Michigan's AutoTalk Podcast Newsradio WOOD 1300 and 106.9 FM (WOOD-AM)

Episode 99: “A deep dive on Driving and Owning EVs with Dr. Karl Bloss from Consumers Energy ”

In this episode, producer Phil Tower plus hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek welcome Dr. Karl Bloss, Consumers Energy’s Electric Vehicle Education and Outreach Coordinator.

As just about anyone who drives knows by now, electric vehicles have gone from being a rarity to almost commonplace road sight. In fact, Cox Automotive reports that in the second quarter of 2022, electric vehicle sales topped 5.6% of all new car sales. EVs are becoming mainstream. Still, these vehicles are far from standard, the innovation in this world has led to exciting technology jumps across the auto industry. Karl Bloss doesn't just talk about EVs but drives them. He has owned and used EVs for years. Karl told us he made the decision to go EV after spending time in Germany feeling the full cost impact of diesel vehicles. Even in those early days of EV technology (with the lower mileage capabilities), an EV made sense for him and his wallet. And that is even more true today. By the way, the percentage of electric vehicles on Michigan roads is in the single digits. But the percentage is expected to rise to between 15% and 25% by the decade's end.

MI AUTOTALK FUN FACT: According to U.S. Department of Energy data from 2021 — the most recent numbers available — Michigan had 17,500 EVs, out of roughly 8.7 million vehicles registered. That means EVs accounted for about 0.2% of all vehicles in Michigan.

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Online: Consumers Energy PowerMIDrive


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Episode 98: "An inside look at 16th running of Car and Driver's Lightning Lap, with editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga"

In this episode, producer Phil Tower welcomes back Car And Driver editor-in-chief, Tony Quiroga. Tony is an 18-year-veteran Car and Driver editor, writer, car reviewer, and the 19th editor-in-chief for the magazine since its founding in 1955.

In this episode, Tony gives us an insider's look at Car and Driver's 16th running of Lightning Lap, an annual test of performance cars held at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 recorded the quickest time this year, lapping the 4.1-mile track in just 2 minutes and 38.6 seconds. The full package is available now on the Car and Driver website and in the February/March issue, which is available now everywhere magazines are sold.
Tony told us that VIR is chosen for its length and variety of challenges and that VIR is widely considered to be America’s toughest and most-demanding racetrack. This year’s 16 Lightning Lap entrants were grouped by base price (which includes performance-enhancing options and has been adjusted for inflation), and their best times determined the finishing order. The goal is to boil down each vehicle’s performance to a single number: the lap time.



More Online:
Lightning Lap 2023: The Hottest Cars on America's Toughest Track
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a42387169/lightning-lap-2023/



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Michigan's AutoTalk podcast is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audio, Spreaker.com, Deezer, and Podcatcher.

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Al, John, and Phil

Sticker price+$5,000 ?: The five new vehicles buyers pay big $$ for with Karl Brauer from iSeeCars(Episode 97)

Bought a new car lately? Today, new cars have priced an average of 8.8 percent above MSRP nationally, even after improving supply chain issues and paying higher interest rates on vehicle loans.

In this episode, producer Phil Tower chats with Karl Brauer, executive analyst for ISeeCars.com.
Locally, a recent iSeeCars study also found that the average new car in the Grand Rapids metro area is priced at nearly 8% or $3,104 above MSRP.
The study analyzed over 12 million new car listings from February 2022 through February 2023, looking at the average list price of new cars and comparing it to MSRP. Karl helped break down the five vehicles with the highest markups over MSRP in the Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo region.
The #1 highest over-sticker vehicle shouldn't surprise you!

Helpful links:


ISeeCars.com Study
Karl’s website Karl On Cars:
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Michigan's AutoTalk podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audio, Spreaker.com, Deezer, and Podcatcher.

Episode 96: “The Station Wagon Show: Country Squires, Roadmasters, Vista Cruisers, and whatever Clark Griswold drove”

In this episode, producer Phil Tower plus hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek talk about the much-maligned but now making a comeback station wagon.

