Auto Buyers Guide Podcast

America's best car nobody is buying: Hyundai sold just 169 Ioniq 9s in October, which makes one of the most spacious, longest-range, fastest-charging three-row EVs on the market one of the slowest-selling new cars in the country. We dig into why, from real-world testing that points to 330–340 miles of range to a 10–80% charge in 24 minutes on a cold battery, plus a surprise: it has far more US parts content than the Cadillac Vistiq. But first, a one-star review accuses us of Elon Derangement Syndrome, so we take on Tesla FSD head-on. The take rate has jumped from 12% to 17.7%. We cover the Hardware 3 problem, why camera-only is a cost win and not a tech breakthrough, and why a Hardware 5 with more sensors seems inevitable.

Then the sales charts get weird. GM's new 5.7L and 6.6L V8s take the blame for the Silverado's worse fuel economy, but the diesel lost just as much, so is the real culprit aero and tires? Telluride is beating Palisade, Santa Fe outsold Tucson, and Honda had its "best October ever" while Pilot, Civic Hybrid and HR-V slid. We also look at whether adventure trims like TrailSport and Wilderness are mostly LARPing, why OEM tires aren't the same as the ones you buy at Tire Rack, and the Durango Hellcat's ridiculous charm. Listener questions cover whether American automakers should form joint ventures with Chinese brands (plus the Polestar and Zeekr saga) and the best plug-in for a road-tripping couple downsizing from a CR-V.

 

00:00:00 - Intro: Our One-Star Review & Elon Derangement Syndrome
00:02:06 - Tesla FSD Take Rate Hits 17.7% & the Hardware 3 Problem
00:10:12 - LiDAR, Sensor Fusion & Why Hardware 5 Seems Inevitable
00:15:06 - Driver Monitoring: Head Tracking vs. Eye Tracking
00:17:38 - GM's New V8s: Is Silverado Fuel Economy Really Worse?
00:22:24 - GM Hybrids, Vistiq & GM's Three-Row Crossover Dominance
00:27:48 - Telluride Beats Palisade, Santa Fe Beats Tucson
00:33:27 - Range Extenders & Honda's Weird "Best October Ever"
00:37:39 - Adventure Trims: Wilderness, TrailSport & the Passport Wheel Lift
00:50:21 - Durango Hellcat & What Your OEM Tires Aren't Telling You
00:57:22 - Hyundai Ioniq 9: 169 Sales, 330+ Miles & More US Parts Than Vistiq
01:11:06 - Listener Q: Chinese Joint Ventures, Polestar & Zeekr
01:22:41 - Listener Q: Best Road-Trip Plug-In – RAV4 PHEV, Niro, bZ & EX30

 

#AutoBuyersGuide #CarPodcast #HyundaiIoniq9 #TeslaFSD #Silverado #GMV8 #KiaTelluride #HyundaiPalisade #HondaPassport #DurangoHellcat #ThreeRowEV #KiaEV9 #RAV4PHEV #Polestar #AutoNews

Chinese EVs that charge 10-80% in under nine minutes, a 1,400-horsepower plug-in hybrid SUV, and a Tesla Roadster that sucks itself to the road. Alex and Travis break down what we saw and drove at the Paris Auto Show: the Geely EX5 and Starray, the Zeekr 7GT, and the Zeekr 9X, plus why Canada is opening its doors to Chinese EVs and why that should matter to every American car buyer. We also dig into the Tesla Roadster's cold-gas thrusters and fan-suction mode, the new BMW X5 lineup, Mazda dropping the CX-70, and the Fiat Grizzly that becomes Chrysler's under-$30K Arrow.

Then it gets personal. The Grenadier, a.k.a. the family dog, has to find a new home now that two rear-facing car seats won't fit, so we measure up the Genesis G90, BMW i7, Chevy Suburban and Hyundai Palisade (spoiler: the Palisade beats the Suburban for second-row space). Plus: why tongue weight eats your payload, how Chinese automakers really keep prices low, and why we bought a road roller instead of paying $110,000 to fix our gravel road. 

