Episode 163 - 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70, 2023 Ford Raptor, Jonathan Chen from VinFast

The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R is the coolest truck in the Ford stable. This week AOTR Co-Host Chris Teague got the chance to match it up against the toughest tests Maine has to offer, including heavy-duty off-road driving and, toughest of all, a round trip to the home improvement store to get patio bricks and 50-pound bags of mulch. How did the truck do in those difficult circumstances? We’ll tell you in this episode.

While Chris Teague was hauling bricks, Host Jack Nerad was hauling ass in the 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 luxury crossover SUV. An appealing vehicle with some serious performance chops, the battery-electric GV70 won his praise for its 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. With 54 more horsepower and 125 lb-ft more torque than the gasoline-powered GV70, the electric SUV was hard not to like.

That brings us to our special guest this week, an expert on battery-electric SUVs. Jonathan Chen is a senior product expert at VinFast, a Vietnam-based automaker that is just entering the U.S. market. We recently got a chance to drive the VinFast VF8 battery-electric crossover SUV, and we’ll discuss that and VinFast plans for its American launch.

In the news, it is game-on in the midsize truck segment with an all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma getting ready to do battle with an all-new 2024 Ford Ranger, all-new 2024 Chevrolet Colorado, and all-new 2024 GMC Canyon. The confluence of all these new trucks is rarer than sobriety at a frat party. We’ll tell you how they stack up.

A new consumer survey shows that many American car buyers want electric vehicles. But there is one big hangup that prevents many of them from buying one. We’ll tell you what that is and more on the survey in this episode.

BMW might make a production vehicle out of a recent concept car that caused a lot of buzz. We’ll give you details on that. And Stellantis is recalling a lot of vehicles because of a fire risk. More on that too.

In the true crime files automotive edition this week, a French lawyer says he’s about to file criminal charges against a major automaker over faulty engines. And two other big car companies — one based in the U.S. — have just been required to pay major fines for violating fuel economy regulations.