Hyundai made a radical change with its 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe. Now in its fifth generation, the Santa Fe swerved from the child-transport/grocery-getter lane to take on a new, more purposeful look. At the same time, it reintroduced a third row of seating and added a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system across all trims.

Host Jack Nerad wanted to see how the Santa Fe would fare on a road trip — after all, we are America on the Road — so he and his wife set forth on a trip up the California coast with their destination, the charming college town of San Luis Obispo. His portion of this week’s road test segment will include the details, not just his verdict but also his wife’s.

On the other side of the continent, Co-Host Chris Teague, the proud new owner of a battery-electric SUV, took one of his vehicle’s competitors for a weeklong test spin. The Kia EV9 has been a crowd-pleaser since it was first introduced as a concept vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show several years ago and is still a show-stopper. But does it measure up in value to its competitors in the increasingly crowded field? We’ll have Chris Teague’s answer in this episode.

In the news this week, carmakers don’t typically introduce new versions of current model-year vehicles as a new model year is set to begin, but Ram did just that this week. The truck brand announced Ram Power Wagon and Rebel HD Lunar Editions with moon-oriented color schemes and Lunar body-side graphics. We’ll have more details for you. Ram also announced the end of production of one of its longest-running trucks. And we’ll have the details on that, too.

Electric vehicle maker Rivian has temporarily halted production of one of its most important vehicles, and we’ll sort out what it means to the company’s future as EV makers continue to struggle.

Speaking of that, a report from the Department of Energy says that the cost of electric-car batteries has dropped 90 percent in the past 15 years. So why are EVs much less expensive than they are? We’ll have details that will make sense of all that coming up.

This week, our special guest is Matt Jones, who serves as TrueCar’s source of truth. TrueCar is an online car-buying site, and Matt Jones has a lot of insight on car buying, so if you’re thinking of purchasing a vehicle this year, you’ll want to hear what he has to say.

All that and more are coming up in this America on the Road episode.

America on the Road is brought to you by Driving Today.com, Mercury Insurance, and EMLandsea.com , the publisher of Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark, which is available HERE on Amazon.com