen too often. Yeah. You got a story about a concept that was well received, but it's getting a complete redesign, right, Les? Absolutely.
Chrysler's airflow, which is the one of the best names of a car that ever was back in the thirties there was an airflow. The concepts, getting a new name and a big redesign. Yeah. So we'll tell you what's in store. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. And we'll kind of tell you about what's coming up for the brand. Then here's an interesting study. The average age of vehicles is climbing. We'll tell you why. Could it be that they're too expensive, the new ones to buy? That's right.
And are the Chinese built cheap EVs ready to dominate the U.S. car market? Hmm. We'll talk about that. Yeah, well, it could be that U.S. manufacturers are going to abandon affordable vehicles and and sell vehicles for 70, 80, 90, 100,000 and kind of see that to these new manufacturers. We don't know. Well, we'll find out and we'll tell you about it. Plus, VW says there's something missing in its lineup. And we'll tell you what it is. I hope it's not the VW test car. I you know, it's not that.
Okay. And we're talking tech this hour. Free using the frunk and increased radar. We'll explain those. Yep, we will. And I'll have an at the wheel review of the Lexus RC has some unique features an all electric vehicle the first all electric vehicle from Lexus. This is based on the BS four X, which is Toyota's version, which also is based on the Seoul tariff and a very high end luxury vehicle. Kind of unique design. We'll talk about it.
Talk about what it was like to recharge it with a high speed 400 volt DC charger and give you a whole review of the vehicle. I kind of like these electric vehicles that are more in line with, you know, gas powered vehicles in the sense that they have that up front electric motor that under the hood and kind of the same packaging. So hey, we'll have a full review of the R Z for 50 coming up on cruise control. I'm Fred Stubb. He is less Jackson. We will be right back.
Cruise control is your on air Automotive magazine. Check us out at Cruise Control. Radio.com. Cruise Control. And welcome back to Cruise Control. You're on air Automotive Magazine. We're here every week to tell you about what's going on in the automotive industry. Shed a little light on that new technology freeze in the frunk. We'll talk about that later, Frunk. So over at Stellantis, there's been a lot of talk about Chrysler and what the future of Chrysler is.
I mean, basically when the 300 goes away, it will be the Pacifica and that is it. Only that's it. It so how is the brand going to be positioned? And apparently it's been given, I think, five years to find its way. If it doesn't, it goes away. It goes the way of Oldsmobile and Pontiac of Plymouth, Plymouth, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, yep. So Mercury, you name it.
So how Motortrend spoke to it, by the way, we should say the airflow concept was brought out and a lot of people liked it and kind of they're positioning Chrysler as the EV brand of Stellantis and as it's as it's described, it is the startup brand offering clean mobility, seamless technology and affordable pricing. This is from the new head of the brand and of course, Ralph Giles, who we know who is the head of design. Stellantis design chief brought out the airflow.
Airflow is a great name, historic name. And they brought it out and showed it off and I think it was well received, but the new boss of new CEO, Chris Fuel. Fuel came in and said, hey, it wasn't different enough. You know, this this this airflow concept looks pretty buildable. It does. If they could pull it off and have a, you know, a nice, reasonable price, they could really change the industry. But this is not going to be built. And the airflow name has been scrapped.
You know, it's going to be a complete new design. This is according to Motortrend, who spoke with Ralph Shields and and he was told that the new CEO of Chrysler wanted something that literally was literally literally zero to do with anything that you've seen today. Even the airflow concept. It's a new direction. Hmm. Be interesting. You got to be careful if you just like the original Chrysler airflow. It was too radical for its time, and it was very good car, but people didn't buy it.
You mean history could repeat itself with a vehicle? That's too much. I hope they're reading history. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Chrysler. I mean, literally, dealers are going to have nothing to sell except the Pacifica, which is not terrible, but would you want to base your whole brand on a minivan? Well. I mean, that's the easy question. I mean, it's a good minivan. That's a great minivan. It's got a plug in hybrid version. It's got all wheel drive.
