Michigan's AutoTalk Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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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Al, John, and Phil

Episode 89: "Nine no-brainers and one sleeper: Car and Driver's 10 best cars of 2023 with editor in chief Tony Quiroga"

In this episode, producer Phil Tower welcomes car and driver editor in chief, Tony Quiroga. Tony is an 18-year-veteran Car and Driver editor, writer, and car reviewer and the 19th editor-in-chief for the magazine since its founding in 1955. Over the years, Tony has held nearly every editorial position at the magazine and website.

In this episode, Tony gives us an insider's look at Car and Driver's annual "Ten Best Cars" awards as he explained the process of how they found the 10 cars that live up to their purpose while delivering incredible value and a great driving experience.
Car and Driver's "10 Best" list just turned 40, and like many 40-year-olds, it’s going through a time of reflection and reassessment. As Tony shared with us during this episode, there are no bad picks of this year's crop of the 10 best automobiles on the road.

More Online:
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a42187877/10best-cars-2023/


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Al, John, and Phil

This is the final show airing of Auto Talk on WOOD Radio.

On our latest episode, number 88 of Michigan's AutoTalk, producer Phil Tower, along with hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek, hear Al share the remarkable story of his grandfather, Adolf. Adolf came to America from Germany in 1909 and spent 40 years working for Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana. Grandpa Adolf and his wife saved diligently until they could purchase what would become his pride and joy... A brand new 1947 Studebaker Commander. According to Studebaker factory records, the total Sedan Coupe production, including a very short run of 1942 models, stands at around 2,350 units, which makes it highly unusual to spot one today.

Later in the episode, we talk about winter driving again, and cohost. John Puhek couldn't help but go off again on snow tire users. You don't want to miss this rant… Unless you are a diehard snow tire fan

More on Studebaker:
https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2021/a-brief-history-of-studebaker

And:
The History Of Studebaker
https://www.classicsbeyond.com/history-of-studebaker

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Interested in advertising on Michigan's AutoTalk podcast? We have opportunities available in 2023 and our rates are affordable.
Message producer Phil Tower for details: philtower@iheartmedia.com

On our latest episode, number 87 of Michigan's AutoTalk, producer Phil Tower, along with hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek, what Jim Garrison president of the Checker car club of America. Jim worked at Checker Motors for 32 years and had a treasure trove of information about everything related to the legendary Checker vehicle. Checkers were built to last and several of them are still operating today, including the models that Jim owns. He shares with us his love for the checker automobile, and a bit of history about the car itself plus the Checker cars that he owns.


More on Checker Cars:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/04/an-illustrated-history-of-checker-motors/

And:
A Beautiful 1982 Checker Marathon:
https://journal.classiccars.com/2021/07/17/pick-of-the-day-1982-checker-marathon-brawny-consumer-version-of-famed-taxi/


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Episode 86: "Ford's secret new money machine comes disguised as a pickup truck"

In this episode, producer Phil Tower welcomes back Phoebe Wall-Howard, automotive, writer, and reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Phoebe joined us to talk about the runaway success of the highly anticipated 2023 Ford Super Duty.
In this episode, Phoebe tells us that Ford set an all-new sales record for the month of November after reaching a record number of new orders for the new Super Duty...52,518 new orders in fact... And that was just in the last five days of October!
And is Phoebe wrote in the Detroit Free Press last week, "the November sales report nearly triples that figure. (As of December 3) Ford now has orders for 151,870 Super Duty trucks since the order bank opened on Oct. 27."
Phoebe explained that Ford has never seen sales like this in its history and the truck is likely to set all-time records at a sticker price that starts at $45,000 and goes all the way up to $90,000 for loaded models… Ford is likely to make billions of dollars just on this truck alone.

We also highlighted a couple of wonderful stories about two Michigan-based engineers who worked on the brand-new Ford Super Duty truck design and actually had dreams of doing that as young kids.

More Online:
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/12/03/latest-ford-super-duty-orders-set-insane-pace/69695780007/

Ford truck fan, 7, grows up to drive Super Duty in Thanksgiving Parade
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/11/24/detroit-thanksgiving-parade-ford-truck/69675587007/

2023 Ford Super Duty engineer made dream come true after teacher laughed at it
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/09/28/2023-ford-f-series-super-duty-engineer-aaron-bresky/69522651007/

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Al, John, and Phil

Episode 85: "The great snow tire debate and other winter driving myths."

In this episode, producer Phil Tower, along with hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek, discuss the pros and cons of snow tires and the best tips for safe winter driving overall. The decades-old wisdom that snow tires were essential in West Michigan is really not true and in this episode, Al and John talk about why snow tires are not as necessary as they used to be commonly used years ago and why snow tire owners should make one significant investment before they purchase any set of snow tires.
And while we're at it let's get rid of the term "snow tires." Any tire dealer today will tell you the correct term for these types of tires is "winter tires." Those who insist on them and there are quite a few, argue they work better in Michigan winters when our roads are blanketed with typically oft and slushy snow. Still, according to to Al and John, most drivers don't need them.

More on winter tires:
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/06/03/should-you-be-changing-your-tires-we-put-seasonal-tires-through-the-local-4-trust-index/

And, what are the best values in winter/snow tires:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g35005560/top-cheap-snow-tires/

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Episode 84: "Auto Analyst Karl Brauer on Cars that Depreciate the Least and Most Over 3 Years."

In this episode, producer Phil Tower, along with hosts Al Schwinkendorf and John Puhek, welcome Karl Brauer, executive analyst for ISeeCars.com.
Karl joins us to discuss which specific vehicles have the best and worst overall depreciation levels over a three-year period for the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo markets.
Given the substantial rise in car prices due to the microchip shortage, finding a vehicle
that retains its value can provide significant savings for consumers. The average new
car in Grand Rapids loses 17.9% of its value after three years, and 35.5% of its value
after five years according to the latest iSeeCars study. However, in the Grand Rapids
market, some cars retain their value and depreciate far less than average, with a few
used models actually worth more than MSRP after three years.
Which cars are the best and worst for holding their value for Grand Rapids drivers? To
find out, the latest iSeeCars.com study analyzed more than three million used car
sales to identify models with the lowest and highest loss in value after five years.
Karl Brauer is with iSeeCars.com where he serves as their Executive Analyst.
Karl has been working in the automotive industry for over 25 years, starting as the editorial assistant for Hot Rod magazine before launching Super Street magazine as one of its original staff writers in 1996. For 18 years he served as editor-in-chief at Edmunds.com, plus CEO at his own consumer automotive website, and Executive Publisher at Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
Karl’s website Karl On Cars: https://www.karlbrauer.com

You can see the full study on depreciation at:
https://www.iseecars.com/cars-that-hold-their-value-study

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

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