The TechMobility Podcast
Welcome to The TechMobility Podcast, your ultimate source for authentic insights, news, and perspectives at the nexus of mobility and technology. We're all about REAL FACTS, REAL OPINIONS, and REAL TALK! From personal privacy to space hotels, if it moves or moves you, we're discussing it! Our weekly episodes venture beyond the conventional, offering a unique, unfiltered take on the topics that matter. We're not afraid to color outside the lines, and we believe you'll appreciate our bold approach!
The TechMobility Podcast
GM's Unwavering EV Push, AI Agents' Societal Impact, and NYC's Congestion Pricing Blueprint
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Electric vehicles represent the future of the automotive industry, and we're here to show you why. Discover how major players like General Motors are unwavering in their commitment to EVs, irrespective of any political turbulence in Washington. We'll guide you through the rising allure of hybrids, offering a solution to range anxiety and cost concerns, and delve into the intricate dance automakers perform to adapt their supply chains to meet Europe's and China's rigorous environmental regulations. The automotive industry's transformation is more than just an evolution; it's a revolution, and we're breaking down how these changes are reshaping global market strategies.
Meanwhile, the emergence of AI agents by tech behemoths such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft is set to redefine the boundaries of technology and autonomy. Join us as we investigate the potential societal shifts that these AI systems could bring, and the pressing need for regulatory frameworks to prevent misuse. Simultaneously, New York City's congestion pricing model is not just a local experiment but a possible blueprint for urban change, aiming to ease traffic woes and cut pollution while balancing the needs of commuters and commercial transport. Unravel the layers of urban vehicle pricing and see how this complex system challenges traditional transport paradigms in a city that never sleeps.
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Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the docket the dangers of OpenAI's agent tool benefit or burden, congestion tolls in the Big Apple and what is wind energy really? We explore To add your voice to the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or even suggest a topic for future discussion. Call or text the Tech Mobility hotline that number, 872-222-9793, or you can email the show talk at techmobilityshow. Also, be sure to check us out on social media, our YouTube channel and our two podcasts, the Tech Mobility Podcast and Tech Mobility Topics. One more thing before we head to the news desk that I want you to know about.
Speaker 2:I have recently entered into a competition called the 2025 Entrepreneur of Impact. This competition is an opportunity to receive one-on-one mentorship from the one and only Damon John of the popular CNBC show Shark Tank, to also get interviewed for a piece in Forbes magazine, which is a major business magazine that's been around for years, and don't miss this part win $25,000. For that I need your help and I'm gonna read the link. But honestly, if you go out to our social media, I have posts everywhere that we are on social media and you can click that in the comments and go through it. But if you want to write it down. It is HTTPS colon backslash, backslash, and this is all one word no space. Entrepreneurofimpactorg backslash 2025 backslash 20, 25 backslash Ken dash Chester dash junior. Let me read it again that's HTTPS colon backslash, backslash. Entrepreneur of impactorg backslash 20, 25 backslash Ken dash Chester dash junior, bottom line the person with the most votes wins 20-25 backslash Ken-Chester-Jr Bottom line the person with the most votes wins. And I want to thank those of you in advance who have already voted, but I'm currently ranked 7th out of 75. But in order to make the cut that happens on the 30th, I kind of need to be higher in the top three, and there's one way you can do that and make your vote count more. They've linked the ability to buy votes to that money going to a nonprofit called Gen Youth, which is a nonprofit that works with children in schools to feed them, help them get exercise and basically provide a safe space for them. So certainly you can buy $10 or higher and they've got links to do that. If you feel so inclined, that would be awesome and that would be an excellent way to help your vote go further. If you would consider it, I would be so very, very grateful. Thank you so very much.