But obviously, you can't be a stand alone dealer and just sell Pacifica minivans, can you? Well, you can't. All you can do is team with Fiat and and Alfa. And Fiat doesn't really sell anything that much anymore. So you have to sell RAM trucks. Yeah. So so we'll see what happens with Chrysler.
But it's interesting that they're clean sheeting this and you know, I think I'm anxious to see what what they come out with and you know, they need product and it's going to hit in 2025 because dealers are just going to have to hang on and literally hang on for the next couple of years to make this to keep it going. So we'll see. We'll see what happens. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm anxious to see what Ralph has drawn up, though. He's a great guy.
You and I have talked to him at length. He's been on the show. So I wonder what that's like as a designer. You design something, you take it to that level, you know, with something that looks pretty buildable to me. That's right. And then they say no. Yeah. It just doesn't work. Flashy, you know? Or Yeah, I want it to look completely different. Okay, we'll see. I look forward to seeing what it what it what it's going to look like. So. Hey, a new study out less the average age of a vehicle.
Can you guess what it is? I you know what it is. And it's going up for many years. It was 11 years. Now it is actually 12.5 years. People are holding onto their vehicles. We got a new study from S&P Global Mobility. So when we come back, we'll tell you why people are hanging on to their vehicles. Stay tuned to Cruise Control. I'm Fred Star. He is less Jackson. We will be right back. Cruise control and welcome back to Cruise Control.
Your on Air Automotive Magazine, Fred Staab and Les Jackson. Les, we were just starting to talk about this new study from a place called S&P Global Mobility, and it says there are 122 million vehicles in operation right now that are over 12 years old. And there are, by the way, just another interesting factoid. There are more than 284 million vehicles being driven on the U.S. roads and the record average is up by three months compared to 2022.
Now, what do you think this the reasonings for it all? I don't even have to look because I think I know some of them is new vehicles are just so much more expensive. Ah, and of course the vehicles made in the last ten years are very reliable. Yes. So they tend to last longer. Vehicles were not available during COVID and the chip shortage and. Right. And dealer tricks, you know, to raise the price, turn people off. I also think people avoid buying cars because they hate the buying experience.
I agree. I think a lot do. And the result is 12 and a half years for the average ownership. By the way, the average ownership in 1965 was 29 months. Wow. Wow. That is an interesting. Yeah. Very, very interesting factoid of sedans, coupes and wagons made up the as well as light trucks made up the bulk of new vehicle sales and sport utilities. Of course, last year, 78% of all new vehicles sold were light trucks or utility vehicles. Wow. 63% of all vehicles on American roadways are trucks.
Are utility vehicles. And by 2028, light trucks and utility vehicles are projected to make up around 80% of the total vehicle fleet on U.S. roads. So there go more sedan. Yeah. But the fact is, you can do it with reasonable maintenance. You can keep your vehicle running for many, many years. Yeah. Your yours is, what, 15, 16 years old? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And mine's 14 and this is 23. They're clubs of people that have those vehicles. I have that some of them take them up to 300,000.
Mile rust away. Before that. Disappeared. But that's a whole other issue. That's a whole other issue. Yeah. You change the oil, you take care of things. You know? You know, it's but I mean, the reasoning is it's just too expensive new vehicle. And I mean, and we say that, I mean, not to be say that like 25 to $30000 is not a lot of money. It is you still can get vehicles for that. You can you don't have to get the the most the largest SUV with everything in it.
You can get some decent vehicles for that kind of range of money. I also think, too, the trend has been in the last couple of years, no one buys the base models. No, they only only rental companies do they buy with everything, don't they? Well, that's right. And it's just, you know, Americans tastes and desires and therefore needs have gone to bigger, more expensive, more maintenance intensive, more energy intensive SUVs and trucks.
Yeah. So now they'll last a long time, but, boy, they're not cheap. No. And the average price of a pickup truck has gone up tremendously. It used to be, what, $22,000 not that long ago for a base model? Not long ago? Yeah. And now it's more than double that. What would you say, 45,000. Can you even get a full size pickup with a few options for 45,000? I'm going to look that up. I think it might be higher. Yeah, yeah. You look up at F-150 or Silverado and.
