What Drives Us episode

#395 Robots Displace Humans

29 Jan , 2021   Video

5:15 Toyota Mirai
10:30 Rivian Amazon van undercover
18:05 Hyundai buys Boston Dynamics
24:20 Tesla News – Giga Berlin – China superchargers – Tesla Parade
30:20 Bollinger strangely still rendering
33:33 EV West crate motor
37:00 Zoox autonomous shuttle vehicles
44:30 Personal deliveries are an environmental nightmare and so is packaging / recycling
58:40 Kandi EV cheapest in America
1:00:45 Shoutouts!

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What Drives Us episode

#336 Hydrogen Double Take

5 Oct , 2019   Video

  1. Florida Power & Light committed to 1,000 new EV chargershttps://insideevs.com/news/373803/florida-1000-charging-points/
  2. From Yahoo! Finance: Solar and Wind are now Cheaper than Coal in Most of the World:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/solar-wind-now-cheaper-coal-210000650.html
  3. Truly a new take or just flogging an old trope one more time?https://www.thedrive.com/tech/26050/exclusive-toyota-hydrogen-boss-explains-how-fuel-cells-can-achieve-corolla-costs
  4. This is going to be fun: The 2nd Gen Mirai will be out in 2020.  They’re actually making a 2nd Gen:https://www.autoblog.com/2019/09/26/toyota-mirai-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car-second-generation/
  5. And speaking of Hydrogen:Engineers in Alberta think the’ve found a way for the oilseeds to produce clean fuel:https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/alberta-hydrogen-innovation-1.5290297
  6. Lane tape might be a cheap fix to help AV developmenthttps://www.on-sitemag.com/roads/marking-the-way-to-driverless-cars-ontarios-407-etr-3m-team-up-to-test-novel-road-tape/1003965295/
  7. Between 1990-2016, despite a sizable 35% increase in the overall fuel efficiency of our vehicle fleet, national emissions rose by 21%. Why? Because those improvements were accompanied by a 50% increase in driving.
    https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Open-Forum-Electric-cars-won-t-save-us-but-a-14462534.php
  8. Some people love car dealers (service)
    https://www.autonews.com/fixed-ops-journal/survey-3-out-4-vehicle-owners-prefer-dealership-service

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audio and video,What Drives Us episode

#160 You’re Number One

15 Oct , 2015   Video

This week, Russell, Tony, Evan and Mark work over Tesla’s new 7.0 operating system, Toyota’s love for all things hydrogen and much more.

 

Yes, we do think you’re number one.

 

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audio and video,What Drives Us episode

#149 Observing Korea

22 Jul , 2015   Video

This week Evan, Tony, Patrick and Russell discuss…

Next gen PiP to have 30-35 miles of EV range, according to an anonymous source
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1099222_next-toyota-prius-plug-in-hybrid-to-have-30-to-35-miles-of-range-source

Toyota starts taking Mirai orders, unicorns everywhere cower in fear
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mirai-hydrogen-car-arrive-october-809923

Craig Scott, national alternative fuel vehicle manager at Toyota, “With batteries there is a fundamental science problem that we don’t know how to solve.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2015/07/20/toyota-on-mirai-vs-tesla-battery-electric-vehicles-have-fundamental-physics-problem/

Toyota recalls 625,000 Priuses globally (109,000 in the US)
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/toyota-recalls-625000-hybrids-vehicles-worldwide/1/452126.html

Apple hires Doug Betts formerly of Chrysler
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/20/9007149/apple-hires-car-executive-doug-betts-chrysler

This week’s Tesla killer
http://www.manufacturingglobal.com/lean/502/Should-Tesla-be-running-scared-Faraday-Future-is-the-new-kid-on-the-block

Depends on how you define “hybrid”
http://www.koreaobserver.com/hyundai-kia-rank-3rd-in-2014-global-hybrid-car-sales-39306/

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Review

2016 Toyota Mirai – Preview

6 Jun , 2015  

– by Jon B

We live in an interesting time. A time where science and technology are at the forefront and in the automotive world, the leading edge in alternative fuel technology at the moment is electric vehicles with manufacturers like Nissan, Tesla, Ford and General Motors putting out their versions of what an electric car should be. Notably absent is the Japanese giant that is Toyota with a reincarnation of its RAV4 EV with battery technology borrowed from billionaire Elon Musk. It should’ve been a raging success – the combination of Toyota quality, durability and reliability and Tesla’s battery and motor technology. Alas, Mr. Toyoda has other plans and the release of the Mirai is an example of his vision of future.

16miraiside


Mira-what?

Me-rye. It’s Japanese for “future”.  Toyota thinks that battery electric vehicles should be limited to the short distance, city driving (although Elon has proved otherwise) and suggests that fuel cell vehicles are what the public wants. Toyota suggests that those that are used to petrol-powered vehicles will warm up to fuel cell cars as the range and refuelling times are similar. Excuse me Toyoda-san, there’s the slight issue of actually having hydrogen stations where one can refuel in the first place. Nevertheless, the focus of the article is the Mirai and not a discussion of which form of fuel or energy the future should use.

More…

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audio and video,Special Episode,What Drives Us episode

#138 Interviewing the Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Vehicle Team

30 Apr , 2015   Video

A very special regular episode. We spend the entire show talking to Toyota’s Mirai team. Doug Coleman and Logan Grizzel, about the fuel cell vehicle and issues surrounding it. Danny and Russell are joined by Tony Schaefer, Patrick Connor, Evan Fusco and Chelsea Sexton.

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audio and video,What Drives Us episode

#137 Wisdom From The Back End Of A Cow

23 Apr , 2015   Video

Hosts Danny Cooper and Russell Frost are joined by Tony Schaefer, Evan Fusco and Patrick Connor to discuss…

The new Mirai commercial made for Toyota by Morgan Spurlock.

What success looks like…and what it means fro EV incentives
http://europe.autonews.com/article/20150421/ANE/150429967/norway-to-review-ev-subsidies-as-sales-soar
Meanwhile, in Oregon…
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2015/04/bill-that-would-give-3k-rebate-to-ev-buyers.html

SUV’s, Lies and Statistics
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/04/21/earth-day-electric-ev-hybrid-dissatisfied-suv/26121125/

Don’t forget that next week, April 29th at 9:00 p.m. EST you can hear directly from Toyota on the Mirai and the future of their FCV. See you next week!

 

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