Listen to “AAH #612 – Why Commercial EVs Are Catching On Faster Than Electric Cars” on Spreaker.

LIVE Thursdays at 3 PM ET!
GUESTS:Tony Sutton, Sr. VP Product Development, Navistar
Jason Gies, VP eMobility Business Development, Navistar
Bill Van Amburg, Sustainability Expert & Former VP of Calstart

EVs make a lot of sense for commercial fleets. Fuel and maintenance are cheaper. The total cost of ownership is lower. The battery can be sized to a specific route to eliminate range anxiety. Thanks to gobs of torque, the trucks can keep up with traffic. We talk to three experts about why electric semis and busses are catching on faster than electric cars.

PANEL:
John McElroy, Autoline.tv

Follow us on social media:

Thanks to our Sponsor: Bridgestone & MEDC 

 Thanks to our partners gardnerweb.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding our show!

Subscribe to the free podcast:

Listen to “AAH #611 – Autonomous Cars: Transformative Tech or BS Vaporware?” on Spreaker.

LIVE Thursdays at 3 PM ET!

GUEST:
Mike Ramsey, Gartner Research

TOPICS:
3:17 Will AVs happen?
11:20 Tesla FSD
18:30 Why make AVs, are they economical?
23:00 Electrification
28:50 Commercial EVs, GM BrightDrop
31:15 Dodge Going EV
39:35 Are consumers interested in EVs?
51:00 Consumers upset with charging

PANEL:
Gary Vasilash, on Automotive
John McElroy, Autoline.tv

Follow us on social media:

Thanks to our Sponsor: Bridgestone & MEDC 

 Thanks to our partners gardnerweb.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding our show!

Subscribe to the free podcast:

Listen to “AAH #610 – Sandy Munro Takes The Auto Industry By Storm” on Spreaker.

GUEST:
Sandy Munro, Vehicle Teardown Specialist

TOPICS:
00:00 How Sandy’s Work Life Started
04:35 How Munro Live Started
19:54 When the EV Revolution Will Happen
30:00 The Chinese Are Coming!
38:35 Tesla Cost Comparison
57:50 The Future of EV Structures

PANEL:
Gary Vasilash, on Automotive
John McElroy, Autoline.tv

Follow us on social media:

Thanks to our Sponsor: Bridgestone & MEDC 

 Thanks to our partners gardnerweb.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding our show!

Subscribe to the free podcast:

Mitsubishi Electric is developing a UX for mid-priced cars that offers features which even the most expensive luxury cars don’t have. Mark Rokoski, the head of advanced engineering, takes us on a tour of what the system can do.

Total systems engineering is the big buzz phrase in the auto industry right now. Jeff Stout, the executive director of advanced engineering at Yanfeng, explains that was the key to their development of a yoke steering wheel.

When Continental spun off its powertrain business as a stand alone company, the perception was that Continental was getting rid of its low-growth, low tech business. But Sandy Stojkovski, the CEO of Vitesco North America, says business is booming, and that most of their new orders are with electrified and pure electric powertrains. With a nod to the company’s roots, she describes Vitesco as a 150 year old startup.

Covid shutdowns, chip shortages, sky high inflation and a war. How does a supplier company figure out where the auto industry is headed? Eric Wilds, the CMO and Sales vp at Magna, says the industry and economy is in such turmoil that they have to constantly update their forecasts. He explains how they use those forecasts to drive their business, and he says the second half of 2022 looks better than the first half.

Hydrogen fuel cells look increasingly promising for long haul trucks, and even trains and ships. But fuel cell costs still need to come down. Tom Stephenson, chairman and CEO of Pajarito Powder, explains how their black powder catalyst can dramatically slash the amount of platinum that needs to be used in fuel cells. He says Pajarito is working with a number of automakers and that business is booming.

Who ever thought that manufacturing engineers would use Oculus goggles to design better factories? Matt Myrand, the director of advanced manufacturing and supply chain at the supplier Forvia, says augmented reality and virtual reality are key enablers for creating digital twins of the manufacturing process. He explains the benefits of doing it this way, and about what it takes for a company to adopt this kind of technology.

Legacy automakers are scrambling to redesign their electronic architectures for centralized computing, something that Tesla accomplished years ago. Centralized computing is a critical component of the software-defined car, and the supplier Continental is deep into developing a system it will sell to automakers. Arthur Brown, an industrial designer at Continental, shows us some of the things that automakers can do with their vehicles once they’ve made the transition to centralized computing.