And now with electric vehicles coming in, it's even more expensive. And numbers in the 80 to $100000 range or common. I think a lot of people are just going to be leasing. I think a lot of people and as we see in this study, a lot of people are just delaying because they just don't want to deal with it. They really don't. Wow. Surprise for an average base cost of a full size pickup is 38,000 372. Okay. I'm completely surprised. Yeah, well, it's probably pretty decent even at the base level too.
So but if you add a few things to it, you go up a trim level. You know, you're in the low forties, easy rent easily, you know, add an optional engine all wheel drive. Yet by the time you add in all wheel drive, maybe an upgraded engine and maybe another. Fifties. Upgraded trim level. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there you go. The problem is, though, I mean, there are going to be less expensive electric vehicles coming to market. We talked a little bit about this.
Every equinox EV, it replaces the the Chevy Bolt. A lot of people are upset that the bolt is being canceled. I you know, I have a couple of thoughts on it. I don't know what the you know, the thoughts thoughts you have are of course, people are like saying, there goes GM. They have a vehicle. People like him, they're canceling it again. Well, but apparently not enough like it. Well, because. They don't want to they basically just don't want to use the old batteries anymore.
You know, it would make sense to say, let's just keep it around as the Bolt Classic or something like that, you know? Yeah, but it's. But if they can get people into a higher priced vehicle, uh, you know, that is more modern built on the more, more modern battery. They want to go to the ULTIUM batteries. So I understand it both ways, but there needs to be still that market, that $25,000 price range, you know, for a well-equipped, safe vehicle. Um, but here's.
It was an interesting article in Business Insider, and I saw this and I said, Listen, I have to talk about this. And it's titled from Business Insider. It's titled Say Goodbye to the U.S. Car Market As We Know It, Cheap Chinese EVs are coming and we'll get we'll start this and then we'll talk about it a little bit more after the break list. But the idea is U.S. manufacture buyers and even Korean and Japanese manufacturers will cede the entry level EV market to new Chinese manufacturers. Right.
That will be able to sell cars for as low as 11, $15,000. EVs. I don't know what they'll be like that. That seems. But yeah but it it is the theory of this, you know, Businessinsider article and they're saying, you know, Toyota and Hyundai did it first it was Toyota, then it was Hyundai. And now it's a company called BYD, which will start importing these things and or building them in the U.S. They'll just bill plants in the U.S. so they can still get the incentives.
You know, do you think and there's been this kind of trend in the industry saying, you know, they went through with the chip shortage, we can sell fewer cars and make the same or more money and we'd be happy with that. Yeah, that that certainly has has been happening with the, let's say, 30,000 and up range of vehicles. Yeah. There's a real void in the market for a good, cheap family car. Yeah. Yeah, I. I wonder. I mean, there's, there's Nissan models out there that are less expensive.
There's KIA models that are out there that are less expensive. But, you know who will own the lower end of the market? Right. We'll talk about that more when we come back. On cruise control, I'm Fred Stubb. He is less Jackson. We will see you right after the break. So stay tuned. We are live every Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern, watches on Facebook and YouTube. Details are in this podcast episode, Information, Cruise Control. And welcome back to Cruise Control.
We started talking about this before the break. We're going to continue now. What's going to happen? I love guessing like this. Let's play a game. But there are trends happening. We were talking about, you know, are the Chinese going to come in and start selling very affordable, low priced electric vehicles? And I think it's pretty much inevitable. Well, this was an article in business Insider, and they they cite two companies that they think would be in coming in.
And that is Geely, which owns a big chunk of Aston Martin now. Right. And B, widely. And, you know, they also talk about Polestar, which is a Swedish EV brand owned by Geely and Volvo. And they import from China. We've seen Buick import from China. So absolutely. This you. Yeah. So this is not GM. It's not really a it's not really a a, you know, a far fetched idea. Couple of interesting things, though, to point out. They want to start building plants here.
