Driving with Dunne

BYD is an electric vehicle powerhouse. Already dominant globally in buses and trucks, BYD is now chasing Tesla for world leadership in battery-powered electric vehicles. The Shenzhen-based company will produce more than 3 million electric vehicles in 2023. Many of those cars and SUVs will find their way to global markets including Thailand, Mexico, Germany, the UK, Australia and Japan. For the casual observer, BYD might appear to be an overnight sensation. But this is not that case. BYD is a 30-year old company that persevered through lots of twists and turns before finally gaining traction in the late 2010s. In this Driving With Dunne episode, I have a conversation with my producer, Chris Donovan, to recount how BYD grew from an unknown battery maker for cellphones in the 1990s into a global champion in electrics today. What do we know about BYD's founder, Wang Chuanfu. How soon will we see BYD cars on American roads? BYD - which stands for Build Your Dreams - is a rich and captivating story, one that will give you a fresh appreciation for new-found Chinese might and confidence. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

It is no secret that technology is taking over our cars. But what is stunning is the speed and magnitude of the onslaught. Some of it looks amazing. Other stuff feels downright invasive. Hello biometrics and autonomous driving. Where did you come from, phantom braking. And did I agree to those driver monitoring cameras capturing my every move? Could I have some privacy back please? Overall, it feels like automakers and tech companies are creating miniature frankensteins inside our cars. And there is no turning back. How to make sense of it all? Our special guest today is Kathy Rizk, Senior Director at JD Power. Kathy knows the technologies and how consumers feel about them. Let's listen to her takes on the current relationship between the car owners and the young tech frankensteins.#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Think of batteries for electric cars as the most important American industrial movement since WWII. Investors are pouring more than $100 billion into new battery plants across the country, from South Carolina to Georgia, from Ohio to Michigan. There's new battery factories coming up in Kansas, Texas and Arizona, too. These battery manufacturing sites are supported by a growing pack of new companies hell-bent on building out America's battery supply chains - minerals, processing and recycling. America's explosion in battery manufacturing is an urgent response to the competitive threats posed by a dominant China. There are national security concerns. There are worries about economic dependence on an increasingly hostile adversary. Our special guest this week is Chris Berry, founder, House Mountain Partners, a research and advisory firm based in Washington DC. Chris is a highly respected expert on batteries and global battery supply chains. Listen in as he paints a picture of America's transportation future, one dominated by electric vehicles and the batteries that power them. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

You may not know it yet but there is a great battle underway for your eyes and for your ears inside the car. That battle is taking place between two powerful competitors. In this corner, we have current hardware and software giants like Apple and Google. Most of us are already addicted to their weapons - smartphones. In that corner, we have giant global automakers who are racing to build up their software capabilities. Automakers like Mercedes-Benz envision a future world where you are so impressed with your digital experience inside the car - navigation, entertainment, communication – that you forget all about your iPhones. The automakers are taking this battle very seriously. Our guest today is Magnus Ostberg, Chief Software Officer at Mercedes-Benz. I had dinner with Magnus at CES earlier this year. And I was highly impressed with his expertise in software. Let's learn how Magnus and his team are getting that done. On this week's Driving With Dunne podcast. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Drive the streets of San Diego and it will feel like the whole world is going electric. Here is a Tesla Model 3. There is a Hyundai Ioniq 5. Look at that Lucid Air. Or that cyber orange Mach E. Take your driving to the northern climes, like Detroit, Michiganor Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the picture looks totally different. There full-size pickup trucks and SUVs powered by gasoline engines rule the road. Electrics are simply hard to find, like some endangered species. What explains the dramatic difference? Why is California covered in EVs while people in the north are hanging onto their gasoline powered vehicles? For this week's Driving With Dunne episode conversation, we speak to Andy Minckler, a regular listener to the podcast. Andy lives in New Hampshire about an hour from Boston. He is tempted to go electric. But something is holding him back. What are his concerns? And what might make him change his mind? #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Ms. Lu Zhang moved from Inner Mongolia to the United States at the age of 20 to study material sciences at Stanford. Shortly after graduation, she founded her first company - one that made her independently wealthy. Today she leads Fusion Fund, a Palo-Alto based venture capital company that focuses on early stage investments. Ms Zhang is recognized as one of the top 25 leading female entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. I met Lu at a private gathering of venture capital leaders gathering earlier this year. She struck me as an exceptionally smart and driven individual. In this episode, we will learn how Lu thinks about risk and how she picks winners. We will also discover the meaning of her name and what kind of cars she drives. Hint: One is German and the other is made in America. Lu Zhang, Founder, Fusion Fund, on the Driving With Dunne podcast. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Electric vehicles are expensive, out of reach for most customers. The average price of EVs sold in America last year was $65,000. The story in Europe was similar. China offers more affordable EVs. But they are driven by batteries that deliver dramatically lower range or power – or both. Who wants to buy an EV that is not quick off the start ? Or one that causes you range anxiety? Are we stuck in EVs-are-too-damn-expensive land forever? No, at least not for long, according to Vincent Pluvinage, the fascinating scientist, physicist and co-founder and CEO of OneD Battery Sciences. Born in Belgium, educated at Michigan and Stanford, Dr. Pluvinage now spends his time at the OneD labs in Palo Alto devising ways to make batteries less expensive. The secret ingredient is silicon. But as you will learn from listening to Vincent, making better batteries is never simple or easy. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Most modern cars come with adaptive front lighting, park assist, surround-view and rear view cameras, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and collision avoidance. But how do these magical powers work? These systems use image sensors that continuously sample the vehicle’s operating environment. A machine vision processor in the system controller analyzes the data and determines what actions the car should take. Yes, we humans are still behind the wheel but the car is doing a lot of the work for us. That is where Scottsdale Arizona-based onsemi comes in - designing, engineering, manufacturing, testing and packaging smart sensors. Billions of them, every year. How smart are the sensors? How reliable? And how safe from cyber attacks. Ross Jatou, GM at Onsemi's Intelligent Sensing Group walks us through today's tech promises and realities.

Powerhouse Ventures invests in early-stage software companies that save energy, save time – or both. Of the 33 companies in Powerhouse portfolio, several operate in the battery and electric charging arena. A few years ago, Ms Thompson made a monumental shift from the oil and gas industry in Texas to the clean energy focus that defines her work at Powerhouse. In our conversation, she introduces us to her approach to assessing software startups. What does she look for in the founder? And what does she look for in the business model? What are some examples of software companies that are making a real-time impact on the overall battery and charging experience? #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Electric vehicles remain expensive, out of reach for most customers. The average price of EVs sold in America last year was $65,000. The story in Europe was similar. China offers more affordable EVs, but they are driven by batteries that deliver dramatically lower range or power – or both. Who wants to buy an EV that is not quick off the start ? Or one that causes you range anxiety -- and sometimes range panic? Are we stuck in EVs-are-too-damn-expensive land forever? No, at least not for long, according to Vincent Pluvinage, the fascinating scientist, physicist and co-founder and CEO of OneD Battery Sciences. Born in Belgium, educated at Michigan and Stanford, Dr. Pluvinage now spends his time at the OneD labs in Palo Alto devising ways to make batteries less expensive. The secret ingredient is silicon. But as you will learn from listening to Vincent, making better batteries is never simple or easy. Let's find out why. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGohttps://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/