Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] Kyle, I have one recommendation for the audience today, and that is if you ever wanna make sure you have to be on your game every single day without exception, without fail, you know what you should do? 0:11 You should run a morning show. [laughs] We gotta go. We here, but do you wanna know- Oh... who I is and who I be? They stop and think- You are kidding... instead of wanting a beat to repeat. Ugh. 0:20 Look, if you wanna wake up at 4:30, 5:00 every single morning and know by, well, at least Central, by 7:45, you gotta be able to run. [laughs] You gotta, you gotta do a thing. 0:33 There, there's an element to, like, forcing yourself into, like, "I have to do this. I have to do this." Yeah. "I have to pay attention to what's going on in the news. I have to pay attention to my team. 0:43 I have to be ready to rock. I have to have the lights on. I have to have the sound ready." And then, like, you're off to the races, right? Once begun is half done. 0:50 And, you know, us doing this show has really changed the way we approach the day, for the better. Not that it's easy. It, it definitely has. Because everything... 0:57 You know, we had a conversation with someone yesterday, it was like, "So how many podcasts do you guys do a day?" "Eh, somewhere in the, like, three to seven range." [laughs] And they're like, "Skurt, what?" 1:07 Even hearing that back. [laughs] Like- But-... everything that happened yesterday happened, plus three to seven podcasts. Well, yesterday- Right... it was four, I think, yesterday. Exactly. 1:16 And, and really what it is, is it's just, like, timing, understanding the content production schedule, getting the team aligned. Like, we've got an epic team. 1:23 The, the behind-the-scenes, you know, we got Nathan and Isaac on the, on the, in the backend right now. And then we've got other content producers that are pushing things backwards and forwards. 1:32 And, and it's just, it's becoming a, a machine. But it all is, is predicated on this, like, morning energy. And no matter what time you get up, that morning energy is really, really important. 1:43 You know, there's something, there's a, there's, um, there's, like, a, a saying in survival, like, mentality where it's, it's not that I'm always prepared, right? You hear the, "Hey, always be ready for what's coming." 1:54 It's actually the mentality that you're never prepared. Oh. I'm never prepared. 1:58 And that's how I feel that paying attention to the velocity of what's going on in the automotive industry, you have to adopt the mentality that you're never really prepared. 2:06 You just have to go out there and play the game. 2:09 Uh, so we're trying to play the game as best we can every day, trying to play, um, play a game that, uh, includes as many people as possible and helps us all move forward together. 2:18 Um, we have ASOTU- uh, ASOTU CON coming in hot. We say it every day. We still really want you to be there. The hotels are filling up. First one's full, second one's got a lot of capacity still. 2:27 So, uh, get your tickets at asotucon.com. We are less than three weeks away. Actually, I think it's, like, 19 or 18 days, which seems completely bonkers. Wow. 2:35 But we're fired up to make this the best event you've ever been to in your entire life. Um, yeah. So, we are. [laughs] We'll, we'll see. It's just... Right? We'll see. I think it's gonna be. [laughs] Someone... 2:48 D- I don't know if you saw this, but someone compared this to, like, the Woodstock of automotive. 2:53 [laughs] Oh, my- And I don't know if that's exactly a great comparison- There are gonna be few elements we will not have at ASOTU CON- [laughs] Will not be doing... that they did have at, at Woodstock. 3:00 [laughs] But- Uh, you can use your imagination... there's definitely gonna be that energy, that, that shift, and, uh, super excited about it. 3:07 Uh, couple more things today- South- the South by Southwest of automotive, let's call it that There you go. I'll take the South by Southwest of automotive. Perfect. 3:14 Uh, well, today we've got a couple other things happening outside of just the daily, um, daily news that we'll roll into in just a second. 3:21 We've got two more Auto Collabs podcasts launching, uh, at noon- Two really great ones today... and 3:00. I mean- Yeah... I can't believe we put these- Really great ones... on the same day. 3:29 Eric Hall, um, of Classic Chevy and then, and then Tim Cox of CarNow. Just, like, out and out practical things that you can th- take away from each of those in your business. 3:43 And so whether you listen on the podcast or, or watch live on any of the streaming platforms at noon and 3:00, it's, it's a great way to spend the time. Also, drum roll please. I don't have a drum roll trigger. 3:55 I don't think we have one of those. Pitch Tank is back today. Yes. And we are going full throttle. Throwing it down. We've taken the summer off. The way we're going is this is a Pitch Tank championship. 