Well, they'll be there'll be pushback on Chinese plants because there's been pushback of them buying farms and things like that. And then, well, what will people think of these vehicles? Some may not. If they don't listen to cruise control, they might not even know that they're built in China or designed in China. And then I don't know what Chinese safety standards are like. Do they have any? Well, probably not a lot, but they have to meet ours. Yeah, you can have them on the air edge.
Tests, flight. What parts? Flying across the room, right? I mean, you can't you can't just say, yes, this gets incredibly poor, you know, crash test, you know, but it's cheap. Yeah. Right. Our new, you know, magic boarding rose car has the same high quality of a 1960s British sports car. Right. There's another EV startup called NIO has announced plans to enter the U.S. by 2025.
Interesting. I don't know. I mean, we've we've seen the change where vehicles are designed by GM for the Chinese market. And they never come here or they're designed for the Chinese market and they decide to sell it here. And it's built in China. That's exactly right. Like the envision. Bear in mind, the Chinese are selling 5 million EVs a year that they make. Mm hmm. So they do have experience and. And building. Yeah. So they they seem to know how to do that.
But will they just copy a Tesla and send it over here? And you know how they do that? You ever see where there there's vehicles that look like an F-150, but they have like a three cylinder engine. Oh, yeah. You know, I don't know. That's right. Well, no, no, no. If they really want to have a you know, to have a sales presence, they need dealers, they need service. They need to, you know, to reach a certain bar. And I. I think they will. I mean, they're smart business people.
Do you think the dealer stranglehold will ever be broken and they'll just call it a mobility device or something and get around the law and. Then. Sell it on the Internet and it Amazon delivers it to you or something? Absolutely. See that happening? I just don't see why it wouldn't. Yeah, they'll say it's it's not a it's not a vehicle. It's not a motor vehicle. It doesn't it has a motor, but it will be a mobility device and it will be, you know, you can buy it online. That's what I think.
And then and who knows? I mean, maybe Amazon will marketed as their car. You know, they'll they'll or they'll give it you know they'll they'll buy an old name like Packard or something and and license it. You know, that's happened a lot. I think like the names like Emerson and I believe even Westinghouse, they license their name out. Yeah, well, Sears, Allstate had a car. Yeah. Which was, I think, basically a Chevrolet. Yeah, yeah. Crosley. I think it.
I think it could happen. Who knows? We'll see. But we'll keep you up to date, and we'll. We'll certainly if they do come here, we'll review them. And of course, Vince Vinfast is a Vietnamese car which is coming here as kind of a higher end ev. So let's see what happens. It's funny. History repeats itself at the New York Auto Show at the turn of the century, there were like 85 manufacturers. So we might end up there again. And there were electric cars as well. So there you have it.
Hey, VW says something's missing from its lineup less. What do you think it is? An air cooled engine. Propellers. Well, the CEO of the Volkswagen Group of America has told Automotive News it needs at least one plug in hybrid in its lineup. And he said they are missing it. They have it in other areas. In Mexico, they have the Audi Q5 E. Right. He said we would really like to have a plug in hybrid in the U.S. market soon. I think it's a good idea. I like plug in hybrids.
I always say to you, don't even need to invest in a fast charger. You can just wall plug it in and get your 30 miles, 40 mile range if you plug it in overnight. Pretty much, right? Absolutely. Certainly they can come up with a plug in hybrid pretty easily. Yes. What would you think? They would put it in one of their crossovers or would they put it in when. They see the big one with one? Yeah, that's an interesting idea. I wouldn't I don't think the golf remember. They're the e-golf. Yeah.
They don't have that anymore. No. I don't think the. The atlas. Well, maybe, maybe. Maybe. But I think it's a good idea to have one in there. As a matter of fact, I wanted to check, and I didn't get to do this before prepping the show. I wanted to ask, is every vehicle in the Toyota lineup now a hybrid have a hybrid available? The big trucks do. The Tacoma just came. In under the Tacoma. Yeah. All of the sedans. The Avalon, the the Camry.
