Tom Krishner The Associated Press The reliability of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids has dramatically improved, narrowing a wide gap with gas-powered automobiles, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports. But vehicles with internal combustion engines and gas-electric hybrids are still far more dependable, the survey found. Consumer Reports subscribers, who filled out surveys during much of 2024, reported that electric vehicles had 42% more problems than gas autos on average. But that was down from 79% more in the 2023 survey. The survey released Thursday measured reliability of vehicles mainly from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 model years. Plug-ins, which travel a short distance on battery power before a hybrid powertrain kicks in, had 70% more problems than gas vehicles, but that was less than half the difference found in last year’s survey. The reason for the improvement? EV and plug-in technology are maturing, said Jake Fisher, head of Consumer Reports’ automobile test center. “As the automakers get more experience with the new technologies and new platforms, they will improve,” Fisher said. He said he expects plug-in and electric vehicles to keep getting better, further closing the gap with gas vehicles. But one thing may stand in the way: Automakers often test new automation and other features on EVs, and the new stuff is prone to glitches. “Until we get to where an EV is just a car that does practical things with their own powertrain, I’m not sure they’ll ever catch up totally” to gas vehicles, Fisher said. The new technology may offer more than the next wave of EV buyers would like, as EVs move from early adopters to more practical mainstream buyers, Fisher said. “There are people who just want a car that’s easy to maintain,” he said. “I don’t use gas. I don’t need this automation feature and electric door handles or whatever the heck they are putting out.” Consumer Reports has noted that concerns about EV and plug-in quality add to issues that may have buyers hesitating before switching from gasoline engines, including concerns about higher up-front costs, too few charging stations and long charging times. Gas-electric hybrids, which switch from internal combustion to electric power to get better mileage, were about as reliable as cars with combustion engines. While the technology is pretty technical, it has been refined for a quarter century, mainly by pioneer Toyota, Fisher said. “CR’s tests have shown that they are often quieter, quicker and more pleasant to drive than their gasoline-only counterparts,” he said. Through September of this year, the last month for which all automakers have reported results, electric vehicle sales are up 7.2%, plug-in sales rose 11.6%, but hybrids led with a 32.6% increase, according to Motorintelligence.com. Consumer Reports said its 2024 survey of subscribers representing about 300,000 vehicle owners found that Subaru was the most reliable brand for the first time, followed by perennial top finishers Lexus and Toyota. Rounding out the top five were Honda and its Acura luxury brand. It was the first time since 2020 that neither Toyota nor its Lexus luxury brand were in the top spot, Fisher said. The highest-ranked brand from a U.S.-based automaker was General Motors’ Buick at No. 11. The five lowest of 22 brands that were ranked were electric upstart Rivian, followed by GM’s Cadillac luxury brand, GMC, Jeep and Volkswagen, Consumer Reports said. The magazine and website didn’t get enough data this year to rank Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Lucid, Maserati, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Ram. Electric vehicle sales leader Tesla finished 17th, down three spots from last year’s survey. Subaru took first place in the survey by following the same formula that Toyota uses to get high reliability scores: It doesn’t make huge changes when updating or unveiling new vehicles, Fisher said. Instead of going with new engines or transmissions, Subaru carries parts over from the prior generation. “They don’t fix what’s not broken,” he said. “They continue to refine their products, and because the products perform quite well, they don’t have to have big changes.” Rivian, Fisher said, is a new company with new electric models that have more glitches. Since the company is a startup, it can’t use proven powertrains from prior generations yet. “It’s expected that you’re going to have issues when you have nothing to carry over” from previous model years, he said. The survey found that the gas-powered Toyota RAV4 small SUV was the most reliable vehicle, followed by the Toyota Corolla compact car. The RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid was third, followed by the RAV4 gas-electric hybrid, Fisher said. Consumer Reports’ survey of its subscriber base does not represent all vehicle purchasers in the U.S. or the population that bought specific vehicle types. The survey results were released at a meeting of the Automotive Press Association of Detroit.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot hailed “special” Mohamed Salah after seeing him fire the Premier League leaders to the brink of victory at Newcastle. The Reds ultimately left St James’ Park with only a point after Fabian Schar snatched a 3-3 draw at the end of a pulsating encounter, but Salah’s double – his 14th and 15th goals of the season – transformed a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead before the Switzerland defender’s late intervention. The 32-year-old Egypt international’s future at Anfield remains a topic of debate with his current contract running down. Asked about Salah’s future, Slot said: “It’s difficult for me to predict the long-term future, but the only thing I can expect or predict is that he is in a very good place at the moment. Two goals and an assist for Mo tonight 👏 pic.twitter.com/tMXidgeA0P — Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 4, 2024 “He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities and then he is able to do special things. “And what makes him for me even more special is that in the first hour or before we scored to make it 1-1, you thought, ‘He’s not playing his best game today’, and to then come up with a half-hour or 45 minutes – I don’t know how long it was – afterwards with an assist, two goals, having a shot on the bar, being a constant threat, that is something not many players can do if they’ve played the first hour like he did. “That is also what makes him special. If you just look at the goals, his finish is so clinical. He’s a special player, but that’s what we all know.” Salah did indeed endure a quiet opening 45 minutes by his standards and it was the Magpies who went in at the break a goal to the good after Alexander Isak’s stunning 35th-minute finish. Slot said: “The shot from Isak, I don’t even know if Caoimh (keeper Caoimhin Kelleher) saw that ball, as hard as it was.” Salah set up Curtis Jones to level five minutes into the second half and after Anthony Gordon has restored the hosts’ lead, levelled himself from substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 68th-minute cross. He looked to have won it with a fine turn and finish – his ninth goal in seven league games – seven minutes from time, only for Schar to pounce from a tight angle in the 90th minute. