---
title: 'Future of Electric Cars vs. Gas Cars in 2026 Real Cost, Maintenance & Ownership Explained'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=X_-unc4RnQU'
video_id: 'X_-unc4RnQU'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 2436
---

# Future of Electric Cars vs. Gas Cars in 2026 Real Cost, Maintenance & Ownership Explained

> Source: [Future of Electric Cars vs. Gas Cars in 2026 Real Cost, Maintenance & Ownership Explained](https://youtube.com/watch?v=X_-unc4RnQU)

## Summary

In this podcast episode, the HalfMile team from Mercedes-Benz Downtown Calgary discusses the real-world differences between electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. They cover reliability, maintenance costs, battery replacement, and the impact of government mandates. The conversation also explores the role of hybrids, the current state of charging infrastructure, and predictions for the future of automotive technology.

### Key Points

- **EV Reliability** [00:54] — EVs have very few issues compared to ICE vehicles; the main concern is the battery, but even that is rare.
- **Maintenance Differences** [01:30] — Tires wear out faster due to weight and torque; brake pads last longer due to regenerative braking; no oil changes needed.
- **Battery Replacement Cost** [02:39] — Replacing an EV battery costs $40,000 to $60,000, similar to an ICE engine replacement.
- **Hybrid Complexity** [05:08] — Hybrids combine the complexity of both systems but offer a good transition for consumers.
- **Government Involvement Criticized** [06:06] — Government mandates and subsidies have distorted the market, leading to overpriced EVs and complacency among manufacturers.
- **Charging Infrastructure Issues** [17:09] — The charging infrastructure is unreliable, with broken chargers, multiple apps, and lack of regulation.
- **New CLA EV Range and Charging** [19:46] — The new CLA EV has over 800 km range and 800-volt charging, making it a game-changer.
- **Future of Gas Cars** [25:10] — Gas cars will likely become weekend toys for enthusiasts, while EVs dominate daily commuting.

## Transcript

Welcome to the HalfMile podcast from
Mercedes-Benz Downtown Calgary. I'm
sitting here with uh Justin Edgar, CoM,
and Chris Mernick, director of fix
operations. You've probably enjoyed a
lot of our drag races and road trip
videos that we've put on our channel.
We've got over a quarter million
subscribers, and we felt that we owed it
to you, the viewer, to know a little bit
more about our opinions, and we wanted
you to share your opinions with us. So,
uh sit tight. We're going to have a bit
of fun and we're going to start with the
most controversial topic right now in
the automotive world, which is electric
vehicles versus ICE.
>> Chris,
>> yep.
>> Probably affects you the most being in
fixed operations because let's just call
it for what it is. How much do EVs break
compared to gas vehicles?
>> They don't break. [laughter]
We've seen very little issues at all
with EVs. Um I guess most people are
most concerned about the battery, right?
The battery. The battery
>> sales side, too.
>> Yeah. Um
and full disclosure, yeah, we've done
one or two batteries. Um I think we all
know that it probably could have been
fixed with a software update that
eventually came out, but there's nothing
going wrong with them. They're actually
really reliable. fraction of of of
moving parts compared to an ICE vehicle,
right?
>> What do you notice with tires and
brakes? Is it dramatically different?
>> So, that's where um the change comes is
the weight and the sheer torque. You
consume tires at an alarming rate,
right? And we all drive them. We know,
you know, you when you're driving it,
you can almost hear the tires coming off
the car. Um, but brakes, I know when I
drive my EV, I'm in uh full regen all
the time. I'm never using the brakes,
right? So, brake pads last a lot longer.
There's no oil change, right? It's it's
um it's a completely different beast,
but yeah, you are going to consume tires
at an alarming rate.
>> Yeah. And one of the most complex
components of a vehicle is the
transmission. It's pretty intricate.
>> Yeah. So, a lack of a transmission and
an EV is probably going to reduce the
complexities radically over an icing.
>> Yeah. Well, all you have is an electric
motors. That's it. Right. Whether you
have uh one in the back, one in the
front, you don't have a transmission,
you don't have to have differentials
anymore, you know? Everything is just so
simple in it.
>> How much would it be to replace the
actual main battery, the the drive
battery of a
>> usually? Yeah, that's a that's a very
frequent question. Um, it can range from
40 to $60,000.
>> And all things being equal, if it was
the equivalent S-Class, E-Class, GLE,
what would that entire engine be to
replace?
>> About the same.
>> Now, obviously, you can just repair,
take components out, replace stuff
within the actual engine. Where are we
at? Cuz I know a lot of people have
heard, a lot of people have read the
cell replacement, cell rejuvenation. I
know Mercedes-Benz has been working on
that. A lot of pilots in Europe. Where
are we at? We can't replace cells yet
yet. Apparently in the US they're
they're training their technicians. But
once you get down to, you know, that
$40,000 battery and we can just go in
there and replace one cell for a
fraction of the price, now we're
talking, right? It's it's very feasible.
