WEBVTT - Autotrader's Best Electric Vehicles for 2021

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. But there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot going on in the world of evs, you know

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<v Speaker 1>that if you listen and watch Bloomberg, especially as major

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<v Speaker 1>automakers are ramping up their offerings, really looking to give

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<v Speaker 1>Tesla some challenges. Just yesterday we heard about Mercedes Benz

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<v Speaker 1>entering a new era with its flagship S class sedan

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<v Speaker 1>going electric. Well, here with the roundup of the best

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<v Speaker 1>electric vehicles, though with some caveats and metrics in mind,

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<v Speaker 1>is Brian Moody, who's executive editor for Auto Trader. He's

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<v Speaker 1>with us on the phone in Atlanta. Brian, how are you.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm good. How are you? I'm doing well? Happy it's Friday,

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<v Speaker 1>to say the least. Um, First of all, tell us

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<v Speaker 1>about the metrics you used to evaluate the evs that

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<v Speaker 1>are out there, because she did come up with kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a top list of evs we did. So. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the things that we included was the car had

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<v Speaker 1>to have a plug and so we didn't include hybrids.

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<v Speaker 1>But we didn't include plug in hybrids, so they're both

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<v Speaker 1>elect trick only and plugged in Happer vehicles. We also

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<v Speaker 1>put the price cap at seventy dollars and we wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to only include cars that would be available within the

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<v Speaker 1>next six months of the public so that it would

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<v Speaker 1>need you know, it would be meaningful to someone who's

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<v Speaker 1>going to buy an electric car. Alright, So notably absent

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<v Speaker 1>is Tesla. Is it that dollar mark that knocks it

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<v Speaker 1>out or what? No, because Tesla actually has a couple

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<v Speaker 1>of cars well under price range. Last year. We do

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<v Speaker 1>this list every year. Last year we had the Model

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<v Speaker 1>three on our list, and it is a fun car

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<v Speaker 1>to drive, but we also like the way it look.

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<v Speaker 1>But one of the reasons we just included this year

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<v Speaker 1>was because of increasing competition for one thing, and a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of us didn't care for that main central screen

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<v Speaker 1>that controls everything. A more traditional screen uh with also

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<v Speaker 1>gauges where you expect them to be, we thought was

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<v Speaker 1>safer and more in line with what people would expect

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<v Speaker 1>from a car. Alright, So it was reviewed, but you

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<v Speaker 1>just you guys just didn't really like it as much. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's a good car. I think if someone was

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<v Speaker 1>looking for an inexpense the electric car, that's fun and

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<v Speaker 1>that's your main criteria. I would say you should be

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<v Speaker 1>looking at cars like the Hyundai Kona, the Ford Mustang

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<v Speaker 1>mach E. And that's in addition to too many others

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<v Speaker 1>that you know. We have a list of ten. You

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<v Speaker 1>can include everything. Let's talk about them, and that's fair

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<v Speaker 1>and what's interesting. When I was looking at your list,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm like, Wow, there's a fair amount of e vs

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<v Speaker 1>out there. So walk us through the list some of

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<v Speaker 1>the standouts based on your analysis. Well, one standout that's

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<v Speaker 1>really telling is the new Chevy Bolt EUV and what

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<v Speaker 1>that is is it's more of a crossover suv type

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<v Speaker 1>version of the Chevy Bolt we already know, So that

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<v Speaker 1>tells you right there, Chevrolet knows something about making money

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<v Speaker 1>and about making cars that people want. Crossover SUVs is

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<v Speaker 1>where this is going. We also like the Twitter rap

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<v Speaker 1>for Prime again same type of thing, the Volvo x

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<v Speaker 1>C forty recharge and all electric small Volvo Suv. And

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<v Speaker 1>then the Ford Mustang mock Eat, which is a Mustang

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<v Speaker 1>in name, but it has more of a h sits

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<v Speaker 1>high up off the ground and has more of a

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<v Speaker 1>crossover suv type of feel. You see, you see a

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<v Speaker 1>theme here. People like SUVs. Yeah, well, listen, right, I

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<v Speaker 1>mean that's the one thing I guess when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to the e V market, right, do I mean, do

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<v Speaker 1>makers manufacturers need they need to be thinking about really

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<v Speaker 1>kind of the cars people want to be driving if

