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Robotaxis are expanding fast, and the weird parts of the real world are expanding even faster. We dig into Waymo’s growth across 15 U.S. cities, how it jumped from hundreds to thousands of autonomous vehicles, and why “edge cases” are still the make-or-break problem for self-driving technology. Construction zones that should be obvious, fireworks that absolutely are not, power outages that freeze cars mid-street, and major events that turn traffic into chaos all expose the same truth: scaling autonomous driving means scaling the unexpected.

Then I pivot from software to steering feel, sharing my impressions of the 2026 Toyota GR Supra Coupe, including a question I feel is worth arguing about: when is a Toyota not actually a Toyota? We talk about the GR Supra’s shared DNA with the BMW Z4, the 3.0L turbo inline-six, the performance difference between manual and automatic, and the practical stuff that matters after the thrill wears off, like tire sizing, visibility, cabin space, and value for money. If you’re shopping for a sports coupe and wondering whether it’s a dream car or a niche toy, this breakdown is for you.

Finally, we go full future-tech with a moisture-powered stretchable battery designed for wearables and IoT devices, plus a tamper-triggered “kill switch” concept that raises real security and safety questions. We close with the policy fight over data center taxes and AI infrastructure, including why small towns worry about water, power, ratepayer costs, and what happens when today’s massive facilities age out faster than anyone planned. 

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A tiny electric pickup with big-truck ambition, an ocean heat surge that can bend weather across continents, and a lab-built “cell” that grows, divides, and outcompetes its neighbors under pressure. That’s the ride we’re taking today, and every stop forces the same uncomfortable thought: innovation moves faster than our instincts for risk, safety, and ethics.

We start on the road with TELO, a new EV manufacturer aiming to crack the EV pickup truck market without chasing the sky-high price tags that have become the norm. We talk contract manufacturing, why startups lean on it to avoid building a factory from scratch, and what TELO claims it can deliver: a Mini-sized footprint, seating for five adults, a useful cargo bed, and real-world range targets. We also get serious about what matters most once prototypes turn into production vehicles, especially crash safety, offset impacts, and whether a cab-over EV design can protect people the way it needs to.

From there, we widen the lens to climate and extreme weather. We break down the Pacific Ocean marine heat wave, why “warmer seas” is not a harmless headline, and how ocean temperatures can amplify heat domes, storms, drought, and wildfire conditions. We connect it to greenhouse gas emissions and why the timeline to meaningfully reduce emissions is tighter than most people want to admit.

Then we step into synthetic biology: the spud cell breakthrough and why a synthetic cell showing life-like behavior and natural selection raises both huge promise and huge questions. We close with a surprisingly hopeful story about intergenerational housing, as college students move into retirement communities to trade time and companionship for affordable rent and to fight loneliness on both sides.

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A car that can drive upside down sounds like a rumor you’d hear at a racetrack, but it’s real and electric. I break down why the McMurtry Spéirling Pure is one of the most outrageous EVs ever built, from its 0 to 60 in 1.55 seconds punch to its fan-powered “downforce on demand” that can generate more than 4,400 pounds of suction. It’s a perfect example of how electric vehicle performance is rewriting what speed, grip, and braking can look like when engineering goes all in.

Then I bring it back down to earth with a week behind the wheel of the 2026 Kia K4 hatchback GT-Line Turbo. We talk design, driving feel, the 1.6-liter turbo powertrain, and the surprisingly thoughtful details that matter in daily life, like camera visibility, clean controls, rear legroom, cargo space, and yes, a real spare tire. I also flag the drawbacks, including a midrange hesitation at wide-open throttle and how the low stance may not play nice with winter roads.

From cars to code, I dig into dead internet theory and why it suddenly matters for everyone. With bots reportedly generating 57.5% of web requests and AI agents increasingly taking actions online, the ad-driven web and classic SEO assumptions are shaken to the foundation. 

I close with a mobility policy debate that’s getting hotter: why California cities are done with new drive-throughs, and how traffic, noise, air quality, and neighborhood safety collide with convenience culture.

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Honda may be ready to bring back one of its weirdest, most useful cult cars, and that single decision opens up a bigger conversation about where the auto market is headed. We kick off with the reported plan to revive the Honda Element as a hybrid in 2029, aiming straight at the small-adventure crowd that shops the Ford Bronco Sport. We talk about what made the original Element special, what “versatile” really means in a compact SUV, and the hard question Honda can’t dodge: will this be a value-priced hybrid people actually buy, or an expensive nostalgia play that fades again? 

