The Amped EV Podcast

First Student isn't messing around when it comes to its ambitions for school bus electrification – 30,000 school buses by 2035. At first glance, it may seem a bit pie-in-the-sky, but Kevin Matthews, head of electrification at First Student, assures that school buses may be the area that makes the most sense when it comes to fleet electrification opportunities in the U.S."That number was not a 'throw darts at a dart board approach.' We also believe this [growth will be] a little bit shallower than a hockey stick, where when you get to around the year 2029 or 2030 we'll see a real uptick in the percentage of buses that become electric," Matthews says. "The yellow school bus has been the redheaded stepchild of the automotive industry for a long, long time. But as we transitioned to electrification, we've actually moved toward the tip of the spear."In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we discuss how mandates for electric school buses in various states line up with the natural replacement cycle of school buses, the dual approaches districts adopt in electrifying their fleets, and shed light on the timelines and complexities involved in transitioning to electric school buses.

Electric vehicle charging and grid management are both critical factors when it comes to handling the increased adoption rates of EVs. The fragmented nature of the electric utility industry mixed with the necessity for the intelligent management of EV charging on a hyperlocal level isn't an easy hurdle to cross – and it's hard to do it alone.The good news is that the industry is intimately aware of this, and partnerships are cropping up to intersect well-designed hardware with advanced grid management. The partnership between Wallbox and Weavegrid is one of those.WeaveGrid, a software company that enables rapid electric vehicle adoption on the electric grid, and Wallbox, a leading provider of electric vehicle charging solutions, recently announced their joint effort to expand access to utility-managed charging programs for North American Wallbox owners, beginning with Xcel Energy’s Charging Perks Program in Colorado, where Xcel Energy currently serves around 1.3 million residential customers."There's a very academic approach one can take to this sort of problem: It's looking at vehicles purely as batteries on wheels and drivers as just sort of an inconvenient human element to this problem of balancing out the batteries on those vehicles," says Yakov Berenshteyn, director, automotive & charging partnerships, Weavegrid. "I think that's a perspective that Wallbox and Weavegrid both have, and it's part of that shared value that led to this partnership. We need to make sure that this is a good driver experience and that's going to be manifested in this partnership."In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we discuss the need for renewable energy generation, the benefits of managing EV charging intelligently at a hyperlocal level, and how the partnership between Wallbox and Weavegrid is making strides in Colorado's growing EV market.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

Electric vehicles have been steadily rising in popularity in the US for around a decade now, so surely consumers have had plenty of time to research and understand the differences in aspects like maintenance costs, range and government incentives, right?...Right?The truth is, there are plenty of misconceptions about the current state of EVs, a topic that has recently been researched in-depth by CDK Global in the company's recently published whitepaper "EV Confusion Carries On.""When we talk about EVs in general as an industry, we know a lot of things are true and we talk about them on shows like this, on LinkedIn, all those things. But we have to understand the American consumer is not following any of that," says Dave Thomas, director of content marketing and industry analyst at CDK Global. "What they mostly see about EVs is what's in the mass media or from friends in their networks. And the one thing they all know is EVs are more expensive overall. They cost more to buy. Tesla started all off as a luxury brand when it started. That's kind of core to their belief."As we know, it's a core benefit of an EV that maintenance costs are lower, there are no oil changes and brakes should last much longer," he continues. "All those kinds of things should pay off for the consumer in the end. But, EV shoppers ranked maintenance as being more expensive, so it's all over the place." On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we speak with Thomas about EV maintenance, EV tax credits and the effect that social networks have on one's knowledge and interest in EVs. The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

The U.S. energy grid is a complicated, dynamic system involving a vast infrastructure, power generation, transmission, distribution, substations, and so much more. Thus, it would be easy to assume that creating your own, personal microgrid – something that fleets across the country are beginning to experiment with – would be a hair-pulling, blood-boiling process.The truth is that establishing a microgrid can be an intimidating experience, but doing so can be well worth it for fleets making the transition from diesel- to electric-powered vehicles. Setting up a microgrid allows the fleet to create a localized energy systems that offer control over power generation, involving components like batteries, solar panels, and software solutions. Microgrids integrate batteries, solar panels, and generators with software solutions, granting control over start-stop functions, scheduling and historical records."To call something a microgrid can make it kind of daunting, but in reality, it's just the way you get power onto your property," says Terry O'Day, the chief operating officer and co-founder of InCharge Energy, a company that works with fleets to establish microgrids and renewable energy charging capabilities. "We can get you in business with a microgrid in nine months, and that will solve the problem of fueling on site."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we speak with O'Day about the benefits of microgrids for fleet managers, such as providing fueling for EVs on-site and allowing for better control over charging schedules. We discuss the key factors fleet owners should consider when evaluating the feasibility of integrating microgrids, including fleet size, power needs, and available real estate.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

