Startup Series: Electrifying Trucking with Flipturn

Aug 15, 2024

Katie Siegel, CEO and Co-founder of Flipturn, shares her journey from Samsara to leading an EV charging management platform for fleets. They discuss California's Advanced Clean Fleets law, emphasizing its nationwide implications for zero-emission vehicle adoption. The conversation highlights the challenges fleet managers face in integrating efficient charging, power procurement, and energy management into their operations. They also touch on the innovative role of technology in transitioning to electrification, especially for last mile delivery.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

Electrifying the Trucking Industry

01:34 • 11min

Navigating California's Electrification Challenges for Trucking Fleets

12:17 • 2min

California's Trucking Legislation and the Future of Electric Vehicles

14:07 • 3min

Electrifying Fleet Operations with FlipTurn

17:17 • 15min

Exploring the Role of Hydrogen in Long-Haul Trucking

32:14 • 2min

Transforming the Trucking Industry: Growth and Innovation

33:46 • 2min

Katie Siegel is CEO and Co-founder at Flipturn. Flipturn is an EV charging management platform for fleets and we're diving into the electrification of trucking.

At the beginning of 2024, the Advanced Clean Fleets law came into effect in California creating a number of mandates for zero emissions vehicle adoption in the trucking space. And the law impacts any fleet doing business in California, so there are nationwide implications.

Cody and Katie dig into this as well as the impacts on various types of trucks and routes. As fleet managers begin to anticipate compliance, they're realizing that understanding and managing charging will need to become a core competency for them. All of a sudden, things like power procurement and efficient energy usage will become a huge part of the equation for running a business that moves goods around. Flipturn raised a seed round in 2023 from Accel and Katie brings hands-on experience into the company after having previously grown her career through IPO at Samsara, a leader in telematics and Internet of Things, connectivity services for trucking and logistics.

In this episode, we cover:

[01:48]: Flipturn’s mission to electrify trucking and enhance fleet management
[02:28]: Katie's journey from Samsara to founding Flipturn
[03:39]: From telematics to EV infrastructure innovation
[05:14]: Transportation's role in pollution and the shift to electrification
[07:19]: Focus on electrifying last mile delivery and drayage
[10:25]: Differences in EV charging needs for delivery vans vs. drayage trucks
[17:23]: Flipturn’s software for efficient fleet charging
[19:00]: Strategies for setting up fleet charging stations
[22:21]: Challenges and solutions in vehicle electrification
[27:32]: Integrating truck OEMs with charging networks
[30:06]: How fleets choose charging software
[33:23]: Hydrogen vehicles in new zero-emissions law
[35:12]: Evolving challenges in the trucking industry

Episode recorded on Jun 27, 2024 (Published on Aug 15, 2024)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant