The Road to Autonomy

Jason Eichenholz, Co-Founder & CTO, Luminar joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss optoelectronics, lasers and seeing around corners.The conversation begins with Jason telling the story of how he first became interested in imaging systems and optoelectronics during a physics demonstration he witnessed in high school.I vividly remember the day that I saw that laser beam going across. And I was like OK, I want to do this and learn everything I can about lasers and optics and imaging and the things we could do. I thought there were all sorts of applications. Little did I know that [this event] would shape the direction of my career, that I would be using lasers to make autonomous vehicles safely operate on highways. – Jason EichenholzFast forward from high school to a career and Jason is following his lifelong passion by commercializing optics and photonics as Co-Founder & CTO of Luminar.From Day 1, we wanted the technology to be deployable, scalable, and we never sacrificed on the technology-based upon what was available. We made the technology work to enable the application. – Jason EichenholzLuminar has a commercial partnership with Volvo where Luminar LiDAR will be standard on Volvo’s to be announced all-new electric SUV and an upcoming autonomous driving subscription called Ride Pilot. This partnership validates Luminar’s technology and looks to usher in the future of transportation.I look at the automotive industry and I look at the ability to bring technology and innovation forward. The overall industry is going through a transformation. I think it is the single largest transformation to transportation since the Model T. – Jason EichenholzAt CES 2022, Luminar demonstrated its Proactive Safety system to great success. The system was able to detect a safety dummy crossing the road and came to a complete stop. In the other lane, a vehicle that was not equipped with the Proactive Safety system ran over the safety dummy. Grayson and Jason go on to discuss the system as to how it was able to detect the safety dummy.Proactive Safety is about preventing accidents, not mitigating or minimizing them. It’s about preventing them. – Jason EichenholzFor the last 25 years, Jason has served as a volunteer firefighter in Orange County, Florida. During his service, he has seen sights and heard sounds that stop and make you realize how truly dangerous the roads of America can be at any time of the day. Continuing the safety conversation, Jason discusses the safety benefits of LiDAR and how Luminar tests for edge cases in all conditions.Wrapping up the conversation, Jason shares a personal story about why autonomous vehicles are so important for society and what he is doing to enable the future of autonomy.Recorded on Tuesday, January 11, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Finch Fulton, Vice President of Policy and Strategy, Locomation joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the current state of autonomous trucking policy and why narratives shape reality.The conversation begins with Finch sharing his outlook for 2022 and what he is expecting to see in the autonomous trucking industry. The potential impact of the April 2021 Executive Order Establishing the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment on autonomous trucking.With rising inflation, labor politics, and a lack of truck drivers, Grayson and Finch discuss how autonomous trucking can shore up the supply chain and lower the costs of goods delivered to consumers. From an investment standpoint, investors in the public markets are starting to look at the autonomous trucking industry as an investment opportunity due to the technology’s ability to shore up the supply chain and its environmental benefits.The transportation sector as a whole represents 28% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and heavy-duty trucks account for 23% of that. – Finch FultonLocomation’s ARC (Autonomous Relay Convoy) technology will allow its customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22%. This reduction in greenhouse gases will have a positive environmental impact. The environmental benefits and the shoring up of the supply chain are two of the major benefits of autonomous trucking.When U.S. Labor Secretary Walsh was Mayor of Boston he fully embraced autonomous vehicles when he signed an executive order in 2016 welcoming autonomous vehicles to Boston. Over the last six years, has his stance on autonomy changed. Grayson and Finch discuss Secretary Walsh’s changing approach to autonomy and the impact these changing views might have on the autonomous trucking industry.The reality of what [truck drivers] face today is different than what the perceptions are. So we really have a lot to do to inform and educate [truck drivers] on what this technology can do to make their jobs better. – Finch FultonTo start this process, the industry has to build trust. The trust has to be built with truck drivers, politicians, regulators, and the public. Grayson floats the idea of the industry partnering with Disney to create a new Pixar movie about autonomous trucks that could help develop public trust in the technology. Finch fills in the storyline with real-world data.Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Finch discuss the positive economic impact that autonomous trucking will have on the U.S. economy.[The United States] lets innovators innovate and we do not start with no. – Finch FultonRecorded on Monday, January 3, 2022--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dustin Koehl, Senior Vice President Of Sales, U.S. Xpress joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss why U.S. Xpress is doubling down on innovation and what the future of the trucking industry looks like in the coming years.The conversation begins with Dustin sharing an overview of U.S. Xpress and why the company is constantly doubling down on innovation. From Variant which is reengineering the truck diver experience for the better to autonomous trucking which will shore up the chain, U.S. Xpress is constantly focused on the future of trucking.With a pending truck driver shortage of over 80,000 drivers, the trucking industry will change dramatically over the next 5 to 10 years. One of the major changes that will affect the industry is the focus on sustainability and what the industry will do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Our trucks travel over 600 million miles a year and over 1.2 million deliveries are made per year. It’s a great opportunity to be good stewards of our environment. – Dustin KoehlU.S. Xpress’ commitment to sustainability extends to the local community as the company gives back by rolling up its sleeves and participating in the Chattanooga Preparatory School mentor program. The Chatt Prep mentor program could eventually pave the way for students to enter the trucking industry.The trucking industry is currently in a phase of optimization to improve performance and dwell time.With a driver, they have a fourteen-hour day or an eleven-hour clock that they drive. Well, the industry average is about six and half hours is really all they drive each day. – Dustin KoehlA large part of the discrepancy in time on and driving is due to parking and congestion. With parking being a major issue for trucking, Grayson and Dustin go on to discuss the issue and what can be done to solve the issue and increase hours driven each day by a truck driver.Putting the pieces together, Grayson asks Dustin how the company is preparing for the future of autonomous trucking.U.S. Xpress became one of the first fleets if not the first fleet to say let’s be at the tip of the spear here. We have really pressed in from a regulatory space, we have pressed in from an operational playbook. – Dustin KoehlExpanding the conversation, Grayson and Dustin talk about how the industry at large is preparing for the future of autonomous trucking.States are also preparing to welcome autonomous trucking, but California is not allowing the technology to operate on public roads in the State. Brulte & Company and U.S. Xpress are both founding members of the California Alliance for Freight Innovation which is working to foster innovation and advancement in freight transportation.While the autonomous trucking technology is being developed in California, it is being deployed in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Florida. California is missing a large positive economic impact by not embracing autonomous trucking deployments as the State acts merely as Texas’ R&D lab as companies are actively deploying autonomous trucks in Texas.Autonomous trucking can spur on $111 billion in aggregate investment across the U.S. economy. – Dustin KoehlWrapping up the conversation, Dustin discusses U.S. Xpress’ 2022 technology investment plans.Recorded on Friday, December 17, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Russ Mitchell who covers the rapidly changing global auto industry (with special emphasis on California, including Tesla, electric vehicles, and driverless cars) at The Los Angeles Times once again joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss what is self-driving.The conversation begins with Grayson posing the question to Russ: are we in an electric vehicle bubble?Yes, we are in an EV bubble, but that’s part of a greater stock market bubble. – Russ MitchellThe conversation evolves into the electric vehicle charging market and if that market is in a bubble. The conclusion is yes. Staying on the economics theme and price performance of companies and markets, Russ discusses Tesla’s current public market valuation.A large portion of the general public believes that a Tesla is a self-driving car due to the vehicle’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) feature. This feature has created scenarios that are dangerous and have led to crashes as members of the public are overly confident that their Tesla will drive them home safely. While in fact, a Tesla is not a self-driving car (today).Regulators and politicians are beginning to take notice and ask questions about whether Tesla’s FSD system is a self-driving vehicle or if it’s a Level 2 ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems) that requires drivers to be fully engaged at all times.California Senate Transportation Committee Chair, Lena Gonzalez recently sent a letter to the CA DMV