Driving with Dunne

What is an autonomous vehicle? And how will we know one when we see one? Today, the picture is pretty confusing. We have all sorts of names out there: autonomous, self-driving, fully self driving, drive pilot, autopilot, blue cruise, super cruise, Sensing 360, Apollo and NGP navigated guided pilot. Further complicating the picture: In recent months, two of the leaders in the autonomous vehicle industry - Cruise and Waymo - have each suffered setbacks to their reputations in their hyper-intensive missions to create cars that drive themselves. Can they recover? Joining is today to sift through the complexity and bring clarity is Alex Roy, one of the very best original thinkers in the business. Let's listen to Alex separate fact from fiction when it comes to autonomous vehicles.

It is time to take an honest look at battery technologies. The fact is that batteries that power electric cars today have many limitations. There are limits to the range they can deliver. There are limits to how quickly you can charge them. And there are limits to how many times they can be charged before they start losing their full capacity. And then there are limits to their safety. Lithium-ion battery fires are rare. But once a lithium battery catches fire, it is not easy to put out. These limitations are problems that fire the imagination of entrepreneurs. Hey, let's find a solution, they say, let's improve people's lives and maybe get outrageously wealthy along the way. One of those breakthrough battery solutions on the horizon is known as silicon batteries. When you reduce graphite and add more silicon to the anode, magical things can happen. Our guest today, Rick Luebbe, CEO at Group 14 Technologies. Rick makes a case for why silicon batteries are no longer a technology of the future - they are here and now in 2024.

In this episode, we use our imagination, well, to imagine a totally different kind of future. One in which we get to where we want to go in town not in several thousand pound SUVs but in sensible light weight vehicles that save on fuel and are good for the environment. Our guest is Hakan Lutz, founder and CEO of Luvly, developer of the Luvly O, a two-seater vehicle that can travel up to 60 miles on a single charge. The Luvly O (that's LUV) is short for light urban vehicle. It's electric, lightweight and recyclable. And it can be packed for delivery by Amazon in a flat box. How much does the Luvly O cost. How fast can it go? How safe is it? And in which countries is it most likely to gain early traction? You will learn all of that and more on this week's episode of the Driving With Dunne podcast.

Many say that price is the single biggest limiter to EV demand in Western countries. In the United States, the average price of a new EV is $53,000. In Europe, the number is even higher - $60,000. On the other hand, China produces EVs across the price spectrum – from $5,500 to $160,000. Why is it so hard to match China on cost? What steps must Western automakers - and governments - take to compete with Chinese firms? The key is batteries. This week three executives with deep expertise in batteries – Vincent Pluvinage, Karl-Thomas Neumann and James Frith in London – join me to explore the options.

When a Western executive is called on to build business in China what should be his or her mindset? What are the most important things they need to know before they go? Ken Wilcox, former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, has answers. For three years, Mr Wilcox ran a 50-50 joint venture with the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. On paper the two partners' mission and objectives were totally aligned. Reality was a different story. In this week's episode, Mr Wilcox delivers a master class in the realities of doing a joint venture in China, from the glorious honeymoon period to the hellscape of unexpected twists, turns, delays and obfuscations. It is pointless to whine or complain, says Wilcox. Just know how things work before you take your first steps and "try to lose your leverage gradually." This week's Driving With Dunne conversation previews Mr Wilcox's forthcoming blockbuster book: One Bed, Two Dreams, scheduled for publication in early 2024.

What is the truth about China' economy today? Read the headlines or social media and we could be forgiven for thinking that the People's Republic is falling apart. The 42 trillion property market seems to be in a death spiral. Youth unemployment is at record highs. Government debt keeps rocketing higher. And just this week, reports that foreign companies took $160 billion out of the country in the past 6 quarters. All of this makes for a riveting picture of a fragile China, a cracking and crumbling China. But is it accurate? Enter Leland Miller, CEO, The China Beige Book. Tracking China's economy since the 1990s, Leland knows China. And he knows that to really understand what is going on, you must compare and discount several streams of information at the same time. His take on where China stands to today and her economy will surprise many. China is never as good as it seems from afar. Nor is it as bad. I know you will enjoy this conversation with Leland Miller, CEO, China Beige Book.

When it comes to batteries for Evs, can we be done with the incremental, inch by inch improvements? Everyone in the battery business is looking for a breakthrough. Dramatically more range. Lower costs. Faster charging. And, of course, make them safer. Today we meet a potential game changer: AI. Artificial Intelligence has the ability to assess and make sense of mountains of data at very high speed. This, in turn, let's engineers develop the ideal battery chemistry for specific applications at light speed, or close to it. My guest today is Jason Koeller, Co-founder Chemix, an impressive Silicon Valley based startup. If the US government decides to assemble a Team USA for batteries and battery supply chains, Jason should be at the top of the roster. He is smart. He's original. And he is a man of action. He believes that the future is electric. And he is confident that AI can produce breakthroughs for batteries across the board - range, safety, energy density. Let's find out how and how soon on the Driving With Dunne podcast.