Autonomous vehicles tend to be electrified using powerful batteries because they are covered in sensors and require the latest computer hardware to interpret the onboard data in near-real time. This draws a ton of electric power, and an all-electric battery pack can not only provide this power, but keep the stream much more steady and stable when compared to an ICE engine.These sensors work together to provide a comprehensive view of the vehicle's surroundings, enabling it to detect and respond to various objects, obstacles, road conditions, and traffic situations. But, what if you eliminated the lanes these vehicles use to navigate completely?Low-speed autonomous vehicles are expected to navigate areas without lanes with short stopping distances. This makes them suitable for various environments like resorts, hospitals, university campuses, industrial campuses, retirement villages, gated communities, airports and more.On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, we speak with Avinoam Barak, the CEO of Carteav, a company that develops autonomous low-speed electric vehicles. During our conversation, he dives into the technology Carteav uses – like sensor fusion, which combines lidar, radar, and cameras to enhance the vehicle's perception and safety. We also discuss the navigational accuracy of these vehicles as well how to address the infrastructure challenges that come with managing these vehicles.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

Think back to the year you first received your driver's license. What did you do? Maybe driving to school or across town to a friend's house was your idea of excitement. Maybe you even braved the highway, holding your breath on the onramp until safely merged into traffic.When multiple-time Guinness World Record holder Rainer Zietlow first received his license in 1988, one of his first missions was to conquer the Sahara Desert via a six-week trek."My friend told me about his father doing a tour through the Sahara and I said, 'Hey, let me buy a car and I join you,' Zietlow said. "[There were] no signs, with nothing support you. Some people got stuck in the sand, some even would drive by without getting enough water. That was really an adventure."It was the beginning of a lifelong passion for pushing the limits of what we believe can be accomplished in a vehicle, and has evolved into Zietlow crushing over a dozen world records. Today, he mainly focuses on beating records while driving electric vehicles."The interesting thing is that since 2020, you cannot ask anyone about combustion engine projects. They will only accept EV projects," he says. "My last combustion engine project was in 2018." Zietlow is also the owner of Challenge4, a company based in Germany that specializes in planning and executing these record-breaking expeditions.On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Zietlow delves into the challenges of long-distance electric vehicle driving, like range anxiety and the need for charging infrastructure. He also touches on the unique conditions he faced in Alaska, including extremely low temperatures and the importance of his tires when it comes to winter driving.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

Collisions happen, and even when no one is hurt, they're a pain. Working with insurance, getting your car worked on, potentially being without a car for a while... none of it is fun. With an EV, this entire process can be even more problematic."I think [drivers] need to know that if they're involved in an accident in their EV, they need to have a whole different set of expectations around what's going to go on as it relates to repairing that vehicle and bringing it back to pre-loss condition," says Ryan Mandell, the director of claims performance at Mitchell. "We say all the time that these vehicles are not simply just an electrified version of the internal combustion engine vehicle. These are really something that are wholly different because of the complete re-engineering of all the propulsion systems and the way that power is managed, and that very significantly changes the requirements for collision repair. And we can't simply just use the same kind of labor calculations to determine the number of days it's going to take to repair."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Mandell walks us through some of the latest data surrounding EV collision work, the lack of available data and standardized repair formulas for EVs, and how the economics of EVs affect repair costs.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