Um, not that we've seen the issues with
the batteries in long term yet, but it's
going to be much easier to just get in
there, open the battery up, replace a
cell, put it back together, and put it
back in the car. What does that mean
though for you know yourself where your
paycheck is pretty much dictated by
repairs and everyone else that's in that
world uh and so many people right now
being pushed to go into trades because
it's becoming yeah
>> really hard to find people in trades.
What does that mean for them on the
other side when they go through all the
schooling now?
>> Yeah. Well, they're starting to teach a
lot more of electric in school, right?
You need you need to be qualified to
work on these things, right? We're
dealing with high voltage, right? It's a
big safety issue, but um yeah, it's if
if ice was gone right now and we just
switched right to EV,
uh wouldn't be as much work in the shop.
There wouldn't, right? Um probably
wouldn't need as many guys. We probably
have a lot of just tire changers and
whatnot, but yeah, it's not a lot of
work on these things.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. And I think as they get lighter um
and they develop more technology that
they're going to go through less of
those components like the tires and it's
probably going to push innovation with
tire technology to be even more
resilient.
>> Yeah. I don't the tire technology is not
there yet, right? The most they've done
is, you know, change a little bit of the
compound and put some foam inside to
help with noise because that's something
you don't have noise, right? You have to
always focus on dumbing down all the
noise outside the car. But yeah, tire
technology needs to catch up.
>> Yeah. Yeah,
>> but
thinking about hybrids for example, are
they really a formidable solution?
Because I always think about hybrids
myself and I'm like, okay, well, you
have the complexity of an ICE motor.
>> Mhm.
>> And now you're adding the complexity of
an EV. So, you have double the
complexity. Correct.
>> Yeah. But there's already battery in the
car, right? Whether it be a 12vt or 48
volt. Now, we're just adding a another
high voltage battery in the back. I
think hybrids are a great option. Um you
can um put it in straight EV mode or in
our cars it's really nice. You just turn
it on and it's all auto, right? You get
on the gas and it's in electric mode and
then if you give it a bit more engine
will kick on. I think it's a great
option. Um I think it's a good way for
people to get their feet wet with EVs,
right? Instead of where the government's
trying to shove EV down your throat.
It's, you know, try out a hybrid. You
can get much more range out of it. Um,
you can drive in all electric if you
want or you can just put it in gas.
>> Yeah. And that's that I mean I'm glad
you brought up the government because
that's my biggest frustration with EVs
is that
>> it should be consumerdriven.
>> Yes.
>> And it's being forced upon by
manufacturers. I know Justin, you
studied it quite a bit, but I mean, we
have to like Mercedes-Benz, for example,
has to produce so many electric vehicles
and so many hybrid vehicles to offset
their carbon footprint to be able to
produce the V8s that they do and the
V12s. Correct.
>> Correct. Yeah. I mean, it was almost a
ratio. Uh, fortunately, we've kind of
stepped away from it, but back in the
day, you had the green levy taxes. You
also had the rebates, Dayton, Dayton,
you and I, when we're on the floor. But
when you had the taxes, you had the
rebates. Eventually they just started
realizing that the dollar value isn't as
effective. So they just basically said,
"Look, if we want to create these V12s
back then or the V8s and we had smart
cars, it was almost for every S580 or
back then 550 we had, you got a certain
allocation of smart cars and then we saw
the B-class come in in '05 06 um diesel
technology came to North came back to
the Canadian market. But it was always
about that ratio game of making sure
that we uh had our EPA at a certain
point, made sure that uh obviously the
emissions were there to keep everybody
happy. But there there was some serious
changes we saw in the post to 2020 with
a diesel gate or whatever you call it.
And that didn't necessarily just affect
Mercedes-Benz, but it certainly affected
everybody's, I guess, thought process
when it came to diesel technology and
and gas and going down to four
cylinders electrification and
obviously government's got themselves
involved with it and that's that's their
thing. But we're we're certainly dealing
with it on the sales side, fixed side,
uh the ramifications of it, and just
trying to get the the point across of
ICE, EV, hybrid technology. I mean, you
nailed it. I actually see that hybrid
technology
based on where we're at, maybe in the
prairies, but definitely in Canada. I'm
finding ourselves, my wife, myself, you
go from EV, and I love EV. I'm gas
though. But hybrid's kind of where I'm
finding my friends that were in an EV,
they're leaning towards that because
they see that, hey, if I want to make
that additional stretch, I want to make
that additional drive, I don't have to
sit there and think it through as much.
