the tech guy

Sam says that even with driverless cars, he’s not sure if Lyft can still make any money. There’s no networking effect. There’s no loyalty or switching costs. So the only way to make it work is to have a lot of drivers and lower fares. Also, companies like Lyft and Uber have no real hard costs or assets. They don’t own the cars, or have to maintain them, or pay for the gas. When you go driverless, suddenly you have to pay for cars and maintain them. Those hard investments and will be in the billions at first. 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

Sam joins Leo to talk about the etiquette of charging an electric vehicle.  Sam says that some EV users believe it’s OK to park next to a charger, thereby making that charger unusable for hours. Tesla has addressed this issue by charging people after their car has been filled up. Users now get a 5 minute grace period. Leo says while that’s true, if you’re traveling and are parking at the airport, you don’t really have a choice. While that’s a special case, most EV owners are just using charging spots at the mall and other locations as parking spots. Thereby preventing other EV drivers from charging.  Meanwhile, Mercedes Benz has included What3words navigation to their 2019 vehicles. All you need to do is input the three words of your destination, and it’ll take you there. What3words is a system that assigns three words to every ten… Read More »The Tech Guy #1577

Sam joins Leo in studio, and he says that while electric vehicles are getting more popular, it would still take 20-30 years to replace the entire fleet in the US. He drove to Eastside Studios in a KIA NIRO electrified vehicle. The NIRO Hybrid gets 50 mph, but you can get a plugin hybrid as well, which gets 27 miles on a charge. Or you can get a fully electric NIRO, which has a 239-mile range.  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

Next week, Sam will be test driving the new KIA Niro. It’s an electrified vehicle, which is different from an electric vehicle. And there’s also an electrified hybrid that offers some electric propulsion but isn’t completely electric. That kind of propulsion varies. The Nero has an electric motor that runs alongside the engine, and one that charges the batteries and regenerative braking. But it still needs gas to power the main engine. A plugin hybrid has a larger battery and can drive about 15-40 miles, but once depleted, relies on gas. So driving around town, which is most driving, you can go electric, and then on longer trips, you can use gas. 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

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

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

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

Sam is back to talk about the difference between auto pilot driver assist and self driving calls. It’s fool hardy to assume that you can climb in the back to take a nap while your car drives itself. Cars aren’t completely automated yet and mostly, the self driving car needs human input from time to time. Most cars are a level 1 system which detects cars in front of you slowing down and slowing down your cruise control. A level 2 system has an auto pilot, but the driver needs to be engaged to take over control at any moment, and the system is designed to rely on that. 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