Building Better with Brandon Bartneck

Latest Episodes:

#137 – Paul Comfort – Conversations on Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation & Trends for 2023 Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

Paul Comfort has recently released Conversations on Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation, where we hear from twenty top public transportation officials from across America and Australia discussing practical steps on how they are improving their services and providing more equity and inclusion both in their agencies and the communities they serve.

Key topics in this conversation include:

Key trends in public transportation that Paul is watching heading into 2023
How Paul sought input from 20 influential transportation leaders regarding E & I
One of the unexpected ways in which equity and inclusion can be realized in public transportation

Links:

About the book:

In Conversations on Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation, we hear from twenty top public transportation officials from across America and Australia discussing practical steps on how they are improving their services and providing more equity and inclusion both in their agencies and the communities they serve.
The Covid pandemic provided transit agencies an opportunity to reflect on our core mission. Would our agencies and the government entities that fund them continue to be almost solely focused on ridership increases or would they now focus on more fundamental missions such as providing mobility and access to opportunities for all, including traditionally underserved communities?
This book explores the new reality where transit agencies are putting the focus back on the rider and improving equity and inclusion for all. It also examines the new move toward zero fares and utilizing micro transit as a safety net. The book shows how public transit is really now about more than just transporting passengers from A to B as it is becoming a vehicle to improve overall society.

About Paul:

Paul Comfort is a veteran of the transit and government industries having risen to the top of both fields. After 25 years working in both management and business development for public and private transit agencies, Maryland Governor Hogan appointed Mr. Comfort as CEO of the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) where he served heading one of the top 12 transit systems in America with bus, light rail, subway, commuter train, commuter bus and paratransit services.

Future of Mobility:

The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, effective, and accessible mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields.

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

Edison manufacturing is your low volume contract manufacturing partner for build and assembly of complex mobility and energy products that don’t neatly fit within traditional high-volume production methods.

#136 - Khaled Fakhuri & Mike Doucleff | Schneider Electric – EV Charging Solutions & Innovation on the Edge Jan 08, 2023

Show notes

Khaled Fakhuri is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Innovation and Mike Doucleff is the Senior Vice President and Head of the Electric Mobility Division at Schneider Electric.

Key topics in this conversation include:

The current status EV charging infrastructure
The importance of intentional decisions to prepare for EV charging in both residential and commercial buildings
The value of microgrids
Why EV charging might not look like we think
How Schneider Electric is evolving with internal innovation, external investments, and joint ventures

Links:

About Khaled:

Khaled Fakhuri is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Innovation, at Schneider Electric, where he is leading the strategy and marketing effort for 'Innovation at the Edge', to define, build and scale models and technologies for the decarbonized, decentralized and digital energy landscape.

About Mike:

Mike Doucleff is the Senior Vice President and Head of the Electric Mobility Division at Schneider Electric, where he leads a global team of R&D, commercial and support function professionals and collaborates with an ecosystem of innovative partners in Europe, China and the United States, to accelerate electric vehicle adoption and the decarbonization of transportation by creating safe, reliable and efficient EV charging solutions.

About Schneider Electric:

Schneider Electric is a multi-national, billion-dollar company and the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation across homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

#135 - 2022 Year in Review Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

For the last episode of 2022, I look back at the year. This episode highlights the key developments in 2022, both for Future of Mobility and for me personally, and looks forward to 2023.

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

#134 - Chris and Melissa Bruntlett – Urban Vitality, Dutch Cycling & The Human Case for Fewer Cars Dec 25, 2022

Show notes

Melissa and Chris Bruntlett are authors and urban mobility advocates who strive to communicate the benefits of sustainable transport and inspire happier, healthier, more human-scale cities.