We spend the first part of the episode talking about a very rare 1996 Buick Roadmaster that is up for auction on the Hagerty marketplace website.

The 1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon was basically a Cadillac with a Buick nameplate. It was decked out with a plush cabin, and a massive V8 and it amazingly offered seating for eight thanks to a collapsible rear-facing third seat. And speaking of what's under the hood, this wagon has a 5.7-liter ‘LT1’ V8 which was also found in the C4 Corvette. Buick stopped making this beastly wagon in 1996, marking the last full-size, body-on-frame, rear-wheel drive station wagon produced by an American automaker

It's interesting to note that station wagons reached their sales peak in 1976 when U.S. sales stood at 972,212 and accounted for 10% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. That same year, there were 62 station wagon models available to American car buyers. You read that correctly… 62 different station wagon models!

We also talk about the amazing Ford Country Squire wagon... Another huge, best seller. And believe it or not, there seems to be a resurgence in wagons so to speak, including the diehards to attend the Radwood Festivals around the country.

And this wouldn't be a show about station wagons if we didn't talk about the iconic and lovably ridiculous Griswold Family Truckster wagon. Oh, yes, we went there.

And then Al decided to reminisce about the amazing HearseFest. Yes, it's really a thing and we have the link so you can learn more about it below.

Michigan's AutoTalk podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audio, Spreaker.com, Deezer, and Podcatcher.
Please don't forget to LIKE our Facebook page!

Thank you for listening. If you like our podcast please do share it with a friend!

Online links:
1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon on Hagerty Marketplace
HearseFest
Radwood
Griswold Family Truckster

Episode 95: “Tricked out Ford Broncos and the women who love and drive them”

In this episode, producer Phil Tower welcomes back one of our favorite guests, automotive writer and reporter, Phoebe Wall-Howard from the Detroit Free Press. (Freep.com )

Phoebe recently wrote a very cool story in the Detroit Free Press about how women love their new Ford Broncos so much that they're “pouring thousands of dollars into their brand-new SUV to make it even better.” Phoebe told Michigan’s AutoTalk that some women trick out the vehicles themselves while others have actually created or grown companies. Much of the “tricking out” of these new Broncos often includes a new paint job, replacing doors, replacing fenders, replacing tires, replacing guard plates under the belly of the vehicle, adding lights, and changing engine guts under the hood.

In her story, Phoebe profiled several women owners of the new Ford Bronco in the common theme throughout the article was how much these women loved this vehicle. As Phoebe writes, ‘Jeep owners who spend their days crawling rocks and snaking through dirt roads or gliding across sandy beaches have been doing this kind of thing forever. But, now, the new Bronco crowd is all in, too.’

More online:
Read the story in the Detroit Free Press.


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Part 2 of 2: Recorded live at the Michigan International Auto Show on Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 at DeVos Place. In the second part of this episode, recorded live from DeVos Place, we were joined by Craig Piersma, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, with Gentex. Craig shared with us the contributions that Jen tax has made regarding automotive technology and beyond. Zeeland, MI-based Gentex is most notably known for their auto-dimming rearview mirror and has sold hundreds of millions of those units over the years. Hopefully, while you were at the show you also got to check out Gentex’s massive, heavily-modified Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss (2LT). Sitting high above the truck’s custom Mule Sam roof rack was a DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone for scouting the surrounding terrain. The truck was paired with a companion Vorsheer XOC (Extreme Overland Camper) featuring the same overland theme and matching wrap. It comes loaded with every outdoor adventure necessity, including a heater and air conditioning, propane stove, sink, fridge/freezer, rooftop tent, and more.
We were also joined in this episode by Andrew Redder, a Western Michigan University, engineering student and engineering lead for for the WMU Formula SAE race team. WMU’s Formula SAE is a collegiate competition where students design, manufacture, and build a formula one style racecar. Even more challenging, every year the Society of Automotive Engineers creating all new, nearly 200 page rulebook that Formula SAE cars must adhere to, challenging students’ creativity and innovative abilities.
Online Links of Interest: https://www.gentex.com/
https://wmich.edu/engineer/formula-sae
https://showspan.com/