Interchange Recharged

Within the next decade, automakers will invest up to $300 billion in electric models, according to a recent tally from Reuters. These automakers are also spending billions more on autonomy to compliment those investments. It could result in 21 million new electric cars, trucks and SUVs on the roads.A lot of that activity is happening in China. But we’re also starting to see new investments in EV manufacturing in the U.S. For example, VW, Ford and Chevy are collectively putting over $2 billion into new or upgraded factories to produce EVs with autonomous functions.So with all this money sloshing around, who’s doing what? And are any definitive leaders emerging?On this week's Interchange podcast, we'll look at the competitive landscape for EV manufacturing.Additional resources:GTM Squared: Major Auto Brands Unveil Their New Year’s EV ResolutionsGTM Squared: The Rise of China’s World-Leading EV MarketReuters: Analysis of 29 Global Automakers’ EV SpendingBloomberg: Ford Invests $900 Million to Build Electric Vehicles in MichiganCNBC: VW Boosts Electric Vehicle Production by 50%Quartz: Are Automakers Overestimating Consumer Demand for EVs?Support for this podcast comes from PG&E. Did you know that 20 percent of EV drivers in the U.S. are in PG&E’s service area in Northern California? PG&E is helping to electrify corporate fleet vehicles. Get in touch with PG&E’s EV specialists to find out how you can take your transportation fleet electric.We're also sponsored by Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We asked on a recent Interchange episode: how are we going to manage all this distributed energy on the grid?This week, we’re asking: how to we manage all this centralized renewable energy hitting the grid?The answer is both simpler and more complex. We need to build a lot more transmission, yes. But getting that transmission in place is one of the hardest and most controversial pieces of decarbonizing the electric grid.There’s plenty of disagreement about how exactly we clean up the grid. Whatever your preferred plan, it probably needs to include way more transmission infrastructure -- like $600 billion worth by 2050.This week, we’re going to look at why lots of transmission is needed, how much is actually needed, and if we can even build it. What are the current models telling us?Recommended reading:New York Times: Missouri Regulators Approve Midwest Wind Energy Power LineUtility Dive: Electrification could drive $600B in transmission spending by 2050GTM: Siemens Buys Transmission Line to Take Iowa Wind to the Eastern GridSupport for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're on spring break this week. So we're offering a replay of an earlier episode -- it's all about pivots.Did you know that Nokia started out as a paper mill in Finland? Or that Nintendo once made instant rice? Many of the world's leading companies start out in radically different markets.Cleantech is the same. Sales cycles are often slow, technologies don't work as planned, and customer needs are constantly evolving. In the tumultuous world of energy, companies pivot all the time.On this week's episode of The Interchange, we celebrate the pivot.We'll look back throughout history and choose the most successful and unsuccessful pivots of all time. What do they tell us about how to succeed in this market?Recommended reading:Forbes: 14 Famous Business PivotsWall Street Journal: How a Florida Utility Became the Global King of Green PowerLA Times: How SunEdison Went From Wall Street Star to BankruptcyVestas: The History of Vestas Wind TurbinesGTM: Hard Lessons From the Algae Biofuel BubbleSubscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, the history and future of Tesla Energy.Back in 2006, Elon Musk posted a manifesto outlining his vision for a high-end sports car that would push unit volume and lower costs. It also included hints about an integrated company that will sell solar and batteries alongside cars.More than a dozen years later, that vision is being put to the test. After launching a distributed and grid-scale battery business, acquiring SolarCity and then launching a half-baked solar roof, Tesla’s energy services division faces a questionable future.Battery delays are a problem, the company is no longer a major solar player, solar roof production is feeble, and Tesla is moving entirely to online sales.So what exactly is Tesla Energy?We’re going to revisit the chronology and explore where it’s all headed.Recommended reading:Bloomberg: Did Elon Musk Forget About Buffalo?Listen to our earlier episode with Tesla’s grid storage architect, Mateo Jaramillo.Fast Company: The Real Story Behind Elon Musk’s $2.6 Billion Acquisition Of SolarCity GTM: What Happens to Tesla’s Solar Business as Retail Stores Close and Sales Go Online?The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are going to double on the U.S. grid by 2023, according to our researchers at Wood Mackenzie. By then, we’ll likely have somewhere around 100 gigawatts of flexible capacity — made up of distributed solar, combined heat and power, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, and battery storage. Those technologies alone could amount to the current bulk power system in Texas.Today, utilities are less likely to see those DERs purely as a threat. But figuring out how to manage all those resources is still a monumental challenge.Now that we’re squarely in the middle of this doubling of DERs, how do we get markets right? This is an age-old question that many are working to answer — and we think it’s a good time revisit it.We’re joined by Andy Lubershane, senior director of research at Energy Impact Partners, for a wide-ranging discussion about DERs from the utility perspective: the state of DERs, how they fit into utility operations, and whether better pricing can actually help.This conversation was adapted from Andy’s article on the subject. Read his analysis here.The Interchange is supported by Wunder Capital. Don’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Shayle and Stephen stumble into career counseling. There are now 3.4 million people in America working in clean energy, spanning across transportation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental services and many other related areas.It’s a big number. But it also means there are tens of millions of others with the right skills or the desire who haven’t yet joined the advanced energy economy.We’ve gotten numerous career questions from listeners — some starting careers, some later in careers, and some in consumer tech looking to find a more meaningful job addressing climate change. This week, we’re going to address some of them, using our own experience and drawing from others.We’ll hear from Nicole, an anonymous manager in tech who is looking for a way into the field.We’ll hear from Astrid Atkinson, a former senior Google engineer who quit her job to start an energy