Key topics in this conversation include:

Why car-centric cities aren’t serving us
The unexpected benefits of cities that aren’t optimized for cars
How the Dutch created such vibrant and livable cities
The first step planners can take today to move in the right direction
The path towards happier, healthier, and more human-scale cities

Links:

Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/melissachrisbruntlett

Our website: http://www.modacitylife.com/

Our books: http://www.modacitylife.com/books

Mobycon: https://mobycon.com/

Dutch Cycling Embassy: https://dutchcycling.nl/

About Melissa and Chris

Melissa and Chris Bruntlett are authors and urban mobility advocates who strive to communicate the benefits of sustainable transport and inspire happier, healthier, more human-scale cities. Their first book, Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, explored the decisions that established the Netherlands as a bicycle paradise, and how communities are translating these ideas to build their own cycling cities. Now based in Delft, Melissa works with Mobycon—a bi-continental mobility consultancy—supporting the promotion of Dutch transport knowledge, policy, and design principles in countries around the world. As Communications Manager for the Dutch Cycling Embassy, Chris uses his knowledge and passion to share practical lessons for global cities wishing to learn from the Netherlands’ extraordinary success. Their second book is entitled Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives.

About Mobycon

Mobycon is a Dutch mobility consultancy specializing in developing and implementing innovative and sustainable mobility solutions nationally and internationally. As a multi-disciplinary team of traffic engineers, urban planners, economists, communications and engagement specialists, and human geographers, Mobycon delivers diverse, integrated mobility products and consulting services. Our work supports the development of healthy, connected, liveable communities working to reduce car dependence.

About Dutch Cycling Embassy

The Dutch Cycling Embassy is an intermediary between the demand for Dutch cycling expertise and Dutch parties that can deliver. The Dutch Cycling Embassy is a public private network for sustainable bicycle inclusive mobility. We represent the best of Dutch Cycling: knowledge, experience and experts offered by private companies, NGO’s, research institutions, national and local governments.

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

Harrold Rust | Enovix - 3D Battery Cell Chemistry, Silicon Anodes & the Next Generation of EV Batteries (Repost) Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

This is a repost of Episode 94, originally aired on March 20, 2022. This conversation is the most popular Future of Mobility podcast in 2022.

...

Harrold Rust is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Enovix Corporation, a position he has held since the inception of the company in 2007.

Key topics in this conversation include:

The unique benefits from utilizing a 3D battery cell architecture
How Harrold and the Enovix team decided to take a novel approach to energy storage
The keys to unlocking the value of a silicon anode
Enovix’s plan to scale up in application size and production volume

Links:

Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/harroldrust
Enovix website: https://www.enovix.com/
Harrold’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrold-rust-7075362/

Harrold’s Bio:

Harrold Rust is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Enovix Corporation, a position he has held since the inception of the company in 2007. The founders of Enovix shared the view that the Li-ion battery badly needed a technical overhaul, given that battery advancements were not keeping pace with fast-moving technology sectors such as AI, Electric Vehicles and Virtual Reality.

Under Harrold’s leadership, Enovix has grown from a handful of employees to more than 200+. He also guided the company through its public offering in 2021.

Harrold is an expert on 3D technology design and cost-effective manufacturing innovation. Prior to Enovix, Harrold was vice president of operations at FormFactor, and spent 17 years in operations management at IBM. Harrold earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from U.C. Davis and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

About Enovix:

Enovix is a leader in advanced silicon-anode lithium-ion battery development and production. The company's proprietary 3D cell architecture increases the energy density and a maintains high cycle life compared to competing Li-ion battery designs.

While other battery start-ups have solely focused on developing new battery chemistries and materials, Enovix has completely reimagined the battery design – throwing out the century-old “jellyroll” design to build a more efficient, 3D design that enables the use of a 100-percent active silicon anode.

Enovix’s unique approach addresses significant technical challenges associated with the use of high energy density silicon, challenges which Enovix has gone to great lengths to solve. Silicon has long been heralded as a critical component for the batteries of the future. It’s a more plentiful and sustainable ingredient for powerful batteries than the graphite anode used in conventional Li-ion batteries today. A silicon anode can theoretically store more than twice as many lithium ions as a graphite anode.

Future of Mobility:

The Future of Mobility podcast is focused on the development and implementation of safe, sustainable, and equitable mobility solutions, with a spotlight on the people and technology advancing these fields.

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

#133 – Niklas Reinedahl | Einride – Improving Freight Efficiency with Digital then Electric and then Autonomous-Electric Vehicle Deployments Dec 18, 2022

Show notes

As US General Manager, Niklas carries the responsibility for Einride’s business and operational growth in one of the world's largest transport markets, North America.

