Episodes

  • Hydrogen's Promise and Paradox: The Clean Transportation Revolution That's Still Waiting to Happen
    Jul 5 2025

    The Stark Reality: While the global hydrogen vehicle market is projected to reach $142.15 billion by 2032, current sales tell a different story. Only 5,621 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were sold globally in the first half of 2024, compared to 4.5 million battery electric vehicles. In the United States, all 18,000 hydrogen cars on the road are concentrated in California, with Toyota Mirai sales dropping 74% to just 172 units in Q1 2024.

    Infrastructure Bottleneck: The chicken-and-egg problem is real. With only 59 hydrogen refueling stations across the entire United States (versus over 2 million EV charging points), infrastructure remains the critical barrier. Construction costs range from $1.5-3.2 million per station, and in 2024, the U.S. actually lost stations—adding 9 but decommissioning 12.

    Commercial Applications Show Promise: While passenger cars struggle, heavy-duty applications are gaining traction. Volvo will begin hydrogen truck testing in 2026, while DHL and Diageo North America have deployed Nikola hydrogen trucks achieving 80% emissions reduction versus diesel. The hydrogen truck market is projected to reach $10 billion by 2030.

    Technology Breakthroughs: Significant advances are emerging. Hyundai aims to mass-produce 100,000 fuel cells annually by 2025. Honda's next-generation fuel cell module (2027) will halve costs while doubling durability. Norwegian researchers at SINTEF have reduced platinum content by 62% and membrane thickness by 33%, cutting costs by 20%.

    Government Investment: Massive public support continues. Canada's Infrastructure Bank invested $337 million in HTEC's H2 Gateway program. California committed $115 million for 111 new stations by 2027. The U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act allocated $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, while the Inflation Reduction Act provides up to $3/kg tax credits.

    Regional Dynamics: Asia-Pacific dominates with 73.72% of global market share. South Korea targets 6.2 million fuel cell vehicles by 2040, while Japan aims for a fully hydrogen-powered economy by 2050. Asia operates 748 refueling stations versus Europe's 294 and North America's limited network.

    The Efficiency Challenge: Battery electric vehicles achieve 85% energy efficiency compared to hydrogen's 30-40%, but industry experts like Bill Elrick of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership emphasize safety and reliability, while critics like Tesla's Elon Musk call fuel cells "extremely silly."

    Key Insight: Rather than asking when hydrogen will replace gasoline cars, the smarter question is where hydrogen complements battery electric vehicles. The future likely involves battery electric for daily commuting and urban delivery, with hydrogen serving long-haul trucking and rapid-refueling applications.

    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    20 mins
  • Dealerships at the Crossroads - Your SDV Survival Guide
    Jul 3 2025

    How North American Dealerships Can Thrive in the Software-Defined Vehicle Era


    The New Reality: From Oil Changes to OTA Updates

    As Mark Johnson, General Manager at a large multi-brand dealership in Ohio, explained: "We're not just selling cars anymore. We're selling experiences, updates, and peace of mind. And that's a whole different ballgame."

    The transformation is accelerating rapidly. By 2027, over 80% of new vehicles sold in North America will support significant over-the-air updates, with the North American SDV market projected to grow from $50 billion in 2024 to over $400 billion by 2030 (MarketsandMarkets).


    The Training Revolution: Ford University Leads the Way

    Ford Motor Company is setting the standard with Ford University, launched across 3,000 dealerships serving 164,000 employees across North America. Abby Vietor, Ford's Global Director of Dealer Training and Productivity, identified the core challenge: "Many dealers have expressed the challenge of managing the swift pace of new products and technology developments."


    Service Lane Transformation: The Herb Chambers Success Story

    Herb Chambers Companies in Boston, with 60 dealerships representing dozens of brands, exemplifies successful SDV adaptation. They created a Concierge Referral Service that acts as a central hub, coordinating across all locations to provide seamless customer experiences.