questing the CA DMV’s approval in allowing Tesla to operate vehicles with the FSD (Full Self-Driving) feature enabled on public roads in California.The letter from California State Senator Gonzalez raises the question does the CA DMV even has the legal authority to impose regulations on FSD since it’s technically an ADAS system and not a self-driving vehicle.As an example, there have been multiple police reports of Teslas with FSD engaged being involved in crashes and nothing happens from a regulatory standpoint. When Pony AI, which is authorized to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in California, got into a crash on October 28, 2021, the company had its testing permit suspended by the CA DMV.With multiple regulatory bodies vying to regulate autonomous vehicles in California, will passenger AV companies look to follow non-AV businesses by relocating to Texas and Florida? It’s possible, but Russ brings up the point that engineering talent is located in the Bay Area.Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Russ discuss what the AV industry will look like in California over the next 10 years and what consumers can expect in the market.People shouldn’t assume that any car for sale right now can drive itself because it can’t. – Russ MitchellRecorded on Monday, December 16, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Welch, Detroit Bureau Chief, Bloomberg joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss commercializing autonomous vehicles and the growth of the electric vehicle market in the United States.The conversation begins with David sharing his thoughts on the current state of the autonomous vehicle industry.Right now you are kind of seeing a race to get some sort of autonomous business to market. – David WelchAs autonomous vehicle companies prepare to commercialize their service, Grayson and David discuss the strategic advantages that Cruise has with GM/Honda and Argo AI has with Ford/VW. Cruise and Argo AI have the advantage of having a traditional automaker to help them build and test their AVs for safety requirements.As a competitor, Waymo does not have the traditional automaker relationship, but it does have Alphabet’s cash. The question is, how long will Alphabet continue to invest in Waymo without seeing a return on capital?I do not think they have unlimited time and unlimited money to do this anymore. The parent company, Alphabet has basically said that they do not want to forever pump billions of dollars into science projects. [Waymo] has to start earning its way over time. – David WelchAs AV companies prepare to commercialize their service, Grayson asks David why the industry has an obsession with launching in San Francisco as the City is hostile to the technology. As David explains, it all comes down to the engineering talent that is lives in and around the City.Cities are a great place to deploy autonomous vehicles if the City is welcoming to the technology and if the infrastructure is properly developed. Sports stadiums will have to update their infrastructure as well to ensure that the fan experience is convenient and frictionless.Today, fans do not like walking long distances to find an Uber or Lyft and in the future, they will want AVs to pick them up at the front gate without having to walk to a remote lot. The future of passenger autonomy will be defined by convenience and the overall passenger experience.The adoption and growth of electric vehicles will come down to convenience and how easy it is to charge the vehicle without downloading multiple apps.I do not think people want 27 apps for charging on their phone. – David WelchIs this a problem for Apple to solve? Could fixing the EV charging problem be one of the things that Apple is working on as part of Project Titan? Possibly, but most likely Project Titan will be than just EV charging.With a shortage of semiconductors and an unstable supply of minerals for electric vehicles, Grayson and David discuss what can be done to shore up the U.S. supply chain for EVs. While the supply chain is a work in progress, there are still questions around how the minerals for electric vehicles are mined and refined.Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and David compare and contrast GM’s and Ford’s vision for electric vehicles.Recorded on Monday, December 13, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dirk Smillie, Author, The Business of Tomorrow: The Visionary Life of Harry Guggenheim: From Aviation and Rocketry to the Creation of an Art Dynasty joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss Harry Guggenheim and the role he played helping to usher in the future of aviation.The conversation begins with Dirk discussing who Harry Guggenheim was and the role he played in transforming the Guggenheim family business. As Harry became established in business, he was appointed Ambassador to Cuba and had personal relations with five U.S. Presidents.As the co-owner of Newsday on Long Island, Harry’s political ideologies often clashed with those of his wife, co-owner, and publisher Alicia Patterson. When John F. Kennedy received the Democratic nomination for President, Newday endorsed Kennedy while Harry wrote an