Key topics in this conversation include:

The incredible opportunity to improve the efficiency and utilization of the trucking ecosystem
Einride’s path from digital to electric and finally autonomous-electric vehicles
Why vehicle sales isn’t the right metric for success
How Einride is providing meaningful value today
The best use cases for electric and then autonomous vehicle deployments

Links:

Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/niklasreinedahl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/niklas-reinedahl-6186241/?originalSubdomain=se
Einride Saga: https://www.einride.tech/saga
GE Appliances News: https://www.einride.tech/press/einride-us-public-road-pilot
NHTSA Approval: https://www.einride.tech/press/einride-gets-nhtsa-approval

Niklas’s Bio

As US General Manager, Niklas carries the responsibility for Einride’s business and operational growth in one of the world's largest transport markets, North America. Prior to joining Einride, he spent eight years in various management positions within Volvo Group, most recently at Volvo Construction Equipment as Global Director Industrial Strategy. Niklas also has a long history of success in strategy consulting, most notably with Accenture.

About Einride

Einride designs, develops and deploys technologies for freight mobility. By building grids powered by a first-of-its-kind ecosystem — the intelligent platform Einride Saga, electric and autonomous fleets, charging infrastructure and connectivity networks — a resilient, cost-effective shipping future is unlocked. Founded in 2016, Einride became the first company in the world to deploy an autonomous, electric vehicle on a public road in 2019 and became the first company to receive approval to operate the vehicle on a U.S. public road in 2022. For more information, please visit einride.tech.

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

Larry Burns | Autonomy - Automobility, Redefining Mobility & The Quest to Build the Driverless Car (Repost) Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

This is a repost of Episode 93, originally aired on March 13, 2022. This conversation is the 2rd most popular Future of Mobility podcast in 2022.

...

Larry Burns is a pioneer in the electrified and automated vehicle space, highly successful industry veteran, and author of Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car – And How It Will Reshape Our World.

Key topics in this conversation include:

The potential for automobility to improve people’s lives through safer, more sustainable, more effective, and more accessible transportation
Why Autonomy is the best book I’ve read on the topic of future mobility
The benefit of a two-mode assisted/automated driving solution
The power of the skateboard platform for electrification, and how Larry and his team at GM demonstrated this approach two decades ago
The future – merging transportation with information and communication

Links:

Show notes: https://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/larryburns/
Larry’s website: https://www.lawrencedburns.org/
Autonomy book: https://www.amazon.com/Autonomy-Quest-Driverless-Car-Reshape/dp/0062661124

Larry’s Bio:

Larry Burns advises organizations on the future of mobility, logistics, manufacturing, energy and innovation. His current clients include Goodyear, Kitson & Partners, Niron Magnetics and Namoramic Laboratories. Larry served as General Motors Corporate Vice President of Research & Development and Planning from 1998-2009. Between 2010 and 2021, Larry was a consultant to Waymo (Google Self-Driving Cars), Professor of Engineering Practice at the University of Michigan, Director of the Program for Sustainable Mobility at Columbia University, and an advisor to several major companies.

Full bio: Larry Burns extended bio

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

#132 - Ali Javidan | Range Energy – Electric Trailers, Empathy, & Practical Decarbonization for Trucking Dec 11, 2022

Show notes

Ali Javidan is CEO of Range Energy, which accelerates the electrification of commercial transportation via powered trailers for the heavy duty truck market.

Key topics in this conversation include:

Why a truck trailer presents a great opportunity for decarbonization
Why Range Energy has decoupled its trailer from communication with the tractor
“Shopping cart” mode
What Ali learned executing prototype programs at Tesla, Google, and Zoox
The importance of empathy while developing a product and leading a company

Links:

Ali’s Bio

Ali Javidan is a hands-on engineer with a history of leading pioneering teams at Tesla, Google, and Zoox. As an early hire at Tesla, Ali built the very first Model S and was responsible for early-stage testing and development for all vehicle programs. Prior to founding Range Energy, Ali architected the prototyping and experimental operations org – xOps – at Zoox, supporting the ground-up development of all vehicle platforms at the company. At Google, Ali led the ATAP Skunkworks team where he filed 15 patents in the areas of micro-machining, additive manufacturing, and robotics, and supported the development of the Soli radar chip, Jacquard conductive textiles, and Tango mapping tablet. Ali spent his early career at Caltrans and as a racing team engineer, and currently serves as a venture partner at R7.

