Drive, She Said

Car Stuff Podcast: Genesis G90, Electrification at Fiat Chrysler

This week’s at-home Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcats kicks off with the news that General Motors has killed its car-sharing platform called Maven. Similar to something like Zipcar, Maven allowed people to rent vehicles by the hour, and the subscription fee included things such as gasoline and insurance. At its peak, it only ever operated in 17 cities (Chicago was one of them), and it started pulling back in May of 2019. So, while COVID-19 put nails in the coffin, we conclude the service was already on its way out.

The test vehicle this week is the refreshed 2020 Genesis G90 (think big honking diamond-shaped grille). Though I haven’t driven it since the refresh, the G90 has good bones and was an excellent car already. Tom and Damon think this refresh smooth out some of the rough edges. But can it compete with the Euro brands? (Hint: You’ll have to listen for that answer.)

The bulk of our time was spent with Brian Spohn, vehicle electrification manager for FCA North America, who discusses Fiat Chrysler’s various electrification initiatives, including the eTorque mild-hybrid system. He had some truly shocking things to say about the FCA auto stop/start engine system that, if true, may make me a convert.

In all a pretty good episode (even without donuts).

While I will continue to post the podcast to my blog each week, you can subscribe to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast on any podcast subscription service or visit the Buzzsprout link. New episodes are usually posted on Friday, and then the show itself airs on WCPT 820 AM on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

Be sure to let us know if you have questions or if there are any topics you’d like us to cover on future podcasts.

You can follow us on social at: