Sustaining the Auto Industry
AutoMobility Roadmap Newsletter Sustaining the Auto Industry November 8, 2023 November 8, 2023 Since the Second World War, every decade of American automotive culture has had a defining characteristic. The 1950s were defined by chrome and fins, the 60s by muscle cars, the 70s by the malaise, and so on and so forth. While it is only 2023, a fairly clear pattern has emerged that will most likely be the single defining characteristic of this decade: sustainability. Sustainability can mean a variety of things in the world of automotive, from better materials used in manufacturing to increasing the market share of electric vehicles. The definition of sustainability according to the EPA is “creating and maintaining the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.” Unfortunately, for many of these prior decades, the acts required to pursue sustainability were accidentally or purposefully ignored by many segments of the automotive industry and American society. However, with increasingly dangerous environmental consequences forecasted by the world’s top scientists, sustainability is now at the forefront of global conversation. Automakers, whether out of a motivation for increased profits or mandates from the federal government, are attacking the issue of sustainability from a variety of angles. The sum total of this effort will in theory transform an industry known for damaging the environment to an industry that actively works to sustain it, ensuring that vehicles continue to be a net positive far into the future. One of the biggest questions surrounding widespread EV adoption is the sustainability of material sourcing. EVs require significant amounts of rare earth minerals (REMs) which are often sourced from less-developed countries. EV batteries are made up of materials such as lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel, with the vast majority of lithium mining taking place in Australia, Zimbabwe, and Brazil. Popular mechanics reports that the average EV requires 8 kg of lithium to manufacture. With the global available lithium reserve at 22 million tonnes, there is no apparent shortage of material required to construct an enormous amount of electric vehicles. However, as of 2021, the total world production of lithium was 105 tonnes, and by 2030, it is possible that manufacturers will need to acquire up to 450,000 tonnes of lithium per year. More problematic still, lithium mines are extremely water intensive and are notorious for polluting water sources while causing significant damage to local biospheres. As a part of making EVs sustainable, new methods must be devised to reduce the impacts of lithium mining. Luckily, a lithium mine in Snow Lake, Manitoba is taking the lead on the future of EV sustainability. The idea behind the Snow Lake lithium mine is to create an all electric mining operation. Positioned next to a hydroelectric power station, Snow Lake Lithium hopes to draw 98% of their power from the dam while similarly not using any diesel burning vehicles to extract or haul materials. Lithium is currently extracted using two methods: hard rock and brine. The hard rock mining process requires less water than brining, and the Snow Lake mine plans to employ this method to save water and reduce contamination of the local environment. In theory, this mine could produce up to 160,000 tonnes of 6% lithium spodumene every year, providing OEMs a sustainable and local source of materials so essential for the next generation of electric technology. Assuming Snow Lake Lithium is able to reach its expected potential, it is not unreasonable to extrapolate that more mines will follow suit, leading towards an overall marked improvement in the sustainability of car battery production and compliance with the Inflation Reduction Act. Going beyond the obvious issues with battery sourcing, OEMs have a variety of other unsustainable practices surrounding material acquisition. An example of this is the amount of leather used for car interiors. In Brazil, the auto industry uses over 30% of all leather hides produced from the country’s cattle ranches, a side effect of the meat industry driving rampant deforestation and destroying millions of acres of the Amazon rainforest. Environmentally sustainable leather could look like buying from more ethical and regulated domestic sources or improving the quality of synthetic materials. Along the same lines, keeping parts manufacturing close to the location of final assembly will drastically reduce the emissions caused by international shipping. Maritime shipping alone accounts for about a billion tons of greenhouse gasses per year and make up 3% of all global emissions by themselves. This does not account for air cargo, trucking, rail or any other way of moving goods across the world. A concerted effort by OEMs and mobility providers to move their supply chains physically closer together is essential to sustainability in the long term and will likely reduce costs as federal regulations around parts sourcing tightens. OEMs have a myriad of different ways to attack their chronic sustainability issues. Nearly every part of the industry could be made more environmentally conscious in some way without a long term increase in costs. Investment in things like supply chain integration and advanced mining may seem like an undue financial burden now, but by the end of the decade, the payoffs – both financial and environmental – will be abundantly clear. Working towards a sustainable future will be the primary mission for the auto industry for the foreseeable future, and if the right decisions are made, the 2020s will be remembered as the decade of sustainability for generations to come. Learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you! Home Let us help you succeed in AutoMobility! 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The Green Acceleration
AutoMobility Roadmap Newsletter The Green Acceleration October 23, 2023 Rapid technological advancement is often a symptom of great human need. On a fateful December day in 1903, the Wright Brothers accomplished the first controlled flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft. After almost 5000 years of human civilization, this was the first time that humans were able to achieve this momentous feat. Yet, 66 years later, within one single lifetime, man landed on the moon. These 66 years saw two globe spanning conflicts and one of the most rapid eras of technological development in human history. Simply put, the need to defeat advanced and threatening enemies drove near-unthinkable levels of innovation. In the 21st century, a new enemy has arisen, one perhaps as existentially threatening or more than the United States’ previous adversaries abroad. This new enemy is not an ideology or a country, but the dangers to our planet that have resulted from decades of burning excessive fossil fuels. Climate change is the next great hurdle humans have to overcome. The United Nations among a variety of other global organizations has reported that the Earth’s temperature has increased by an average of about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880 and could potentially warm by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050. Assuming that nothing is done to curb this change, these higher temperatures will result in water shortages, unlivable summer conditions, higher ocean temperatures, and greater prevalence of extreme, life threatening weather events. Though grim, this challenge is not insurmountable, and the automotive industry has an increasingly viable solution. The investment into and mass adoption of electric vehicles will have an enormous impact on slowing the climate change crisis, especially as growing need drives further innovation. According to the EPA, the transportation industry accounts for 29% of all US Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This sector of the economy is by far the largest contributor to GHG emissions, and the EPA has thus far spent decades working to curb these numbers. Globally, passenger cars produce nearly 3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Moreover, cars and vans alone produce just under 50% of all global carbon emissions. It is clear that the automotive industry makes up a disproportionate percentage of the world’s emissions output, so the adoption of EVs will make a significant impact on the efficacy of the global climate response. Regulators, automakers, and consumers alike have recognized that EVs are an important step towards reducing these numbers, and great strides are being made towards conquering the challenge presented by the climate crisis. Since 2016, most major automakers and new automotive startups have funneled enormous amounts of capital and talent into EVs. In the last two years alone, investment has skyrocketed from $50 billion to $210 billion, driven by stricter legislation and widespread consumer demand for environmentally conscious vehicles. Much of the investment goes towards developing brand new EV models. Companies such as Ford and GM now have flagship EV models that are able to compete directly with the likes of Tesla and Rivian. Moreover, consumers are noticing and rewarding automakers for their commitment to EVs. In Q3 this year, Tesla’s share of the EV market dropped below 50%, as more buyers look to traditional manufacturers offering competitive products. However, this was the strongest quarter for EV sales ever, with over 300,000 vehicles sold, surpassing both Q2 and passing Q3 2022 by almost 50%. Coming in at just under 8% of the total market sales in Q3, EVs have a long way to go until they dominate the market, but these bullish sales figures paint a rosy picture for environmentalists, regulators, and OEMs alike. The next step in reducing carbon emissions is the mass implementation of battery-electric medium and heavy duty vehicles. A frequent point of discussion on the AutoMobility Roadmap, electric commercial vehicles have the potential to completely overhaul the way in which businesses produce carbon emissions. Cutting out nearly 25% of all transportation CO2 emissions (456.6 million tons of carbon dioxide) sounds like an impossibility, but with such strong financial incentives from the US government, it is closer to reality than previously thought. A plethora of commercial vehicle companies are investing time and money into developing practical EVs that fill the needs for markets such as tractor trailers and delivery trucks. Attacking toxic emissions outputs from this direction is sure to be a necessary step in the battle against climate change. In the grand scheme of things, the battle against climate change has only just begun. EVs still make up a small minority of the market, and the challenges around their production have not yet been solved. 110 years ago, the aviation industry was in the same situation. Difficult production of expensive novel technologies held aircraft back. But with time and urgent need, this lull was rapidly reversed, leading humanity to walk on the moon not six decades later. EVs have reached that critical stage, and as summers become hotter and severe weather more deadly, it is almost inevitable that EVs will capture a large enough portion of the market to make a stand against climate change. Learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you! Home Let us help you succeed in AutoMobility! 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Turning EV Dreams Into Reality: Fleet Edition
EVs are solidifying their place as the future of automotive technology. With billions of dollars of investment pouring in from national governments and the private sector, it is abundantly clear that electric technology is here to stay.
George Ayres: The Mobility ‘Matchmaker’ featured at Driving Mobility Podcast
“Meet the mobility ‘matchmaker’ who connects established auto companies and scrappy startups to collaborate, innovate“ In a recent episode of the “Driving Mobility” podcast series by ParkMyFleet hosted by Michele Pierog, George Ayres, the Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors, shares valuable insights into the dynamic mobility industry. The episode, titled “Meet the mobility ‘matchmaker’ who connects established auto companies and scrappy startups to collaborate and innovate,” provides a comprehensive look at the ever-evolving mobility landscape. Throughout the podcast, Ayres, drawing from his extensive three-decade-long career in the mobility sector, explains his crucial role as a bridge between established automotive giants and ambitious startups. He helps both parties navigate product planning, sales management, and business development. A central theme of the conversation is the importance of collaboration in the mobility industry. Ayres emphasizes that success in this field hinges on working together. It involves aligning the innovative drive of startups with the resources and industry knowledge of established players. The mobility industry is constantly changing due to factors such as electrification, sustainability, and evolving consumer preferences. Ayres discusses the vital importance of adaptability and innovation to thrive in this fast-changing environment. Lastly, the podcast explores the concept of “success” in the mobility industry. Beyond just market share and financial metrics, Ayres and Pierog discuss the broader societal impact of success, which involves reshaping transportation for the benefit of society. As the mobility sector undergoes a profound transformation, George Ayres emerges as a guiding figure, ensuring that startups and established companies find common ground to advance the industry. The podcast offers valuable insights into Ayres’ role as the mobility “matchmaker” and the promising future of transportation. Listen to it here: RSS: https://player.rss.com/drivingmobility/1103812 or in Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eYPVi5yM
George Ayres featured at the EisnerAmper podcast
In the rapidly changing landscape of the automotive industry, staying ahead of the curve has never been more critical. George Ayres, the founder and Managing Director of AutoMobility Advisors, was recently featured on the EisnerAmper podcast with Aimann Rasheed, and discussed the topic of “Digital Transformation in Automotive.” The podcast provided a glimpse into the future of the automotive industry, which is currently undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by advancements in digital technology. Topics ranged from connected vehicles and autonomous driving to smart manufacturing and data analytics. George shared his vision of what lies ahead for the industry, emphasizing the pivotal role of digital transformation. One of the central themes of the conversation was the importance of embracing technology within the automotive world. George, through his experience at AutoMobility Advisors, underscored how digital transformation can enhance various aspects of the industry, from improving customer experiences to optimizing supply chain management. By harnessing the power of data and automation, automotive companies can streamline operations, reduce costs, and ultimately deliver a superior product to their consumers. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that no transformation comes without its set of challenges, and the automotive industry’s digital journey is no exception. George Ayres and Aimann Rasheed delved into the hurdles that companies may encounter during this transformative process. These challenges encompass concerns related to data security, adapting to new business models, and managing the complexities of integrating digital technologies into traditional automotive processes. Despite these challenges, the conversation also highlighted the tremendous opportunities that await those who can navigate them successfully. In a world where customer expectations are constantly evolving, George Ayres emphasized the importance of adopting a customer-centric approach. He pointed out that by leveraging digital tools, automotive companies can better understand their customers’ needs and preferences. This deep understanding allows them to create tailored experiences and products that resonate with their target audience, thereby fostering customer loyalty and satisfaction. To hear George Ayres and Aimann Rasheed’s engaging conversation, you can listen to the full podcast episode here. Stay tuned for more exciting discussions and insights from industry experts on the EisnerAmper podcast. Don’t forget to follow the conversation using the hashtags #EisnerAmperPodcast and #AutoMobilityAdvisors on social media.
