Car Stuff Podcast Consumer Guide Automotive, Tom Appel, Jill Ciminillo

Jill is out this week driving electric Chevys. In her place are both Sons of Speed, Paul Herrold and Brendan Appel. The conversation opened with Tom noting Jill’s dismay regarding Chevy’s decision to drop Apple CarPlay connectivity from coming EV products. Brendan echoed Jill's sentiment, noting that the move would likely alienate a certain number of consumers. Paul shared his take on the recent NHRA Nationals event at Route 66 Raceway in Elwood, Illinois. He described the sound--and the...

Jill and Tom opened this week’s show by bidding farewell to the Chevrolet Malibu. The long-running midsize model, available only as a sedan in recent years, is being discontinued by General Motors to make production space for an all-new Chevrolet Bolt EV. The hosts also expressed their confusion regarding Tesla’s recent dismissal of the company’s charging-network staff. Tom commented on a rumor that Tesla may be positioning the charging division for a possible spinoff. Still in the ...

Paul Herrold of the Sons of Speed sits in for Jill this week. The hosts opened the show talking about the Genesis G70 small sedan which Paul is currently evaluating. He is generally pleased with the vehicle, which is popularly considered an alternative to the BMW 3-Series. The hosts went on to discuss new—and needed—federal guidelines for Emergency Automatic Braking systems, which all vehicles will be required to be equipped with for the 2029 model year. There is currently a confusing ar...

In this special crossover episode of the Car Stuff Podcast, Tom rides along with Robert Colangelo of the Green Sense Show to experience Tesla's much-discussed and controversially marketed Full Self Driving (FSD) hands-free driving system. Robert and Tom drive through occasionally heavy traffic on the ground streets near Chicago's Midway Airport. Listen in for Robert's and Tom's impressions of the system which Tesla owners can subscribe to for $99 a month.

Jill and Tom are in studio together this week. The hosts opened the show discussing a couple of polls Tom conducted on “X.” One poll asked folks to pick their favorite album for a long evening drive, while the other tested respondent’s willingness to pay for extra EV range. Still in the first segment, Jill shared her impressions of the very-affordable Nissan Versa small sedan. In the second segment Jill and Tom are joined by John Vincent, Senior Editor for Vehicle Testing with U.S. News ...

Jill is back in studio this week. The hosts opened the show discussing hands-free driving systems, with Tom sharing impressions of both the Lincoln Blue Cruise 1.2 system found in the Nautilus he is evaluating this week, and the Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) system as found in the Model Y small crossover. Tom also briefly reviewed the Tesla Model Y, which he was generally very impressed with. That said, Tom was surprised by how small the Model Y is—listen in for his complete summary.&nbs...