    The 90-Day SDV Readiness Plan

    Month 1: Assessment

    • Audit staff digital skills
    • Identify gaps in service and sales processes
    • Determine where customers get confused

    Month 2: Implementation

    • Launch mandatory SDV training for all staff
    • Update CRM and digital tools
    • Ensure systems handle ongoing customer relationships

    Month 3: Activation

    • Host customer "Tech Nights"
    • Roll out digital service offerings
    • Implement proactive update notifications

    Ongoing: Evolution

    • Partner with OEMs for continuous updates
    • Gather customer and staff feedback
    • Continuously adapt and improve


    Technology Integration: The Samsung-Hyundai-Kia Alliance

    A groundbreaking 2024 partnership between Samsung, Hyundai, and Kia brought Samsung's SmartThings IoT platform into North American showrooms. Chang Song, President of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform Division, explained their vision: "to enrich customers' mobility experience by offering personalized services that extend beyond transportation, seamlessly integrating vehicles with smartphones."


    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    18 mins
  • Automotive Design in the Age of AI: How Machine Learning is Shaping the Look and Feel of Tomorrow's Cars
    Jun 28 2025

    AI Transforms Automotive Design: From Clay Models to Digital Creativity in Weeks, Not Months

    The automotive design revolution is happening faster than anyone predicted. What once took months of clay modeling and iterative sketching now occurs in weeks through AI-powered tools, fundamentally reshaping how vehicles are conceived and created.

    The Numbers Tell the Story: The global automotive AI market is exploding from $14.15 billion in 2023 to a projected $734.97 billion by 2032—a staggering 55.1% annual growth rate that signals complete industry transformation, not just adoption.

    Key Industry Developments:

    Generative AI Breakthrough: Toyota's FelGAN system allows designers to input parameters like weight and material constraints, instantly receiving hundreds of optimized design alternatives. Meanwhile, Audi's Generative Adversarial Networks create wheel designs so realistic that "even the human eye cannot, or can only barely, distinguish them from real photos."

    Human-AI Collaboration: Despite fears of replacement, industry leaders emphasize augmentation over automation. Mercedes-Benz Chief Design Officer Gorden Wagener explains: "The goal is not to replace designers, but to work alongside AI to unlock new ideas that humans might miss." Alan Macey from ArtCenter College of Design notes that AI tools can get "any untrained person 95% of the way there" in professional design quality.

    Manufacturing Revolution: Ford's digital twin technology has reduced design time by 25%, while Tesla's AI-driven robotic systems achieved 35% production efficiency increases and 40% defect reductions. BMW's virtual simulations have boosted production efficiency by 30%.

    Personalization at Scale: Tesla's AI personalization system uses camera and seat sensors to map driver routines, automatically adjusting everything from climate to entertainment. Smart Eye's Automotive Interior Sensing AI has secured 320 design wins from 21 OEMs, with lifetime value exceeding 7.35 billion Swedish kronor.

    Market Reality Check: 78% of automotive manufacturers have implemented AI in operations as of early 2025, up from 62% just two years ago. The integration spans from Tier One manufacturers with full AI integration to experimental implementations across the industry.

    Looking Ahead: Mercedes-Benz's Gorden Wagener offers a bold prediction: "In ten years, maybe most of the design will be done by AI." While the timeline may be aggressive, McKinsey projects 3.5 million autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads by 2025, with 60% of global cars featuring Level 2 autonomy.

    The Bottom Line: AI isn't replacing human creativity in automotive design—it's amplifying it to unprecedented levels. As Toyota's Avinash Balachandran observed, the future lies in combining "traditional engineering strengths with state-of-the-art capabilities of modern generative AI."


    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    15 mins
  • The Human Side of Autonomous Vehicles: Navigating the Pushback and Complex Impacts
    Jun 26 2025

    The Human Side of Autonomous Vehicles: When Communities Fight Back
    While companies like Waymo, Cruise, and Tesla tout the safety, efficiency, and accessibility benefits of self-driving technology, communities across North America are pushing back—sometimes in surprising ways.

    The episode begins with the unexpected battleground of Santa Monica, California, where residents weren't disturbed by the autonomous driving but rather by the incessant beeping of Waymo's fifty-six vehicle fleet. This noise pollution led to creative protest tactics, with locals "stacking" or "coning" the vehicles by placing objects on their hoods to exploit their safety protocols, forcing them to remain frozen until manually reset.

    Things escalated dramatically during the "No Kings" protests in Los Angeles in June 2025, when five Waymo vehicles were torched, leading to service suspensions across multiple cities. As Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp confirmed, the company suspended operations in Southern California, San Francisco, Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix following these incidents.

    Deeper concerns are driving this resistance: loss of local control over public spaces, opaque deployment processes, and regulatory systems that seem to favor corporate interests over community input. As one resident told Fox Business, "We've reached out to the city. We've called Waymo. Now, some are trying unconventional tactics."