The new crown, which is replacing Avalon, will Corolla does. I think they I think they virtually all have a hybrid available. I might be wrong about that. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Which is great. They are they are great at getting the mileage up there to, you know, really make a difference with no loss of drive ability, but plug in hybrids a little less common. But I think I certainly think that they will be a a big player for years to come. You know, as as people transition over, it's
a good transition model. So and yeah, I think I think that will be a big story. Let's talk a little tech, shall we? Right. So Ford has apparently in the United States Patent and Trademark Office car buzz. This comes from car buzz has discovered Ford wants to turn front trunks or fronts into refrigerated compartments. And it might not actually be for what you think. Like I thought. Well, great. My frozen yogurt pops when I come back from the store. They won't melt at all.
I'll just keep them in the refrigerated area so they stay the way they should. Right. Sure. Well, that's one use, but the cooler box would also help keep the cabin cooler. It would keep the battery cooler as well. And would help when you're doing high performance driving, towing a trailer or there are excessive temperatures. So they want to use this space to cool air that will be used for cooling the battery or cooling, helping cool the driver's compartment. The passenger compartment.
Interesting, right? It is. It seems like a good idea. Yeah, I do like the idea of putting groceries in there, though, and keeping them cool. How about you. Always? I I've always loved these vehicles we tested have, you know, coolers in the in the cupholders and. Yes. Yes. I always call out the 12 volt plug in the back area. Sure, Jerry, because I know you like that so much for your your plug in 12 volt fridge, right. That you carry with you at all times glasses like I disavow that.
Just quick because we're going to have an at the wheel review. There's a guy in Colorado that got pulled over for drunk driving. He swapped his dog into the driver's seat and told the cop his dog was driving. A cop didn't believe it. The guy ran away, fell over because he was drunk and got arrested. But apparently it. Happens. Apparently it is a crime to put your dog in the driver's seat and say the dog was driving. So he got called out on that as well. Yes, because. More when we come back.
Yes. Cruise control streamed live every Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern. Watch us live on Facebook and YouTube. Details are in this podcast. Episodes, information, Cruise Control. And welcome back to Cruise Control. It's Fred Staab and Les Jackson. We are glad you're along for the ride with us. Been going through a lot about what's going on, the auto industry, what the future will look like.
And of course, I'm not a prognosticator saying there will be a lot more electric vehicles, but we like to drive them all. And this time around is the 2023 Lexus RC, the first electric vehicle from the Lexus brand and Toyota. It's based on the same vehicle that Toyota sells as the BS four X. I always have to look down at that name because I don't remember that. That's a toughie. Yeah, there are Z. At least I can remember a little bit easier. It comes in two trims, premium and luxury.
Of course we had the luxury. What's unique about this vehicle? Less. In all my years of reviewing vehicles, I've never received a vehicle that is so new that only had 50 miles on it. That doesn't happen often. I've had a few. Yeah. You know with 30 miles. 50, 60. Yeah, it was. So we're. Usually it's a couple thousand. It's, it smelled new and even had tags on it. It's like it, it, it still had the tag hanging from the dashboard and all that.
I left that but ours was the luxury edition, fully electric vehicle, futuristic looking. You don't get the you get sort of the shape of the Lexus Grille without the grille itself in there. And, you know, many people found this to be super, super futuristic, like kind of like a look into the future. But you can still tell it's a Lexus had a cool color that that light metallic blue they call it ether which I liked a lot frankly. Ours had the optional lit Lexus logo.
When it's charging, it lets you know that you are charging up the vehicle. Not a huge amount of range in this vehicle, 196 miles. If you get the smaller 18 inch wheels in the premium, you'll get more range. I believe you get 220 miles. But if you opt for the 20 inch alloy wheels in the luxury edition, you're going to lose some mileage. Interesting bit of aerodynamics there. They look like the fat man's ears or wings that are on his head on the inside.
Beautiful kind of suede upholstery, a light blue interior. A lot of the switchgear, a lot of the controls are very familiar to Lexus owners, a big use of the head up display where certain functions can only be seen on they head up display. So you have to get used to that. And big screen big screen in the center console controlled everything took a little bit of getting used to I like this this was an option on the roof.