So, my 80% of my driving, especially
with Mercedes-Benz where we could just
drive in full electric mode,
I find the people that have been or the
people I've been talking to that have
had the EVs, they're actually the ones
that are exploring hybrid more than the
ICE drivers that are considering EV but
going into hybrid. So, it's we're in
that weird bubble right now.
>> Yeah. Uh I think that governments in
general um have probably hindered the
development of EVs
>> 100%. Y
>> uh I feel like their involvement is what
has led EVs to be where they are from
right now. I think incentivizing the
purchase is of EVs I don't think was a
wise choice. Uh and a lot I know a lot
of people find that to be pretty
controversial. But I think incentivizing
people to drive consumer demand for EVs
was not a wise choice because what
ultimately ended up happening with most
manufacturers that it created a sense of
complacency where they weren't forced to
make an EV that was generally affordable
or feasible for people. They were
basically selling the deal. So, you
know, oh wow, you get a $12,000 rebate,
$20,000 rebate, $25,000 rebate just for
buying this EV, but we're going to
charge you $75,000 for this EV. And the
ICE equivalent for that same EV is like
$45,000. So, you know, you're getting
cars that are substandard lowquality
products.
>> Um, and I mean, sure, Tesla's done a lot
for the EV industry, but they're
lowquality product. And they were
charging what they were for the vehicles
because they had the government subsidy,
particularly in the US, to be able to
that enabled them to charge what they
did for their cars. and you were seeing
that it did not hold the same water when
it came to resale, unless of course manu
the government's got involved again and
said, "Well, we're going to incentivize
you for buying a used EV now." Right?
And you're still seeing that in Canada
right now. You're seeing that in BC and
Quebec that they incentivize consumers
for buying used EVs by saving them on
taxation. Um, I think that's wrong. I
think it's genuinely wrong. And I think,
you know, the direction that
Mercedes-Benz is going right now with
the UCLA and the new GB platform with
the EVs, I feel like that should have
been how Mercedes-Benz stepped into the
uh EV market. And I think it was foreign
waters for a lot of people to begin with
that a lot of people just did not
realize um you know that
>> the market was not looking for $200,000
EVs uh you know EQS's and stuff like
that and was not looking for these like
spaceship looking cars just because you
know Elon Musk made the Model S and then
later on made this Model X and people
were all of a sudden into this whole
thing. I don't think that's what the
market was looking for. I think they
were trying to hitch themselves to that
market and also capitalize on some of
these incentives and rebates. And I'm
not guilting Mercedes-Benz with this.
I'm saying that it's every manufacturer
was guilty of the same thing. But, uh,
the new approach with the CLA and the
GB, I think it's going to be a knock it
out of the park success. And it's
already showing its its stripes in other
markets where they've released the
vehicle. There's huge demand, way more
demand for the EV than there is for the
gas variant. Um, because that it just
makes sense. I mean, if if I'm a
customer that doesn't really care much
about driving, that's looking just for
transportation,
um Jason Kamissa said it best, but I
mean, an EV is the best solution just to
get you around from mobility
perspective. Are they fun? No. I
definitely not. And I mean, we're
reminded of that every time we do these
drag races. And
>> when we have to drag race EVs, it's like
>> boring.
>> Yeah. It's like shooting
>> fast but boring.
>> It is. Yeah. It's like shooting like
shooting a movie with a bunch of minds.
Like at the end of the day, it's it's
kind of boring. Like it's a it's one of
those old school silent movies that they
used to have back in the day before they
had audio, right? Where it was black and
white and you had to make out what
people were saying on the screen or it
was written through with captions or you
followed along in a book. That's how
boring they can be. So they're not
really designed for that. But as a
commuter vehicle, they're fantastic. In
the new CLA,
you know where it's going to price out
at in the mid60s for example. Everyone
I'm talking to is crazy to get this
vehicle. I mean, it's got over 800
kilometers of range. It's in prices out
in the mid60s. Um, it's got fantastic
acceleration, wicked tech. It's it's
awesome for that reason. I mean, is it
my first choice of vehicle personally?
No, because I want something that's
going to have a little bit more
emotional involvement, right? I know
Justin has become a big fan of the EV
and I know he's a big he's considering a
UCLA.
>> I've already put my name on one and you
laughed at me. I mean, my favorite car
I've ever owned is my EQS580.
And don't get me wrong, I I've since
switched to a C43, and it's a lot of
fun. There's bang, it farts, it burps,
it does everything you want it to do.
And I mean, it is two totally different
vehicles. You got a
>> You got a much smaller, nimble sport
AMG, and then you got the EQS, which is
obviously chasing the S-Class
demographic. It's
>> heavy.
>> Yeah. I mean, some people would say a
boat, a yacht, whatever. I mean, it's a
big vehicle, but the interior features,
creature comforts, if I'm driving to
Edmonton for hockey, whatever, it's it
is by far and away my most enjoyed
vehicle. Aesthetically, from the
outside, maybe not. Interior-wise, I I
can't find a vehicle that I've ever sat
in that I just genuinely loved as much
as the one I'm in. And I'm I'm super
excited for the CLA. Mhm.
