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February 2019

The Tech Guy #1569

This week’s topic is high capacity chargers for electric vehicles. Battery range and charging are the biggest challenges facing EVs. Where are the charging stations? Sam says that navigation systems often have charging stations built into the route your driving, and based on your EV, they will also draw a circle around the usable range of your electric vehicle before you need to get a charge. But Sam says that it costs a lot of money to install high capacity, high power charging stations, especially in rural areas. The Tesla Supercharger is coming with 120KW charging capacity. The Electrify America is three times that. So you can get 80% charge in about 15 minutes. That kind of advancement will help make it easier to buy an EV. The other issue is charging connectors. Tesla has a proprietary connector, so you’d need an adapter to use… Read More »The Tech Guy #1569

2019 Kia K900 – The Self-Made Entrepreneur Of Luxury Sedans

One of the recurring storylines around Tesla is the rarity with which new automotive brands launch and succeed in a self-sustaining way. In fact, while it’s not exactly common, it does happen with some degree of regularity. Case in point is Kia. While the company traces it roots back to 1944, it was really only in the early-1990s that it ventured outside of South Korea under its own name. While the early models were to say the least not very good and the company went bankrupt in the Asian financial crisis, it persevered. Hyundai took a controlling interest in 1998 and it’s been uphill for both companies ever since. The 2019 K900 is yet more evidence that fantastic luxury cars don’t have to come from Europe, America or Japan. Read the rest of the review at Forbes Wheel Bearings has launched a Patreon. If you… Read More »2019 Kia K900 – The Self-Made Entrepreneur Of Luxury Sedans

The Tech Guy #1567

Sam joins Leo to talk about the new EV Truck … the Rivian. It’s a full sized pickup that’s electric. There’s also an SUV. Leo hears that Ford is planning an electric F150. Sam says it should be coming in a few years. The hybrid will be out in 2020. But the Rivian just got $700 million in investment, and the lead investor is Amazon. Low volume production begins in 2020, but Sam says we won’t really seem them until a few years down the road. It’s also getting into automated driving through Aurora. Aurora has been working with Volkswagen and Hyundai, and Sam says that Amazon is going to have its own automated trucking fleet that’s full electric, down the road. Couple that with drone delivery, and the shipping business is about to undergo a serious seed change. But Sam says that the real… Read More »The Tech Guy #1567

The Tech Guy #1565

The news lately is that electric vehicles have a hard time in extreme cold weather. Sam says it’s because a lot of its power is being used to heat the cabin and that dramatically cuts into your driving range. Sam says the best option is to preheat your car overnight during an overnight charge. That’ll cut down on the amount of battery life you lose on a cold day. Wheel Bearings has launched a Patreon. If you like the show and would like to chip in toward the cost of producing and hosting it you can join at https://www.patreon.com/wheelbearingsmedia

The Tech Guy #1563

This past week, Elon Musk said that the current version of Tesla autopilot can do fully self-driving on the high ways. But Sam says there isn’t a single car on the road, with the exception of test vehicles that are fully self-driving. The technology simply isn’t reliable enough without a safety driver. Leo says he can’t wait for it to happen because he would like to never have to drive again. Sam says that people’s perceptions of loving to drive are changing, preferring to have someone else do the driving. That’s why Uber and Lyft are becoming so successful. Wheel Bearings has launched a Patreon. If you like the show and would like to chip in toward the cost of producing and hosting it you can join at https://www.patreon.com/wheelbearingsmedia