The Latest High-Tech Dishwashers
Cleaning up after dinner is a chore no more thanks to smart dishwashers.
Cleaning up after dinner is a chore no more thanks to smart dishwashers.
Nothing can spoil a delicious dinner like a stack of dirty dishes.
Fortunately for you, that scenario can be a thing of the past thanks to the latest in dishwasher technology.
Wi-Fi-connected, self-diagnosing, auto-air-drying, schedulable and more—today’s smart dishwashers are marvels of cleanliness and convenience.
Here are a few of our favourite clever cleansing contraptions.
LG
Equipped with LG’s QuadWash technology—four multi-motion spray arms that provide power-cleaning sprays—the STUDIO Smart Dishwasher is a machine that you won’t have to worry about. The Wi-Fi-equipped washer is constantly self-monitoring, sending maintenance tips and usage reports to users via LG’s accompanying ThinQ app, allowing owners to keep their dishwasher running at optimal capacity. The STUDIO Smart will even send alerts for potential problems before issues arise, enabling users to proactively tackle and avoid evenings of handwashing while awaiting a handyman.
The LG STUDIO Smart Dishwasher is available for $1429
Miele
If time travellers had sent a dishwasher back to the past, it might be the Miele G-7000. This futuristic feat of German engineering offers users an innovative AutoDos system, which determines how dirty your dishes are and dispenses the perfect amount of detergent to achieve excellently clean dishes without excess cleaner. But that’s just the start of the G-7000’s intelligence. With the Miele@mobile app, G-7000 owners can auto-start their dishwasher from anywhere in the world from their phone (or via voice control with Amazon Alexa), or schedule washings so they’ll have clean dishes precisely when they need them. The G-7000 will also send an alert to owners when they are running low on detergent so they never find themselves cleaned out of cleaner.
The Miele G-7000 is available from $2049 depending on features.
Bosch
Tired of washing your dishes before you wash your dishes? Invest in the Benchmark Dishwasher from Bosch. Equipped with smart sensors that continually monitor the washing process and the cleanliness of dishware—and determine what still needs to get done—the Bosch ensures that you don’t need to rinse your dishes before you put them in the machine. Bosch’s Home Connect app will send user’s notifications when the cycle is done—but if owner’s prefer a more visual cue, the device’s InfoLight—a red dot the machine projects on the ground while it’s running—will do. The Home Connect app will also give users a heads up if a leak has occurred or if they are running low on detergent. And if you think all that technology means industrial sounds coming from your kitchen—think again.
The Bosch Benchmark is available for approx. $2500
Thermador
The Sapphire line of dishwashers from Thermador marries brains with beauty. Wi-Fi-equipped—and custom-panel ready so it can match your existing home decor—the Sapphire allows users to remotely control their dishwasher, run diagnostics on its health and receive notifications for cycle completion and more. And the Sapphire’s StarDry system leverages ZeoLite to ensure that every dish, regardless of material, is dry as a bone the moment the cycle is complete, negating the need for additional hand drying. All of this, and the Sapphire’s interior glows a lovely—you guessed it—sapphire when the dishwasher is open.
The Thermador Sapphire is available for around $3130
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Concern about electric vehicles’ appeal is mounting as some customers show a reluctance to switch
Auto dealers across many parts of the country say electric vehicles are becoming too hard a sell for buyers worried about the range, reliability and price of these models.
When Paul LaRochelle heard Ford Motor was coming out with an electric pickup truck, the dealer was excited about the prospects for his business.
“We thought we could build a million of them and sell them,” said LaRochelle, a vice president at Sheehy Auto Stores, which sells vehicles from a dozen brands in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
The reality has been less positive. On Sheehy’s car lots, LaRochelle says there is a six- to 12-month supply of EVs, compared with a month of gasoline-powered vehicles.
With automakers set to release a barrage of new electric models in the coming years, concerns are mounting among auto retailers about whether the technology will have broader appeal given that many customers are still reluctant to make the switch.
Battery-powered models have been piling up on car lots, dealers say, as EV sales growth has slowed in the U.S. this year. Car companies have been offering a combination of discounts and lower interest-rate deals in an effort to juice demand. But it hasn’t been enough, because buyer reticence extends beyond the price tag, dealers say.
“I’m not hearing the consumer confidence in the technology,” said Mary Rice, dealer principal at Toyota of Greensboro in North Carolina. “People aren’t beating down the door to buy these things, and they all have a different excuse why they aren’t buying one.”
