Kilowatt: A Podcast about Electric Vehicles · 918Digital

FSD Goes Wild: Mad Max Mode Returns!

·29 min·2 clips

Tesla brings back 'Mad Max' FSD mode while under NHTSA scrutiny—is this too aggressive for public roads?

Bodhi starts by getting everyone back in the room. He is back from a three-week vacation, if the sick time counts, and he is pretty open about not being as ready as he thought he would be. First comes the housekeeping. Returning patrons FallenInSea and Anthony get welcomed back, new patron Joseph gets thanked, and Bodhi says the support money goes back into the show. CES is still on his calendar too. He has registered, found a hotel room that seemed weirdly cheap, and sounds mostly relieved that the trip is still alive. Then comes the lesson, which is not exactly buried. If a vacation is coming, bank more work before leaving, because getting sick afterward makes the gap a lot harder to cover. After eleven minutes, the news finally gets moving. GM's new Chevy Bolt gets the first real look, and Bodhi sounds interested, with caveats close at hand. The exterior is familiar, more like a lightly updated Bolt EUV than a full reset. One-pedal driving is a win for him. Super Cruise is available too, but only if the car already has the hardware when it is bought. That catches his attention because, unlike a Tesla full self-driving purchase, this Bolt cannot just add Super Cruise later through software. The missing frunk bugs him. He does not camp on it, but it clearly feels like a useful detail GM should have found room for. The range sounds believable to him. GM estimates 255 miles from a 65 kilowatt hour LFP battery, and he thinks that probably checks out even before the EPA number arrives. Charging is where the new Bolt gets more exciting. NACS adapter support and 150 kilowatt DC fast charging make it feel far more livable than the old 50 kilowatt version. Price does a lot of work too. At 29,990 dollars to start, he sees a real under-30,000-dollar EV case, even with higher trims above it. The limited-run wording still nags at him because GM has not said whether that means time, production, or something else. He closes with more on the docket: Tesla standard trim vehicles, Elon's pay package, a Tuesday news update, and a Friday Tesla earnings call.

As heard by us

A conversational EV catch-up anchored by a practical Chevy Bolt discussion.

Kilowatt stays in catch-up mode, with Bodhi back from vacation, thanking patrons, and settling into the week’s EV news. The tone is relaxed and conversational, and the housekeeping does enough work to frame the hour before the main topic takes over.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a plain-English EV catch-up after the host's vacation.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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