San Francisco resident Ruth Wilcox decided to buy her first pure electric vehicle in 2020. She looked at a few different brands, including Tesla, but eventually decided to purchase an Audi e-tron. What made her elect the Audi over the others? And two years later, what have been the highs and lows of ownership? What about charging? And what are some of the quality issues Audi engineers need to address? Joining the conversation is Ken Wilcox, Ruth's husband. Ken loves his gasoline-powered Audi TTs. Ken finds that electric cars are lacking when it comes to the emotional joys of driving and shifting gears in a car powered by an engine that you can feel and hear. Ruth confesses to missing her beloved Saab, too. You will really enjoy the point-counterpoint (he-said-she-said) flow of our conversation this week 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/

In June, 2021, Ted Cannis was appointed CEO of Ford Pro, the vitally-important division focused on commercial vehicles like the Ford F-Series trucks and Transit vans. Ford sees enormous opportunity to grow this division in terms of revenues and profits in the next three years. In our conversation, Ted Cannis shares examples of how small to medium sized businesses can get a lot more efficient and profitable in a short space of time through connected car software applications. Ford is also rolling out the F-150 Lightning and E-Transiti to commercial customers in the US and European markets in 2022. This will be a gigantic test to see whether battery-powered vehicles can meet or exceed the experience now delivered by gasoline-powered vehicles. Cannis offers a pragmatic view, saying that electric vehicles will be right for some customers while others - for example companies that do a lot of towing - might prefer to stay with gasoline engines and powertrains, at least for the time being. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Roger Atkins is, without a doubt, one of the most knowledgeable and influential voices in the world of electric vehicles. He has a following of several hundred thousand people on LinkedIn. What people like about Roger is his deep knowledge, his self-deprecating sense of humor and his candor. In this episode of Driving With Dunne, I ask Roger about his 18 months of experience driving a Jaguar I-PACE. Why did he choose the Jaguar over other electric models? What have been the highs and lows? And, most important, will his next car be an I PACE - or something completely different? We also touch on the time he had afternoon tea in London with Richard Branson. And whom he considers the most impressive executive in the global electric car business.#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

In the early 2000s, a small group of friends in Palo-Alto, California started a movement to transform the way products are designed and developed. It came to be known as Design Thinking. Early pioneers included David M. Kelley, founder of IDEO and Diego Rodriguez, one of his star team leaders. The central idea of design thinking is to center all development not around the product or service but around how human beings feel when they experience them. It may sound simple or obvious. But if the process were easy, then why do so many companies still develop mediocre products? In this episode of Driving With Dunne, Diego Rodriguez walks us through the "how" and "why" of design thinking. Mercedes and Ford are among scores of companies weaving design thinking into future product designs. If you are interested in building better products, you will love this episode.#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

What does China want? What is Xi Jinping's endgame? Elizabeth Economy, a highly-respected scholar, keynote speaker and best-selling author, has clear ideas. Her new book, The World According to China, lays out China's ambitions to become the world's pre-eminent superpower, replacing the United States. China is already hard at work to realize Xi's dream. The country projects influence globally through three kinds of power: Hard Power (military expansion in the South China Sea), Soft Power (cultural via a network of Confucian institutes) and Sharp Power (leveraging access to China's vast home market for goods and services to shape certain behavior of corporations and individuals alike). Listen to this episode and you cannot help but feel stunned by the scope of China's reach and the magnitude of its ambitions.#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

