Autonocast
246 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★ - 105 ratingsA weekly show discussing the future of transportation Alex Roy, Edward Niedermeyer, and Kirsten Korosec
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Episodes
#302: Picking Through The EV Startup Dumpster Fire
April 02, 2024 20:31 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBThese are rough times for the once-hot world of EV startups, as the hype fades and reality sets in. On this week's episode the gang sifts through the rubble, finding a little good news (Lucid raised cash!) but a lot of challenges for everyone from Fisker to Tesla.
#301: Adam Woodworth of Wing
March 26, 2024 14:47 - 56 minutes - 52 MBIncubated inside Google's X project and now deploying in the real world, Wing is an aerial drone delivery company with some interesting parallels to another of Alphabet's "other bets" the gang regularly discuses: Waymo. But, as CEO Adam Woodworth explains, Wing also provides a very different look at how one engineers automated mobility services at a system level, focused more on creating "lego pieces" than specific vehicles. He joins the show to explain Wing's strategy, the unique challenges ...
#300: The Best of Times, and The Worst of Times
March 14, 2024 16:03 - 44 seconds - 41 MBFor our 300th episode, the gang sorts through the highs and lows of some of the recent mobility tech news. Rivian's reveal of two new forthcoming models shows that there's still a lot of excitement in EVs, even as tough challenges remain on the path to financial viability. Meanwhile, the decade-long $10 billion Apple Car saga is officially over, taking the dream of a self-driving car with it, but Waymo's robotaxi service continues to expand proving driving automation is still very real.
#299: Scott Keogh of Scout
March 05, 2024 15:41 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBThough the flood of EV startups may have receded, the Volkswagen-backed Scout electric truck and SUV startup is as bullish about the opportunity to start a new automaker as ever. Scout CEO Scott Keogh joins the show to explain the opportunity Scout is pursuing, and how the firm plans to stand out in a competitive EV market and rebuild an iconic American brand.
#298: Talkin' EV Rental Blues
February 16, 2024 01:34 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBEd's recent misadventure renting an electric car prompts the gang to share similar experiences, and consider what they might mean for EV adoption. Plus: discussion of Ford's new affordable EV skunkworks, Cruise's CPUC penalty hearing and Waymo's cyclist collision in San Francisco.
#297: Post-CES Recovery
February 01, 2024 17:18 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBAfter another epic CES party, The Autonocats nurse their hangovers and discuss the show's big trends and buzzwords. Join the first discussion episode of 2024, as the gang puzzles through mysteries like why CES is less consumer-facing than ever, what a "software defined vehicle" is, and why Large Language Models are so promising and yet so disappointing in the automotive space.
#296: Year End Predictions
December 27, 2023 21:36 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MBWith another year coming to a close and another world famous Autonocast CES Party looming, the gang gathers for the annual tradition of exchanging predictions about mobility tech in the new year. Grab a holiday beverage, pull out your crystal ball and enjoy an Autonocast tradition like no other.
#295: Confessions of a Car Market Data Nerd with Tyson Jominy
December 14, 2023 22:06 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBWith all the furor over the state of electric vehicle sales in the US, Ed and Kirsten called on Tyson Jominy, VP of data and analytics for JD Power, to find out what exactly is happening with the US auto market. The resulting conversation covers the state of EV sales, the role of charging, the profits that are paying for it all, the not-unrelated disappearance of affordable cars, and more.
#294: Cruise After Kyle
December 07, 2023 21:11 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBWith Cruise founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigning, the gang gathers to hash out what it means for the Level 4 robotaxi company, its corporate parent General Motors, and the sector at large.
#293: Levi Conlow of Lectric eBikes
November 24, 2023 15:51 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MBCan you name an EV maker with rock-solid profits and consistent self-funded growth that has never taken a dollar of VC investment? If you've never heard of Lectric eBikes you're probably struggling to answer that question, but with founder and CEO Levi Conlow joining this week's show for an illuminating discussion, that struggle is now over.
