The Yonder Boys

From jaw-dropping Hyundais  (yes, Hyundais), to conservative stalwarts getting progressive about driving, it seems the mobility world's turned upside down since the Yonder Boys last outing. 
In this episode, we discuss how Paris's ban on shared scooters (mon dieu!) might help them in smaller towns; heads of state and big oil bracing for change by embracing new mobility; and the move by Walmart and the Wall Street Journal to scale back the parking lot.
Our guest is Jacob Greig from Liftango, a ridesharing technology for on-demand transit and peer-to-peer rides. Turns out there's a lot of moving parts in the equation.
And then we rant. Or is it a rave? Drool-worthy EVs fresh off the Korean assembly lines. So why can't the Germans, Italians, or Swedes get us just as excited about car design as these two stalwarts of the "economy class?" 
Find out what we think on our latest episode of the Yonder Boys - lucky 13!    

We're back at it, talking Gen-Z and their rejection of driving, Lordstown going out with a whimper and Rivian bringing us the au naturale bells and whistles. We are joined by Daniel Kim of Lit Motors who's developed the first (and thanks to all his patents, possibly the only) two-wheeled car. We wrap things up with a love letter to some of the less predictable E-Bike users - hunters and preppers. Welcome!

Superbowl is coming and automakers are going on offense again with EV advertising. The Yonder Boys bring in Chuck Meehan, the Chief Creative Officer behind GM’s “Everybody in” campaign, to talk about the concept and development behind last year’s Dr. EVil campaign and what’s next. Also in this week’s episode: the unlikely alliance between Shell and Volta charging stations, Toyota and Mazda punt on going all-EV, new ways EVs can kill you, and more. Press play and let’s kick things off.  

In this episode, the Boys break down how getting out of our cars makes cities increasingly more livable.
Our news stories include rogue crosswalk painters in L.A. and Seattle, the stunning new Prius (that's right - "stunning" and "prius" in same sentence) and Kansas City's new fare-free zone in downtown for mass transit.
We sit down and chat with Leslie Carlson, founder and Head of Strategy at the InCommon Agency to talk about changing the commuter mindset, away from cars and into E-Bikes.
Finally, we have a little back and forth about what it takes for North America to join the e-bike/bike revolution. Will the weather prevent it? Do our city planners know how to incentivize it? Or do we just have to move to Saigon?

We kick off with a round-up of the best, the worst and the ugliest advertising / messaging  tactics out there. Next, we invite new friend, Chris Thomas, onto the show (18:50) to help us reinvent the current mobility system from the inside out - Detroit, Michigan.  As founder and lead of both Detroit Mobility Labs and Assembly Ventures, Thomas explains why he's betting on legacy industrial hubs (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Berlin...) and why this is about way more than just going all in on EVs. Finally,  Greg muses over a recent trip to Spain (40:50) , which wasn't completely without it's motor-vehicle traffic, as we like to romanticize, but perhaps a far more practical, pedestrian-first vibe. 
Buckle up. We got a lot on our mind. And safety belts save lives. - YB

Face palms meet head snaps. In one of our more lighthearted episodes, the Yonder Boys tap the dark side of communications for scandal, outrage, and schadenfreude - from Chevy's slap in Atlanta's face, to Los Angeles bike blunders and the distrust that now comes standard with autonomous cars.  And, could the drug cartels be the ones to figure it all out.  Our guest, Chet Parsons, Director of Sales Planning and Operations at VinFast talks about the opportunities and the challenges for new entrants in the EV space and the globalization of the industry. Finally, our Rant takes us through the politics of the  Biden climate bill (Woo-Hoo!) and the lawmakers stuck in the pockets of the fossil fuel industries —  we're looking at you, Manchin! — and leads to a breakthrough we didn't see coming when we hit record.

In this episode, the Boys tackle the question of how to make our cities less car dependent and how the Biden infrastructure plan may (or may not) be achieving those goals. We chat with Julia Thayne Demordaunt and ben Holland from RMI, who are creating the global energy systems to secure a clean, prosperous, and zero-carbon future. And as always, we start with the news, including, Ford's move to a DTC model, Volvo bringing in gaming's big guns and how longer commutes may be what kills back to the office culture.

This week's theme is "outliers & interlopers," as the Boys  discuss Polestar's masterful launch of the No2,  e-bike-mania that's sweeping the nation and how Ford Motor Company is beating Tesla at their own game. (12:39). Then Greg and Geoffrey are joined by guest Eric Lachter, VP Brand Marketing at Innoviz Technologies telling us what he's trying to communicate for both his company and the autonomous  industry at large. (37:04). Finally, a debate over whether the greatest mind in mobility will save the world, or destroy it. 

Yonder Boys, Super Bowl Edition: Creative heavyweight Michael Raso, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy, New York, joins us from a closet in Argentina to discuss his stellar spot for GM EV battery technology, “No Way, Norway,” featuring Will Ferrell — the best of last year’s big game, and maybe the best EV ad ever. Raso offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the spot got made, along with advice to communicators in sustainability. A dude as charming as he is genius.  Also in the news: Google goes gaga for Motown; the first mile of electric road (for wireless EV charging) rolls out in Michigan; and bespoke Bollinger retools both brand and biz model. Geoffrey and Greg rant on about both Super Bowl and EV commercials. One big episode jam-packed with emissions-free pontificating.

Ron Lamberty, SVP at American Coalition for Ethanol joins Greg and Geoffrey to discuss the pros, and even more pros of biofuels, and discuss his prototype for the most efficient car that no one is talking about. The  Boys also dig into the Tesla recall,  the ultra-progressive French mandates on all new car sales and the pop-up Audi charging lounges. For our rant, Greg poses the question, can Big Oil still be the scapegoat we've always wanted?