software company.We’ll hear from Mark Hughes, an engineer at Sila Nanotechnologies, who offers some advice on finding your unique voice.And we’ll speak with Liz Dalton, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, about the many pathways into the industry.Looking for some more resources? Here are a few we mentioned on the show:Greentech Media’s newslettersThe Clean Energy Leadership InstituteJobs With ImpactWomen in Cleantech and SustainabilityYoung Professionals in EnergyA list of renewable energy trade groupsDon’t forget to listen to our careers episode produced with Wunder Capital. We talked with Wunder CTO Dave Riess about the framework he used to completely change his career path into solar — eventually co-founding a successful company. Listen to that episode in the Interchange feed or find it here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we present an original podcast episode, brought to you by Wunder Capital. This is the third part of our three-part series produced with Wunder.In this episode, we’ll hear the story of Dave Riess, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Wunder.Well before co-founding Wunder, Dave found himself in a tricky spot. Even after building a successful career in software development, he was uninspired: “I’m working really hard solving these problems and fundamentally I'm helping big brands spend money more effectively on Facebook. And, nobody cares about that, including me.”So Dave created a framework for evaluating his career path. And it took him in an entirely new direction into solar.“The framework is quite simple. If I’m going to characterize myself by the work that I do, then why would I not work on the most important problem?”Dave eventually landed on energy, education and health care as the main problems to solve. “Energy, in my opinion, is the obvious winner of those three. You can have a fantastic education system and a fantastic health care system, but if you don’t have a planet to live on it’s not a very bright future.”So how did he establish the framework? And how did he make the decisions that ultimately led him to co-found Wunder? This week, we present an episode about first principles: we cover the value of the beginner’s mind; 10x problem solving; and how to design a career, a product, and a startup team with intention.Listen to our other episodes produced with Wunder:Meet the Women Doing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Solar DealsHow a Solar Bromance Cracked the Code for Commercial SolarWunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a long downturn, cleantech venture capital investments are back on the upswing.According to year-end numbers from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, venture and private equity investments into the sector grew 127 percent in 2018 over the previous year, amounting to $9.2 billion. That is the highest total since 2010.Years after venture capital plummeted in 2012 — when investors ran from clean technologies after getting burned by bad bets — we’re seeing a new wave of activity. Oil majors, billionaires and a wide range of corporations are getting in on the action. And there’s a wide range of new funds focusing on both software- and hardware-specific startups.So, is this spurt of activity different from the last one? For one, fewer people are using the term "cleantech."This week, we're joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner at Congruent Ventures. He and our co-host Shayle Kann, a senior VP of research and strategy at Energy Impact Partners, will talk about the changing landscape for venture capital. In this episode, we'll address:What went wrong for VCs in the first cleantech boom? What should we have learned from that wave? Should we still call it "cleantech"? Are we in a new cleantech VC renaissance? What's the current state of supply/demand for capital for a cleantech startup? How much does it vary by stage?What to make of a few new classes of major entrants: utilities, oil majors, incubators/accelerators, and long-horizon investors.How should the risk of a looming recession impact this market?Where to funds get their capital, and what is the appetite for LPs to deploy capital into the space?Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Desperation has taken hold in climate policy. People are so anxious to do something meaningful, allies are fighting against each other over the solutions. Is the right approach a Green New Deal to re-engineer the energy and labor markets with renewable energy? Or is it better to just price carbon in order to allow all kinds of technologies and carbon mitigation efforts to flourish?We need both, says Hal Harvey, the CEO of Energy Innovation. In this episode, we’ll get beyond the tribalism and look at the suite of policies that will decarbonize the economy quickly and cost-effectively.We’re going to talk about Hal’s new book, “Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy.”Topics we’ll cover on the podcast:The Green New Deal and the reliance on renewables as a climate strategy. How far does the wind-solar-water plan get us? The debate about the effectiveness and elegance of a carbon tax. Is it really the end-all solution?The most under-appreciated climate policy.The role of nuclear and seasonal storage.Hal’s reaction to our choices for the deep decarbonization draft picks.Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the trend toward electrification speeds up, what type of company will dominate the market?We're hosting a cage match to find out.On this week's episode of The Interchange, we pit utilities, oil & gas majors, mobility providers and consumer tech companies against one another. We're throwing them inside a voice-activated, electrified cage to see who will emerge as the energy company of the future.Throughout this episode, we are trying to answer a straightforward-yet-complicated question: who is best positioned to win the long-term power game?To set up the match, we’re going to profile each competitor and look at the evidence for their competitive edge.Then, we’ll ring the bell. We’ll address the following: How might each competitor win? What areas will they be strongest in? What are their weaknesses? What will their dominance look like?We’ll finish with some post-match color commentary and make our picks for the winner.Don't forget to give The Interchange a rating and creative review on Apple podcasts for your chance to win a yearly subscription to GTM Squared!Support for this podcast comes from Wunder Capital. Wunder Capital is the leading commercial solar financing company in the United States. Click here to find out how Wunder Capital can help you finance your next commercial solar project.Subscribe to The Interchange podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you find your audio content. Or integrate our RSS feed into the app of your choice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.