Speaker 2:From the TechMobility News Desk, from Automotive News GM's EV transition to continue despite potential for policy changes. And this is from the Chief Financial Officer of General Motors says this I don't need to read this article although I did but what I want to do is explain why one of the largest manufacturing companies based in the United States is saying no matter what happens in Washington, we are going to stay the course with EVs. Now, no doubt you've heard the news, and I've heard from some of you, where EVs right now a pure electric has fallen out of favor. A battery electric, fuel cell electric seems that right now, the market's just not there for them. People are turning, though, to hybrids, which are gasoline electric versions, because, one, no range anxiety. Two, no need to necessarily charge them. You've got a regular hybrid and you've got a plug-in hybrid, but by a regular hybrid you don't have to charge it ever.
Speaker 2:And it's not as expensive as going pure electric. It might run you a little bit more than a gasoline version, but you get the benefits of the added power of the electric part of the hybrid, while being cleaner than the gasoline engine but not nearly as expensive and with some of the baggage right now, that EVs have. The auto industry in the United States of America has been around for over 120 years. What's going on in the industry isn't new when it comes to different technologies and they've had inflection points over that time. When front-wheel drive was introduced, when they went from body-on-frame cars to not body-on-frame cars in order to save weight, when they started putting computers in cars and safety equipment, the industry has adapted and spent billions of dollars. The difference with going to EVs is they had to rip up that supply chain completely and start with a clean piece of paper. Automakers are not able, financially or time-wise or planning-wise, to turn on a dime with their plans. For example, right now, regardless of auto manufacturer, they're looking at anywhere from 2028 to 2030 model vehicles. Right now is what they're looking at in terms of development, in terms of cost, in terms of locking in their suppliers. They don't have the flexibility that okay policy is going to change every four years, modify slightly and we're going to change with it. Also, these automakers, every last one of them, doesn't matter whether you're Honda, mitsubishi, gm, toyota, mercedes-benz, doesn't matter. They sell vehicles in over 100, 120 countries and right now Europe is very big on, and China even bigger on, evs and being clean and do no harm to the environment. Being clean and do no harm to the environment. If the automakers want to succeed on a global scale, they have to take all of this into consideration, into their plans for spending capital, allocating resources, allocating plants, lining up suppliers. This takes years. This is not something that suddenly, oh boy, we're going to change. There have been billions of dollars. What you are seeing now hit the market in the way of EVs was created, research, committed, developed almost 10 years ago and everything that comes into it.
Speaker 2:It takes, on average, just for the stamping dies that go in, to stamp the parts. It takes a year to make the dies. That's just the dies. Then you've got to gut the plant, to reconfigure it for what you're going to build. So you've got to take all the old equipment out, bring all the new equipment in. Then you've got to train the workers. Train the workers. Then you got to build what they call body on white, which is test versions of the vehicle to make sure everything works and everything fits the way it's supposed to. And then, once you do that, then you got to do the government testing for crash testing, compliance and any other testing that is required under the current laws of this country and other countries. So there's a very long lead time and, needless to say, with that kind of lead time, you're spending billions, that's with a B and plural of dollars.
Speaker 2:This is not something that you can just turn on and off. Never has been. It's also why you continue to see a consolidation in the auto industry of manufacturers. It costs a lot of money to manufacture vehicles and to improve them and to develop and implement new technologies. There's tons of research and validation and testing and then more testing and changes and lining up thousands of suppliers not hundreds that could be around the globe up thousands of suppliers, not hundreds that could be around the globe. So as things change and they have to react to it, they've got to mitigate what they can do because of the commitments they have already made years prior to get job one off the line.
Speaker 2:Needless to say, the vehicle you're going to drive in 2025 was probably developed between 2015 and 2019. That, the plant that they decided was probably committed to around 2021. And they started letting the contracts for equipment and suppliers and all of that stuff and upwards of maybe two years, before this thing rolled off the line. They were building prototypes that had to be tested, had to be validated, had to go through hot weather testing, cold weather testing, computer modeling, all of that stuff. That is why GM says that their transition EVs is not going to change.