4:07 So, uh, we've got six, uh, companies the next two weeks competing to pitch live at ASOTU CON. 4:15 So the top two places each week on pitch and product will be live at ASOTU CON to pitch their products and get that feedback and get the energy around the room. 4:26 Uh, so if you're interested in just learning about some of the best tech in automotive, the newest tech, uh, you should be there. 4:32 It's an hour that is well worth your time, whether you're a dealer or industry partner, to understand the way that industry partners and dealers can connect more to leverage, uh, those relationships and create a better consumer experience. 4:44 That's what we're doing with Pitch Tank, and it's gonna be fire today. I, I can already hear the, the chanting coming from inside the Pitch Tank live at ASOTU CON. 4:53 [laughs] Like, I feel like someone's gonna drop something where I was gonna be like, "Oh." [laughs] Right, right. Like, so- I hope so. I hope it gets sideways. 5:01 [laughs] I, I, it's, I think the chances of it not getting sideways are slim to none. Right. Exactly. 5:05 Knowing all the, all the, all of the incredible marketers in automotive, from dealerships, all the incredible industry partners all crammed together in one kind of room that... 5:15 Let's, let's face it, the room that the Pitch Tank live is in at ASOTU CON is actually one where the bull riding happens. [laughs] It's the professional bull riding, uh, restaurant. 5:25 We're gonna put the loser on the bull is what- On the bull. [laughs] Right? So the venue is just, like, everything is around this center circle, and it's gonna be something, something, uh, really to remember. 5:36 And we're gonna catch it all on video. You know that's gonna happen. Yes, exactly. All right. Let's talk about a little news today. Today is a little bit of an EV focus. 5:42 Uh, some EV-related things going on from around the country. 5:45 Uh, first story, after the passage of the recent climate bill, the task of convincing drivers that EVs are a good ideaIs more daunting than ever, is now the federal agencies have to make all those benefits that they just stumped on for the last three months. 5:59 They're like, "We actually have to convince people that that's a good idea now." Like, "We got it passed, high fives going around. Um, definitely mixed opinions on whether or not that's good for us." 6:09 And, um, Gregory Pierce, co-director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California at Los Angeles says affordability is paramount. He said, "It's gonna be a tough few years. 6:19 There's just a shortage of EVs that most people can afford, even after you stack all the incentives." Crazy. That's the first one. Okay, this is what I'm thinking about here, is if you... 6:31 Like, the last major change in automotive was when the car came to be, and w- it was going from horses to combustion engine. Motor carriages. Correct. Right? Motor carriages. 6:44 Like, the adoption curve and the level of education that was necessary at that time was way slower than the adoption curve that we're expecting is possible with EVs, and the push from the government and the manufacturers asking customers to get educated enough to adopt this level of technology. 7:06 You even think about the adoption curve, and if you've ever looked at, like, the curve of purchasing within the iPhone or smartphone devices. Like, it was... 7:14 It's actually a long time before there was a large-scale mass adoption. It's, right. The early adoption- Easy to forget that... in those first five to six years was actually pretty slow. 7:24 The hockey stick curve took a, a much longer time. And, and so I think, you know, th- this is real- this is really key. It's like, okay, now we've got all these things in place. We've got this bill. 7:35 We've got every manufact- well, most manufacturers saying this is gonna happen. Now, can the education catch up with the consumer in order for the mass adoption to take place at scale? So the education, right? 7:46 This guy just talks about the affordability. The next is convenience. 7:50 Robert, uh, Furnat, who hand- uh, who heads up the state's, uh, West Virginia's chapter of Electric Auto Association, when asked if you can drive across West Virginia in an EV, he said, "It's just really tough." 8:03 He said, "Actually, we a- advise people, travelers, to avoid West Virginia if they're in an EV." 'Cause the hills- Wow. The hills and the lack of chargers. Right. Right. 8:13 He said, "There's, there's, there are some Tesla Superchargers, but if you're not in a Tesla and you're just in an- another EV, you're out of luck," right? Or you have to park for, like, two or three hours- Wow... 8:22 to find somewhere to park. So, I mean, the article goes on. Uh, we quote, I think it's a Washington Post article. Goes on to cite numerous everyday consumers from all walks of life. It's very interesting. 