Autonocast

With another year coming to a close and another world famous Autonocast CES Party looming, the gang gathers for the annual tradition of exchanging predictions about mobility tech in the new year. Grab a holiday beverage, pull out your crystal ball and enjoy an Autonocast tradition like no other.

With all the furor over the state of electric vehicle sales in the US, Ed and Kirsten called on Tyson Jominy, VP of data and analytics for JD Power, to find out what exactly is happening with the US auto market. The resulting conversation covers the state of EV sales, the role of charging, the profits that are paying for it all, the not-unrelated disappearance of affordable cars, and more.

With Cruise founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigning, the gang gathers to hash out what it means for the Level 4 robotaxi company, its corporate parent General Motors, and the sector at large.

Can you name an EV maker with rock-solid profits and consistent self-funded growth that has never taken a dollar of VC investment? If you've never heard of Lectric eBikes you're probably struggling to answer that question, but with founder and CEO Levi Conlow joining this week's show for an illuminating discussion, that struggle is now over.

The gang gathers to have a few laughs about the Tesla Cybertruck, before digging into the more serious topic of the situation at Cruise and the issues it has created for the entire autonomous vehicle sector.

With Cruise banned from testing and rides in the state of California following new revelations that the firm hid details of a pedestrian crash from the DMV, the gang huddles with Trucks VC partner and the godfather of The Autonocast Reilly Brennan to talk through the issues, impacts and path forward from another sector-defining incident. Plus, Reilly opens his mobility jobs board to startups in the sector.

With Cruise under NHTSA investigation and a new survey showing lower than ever public confidence in AVs, the gang discusses AV skepticism, its causes, cures, and the (not coincidental?) resurgence of the UAW, among other topics.

Alex and Kirsten riff on the most recent robotaxi news before they head off to the Up Summit in Dallas. With Ed gone this week, the duo turned to CMU professor, engineer and autonomous vehicle safety expert Philip Koopman swung by to discuss the hands-off, eyes-off Mercedes Drive Pilot system and whether it's really Level 3 automation.

The gang catches up after a variety of trips, including to the Florida AV Summit. We take a final look back at summer (and some mobility shenanigans and news) now that fall is here.

The long-simmering culture war between the high tech sector and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area erupted around the issue of AVs in recent weeks, as the CPUC voted to expand robotaxi operations in the city. The gang gathers this week to discuss the public outcry, the CPUC hearing, the subsequent crashes and other issues, and where it all fits into the AV sector's big picture.