The InEVitable

In this episode of The InEVitable Podcast by MotorTrend, the hosts sit down with Bradley Arnold, Head of Design at Hyundai Design North America. Bradley shares his journey from growing up around motorcycles to becoming one of the key designers shaping Hyundai’s bold new design language. The conversation dives into Hyundai’s rapid rise in the automotive world, how the brand approaches design and innovation, and what it takes to create vehicles that stand out in today’s competitive market. They also explore the growing importance of off-road vehicles, lifestyle design, EV platforms, and Hyundai’s future strategy, including how designers balance brand identity, engineering constraints, and customer expectations. If you're interested in automotive design, the future of Hyundai, EVs, or how modern cars are created, this episode offers a fascinating look inside the process. Topics include:

Bradley Arnold’s career and design background

Hyundai’s evolution and brand transformation

The rise of off-road vehicles and lifestyle design

EV platforms and future vehicle architecture

How car design teams actually work

What’s next for Hyundai and the automotive industry

Alan Clarke spent over a decade at Tesla — working on Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, and even Tesla’s battery swap program. Now he’s Ford’s Executive Director of Advanced EV Development — leading the Ford Universal EV Platform and the upcoming affordable midsize electric pickup targeting ~$30,000 and 300 miles of range.

After 38.5 years at Honda and Acura, legendary designer Dave Marek finally retires — and joins us to reflect on one of the most influential careers in modern automotive history.

From the golden era of Japanese performance to the birth of Acura… from the original NSX to the Element and Ridgeline… from the HondaJet to EV collaborations with GM — Dave was there for all of it.

This is a masterclass in automotive design, leadership, and the “Honda Way.”

If you love car design history, Japanese performance, or behind-the-scenes industry stories — this episode is for you.

In this special live-drive episode of The InEVitable, Ed Loh takes MotorTrend Technical Director Frank Markus on a real-world test of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Version 14.2.2.3 in a Model Y — while diving deep into Frank’s first-drive impressions of the highly anticipated Rivian R2. This episode kicks off a new MotorTrend series on semi-autonomous driving systems, comparing Tesla’s camera-only approach against upcoming competitors from Mercedes-Benz and Rivian.

Topics covered include:

Tesla FSD v14 real-world freeway and city performance

Mad Max mode, lane changes, and aggressive California traffic

Rivian R2 pricing, specs, suspension tech, and autonomy roadmap

Level 2 vs Level 3 autonomy explained

Vision-only vs radar/LiDAR debate Autonomy in harsh winter conditions

The future of hands-free and eyes-off driving

Does Tesla’s data flywheel give it an insurmountable lead?

Is Rivian’s R2 the true Model Y competitor? And what happens when autonomy reaches Level 3?

Watch (or listen) as the system handles freeways, city streets, four-way stops — and almost parks itself.

On this episode of The InEVitable by MotorTrend, we sit down with Jeff Hammoud, Chief Design Officer at Rivian, to unpack the full design story behind the Rivian R1T, R1S, R2, and R3.

Jeff shares his journey from Chrysler and Jeep to joining Rivian in its earliest days—when there was no logo, no brand, and barely a prototype.

We dive deep into how Rivian’s iconic design language was created, why the trucks look friendly instead of aggressive, and how real-world use cases (like motorcycles, garages, and families) shaped the vehicles.