Motor Mouth with David Booth

This week David Booth tackles some electric vehicle content, beginning with Motor Mouth channeling his inner Marshall McLuhan to explain that the problem with public skepticism about EVs isn’t so much the medium but the messaging. Then we’ll switch gears, or at least powertrains, to find out why David has big praise, and high hopes, for the latest and coming-soon wave of plug-in hybrid models. PHEVs have been making headlines recently, with General Motors announcing they are getting back into the PHEV business, and other automakers doubling down on their efforts to bring all-new Plug-in hybrids to market. Possibly at the cost of new EVs. And finally David will report on a recent trip to Southern California where he became one of the first automotive journalist in the world to drive the all-new Porsche Tie-con. And just as with his experience with the first-gen high-performance all electric sport sedan, he came away very impressed, particularly with some interesting advances in battery pre-conditioning temperatures.

We’re just a couple of weeks into 2024, so David Booth offers up some bold predictions for the year ahead on the hottest and most polarizing topic in automotive now and into the foreseeable future: electric vehicles. He glimpses into this crystal ball to opine if Chinese EVs will show up in Canada this year, if we’ll see a sub-$30k all-electric in the next 12 months, what a Donald Trump presidential win might mean for Canada’s burgeoning battery manufacturing industry, and what emerging battery technologies will make the greatest leap in 2024. And it wouldn’t be a Motor Mouth prediction list without a word or two about Tesla, in this case if the much-hyped and polarizing Cybertruck will be a success story over the next 12 months.

If you caught last week’s Driving to the Future panel, you’ll know there is much uncertainty surrounding Canada’s self-imposed 2035 deadline that mandates the discontinuation of new gasoline vehicles for sale. Other countries are following suit, but the hurdles to get there are numerous and, according to some panelists, insurmountable by that date. David Booth was part of the panel, and following the discussion decided to come up with his own version of the legislation: call it the Motor Mouth Mandate. He offered up his plan in a column last week that was crafted as an open letter to federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who if the polls are to be believed, could very well have this issue come across his desk at 24 Sussex Drive.

The Tokyo Motor Show was running on fumes before the pandemic shut it down for a few years, but it returned last month, renamed and reinvigorated. David Booth attended the Japan Mobility Show and on this week’s Motor Mouth podcast he reports on what he saw, what he learned and what all of that bodes for Japan’s automotive industry and the vehicles Canadians can expect to see in the coming years. In particular, Toyota made quite a few headlines, including the reveal of several all-electric concepts — some of which David says look production ready. Our man in Japan also did a deep dive with Toyota engineers on some fascinating hydrogen powertrain systems they are working on, and also experienced a bona fide manual six-speed electric vehicle transmission that he says could fool long-time petrolheads.

The evolving electric vehicle landscape is shaping up to be a heavyweight battle pitting good old U.S. ingenuity versus Chinese low-cost battery and vehicle production. In this episode of the Motor Mouth podcast, David makes the argument that if countries stick to the 100 per cent EV mandate of 2035 many have adopted, many of the traditional automakers — think Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors — will find it difficult to survive in a segment dominated by inexpensive EVs from Telsa and Chinese manufacturer BYD. Don’t miss this wide-ranging discussion that includes David’s hot takes on how protectionism, tariffs and union wages will inform the EV segment in the next decade.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth looks back on his past few columns, the first of which reported on an amazing technical breakthrough that if true, would alter the trajectory of electric vehicles. As David suspected, it turned out to not be true. Well, sort of. Next David recalls his recent interview with Croatian genius Mate Rimac, and his subsequent stomach-turning track drive in Rimac’s remarkable Nevera hypercar. And finally David chronicles the latest misstep of Elon Musk, and why its unlikely to stick to the Teflon CEO.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth goes back to his riding roots, which started in a small northern Quebec community aboard a Honda CT70. He also talks about his favourite motorcycles he’s owned, his dream bikes and his early days of being a motorcycle reviewer (which preceded his automotive journalism career). He also touches upon some of the two-wheelers coming out in 2024 that have got his motor running, and gives his opinion on the emerging electric motorcycle segment. That segues into a discussion about the prospect of hydrogen-powered bikes, and he wraps up by discussing the next generation of motorcyclists.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth expands on his recent column detailing the fallout from Stellantis stopping work on its Windsor battery factory until the federal government matches the multi-billion-dollar deal they recently struck with Volkswagen for a plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. He also predicts, somewhat ominously, that the protectionist bent of governments at all levels is setting the North American automotive industry for a near collapse reminiscent of the late-Seventies.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth extols the virtues of hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel to power heavy duty trucks and passengers vehicles. And he expands on his most recent Motor Mouth column, which highlighted the challenge for fire departments in putting out electric vehicle fires, and some ingenious solutions that are being explored.

Host David Booth is joined by a distinguished panel to discuss traffic congestion and some of the ways it could be improved. Guests are Baher Abdulhai, an engineering professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, CAA’s senior director of public affairs, Kristine D’Arbelles, SNC-Lavalin Canadian VP & Practice Lead for Civil Engineering Services Sabrina Martineau and Omar Choudhry, Transportation System Management Project Lead at City of Ottawa.

In news that severely rankled environmentalists, the E.U. voted to extend the life of internal-combustion engines past Europe’s much-ballyhooed 2035 deadline on the sale of fossil-fueled cars. Closer to home, power providers are warning that the surfeit of clean, green electricity we Canadians take for granted will be severely challenged by our rush to electric cars. Host David Booth discusses the issue with Stephen Beatty of Toyota Canada Inc., Francis Bradley of Electricity Canada, Daniel Breton of Electric Mobility Canada and Karl Dums of Politics & Governmental Affairs, Porsche AG.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth dives deep into hydrogen power and man-made fuels, and argues that without them, the planet’s pathway to zero-emission motoring will take decades longer to achieve.

In this week’s Motor Mouth podcast David Booth chronicles the many, and increasing, missteps the eccentric billionaire has made recently and how this trend could see the demise of the incredible electric vehicle company Elon Musk has built.

You’ve read his Motor Mouth column for years and now David Booth is bringing his sharp intellect, vast experience and pull-no punches criticisms to the podcast world. In this first episode of the Motor Mouth podcast David delves into Canada’s just announced Zero Emission Vehicle mandate. Not surprisingly, he’s not impressed.