    Beyond community pushback, Steve and Claire explore the potential massive job displacement, with RethinkX estimating up to five million jobs could be lost in the US alone—including 3.5 million truck drivers. The World Economic Forum's 2025 Future of Jobs report projects 92 million roles could be displaced globally by 2030 due to AI and automation, though it also forecasts a net gain of 78 million new jobs in other sectors.

    Privacy concerns take center stage as well, with MIT's Iyad Rahwan's Moral Machine experiment revealing deep cultural divides on how autonomous vehicles should make ethical decisions in unavoidable crash scenarios. Meanwhile, Professor Yingling Fan of the University of Minnesota warns that without careful planning, AVs could worsen existing transportation inequities rather than improve them.

    Environmental impacts receive surprising scrutiny, with MIT researcher Soumya Sudhakar revealing that the computing power required for autonomous vehicles could generate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to Argentina's annual output. If 95% of the global fleet becomes autonomous by 2050, hardware efficiency would need to double every 1.1 years to prevent emissions from "spiralling out of control."

    The episode concludes with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana's insight: "People don't trust what they're not familiar with... We see people take their first ride and they go from a skeptic, naturally, to a fan because the ride, in some ways, is not very exciting—and we don't want the ride to be exciting."

    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    18 mins
  • The Battery Revolution: Beyond Lithium-Ion
    Jun 24 2025


    A Deep Dive into Next-Generation Energy Storage

    As electric vehicle adoption accelerates and supply chain vulnerabilities become critical strategic concerns, a fierce technological race has emerged between solid-state, sodium-ion, and advanced manufacturing innovations that will reshape the automotive landscape.


    The Lithium-Ion Plateau and China's Strategic Dominance

    Current lithium-ion technology is approaching theoretical energy density limits while China maintains control over 60% of global battery production capacity, creating both technological and geopolitical imperatives for innovation.


    Solid-State Breakthroughs: From Lab to Road

    The most significant developments in 2025 have validated solid-state batteries as commercially viable. Stellantis and Factorial Energy achieved a major milestone in April 2025, successfully validating automotive-sized solid-state battery cells with 375 Wh/kg energy density that can fast charge from 15% to 90% in just 18 minutes while operating in extreme temperatures from -30°C to 45°C.

    Mercedes-Benz made history in February 2025 when their engineers, collaborating with Factorial, brought the first car powered by a lithium-metal solid-state battery to public roads. Meanwhile, Toyota's partnership with Idemitsu Kosan continues advancing solid-state commercialization, while QuantumScape completed installation of their revolutionary "Cobra" heat treatment system in December 2024, achieving 844 Wh/L energy density with 12.2-minute fast-charging capabilities.


    Sodium-Ion: The Abundant Alternative

    Sodium-ion technology offers a compelling alternative focused on supply chain independence and cost reduction. With sodium being approximately 1,000 times more abundant than lithium, these batteries promise 20-30% cost advantages over lithium-based alternatives while eliminating dependence on geopolitically sensitive supply chains.


    Manufacturing Revolution and Economic Transformation

    Tesla's 2019 acquisition of Maxwell Technologies brought dry electrode processing technology that's now being adopted globally by companies including Panasonic, LG, and CATL. This manufacturing innovation dramatically reduces factory footprint and energy consumption while improving production economics.


    Safety Innovations and Fast-Charging Breakthroughs

    BYD's Blade Battery has set new safety standards by passing the rigorous nail penetration test using lithium iron phosphate chemistry in a unique form factor. University of Waterloo researchers achieved remarkable fast-charging capabilities, developing architectures that enable 0-80% charging in under 15 minutes without degradation.

    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    14 mins
  • The Digital Highway Under Siege: Automotive Cybersecurity in 2025
    Jun 21 2025

    The cybersecurity landscape has deteriorated rapidly. According to Upstream Security's latest analysis, the automotive sector experienced 409 publicly reported cybersecurity incidents in 2024—a staggering 39% increase from the 295 incidents recorded in 2023. Even more concerning, massive-scale attacks impacting millions of vehicles jumped from just 5% of incidents in 2023 to 19% in 2024—a nearly four-fold increase that signals a fundamental shift in how cybercriminals are targeting our industry.