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was delighted with the way his team took the game to the Reds four days after their disappointing 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Howe, who admitted his surprise that VAR official Stuart Attwell had not taken a dimmer view of a Virgil van Dijk shoulder barge on Gordon, said: “It’s mixed emotions. “Part of me feels we should have won it – a big part of me – but part of me is pleased we didn’t lose either because it was such a late goal for us. “Generally, I’m just pleased with the performance. There was much more attacking output, a much better feel about the team. “There was much better energy, and it was a really good performance against, for me, the best team we’ve played so far this season in the Premier League, so it was a big jump forward for us.” We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.Republicans rally around Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, as Gaetz withdraws for attorney generalhis week’s news regarding the Biden Administration’s effort to force Alphabet to divest is consistent with shared anti-big business sentiments in large parts of the Republican right. The attack on American pillars of U.S. prominence, including technology, the food industry, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and higher education—all the envy of the rest of the world—hints an anger that is now bringing together America’s political opposites. Today’s self-styled MAGA followers and self-styled “progressives” are anchored in the common tradition of early 20th century agrarian populists like publisher politician Tom Watson on the right and urban populist union organizer Eugene V. Debs on the left. Despite the obvious partisan split in the nation revealed by Trump’s close victory, which nonetheless swept him into office with a decisive electoral college win and popular vote win, we are witnessing an emerging bond between the political extremes. In fact, I talked often with Donald Trump in 2015 as he planned his first candidacy, and he confided in me that he considered going to the left of Bernie Sanders to tap into national outrage. Of course, it was not surprising when MAGA enthusiast, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Trump’s selection of RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health & Human Services, proclaiming that “He could not be happier with the choice” despite RFK Jr.’s insistence that determines people’s gender and that vaccines cause autism. What was surprising was last week when Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis exclaimed that he was Trump’s anti-science HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. given shared anti-corporate perspectives suspicious of vaccines, weight-loss drugs, and other miraculous products from pioneering U.S. pharmaceutical companies. Democratic Senator stated he shared many of RFK Jr.’s accusations over “corporations feeding us unhealthy products” while flooding us with “dangerous chemicals.” Similarly, the now-withdrawn attorney general nominee MAGA field marshal Matt Gaetz has been defended by Democratic firebrand z when he earlier faced possible expulsion from Congress. Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a “deep state” antagonist and a former “progressive” Democrat presidential primary candidate, was nominated to be Director of National Intelligence. GOP Senator Mitt Romney and former Democrat Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have labelled her a Russian asset. But progressive lightening rod Senator Bernie Sanders rushed to he saying, “ has put her life on the line to defend this country. People can disagree on issues, but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset.” This past weekend Bernie Sanders attacked Democrats for spurning the hugely popular libertarian, , podcaster Joe Rogan, a Trump supporter, who actually Directly parallel to such cynicism, this week’s news on the left-leaning Biden antitrust policy is seen by many business leaders to be an attack on U.S. global competitiveness with companies such as Microsoft and Apple feeling the heat, while others see it as opening the door to new enterprise. The Department of Justice’s antitrust chief Jonathan Kantor’s potential forced divestiture of Google Chrome, which controls of online searches, would undermine this gateway to Alphabet’s portfolio of services such as Gemini, its promising AI chatbot. Both and , who is to be nominated chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, have asserted would crack down on tech giants. Related severe antitrust enforcement, by FTC Chair Lina Khan, was the target of U.S. who persuaded Vice President Kamala Harris to throttle back on such perceived anti-business rhetoric. Ironically, J.D. Vance applauds these Biden antitrust moves this year. Vance : “A lot of my Republican colleagues look at Lina Khan, and they say, ‘well Lina Khan is sort of engaged in some sort of fundamental evil thing.’ And I look at Lina Khan as one of the few people in the Biden Administration that I think is doing a pretty good job ” Vance this year partnered with progressive colleagues including to “Stop Subsidizing Giant Mergers Act” to efforts to . Political leaders and journalists must acknowledge the deep history of populist anger embedded in American society. Some is anchored in a class identity battle resenting elitist institutions and income disparity leading to widespread feelings of injustice. Some is anchored in fear of technological change, as with the Luddites of the early 1800s, English workers who destroyed machines in revolt against industrialization. Some is anchored in fear of demographic shifts in the nation’s racial, ethnic, and religious mix. And some is the cultural resentment historian in 1966 labelled the “anti-intellectual" tradition in American life. Regardless of the legitimacy of the sources of this populist anger, it is real, and it is deep, not defined by political party let alone the language of left-wing or right-wing ideologies—despite commentators' efforts to do so. We must know it is quite combustible, easily triggered by charismatic demagoguery as well as frightening global and domestic shocks.
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