8:31 If you go to the show notes, uh, read it, because there's a lot of consumer commentary in there, a lot of different perspective on why consumers are hesitant. They're like, "I don't know if it's for me." 8:41 And, and actually, when, um, one of the people says, "When you say we're gonna save the environment, that actually triggers a lot more skepticism that the product or the solution is going to be convenient or affordable." 8:54 Wow. Right? So it's nice to say it- Interesting... it's nice to tweet it, it's nice to put a banner or badge up on your social media platform, but these consumers are like, "Yeah, when we hear that- The practicality... 9:03 actually, we're like, yeah, that's for someone else to do. I'll keep recycling my bottles." [laughs] Wow, that's nuts. So, hey- That's wild... words are easy. 9:13 It's easy to sell something, but when it comes time to delivery, we'll see what actually happens. Um, speaking of things actually happening. Hey, there you go. Segway. Time. [upbeat music] See, there you go. See that. 9:24 [laughs] So a Honda/Sony collab, we're gonna call it a collab, will be bringing- [laughs]... a new EV offering to the high-end EV market by 2025, and they called it, very uniquely, Sony Honda Mobility. 9:38 S- Uh, man, someone, someone spent some time on that. [laughs] I, I bet there was some time spent on, like, which name goes first. Right? [laughs] How do they decide that? 9:47 Like, was there, you know, like, two Japanese companies- And which one's the- I wonder if there's, like, a-... uh, which one's the... Yeah. [laughs] It's like, "Ah, dang, Sony's first," right? 9:55 So Sony Honda Mobility's expected to plan, design, and develop, and sell EVs, but the organization will not own or operate manufacturing facilities. 10:04 So it's like these two formed a conglomerate, or not a conglomerate, like, a side business, and this business is gonna design and develop. Honda's gonna manufacture the models. 10:12 Sony's gonna develop the, the platform, which is really exciting, right? That's smart. 'Cause Honda, Honda knows how to build stuff really well, and Sony knows how to make stuff awesome. 10:22 If you don't believe me, then you don't have any kids, because you know what the PlayStation has done for your household. [laughs] Right. Exactly. 10:28 Yeah, no, I, I think that thinking about Sony as the experience side of this, like we talked about with, um, I think it was GM last week and the, and the infotainment system- Yep... across automotive. 10:40 Like, that's not automotive's strong suit. 10:42 So to see a, a, a, an, an entertainment system, an entertainment company coming into automotive in this way, I think is extremely key for the way that people engage these large devices, which is what the car is becoming, which is just a large device. 10:57 Um, uh, another name. You got, did you get this name? Izumi? You got, you got the pronunciation? [laughs] Yeah, Izumi Kawanishi. Izumi. There it is. Izumi- God, the, the Japanese ones I can do. 11:07 Asan- Sony Honda Mobility representative, uh, director and president, CEO of, executive vice president of Sony. That's a whole long title, by the way. [laughs] That is a real long title. 11:16 I was like, there's a translation thing there. 11:19 [laughs] Said, "By combining the many strengths of Sony and Honda, we intend to accelerate development and lead the evolution of mobility by realizing mobility as an emotional space rooted in safety and security and the related services." 11:31 I love... Mm. I know. I did, I had the same reaction- Like, sit in that for a minute... when I read that the first time. [laughs] An emotional space. You're just, yeah, you're like, oh my goodness. 11:39 So the, so the vehicle where you spend a significant amount of time of your, of your day, like some people, 45 hour, hour and a half in their vehicle, is a, a potentially, like, emotional space that they're thinking about the type of safety, the type of security, even the type of engagement that they have with that vehicle and the technology in it.... 11:59 is important to the way that you assume brand, uh, you know, like your, your level of attachment to the brand or the feeling that you get when you're inside the car. 12:09 Um, that, I, I think thinking of a vehicle in that way is gonna be so sticky. Absolutely. 12:15 And, and for a company like Honda to do that in, in a, in a brand that already has a very, very high retention score is lights out. 12:24 Uh, you know what I thought of when, when he said, you know, safety, security, and emotional space? Two things. Number one, Dodge creating a very different version of an emotional space, right? Mm. 12:32 With their, with their new one. True. Right? But he's talking about safety, security, and what it got me into is video game mode. 12:38 You know when you're on the menu screen, whether it's, like, the Nintendo Wii or the PlayStation, and it's got this kind of ethereal mentality to it. The music's kind of- Yep... you know, just, you just feel like- Ooh... 12:48 you're kind of, like, in this space right now. You're kind of floating. I can choose- Yeah. Can you imagine if car had, like, menu screen mode where you get in, and it kinda puts you in a thing? 