If we're talking about electric vehicles, I'll give it about five minutes before we hit the ol' "range" topic. Typically, the conversation swings into range anxiety territory, and this makes talking about easy ways to extend the driver's range so much fun. Instead of focusing on "range anxiety," we can shift our focus to "range serenity."To this end, many drivers may be surprised at the effect their choice of tires has on their maximum expected range. The good news is that tire manufacturers have been focusing on low-rolling-resistance tires – which naturally enhance a vehicle's range – for decades now."I did a study and I compared roughly 50 tires on the same vehicle, a very popular electric vehicle. We saw a difference in range from the best tire to the worst tire of about 14%," says Russell Shepherd, technical communications director at Michelin. "Typically, in particular with Michelin, the best range you're going to get is the tire that was originally on the vehicle. But going from there, there are offers outside of the OE fitment that can provide different balances of performances, differences in terms of longevity, differences in terms of maybe you've got a summer fitment and you want to go to an all-season or winter fitment, and those choices can impact your range because of the tires."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Shepherd gets into the nitty-gritty on how much a driver's tire choice affects an EV's range, what kind of mileage drivers can expect out of EV tires, and the different high-tech ways that tire manufacturers employ to dampen road noise in the cabin.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

EV manufacturers depend on a variety of resources to maximize the range, performance and charging capabilities of an all-electric powertrain. Among these is tungsten, a rare metal that, even in tiny doses, is essential to meet the expectations of today's electric vehicle."In relation to EVs, you use [tungsten] in the looms. Tungsten gas is pumped into every semiconductor and you have about 2,000 semiconductors in each EV," says Lewis Black, president and CEO of Almonty Industries, a global mining company focused on tungsten mining. "In Korea, which is now at the forefront of batteries for the latest generation of batteries, you use it on the anodes and the cathodes. You use a nano-size fraction of tungsten so you can charge the battery much quicker and it doesn't combust, which, of course, is one of those things that obviously many EV owners are concerned about. So it has an increasing role within EVs as well as many other technology centers.On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Black explains why EV manufacturers depend on tungsten and other resources, where manufacturers source their tungsten, and where he sees the demand curve heading for this metal.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

The words "tires" and "sustainable" aren't typically muttered in the same breath, but this reputation is slowly shifting for the better. New materials and recycling processes being implemented by many tire manufacturers are helping to make a tire's life more environmentally friendly, but Champtires, a seller of used tires, says we can do better, as the company says many tires with decent tread remaining are still ending up in landfills."Anyone who is making purchase decisions with an environmentally conscious mindset should really consider used tires because high-quality used tires with 90%, 80% of the tire's tread life left is a great way to prevent that tire from ending up in a landfill," says Shilo Rea, chief marketing officer for Champtires. "So you're reusing a product that has a lot of use left in it."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Rea explains why EV drivers might want to look into used tires, the company's used tire inspection process and how used tires can be a safe option for drivers.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com

Car dealers know that being pro-sustainability is good for business, but increasing sustainability efforts in the showroom doesn't have to be just about what powertrain you're selling. Instead of pushing EV sales, some dealers have found success with their sustainable-conscious clientele by promising to offset the carbon emissions offset by the vehicle being sold – no matter what energy source the vehicle uses to move."Our partners in automotive do the drive carbon neutral program. So essentially, what we're looking to do is obviously offset carbon emissions, and that's by planting 75 trees per vehicle that they sell, or for enrollment that they get in the program," says Matt Kallstrom, founder and CEO of the Carbon Offset Company. "Why 75 trees? When you take the averages of how far someone drives in a year, how many years someone owns their vehicle, and the average miles per gallon that a vehicle has, that completely offsets the entire ownership of the vehicle. So in a sense, it's like the dealer's cars aren't even hitting the road from an emission standpoint."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Kallstrom explains how carbon offsetting works, why he believes car dealers are the perfect partners to help plant trees and how his mission connects with EV drivers.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

Like most ICE vehicle components out there, EV components – everything from batteries to inverters – have a shelf life. When the end of life arrives, in some cases the best thing to do might be to recycle that component down to its raw materials. However, many of these EV components that are failing or degrading over time can be sustainably remanufactured to either extend their life or give them an entirely new life.TerrePower, a division of BBB Industries, takes this approach, with the goal of keeping EVs on the road as long as possible by taking a used EV part and sustainably manufacturing it for a new life, thereby avoiding recycling and disposal."When you think of sustainable manufacturing – we'll use an EV battery for example – your goal is to use as much of that part as possible. So if you look at a battery, you've got the battery pack. Within that pack are modules, and within those modules are cells. If a cell has an issue, we can look at the cell level and identify what that component failure is, fix it, we identify that issue," says Stephen Albert, director of business development and global EV product strategy for TerrePower at BBB Industries. "From there, we can increase the performance for the module that goes back into the pack that goes into the vehicle."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Albert helps us understand the perks of sustainable manufacturing, and explains how the process can bring a failing EV battery back into the market so it's functioning a full power again, or in some cases, functioning even better than when it was new.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

