Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!

In this episode, Hannah fights LA's worst traffic using the Mercedes-Benz Level 3 Drive Pilot system that beat Tesla to advanced hands-free driving. Matt drives the Nissan Z Nismo Edition around Manhattan but he barely fits inside the cabin, and he really needs a manual gearshift. Then, Hannah and Matt discuss the merits of electric sedans like the BMW i7 and Porsche Taycan--can you cross-shop those against a Volvo XC90? Plus, Matt wants a Porsche 911 S/T or a Porsche 911 R, but Hannah says the S/T is a cash grab and the R is wildly expensive even if you can find a used one. And maybe the Porsche 911 Carrera T is better pound for pound, anyway? Follow Hannah and Matt on Instagram: @HannahElliottxo @mattmiller1973 Find more on Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg Radio and YouTube. FULL TRANSCRIPT: I'm Hannah Elliott and I'm Matt Miller. This is hot pursuit. All right. Coming up on the podcast, we're gonna talk about a self driving Mercedes, the new drive pilot technology. Hannah tested it out. Have they beaten Tesla to the punch. We're also going to talk about the BMW I seven. This is the fully electric version of their seven series, their flagship executive limousine. Hannah's driving it this week. I have driven it before and it gave me ideas for the next car that I need. Plus, we'll talk about Porscha. They came out with earnings that were obviously good because they're Porsche. I'm also driving a much cheaper I guess caman competitor in a way that we'll talk about, and they could electrify them a con. I want an ST. I tried to get a nine to eleven R. There's so much to talk about in terms of Porsche. But hey, let's start with the Mercedes Drive Pilot, which is their level three autonomous driving system. Tell us about it. Yeah, I have to say this is the big deal because Tesla has been talking about their full self driving for years and they do sell something that they're calling full self driving FSD, but it actually requires a bit of hands on the wheel and attention on the road. So Mercedes swoops in with something they're calling drive Pilot, which is level three driving, which does not require your hands on the wheel ever, and doesn't require your eyes on the road. So literally you can sit back and read a book, or watch a video, or have video conference calls, or watch a movie play on your phone. So it is kind of a big deal. There are limitations that we can talk about, but as somebody who's not especially excited about the idea of self driving in general, I have to say it did kind of win me over. I was pretty impressed. Yeah, so let's talk first about the benefits of self driving technology before we get into the limitations on the Mercedes system, and also the cost, which I think is interesting. You live in one of the most congested places on the planet, so for you it can actually like make your life better. Yeah, that's really true. And I actually when I tested it, it was on the Tin which basically goes, you know, from downtown out to the ocean, and I used to drive that way every day to work. It is some of the most horrible traffic in town. And the benefit was that I was in my car, but it felt like I had a driver, and that was a huge thing for me. I mean, the idea of having a driver is such a great luxury, and this technology, this drive pilot, really did make it feel like that. It drives the car for you. It only drives the car for you on highways that have two lanes or more and that have a solid barrier down the center. So this is already getting into some of the imitations. But the benefit is I got a lot of things done on my way to work, like answering emails, I was looking at videos, I was playing on Instagram. That's a huge benefit. And in a more general sense, I was a lot less peeved and annoyed by the time I got to the office, having not have had to fight with you know, people that I think are terrible drivers. I think we can agree that Prius drivers are the worst. I did not have to fight these people on my way into the office, and that was a huge benefit because the car took care of it. Yeah. So I mean for me, for my commute, I drive into Manhattan from Scarsdale every day. It's an hour in the morning, really and an hour on the way back. And I like to pretend that I can drive a lot myself, but the truth is I'm mostly in bumper to bumper traffic, and it would be awesome if I could do work, you know, while while I was driving. The problem is I'm sometimes slowed to a halt, like when I'm heading on, for example, to Henry Hudson. But also there are times when I'm doing sixty you know. It's like back and forth, back and forth. And one of the main limitations of this system I know from reading your story on the Bloomberg Terminal, is that it doesn't work above forty miles an hour. So I just can't imagine how it would work for me, because it would be awesome for a few minutes and then all of a sudden, what it just stops working. Yeah, actually, yes, that's exactly right. It is awesome. And then if you need to s