#292: Cybertruck Yuks and Cruise Blues
November 14, 2023 15:11 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBThe gang gathers to have a few laughs about the Tesla Cybertruck, before digging into the more serious topic of the situation at Cruise and the issues it has created for the entire autonomous vehicle sector.
#291: Cruise In Crisis
October 26, 2023 14:14 - 47.5 MBWith Cruise banned from testing and rides in the state of California following new revelations that the firm hid details of a pedestrian crash from the DMV, the gang huddles with Trucks VC partner and the godfather of The Autonocast Reilly Brennan to talk through the issues, impacts and path forward from another sector-defining incident. Plus, Reilly opens his mobility jobs board to startups in the sector.
#290: Labor On Strike, Automation Under Fire
October 23, 2023 16:40 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBWith Cruise under NHTSA investigation and a new survey showing lower than ever public confidence in AVs, the gang discusses AV skepticism, its causes, cures, and the (not coincidental?) resurgence of the UAW, among other topics.
#289: Way Mo Cruise news and is the Mercedes L2 or L3, w/Philip Koopman?
October 09, 2023 03:51 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBAlex and Kirsten riff on the most recent robotaxi news before they head off to the Up Summit in Dallas. With Ed gone this week, the duo turned to CMU professor, engineer and autonomous vehicle safety expert Philip Koopman swung by to discuss the hands-off, eyes-off Mercedes Drive Pilot system and whether it's really Level 3 automation.
#288 Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall
September 28, 2023 19:28 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBThe gang catches up after a variety of trips, including to the Florida AV Summit. We take a final look back at summer (and some mobility shenanigans and news) now that fall is here.
#287: The Battle of San Francisco
August 29, 2023 13:31 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBThe long-simmering culture war between the high tech sector and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area erupted around the issue of AVs in recent weeks, as the CPUC voted to expand robotaxi operations in the city. The gang gathers this week to discuss the public outcry, the CPUC hearing, the subsequent crashes and other issues, and where it all fits into the AV sector's big picture.
#286: It's Not The Heat, It's The Mobility
August 10, 2023 14:59 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBWith Alex and Kirsten sweating it out in Arizona (and Ed staying smugly cool in Oregon), a conversation about cars and air conditioning leads the gang across a wide range of mobility topics. From the upcoming AV showdown at California's CPUC and Tesla's Rangegate scandal to ChargePoint's decision to actually monitor EV chargers (imagine!), stay cool by staying on top of the hottest issues in mobility tech.
#285: Dr Matt Markel of Spartan Radar
August 03, 2023 15:02 - 46 minutes - 43 MBWith Alex off on a secret mobility mission, Kirsten and Ed sit down with Matt Markel of the up-and-coming sensing startup Spartan Radar. The ensuing discussion covers the evolving automotive sensor market, the relationship between radar hardware and software, the unique needs of commercial vehicles, and much more.
#284: A Midsummer News Discussion
July 27, 2023 16:43 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBThere's been a whole lot of news since the gang last gathered to discuss the latest in mobility tech, so this week's episode is jam packed with topics. From the AV STEP program, Robotaxi PR and the evolution of the autonomous trucking space to the death of VanMoof, the renewal of the Chevy Bolt and the mystery of who might license Tesla's FSD, you'll find it all in the latest Autonocast discussion.
#283: Roadtrippin' In An Electric Lightship
July 13, 2023 14:28 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBLightship co-founders Toby Kraus and Ben Parker join part of our Autonocast crew to talk RVs and road trippin', EVs and how their experiences at Tesla influenced their new adventure.
#282: Romain Clement of Teleo
June 29, 2023 20:30 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBAfter visiting Teleo's headquarters, Alex Roy insisted co-founder and CEO Romain Clement come on the show. And our conversation, which covers the highs and lows of the AV industry and Clement's new startup, doesn't disappoint.