Renting a car can be tricky for reasons you might not expect. If you don't own a car, it can be hard getting used to remembering your keys or being mindful of where you parked. Even if you do own a car, you don't own THIS car, and working all the new gizmos and gadgets can be just as challenging as navigating the open road.UFODrive, a car rental company that began in Europe in 2018, saw these challenges and found a way to turn them into advantages in the marketplace. The key, according to the company's Chief Commercial Officer Edmund Read, was to turn to EVs. Today, the company has an established presence in Europe and is growing steadily in the U.S., and nearly exclusively rents EVs to its customers."What we are able to do for customers today using modern EV platforms is way beyond what you can do with a normal ICE vehicle," Read says. "We monitor people's charge level. If you go below a certain level, we will engage to make sure you're aware of that. We'll also help book you into the nearest charge point. And then my favorite one, which happens nearly every day is, somebody returns the car, they plug it back in, they close their contract, the car locks and they walk away, but an hour later they're having lunch and they think, 'Ah, I've left my wallet or my shades or my passport or my shoes in the car.' They can text us and we can pop the trunk and let them back into the car to find the bits that they need."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Read joins us to walk us through how electrification is allowing the rental industry to turn expectations on its head. We discuss the perks EVs have unlocked in the car rental industry, how partnerships with rideshare companies like Uber are driving overall EV adoption, and the most promising EV technologies coming down the pike. The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

Hearing a lot about electric school buses lately? That's no coincidence. Last year, the EPA announced the Clean School Bus Program, offering a $5 billion investment for low-emission school buses over the next five years, and the EPA says it will make another $1 billion available for clean school buses in the 2023 fiscal year. Yes, electric school buses and the infrastructure to support them are a massive investment, but school districts around the country with an appetite for electrification know there may be no better time to take the plunge.Many of those school districts are relying on their OEM partnerships to make the transition from diesel to electric. According to Arjun Nair, manager of electric vehicle programs at Thomas Built Buses, a successful electric bus roll-out takes much more than district stakeholders being knowledgeable about just the vehicles themselves."For a customer to go through this transition, we definitely want to help the customer understand what they have to consider before they get along on this journey. We try to educate the customer about the product and about what are the other factors they need to be successful, then we have our resources, our experts within the company, who would help them evaluate their needs more specifically and suggest the options that they have to mitigate any of the challenges that they see," Nair says.On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Nair joins us to explain more of the reasons electric buses are catching on, the advantages of electric school bus adoption, identifying the best routes for school bus electrification and why designing an electric school bus is a challenge like no other.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

For new players in the EV manufacturing space, success depends on finding ways to stand out. That means designing your charging stations with aesthetics top of mind and including software out of the box to integrate with future EV innovations. It also means doubling down on using high-quality, automotive-grade hardware to ensure the reliability of the product is as close to 100% as possible. This is exactly the strategy Autel Energy took when Autel entered the EV charging market, according to John Thomas, COO of Autel Energy North America – and he says it's working.Of course, Thomas says, Autel Energy began manufacturing EV chargers with a leg up in the marketplace thanks to its pedigree of creating diagnostic tools to connect and communicate with vehicles on a deeply critical level. As a result, Thomas says he knows better than anyone how important reliability is when it comes to the automotive industry."We build our own software and we build our own hardware, which includes all the way down to the board level. Those green boards with all the connectivity and the wires and the microchips on them? We actually do that ourselves and we do that to OEM standards," Thomas says. "That helps position ourselves strongly in the marketplace. Now, in the EV charging market people are talking about 97% [reliability] and how great that would be, but if your phone doesn't work 3% of the time, you're not a happy camper at the end of the day. We believe the charging event has to be similar. When we go to a gas pump, the gas pump works all the time, and a charger also has to do the same. So, that's our target. We're going for 100%."On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Thomas joins us to explain what it takes to stand out in a crowded market, what EV charging station customers really want, and why Autel Energy is investing so much in futureproofing technology integration like Plug and Charge and bi-directional charging.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