On the first episode of Hot Pursuit!, Hannah and Matt discuss Hannah's trip to Austria to be the first journalist to drive the electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. Can it even come close to comparing to the gas-powered G that has existed since 1979? Then, it's a look at BMW's polarizing XM hybrid, its most powerful SUV but not its best--we'll tell you why. Meanwhile, Matt is driving over New York City curbs in another expensive V8 SUV this week, the Jeep 392 Rubicon, and Hannah has a few thoughts about it from that time in Moab. Plus, Matt just bought a Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody - but how fast is it really? Follow Hannah and Matt on Instagram: @HannahElliottxo @mattmiller1973 Find more on Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg Radio and YouTube. FULL TRANSCRIPT: Hi. I'm Hannah Elliott and I'm Matt Miller, and this is Hot Pursuit. All right, welcome to the first episode of our new podcast. Hannah Elliott from Bloomberg Pursuits and me Matt Miller from Bloomberg Television. We're going to walk you through everything that's hot in the world of autos and motorcycles. I point out, Hannah, because Ducati has released a brand new version of the Multi Strata. This is the V four version. It's called the RS. And the really cool thing about this bike, and then we'll get back to cars, is that it has the Desmo dramatic valve operation. Once again, they've gone away from that to reduce, you know, the amount of mechanical work that you had to do, the amount of upkeep you had to do, and now they've gone back just for this one version. So I'm pretty pumped about that. That's cool. It all sounds very complicated. I'm more scrambler girl myself or a dirt by I love a dirt bike. But of course we're focused mainly on cars, and you have been very much focused on the Mercedes g Wagon. So we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about a trip that you recently took to Austria to test out a new version of that. We're also going to talk about a couple of the vehicles that we're driving, which I think people might cross shop with a G Wagon, you know, wealthy people that are looking for some kind of big, gigantic suv that has a lot of power behind it. And then we're going to talk about the new car that I recently bought, which maybe is kind of the other end of the spectrum. It wasn't very expensive, it's not an suv and it's like a dinosaur. So we'll talk about my Dodge Challenger RT scatpack wide body. Unfortunate name notwithstanding, I have to say every time when we say that name, I pringe. I think of like Dean Martin and you know Frank Sinatra. Yeah, yeah, Shahinatra was out there in a mopar type car and I don't know the history, but I think that's why they called it that. Anyway, let's kick it off with the G Wagon. So this is I think one of the coolest vehicles in automotive history. And I would say you probably agree because you're a big fan. Tell us about what you did over the weekend, so I have to say I felt pretty lucky. I was the first non Mercedes Benz employee and first American to drive the electric G Wagon, which is really exciting because we've been hearing about this since twenty eighteen when Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wanted one and Mercedes said, okay, we'll make it. Basically, this was back at the G Wagon launch in Detroit, which Matt, I think you'll remember, well, yes, but yeah, all of that to say, I went to go drive it in Austria on the Shekel Mountain also pronounced she Shekel if you want to that tea in there. It's a proven ground in Austria where Mercedes has all of their G Wagons, and I went up there to do some driving in the electric g This was a pre production electric G Wagon, and I have to say it was pretty fun. That's so cool. So I bought back a couple of years ago when I was living in Berlin the new generation of the G Wagon and right inside the door you get a little badge on all of the new G's that says something like tested on the stuckle or proven on the stuckle Jeckel proof, Yes, exactly something like that. So for g Wagon owners, the place is magical and maybe mysterious because it's in Grots and like hardly anybody ever goes there. But basically this is where Magna Steyer makes the g Wagon right there. They're not made by Mercedes in house. Yes, this is a little known fact. So the company was formerly called Poop. Now it's called Magnet. It's a bigger corporation that bought it out, but same company, same location, and it's kind of a mecha for g Wagon owners to go there. There is a factory, there's an experience center which is right by the airport, and it's it is an iconic vehicle. I mean, how many car models can you say I've been made without interruption since the seventies. I mean, it's pretty cool. I have to say, no, it's awesome, and it's in super high demand, even though it's so dang expensive, right, I mean when I bought mine, they were like one twenty five to start and there was a two year waiting list. I don't think the waiting list has come down, it's gone the other direction, an