China is surpassing Japan in 2023 to become the world's leading exporter of cars. BYDs, Cherys and Zeekrs are finding their way to more than 100 markets worldwide. Top destinations include Russia, Mexico, Australia and Spain. Never before in the history of the car has the world witnessed such explosive growth in car exports from a single country. Not surprisingly, the blitz of Chinese cars on global roads has unsettled auto executives and policy leaders alike. How on earth will legacy automakers compete with China's overwhelming advantages in costs? How should Europe and the United States respond? Some early reactions have already surfaced. The Trump Administration put in place a 27.5% tariff on vehicles imported from China. And the president of the EU Commission just launched an anti-subsidy probe on Chinese automakers. What else can policymakers do? Wendy Cutler, our special guest today, walks us through the ups and downs of trade agreements with China since the PRC's accession to the WTO in 2001.

Tesla and BYD steal the headlines as they race for global leadership in battery electric vehicles. But on the near horizon there is another technology that delivers zero emissions: hydrogen fuel cells. General Motors has been developing fuel cell solutions for more than 20 years. They are doing important pilot testing of fuel cell applications for Class 8 trucks, with the US military on battlefield applications and in mobile charging units. My guest this week, Charlie Freese, is an expert on all vehicle propulsion systems and is currently focused on hydrogen. In our conversation, I ask Charlie what he drives to work every day, how soon he sees himself behind the wheel of a vehicle powered by fuel cells and where hydrogen fuel cells are a better solution than battery electric vehicles.

We begin Part II of this conversation with David Barboza in the days leading up to publication of arguably the most explosive and dangerous story out of China in 50 years. For the past 18 months, Barboza has been systematically collecting records and data and information about a massive amount of wealth accrued by the family of China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Nothing is easy, clear or straightforward. There are layers of ownership by companies and people some of whom are only remotely related to the family. But Barboza is now confident that he has an air-tight story. He is ready to publish. But, wait a minute, what about his bosses at the New York Times? Are they ready, too? Or are there still a few more twists and turns and somersaults before they are prepared to push the publish now button? And what happens after the story flies out into the world?

David Barboza won a Pulitzer prize for a blockbuster story he wrote while reporting in China for the New York Times. The story took years to research and write. Here is how things got started: Barboza had challenged himself with a daring and impossible goal. Would it be feasible, he wondered, to gather evidence that powerful leaders in China's Communist Party were amassing great wealth? He figured that if he were able to prove that a high-ranking family had assets of around $5 million dollars, it would be a massive coup. Never in a million years did he dream that his investigations would uncover that the Prime Minister's family had accrued more than 2 billion dollars in concealed wealth - company shares, cash, diamonds, gold and homes. In this week's Driving With Dunne episode, Mr Barboza brings us, step by step, into the events as they unfolded, as he experienced them. "The longer it takes you to publish the story," security experts at the New York Times told him, "the more dangerous things will get."

For most of his career, Tony Posawatz was a highly successful engineer working in GM's lucrative truck division. That meant big rigs powered by gasoline and diesel engines. Then one day in 2006 GM's top leadership appointed him to lead a breakthrough initiative. "Build us an electric car that will make people forget all about the Toyota Prius," they said. GM had taken a shot at an all-electric vehicle in the 1990s called the EV1. Tony and his team of top notch GM engineers knew that the way to beat the Prius was to go electric. But range anxiety was an issue. So, they got inventive and designed a propulsion system that featured both an electric battery and a gasoline engine. This set-up, in time, would become known as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or a PHEV. That product, which debuted 11 years ago, served as a bridge to a barrage of pure electrics like the Tesla Model 3, the Hyundai IONIQ, the Mustang Mach E, the Rivians and the Lucids now hitting the market today. How far along have we advanced on the path to electrics. And how much work still remains to be done before we reach electric nirvana?

Here is the powerful China formula for commercial dominance that everyone needs to know. Build up massive capacity. Achieve scale. Reduce costs. And then export like a bat out of hell all over the world. This is exactly how China overwhelmed the solar panel industry. Will cars be next? You bet. In fact, it is already happening. China today has the capacity to build 40 million cars and trucks a year. Domestic demand is about half of that. So, this year, China will export 5 million vehicles to more than 100 markets worldwide this year. And, that is not all. As China's domestic economy stalls, there is more pressure, more incentive to export than ever before. Mr Jorge Guajardo joins us again this week for Part II of our conversation about what to expect as Chinese companies push into global markets. They will be bringing stunningly low priced items from cars to used bulldozers to cement mixers. Are you ready for the barrage?

Who supplies the most cars to the Mexican market? If you guessed China, you are not wrong. China is flooding the market with low cost gasoline-powered and electric vehicles. Leading brands include SAIC-MG, Great Wall and Chery. But there's more. One of every two vehicles GM sells in Mexico is built in China. Meanwhile, Chinese suppliers are pouring into supporting Tesla's Giga 6 factory in Monterrey. What do Mexico's leaders make of this mass Chinese arrival? Will the Chinese automakers use Mexico as a base camp for invading the US market? With me today is Jorge Guajardo, former Mexican ambassador to China. He was there for six full years. I I really appreciate Jorge's knowledge of how Chinese people think and his candor. He of course also knows the top people - Jorge met with BYD founder Wang Chuanfu more than ten years ago. What did he see and hear from Wang that made the biggest impression?

