The Amped EV Podcast

Critical to the success of fuel cell vehicles will be the rollout of hydrogen refueling infrastructure and the production of cheap "green" hydrogen – low carbon hydrogen made from renewable electricity and water.

The folks at ACERTUS know a thing or two about EVs. Through a combination of technology, expertise and infrastructure, ACERTUS is a comprehensive automotive logistics company with the ability to move, store, recondition, title and deliver vehicles anywhere in North America.

That's why Trent Broberg, CEO of ACERTUS, is the perfect person to pepper with questions regarding just about any EV topic you can think of (and trust me, we can think of plenty). So, we invited him onto the show and ran him through a gauntlet of EV curiosities. We ask questions like:

What are some changes from the infrastructure bill that you are welcoming from a logistics standpoint, and where do you believe the bill falls short?
Are there any unexpected but common compliance issues you’ve seen fleets run into after adopting electric trucks?
What are some of the challenges for transporting EVs?
And more!

The EV charging infrastructure market is changing rapidly. Where is the charging segment going in 2022? What trends will emerge as infrastructure legislation is implemented?

It takes a real pro in the EV charging market to answer questions like this without just plain guessing. That's why on today's episode we've invited Rich Mohr, global vice president, fleet solutions at ChargePoint, to answer our charging questions. I swear I learn something new every time we talk, and this time, with hot mics and cameras rolling, was no different.

Range anxiety is a pretty big sticking point when it comes to EVs. So much so, that we're devoting an entire episode of the Amped EV Podcast to it. Range (or lack thereof) is what has stopped many an EV-driving would-be across the globe dead in their tracks. "No thanks," they say. "If I can't tote the family on vacation without stopping for a charge I don't want it." What we've discovered, though, is that in most cases, you really don't need the range you think you do. In this episode, we talk about some of the innovative ways OEMs are extending EV range for customers, how driver behavior affects EV range, how regenerative braking affects EV range and more.

The hydrogen hype is real. After all, well over 800,000 hydrogen fuel cell commercial trucks – including both heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks – will be sold by 2035, according to a study by Information Trends. But, how viable is it in the commercial and passenger automotive sectors, really?

While we can't see the future, we have a good idea of where both the commercial vehicle industry and the passenger automotive sectors are heading and where they cross over in this episode of the Amped EV Podcast. We chart the numerous partnerships that have come together to tackle hydrogen, tout the latest technology from a host of equipment manufacturers and give you our takes on whether hydrogen will take off.

On the previous episode of this podcast, I spoke with Jason Morgan, editor of Fleet Equipment, about the EV advancements we can expect to see in the next few years, the solutions to the biggest issues facing electrification today and what an evolving supply chain means for the consumer world. We had a great time – we laughed, we cried, we sang (at least one of those definitely happened) – and after that episode's debut we decided we wanted to take things a step further. So... welcome to the first taping of the Amped EV Video Podcast!

Jason is now this podcast's co-host, here to bring a fresh perspective on what electrification means for trucking and logistics, the yin to the consumer world's yang, if you will. And, there's more where this came from beginning in 2022. Double, actually, as we're bumping up our volume to produce two video podcasts a month.

In this episode, we discuss some of the latest electrification research from NACFE, as well as some of the fun EV-focused vehicles and products found at the 2021 SEMA Show in Las Vegas (including Jeep, Electra Meccanica, Hypercraft and Redline Detection).

Just a couple of months ago, Santa Monica, California held a show for the transportation industry to swap electron talk, the official hub for executives to meet up with their peers to discuss the latest and greatest in fuels, technologies and vehicles driving the future of transportation. It's called ACT Expo.

This year’s show featured all kinds of major announcements from names big and small in trucking. International launched its new fully-electric eMV Series trucks. Toyota had a booth with a hydrogen engine on display. Hino Trucks had a Class 8 engine prototype. Newer names like Lion Electric were hosting ride-and-drives in their new Class 6 truck, and Hyzon Motors let those interested get up close and personal with its hydrogen-electric fuel cell technology.

In today's episode, I talk with Jason Morgan, editor of Fleet Equipment, who had the opportunity to speak with manufacturers in the EV space face-to-face on the show floor. We discuss what EV advancements we can expect to see in the next few years, the solutions to the biggest issues facing electrification today and what an evolving supply chain means for the consumer world.

Commercial trucks are going electric. It has already happened in all kinds of applications, from garbage trucks to Class 8 heavy-duty trucks, and all the major OEMs have electric truck options on the table. It’s an enormous opportunity for the EV world to have a chance to go mainstream with this key part of the automotive industry.

So, what happens when you replace the diesel engine in commercial trucks with an enormous battery? What are the trade-offs? Where have fleets found success, and where do the kinks still need to be worked out?

To help me find the answers, I talk with Alex Crissey, managing editor of Fleet Equipment, who has been studying trucking electrification closely for years. We discuss how the trucking industry is testing electric trucks, successful use cases, the work that needs to be done to make electric trucking more viable, the best trucking movie ever made and much more.

EVs with high voltage (HV) batteries can be a tricky thing for body shops to handle. If a vehicle is even a minor fender-bender, there's a lot that can go wrong if the battery – which in some cases can be up to 25% of the vehicle's overall weight – has been compromised.

So, what's a body shop to do to keep its technicians safe when working on EVs, while maintaining its reputation of doing great quality work?

To answer this question, I talk with Jason Stahl, editor of BodyShop Business, who has 15 years of experience reporting on the auto body repair market We discuss how body shops can determine if they're ready to work on EVs, the investment needed, the tools needed to get the job done right and much more.

Electric vehicles are coming – they’re here already, and adoption rates continue to grow in all areas of the automotive landscape. So, ready or not, here it comes. And that leaves me with a question: What does the rising popularity of electrification mean for the automotive aftermarket as a whole? To help me find the answer, I talk with Amy Antenora, editor of AftermarketNews, in the inaugural episode of The Amped EV Podcast. We talk about how the aftermarket as a whole is feeling about electrification; what electrification means for businesses manufacturing components for internal combustion engines; the biggest electrification issue that the aftermarket can help address today; and loads more.