#281: NACS To The Future
June 22, 2023 14:56 - 55 minutes - 50.7 MBWith Ed's take on the future of Tesla's North American Charging Standard from the last discussion episode aging extremely poorly, the gang reopens the discussion about EV charging. Plus, Kirsten's participation in a new show on MAX, Alex's visit to a carless community, an odd automated driving survey and much more.
#280: AV Wars and EV Peace
June 14, 2023 15:45 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBSan Francisco is ground zero for a lot of the conflicts between the tech sector and society at large, and increasingly that conflict is centering on AVs. This week the gang discusses the technical and social factors at play, and how some AV developer strategies are shifting. Plus, a discussion of Ford's new deal to use Tesla Superchargers.
#279 Ali Javidan of Range Energy
June 06, 2023 15:23 - 49 minutes - 45.2 MBTrucking has emerged as one of the most interesting and important areas for electrification, and Google/Tesla/Zoox veteran (and all-round car nut) Ali Javidan is in the thick of things with his startup Range Energy. Ali joins the show to explain Range's electrified trailer concept and discuss his wide-ranging and, frankly, incredibly cool experiences at the intersection of mobility and technology.
#278: EV Affordability, Sleeping at 60 MPH and Other Modern Mobility Issues
April 27, 2023 15:22 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBWith the Shanghai auto show underway, Alex, Kirsten and Ed get together to discuss the latest developments and couldn't help but notice some contrasts. In another classic discussion episode the gang breaks down contrasts in EV affordability and the role of driving automation in private vehicles.
#277: Matt Teske of Chargeway
April 13, 2023 16:23 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBThe transition to electric vehicles isn't simply a matter of technology, education and communication are critical aspects of developing new markets for all kinds of mobility. This week Matt Teske of Chargeway joins the show to discuss how his company is solving the communication challenges in EV charging, and share his thoughts on the other challenges in the space.
#276: Sad By Southwest (and Beyond)
March 30, 2023 14:47 - 49 minutes - 44.9 MBEd, Kirsten and Alex recently attended the South By Southwest festival, and though the event itself is recovering nicely from the pandemic, the tech sector presence is remarkably dialed back. This is especially noticeable in mobility tech, where the almost nonexistent presence of big future-focused vehicle and technology plays reflects broader challenges in the sector. The gang breaks down some of these issues and the possible roads ahead in another classic discussion episode.
#275 The state of AV trucks with Don Burnette of Kodiak Robotics
March 23, 2023 17:09 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBDon Burnette comes back to The Autonocast to give the gang an update on autonomous trucking, the broader AV industry and where his startup fits in.
#274 Up, up and away with Cyrus Sigari of UP Partners
March 15, 2023 15:14 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MBThe gang chats with Cyrus Sigari, whose VC firm Up Partners recently released its first Moving World Report that dissects the macro and micro trends in mobility. The conversation goes far beyond the report though. Learn how up Partners got its start, where Cyrus is investing and what Up Partners-backed startup impressed Alex.
#273 Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua on changing how we talk about automated driving
February 16, 2023 19:45 - 58 minutes - 53.6 MBMobileye founder, president and CEO Amnon Shashua has proposed a new way to describe automated driving. Alex, Ed and Kirsten dig into the topic and make a few new discoveries along the way.
#272: Kelly Funkhouser on Consumer Reports Active Driving Assistance Ranking
February 09, 2023 15:48 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBConsumer Reports vehicle technology maven and friend of the show Kelly Funkhouser returns to discuss CR's new rankings for active driver assistance systems, the class of systems pioneered by Tesla Autopilot. Kelly explains why the ranking emphasizes collaborative and driver monitoring features over automation, how critical these elements are to the safety of such systems, where her work ranking them will go from here, and much more.