12:57 I was like, "No one's ever done that," but I think Sony's gonna pull it off. The bottom line to all of this is that- Wow... cars are no longer just cars. We have to rethink them very, very differently. 13:08 Thinking, speaking of rethinking things. Stop. Segway. Time. [upbeat music] Okay. We thought we would give you a- [laughs]... peek behind the curtain of Tesla's new update that we were talking about the other day. 13:22 We focused, uh, the other day when we covered it on the price increase of the full self-driving mode from 12,000 to $15,000. 13:29 However, there are some other things that came out with the update that we thought were really, you know, good to mention just to expand your horizons on what is happening in the EV infotainment system mode. 13:39 Um, so, uh, the, the whole thing, the whole update, it really was, like, a big code update to full self-driving, along with the- Yeah... pricing increase. 13:47 You know, and the subscription for that is the same, still 199 a month. However, a bunch of the other updates were really customizable, you know, upgrades to the Tesla-owning experience, primarily cloud-based profiles. 14:00 So- So smart. Right, so now- Actually-... 14:02 if you're driving a Tesla, you get another- That might be worth the price alone, 'cause you're like, "If I'm gonna stay with this vehicle, then I don't have to do the whole reset, the whole, like, redo of all of my settings or all the apps that I've included in this thing." 14:16 Yeah. Um, that's pretty neat. And if you have multiple Teslas, or you k- we know Tesla has a recent agreement with Hertz for a bunch of rental cars. 14:23 Hertz bringing, you know, EV rentals to the front line of the rental space. Now a lot of those are Teslas, so- Plug in, boop, boop, boop... you get in a Tesla, it just knows it's you. That's my profile. 14:32 And all your seats, your settings- Yeah... your mirrors, everything goes. Your driving behaviors, your patterns. Probably some tweaks that happen with the drivetrain based on, on patterns. Um, so that's cool. 14:41 It also added the ability to customize several features in the car, like the blind spot mirror. Now you can put it anywhere in, in the vehicle's onboard displays that you want. Um, also, a silent sentry mode. 14:53 If you don't know what sentry mode is, it's pretty awesome. And, you know, it basically protects itself. The car defends itself. Right? Yeah. 14:59 When people are around it, it'll honk, it'll give light flashes, it'll turn all the- Yep... cameras on. And now that can be, uh, quiet. So really- That's great... the point, the point is the same point. 15:09 I, I wanna, I wanna, real quick, there, there was a comment on our post on social regarding the, this original update. 15:17 And, uh, just to add some context to, like, the way that Tesla users are experiencing this, is they're actually getting these o- uh, you know, if you get, like, an app, and it's saying, and you got a free app, and you got the option to upgrade it to the premium for 399, right? 15:35 Tesla is pushing these notifications into the car, and this person was like, "I get that, like, minor anxiety, like, should I do it, every time I get in the car," right? 15:46 [laughs] Like, you're getting prompted for a th- for a $15,000 update- They just added a-... when you enter your car... they just added a nine. 399 nine. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] It's unbelievable. 15:58 So there, he's saying- Yeah... you know, as, as opposed to the last story where Sony is saying, "Hey, this, it's the safety, security, emotional experience," that comment is like, it's the wrong kind of emotion. 16:08 I'm getting prompted. Right. Like, I don't want anxiety, should I do this? Am I gonna FOMO? Like, where is that line between too much- It's so interesting... and not enough? 16:15 However, like the heated seat thing, [laughs] right? It's like, "Hey, it's three degrees out. You want a warm butt?" Right. Boom. [laughs] Right? Beep. Done. Heated seats on. Oh- Yes... 16:25 the point of this is it all comes back to the same, cars are no longer just cars anymore. Mm-hmm. So I mean, oh, there's one more thing. Oh, what was it? Something just came and went from my mind. 16:37 I thought it was relevant. I guess it wasn't, really. But there you go. There's your shot for the morning. Hopefully it got you going like it got us going. We have a lot of work to do. 16:46 Hey, if you haven't, follow us on LinkedIn. Follow asotu on LinkedIn. Lots of good conversation there. 16:53 [upbeat music]
