Sleeper Hits, Prius Prime, and the Impact of EVs | Talking Cars with Consumer Reports #115

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[chrisransdell]

The content is great as always but I'm not sure i understand the motivation for the new format. The old one was just as conversational and at least to me the audio quality was perfectly good for a talk show. The new microphones are bulky and hard to see around and seem more suited for a non visual format show.

[getrealordie]

come on guys. You are engineers, right? the reason electric cars are more environmental friendly is because the power plants turbines are more efficient than your car. They produce more energy per unit of fuel. So the overall consumption of fossil fuels is reduced

[mountainhobo]

Wow, guys, please get lapel microphones. This looks ridiculous. Also, sitting sideways to the viewers and looking away from them while talking is weird.

[mountainhobo]

21:22 "I think what the person is really talking about is not so much the manufacturing of [...] the batteries" -- Actually, yes, he was clearly asking about the manufacturing and the disposal of the lithium batteries. Why did you skirt the issue?

[jimmelay]

The sound is incredible. We can even here Gabe. The mics cover a lot of the faces and maybe you guys should be tilted to the front a little more.

[artemisx]

Love the new format and I can actually hear everyone at all times! No more needing to adjust the volume all the time.

[jeffreychow]

I preferred the old set. I get you're trying to make it more casual, but the messy desk feels like a demotion in production quality. The lighting and audio is better, but kill the slider moves on the close-ups, totally unnecessary and distracting. There's no motivation for the move and thus they shouldn't exist.

[myaccount__]

these are good shows, I listen to every one since I found the channel. also the audio is PERFECT! no pops, nothing, great job.

[CMCNestT]

With a Federal Credit of $4k for the Prius Prime the plug in is cheaper to buy and even with today's gas prices it is cheaper to run in most of the USA.

[jcn]

Mike (Monticello) is not NewTom (Mutchler). Jon Linkov would be more appealing. As for the layout, don't fix what's not broken.

[DanielZajic]

Thank you for getting better microphones. Huge improvement, especially with Gabe's deep voice.

[bwilsonweb]

CR substituted a non-answer for the user's question so I'll take a stab at it:


"How are the batteries being recycled afterwards?" - There are multiple battery chemistries and one of the first, the nickle metal hydride batteries are actively being recycled because the contents are so valuable (ask Mr. Google.) As for the various lithium ion batteries, the value of the chemicals are so low, recycling costs more than the value of the recovered elements (again, ask Mr. Google.)

"Has there been a significant increase in your electric bill?" - We bought our first plug-in hybrid, a BMW i3-REx, in May 2016 and our home electricity cost went up ~$20/month for about 1, 000 miles per month. Had we driven our 52 MPG Prius, the monthly gasoline bill would have been ~$38. Based on our local electricity rate, $0.10/kWh, and gas price, $2/gal, our plug-in hybrid cost about 53% of driving our 52 MPG Prius, gas hybrid. For more details, see me at PriusChat.com

[ElmerEDavis]

A list of when a discussion of a particular vehicle begins would be helpful.

[Muddyspartan]

I love the sound quality of the microphones! I wouldn't mind if the whole podcast was alittle longer, and maybe tilt the outward people alittle more towards the camera.

[jamesyeung]

As for the Ev skeptics...Evs get cleaner with age as the grid gets cleaner..regular cars pollute more more as they get older.. as far as driving experience...you can't beat the performance of a electric motor...my S2000 ap1 and Porsche 964 just sits in my garage..i drive my Model S and even my Nissan leaf more than anything else. eventually more people are gonna get Solar for their homes because they will be tired of black or brown outs from their utility companies.

[mattheviewer]

Audio quality's a bit better but microphones and sibilance control discs look awkward. Would suggest using higher quality lapel mikes or out-of-view shotgun mikes for audio capture. Would suggest viewing Autoline After Hours and note how they handle audio issues and staging....their format works very well.

[AviationandAutos]

Love the new visual format. However, the outboard people should be tilted slightly more to the camera. From the front camera, you could barely see Gabe's face.

[mss]

Ooh, a new look. Now the information you give us will mean so much more.

[emjayay]

So, poorly thought out new format and you can see that they are sitting around a folding cafeteria table. The location in what I assume is their testing facility is good. Everything else is bad. Miss Tom, and the younger guy who was there a while ago.

The Regal they are talking about is an Opel Insignia and is about to be replaced with a new model in 2018.

[dwilsonjr]

Another underappreciated car is the Mazda 6. I think the reason why consumers are overlooking the Mazda 6 is because it competes in the super competitive mid-size sedan market where most consumers tend to gravitate toward the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord because they're the safe choices. The only minor quibble with the Mazda 6 is that it's not as quiet as some of its competitors. But the Mazda 6 does have many good attributes: it's fun to drive, it's roomy, it's very fuel-efficient for a non-hybrid vehicle, doesn't have a complicated powertrain like small displacement turbos or a multi-speed or double-clutch transmission, it's stylish, and it's very reliable.