#271: CES Meets Science Fiction
January 26, 2023 17:53 - 48 minutes - 44 MBFor CES this year, Ed decided to do something a little different, and invited two science fiction authors to check out the show, attend the infamous Autonocast party, and get an up-close look at the world of mobility tech. In this very special episode, Ed is joined by Patrick McGinty and Joanne McNeil for a lively and wide-ranging discussion of two SciFi authors' impressions from the heart of darkness of the mobility technology hype machine.
#270: Jan Becker of Apex AI
January 20, 2023 17:22 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBThe story of automated driving often starts with the DARPA Challenges of 2004-07, but for Jan Becker the story starts well before then. On this week's episode, the AV pioneer and founder of Apex AI describes his own path through a tumultuous decade for the technology, and how the class he teaches at Stanford has evolved to include a variety of critical non-technical lessons.
#269: CES mobility nirvana or bust
January 13, 2023 18:10 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBThe gang makes its annual trek to Las Vegas to check out and experience all of the mobility wonders at CES 2023. Does it impress? Blow our minds? Find out in this next episode when Alex, Ed and Kirsten rehash the highs and lows of the world's biggest auto, I mean, tech trade show.
#268: Francesca Favarò on Waymo's Human Fatigue Risk Managment Framework
December 15, 2022 17:28 - 55 minutes - 51.2 MBHow has emerging driving automation technology been developed and tested on public roads with such a relatively strong safety record? As Waymo's Francesca Favarò explains on this week's episode it has everything to do with the humans behind the wheel. On this week's episode we dive into how Waymo manages fatigue risk among safety operators, why it's so important, and where the landscape of safety standards has room to improve.
#267: The News From La La Land
November 23, 2022 18:16 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBThe crew was just back together for a week of car shows and conferences in Los Angeles, where they witnessed and discussed the very latest in mobility technology. On this week's episode they discuss it all, from the new Waymo/Zeekr robotaxi and Toyota's sleek new Prius to a retrofuturist Hyundai concept, an electric Fiat and much more.
#266: It's the end of the self-driving car as we know it, and I feel fine
November 14, 2022 17:11 - 59 minutes - 54.6 MBThe gang is back to discuss some big changes in the AV world. Argo AI has shut down and Alex Roy is now adjusting back to life out of the corporate lane. Is the AV industry dead as some suggest? Is ADAS the future worth betting on? Find out on this spicy episode of the Autonocast.
#265: Lawyers on Demand with Jazz Hampton of TurnSignl
November 10, 2022 16:05 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBEver been pulled over by police and wish you had a dashcam and a lawyer in the passenger seat? Ever been in a car crash and wondered what to do? Meet TurnSignl - a new app that provides attorneys-on-demand via live video. Co-Founder Jazz Hampton joins Kirsten and Alex to discuss de-escalation, and how TurnSignl helps make drivers, passengers and law enforcement safer.
#264: Paris Marx on Silicon Valley's Road To Nowhere
October 12, 2022 18:06 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBParis Marx is the host of the popular tech-critical podcast Tech Won't Save Us, and the author of a new book called Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation. On this week's episode, Paris joins Kirsten and Ed for a wide-ranging look at his left-of-center critiques of the mobility technology sector and his arguments for a less "solutionist" approach to our mobility challenges.
#263: There Are No Accidents with Jessie Singer
September 23, 2022 14:40 - 58 minutes - 53.7 MBJessie Singer's new book There Are No Accidents has made a big splash in the road safety community and far beyond, by interrogating a word that makes most people nod and move on: "accident." On this week's episode, Singer joins Alex, Kirsten and Ed to discuss how she became fascinated with the word, the realities she discovered behind its bland façade, and what it all means.
#262: Home On The Range
September 12, 2022 16:10 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBEd's latest essay in the New York Times, calling into question the big batteries that have made EVs so popular among American consumers (who can afford them), sparks a wide-ranging discussion in this week's episode. From battery supply chains to American consumer preferences, and from road trips to home charging, almost every aspect of electrification comes together in this fascinating conversation.
