Shift: A podcast about mobility

Latest Episodes:

Energy Department’s Chelsea Sexton finances transportation’s future Mar 17, 2024

Show notes

The program officer in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office explains how EV and energy policy gets implemented through billions in federal loans, and how that work underpins a clean-energy economy.

Impact of the DARPA Grand Challenge reverberates 20 years later Mar 10, 2024

Show notes

March 13 marks the 20-year anniversary of the inaugural DARPA Grand Challenge race which catalyzed interest in self-driving technology. DARPA director Tony Tether, Carnegie Mellon University’s Red Whittaker, Waymo’s Melissa Dumas Grimm and Pronto’s Anthony Levandowski offer reflections on that race and how it steered the course of automated-driving development.

BCG’s Augustin Wegscheider explores the nuances in AV, EV forecasts Mar 03, 2024

Show notes

The co-leader of Boston Consulting Group’s Center for Mobility Innovation discusses complications in deploying automated-driving technology and points to limited EV offerings a contributing factor behind a sales slowdown.

Larry Burns identifies the biggest threat to the automotive future Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

The retired General Motors vice president of R&D and adviser to Google and Waymo believes the way digital technology is reshaping our lives will impact both vehicle development and whether we need vehicles at all.

Union of Concerned Scientists’ David Reichmuth unpacks the plug-in hybrid revival Feb 18, 2024

Show notes

Reichmuth, a senior engineer in the organization’s Clean Transportation Program, examines if plug-in hybrids will lead to reduced emissions amid renewed interest and calls out automakers with inefficient PHEV offerings.

Morningstar and Pitchbook experts on what VC investment says about the mobility sector Feb 11, 2024

Show notes

Sanjay Arya, the head of innovation for index product at Morningstar, and Jonathan Geurkink, a senior research analyst for mobility and supply chain tech at Pitchbook, explain what venture capital investment says about mobility tech and why there is optimism about a competitor for Tesla’s supercharger network.

Panasonic’s Andrew Poliak on automotive’s seismic software push Feb 04, 2024

Show notes

The chief technology officer at Panasonic Automotive details advances on software-defined vehicles and what they mean for consumers.

McKinsey’s Russell Hensley confronts the ‘permacrisis’ roiling the auto industry Jan 28, 2024

Show notes

The partner and co-leader of the consulting firm’s Center for Future Mobility advises automakers on navigating software, autonomy and electrification transitions amid profound changes in technology, workforce and the global world order.

Anthony Levandowski marks 2024 as the ‘year of the robot’ Jan 21, 2024

Show notes

The Pronto CEO and co-founder details the merits of pursuing off-road autonomy, provides a status report on self-driving technology and explains why he founded the Way Of The Future church as a framework for harnessing artificial intelligence.

Software-defined vehicle tech takes driver’s seat at CES Jan 14, 2024

Show notes

“Software-defined vehicle” was much more than a buzzwordy catchphrase at CES. From Las Vegas, Elektrobit CEO Maria Anhalt and Qualcomm VP and head of software product management detail rapid advances and growing importance in auto software.