>> When when we were sitting there, we we
looked at the order guide and the thing
came out. I threw it out to Mazin, our
business partners, and said, "I'm going
to get one." And Mazin laughed at me and
I said, "You know what? I'm still going
to get one." I mean,
>> but you you you talked about driving to
Edmonton. So, that's something when
these EVs came out, the charging
network, you know, was it up to
standard? You know, you're So,
Edmonton's three hours away. Yep. you
know. So, what's it like going on a
longer trip with a with the EV?
>> Well, I mean, I don't consider Edmonton
a long trip. Obviously, Masin's done LA,
you've done Vancouver. I've done
Pentictton a number of times, but and
we'll get to those, but driving to
Edmonton, generally speaking, whenever I
go there, it's the dead of winter. I'm
going up for
>> hockey. I'm going up for the kids
school. And
getting up there is never an issue. It's
you. If you're driving three hours to
get there to watch a three-hour game and
then you got to drive three hours back,
unless you're making a night over it,
that's where you got to get creative.
And the the struggles I have is as you
leave the major roadways, whether it be
the TransCanada Highway, number two
highway that turns into the 15, when you
start leaving those major throughways,
you start getting into a little bit more
privatization of those those charging
stations. So speaking to my trip to
Edmonton, you you could stop in Red
Mader. Obviously there's lots of
charging stations there. There's food
are all around. You can do your thing.
But with our vehicles, it's easy to make
it minus 25°.
>> Whatever the conditions are, you can
make it to Edmonton. But
if you want to get those level like
those 50k plus or or 100 kilowatt
charging stations, in many cases, unless
you go to the Electrify Canada, which is
quite a bit off the beaten path, you
don't want to go to the far west side of
Edmonton. if you're going downtown. So,
you make it to downtown, you have to
stop in at one of the dealers, and if
you get there at 7:00 for for a 7:30
game, you don't realize that if that
dealership's closed,
>> so is the access to the charging
station. So then you're sitting there in
a panic going, "Well, I don't want to
just put it on a regular or an 8
kilowatt charging station that everybody
has a level two charger because you're
going to get maybe 15 20% back into it
and you're going to be wandering around
after the game trying to figure out what
to do. So
it's not that our vehicles aren't
capable. It's that once you you leave
those major thoroughways, it's very
difficult to find something that you can
rely on that you know is going to be not
available but readily working and
accessible.
>> That's been my only frustration is when
you when you're traveling and then yeah,
there's there's chargers everywhere, but
now I got to download an app for this
charger. I got to download a different
app for this charger and then you go and
you got to preload it with money and
then you get there and it doesn't work.
And it's it I get why it can be
frustrating for some people. Um having
access to the Tesla charge network now
is awesome, right? Superchargers and
whatnot. But I think that was the
biggest failure was the the actual
charge network out there.
>> Yeah. I that's was my greatest
frustration particularly when we did the
road trip to California. Uh, and it's
amazing how much things have changed
over time, but you know, this isn't like
a anti-government podcast, right? So, I
mean, but I do want to say that I think
that the greatest limiting factor of
people making the decision to buy an EV
has nothing to do with the technology in
the EV, has everything to do with the
infrastructure. And where there's
massive hypocrisy from governments is
the fact that they will push and push
and push the EVs and incentivize the
EVs, but they'll do nothing to regulate
the charging infrastructure.
>> Nothing. They will have no involvement
whatsoever. There is a ProCanada in
Golden that since the day I started
driving an EV has never worked. It's a
200 kowatt charger. It shows up on the
network. It shows up as being available
to to hook up to. It never works. I've
went in and spoken to the people several
times. I've put a complaint into Petra
Canada about it and [clears throat]
nothing. They've never fixed it.
>> And then you're forced to use the
Electrify Canada as you enter Golden. I
mean, it's a 4-hour drive. It's about 3
and a half from Calgary. Where do you go
to the bathroom?
>> You leave you leave at 6:00 in the
morning. You get there at 10:00. The the
restaurant, great restaurant there, but
they don't open till till lunchtime.
>> Yeah.
>> And you're sitting there wondering what
to do.
>> Yeah. Well, and once again, there is no
government force task force that
enforces this. I mean, could you imagine
if gas stations all of a sudden all had
a problem and they couldn't pump gas
anymore
>> or you had to download a different app?
>> Yeah.
>> For every single gas station.
>> But I mean, what would the government
do? I mean, it would put the entire
world in crisis. Like, the entire
country would be in crisis. They would
call, you know, the National Guard to
come in and deal with it, right? But for
EVs, they could care less. There's
nobody to regulate it. And the funny
thing is about this is that a lot of
these charging stations actually
received government subsidy to be
produced.
