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Ford Mustang Bullitt, Cadillac ATS-V and profitable car companies | Autoblog Podcast #559

On this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale and Contributing Editor James Riswick. They talk about being behind the wheel of the 2018 Cadillac ATS-V, 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt and 2018 Nissan Kicks. They also discuss the week's news such as Tesla and Ford both having profitable quarters, better than people were expecting. Not only that, but they talk about how the Camaro may be changing in the near future, plus the potential of Jaguar electric cars. The podcast then finishes with a Spend My Money segment in which we Autoblog editors help a reader choose a car to buy.Autoblog Podcast #559 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt 2018 Cadillac ATS-V 2018 Nissan Kicks Tesla makes a profit Ford makes a profit Chevy has changes in store for the Camaro Electric Jaguars Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: Podcasts Cadillac Chevrolet Ford Jaguar Tesla Coupe Performance cadillac ats-v ford mustang bullitt

Chevy Bolt EV's battery shows big improvements over Spark's

Plug-in vehicle battery technology moves fast, and all you need to do to see this in action is to take a look at the new 60-kWh lithium-ion pack inside the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV. Well, you need to do that and then compare it to the battery packs inside of GM's other plug-in vehicles. And you don't even to go as far back as the EV1 to see progress. Let's start with what we know about the new Bolt's pack. It is supposed to drive the Bolt EV over 200 miles on a full charge. It weighs 960 pounds and is made up of 288 cells. Chevy's other all-electric car, the limited-availability Spark EV, had a 19-kWh pack and offered 82 miles of range. It had 192 cells and weighed 474 pounds. So, in the few years since the Spark EV was released, GM engineers have figured out how to get three times the energy capacity and almost two-and-a-half times more range out of a pack that weighs only about twice as much. And that doesn't even get to the price drops. GM has figured out how to get 3x the energy capacity and almost 2.5 times more range out of a pack that weighs only twice as much. Speaking of those 288 cells, that number might sound familiar to regular readers because that's exactly how many are in the new Chevy Volt. But the packs in the Volt and the Bolt are entirely different beasts. For one thing, while the Volt cells are made by LG Chem in Holland, MI, LG Chem will make the Bolt's cells in South Korea. The cell chemistries are also different. We spoke with GM engineer Tim Grewe (again) and while he declined to answer some of our Bolt battery pack questions until more details are unveiled at the SAE World Congress in April, he was able to explain a few things. "The cell inside the Chevy Bolt EV was specifically designed for EV range so it's up on energy," he said. "That's a different cell chemistry than on the extended range Chevy Volt, which is a smaller pack, smaller energy but more power per cell. We work with all of those vehicle requirements and customer demands and we say how do we meet this and we change the chemistry to make it all work." Comparing the 60 kWh in the Bolt and the 18.4-kWh pack in the Volt is really one of those apples to oranges issues, he said. "If you look at the Volt battery pack, how it went from where it was and where it's up to, from 38 miles to 50 miles, that was basic, overall industry improvement. Now, the 18 [kWh] to the 60 [kWh] is extended range vs. EV.

Weekly Recap: Geneva's splendor reflects growing demand for ultra-luxury cars

Geneva is one of the most glittering auto shows in the world, but the list of high-powered and bespoke luxury cars was decadent this year even by the rich standards of the Swiss exhibition. It's great for enthusiasts to revel in the flame-throwing Aston Martin Vulcan, the racing-inspired elegance of the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6 concept and the insane performance of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 Superveloce, but there's a reason for all of this opulence: the luxury market is big business. And it's growing. IHS Automotive forecasts that so-called ultra-premium sales will nearly triple this decade from 123,000 to 353,000 units around the world. The estimate includes brands like Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce, but doesn't count BMW, Mercedes and Audi, which offer less expensive models in addition to their high-end flagships. Though IHS includes Porsche and its relatively large volume in the study, the ultra-premium segment is still set grow at about the same rate, even without the German automaker's figures. So what is propelling all of this growth in the most expensive segment of the auto industry? Put simply, there's more rich people. IHS Automotive principal analyst Tim Urquhart pointed to economic expansion in China, market recovery in the United States and a surge in the lucrative technology sector as contributing factors. This dovetails with a research report by UK-based Oxfam, an international relief organization, which found the world's richest one-percent owned 48 percent of global wealth in 2014, and it's expected to increase to more than 50 percent by 2016. View 17 Photos Carmakers are moving quickly to capitalize with new products, expanding their portfolios with low-volume speedsters like the 800-hp V12 Vulcan at Geneva, and plans to enter new segments, like Rolls-Royce's strategy to make an SUV. "Ultra-premium carmakers are looking to explore ways of growing their product offerings, and thus their bottom lines, in this most potentially profitable of segments," Urquhart wrote in a report on the Geneva show. In a nutshell, there are more choices for people with more money. It's a good time to have expensive taste. Other News & Notes 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata production launches It won't be long now. The 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata arrives later this year, and it's officially in production. Mazda announced this week that the roadster began rolling off the assembly line at its Ujina factory in Hiroshima, Japan.