The Weakest Link
This is part two of a three part series on the development of EVs and their supporting infrastructure in the United States. It is said that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In terms of the transition away from internal combustion engines towards electric vehicles, charging stations are the said “weakest link.” As essential as gas stations used by their ICE counterparts, EV charging stations are a fast developing but greatly lagging piece of the EV adoption puzzle in the United States. According to the White House in February, there are currently about 130,000 charging stations across the country which service three million or so EVs. Five years ago, the number was a little over half of that. While growing steadily for the last 10 years, the need for car charging stations is on the cusp of an explosion. The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) actively encourages and incentivizes the mass adoption of both light EVs and medium/heavy duty commercial EVs, which will require significantly more powerful and larger charging stations. If the US is to expect tens of millions of new light EVs, medium duty EVs, and heavy duty EVs to hit the road by 2030, substantial steps need to be taken to make sure that there are enough charging stations to meet the massive demand. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=7033500277189233670&li_theme=light The first step will be to provide funding for companies to build the required number of charging stations to meet this demand. S&P Global, a NYC based financial analytics company, estimates that by 2027, the United States will need 1.2 million level 2 chargers and 109,000 level 3 chargers to meet the EV electricity demands. This is a stark increase from current capabilities, and at an estimated need of a 10 to 1 ratio of EVs to charging stations, it will take quite some time to reach these goals. Fortunately however, the Biden administration just this past week announced that over $2.5 billion in funding will be made available to local, city, and county governments for the express purpose of building more EV charging stations and expanding the availability of chargers to underserved areas. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in the White House press release that “extending EV charging infrastructure into traditionally underserved areas will ensure that equitable and widespread EV adoption takes hold,” and will ensure “that charging stations more visible and accessible in our communities addresses the concerns many American drivers have when considering making the switch to electric.” So already, steps are being taken in the right direction to meet infrastructure demands. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=8836377427900808895&li_theme=light The second step for EV charging will be to fix the chronic reliability issues that plague the current charging network. According to a J.D. Power study and recently reported by Automotive News, between Q1 2021 and Q3 2022, failed charging attempts rose from 15% to 21%, and in the last year, nearly 2 in 5 charging attempts were unsuccessful. If the average American is expecting to be able to rely upon an EV to get them from point A to point B, a near 40% failure rate to “refuel” their car will not be sustainable. Reasons for these failures can include out of service chargers, vandalism, software problems, and payment processing issues. These errors are partially caused by the volume of traffic received by each station, with some stations having nearly no downtime at all because of availability issues. This creates a vicious cycle in which there are not enough charging stations, so the ones that do exist are strained to the point where they break, therefore causing less charging stations to be available overall, and so on. To fix the overall problem, some of the resources dedicated to building the new charging stations need to be used to shore up the already existing charging infrastructure dotting the US. https://www.linkedin.com/embeds/publishingEmbed.html?articleId=9178542192637438259&li_theme=light The EV charging station situation is not optimal or perfect by any means, but when a revolutionary new technology enters the market, there are always bound to be some bumps along the road towards implementation. Continued investment from private companies and at all levels of government will be required to fix the problems outlined above, but fortunately great funding and emphasis is already being put into this widely acknowledged problem. The goal of the US government is to create a seamless transition to EVs in which charging a car has the same level of convenience as filling a car up at a gas station, and by dedicating a combined total of $7.5 billion to doing so, it shows that the necessary funding and support exist to make it a reality. Stay tuned in two weeks for Part 3 of AMA’s story on the development of EV infrastructure in the United States. Learn more about how the AutoMobility Advisors team can help you and your business seize the amazing opportunities to serve the new mobility market. Click on the link below and get in touch, we’d love to talk with you! #evcharginginfrastructure #evcharging #ev #electricvehicles #futuremobility #newmobility #connectedvehicles #digitaltransformation #AutoMobility Advisors
ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Spectrum Webinar Series – No. 2
Automotive use of a Broadcast/Multicast Wireless Network to enhance 4G and 5G Automotive use of a Broadcast/Multicast Wireless Network to enhance 4G and 5G This webinar invites the automotive industry to take advantage of the next generation of IP based (Internet compatible) broadcast spectrum now being implemented at TV stations across the US and other countries (India, Brazil, Jamaica, and Korea). This spectrum has a multicast (one to many) propagation pattern and is transmitted from tall towers, where each tower typically covers a 100-mile diameter region at a time. Because this spectrum is IP based it can be used as a supplement to enhance the efficiencies of 4 and 5G networks. The goal of this three-part webinar series is to start an honest discussion about the benefits and real-world challenges of using ATSC 3.0 broadcast spectrum as a wireless data network to supplement 4 and 5G network data flow to Connected Vehicles. We worked hard to balance our speakers between broadcast and automotive experts so both perspectives will be well represented. Webinar #1 has been completed and can be viewed on demand. Webinar No. 2: Watch on Demand Top 3 Connected Vehicle Applications a Multicast Wireless (ATSC 3.0) Network can make More Efficient 1) Constant RTK geolocation Satellite delivery of centimeter (cm) accurate geolocation to Connected Vehicles requires error correction, often delivered through a LTE or 5G network which can get costly. The blanket coverage of a Broadcast/Multicast network could be much more efficient but what are the practicalities? 2) OTA software updates Broadcast/Multicast could logically be a more cost-effective way to wirelessly deliver OTA firmware and software updates to CVs. What are the challenges of getting hardware needed to make this work? What are the software challenges after that? 3) Infotainment A Broadcast/Multicast data network has the same propagation characteristics as traditional broadcast TV. A single broadcast tower can have a coverage diameter of 100 miles. How can this help in-car entertainment? Learn more and visit www.atsc3advocate.com #automotive #technology #webinar #infrastructure #telecom #media #ev #connectedvehicles #autotech #automobilityadvisors You can subscribe to the AutoMobility Roadmap for free and continue to follow the dynamic and changing automotive mobility world. If you’d like to engage directly with the team at AutoMobility Advisors, contact us or contact us via Linked In. View and Subscribe to the Automobility Roadmap on LinkedIn here.
