TEASER: Dodge’s “Deeply Weird” Pitch for Electric Muscle Cars
The War on Cars
***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, .*** We were getting ready to record our "" episode with Ed Niedermeyer last month when Ed happened to bring to our attention to . It's a promotional video for Dodge's new, "Next-Gen Charger," the electric-powered version of the very same "muscle cars" that Doug confronted at the New York International Auto Show in Episode and Aaron rode along with back in Episodes and . The move from gas-guzzling, window-rattling, V8 engines to electric motors has clearly plunged...
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Tesla Cybertrash with Ed Niedermeyer
The War on Cars
Elon Musk’s gigantic, stainless steel, 1980s sci fi movie–inspired Cybertruck is starting to show up on city streets. Perhaps you’ve had the misfortune of seeing one rolling through your neighborhood. If not, you’ve almost certainly seen some of the vehicle’s many truly epic fails on the Internet. The Cybertruck might not work very well, but it still appears to be wildly popular. More than two million people have deposited $250 to get in line for the opportunity to buy one. Journalist Ed Niedermeyer is the author of “Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors.” In this...
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The Texas Freeway Fight with Megan Kimble
The War on Cars
In the 20th century, planners and policymakers smashed Interstate highways through the middle of every major city in the United States. In the 21st century, we understand the many ways that urban freeways were economic, environmental, and racial justice disasters. And yet, incredibly, the State of Texas is planning to spend over $64 billion in the next few years to widen highways through the middle of its three largest cities, Houston, Dallas and Austin. Journalist Megan Kimble has been reporting on the Texas freeway fight for years now. Her new book -- published today -- is . In it, she...
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Car Insurance is Too Cheap
The War on Cars
It has never been more expensive to insure a car in the United States. Today, the average annual premium for full coverage is more than $2,500, up from more than $1,700 just a few years ago. There are a lot of reasons for this—including the high price of cars, supply chain issues, and the rising frequency and severity of crashes—but no matter how you add it up it’s a huge problem in a country where driving is a ticket to full participation in society. Despite this, what if we told you that car insurance is still way too cheap? That’s something most people don’t understand until...
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Live from New York with Bernie Wagenblast
The War on Cars
In January, we held our third annual live show at Caveat on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. We were so thrilled to be in the same room as so many listeners and friends of the podcast. We were also happy to welcome Bernie Wagenblast, the voice of the New York City subway system, to The War on Cars. Bernie’s voice is instantly recognizable to millions of people — even if they don’t necessarily know who she is. Bernie’s personal story and the way she’s using her platform are also inspiring legions of New Yorkers and people around the world, and we were so glad she could join us on stage...
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TEASER: Super Bowl Extra
The War on Cars
***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, .*** In this bonus episode, we continue the conversation we had in Episode 120 about the car ads from Super Bowl LVIII. These two didn't air during the big game, but one is a bit on an antidote to the excess of the typical U.S. automobile commercial while the other is part of a series that ran during NFL postseason games and lots of other big televised events. The first, from a famous Dutch beer company, shows the world as we'd like it to be. The second, courtesy of...
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Super Bowl LVIII Roundup
The War on Cars
In what’s become an annual tradition, we take a critical look at the car ads that aired during the Super Bowl and consider what they say about driving, culture, consumerism, and the United States… which is all the same thing, right? The big story this year is not so much which car companies chose to spend $7 million for 30 seconds of air time but which chose not to and why. (There were zero ads from the Big Three U.S. automakers; that’s the first time that’s happened in 23 years.) Still, there were still some notable commercials featuring beloved movie stars, reckless driving, and...
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Should SUV Ads Be Banned?
The War on Cars
Did you ever see a car advertisement that you thought was so ridiculously irresponsible it should be banned? Well, the people at Adfree Cities, an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom, did, and they decided to do something about it. They went up against Toyota over that shows drivers ripping through sensitive natural areas and cities—and they won, getting the ad taken off the airwaves and the streets. We talked with two members of the organization, Veronica Wignall and James Ward, about how they’re tackling the auto industry’s most egregious marketing campaigns, as well as their...
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TEASER: Delivering the Goods with Shawon and Fokhrul
The War on Cars
This is a preview of a special bonus episode for ! In we spent some time with Baruch, Shawon, and their battery-swapping startup company, PopWheels. When I started working on that episode, I figured I was going to learn a lot about e-bikes, batteries, and the delivery app business. And I did. But over the course of more than a half dozen interviews and conversations between May and December 2023, I also learned a lot about Bangladeshi politics, immigration, and life in New York City as an e-bike delivery worker. One of my favorite interviews for this episode took place on a...
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The Future of Transportation Has Arrived With Your Pad Thai
The War on Cars
Baruch Herzfeld is the CEO and co-founder of PopWheels, where he is working to develop New York City’s first e-bike battery-swapping network. PopWheels aims to solve the growing problem of e-bike battery fires. The company believes that giving e-mobility users a quick, convenient, and safe way to recharge their batteries is absolutely essential to pushing gas-burning cars and trucks out of cities once and for all. But Baruch’s really big idea is this: He is betting that the light, clean, electric transportation fleet of the future is already up and running on the streets of New York City....
info_outline***This is a bonus episode that was previously only available to Patreon supporters of The War on Cars. If you want to hear more bonus episodes like this, please enlist today! We'll taking a very short summer break and will be back with a new episode next week.***
Have you ever wondered what the reporters who cover the auto industry think about oversized SUVs and pickups and whether the fever for these gas-guzzling, space-hogging, planet-heating and people-killing monstrosities will ever break? Bob Sorokanich has some opinions.
Bob Sorokanich was the Editor-In-Chief of Jalopnik the news site about cars, the auto industry and transportation in general. He was also the longstanding Deputy Editor of Road & Track, one of the most historic and important auto magazines in the U.S., if not the world.
In this expansive conversation, Bob talks about the changing face of automotive journalism and what it's like being a city resident, cyclist and public transit rider who also loves cars. We heard about what he drives, his thoughts on what it will take to win the war on cars, and why even the most died-in-the-wool car enthusiasts hate the kind of driving they typically experience today.
LINKS:
According to Bob: Public Transit Is a Car Enthusiast's Best Friend
Doug's piece for Jalopnik: What I Mean When I Say 'Ban Cars'
Pick up official podcast merch at The War on Cars store.
Check out our list of recommended books at Bookshop.org.