Speaker 2:They have already spent billions of dollars to get here. You can delay a program, you can defer a program, but to stop a program, not likely, not likely at all. And this is not just GM, but Ford, stellantis, mercedes, honda, toyota, you name them. It's also why a lot of these companies joint venture, some of this work together Because, again, to do everything they're trying to do plus build cars today meaning standards now costs billions of dollars. It just does and you know, not surprised at all and they're making money. They expect to make money doing this. So GM's going to stay the course and when the tide turns they'll be ready to meet it. And that is the real truth OpenAI is about to release an energetic AI that can take over your computer without your knowledge or permission. You are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the main place to be these days, and we are no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Facebook videos, from my latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary of a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Facebook. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to our Facebook page. Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You be sure to watch, like and follow us on instagram. You can find us by typing the tech mobility show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week. Shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if you're interested in a particular topic covered on the weekly radio show From Apple Podcasts to iHeartRadio and many podcast platforms in between, we got you covered Just enter Tech Mobility Topics in the search bar wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 1:For a lot of reasons, a lot of people like our Buick Skylark A lot. Some like its roomy accommodations for five, others like its front-wheel drive traction. Skylark also gets a lot of votes for its stand on the economy and a lot of people are taken with its luxury and looks. We couldn't get all the reasons people like Skylark into this commercial, but we sure got them into the car Buick Skylark At your Buick dealers now.
Speaker 2:The Buick Skylark At your Buick dealers. Now the Buick Skylark that ad was from 1981. What was happening over 40 years ago was the first major downsizing as automakers were trying to respond to a threat from Japan, government fuel economy standards and the fact that the cars they were selling were too big and too heavy. And America just came out of two oil shocks. Opec did it to us twice, 1973 and again in 78, where the price of gasoline went up significantly and the public was looking for more fuel efficient vehicles.
Speaker 2:The Buick Skylark was one of several of what GM called their ex-body cars, the others being the Chevy Citation, pontiac Phoenix and Oldsmobile Omega. That I remember when they came out and they were very smart looking and they looked like downsized big GM cars. It looks like you know they downsized them literally, put them in some kind of shrink wrap and shrink them down, downsized them literally, put them in some kind of shrink wrap and shrink them down. They were great. The Buick Skylark was great looking for 81, but unfortunately none of the X cars were that reliable. So they were pretty much gone by the middle of the 80s in terms of manufacturing and marketing. But it was GM's first attempt at trying to make money at a front wheel drive small car, and for many years Detroit lost money trying to make money at a front wheel drive small car and for many years Detroit lost money trying to do that. Throughout the 70s they tried to do it. They failed miserably and they turned to Japanese makes that they rebadged as Fords and Chevys and Dodges and Plymouths in order to keep that market but yet not have to spend all the money that they spent. And I will leave you with this on that note that their first forays in the 1970s into building small cars profitably that were reliable and worth owning was a unmitigated disaster. They failed. It would take them maybe 15, 20 years before they started getting a hint of the right product at the low end of the scale, because Detroit never had to do it before the Buick Skylark sharp looking, not so high in the quality.
Speaker 2:The purpose of this segment starts with several articles from TechCrunch regarding the development and pending release of a new agent AI tool from OpenAI that can take control of your PC and perform actions on your behalf, and I wanted you to know and boy do I have questions. This is topic A. Let me start with this with this the reason why this set off alarm bells is the last part of the piece in TechCrunch about OpenAI, and I'm going to read that first and then work backwards. They said it's worth noting that OpenAI has been criticized by AI researchers, including ex-staff, for allegedly de-emphasizing safety work in favor of quickly productizing its technology, in other words, monetizing or bringing the products to market without sufficient safety protocols to protect consumers who may interact with their technology. I wanted to start with that because that saying oh my God, these guys are rushing to develop something. Start with that because that saying oh my god, these guys are rushing to develop something. Their agentic tool is called operator and it's capable of autonomously handling tasks like writing code and booking travel. It also says in the article that it's not all that good at it. So why should I? Why should I worry? Why should I bother you with an imperfect tool that's coming? Here's the reason.