>> And yet the government doesn't do
anything to regulate or enforce the fact
that they have to be a reliable network
to the people that are out there. Like
literally, they'll leave you stranded.
But at the same time, they're talking
out of both sides of their mouth because
they're telling you, "No, you should buy
an EV and no, you've got to conform to
these standards and you know, hey
manufacturer, you got to produce so many
different EVs so that you can make these
V12s and and V8s and oh, your V8 V12s
and V8s are too loud because, you know,
you're putting out too many decibels for
these EVs." But if you can't charge your
EV, we're not going to do anything about
it. That's your problem.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. I mean, it's completely
backwards. It makes absolutely no sense.
What's cool about it is because the
infrastructure is so unreliable and I
I'll be the first to say that it's so
unreliable, particularly in North
America, it has forced manufacturers to
become much more innovative with driving
range.
>> Mhm.
>> Um the new CLA having an over 800 km
range is mind-blowing. I mean, it's so
much greater than that of a gas
equivalent that we've ever seen in a CLA
250 before.
>> Yeah.
>> Um so you're it's costing you less money
to run it. It's costing less money for
maintenance. Uh, and it's not priced a
whole lot more than a gas CLA. But
they're forced into doing that because
they're trying to overcompensate for
people's insecurities about the
infrastructure. And so they're saying,
well, you don't have to care about the
infrastructure. Our car goes so far,
you're going to plug in at some point. I
mean, how many times are you going to
drive over 800 km in a day? You're not.
>> Well, not not in a single run.
>> No.
>> And I mean, it's not just the fact the
CLA you can get so far. It's how fast
it'll charge as well.
>> Yeah. I mean, that is the one thing
that's seriously lost in in
conversation. It's how fast can you get
back on the road in any of these.
>> Yeah, it has 800 volt technology, right?
>> 800 volt technology. Um, and and that's
not really the only thing, but the new
battery design, it actually has um a
battery that for your primary usage
where it'll charge at a slower rate, um
it's it's a less expensive battery to
produce. And then there's a a secondary
component of the battery that is more
costly to produce, but that's your core
battery that you work off of. So it's
almost like I don't want to call it a
semi-olid state, but it would be similar
to that idea, right? And that's how
they're able to keep the cost down. And
I think that that's going to get to be a
lot more innovative as time goes along.
And my god, like when they figure out
semi-olid state, being able to make it
affordable,
you know, as much as I love gas
vehicles, I can't see a future for them
at that point because you're dealing
with this UCLA
where it's got over 800 km of range um
on where where it is from right now for
today. What's going to happen when it
starts breaking 1,000 km of range and uh
it starts charging in 5 minutes instead
of 8 minutes to put 320 km in like it
does right now? I mean, it's going to
get to the point that,
>> you know, filling up your car, which if
you've owned an EV, becomes an
inconvenience. You have to actually fill
up your car at a gas station, uh, where
you could just plug it in at home or
plug it in at work, that's more
convenient, just like your cell phone.
>> But when you get to the point that
filling that battery takes less time
than filling your fuel tank, it's game
changer.
>> Yeah, big game changer. And it sucks for
guys like myself that really do love gas
vehicles. Um, I do feel like I'd love to
have the fight and put up the fight that
there's going to be a place for gas
vehicles long term. Uh, I think that
we're of a dying breed that is going to,
you know, and a very small part of the
market that still will love and enjoy
the the gas vehicles. Um,
>> well, when they first launched these
EVs, everyone made the the assumption,
the joke, I mean, you and I see it on
the on the showroom floors where it was
you're going to have your your everyday
gas vehicles and the EV will be our
weekender vehicle where they can just
putt around, but it's actually going to
see a total reverse
>> where it's going to be
>> and and that's what I talked about with
the whole hybrid thing is
>> if if I end up going with the current
generation GLC hybrid or the current
generation GLE hybrid,
You can drive in electric mode 75 80
kilometers depending on conditions which
is 95% of our daily commutes. That's all
we would do. You can still charge it at
your destinations. But on those times
when you want to go on a long road trip,
you're just going to drive in gas mode
and use the hybrid technology. But to
what you're saying, we're going to start
seeing people that are going to, I
guess, reluctantly convert buy the EVs.
But hopefully going back to that whole
EPA standard and the ratio, if you have
all these now electric vehicles in
there, now you can really start seeing
the the AMG and you can start seeing all
these brands say, "Okay, let's bring
back the big boys, the big V12s or
whatnot." And that'll be the weekend
cruisers. That'll be the the go out and
have some fun.
>> And I think that that that's an
optimistic approach. And I hope you're
right. I don't think you are.
