AutoComplete: Mazda debuts its first-ever EV in Tokyo
Cars
Welcome to Road Shows Auto Complete, your weekly round of the biggest news in the automotive world this week, we've got news on Ballinger's electric SUV pricing, Nissan's plan for its sports cars and how the Honda E not coming to the U.S. is our own fault.
But first, let's start with the Tesla Roadster.
Tesla Design Boss Friends on Holts Howson was a guest on a recent episode of the Ride the Lightning podcast.
Best podcast name ever by the way, and when he was there he took up the role of being the forthcoming rebooted Tesla Roadsters number one hype man.
Specifically, he claimed that the new roadster would be better in every way than the recent prototypes of the brand new showed off.
On hold sizing wasn't especially specific about how exactly the engineers are going to pull off that improved performance given Tesla's history of making wildly bold claims and then not totally always delivering on time, we're gonna have to wait and see.
Seeing a late model Mercedes Benz E Class waggon in the wild is a bit like seeing some kind of rare bird sitting on a fence post.
It's thrilling and it doesn't really happen all that often for the most of us.
Unfortunately, you're not gonna wanna follow too close to one to appreciate it, because [UNKNOWN] has just issued a recall for 2017-2019 model year wagons over concerns that they're spoilers were improperly attached at the factory in Germany.
And that they can fly off without warning.
If anything, this is just proof that not even the hallowed halls of Sindelfingen are immune to the odd manufacturing mishap.
So apparently a bunch of crazy people were buying Tesla's keeping them for a few weeks then returning them and ordering them in a different color.
Wild right?
Well, I guess it was enough of an issue that the big T has had to change its return and exchange policy in order to curb the behavior.
Now if you order a car and decide need to return it, you're going to have to wait 12 months.
Before ordering the same car in the same spec.
Also in the chopping block is Tesla's $1,000 refundable customer deposit policy.
Now the deposit amount has been slashed to just 100 bucks, but it's non refundable.
That makes a lot of sense to us because dealing with refunds both sucks and is totally time intensive in any industry and Tesla gotta save money where it can.
[MUSIC]
We've been spending a fair amount of time lamenting the fact that Honda wasn't planning on bringing in delightful looking e-electric city car to the US.
I mean, it's small, cute, reel wheel drive.
And I'm already wanting it so badly that it's giving me a nose bleed.
Small electric car.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go somewhere in sulk.
Lots of people know that Aston Martin.
I mean, the fact that it still exists and that it makes cool cars probably helps with that, but a lot fewer Fewer people are aware brief superior these days.
For that latter group of people brief superior was a British brand that made the world's fastest motorcycles and the very early part of the 20th century.
And there I wateringly valuable today.
A few people have tried to resurrect the brand over the years but the most successful attempt has really only occurred in the last couple of years.
But now that has a couple of models under its belt roof is getting bold.
Speaking of absurd amounts of money, electric off road, truck and SUV startup Ballinger has released pricing for its two models set to enter production in 2020.
And holy hell is it asking a lot of Each of them.
How much?
Try 125 grand to start.
Now, keep in my that while they may have cool operating features like portal access, the Bollinger vehicles, while admittedly ruggedly cool are basically big boxes in terms of styling and appointments, and will likely be less than daily driveable for most people.
For comparison sake.
Up until this point, those cars have all been powered by internal combustion engines.
But in Tokyo this week, the brand unveiled its adorable mX 30 Electric crossover.
Now, we don't know too much about it at this point, but we do know that it's got a 35.5 kilowatt hour battery pack.
And freaking suicide doors.
That's a feature that we haven't seen on a Mazda since the RX-8.
And speaking of RX models, the MX-30 will also be sold with an available rotary power range extender.
The MX-30 is supposed to go on sale in Japan in the middle of 2020.
But the company assures us that it's also destined for US and European markets, we really can't wait to give this one ago.
It's that time of year once again when Tesla offers a peek inside of its business and we get an idea Financially speaking anyway, of how the company is doing.
It's also a time when Tesla typically trots out cool stuff that it's had in the works.
This week's earnings call letter word, no exception.
The biggest news is that the big T has managed once again to turn a profit.
Sure it's only 143 million bucks and it's not totally clear how much of that actually comes from selling cars.
At least $30 million of it came as a contingency for bringing smart seminar online, but it still bodes well.
Also so cool is that Tesla's model Y is now slated to enter production at the companies factory in Fremont some six months ahead of schedule.
[UNKNOWN] next summer instead of the end of 2020.
When it comes to having an old product line Nissan is guiltier than most manufacturers.
This is especially true of the more sporty models in its line up The current generation of Z car for example debuted in 2008 while the GT-R managed to blow everyone away when it came out in 2007.
If we did nominate a brand's sports cars for a clear AI style makeover, it would definitely be Nissan.
But that looks like it might not come to that.
Nissan's product planning boss was quoted as saying that these cars are the heart of Nissan.
Please save your pacemaker defibrillator guys and that the brand was actively working on them.
Now, does that mean that we're gonna see a 400 ZE or an RF 36 GT-R in the next year or so?
Probably not.
But at least it's light at the end of the tunnel.
Still, we're lobbying hard for Nissan to build the damned IDX and IDX and is mo already That's it for Auto Complete this week.
Don't forget to subscribe the hit the bell icon.
Stay notified of all new videos on Road Show and we will see you again next week.
