Mercedes wanted to geek out way, way more than the interviewer allowed her to, so now instead of saying “Here’s a problem EVs have with towing, here are some solutions,” she was only allowed to say “Here’s a problem EVs have with towing.” Drat! Still, what a great experience having our very own Mercedes Streeter REPRESENTING on live TV. And hey, I got to go on there, too. But of course, I forgot my damn dry cleaning tag on my suit jacket.
Johnathan Gustin, who works at ABC12 out of Flint, is a true car geek. He’s one of us. As such, he was interested in chatting with The Autopian here at the Detroit Auto Show. So he put both Mercedes and me IN THE HOT SEAT. Mercedes talked about camping — specifically some of the drawbacks to electrification as it relates to built-out vans or tow-behind trailer campers. What Mercedes wanted to say was… well, let me just let her tell you:
What I wanted to say was that the Grounded G1 is one of the first fully electric camper vans to hit the market. It’s pretty neat with an IKEA-like modular interior, but the Ford E-Transit the van is based on goes just 108 miles on a charge. Stopping every 100 miles on a road trip means taking a very long time to get where you’re going. It also means you have to camp within somewhat close range of a charger. Another thing you can do is tow a traditional travel trailer with an electric pickup truck. However, that presents its own problems. Various range tests have shown that you can expect huge range losses when towing a 6,100 pound camper. Take Car and Driver‘s range testing, for example. Its testers hauled a camper behind a Rivian R1T, a Ford F-150 Lightning, and a GMC Hummer EV. The Ford and the Rivian both saw their ranges cut down to about 100 miles while the Hummer went 140 miles. Likewise, charging gets a bit weird as many charging stations are stalls, not pull-through spaces. So you’ll have to decouple the trailer, charge, then hook back up again.
A potential solution to this is already in development. A number of manufacturers are building fully electric travel trailers with lithium traction batteries and electric motors. For example, Airstream is developing what it calls the eStream, a camper with an 80 kWh battery pack and electric motors. The camper’s motors assist the tow vehicle and thus, eliminate as much range loss as possible. In theory, because the camper can haul itself, a 300-mile EV tow vehicle retains its range. Even cooler is the fact that the trailers also work with ICE vehicles, so your F-150 gasser also doesn’t take much of a range hit. This makes the aforementioned charging stall problem only worse as you now have to charge two EVs at the same time, a but it does get you further down the road. For now, it seems like burning fuel is still the best way to go camping, but maybe one day it won’t be that way.
Click the following link and see what Mercedes was able to say in the rather short interview titled “The Road Ahead For Camping.”
She may not have gotten all her words in, but I’m proud of Mercedes. This is a big moment! Mercedes’ first time on LIVE television. She arrived at that interview prepared; she knew about the van’s platform, its price, its range, and just before being cut off (by a very nice interviewer who, of course, has strict time constraints), was about to let the world know about some of the clever solutions that range-anxious campers might soon have at their disposal. This is just the start, I feel; I’ve always believed that Mercedes needs to be in front of the camera more, as she has an incredibly infectious personality. We’ll make sure that happens.
Anyway, here’s a look at my interview. It was about some of the nerdy EV tech here at the auto show. I specifically talk about how electrification brings pretty much an entirely new vehicle philosophy; suspensions, braking systems, cooling systems, bodies, HVAC systems and on and on — it all changes when you go from an ICE to an EV. The typical person on the street maybe doesn’t realize that a power-source change from gasoline to wall-electricity completely alters the way the vehicle is built, and the Detroit Auto Show — with its copious cutaways and suppliers on site — gives folks a great opportunity to see those alterations. This is a step-change, I say in the video, when it comes to vehicle technology.
It wasn’t particularly insightful for a car nut like you or me, but hey, it was on LIVE TV. With my dry cleaning tag out for everyone to see.
Mercedes is a STAR!!! I can’t wait to see her on camera more and it’s so awesome that you all are so supportive of each other.
Mercedes is such a natural communicator. She gave so much info on the electric transition for RVs/campers in such a clear way, and with such a great flow of discourse. Such a pity she got cut off, thanks for publishing the rest of her point, would’ve been very interesting to see on live tv.
“she was only allowed to say “Here’s a problem EVs have with towing.”” And they wonder why no one trusts msm.
I thought it was great car show interviews and not just a company PR rep spouting off. Congrats go out to ABC Channel 12 too.
Dry cleaning tag? Fancy Kristen is pleased. 🙂
Wow, Mercedes & David are becoming TV stars. We can all say we knew of them back when they were common journalists using the written word. Congrats on excellent interviews.
Great presentation, Mercedes!
Great job, Mercedes! You definitely need some airtime on Autopian TV.
I chuckled when the interviewer asked DT about the cooling system – not sure he had any idea about David’s engineering background at Jeep. Watching him try to rein it in rather than launching into a huge detailed explanation was rather amusing. That’s actually one of the things that any of us who have met DT in the flesh love about him; it’s that his enthusiasm is so infectious and genuine you can’t help but smile and get sucked right into it with him.
Mercedes needs her own segment on autopian TV change.org petition incoming
Seconded!
Hey at least you both knew what to do with your hands 🙂
https://sportsnaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Not-Sure-What-to-do-With-Hands-Talladega-Nights-Ricky-Bobby.gif
Good exposure and well done
This shirt is dry clean only.
Which means… it’s dirty.
You don’t have to be sorry, it’s 3:00 a.m. and you’re a dry a cleaner.
Never mind being on TV…when’s the meetup? At least two of you are here local and no meetup announcement?
TOMORROW MORNING.
This does raise the question; What is the correct pronunciation of Autopian? I have been doing Auto Pean. Auto car pean as in European but really I don’t know.