The Auto Digital Experience Fight Club
George Ayres Automotive | Leader | Sales | Marketing | Mobility | Connected | Electric | Autonomous | Shared | Revenue | Growth 18 articles Ok, what happens when you put all the competitors in a room and tell them to start swinging while simultaneously placing bets to pick the winners (and of course the losers) too? You guessed it, a fight club where it’s everyone for themselves. Makes a good movie perhaps, but does it make for a good way to digitally transform the automotive user experience? Are owners, drivers, riders, and fleets better off with tools that only work in one setting, or vehicle, and not in another? Do you need to put on a new pair of digital driving shoes each time you jump in a different car? Well, currently we are witnessing a sort of fight club mindset within car software experience development. It may get a little bloody, so hang on. First, some boundary, or “ringside ropes” terminology to clarify this discussion. In the battle for the Digital Experience within Automobiles there are many terms, but all eventually come down to the same thing: How the car works when you’re either inside it, or controlling it remotely when outside of it. We can include ideas like “Software-Defined Vehicle” and the in-vehicle “Operating System,” in this mix. And proprietary names like Apple CarPlay or Google’s Android Auto are part of it too. And Amazon Alexa, as a way to control the experience with your voice, is included. And now we can add new names like “Ultifi,” General Motor’s new “end-to-end software platform” that is “designed to unlock new vehicle experiences and connect customers’ digital lives” as their announcement recently said. All of these things are coming together very rapidly, and the gloves have now been taken off all the participants. They used to play nice together, but now it’s getting serious. For decades of course, only the carmakers controlled how the car worked; how you turned the radio on, adjusted the climate control, or how the car collected data. Then they started working with other companies like Verizon and WirelessCar to enable “telematics,” a way to transmit vehicle information to an off-board platform and for the vehicle to receive instructions “over-the-air” or OTA. Then smartphones came along and customers started to complain that if they actually complied with the local highway safety rules, and did not use or talk on their handheld phone while driving, then the car effectively became a black hole for them. They were “off the grid” in terms of data and communication when they were driving. Since nearly everyone now relies on text, email, internet, and voice, to do basically anything, the automakers then needed a way to integrate these phones into the car so they could be used on the move without distraction. So Apple was given access to the vehicle and introduced Carplay, and Google was given access and introduced Android Auto. This was a love/hate relationship for most Auto OEM’s because when they give access, they lose control of the experience. Sometimes they forget of course that customers really LIKE their Apple i-phone experience, and enjoying this in their car as well is a good thing for owner loyalty. Once the door was open and the tech companies had access, they started pushing on it harder. Many Auto OEM’s have now signed up to let them too, and we’ll see if they are taking a punch in the process. At right is a recent listing from Google about the OEM’s that use the Android Automotive O/S. And just this week Apple made a big announcement about the new CarPlay and its ability to “more deeply integrate with a car’s hardware.” Ouch! Here is a view of what they mean. Without leaving the Apple interface you will be able to adjust climate controls, for example, so that you’re not jumping between CarPlay and the vehicle controls, keeping you inside the Apple O/S while you drive. It’s kind of like pushing you up against the ropes and holding you there awhile. From a carmaker point of view, ceding control of the customer experience for actually operating the car must be gut-wrenching. But they have already done it for music and “infotainment” so why not for other functions? But where does Apple stop and the Automaker’s own systems begin? How will GM’s Ultifi, for example, work with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? What is Ultifi giving up? Who is going to win the fight for control of the experience? It’s a melee today. Below as great chart from my friends at MotorMindz that shows a few good examples of how some Auto OEM’s are betting on winning this fight themselves. Of course for over 100 years automakers have controlled how their cars got built, but once sold, they were done. The only things they needed to worry about was paying for repairs under the warranty. Now they want to control, or at least participate in, how their cars get “operated and updated” by the first, second, and even third owners. Over the “lifetime” of your vehicle, they want to continuously upgade how your car works, help you enjoy improvements in operations and performance (and charge you for this) and generally make a car like a smartphone, with easy to install OTA updates. But what happens when Apple decides they don’t want to make that change to how the climate control gets adjusted, either because they are not ready or because they are not getting paid to do it? Does the Automaker have any recourse to force them? Giving up control has a downside if you are an OEM. Of course, the driver or passenger wants the best experience, so delays in making updates, or incompatibility stemming from a fight for control of the experience, may end up disappointing users, who will remember who’s car worked seamlessly, and who’s didn’t. One of the reasons Apple has been successful across phones, computers, tablets, and even tv’s is