From there, we zoom out to the messy truth of automotive product planning: huge lead times, tooling decisions locked in years in advance, and a market that can swing from EV hype to hybrid demand in a heartbeat. That theme shows up again when we look at Texas surpassing California in new-vehicle spending, largely powered by pickup trucks. We challenge the economics of $65,000-plus full-size trucks, the cultural pull of pickups, and why affordable entry-level pickups like the Ford Maverick hybrid may be the smartest signal for what comes next in the truck market. 

Then we shift into battery technology with a striking development: a ceramic solid-state lithium-ion battery designed to survive extreme heat and thermal shock, built for aerospace, military, and harsh-environment industrial IoT sensors. We also ask the uncomfortable competitiveness question about where breakthroughs are happening and what it means for U.S. manufacturing and security. 

We close with Ford’s quality rebound in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study and the practical, unglamorous steps that can turn “bad to best” over time, especially as software and infotainment issues drive modern quality scores. 

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Your driver’s license on your phone sounds like the ultimate convenience until you picture a dead battery at the airport, a stolen device, or a random account lockout right when you need to prove who you are. I dig into the real-world state of mobile driver’s licenses (MDLs) in the United States, including the two major rollout paths: native wallet options like Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, and Samsung Wallet, plus state-specific apps. Then I ask the uncomfortable question: if TSA and DMVs still tell you to carry the physical card as a backup, what problem are we actually solving, and what new problems are we adding?

From there, I shift gears into my impressions of the 2026 Mazda CX-90 plug-in hybrid SUV, a three-row crossover that looks great on paper with 323 horsepower, all-wheel drive, and an EPA-rated 26 miles of EV range. I break down what I like (ride quality, visibility, cargo space, and practical touches) and what drags the experience down, especially when competition in the $40,000 to $60,000 “near luxury” space is brutally good.

We also take a serious look at clean energy infrastructure: a large-scale hydrogen internal combustion engine feeding electricity into Spain’s national grid using 100% hydrogen fuel. I explain why “burning hydrogen” differs from hydrogen fuel cells, what green hydrogen is, and why converting excess wind and solar power into stored hydrogen could become a key tool for grid backup and for power-hungry industries like AI data centers.

Finally, I break down gasoline prices with the crack spread, refining capacity limits, and why pump prices can rise even when crude oil doesn’t tell the whole story. 

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A luxury electric sedan that can deliver roughly 570 miles of range should make anyone in the U.S. auto industry sit up straight, especially when it’s coming from BYD, the Chinese EV maker that’s already outpacing much of the world in scale. We break down what’s known about the Denza Z9S, why its range and performance claims are so disruptive, and the detail that really matters: doing it with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries and a pack size that doesn’t look magical on paper. If you care about EV range, battery chemistry, and what “affordable performance” could mean over the next few model years, this conversation is for you. 

Then we switch from futuristic cars to an old habit that’s suddenly dangerous: mailing paper checks. With check fraud and mail theft surging, we walk through how criminals “wash” checks with common chemicals, why timing matters when you report it, and the simple protective steps that reduce your risk right now. If you still pay rent, contractors, or bills by check, you’ll want these tactics in your back pocket. 

We also explore two developments that tie the EV revolution to national resilience: MIT’s lower-cost hard-rock lithium extraction method (and the Rock Zero commercialization push), as well as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and bidirectional charging programs that pay EV owners for supporting the electric grid. 

From PG&E pilots to National Grid and Eversource incentives, we talk about how EVs can act as mobile microgrids, who benefits most today, and why renters may be left out. Subscribe for more TechMobility analysis, share this with a friend who still mails checks, and leave a review with your take: should the US compete with Chinese EVs by blocking them or by learning faster?

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Paying to “skip” traffic sounds simple—until the express lane dumps right back into the same bottleneck. In this episode, I take a firsthand look at Minneapolis’ pay-to-use HOV lane setup on I-35W: what it costs per trip, how plate readers and sensors make it work, and why the shape of the bottleneck determines whether congestion pricing delivers real time savings or just new revenue. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’d rather pay a few dollars or just change your schedule, this story lays the trade-off bare.

From road pricing to road trips, I also share my review and impressions of the 2026 Honda Pilot Elite SUV. It delivers meaningful tech and comfort updates, including a larger digital cluster, updated interface software, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and more sound dampening for a quieter cabin. It’s roomy, smartly packaged, and surprisingly easy to live with as a three-row family SUV, but I also flag a key concern: transmission hesitation and uncertain behavior when drivers need confidence most, such as merging and mid-throttle acceleration.