Don’t worry about the tag most will think it is a TV microphone thing. Except TV people and dry cleaners.
Autopia was/is an old Disney ride, pronounced like Utopia.
So Aw tow pia?
(onom)atopoeian?
So cool! Great job ya’ll 🙂 Moving on up in the car world and making us proud!
Pleasure getting to meet you guys! Mercedes, I should have realized it was you, sorry for that. Hope to see you guys again at the next big car thing!
Great job, Autopians! Eat your heart out, Roy Wort!
Congratulations Mercedes! Awesome
David, I love your content here, but for the general-consumption audience you’ve got to dumb it WAY down. “The rear suspension of this EV truck is totally different” assumes viewers even know what “suspension” is. I mean, I’m sure they have heard the word, but I’d bet half the viewers of this piece couldn’t point it out to you. Even the reporter guy, who referred to “EV vehicles” probably has no clue.
Something like “electric trucks look like gasoline trucks, but they are built differently from the ground up” is enough to drive the point home. Save the engineerish about drive belts and solid axles for us here.
See, I was impressed at how David was able to rapidly adjust his word choice on the fly as he was speaking.
You could tell in his mind, it was all the exact engineering terms; but as he spoke, he was thinking a thought or two ahead and realizing “nobody watching this will know that term” so he took things down a couple of notches as the words came out
As it was, I for one appreciated the compliment that he thought someone like myself just instinctively understood for instance why the motor wants to be parallel to the axle.
Spend 30 seconds on r/Justrolledintotheshop and you’ll see why it’s impossible to underestimate the mechanical intelligence of the motoring public.
Our market is Flint, Saginaw, and Bay City where we have a fair amount of UAW workers, retirees, and car enthusiasts. If any general audience would have an inkling of basic car knowledge, I’d hope it would be ours.
Yeah—this really struck a good line between “enough for the general public to understand” and “interesting technical information.” The camera guy did a good job zooming into the bits DT pointed at, and as John mentioned, this IS the one television market that actually makes these components. Keep in mind that newscasters doing interviews like this also often push back and ask for more info if their experts get too far in the weeds for their audience, too.
tl;dr—I have very little faith in humanity and I still thought this was simple enough for a mass-market audience.
What’s wrong with “EV vehicles”? I’m asking while at the ATM machine eating a French Dip with Au Jus juice.
Here for more Mercedes on the TV. Yes please.
Congratulations, Mercedes and David! I watched the ABC segments and think both of you did really well: your enthusiasm was clearly evident, as was your command of the facts/details.
FWIW I don’t know how many people would have recognized that was a dry cleaning tag on David’s collar, or even would have noticed it at all.
Well lah-dee-fricken-dah! Look at these fancy pants all up on the telly-vision!
Can we say “We knew them when…”?
You guys are going to remember us when you’re famous, right?
David has gone Hollywood flexing his dry clean only clothes on live TV and then ensuring to point it out here. Maybe we need a new Fancy David regular article. What’s next David? Eating shower spaghetti at a table?
Mercedes keeping it real out there for the rest of us.
He hasn’t gone full Fancy Kristen… yet.
David dailys a rust-free, modern BMW, so can a raised pinky finger while drinking tea be far behind?
Still not taking his nuclear submarine to his private island retreat level, but working on it.
Are we absolutely sure he hasn’t already bought a private sub?
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-19/soviet-submarine-docked-next-to-queen-mary-sold-to-anonymous-buyer
A quick description of the condition: “… the ship was covered in rust, grime and peeling paint and infested with raccoons.”
I think we might know who the anonymous buyer was…
A step up to shower linguini or angel hair pasta no doubt.
just had my quarterly *no more fancy Kristen content* existential crisis. so thanks for that 🙁
Dude can afford dry cleaning? That’s way more than most of us can afford, pal.
Maybe he’ll move into shower cacio e pepe.
The hard part is getting the shower installed in the dining room.
What’s next… a colander jacuzzi?
Oh… the casual opulence of lounging half naked and comfortable in your dinner of noodles.
“Some more oil in your tub sire?”
“Yes. But only Trader Joe’s garlic infused olive oil. Now where is my finely grated mizithra and my homegrown cherry tomatoes?!”
“I’m feeling bored, have one of our Vinyl members come fiddle for me.”
“Yes my liege.”
“ Bach – Partita No. 2 in D minor!”
Vinyl member here.
You got it!
*dusts off violin*
*plays Ode To Joy poorly*
And out of tune.
The inexorable expansion of the Autopian Media Empire continues apace.
Time to absorb ABC News into the Autopian Cinematic Universe!
I, for one, welcome my new cat-loving overlords.
What’s the cat situation at ABC?
…we’re going to need photographic proof, of course.
Well, no cats in the building but this is my remote manager Turtle. He’s a rescue and I could never think of a better name. The story goes he was found as a kitten in the middle of the road. A woman stopped her car and went to move what she thought was a turtle and the rest is history.
Awwww. Turtle is great.
That’s wonderful to see, congrats Mercedes! A live newscast is a great opportunity to introduce The Autopian to a new audience!
I believe she’s utopian…but still did a great job promoting the site (maybe b/c of that?!)
I told Kevin about the slip so he corrected it for the 6 pm hit with David. Now I gotta get the web team to update the clips to include The Autopian, not just Autopian in our descriptions. Just like The Ohio State University or The University of Michigan. They may or may not roll their eyes at me.
As a graduate of THE Ohio State University, I totally understand and approve.
What’s that? What’s a “buckeye”? Oh you know, it’s a kind of a nut…
*Akshually* it’s a martini served with a black olive
Sigh, and as a fellow Big 10 graduate people tell me I went to The “State Pen”. No respect, I tell ya!