About Range Energy

Range Energy (Range) accelerates the electrification of commercial transportation via powered trailers for the heavy duty truck market. With a solution that can easily hook up to any tow vehicle, Range’s powered trailers can rapidly ease the transition to electrification and meet its commercial partners' immediate needs and long-term ambitions. Range was founded in 2021 and is led by a team with deep EV industry expertise from Tesla, Zoox, Honda, and more. The company is backed by leading investors including UP Partners, R7, Yamaha Motor Ventures, and more.

Future of Mobility:

linkedin.com/in/brandonbartneck/

brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/

Edison Manufacturing:

Doron Frenkel | Driivz – The Operating System for EV Charging & Improving our Power Ecosystem (Repost) Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

This is a repost of Episode 84, originally aired on January 9, 2022. This conversation is the 3rd most popular Future of Mobility podcast in 2022.

...

Key topics in this conversation include

- The role of software in enabling an efficient and effective EV charging system

- How fleets and charging providers can solve their biggest problems

- The potential for auxiliary battery packs and vehicle-to-grid solutions for improving our power ecosystem

- Driivz’s role in the transition towards more sustainable transportation

- How Doron works to lead Driivz as a purpose-driven company

Links

● Show notes: http://brandonbartneck.com/futureofmobility/doronfrenkel

● Doron’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doronfrenkel/

● Driivz website: http://www.driivz.com.

● Driivz blog: https://driivz.com/blog/

Doron’s Bio:

Doron Frenkel is the Founder and CEO of Driivz. He is an experienced entrepreneur with over 25 years’ international management experience in the EV charging, telecommunications and fleet industries. Prior to Driivz, Doron was co-founder and CEO of We!Secure and before that he held the position of GM of Israeli operations at Sphera. As a Director at Amdocs (NYSE:DOX), Doron led business relationships worth hundreds of millions dollars with top customers such as Nextel and T-Mobile.

About Driivz:

Driivz is the leading global software supplier to EV operators and service providers, accelerating the plug-in EV industry's dynamic and continuous transformation. The company's intelligent, cloud-based platform spans EV charging operations, energy management, advanced billing capabilities and driver self-service tools. Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, Driivz's team of EV experts serve customers in more than 20 countries, including global industry players such as Volvo Group, EVgo, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, ElaadNL, ESB, Mer and eMobility Power. Driivz's platform manages tens of thousands of EV chargers in North America, Europe, and APAC, used by almost 1 million EV drivers.

Future of Mobility:

Edison Manufacturing:

#131 - Jannet Walker-Ford | WSP USA – Equitable Transportation & Deploying Effective Transit Solutions Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

Jannet Walker-Ford is Senior Vice President, National Transit and Rail Leader at WSP USA.

Key topics in this conversation include:

The objective of public transit
Why equity is such a critical consideration while rolling out new mobility solutions
What it means to serve our communities in an equitable manner
Deploying transit solutions that truly solve the challenges they aim to address
How inequities can unintentionally emerge if we aren’t intelligent in the way we deploy technology

Links:

Jannet’s Bio

Jannet Walker-Ford is a nationally recognized transportation industry executive with WSP USA, a leading engineering, environment and professional services consultancy. Walker-Ford has more than two decades of diverse experience in management consulting, technology, mobility and transportation systems. She serves as senior vice president and national transit and rail leader, responsible for leading and growing the firm’s business in the national transit and rail markets and establishing strategies to position WSP for major advisory, planning, design, program management, alternative delivery and construction management assignments.

About WSP USA

WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering, environment and professional services firms. Recognized on Fast Company’s Brands that Matter List for 2022 as a top Community-Minded Business, WSP USA brings together engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals who are dedicated to collaborate in the best interests of serving local communities. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,500 employees in 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.

Future of Mobility:

Edison Manufacturing:

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