op-ed for the paper endorsing the Republican nominee Richard Nixon.This was not the first nor last time that Harry and Alicia would disagree on issues that were important to them. One such issue was an airfield on Long Island that Harry wanted to see transformed into an airport, while Alicia wanted it closed. Due to her savvy move in having Newsday endorse John F. Kennedy for President, she was able to persuade then-President Kennedy to shut down the airport over a private lunch.Aviation was deeply personal to Harry as he viewed it as the business of tomorrow. His relationships in the emerging industry ran deep as he developed a life-long friendship with Aviator Charles Lindbergh. Harry and Charles met before his famous Spirit of St. Louis flight at Mitchell Field on Long Island.Capalitizing on the momentous occasion of the historical flight, Harry organized the Spirit of St. Louis Tour to develop public trust that flying in a plane was safe. The tour had 82 stops in 48 states over the course of 3 months.The idea [of the tour] was to prove that the flight from New York to Paris was not a fluke. It was a function of the fact, generally speaking, were reliable and safe. Lindbergh sought to prove that by landing at a different city every day at exactly two-o’clock and then he would go through the same kind of protocols where he would make a speech and then maybe there would be a dinner and a parade and then he would get back in the plane and got to the next city. – Dirk SmillieAs the relationship between Harry and Lindbergh matured over the years through countless days at Falaise (Harry’s estate on the Gold Coast of Long Island) and through innumerable letters, Lindbergh introduced Harry to Robert Goddard. Robert was a professor studying rockets in Massachusetts who would later go on to become known as “America’s Father of the Space Age”. It was the introduction by Lindbergh to Harry that paved the way for the rocket age, as the Daniel Guggenheim Fund funded Goddard’s work.One could make the assumption that if it were not for the visionary Harry Guggenheim, aviation could possibly have been slower to take off and liquid-cooled rockets might have been developed years later.It was the kind of spark plugs that Harry put into place that accelerated the sector. – Dirk SmillieThe other accelerator of aviation was the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics which funded programs focused on aviation engineering and education. The fund had a limited term as it was set up to accelerate the emerging aviation industry.The idea was, put the spark plugs in place and then let industry take over. – Dirk SmillieWrapping up the conversation, Dirk and Grayson discuss what they think will be the businesses of the future.Recorded on Monday, December 6, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ellen Carey, Global Head of Sustainability, Circulor joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the global supply chain and the importance of tracking commodities in real-time.The conversation begins with Ellen and Grayson discussing the sustainability of the global supply chain.We are thinking about our supply chains at more levels and more deeply than we have ever before. – Ellen CareyExpanding the supply chain conversation from Christmas toys to electric vehicles, Grayson asks Ellen when do we get to the point where there is clear transparency on how the raw earth minerals for EVs are mined and eventually refined? Now.In terms of the market dynamics, customers are demanding that their purchase power goes towards supporting responsible sourcing, sound businesses. – Ellen CareyThe market is past the point of goals and press releases to the point where consumers and investors are demanding to see proof of sustainability on a quarterly basis.At Circulor we like to think of ourselves as the pioneers of proof. – Ellen CareyThis is exactly what Circulor is doing as they are tracking the physical flow of materials in real-time from source to manufacturing. Real-time tracking allows corporations and companies to report on ESG standards and to make smarter decisions.For the tracking of the raw material to be traced, Circulor creates a digital twin of the commodity/material and then traces that digital twin through the industrial process. Looking back at the history of the global commodities market, the move by Circulor to be the pioneers of proof was ground-breaking.Circulor’s system and approach are based on trust and transparency.It has to be a secure system that grows trust and has immutable records of the supply chain so that it enables participation. It enables trust. – Ellen CareyTrafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity trading houses has engaged Circulor to provide traceability and CO2 tracking for their nickel and cobalt trading division.By providing transparency of its cobalt and nickel supply chains and by tracking, dynamically tracking its CO2 emissions throughout, it provides a new value proposition to its downstream customers. – Ellen CareyTransparency is the future. Transparency is coming to all industries across the global economy due to customer and investor demand.Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Ellen discuss the future of sustainability.Recorded on Tuesday, November 16, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris Anderson, President, Sala Consulting joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss the Vegas Experience and why mobility companies can offer unique immersive autonomous vehicle experiences only in Vegas.The conversation begins with Chris discussing the current state of the Las Vegas Economy.It’s recovering quickly. It’s going really well. If you go down to the Strip on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, Sunday, it is packed as it ever was. – Chris AndersonOver the years, Vegas has constantly reinvented itself and introduced new trends that would be exported to the world. One of those trends is experiences. Chris explains why the trend of immersive experiences truly began in Vegas when Jay Sarno developed Caesars Palace in 1966.[Caesars Palace] was really a project that took Las Vegas from being just gambling halls and extremely gaming-focused to a more of an experiential resort. – Chris AndersonThe trend of immersive experiences accelerated with Steve Wynn opening the Bellagio Hotel in 1998. The opening of the Bellagio also transformed the image of Vegas from midnight buffets and cheap rooms to a luxury destination.With Vegas emerging as a hub of mobility with Aptiv, The Boring Company, Lyft, Motional, Nuro, Uber, and Zoox, all operating in Vegas, Grayson, and Chris discuss why Las Vegas.We have a very welcoming community that is very welcome to innovation and new people, new companies. Our regulatory framework reflects that. – Chris AndersonIt’s not only the community and the regulatory framework it’s the Vegas brand.It’s the ultimate branding opportunity. If you launch in Las Vegas, you are going to get hundreds of millions, if not billions of impressions around the world, because Las Vegas is such a destination. – Chris AndersonWhile a majority of the revenues generated in Las Vegas today are non-gaming revenues, online gaming is growing at a rapid pace. With the growth of online gaming and Motional and Zoox preparing to offer autonomous vehicle services for paying passengers, Grayson asks Chris when bespoke online gambling experiences will be offered in resort branded autonomous vehicles.There is no doubt that that is going to happen. Obviously, we have great online sports betting opportunities right now. Sometime in the future, I can see full internet gaming being an option. So, when those products are ready for it and the autonomous vehicle industry is ready for it, there is no doubt in my mind that that will happen. – Chris AndersonAutonomous vehicles companies that will benefit from this trend the most, are companies that have chosen to build a bespoke vehicle from the ground up.Autonomous vehicles that are not retrofitted will enable unique partnerships with gaming companies due to the design and the user experience in the vehicle. The immersive user experience will expand to sports teams such as the Las Vegas Raiders and the Golden Knights.Wrapping up the conversation, Grayson and Chris discuss Casinos and their role in the growth of online gaming and how in-autonomous vehicle gamming could expand globally.Recorded on Tuesday, November 11, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matthew Lipka, Head Of Policy, Nuro and Bert Kaufman, Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Zoox joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss why autonomy and electrification make the future of mobility and delivery possible.The conversation begins with Matthew and Bert discussing what the SAVE Coalition is and why the coalition was founded. The idea for SAVE was originally hatched at an autonomous vehicle conference in late 2017 and further formulated during a coffee meeting at Philz Coffee in San Mateo, CA between Matthew and Bert.Both Nuro and Zoox had and still have a unique point of view on autonomy. Both companies along with Local Motors decided not to retrofit a vehicle for autonomy and instead choose to build purpose-built vehicles from the ground up.We got a unique point of view because we made the deliberate decision to not retrofit. – Bert KaufmanWhen companies choose to build a bespoke vehicle, it creates new opportunities but also unique policy challenges such as updating the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).If you are rethinking the car then you are not going to be building an internal combustion engine. You are not going to be building a vehicle that is designed just for protecting that those inside. It is also going to be thinking about those outside of the vehicle. There are a lot of opportunities this creates both in the robotaxi as well in the delivery space. – Matthew LipkaAs companies such as Zoox prepare to commercialize their robotaxi services, they are working to properly set expectations.The first to know is that it is going to be a very shallow ramp into society for these fully autonomous vehicles to start driving around on public roads. – Bert KaufmanTrust is the other key component to ensuring the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles. First responders have to trust that they can safely