Shift: A podcast about mobility

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 third of that is from driver-assistance products. Further, he discusses how AI will upend motorists’ experiences inside their vehicles — think KITT and Knight Rider come to life.Finally, Hannah Lutz and I mentioned last week’s 100th anniversary of Automotive News at the start of the podcast. You can find more information and a retrospective on a century’s worth of major automotive milestones here. 

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 complacency, which brings its own set of problems, and he discusses the gap between automotive marketing promises and the real-world reality of driver-assistance performance and limitations.

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 on the Uber and Lyft platforms for income.

Gabe Klein, former executive director of the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation under President Biden, delves into the implications of federal EV policy rollbacks on U.S. global competitiveness, especially against China. He highlights the urgent need for private investments in EV infrastructure and discusses the pressing challenges faced by American startups like Rivian and Lucid. Emphasizing the inevitability of EV adoption, Klein also explores innovative solutions like bi-directional charging to boost energy resilience.

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 hydrogen-fueled powertrains, and how the two might make a potent team for long-distance trucking.

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. Kelty, a Tesla veteran, also talks about his time building Tesla’s Gigafactory with JB Straubel and Elon Musk, and why it was so important that the upstart make its own battery cells.

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 innovations, how the company is using artificial intelligence in those efforts, and describes which will be tested in a fleet of Dodge Daytonas next year.

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 behind repurposing, and how it fits alongside Redwood’s traditional recycling business.

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 tariffs – buying lightly used vehicles from a Mexican dealership just across the border and then driving them into the U.S.

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 technology is becoming a reality in several American cities.