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On Shift: A podcast about mobility, Automotive News tech and innovation team leader Pete Bigelow takes an optimistic yet skeptical eye at the new tech and business models planned for the auto industry. Shift is a production of Automotive News, the leading publication covering the auto industry. Check out our reporting online at autonews.com/shift and follow us on Twitter @Automotive_News.
355 Episodes
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Automakers shouldn’t count on Chinese vehicles’ exclusion from the U.S. market forever, warns Larry Dominique, previously with Stellantis and PSA North America and now president of LD Management Consulting. If automakers “don’t push for innovation and push for technology, when those gates do open, they’re going to have that much more of a gap to catch up on,” he said on the Automotive News Shift podcast. Dominique and Jerry Hirsch, senior editor of technology and innovation coverage at Automo...
The elimination of the federal electric vehicle tax credit, scheduled for Sept. 30, will reduce EV sales initially, but charging infrastructure improvements, supply chain efficiencies and more EV options will push the sector forward long term and open the door to more efficient vehicles across powertrains, panelists said at Automotive News Congress in Detroit Sept. 11. Elaine Buckberg of Harvard University’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Elizabeth Krear of the Center ...
Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate and a former presidential candidate, says the auto industry moved too quickly on electric vehicles and needs to devote energy to making internal combustion engine vehicles more efficient. He acknowledges his 2000 presidential campaign overshadows his crusade for automotive safety, an effort that created regulatory agencies, saved lives and won him a spot in the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Anshuman Saxena, vice president and head of ADAS and automated driving at Qualcomm, details the company’s long-simmering efforts to deliver driver-assistance technology on a global scale. Underway for years, those efforts will debut aboard BMW’s Neue Klasse platform during the IAA mobility showcase in Munich next month. Saxena discusses that development, plus broader driver-assistance plans at Qualcomm. The company has roughly $45 billion in expected auto industry revenue, and roughly a...
Greg Brannon, director of automotive research at AAA, details the results of a new technical evaluation of traffic-jam driver-assistance technology. Researchers found it experiences a “notable event” every 9.1 minutes. He examines the differences in performance between hands-off and hands-on traffic-jam assist technology and offers automakers solutions for improving future systems. Further, Brannon looks at how even well-performing systems can lull drivers into a state of automation com...
Harry Campbell, known in the mobility world as The Rideshare Guy, explores how an influx of new driverless deployments and self-driving partnerships are disrupting the status quo in the ride-hailing realm. He examines the new tie-up between Lucid, Nuro and Uber, and probes the latter’s widening influence in bringing robotaxis to cities across the U.S. in meaningful numbers. Further, Campbell, a ride-hailing driver himself, details how the rise of robotaxis are affecting human drivers who rely...
Gabe Klein, who led the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation under President Joe Biden, warns that the Trump administration’s reversal of federal EV incentives and emissions rules could devastate the nation’s ability to compete globally, especially with China. In this episode, Klein breaks down the Joint Office’s role in accelerating private EV charging investments and filling gaps in charger deserts with public funding. While he expects a period of instability in the EV charg...
David Liu, CEO of automated-driving tech company Plus, discusses how $300 million in proceeds from an expected SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp IX will fund the company’s next phase of growth. He details ongoing partnerships with Volkswagen’s Traton Group, Hyundai and Iveco, and underscores the company’s vision for rolling out autonomous trucks at global scale. Further, Liu discusses efforts to develop trucks equipped with both autonomous-driving software and equipped with hydrog...
Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery, propulsion and sustainability at General Motors, discusses a flurry of recent battery developments that underscore the automaker’s long-term electric vehicle outlook. They include a new foray into energy storage systems alongside Redwood Materials, for which GM will provide both new and second-life batteries, production plans for lithium iron phosphate batteries with Ultium Cells in Spring Hill, Tenn., and work on a lithium manganese-rich chemistry. ...
Siyu Huang, founder and CEO of Factorial Energy, provides updates on the company’s ongoing work with Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai, and details the company’s efforts in developing solid-state batteries that allow for much faster electric vehicle charging times. She discusses what the end of federal tax credits will mean for EV sales and the expected trickle-down fallout on battery startups. Further, Huang explains why Factorial pursues both semisolid and solid-state battery innovation...
Lankton, chief commercial officer at Redwood Materials, details why the company just opened its Redwood Energy business unit and how it is repurposing used electric-vehicle batteries in energy storage systems. He discusses Redwood’s first major project, a system that utilizes more than 700 used EV battery packs that’s already the largest microgrid in North America. That system powers an AI data center at a Redwood facility in Sparks, Nevada. Further, Lankton explains the economics...
Michael Dunne, CEO and founder of advisory firm Dunne Insights, details how Chinese automotive startups like BYD asserted dominance over Detroit’s legacy carmakers. He explores Ford CEO Jim Farley’s effusive praise of Chinese automakers during the recent Aspen Ideas Festival and the difficulty legacy automakers have in keeping pace with clean-sheet tech startups. Finally, Dunne discusses a workaround that American consumers might utilize in purchasing Chinese EVs and avoiding high tarif...
Jeremy Bird, executive vice president of driver experience at Lyft, explains how the company is working with Mobileye, May Mobility and others to launch robotaxis in the near term. He explores the complementary and competitive aspects of relationships between ride-hailing networks and self-driving tech providers, and the pricing differences between human-driven and automated rides. Further, Bird addresses how Lyft’s human drivers feel about their jobs in an environment when self-driving...
Kathleen Rizk, senior director in J.D. Power’s global automotive practice, and Lisa Boor, senior manager in the firm’s mobility benchmarking unit, address consumer confusion in the realm of driver-assist systems. They detail their latest consumer surveys, which reveal motorists do not find many driver-assist features useful and are unsure if these systems benefit safety or convenience. Rizk and Boor explore what that means for automakers, which have invested billions developing automated driv...
From his time inside a robotaxi startup, Alex Roy knows what it really takes to build a business around self-driving technology. The venture-capital partner, business advisor, podcast host and founder of the Human Driving Association examines Tesla’s pending robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, and discusses whether robotaxis can become a profitable business. He further discusses the capability of Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” software, considers Waymo’s head start and details the four companies h...
The founder and co-director of MIT’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium, Bryan Reimer, says the auto industry has been distracted by the allure of highly automated driving and should place short-term focus on developing smarter collaborations between motorists and machines. Reimer further explores the nuances involved in distracted driving discussions and the business models associated with fully autonomous driving. Finally, as the Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium marks its 10th ann...
Bob Lee, the North American president of LG Energy Solution, details how the ongoing tariff turmoil has both helped and hindered the company’s long-term planning efforts. He details how the company’s decision to invest in a variety of battery chemistries, produced at eight different North American factories, has brought a growing number of interested customers, despite a more tepid electric vehicle market. Further, he discusses what happens next now that LG has bought General Motors’ stake in...
Steven Jenkins, vice president of technology strategy at Magna Electronics, discusses how partnerships with the likes of Nvidia spur progress and sophistication in driver-assistance systems. Further, he explains how suppliers remain central in the commercialization of vehicles while working with tech companies and traditional automakers. Finally, he offers firsthand observations on China’s automated-driving future, and shares thoughts on how Western carmakers can keep pace.
Grayson Brulte, founder and CEO of The Road to Autonomy, discusses recent developments in autonomous driving, including Sterling Anderson’s departure from Aurora for a new job at General Motors. Brulte details Aurora’s driverless launch and a short-seller report that has since detoured the self-driving truck startup. He further surveys Waymo’s progress, sizes up Tesla as a potential robotaxi rival and — finally — ponders a doomsday scenario for the city of Detroit.
The executive vice president and chief technology officer at Oshkosh Corp. details the company’s efforts to infuse automated driving technology into work vehicles with niche applications. Those applications range from airport baggage trolleys to garbage trucks — and even autonomous garbage cans that bring themselves to and from the curb. Iyengar explains the compelling business propositions behind those products. Further, she outlines Oshkosh’s defense business and discusses the state of the ...
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