Category: Auto

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Why are EVs piling up at dealerships?

Up until recently, EV buyers had to wait months for new inventory to arrive. Now, it’s the other way around. What happened?

Sure, supply finally catching up is a factor – but the main culprit is a sudden dropoff in buyers. EV adoption by state seems to hit a wall at around 8%, which tells us that early adopters have already bought their EVs – and everyone else has cold feet.

As much as I’m cheering for EVs, I can understand the hesitation. After all, charging is still a challenge and hybrid cars are SO good now that they’re hard to ignore.

– Chris Butsch, Contributor

Posted on by — Leave a comment

2023 World Series champs make history

While Arizona baseball fans were likely disappointed their home team did not win the 119th World Series, history was nonetheless made in Phoenix on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

After splitting a pair of home games, the Texas Rangers traveled to Chase Field where they defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in a trio of games to clinch their first ever title in franchise history – leaving just five teams without a title.

The D-backs’ first and only championship came in 2001 when – after three years of play – the fledgling expansion team beat the three-time champion New York Yankees in game seven on their home turf.

– Hannah Van Sickle, The Arizona 100

Posted on by — Leave a comment

So, the Corvette does 0-60 in 2.5 seconds now

To date, the fastest car I’ve driven is a 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia. With a 0-60 time of 3.4 seconds, it was more than enough speed to send all of my internal organs crashing into the back of the Italian leather seats.

So I can’t imagine what it’s like to go 0-60 nearly a full second faster in the 2024 Corvette E-Ray, Chevrolet’s new hybrid supercar. Chevy quite modestly calls it a “sports car,” which is like calling Simone Biles an “athlete” – if it’s faster than a Bugatti Veyron, it’s pretty “super.”

The starting price is unbelievable, too: just $105,000.

– Chris Butsch, Contributor

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sales of manual transmission cars are surging. Why?

Not long ago, you could find countless articles lamenting the slow-but-inevitable demise of the manual transmission. But according to J.D. Power, sales have nearly doubled since 2021. Why?

As you might’ve guessed, Gen Z came through in the “clutch.” And the more you think about it, their love affair with a third pedal makes sense; manuals are fun, cheap, counterculture and can’t be taken away from them via software updates. In a way, it’s their equivalent of Gen Y’s penchant for record players.

Plus, as single-gear EVs start dominating the market, the appeal of rowing your own mechanical gears intensifies.

– Chris Butsch, Contributor

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Capital decisions

Long before Arizona was admitted to the Union (a sweet deal that transpired on Valentine’s Day in 1912), what would eventually become the Grand Canyon State was a U.S. territory whose capital was Tucson.

For a solid decade – commencing Nov. 1, 1867 – Tucson served as the territorial capital by vote of the Arizona Territorial Legislature. The first was Fort Whipple (1863), then Prescott in 1864 and again in 1877.

Phoenix, the present-day capital, was declared the permanent government seat in 1889 – more than two dozen years before becoming the 48th state – due to its location “at the geographical center of this [land].”

– Hannah Van Sickle, The Arizona 100

Posted on by — Leave a comment

BMW backs down from charging a subscription fee for heated seats

I love Bimmers – especially those of the spicy M variety – but there’s no denying that BMW HQ has made some controversial decisions lately. Most infamously, in 2022 they tried charging customers $18/month for heated seats that were already installed on their cars.

Backlash was swift and vicious, and to their credit, BMW backed down. They said their intention was simply to let customers activate their hardware later to avoid paying $500 upfront.

That kinda makes sense, but the sentiment across BIMMERPOST and Reddit seems to be that allowing automakers to remotely deactivate parts of your car sets a dangerous precedent.

– Chris Butsch, Contributor

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Arizona pigskin history

The Grand Canyon State has a deep history of professional sports, one that began in 1898 when the Morgan Athletic Club (the first iteration of the Cardinals) took to the gridiron in Chicago.

They joined the National Football League in 1920 and, after 40 seasons, moved to St. Louis before arriving in Phoenix in 1988; alongside the Chicago Bears, the Cardinals are the only remaining charter members still in existence.

Today, the Cardinals remain the oldest franchise in the NFL, and one of the least successful scoring championships in 1925 and 1947. Their home turf is State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

– Hannah Van Sickle, The Arizona 100

Posted on by — Leave a comment

1st commercial flight, other fun facts on aviation history

The first scheduled passenger flight was in 1914 from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa – a distance of just 17 miles. In 1930 around 6,000 passengers flew, an amount that increased to half a million in 1934.

Pan Am introduced the Boeing 307s in the late 1940s, the first planes with pressurized cabins. Air traffic surged in the 1950s and 60s, and competing airlines introduced perks like gourmet meals and fine wines. Budget airlines were introduced, leading to lower airfares and increased air travel.

In 2022, 853 million passengers flew on U.S. airlines, down from a high of 928 million in 2019.

– Staff report, The Travel 100

Posted on by — Leave a comment

What are the fastest (and slowest) selling cars of 2023?

Now that production has finally caught up with demand, which cars are selling the fastest (and slowest)?

According to iSeeCars, the venerated Tesla Model S – once the hottest new car in existence – is now the slowest-selling used car of 2023, spending an average 88 days on-market. Pre-owned Honda HR-Vs sold the quickest at just 34 days.

As for new cars, the Toyota Grand Highlander sold the fastest, while the Jeep Cherokee languished on dealer lots for an average 129 days. Curiously, my beloved Mazda Miata is the fifth slowest-selling car of 2023, meaning you can probably negotiate a heckuva deal.

– Chris Butsch, Contributor

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Fair amount of flu shutters annual Arizona tradition

If the last 3 ½ years have taught us anything, it’s that widespread pandemics are woven throughout history – a fact from which the Grand Canyon State is hardly immune.

On Halloween 1918, the Arizona State Fair was canceled due to an epidemic of Spanish influenza, which hit Arizona in a trio of waves and killed an estimated 2,000 residents – among them a disproportionate number of folks with tuberculosis.

In addition to shutting down the city of Phoenix twice, the epidemic led to a compulsory face mask order (sound familiar?), with violators at risk of a $100 fine or 30-day jail sentence.

– Hannah Van Sickle, The Arizona 100