>> Yeah. Uh I think ultimately what's going
to happen is the threshold is going to
become narrower and what they're going
to say is the regulation in terms of the
amount is going to become a smaller and
smaller percent and we're going to get
to probably be that and once again it's
government involvement. It's starting to
really sound like an anti-government
podcast but it's going to be government
involvement and it's it's going to come
down to the point that they're going to
regulate at some point. could be as soon
as a decade from now. Um where they're
going to say you can't produce any. Like
in order for you to have any vehicle
that burns a drop of gas, you've got to
pay this insane gas guzzler tax to be
able to use that vehicle.
>> I could see that. I could see that. And
there's also more there's like synthetic
fuels that are coming out F1 next year,
right? Moving to synthetic fuels. So
it's going to be interesting to see what
happens on the gas front. Yeah, it's
going to become very similar to um
I guess the processed mainstream food
that's really cheap to produce, like
when you go through a McDonald's
drive-thru, is going to be your EVs. And
the really expensive high-end type of
delicacies that are very expensive to
produce and require a lot of butters and
spices and stuff to to make are going to
be your gas vehicles. And eventually gas
vehicles are going to be exclusive to
people having fun with weekend toys.
>> Um much the same as a jet. If you own a
private jet, it is one of the most
environmentally inefficient
and financially inefficient ways to
travel. It really is if you own a
private jet, but for a lot of people,
they will not give up that private jet.
And we have clients with private jets
and they'll not fly on anything else.
But
it is reserved to people of that level
of affluence and I feel like uh gas
vehicles are going to end up going that
direction and this is a last of an era
and I mean I want to enjoy it for as
much as possible. I mean Justin has
is arguably less of a car guy than I am
and which is why he's jumping into the
CLA. He prefers the CLA electric. He
prefers uh you know the technology and
the newest and the latest and greatest
which is pretty neat. Uh, I'm going the
opposite direction. I'm going to go with
a CLA45S final edition because that is
an exciting, fun, pocket rocket of a car
and cars are only getting bigger because
people are getting bigger and so it's
kind of hard to find something that's
that small. And a CLA 45s today is not
that small by comparison to what cars
were 10, 15 years ago.
>> But they're only going to get bigger.
Like the new CLA electric is bigger than
the current CLA. And uh so you know for
me getting into something that's
lightweight, small, makes some noise,
has some fun is a little bit more
enjoyable on that level makes me feel a
little bit younger for a little bit
longer. And uh and that's probably why I
want to get back into that. I mean, I've
been driving this EQS AMG now uh for
almost a couple years and
I am really struggling to love it today,
you know. Um, so
>> I love my
>> I just love it.
>> Yeah. See, and I'm struggling to love
this thing from today. Part of the
reason is it's huge. I don't like the
size. Um, you know, I I do like large
cars from time to time for a bit of a
drive, but on the day-to-day commute, I
don't like feeling like I'm driving an
18-wheeler through a parking lot and uh
looking for a parking stall that fits
that car when I it's usually just me in
the car. So, I like small cars. Um, the
second thing though is I find the whole
performance EVs thing to be a bit of an
oxymor. You know, it's it's it's kind of
a struggle to have these vehicles that
pipe in this fake sound and give you
this fake experience to tell you that
you're driving something that's really
high performance and
>> is going to be engaging. I think Hyende
did a fantastic job with the Ionic N.
Um,
>> very cool. really really cool.
>> It has all the shifts and the revs and
everything.
>> Well, and that's funny you brought up
the shifts because I think that's the
biggest thing that's lacking with an EV
is is the lack of a transmission.
>> And apparently AMG does have some really
cool technology that's coming out in the
CLA
electric AMG version, right? It's going
to be like that, but it's their own
patent and everything and it's supposed
to have your own shift patterns and
everything. So, that could be really
exciting.
>> Well, in the absence of noise
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> And the absence of the shifting, the
kids get car sick so fast. And I mean,
it's wild because again, I've been
driving the C43 now for a couple months
and when I'm driving them around, it's
just back to normal. But then when they
jump in our EQS that we still have,
they're instantly not used to the fact
that it's silent.
>> Yeah.
>> Obviously, you have the you have to put
the noise in to help out, but the lack
of shift and the the instant performance
that you get, it throws them off. And I
mean, for me, I love the EV only because
I'm lazy, admittedly. Like, it's it's
not I'm not doing it to to save anyone
or to save the environment. Shame on me.
It's I'm just lazy. And the fact that I
could charge it overnight and I can get
in the car and go. I mean, that's
probably the the worst way to look at an
EV, but that's just the truth. I mean,
that's that's the only reason.
>> I think that's the best part of an EV.
That's what I love the most. you plug it
in and then every morning you have a
full tank of gas.
>> But that's not the design of it. That's
not They're not sitting there saying,
"How can we make it more convenient for
our buyers?" It's it's supposed to be
mutually beneficial. But selfishly, I
just do it because that's how I want to
go. That's I do it for me. And
>> it's nice not having to go to a gas
station.