#261: The Ranty (Mostly) Tesla Discussion Episode
August 26, 2022 20:40 - 52 minutes - 47.6 MBSometimes you just need to let it out and rant a bit, and this week Alex, Kirsten and Ed are each feeling the need to screed. Unsurprisingly a lot of this week's ranting is about Tesla, but the gang also found room in their harts to get ranty about other topics as well. So skip the blood pressure medication, eat something spicy and get ready to breath a little fire as we get fed up with things that really need to change in the mobility tech space.
#260: The Non-Tesla Discussion Episode
August 19, 2022 15:57 - 46 minutes - 42.4 MBThe gang is back with another classic discussion episode, riffing on the latest and most important news from the mobility technology space. There's just one rule this time: no talking about Tesla. We'll be focusing on that topic next time around.
#259: Stefan Seltz-Axmacher of Polymath and Josh Hartung of Sygnal
August 11, 2022 16:52 - 1 hour - 58.9 MBWith the AV sector entering another round of turmoil, we are joined by two founders who lost their startups during previous periods of turmoil but have come back to the driving automation space. Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, who previously appeared on The Autonocast following the failure of Starsky Robotics is back to discuss Polymath Robotics, his new "plug and play" off-road autonomy company. He is joined by Josh Hartung, formerly of Polysync and now the founder of Sygnal, which is Polymath's part...
#258: Nat Beuse of Aurora on "The S Word"
July 29, 2022 15:20 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBSafety is one of the words that comes up most often in discussions about autonomous vehicles, but not many people really understand what the word even means in this complex context. Nat Beuse, VP of Safety at Aurora not only has "the s word" in his job title, its a topic he's thought about and worked on for decades. He joins this week's show for a wide-ranging discussion of safety, public trust, and autonomous vehicles.
#257: Sam Anthony
July 21, 2022 14:18 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBSam Anthony made his first appearance on The Autonocast in 2018, when we discussed his pedestrian intent/prediction startup Perceptive Automata in episode #98. He returns to the show for his first interview since the collapse of that company to reflect on his experience as a founder in the space, his concerns about the sector more broadly, and much more.
#256: Bibhrajit Halder of SafeAI
July 12, 2022 20:00 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBBibhrajit Halder has been a part of the autonomous driving technology space since the days of the DARPA Challenges, working on Caterpillar's early automated mining trucks before working at Ford, Apple and elsewhere. Now the founder and CEO of SafeAI, Halder is back in the mining and heavy construction space and he joins the show to share his perspective on the state of autonomous heavy equipment and its similarities and differences with the more widely-followed robotaxi space.
#255: NHTSA's New Crash Data and the Challenge of Automated Driving Regulation
June 30, 2022 15:06 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBThe gang is back together, and finally has the time to discuss NHTSA's release of ADAS and ADS crash data. We discuss the data, what it does and doesn't mean, and explore the challenges and paths forward for automated driving regulation.
#254: Gary Marcus
June 22, 2022 20:51 - 54 minutes - 50 MBWith the internet abuzz over the firing of a Google engineer who came to believe that a company chatbot is sentient, AI expert and deep learning skeptic Gary Marcus joins Alex and Ed to discuss the state of artificial intelligence. From LaMDA's alleged sentience and the problems with the Turing Test to Gary's proposed bet with Elon Musk and AI's role in autonomous driving, this wide-ranging conversation explores some of the most interesting topics in technology.
#253: Avinash Rugoobur of Arrival
June 02, 2022 16:01 - 1 hour - 61.3 MBArrival is a fascinating company on the brink of putting its bold vision of "microfactory"-made vans, busses and ridehailing vehicles into production. President Avinash Rugoobur joins the show to explain how its 10,000 unit/year microfactories upend the established rules of automaking, how the products enable these dramatic changes and where the whole thing is headed.