Tires wear faster on EVs as a result of the added weight of the vehicle and the near-instant torque provided by the all-electric drivetrain. Can tiremakers really combat this by tweaking the compounding or materials and putting an EV stamp on the sidewall of the tire?The short answer: Yes! The long answer: Yes... but maybe we're asking the wrong question.Tires are complicated and offer endless varieties of combinations of cost, performance and longevity for all styles of vehicles and applications. On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Tire Review Editor Maddie Winer explains the attributes of a good EV tire, how much training tire shops need to handle EVs, and if the EV tire stamp is all marketing or if there's more to it.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

It's easy to read the headlines on social media and pontificate on where the market is headed in the comment sections of all your best friends' posts, but if you really want to develop a solid understanding it's best to talk directly with those making waves in the industry. There's no better place to do that than on the tradeshow floor.Sustainability and electrification seem to be all the rage in the trucking industry today, but it isn't always about swapping a diesel truck for an electric one. Instead, for America's truck fleets it's oftentimes more about a reduction in emissions and the journey to eventually hitting zero. Companies focusing on truck maintenance are approaching zero-emissions differently than OEMs designing new EV offerings, and telematics offerers have their own focus.In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Fleet Equipment Editor Jason Morgan talks us through his electric truck market expectations based on what he's seen at this year's heavy- and medium-duty truck-centric tradeshows.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

Ponder this, non-EV owners: Would you accept an EV as your next vehicle if, no matter your budget, you knew you'd always have the range you needed without ever having to plug in to charge up?If you ask Jeremy McCool, founder and CEO of HEVO, this promise will be the catalyst that will convert the masses to EV owners."The one thing that wireless does better than anything else in terms of accelerating EV adoption is that it can provide the ability for drivers to drive and charge at the same time. And this year... we will be demonstrating in the Detroit area highway speed tests with 200-kilowatt wireless dynamic charging. So an [electric] vehicle will be driving at highway speeds, collecting charge as it goes," McCool says.In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, McCool talks us through reasons why fleets are switching to wireless EV charging, how wireless charging works and why tollways that charge your car while you're driving might be the next evolution of U.S. driveable infrastructure.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

If you're an EV owner, you're going to want to own a home charging station too. However, about a third of the U.S. population rented the space where they lived in 2021. That complicates things and slows EV adoption rates across the board.But where there are problems, so too are opportunities. On this week's show, we speak with the CEO of Refuel Electric Vehicle Solutions, a company that is helping the multifamily sector navigate the ins and outs of EV infrastructure and the advantages that can come with installing even just one charger."If you figure on average, even if the rent is $1,500 a month, that's $18,000 a year in rent that that one tenant brings you because they came to your apartment property. They pay you $18,000 a year because you have a charging station," says David Aaronson, the CEO of Refuel Electric Vehicle Solutions. "Now, the value of that $18,000 at a 5% cap rate is $300,000, $350,000. So you've created that much value with that one tenant."In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Aaronson talks us through reasons why it might be a good idea to have charging available for tenants, how to know if your property is ready to install EV charging, how far in advance to start the project and how to future-proof your charging infrastructure.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.comAutel Energy: www.autelenergy.com

As EV adoption grows, so too does the basic understanding of how these vehicles function. While it may still seem bonkers, EVs are managing to take us from Point A to Point B using only a few dozen moving parts, in stark contrast to the tens of thousands you may find in vehicles with internal combustion engines. As you could imagine, this ultimately leads to fewer opportunities for something to go wrong, thus saving the owner a few dollars on repairs and maintenance over the lifetime of the vehicle.However, throwing a wrench into this penny-pinching dream is the fact that the technology found in today's EVs is fairly new and generally more expensive to repair."In your typical ICE vehicle, you may have 20,000 individual and moving parts. In an EV vehicle, you may have 20 to 50 moving parts. The failure rate for those parts may be much smaller, but the cost to repair those parts is much, much higher right now," says Joshua Sonnier, vice president of product and strategy realization at insurance provider Assurant. "As with any new technology in its infancy, the cost to repair is much higher. So, from our standpoint, it actually gets you or the consumer to about the same risk profile."In this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Sonnier talks us through reasons why an EV might find themselves at their local auto repair shop, as well as how often, and also discusses factors that drivers have to weigh beyond the sticker price when it comes to overall vehicle value.The Buzz: www.thebuzzevnews.com