Customers cite concerns about vehicles burning through a battery charge faster in cold weather or not being able to travel as far as they expected on a single charge, dealers say. Potential buyers also worry that chargers aren’t as readily accessible as gas stations or might be broken.
Franchise dealerships fear that the push to roll out new models will inundate them with hard-to-sell vehicles. Research firm S&P Global Mobility said there are 56 EV models for sale in the U.S. this year, and the number is expected to nearly double to 100 next year.
“I start to think, you know maybe we should just all pump the brakes a little bit,” Rice said.
A group of dealers expressed their concerns about the government’s role in pushing electric vehicles in a letter last month to President Biden.
A Toyota Motor spokesman said the majority of dealers have become “increasingly more confident in their ability to sell Toyota EV products.”
At Ford, the company’s electric-vehicle sales are rising, including for its F-150 Lightning pickup, but demand isn’t evenly spread across the country, according to a spokesman.
Dealers say that after selling an EV, they sometimes hear complaints about charging and the vehicles not always meeting their advertised range. In some cases, customers seek to return them to the dealer shortly after buying them.
“We have a steady number of clients that have attempted to or flat out returned their car,” said Sheehy’s LaRochelle.
While EVs remain a small but rapidly expanding part of the new-car market, the pace of growth has slowed this year. Electric-vehicle sales increased 48% in the first 11 months, compared with a 69% jump during the same period in 2022, according to Motor Intelligence. Sales remain concentrated in a few states, with California accounting for the largest chunk, S&P Global Mobility data found.
The cooling growth has raised broader questions in the industry about whether car companies face a temporary hurdle or a longer-term demand challenge. Automakers have invested billions of dollars to bring more EV models to the market, and many analysts and car executives say they remain optimistic that sales will continue to expand.
“Although the rate of growth has slowed recently, EV demand is clearly moving in the right direction,” said General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra on a recent conference call with analysts. A combination of more affordable model options and better charging infrastructure would help encourage more people to buy electric vehicles, she said.
There are also varying views within the dealer community about how quickly buyers will adopt the technology.In hot spots for electric-vehicle demand, such as Los Angeles, dealers say their battery-powered models are some of their top sellers. Those popular EV markets also tend to have more mature public charging networks.
Selling an electric car or truck outside of those demand centres is proving more difficult.
Longtime EV owner Carmella Roehrig thought she was ready to go full-electric and sold her backup gasoline vehicle. But after the 62-year-old North Carolina resident found herself stranded last year in a rural area of South Carolina, she changed her mind. Roehrig’s Tesla Model S got a flat tire, but none of the stores in the area carried tires for a Tesla. She ended up paying a worker at a nearby shop to drive her home.
Roehrig still has her Tesla but bought a pickup truck for long road trips.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“I have these conversations with people who say we’ll all be in EVs in 15 years. I say: ‘I’m not so sure. I’ve tried to do it,’” Roehrig said. “I think you need a gas backup.”
Customers who want to ditch their gas vehicle for environmental reasons are sometimes hesitant, said Mickey Anderson, president of Baxter Auto Group, which owns dealerships in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.
“We’re in the Colorado Springs market. If this is your sole mode of transportation, and you’re in a market in extremes of elevation and temperature, the actual range is very limited,” Anderson said. “It makes it extremely impractical.”
Dealers representing around 4,000 stores across the U.S. signed the letter in November addressed to Biden, saying the administration’s proposed auto-emissions regulations designed to promote electric-vehicle sales are unrealistic. The signatories ranged from stores owned by family businesses to publicly held giants such as AutoNation and Lithia Motors.
“Some customers are in the market for electric vehicles, and we are thrilled to sell them. But the majority of customers are simply not ready to make the change,” the letter said.
Some carmakers are pushing back EV-rollout plans. GM said in mid-October that it would delay the opening of an electric pickup plant by a year to late 2025. In response to weaker-than-expected consumer demand, Ford said in late October that it would defer $12 billion of planned spending on electric-vehicle investment.
Since September, dealers on average took more than two months to sell an EV, compared with 40 days for all vehicles, according to car-shopping website Edmunds.
While discounts have helped boost sales of some electric vehicles, they also have led to repercussions for some current owners because it reduces the value of their vehicles, dealers say.
“Most people don’t have the confidence to buy an EV and know what it will be worth in 10-15 years,” said Rice from the Toyota dealership.
It may take some time for the industry to adjust because it is still in an early stage of switching to electric vehicles, Sheehy’s LaRochelle said.
“We’re asking for this market to grow organically,” he said.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’