Do Americans Really Want Electric Cars? Results of New Survey Are Surprising

California Test: 2023 Ford Bronco Badlands; Shortage of New-Car Inventory Boosts dealers Big-Time; 2023 Cadillac Escalade Takes on Maine

America on the Road Radio LogoThis week’s episode is a repeat of the AOTR episode that was first aired on December 3, 2022. The special guest is Mike Darrow, President of TrueCar and an absolute expert on the car-buying process. He has some very educated advice about what to do when vehicle inventory at dealers is low and interest rates are on the rise. TrueCar has some solutions for you. And we’ll have the results of an illuminating new survey that attempts to answer the question: do Americans really want electric cars?

When it comes to road tests, we have some very popular SUVs to talk about. The Ford Bronco is the hit vehicle of the decade, and we test a version that is smack in the middle of the lineup. The Bronco Badlands has been equipped for serious off-roading with 33-inch all-terrain tires on 17-inch aluminum wheels as just a hint of what it offers. Our two-door test vehicle had the special seven-speed manual with the ultra-low crawler gear to enable some very Old School off-roading.

Of course, even the most gung-ho off-roader has to drive on the pavement the bulk of the time. So how the $58,000 Badlands trim negotiated the wilds of suburban South California proved just as important as any off-road trek. We’ll tell you how it all went coming up.

At the same time Host Jack Nerad was piloting the Ford Bronco Badlands, AOTR Co-Host Chris Teague and his family spent a week with a $120,000 2023 Cadillac Escalade. The big SUV’s level of luxury is off the charts with more video screens than a Buffalo Wild Wings on an NFL Sunday. Did Chris Teague’s daughters really do somersaults and cartwheels in the Cadillac? We’ll check into those claims in this edition of the show.

 

In the topline car news, Steve Center, a key executive at Kia, has spoken plainly about the effects of the federal legislation passed this summer that changed the way tax incentives are determined for electric vehicles. We’ll have the details of what he said and why he said it.

All that and plenty more coming upon this edition of “America on the Road.”