Never before in the history of humanity have we had so many choices when it comes to what we drive. Think about it: We have cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, crossovers. station wagons. On size we run the spectrum from the tiny Mini Cooper beastly Hummer. And now these vehicles might be powered by gasoline engines, hybrids, batteries or hydrogen. Some of them even drive themselves, well almost. The average consumer has hundreds of options to choose from. So, how on earth do you land on exactly the right one for you? The process can be all-consuming and overwhelming. Thank goodness we can turn to experts for advice, people who know cars intimately from direct experience. Today's guest, Nicole Wakelin, is exactly that kind of an expert. She test drivs 80 vehicles a year, she has a very good eye for detail and a memory like steel trap. Today, I ask Nicole to deliver her verdict on some of the best-selling EVs on the market, like the Mustang Mach- E, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and the Tesla Model Y.

China is now the world's No. 1 exporter of cars and trucks, blowing past Japan. In 2023, Chinese automakers will ship more than 4 million vehicles to over 100 markets markets worldwide. Leading destinations include Russia, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Sweden, Malaysia and Mexico. How good are these Chinese cars? And what kinds of challenges are they bound to encounter as they invade global markets. To get answers today our guest is Carlos Roma. Mr Roma is one of those rare western executives who can say that they know Chinese companies from the inside. He worked for BYD, China's largest EV maker, for more than 5 years. He knows how Chinese business people think. And he understands the tight relationship between companies and the Chinese government. In our conversation. today, I will ask Carlos to make some assessments and some predictions: How strong is the Chinese auto industry compared to America's? Can the West ever catch up with China on electrics and batteries and battery supply chains? And how will Chinese cars perform in Brazil's market, a real indicator of how they are likely to perform in many markets worldwide? Carlos Roma, General Director, TB Green on the Driving With Dunne podcast.

Ready or not, we are in the midst of a global battery arms race. China enjoys a commanding lead. America and Europe are racing to catch up. This week we are joined by Simon Moores, CEO, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. No one on the planet knows more about the lithium ion battery industry and gigafactories than Simon. He's been laser focused on it for more than 10 years. Today I will ask Simon some tough questions, including: Can America and Europe close the gap? How soon? Or does China have an invincible position with its enormous scale and low costs? Also this: What was he doing in the middle of a tornado in Nebraska earlier this summer? Let's talk to Simon to get the inside scoop on the Driving With Dunne podcast.

How much do you know about Taiwan? Until recently, most people in the world, if they were being honest, would say practically nothing. But not today. Today, Taiwan finds itself in a highly precarious situation. The People's Republic of China has clear its intentions to integrate Taiwan, to take control of the island and its 22 million residents. Not so fast, say the people of Taiwan. And the are not alone. The United States - most economies around the world, are heavily reliant on Taiwan for supply of the advanced chips that power everything from iPhone to Teslas. China cannot tolerate a future where Taiwan is separate from China. America and its allies cannot accept such a Chinese takeover. Two powerful forces diametrically opposed. How will this high stakes drama play out? Joining is today is Bethany Allen, author of a tremendous new book called Beijing Rules. Bethny, who lives and works in Taiwan, gives us her view on how China plans to take control of Taiwan. And how they might even get it done without firing a shot. Wait - how is that even possible?

BYD is an electric vehicle powerhouse. Already dominant globally in buses and trucks, BYD is now chasing Tesla for world leadership in battery-powered electric vehicles. The Shenzhen-based company will produce more than 3 million electric vehicles in 2023. Many of those cars and SUVs will find their way to global markets including Thailand, Mexico, Germany, the UK, Australia and Japan. For the casual observer, BYD might appear to be an overnight sensation. But this is not that case. BYD is a 30-year old company that persevered through lots of twists and turns before finally gaining traction in the late 2010s. In this Driving With Dunne episode, I have a conversation with my producer, Chris Donovan, to recount how BYD grew from an unknown battery maker for cellphones in the 1990s into a global champion in electrics today. What do we know about BYD's founder, Wang Chuanfu. How soon will we see BYD cars on American roads? BYD - which stands for Build Your Dreams - is a rich and captivating story, one that will give you a fresh appreciation for new-found Chinese might and confidence.

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It is no secret that technology is taking over our cars. But what is stunning is the speed and magnitude of the onslaught. Some of it looks amazing. Other stuff feels downright invasive. Hello biometrics and autonomous driving. Where did you come from, phantom braking. And did I agree to those driver monitoring cameras capturing my every move? Could I have some privacy back please? Overall, it feels like automakers and tech companies are creating miniature frankensteins inside our cars. And there is no turning back. How to make sense of it all? Our special guest today is Kathy Rizk, Senior Director at JD Power. Kathy knows the technologies and how consumers feel about them. Let's listen to her takes on the current relationship between the car owners and the young tech frankensteins.

#DrivingWithDunne / #ZozoGo
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