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<v Speaker 1>they're you know, hoping to kind of juice those e

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<v Speaker 1>V purchase numbers. Right, that's exactly right. Now. There are

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<v Speaker 1>plenty that aren't SUV based. For example, the Nissan Leaf

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<v Speaker 1>is an affordable one that we like, um, but when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to cars like say the Hyundai Ionic, those

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<v Speaker 1>aren't SUVs. That's just a regular car. But there's also

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<v Speaker 1>a good number of plug in hybrids. We to put

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of those on the list too, because we

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<v Speaker 1>feel like it bridges the gap between fully electric and

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<v Speaker 1>some concerns people might have and fully gas that has

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<v Speaker 1>its own set of concerns. And one of the best

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<v Speaker 1>of those is the Lincoln Aviator's plug in hybrid that

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<v Speaker 1>goes for electric only, then gas and electric combined to

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<v Speaker 1>get great gas milege. Well, you know, what is it

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<v Speaker 1>that people want right now? What's the consumer demand? Do

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<v Speaker 1>they want the hybrids? Do they want completely electric vehicles?

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<v Speaker 1>What are still their concerns? I do feel like the

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<v Speaker 1>infrastructure still lagging when it comes to supportive the electrical

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<v Speaker 1>vehicle market, right, I don't think that the confidence is there.

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<v Speaker 1>So what people want our trucks and SUVs, and when

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<v Speaker 1>you can give them an electric version of that, and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the important part, convince them that they will

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<v Speaker 1>never be without a way to refuel or recharge, that's

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<v Speaker 1>when it's going to, you know, really make a difference.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of electric trucks coming, but they're just

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<v Speaker 1>not here right now. Well, do you feel like with

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<v Speaker 1>the President's infrastructure plan, and certainly there's allocation for things

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<v Speaker 1>like this in building out the infrastructure for electric vehicles,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to need to have some kind of program

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<v Speaker 1>like that in order for evs to really take off

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<v Speaker 1>in this country. Probably. Yes, Um. But here's the one

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<v Speaker 1>thing that concerns me is that if it was you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the way the market works, the way the economy works,

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<v Speaker 1>is that it's it's market driven, it's demand driven. Competition

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<v Speaker 1>makes great things. Why don't we see gas stations ramping

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<v Speaker 1>up their electric charging stations to make stacks of money?

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know the answer, but the fact that it's

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<v Speaker 1>not happening makes me think that there's something that we

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<v Speaker 1>are we aren't really aware of at this point. That

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<v Speaker 1>cars are good and they can be charged up at home,

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<v Speaker 1>but that's not enough for some people. Well against stations

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<v Speaker 1>in the US, are they franchises or they're owned by

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<v Speaker 1>the big you know, integrated oil companies who are kind

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<v Speaker 1>of working their book there now, right, and many are

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<v Speaker 1>many are franchises, so they would they're probably making more

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<v Speaker 1>money on selling coffee and twinkies than they are selling gas. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's interesting. Hey, when you look ahead to this year,

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<v Speaker 1>I do feel like, all of a sudden, there is

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of momentum. Whether it's Folkswagen, whether it's Mercedes,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it's you know, pick your well known auto manufacturer.

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<v Speaker 1>It does feel like, all of a sudden, everybody's all

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<v Speaker 1>in on E V S. Yeah, and I'll tell you

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<v Speaker 1>something that you just mentioned that I find very encouraging.

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<v Speaker 1>The Volkswagen I D for that you just mentioned is

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<v Speaker 1>a very compiling car, no matter how it's powered. So

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<v Speaker 1>it is an all electric car, that's the only way

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<v Speaker 1>it comes. But it's good looking, it's fun to drive,

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<v Speaker 1>the interior is great. The part that it's electric. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know that younger drivers are going to care that

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<v Speaker 1>much as they get older. They just want something cool.

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<v Speaker 1>That new Volkswagon is just cool, no matter what interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>I know my daughter likes Volkswagons and checking that out. Hey, Brian,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you so much. Have a really wonderful weekend. Brian Moody,

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<v Speaker 1>he's executive editor at Auto Trader, jutting us on the

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<v Speaker 1>phone from Atlanta talking about their list of the best

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<v Speaker 1>electric vehicles one. I can also find it if you

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<v Speaker 1>go online and check them out on Twitter at Auto Trader, Underscore, Calm,