engage with the vehicle. The public has to trust that the vehicle will get them to and from their destination safely. Once trust is developed and the public’s expectations are set, robotaxis and autonomous vehicle delivery services can scale.One of the most effective ways to build trust is through education. SAVE is working to educate policymakers and the public about the benefits of bespoke electric autonomous vehicles. One of the best ways to educate the public and to build trust is through interactive autonomous vehicle demo days where individuals can experience the technology first-hand.People who have interacted with an autonomous vehicle, more than 75% of them say they trust autonomous vehicles, I would use it again. But people who haven’t, the number is much lower. – Matthew LipkaAutonomy and electrification are enabling designers and engineers to completely reimagine what is possible. This is exactly what Nuro and Zoox are accomplishing through design.There are all sorts of new designs that may be necessary or possible created by autonomy. We are just at the beginning of learning that. – Matthew LipkaIn order for this to happen, policies and regulations have to be updated. Policymakers and regulators have to look past what is considered normal and to a future that prioritizes safety innovations.These new technologies offer the promise of new safety innovations for our roadways. – Bert KaufmanWrapping up the conversation, Matthew, Bert, and Grayson discuss the future of autonomy.Recorded on Monday, November 15, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Dean Bushey, Vice President, Global Social Innovation Business, Hitachi joined Grayson Brulte on The Road To Autonomy Podcast to discuss an all-electric vehicle future.The conversation begins with Dean discussing his 25-year career in the United States Air Force and his first-hand experience with unmanned aircraft.When you fly a drone, you actually get combat hours. – Dr. Dean BusheyFrom military applications of unmanned aircraft to civilian applications, Grayson asks Dean his thoughts on the consumer drone market. It’s an exciting market with a lot of use cases.If you look at a drone it’s a platform that holds a sensor and the sensor is what makes it sexy. Whether it’s a camera used in photography, a camera used in mapping. A sensor used to measure the depth of water at a mining facility. – Dr. Dean BusheyShifting the conversation to Hitachi, Grayson asks Dean how Hitachi is evolving as a business with a strong focus on an ESG future. As part of this focus, Hitachi is focused on the societal conversion from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.In order to achieve a successful conversion to electric vehicles, companies need a plan. A plan is needed for the vehicles, energy grids, maintenance solutions, and infrastructure. Dean breaks down what a plan looks like and what is needed to start the electric vehicle planning process. The key to the planning process is optimization.Currently, there is no optimized way to pay for electric vehicle charging when you travel unless you drive a Tesla as there is a standardized payment solution.When there is a standardized payment solution it will have to be:Convenient, seamless, and secure. – Dr. Dean BusheyStaying on the security theme, Grayson asks Dean what can be done to secure an electric vehicle when the vehicle is connected to the energy grid and charging.We need to recognize that it is a critical infrastructure piece. If you are plugging into the grid and you are operating a vehicle based on your charge down the highway it becomes a national safety concern. – Dr. Dean BusheyAs society moves towards an all-electric vehicle, Grayson and Dean discuss major obstacles that might slow down the adoption of electric vehicles. To make an all-electric future a reality, it has to be convenient.A big concern, one that you are already seeing — supply chain disruption is going to be a big one. – Dr. Dean BusheySupply chain disruptions extend from the chip shortage to the mineral supply chain. Similar to the electric vehicle industry, the autonomous vehicle industry is facing similar supply chain issues. The future of electrification and autonomy will overlap in the coming years as the technology and hardware mature.The emerging industries of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles will create new high-paying jobs. Grayson and Dean discuss the new jobs that will be created as autonomous vehicles and trucks scale.In the future, these vehicles will be electric and they will have to be optimally charged and integrated into the fleet. The question is how? Dean discusses how delivery fleets can optimize their charging times based on delivery routes.Wrapping up the conversation, Dean shares his thoughts on the mobility trends he sees emerging in 2022.Recorded on Tuesday, November 9, 2021--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™. The company has two businesses: The Road to Autonomy Indices, with Standard and Poor’s Dow Jones Indices as the custom calculation agent; Media, which includes The Road to Autonomy and Autonomy Economy podcasts as well as This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.