    VicOne's 2025 Automotive Cybersecurity Report, released this past March, estimates that cyberattacks between 2022 and 2024 cost the industry tens of billions of dollars. This isn't theoretical risk anymore—it's real financial impact hitting bottom lines across the entire automotive ecosystem, from OEMs to suppliers to dealerships.


    The Technical Reality: Rolling Supercomputers Under Attack

    Modern vehicles have evolved into what the industry now calls software-defined vehicles (SDVs), containing over 100 million lines of code—with some projections suggesting this could reach 650 million lines by the end of 2025. To put this in perspective, that's more complex than most enterprise software systems running Fortune 500 companies.

    The latest VicOne data reveals that 77% of automotive vulnerabilities are found within onboard systems—not in charging infrastructure or cloud platforms, but in the cars themselves. The infotainment system used to stream music could be the same pathway a hacker uses to access critical vehicle functions.


    Criminal Sophistication: Organized Groups Target Automotive

    We're no longer dealing with individual hackers. Organized criminal groups like Cactus, LockBit, Play, and 8Base are specifically targeting the automotive industry with significant resources and coordination. These groups have exploited vulnerabilities in VPN appliances and cloud platforms to disrupt OEMs, dealerships, and supply chains with devastating effect.


    The Path Forward: Security by Design

    As Max Cheng, CEO of VicOne, notes: "A proactive, multilayered approach to cybersecurity across all levels of the supply chain will help the automotive industry stay ahead of evolving threats and thrive in pursuing the unprecedented opportunities ahead."

    The industry must embrace what experts call "security by design"—building protection into every layer from the ground up rather than bolting security onto existing systems. This includes the critical capability for over-the-air security updates, which has evolved from a convenience feature to a fundamental requirement.



    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    18 mins
  • Off The Grid, Into The Future: When Mobility Meets Science Fiction
    Jun 19 2025

    Off the Grid, Into the Future: When Mobility Meets Science Fiction

    The episode opens with a look at the viral “robotic horse” video. While stunning, CNET confirmed the footage was computer-generated—reminding us that there's a line between visionary concepts and current reality. Still, quadruped robotics are very real and already deployed in rugged, real-world scenarios.

    Mining’s Autonomous Edge: Rio Tinto operates around 190 autonomous haul trucks in Australia’s Pilbara region, cutting costs by 15% and adding 700–1,000 operating hours per truck annually. Komatsu’s electric, trolley-assisted trucks carry 363-ton payloads while reducing diesel use, signaling a heavy industry shift.

    Defense on Autopilot: From Milrem Robotics’ AI-assisted THeMIS combat UGV to Ghost Robotics’ Vision 60 quadruped and Spain’s amphibious Valkyrie, autonomous systems are reshaping logistics and tactical mobility on the battlefield.

    Space Exploration: Though NASA’s VIPER rover was canceled, the Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan moves ahead. Launching in 2028 and arriving in 2035, this nuclear-powered rotorcraft will fly 30-minute sorties across Titan’s surface.

    Humanoid Integration: Agility Robotics' Digit is in pilot with logistics firms, and Tesla's Optimus continues to evolve in object handling and assembly. Success lies in collaborative deployment—not replacement.

    Farming & Construction: John Deere’s autonomous tractors deliver centimeter-level precision. Meanwhile, Caterpillar and Volvo are advancing equipment that can safely work beside humans, powered by proximity sensors and real-time mapping.

    Ocean Innovation: The 2023 E/V Nautilus expedition mapped 15,000 square km of Pacific seafloor via autonomous underwater vehicles. NOAA is using machine learning for species ID, and Ocean Infinity’s growing autonomous fleet is transforming offshore energy and marine research.

    About Auto Agentic:

    Auto Agentic (www.autoagentic.ai) is pioneering AI-driven solutions transforming automotive retail. Founded in 2024, we deliver intelligent, adaptive solutions designed to help dealerships streamline operations, optimize sales performance, and elevate customer experience. With a focus on ethical AI, seamless integrations, and real-time insights, Auto Agentic empowers dealership teams—never replaces them—unlocking new levels of productivity and profitability.

    Our suite of intelligent agents handles everything from lead nurturing and inventory optimization to service appointment management and customer follow-ups. By using AI to replace time-consuming tasks and augmenting decision-making with advanced analytics, Auto Agentic helps dealerships stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

    Available on all major podcast platforms. New episodes every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

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    24 mins