 

 

00:00 Intro
00:57 Mazda drops the CX-70: why not just bring the CX-60?
03:01 Tesla Roadster: thrusters, suction mode and the real $200K car
09:14 Our new toy: a road roller vs. a $110K paving quote
12:11 Family hauler search: G90, i7, Suburban vs. Palisade, and towing payload
16:55 Selling the family dog: goodbye Ineos Grenadier?
20:35 New BMW X5: gas, PHEV, EV, pricing and that HUD
27:58 Paris Auto Show: Fiat Grizzly and the Chrysler Arrow
29:39 Canada lets Chinese EVs in, and who Geely really is
34:41 Geely EX5 and Starray: LFP batteries and 9-minute charging
52:48 Why are Chinese cars so cheap? Subsidies, speed and margins
1:01:48 Zeekr 7GT driven: the Polestar that should have been
1:11:18 Zeekr 9X: is this the three-row Volvo America needs?
1:23:27 Will Chinese cars ever reach the US?

Nissan just showed up to the hybrid party — only about fifteen years late. But here’s the thing: the new Rogue Hybrid might actually be worth the wait. Three big electric motors, rear torque that would make a RAV4 blush, and a three-cylinder engine that exists purely to keep the electrons flowing. Is Nissan’s serial hybrid system genuinely clever engineering or an elaborate workaround? Meanwhile, Volvo quietly transformed the EX90 into a fire-breathing 670-horsepower rocket that does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and adds 100 miles of range in five minutes — and almost nobody noticed, because Volvo tells nobody anything. GM unveiled two brand-new V8s big enough to make Ram nervous, and Tesla wants you to buy a Cybercab, deploy it as a robot taxi, and somehow turn a profit. Spoiler: the math doesn’t math.

Then it gets personal. Alex is car shopping — again — and the requirements are ruthlessly specific: CarPlay (non-negotiable, household law), a back seat that actually fits a rear-facing car seat designed for a seven-year-old, and preferably something that plugs in. What sounds like a reasonable list turns out to eliminate approximately everything good on the market. Along the way, the show falls down a genuinely fascinating rabbit hole: only 3% of new car buyers have young children at home, which explains — with uncomfortable precision — why modern cars are designed as if children don’t exist. More Subaru buyers have pet chickens.

 

 

Key Topics

Nissan Rogue Hybrid e-POWER — 40 city/36 highway MPG, three motors, 66% rear torque capability, no parallel mode

Why three-cylinder engines excel in serial hybrids — exhaust scavenging, turbo efficiency, the German “half-liter per cylinder” philosophy

Honda’s deliberate sacrifice of efficiency to preserve engine-feel continuity in their hybrids

Nissan’s 2 million e-POWER global sales and what that means for the US rollout

Volvo EX90 updated — 800V, 670hp, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, 350kW peak charging, ~100 miles added in 5 minutes

EX90 Supercharger problem — drops to 112kW on 400V stations, 45-minute charge sessions

Volvo’s baffling product strategy — launching half-baked, fixing quietly, same model year with two drivetrains

EX90 vs. Lucid Gravity — charging speed, interior quality, plastic sun visors at $97K

GM’s new 5.7L and 6.6L V8 engines for Silverado/Sierra — cylinder deactivation, competing with Ram’s 6.4L

Tesla Cybercab business model holes — ROI, insurance, cleaning, platform cut, range management, fleet logistics

Cybercab format problem — two seats, no luggage space, no consumer version with a steering wheel

Alex’s new car hunt — CarPlay required, big rear seat, plug-in or EV, Super Cruise/autonomy trade-offs

Why Silverado EV almost made the list but no CarPlay killed it — and the aftermarket hack question

Wired vs. wireless CarPlay — lossless audio and Dolby Atmos need the wire; GM wants your data instead