You could hit a button and it would go clear, hit the button again and it would go translucent and I like that better than having that big rolling piece of cloth that comes over to shake it out back. Great leg room. I. The roofline was a little low in the back, but I could still see out of it very well. Kind of that kind of light blue kind of Alcantara suede look, but great flat floor, plenty of leg room for rear passengers they'd be very comfortable.
Amenities in the back include heated three levels a couple of USB B C outlets, which are the new CUPHOLDERS of course, USB outlets and some AC down below from an inverter. All in all, super clean look rotary shifter. As you can see, the tag is still on the dash telling us about advanced air bags, clean interior, high quality materials and really nice job from the folks at Lexus. And we should not be surprised. A rear seat pretty good, pretty flat when folded down.
They don't articulate the seat cushion, but that's okay. And then out back a tremendous amount of storage. Yes. Still the tag on there showing you you can stick your foot under there and open the open up the hatch. Great. A lot of room rest easy, Les. There's still a first aid kit and of course, the 12 volt plug in that you crave so much still there so. Well, you know, I have to have my my gadgets. And then storage beneath you get a 110 volt charger.
I always carry an extension cord because I never know where I'll be charging in the motor. Well, the motor looks like an engine, doesn't it? It looks like a three or four cylinder engine nicely packaged under there. And just smooth driving vehicle, all wheel drive. This is all wheel drive. And you could see which wheels were active when you were driving it. And of course, plug in up on the the front fender. I tried I charged up with a 400 volt DC charger from a company named Flo.
I believe they are a Canadian company and I was able to basically get a full charge in about 43 minutes about from about I think I had like 70 miles of range left on it. So very, very impressive and easy to do, you know. Hi high beltline on the vehicle to give it that SUV kind of feel high seating it's got the black around the trim around the wheels which says it's a crossover. So acceleration 0 to 60 in 5 seconds, which is not bad.
Total HPS 308 So I felt this thing was very snappy on the road, quick lane changes, drove it on the highway probably for 200 miles and was pretty impressed with it. And it was, as I said, well equipped of course, because is the luxury level. But a couple of options. Cold area package, which I imagine is a battery heater. The 20 inch aluminum wheels come with the package illuminated front badge when charging $200. Dynamic sky panoramic glass roof was 550.
Premium paint 500 side puddle lamps, 325 mudguards, 150 and carpeted cargo mat 140. So total price, what options is was $66,095. And when you add in the 1150 dollars destination, it was 67000 to 45 on the road. Super enjoyable to drive, super quiet. As I said, lane changes were a snap with this thing. It actually felt like it was faster than 5 seconds to 60. I found that nav a little hard to work and a little hard to tune the radio that was kind of hidden.
Also, when I would do voice commands if I was connected to Android Auto, sometimes the car would respond and say, Do that on Android Auto. I'm still not quite sure what you know, how that how you would select either one of those. I did more time in the vehicle, but the quality of the interior, the quality of the build was great. What didn't I like about it? Well, I will say this. Certain areas like the nose of the vehicle, you can press on it.
And it felt like it would go in and out of the charge door area. Seemed like a little flimsy, like you could press on it. The fender moved a little bit. I'd like to not encounter that. But as far as design, I think they did a great job. Lexus always does a great job with design and quality materials on the inside. Let's be honest, I'd like to see more range than 196 miles at this price level. I'd love to see something. You know, in the 300 mile range, but it's just not there yet.
I it was my first time using the charging the direct DC charging at this location is near some family members, so they put in a brand new DC charger. So I thought to try it out and that was impressive, you know. And the good thing was with that location I can go back to their house and then just get ride down to the station, you know, when it when it's charged up. But good experience with flow charging, hey, that is the RV 50 from the folks at Lexus, their first fully electric vehicle.
We hope you've enjoyed that at the wheel review. It's time for me to say I'm Fred Stobbe. Hi, I'm last Jackson. We are going to see you down the road. By how that. All right.