From the cabin of a family SUV to the latest in health tech, we then turn to a major headline: a blood test that may help predict Alzheimer’s risk years before symptoms, why researchers say it’s too early for healthy people to seek it out, and why progress still matters deeply for families and caregivers. I wrap with a clear-eyed look at Chinese automakers in America, including China-built models already sold here, BYD’s US bus manufacturing, and the debate around tariffs, subsidies, and competition. 

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Chrysler has been running on fumes for years, and we say that as people who actually want the brand to win. That comeback story matters because it is not just about one automaker finding its footing again; it is also about the bigger questions shaping the auto industry right now, from how EVs get built to what happens when their batteries reach the end of the road. A headline about designers finally getting freedom again is more than a feel-good story, because the new STLA 1 platform is supposed to cut complexity, lower costs, speed up development, and stabilize suppliers. We talk through why that matters, why quality has been Stellantis’ chronic weakness, and why the Airflow name coming back as a midsize crossover could become the make-or-break proof point for a real Chrysler comeback.

Then we switch gears to EV batteries and the end-of-life debate that always brings out the loudest opinions. We lay out the facts: “done” for a vehicle often still means years of second-life use in stationary storage, and today’s EV battery recycling process can be violent, chemically intensive, and water-intensive. A Cornell University team may have a cleaner answer with direct electrode-to-electrode regeneration, using a specialized electrochemical bath to dissolve the gunk that blocks energy flow and restore up to 95% of a battery’s life while cutting costs.

We also dig into affordability with Experian numbers that sound impossible at first: one in five new car loans under $500 a month, even as the average payment pushes $800. We explain the math behind it, including credit, down payments, trade-ins, and why certain “underwater” deals show how fragile the structure can be. 

If you care about the future of EV technology, car buying strategy, Chrysler’s next chapter, and what manufacturing in America really takes, hit play, then subscribe to The TechMobility Podcast, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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A small work van can make or break a business; a luxury electric SUV can reset expectations; and a river can determine what your lights and groceries cost. That’s where we go on TechMobility, moving from the vehicles you can buy today to the systems that quietly shape what “mobility” even means in the United States.

I dig into Ram’s decision to bring back the ProMaster City and why automakers are suddenly treating the small commercial van segment as a serious opportunity again. We cover practical fleet details, including cargo volume, fitting a standard sheet of plywood, and loading a U.S. pallet straight off a dock. Then I get honest about the potential deal breakers: unibody construction for heavy commercial use and the surprising lack of all-wheel drive. If you run a fleet or are a contractor who works year-round, you’ll recognize why those choices matter more than glossy features.

Next, I share my review and impressions of the 2026 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring. I set the context with Lucid’s history and what it learned from launching the Lucid Air, then dive into Gravity’s real-world strengths: a roomy three-row layout, strong cargo flexibility, a clever frunk design, and performance numbers that put it in rare company. I also call out where the young automaker still needs polish, from fit-and-finish details to day-to-day usability quirks, and provide a clear look at pricing and trims.

I close by zooming out to two topics that affect every driver, EV owner or not: the Colorado River drought and the future of EV tires. You’ll hear why the “Deadpool” risk at Lake Mead and Lake Powell matters for hydropower, why organizations are urging Congress for major funding, and how tire makers are engineering for heavier EVs with instant torque by shifting to EV-compatible tires. 

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25,000 robots. That number stops you for a second because it’s not a sci-fi thought experiment. It’s a real manufacturing strategy, and it raises a blunt question: can U.S. automakers compete in a world where cost, quality, and speed increasingly come from automation? I break down Hyundai’s push to scale humanoid robots through its Boston Dynamics connection, explain why building key components like actuators matters, and show how a plant that runs closer to 24-6 changes the entire math of production. 

Then we zoom out to the competitive threat many still underestimate: what's referred to as "China Speed". Legacy automakers used to squeeze suppliers for the “China price,” but now the challenge is product development cycle time. We discuss why Chinese automakers can bring vehicles to market faster with less investment, how supplier relationships and streamlined specifications reduce friction, and why standardizing common parts can unlock both cost advantages and rapid iteration in automotive manufacturing.

We then shift to a very different kind of technology story with real human stakes: brain imaging research identifying three ADHD subtypes, including a severe combined presentation linked to emotional dysregulation. I walk through what that could mean for parents, schools, clinicians, and diagnosis, and explain why experts still urge caution about using scans at the individual level.

Finally, if you’re hoping “manufacturing in America” means a return to 1950s job growth, the modern reality is more complicated. I take a deep look at what it will take to move manufacturing back to America - Part II of a limited series I will be doing over the next few weeks. 

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