>> Yeah. I mean, that was the benefit when
we did the road trip to California. Um,
one of the greatest strengths was when
you stay at a hotel, which we planned
all of our stays to be at hotels that
had EV chargers, is that I'm an early
riser. I'd have the car packed ready to
go. The kids would wake up, feed them
breakfast, and we our first stop is not
for over 3 hours, which was really great
about driving the EV on that road trip.
Um, also, you always had something to do
when we were stopped, right? Because the
kids always want to get out. you know,
the dog wanted to go do its business and
so you could fill that time while you
were waiting for it to charge. Um, so
there there there was benefits to it and
yeah, there is a component to to an EV
that does deliver some convenience, but
for the most part, given the
infrastructure from a road trip
perspective, it is more inconvenient
than it is convenient, right? And I
mean, you went on your own in the G
Wagon in the G580 and you weren't
traveling with a family. So,
>> no, it was just me, cameraman, um,
Calgary to Vancouver, and we use the
Tesla network, right? Superchargers. It
was easy. It was easy.
>> You almost didn't make it.
>> Uh, well, that's Yeah, that's not the
car's fault. Um, that was uh some uh
construction on the road where we had to
take a detour. I thought it was a great
video, but um that Tesla charger with
that G Wagon, you know, there was I
remember we pulled into Hope with like
4% battery and we're like we're going to
miss our flight and that thing was
charging up to I think 190 kW. Um and
you know, we go in, we uh went to the
bathroom real quick and then next thing
you know, you come out and we had like
40% battery. We're like, let's get on
the road. Let's go. It was it was uh it
was impressive. It was a good road trip.
Um,
>> but you know what when you're talking
about this and what you experienced on
your road trip per se, what you didn't
experience uh that I also did not
experience on the road trip to LA, but
that did change later on. I'll get to
that in a second, is showing up to a
charger where they're full
>> and you have nowhere to plug in and
you're waiting for somebody to get off
that charger to get in, which is also
adding to further inconvenience. And so,
um, when we did the road trip to LA, we
were very fortunate that I never ran
into that scenario. And that was in 2023
when there was a lot less EVs on the
road. And the emergence of EVs was
starting to take place at that point.
And so, we we um we didn't really ever
pull up and have that situation. I the
very next year we were back in LA. We
flew in and at LAX they had a really
really cool I can't remember what EV it
was but it had just come out and I said,
"Oh yeah, I'll take that as an upgrade."
And the guy at the rental counter goes,
"Man, you you don't want a EV."
What do you mean you don't want a EV?
Goes, "Oh, like you know how bad the
wait times are here for the EVs? Like
you're gonna be waiting to charge that
car every single day? Like it's so
busy."
>> [snorts]
>> they had had so many EVs and so much
success with the sale of EVs in that
window of time, you know, in that one
year that had lapsed that there was way
too many EVs on the road than there was
chargers. And so
if you don't have home charging in that
scenario, it was a major inconvenience.
And I was very grateful that that guy
gave me that sound advice cuz
>> right by my in-laws place, I went by
those same chargers that we used to use
when we were charging the EQS during
those times. And there was a lineup onto
the street every single day. And you
know, that's that's the big thing. In
order for EVs to really progress to the
level of where ICE is going to end up
being, which I think is going to happen
fairly quickly cuz the candles burning
at both ends, they're going to have to
get to that. Um, you know,
>> well, the irony of all this is when we
first started this project and you guys
had the vision for all this, our first
video the three of us did was the
S-Class versus the EQS versus the S
hybrid.
>> And I rocked the S hybrid. You had the
EQS.
>> Had the gas.
>> You had the gas. and to to watch not not
your despise or hatred, but to to see
how you've evolved back to being your
true car self and how much you missed
the ice and you were selling us so hard
on your your EQS. And ironically, you
you put me into an EQS 2 years ago. I
end up falling in love with the car. But
I mean, I
there's there's no secret our next
family car is going to be either that
GLE hybrid or the GLC hybrid until the
allnew GLC electric comes out. And
again, selfishly, I'll be in that CLA.
It's just it's funny that how we started
this almost 3 years ago was you were
actually showcasing the EQS. I stuck to
the the hybrid and you were in the ice,
Chris. So, it's it's neat that 3 years
later to see how you feel about it and
and and true life situations. It's a
very neat situation you put yourself in.
>> Yeah. I I think I think you know I have
a lot of respect and appreciation for
EVs and I and I think that there's no
doubt in my mind no matter how much I
want to fight it that they will take
over because as much as I may like gas
vehicles today the next generation could
care less. Right. Yeah. I mean my eldest
daughter 11 years old taught her how to
drive a manual transmission. She's
excited about it. She's miss anti-EV
loves the sound of the exhaust
everything else. My second child could
care less. She would rather be
chauffeurred if she could be right. And
that's really the
>> self-driving car.
