GM Hits Pause on EV Trucks. Mercedes Goes Electric-Only on the C-Class. A Gas Car Podcast Takes Stock.

The EV-relevant moments in This Car Pod’s Episode 108 land back to back. First: General Motors has announced it is pausing, and possibly cancelling, its next generation of full-size electric trucks. Suppliers to the Hummer EV and Silverado EV program reportedly received notice that further development is on hold. The Ford Lightning had already been cancelled. The hosts also reference a Bloomberg report that roughly 20% of Cybertruck sales have gone to other Elon Musk companies. Then comes Mercedes-Benz, which revealed the new C-Class as an electric-only model: the combustion version stays unchanged, and this new generation is EV only. It goes on sale in early 2027.

The Mercedes C-Class EV arrives with 800-volt charging infrastructure, an estimated range of around 350 miles, and a cabin that offers up to three screen configurations including a wide display spanning the gauge cluster, centre stack, and passenger side. The hosts call it a step forward compared to Mercedes’ previous EV efforts: the company now makes its own batteries and motors, which both hosts consider meaningful. US EV market share ticked up slightly in March as fuel prices climbed, but remained below year-ago levels after the federal incentives were removed. European EV sales in the same month rose 50%.

The hosts imagine themselves in a nursing home years from now, incredulous that soccer moms once drove children to practice in vehicles running on controlled combustion. The punchline: that moment hasn’t arrived in America yet, while much of the rest of the world is already past the tipping point. Their concern is direct. They don’t believe Stellantis or GM are building competitive US-market EVs at scale. Ford’s planned lower-cost lineup targeting around $30,000 from 2027 is mentioned as one genuine effort. But between GM retreating from electric trucks, the Lightning cancelled, and Ford’s output limited, the hosts worry that American legacy manufacturers are not building what they’ll need when the shift accelerates.

Bottom line: There is something sharp about a podcast dedicated to combustion engines spending a significant chunk of its runtime concerned that American automakers are not moving fast enough on electric. The nursing home bit is funnier than it should be, and the underlying point is harder to dismiss than the joke.