Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 91: F-150 Lightning Overview, So Long VW Passat

F-150 Lightning Overview

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

Episode: 91

Broadcast date: July 25, 2021

Guest: Brian Bell

F-150 Lightning Overview, So Long VW Passat

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing  the impending discontinuation of the Volkswagen Passat midsize sedan, as well as VW’s other product initiatives. Brian Bell, Marketing Manager for the Ford F-150, joins us to talk about the revolutionary new F-150 Lightning pure-electric pickup truck . Tom has a “which vehicle sold better?” quiz for Damon and Jill, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including our Consumer Guide test-drive review of the 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392.

The Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast is broadcast every Sunday on Chicago’s WCPT AM 820 at 1:00 PM CST.

Discussed this week:

Test Drive: 2020 Volkswagen Passat 2.0T SEL

Test Drive: 2021 Volkswagen ID.4

Quick Spin: 2021 Volkswagen Arteon SEL R-Line

Test Drive: 2020 Volkswagen Golf TSI

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 82: EV Smartphone Apps, 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning

Five Things That Make the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning a Great Work Truck

Test Drive: 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392

Einspritzung Madness! A Gallery of Classic Car Ads Featuring Fuel Injection

For GREAT deals on a new or used Chevy truck check out Sierra Truck Center TODAY!

What is the Lordstown Endurance?

Lordstown Endurance

Lordstown Endurance

The Lordstown Endurance is a battery-electric pickup truck developed by Ohio-based electric-vehicle startup Lordstown Motors. Yet to see regular production, the Endurance is unique among electric vehicles in that it is designed to use hub motors instead of axle- or transmission-mounted motors, thus eliminating the need for a transmission, traditional axles, or half shafts.

More electric-car news and reviews

What is the Lordstown Endurance?

The Endurance is planned to be offered only as a 5-passenger crew cab, and, at least initially, only with all-wheel drive. Per Lordstown, the four hub motors combine to deliver 600 horsepower. The Endurance is equipped with what is estimated by outside sources as a 109-kWh battery, which provides a Lordstown-claimed driving range of 250 miles. The pickup is rated to tow 7500 pounds, and prices are planned to start at $52,500.

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 82: EV Smartphone Apps, 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning

Lordstown Endurance, Hub Motors, What is the Lordstown Endurance?

Like many EV startup companies, including Tesla, Lordstown is opting to sell vehicles directly to consumers, sidestepping the traditional franchise dealer system employed by mainstream manufacturers.

Production of the Endurance has been delayed twice as of this writing. The first trucks were scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2021, but Lordstown has recently said that timeframe will not be met, and a new target date for delivery has not yet been set. The company also recently announced that it would need to raise additional cash before it is able to deliver production examples of the Endurance.

Lordstown Motors’ success had been predicated in part by the ability of another EV startup company, Workhorse, to secure a U.S. Postal Service contract to supply electric mail-delivery trucks. Workhorse had contracted with Lordstown to manufacture the mail trucks it had designed, but those plans fell through when the USPS opted to contract with OshKosh Defense instead of Workhorse to manufacture a new-generation postal delivery vehicle.

Lordstown Motors and Workhorse have an interesting history. Lordstown was created in 2018, largely by the ownership of Workhorse, for the sole purpose of acquiring General Motors’ idle Lordstown, Ohio, assembly facility. The purchase of that plant was financed in part by General Motors, which also took a minor equity stake in the project. At one time, the same man—Steve Burns—was the CEO of both Workhorse and Lordstown.

First Spin: 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4xe

Lordstown Endurance

Lordstown Endurance

Even if Workhorse had been granted the USPS contract, Lordstown would have been left with considerable surplus manufacturing capacity, with which it had planned to build its own vehicles, beginning with the Endurance.

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Lordstown Endurance Gallery

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What is the Lordstown Endurance?

Mail-Truck Mainstay: What Was The Grumman LLV?

What is the Lordstown Endurance?

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Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 36: Cars of 1940, 2021 Ford F-150

Cars of 1940

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

Episode: 36

Broadcast date: July 5, 2020

Guest: John Biel

Cars of 1940, 2021 Ford F-150

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing Ford’s recent unveiling of the redesigned 2021 F-150 pickup and the truck’s many new features. Next, we talk about our test-drive experiences with the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the August 2020 issue, including an overview of the cars of 1940 and a retrospective on the 1978-80 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on unusual vehicle co-branding tie-ins, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a first-look article on the 2021 Kia K5 midsize sedan.

The Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast is broadcast every Sunday on Chicago’s WCPT AM 820 at 1:00 PM CST.

Discussed this week:

First Look: 2021 Ford F-150

2021 F-150 PowerBoost Details

2021 F-150 Trim Levels in Photos

First Look: 2021 Kia K5

Quick Spin: 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 AT4

Forgotten Concept: Lincoln Sentinel

Subscribe to Collectible Automobile Magazine

More Consumer Guide Test Drives

Follow the crew:

The CG Daily Drive Blog

Car Stuff Facebook Page

Consumer Guide on Twitter

Tom on Twitter

Damon on Twitter

Jill on Twitter

John Biel on Twitter

Drive, She Said (Jill’s blog)

Tom on the radio:

Tom on the Nick Digilio Show

Tom on Green Sense Radio

Tom on the Stan Milam Show

Cars of 1940

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 31: Becoming a Mechanic, 2020 Jeep Compass Trailhawk

Becoming a mechanic

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

Episode: 31

Broadcast date: June 1, 2020

Guest: Ian Hardie

Becoming a Mechanic, 2020 Jeep Compass Trailhawk

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start the show by discussing the 2020 Nissan Frontier compact pickup–in particular, Nissan’s strategy of putting an all-new V6 engine the current-generation Frontier in advance of introducing the all-new Frontier in the near future. Next, we talk about our test-drive experiences with the 2020 Jeep Compass Trailhawk compact SUV. Ian Hardie, Senior Campus Employment Services Director for Universal Technical Institute in Lisle, IL, calls in to talk about the state of the automotive/diesel service and repair industry, and how UTI trains the technicians of tomorrow. Damon turns the tables with a “reused model names” quiz for Tom and Jill to wrap up the show.

The Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast is broadcast every Sunday on Chicago’s WCPT AM 820 at 1:00 PM CST. It is available as a podcast shortly thereafter.

Consumer Guide Publisher Tom Appel on the Nick Digilio Show

Tom on Green Sense Radio

Discussed this week:

Consumer Guide Best Buys

Test Drive: 2020 Jeep Compass Trailhawk

Universal Technical Institute

More Consumer Guide quizzes

More Consumer Guide Test Drives

Follow the crew:

The CG Daily Drive Blog

Car Stuff Facebook Page

Consumer Guide on Twitter

Tom on Twitter

Damon on Twitter

Jill on Twitter

Drive, She Said

Becoming a Mechanic