Car seat statistics — only 3% of new car buyers have toddlers; more Subaru owners have chickens than babies

Car seat regulation history — California rear-facing mandate not until 2017, only half of US states require it

Axkid rear-facing car seat — works to 65 lbs/49 inches, fitting a 7-year-old rear-facing

Why pickup trucks may be winning with young families — rear seat room that crossovers and full-size SUVs don’t actually provide

Palisade vs. Tahoe for child seat practicality — why the midsize crossover wins

 

 

00:00:00 - Intro & What's On the Docket
00:00:59 - Nissan Rogue Hybrid: America's First Real Nissan Hybrid
00:04:11 - 3-Cylinder Serial Hybrid Engineering: Why It Actually Makes Sense
00:17:39 - Volvo EX90: 670hp, 800V & a 5-Minute Charge to LA
00:28:14 - Charging Reality Check: 350kW vs. 112kW on a Supercharger
00:32:49 - GM's New 5.7 & 6.6L V8s: Big Power for Silverado & Sierra
00:38:08 - Tesla Cybercab: Great Concept, Broken Business Model
00:49:39 - Alex's New Car Hunt: CarPlay, EVs & the Silverado Problem
00:51:49 - The Statistic That Explains Why Cars Hate Kids
00:57:45 - Car Seat Reality: Why Nothing Fits & Why Trucks Might Win

Nissan just showed up to the hybrid party — only about fifteen years late. But here's the thing: the new Rogue Hybrid might actually be worth the wait. Three big electric motors, rear torque that would make a RAV4 blush, and a three-cylinder engine that exists purely to keep the electrons flowing. Is Nissan's serial hybrid system genuinely clever engineering or an elaborate workaround? Meanwhile, Volvo quietly transformed the EX90 into a fire-breathing 670-horsepower rocket that does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and adds 100 miles of range in five minutes — and almost nobody noticed, because Volvo tells nobody anything. GM unveiled two brand-new V8s big enough to make Ram nervous, and Tesla wants you to buy a Cybercab, deploy it as a robot taxi, and somehow turn a profit. Spoiler: the math doesn't math. Then it gets personal. Alex is car shopping — again — and the requirements are ruthlessly specific: CarPlay (non-negotiable, household law), a back seat that actually fits a rear-facing car seat designed for a seven-year-old, and preferably something that plugs in. What sounds like a reasonable list turns out to eliminate approximately everything good on the market. Along the way, the show falls down a genuinely fascinating rabbit hole: only 3% of new car buyers have young children at home, which explains — with uncomfortable precision — why modern cars are designed as if children don't exist. More Subaru buyers have pet chickens. 00:00:00 - Intro & What's On the Docket 00:00:59 - Nissan Rogue Hybrid: America's First Real Nissan Hybrid 00:04:11 - 3-Cylinder Serial Hybrid Engineering: Why It Actually Makes Sense 00:17:39 - Volvo EX90: 670hp, 800V & a 5-Minute Charge to LA 00:28:14 - Charging Reality Check: 350kW vs. 112kW on a Supercharger 00:32:49 - GM's New 5.7 & 6.6L V8s: Big Power for Silverado & Sierra 00:38:08 - Tesla Cybercab: Great Concept, Broken Business Model 00:49:39 - Alex's New Car Hunt: CarPlay, EVs & the Silverado Problem 00:51:49 - The Statistic That Explains Why Cars Hate Kids 00:57:45 - Car Seat Reality: Why Nothing Fits & Why Trucks Might Win #NissanRogueHybrid #ePower #SerialHybrid #VolvoEX90 #800VCharging #LucidGravity #GMV8 #SilveradoEV #TeslaCybercab #RobotTaxi #CarPlay #SuperCruise #CarShopping #RearFacingCarSeat #ChildSafety #HybridCars #ElectricVehicle #FastCharging #AutoBuyersGuide #CarPodcast #AutoNews #NewCars2026 #FamilyCar #CarReview #NissanHybrid

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