>> Self-driving, you know. And I mean that
that's the next generation. The reality
is is that they are desensitized in
general to what's what's going on that's
out there is this next generation could
could care less for the
>> I joked with my son that when he turns
16 in a couple months he's going to get
an EV and he was pissed.
>> Yeah. He wants a gas car.
>> Yeah, but that's he's he's not the norm.
The norm is is they want to have uh
>> they care more about the tech and uh
it's like a phone inside, right?
>> Well, and the amount of kids that are
being pushed all the time and friends of
mine that their kids are now getting
their driver old enough to have their
driver's license that they don't want to
go get it. They don't they don't want to
get their driver's license. they'd
rather just take the bus or if they have
the one friend that drives or they take
an Uber, to them a car is an
inconvenience, right? So, it's it's it's
it's a lack of of having an interest to
begin with. And um you look at what's
happening in places like Japan, for
example, right? They're they're
struggling for, you know, those
teenagers to actually have sexual
relations with one another. It's true.
It's an actual known fact. Like,
>> how do we get to that? But it's true
because they're more sensit they're so
desensitized at this point that they're
more stimulated by video games and
virtual and things along that line. And
they say that that does foretell the
future of what's going on out there. And
it's the same thing with auto with these
cars at the end of the day like they
don't care about having the feeling of a
transmission or the sound or whatever it
is. They just want to get there.
>> Mhm.
>> Right. And um you know, I mean, not to
keep going down the sexual path of
things, but that's my struggle with the
EVs in general, especially when we run
them at the dragstrip. Having a lack of
transmission is is a is a real problem
for me. Like I don't like that feeling
of not having a transmission overall. Um
>> so you've lost your complete sex drive
with two EQs in your car.
>> Yeah. Well, complete. You know what it
is? It's I was thinking about it the
other day. I was like, man, you know,
when you punch this this EV and you go
full out, it just gets to this point
where it just has this like power peak
and it just stays there and you're just
perpetually ex accelerating with no
additional feeling or sound and it's
just the numbers are going up.
>> I mean, you have 700 plus horsepower,
but none of us feel bad for you right
now. No, no, but it's not it's not it's
not enough to give you the feeling
overall like you need that sense of
satisfaction, that sense of completion
that's you know coming to the next, you
know,
>> gear,
>> arriving to the next gear, getting to
the next one above that, kicking down a
transmission. You want that feeling. You
want those pops and bangs.
>> And for me, maybe it's a bit of
nostalgia. You know, I can be I love old
cars, too. So, for me, I'm still hung up
on to that. But there's no denying the
fact that, you know, EVs are going to
end up taking over because ultimately in
the Dave, nobody cares enough about it,
right? So, you know, Justin's a huge
watch guy. You love the intricacies of a
fancy watch, but most people just want
to tell time.
>> Most expensive part of a watch is its
movement.
>> Yeah, it's true. And just like for us, I
might be I might be a big car guy,
right? But I'm not a watch geek. And
that's why I have a smartwatch. And
that's why you have a smartwatch because
we don't want to just tell time. We want
to know what our heart rate's at and
who's sending a text message and an
email.
>> So, you like the moving parts of a gas
vehicle.
>> I like the simplicity of the EV. You
like the simplicity of a smartwatch. I
like the moving parts. And you're the
technician.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I I I could go with an EV as a
daily. It's a great daily car like you
were saying, right? But then on the
weekend, have a nice gas gas motor,
something to rip around in.
>> Yeah, I think you're making a very valid
point. When you're stuck in traffic,
>> you'd rather just have your back
massaged, not hear a thing, listen to us
on a podcast, for example.
>> But you don't care about the downshift.
You don't care if you've got 500, 700,
200 horsepower. You just want to be warm
on that cold morning getting to work and
comfortable.
>> And then on the weekend, have something
fun.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean that's I think that's
where it's going to end up going. Um you
know we should talk about maybe on the
next time we'll have a conversation
about how much EVs have have had a
positive influence on performance and
>> e performance
>> e performance in particular. That's
maybe a whole another topic that we need
to uh to address at some point. But uh
you know the C63 for example, Ferrari
296
things you know they got really shot
down to begin with because of the
anti-Eness overall. But we need to talk
about how awesome of a vehicle that they
are.
>> Well the 53s you've been driving on the
track 53 performance
>> of the future what's coming out next
with AMG. It's it's incredible.
>> Yeah that's the next topic that we need
to talk about. Well we need the viewers
to tell us what we want to talk about.
What do they want to hear? So, I'm
looking forward to reading the comments.
Make sure that you comment below. Let us
know what you want us to discuss in the
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