You can count on one hand the number of people in the world who know as much about batteries as Mujeeb Ijaz, In early 2020 Mujeeb took the monumental decision to found Our Next Energy (ONE), an advanced technology battery company with headquarters in Novi, Michigan. Mujeeb understood that range was a major limiting factor for customers considering a switch to electric vehicles. To reduce that purchase "friction", Mujeeb set an extraordinarily audacious goal: His company, Our Next Energy, would develop technology solutions to double the average range of electric vehicles. That means taking range to a point where cars with 700 miles of rated range would deliver 400 miles in real-world driving conditions. Mujeeb has won the confidence of several of the world's most sophisticated investors including Bill Gates' Breakthrough Ventures, BMW I Ventures and Coatue. Mujeeb and ONE look like they are in the right place at the right time as America awakens to China's global dominance in batteries and battery supply chains. In this episode we learn what inspired Mujeeb to found Our Next Energy, what the team has accomplished so far and where the company will be five years from now.#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Gas prices are going through the roof. Shell and Chevron now command more than $6 a gallon in California. People are asking themselves: Is it time to go electric? Up until now, consumers have been hesitant. Going electric has understandably felt like a big gamble because cars are such a big ticket item. What about range? Will charging be convenient? Is the battery safe from fires? Will I be able to sell my electric vehicle in three years at a decent price? Today, thanks to a new study from JD Power, we have much more clarity on the highs and lows of owning an electric vehicle. JD Power surveyed more than 8,000 EV owners across the United States and, just weeks ago, published the 2022 US Electric Vehicle Ownership Satisfaction Study. The big takeaway from the study: The overwhelming majority of owners say they will not go back to gas-powered cars - even though the EV ownership experience has not always been smooth or easy. Why is that? This episode of the Driving With Dunne podcast reveals what owners might call the magic allure of electric vehicles. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

In February 2022, Consumer Reports named the Mustang Mach-E the best electric car on the market, knocking Tesla from the number one position for the first time. The sporty SUV seems to be everything customers want in a Mustang: good-looking, modern - and very fast. People in America bought almost 30,000 of them in the first year, blowing past even the most optimistic projections by the team at Ford. But what most people are not aware of is that the Mach-E product development program was actually a high stakes gamble. Ford was betting the legendary Mustang name on a totally new vehicle that would be a 4-door SUV instead of a 2-door coupe, where passengers would sit up high, not in bucket seats. And, imagine this, a Mustang that was ultra quiet on acceleration. Our special guest today is Hau Thai-Tang, Executive Vice President of Industrial Platform at Ford Motor Company. In our conversation, Hau gives us an insider's view of how the Mustang Mach E grew from concept to production in less than three years. As you might imagine, there were more than a few dramatic twists and turns along the way. Also, I am sure that you will be surprised and amazed by Hau's own personal story, from escaping war-torn Vietnam in 1975 to becoming one of the auto industry's most accomplished executives. #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

Gas prices are surging, prompting a record number of people to think about their first electric car. LA-based tech consultant Mark Concannon took that first leap into electrics just over one year ago. In this episode of Driving With Dunne, Mark shares what he likes about his Polestar 2 -- and where the vehicle comes up short. Mark recounts the full spectrum of his premium EV ownership, from the Google Android infotainment to acceleration off the line to charging to the very real emotion of range anxiety. Our second guest, Ali Zamiri, still drives a gasoline-powered luxury SUV. Why is he staying on the sidelines? What will make him come around the electrics. In this Driving With Dunne podcast, we dive into the here and now realities of buying, driving and servicing a Polestar, the all-electric little brother brand to Volvo. Polestar Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOKiU8mAKHI #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/

The team at Driving With Dunne has been receiving a flood of messages and emails from lots of people in the same position: They want to buy an electric car. But there are still so many unknowns. What about range? Are batteries safe? Will I really save money versus a gasoline car? What do maintenance and service costs look like? How does charging work? This week, we gathered with two veteran Tesla owners - Blair Davey and Sharon Henry - to talk about their first-hand experiences. Blair owns a Model S. And Sharon drives a Model 3. Why did they decide to buy an electric car? Why a Tesla? What have been the highs, the lows and new learnings? What weird stuff did they need to get used to? If they met Elon Musk tomorrow, what would they ask him to improve or do differently? And - most important - would they recommend a Tesla to their best friend? Why or why not? #DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo https://twitter.com/Dunne_ZoZoGohttps://www.instagram.com/zo.zo.go/?hl=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dunne-a696901a/