Speaker 2:Right now, every major software company that is dabbling in AI is working towards developing something called an AI agent, which operator is. So what is an AI agent? This is the thing you need to know. I'm going to give you two different definitions of what an AI agent is and why you should care. At its simplest, an AI agent is best described as an AI-fueled software that does a series of jobs for you that a human customer service agent, hr person or IT help desk employee might have done in the past, although it could ultimately involve any task. You ask it to do things and it does them for you, sometimes crossing multiple systems and going well beyond simply answering questions. That's one definition. Here's the other one.
Speaker 2:The most frequent view of an AI agent is an agent that is an intelligent software system designed to perceive its environment, reason about it, make decisions and take actions to achieve specific objectives autonomously. It's that second one that's got me pretty concerned Because, yes, facebook, google, microsoft you name them including a lot of tech companies you've never heard of are all working to build an AI agent. The AI agent takes AI to the next level by giving it function, giving it a way to think for itself. They talked about the next step. As these get better, it's where AI is operating independently and effectively at scale. So this is where the humans set the guidelines, the guardrails, and apply multiple technologies to take humans out of the loop, when everything has been about keeping the human in the loop with generative AI. So the key here is to let the AI agent take over and apply true automation. Are they there yet? No, they're not, but as you have seen in the last three years, the growth explosion of development on AI. There are billions of dollars being spent right now in research and development.
Speaker 2:I reported last week about Google's DeepMind subsidiary trying to develop AI that literally has context when it comes to real world, as opposed to just giving you something with no context, actually understanding what it gave you, why it gave it to you and what is going on with the information that it provided. That's scary, because right now in the United States of America and I've said this before there are no federal guidelines for AI. There are industry folks that are concerned about it, but as far as some sort of authoritative guidelines or guardrails that keep everybody playing nice, there's nothing. So, while this reads nice and it reads professional, it sounds awesome I'm more concerned about the nefarious purposes this could be used for, particularly if there's no guardrails, controls. Where is it getting any information from? How is it going to apply this stuff? What systems is it going to go into and who is going to be accountable for it? Those are the questions. I've got no laws regarding that and, the way I understand it, recently, one of the executive orders that was recently signed basically the few guardrails that we did have had just been dismantled. If the government's not going to regulate it so that everybody has an even playing field regarding AI and what to expect and how it's going to interact with us, then what protections do we have as this grows mightily and more sophisticated? That's my question. That's my concern. What's going to protect us from the machine at the end of the day, as it gets sentient and more aware? Questions benefit or burden? The jury is out on congestion tolls in the Big Apple.
Speaker 2:This is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility podcast just about anywhere. You can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility podcast in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place to be. We no exception. Hi, I'm ken chester, host the tech mobility show several times a week. I post to tiktok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility, technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the tech mobility show on tiktok. Check it out.
Speaker 2:Depending who you talk to or is talking about it, the newly implemented congestion pricing model in New York City is either a benefit if you're public transportation minded, or a burden if you're a commercial enterprise with vehicles entering lower Manhattan on a regular basis. In any case, there's plenty to talk about. This is Topic B. In any case, there's plenty to talk about. This is Topic B. If you are not familiar with the congestion pricing scheme now in effect in lower Manhattan, let me take you back. New York City is one of the most congested cities on the planet.
Speaker 2:They needed to do something. Part of what they needed to do is they wanted to improve quality of life less noise, less pollution, less traffic. They also wanted to change behaviors. Passenger cars right now are the leading cause of air pollution in lower Manhattan and the leading cause of traffic. They wanted to change how trucks enter in and out of, or commercial vehicles, I should say, enter in and out of lower Manhattan. If you've ever been to lower Manhattan, you know it's a congested mess. Every single day, thousands of vehicles every day pour into the city in lower Manhattan. The city took five years and they looked at different systems in Singapore, in London, elsewhere, where congestion pricing had been implemented either in a city core or certain blocks, to reduce congestion, to encourage people to change their behaviors in terms of when they came into the city or how often they came into the city. New York spent a lot of money and a lot of time. Their original congestion pricing scheme was scheduled to go into effect in June of last year. The governor of the state deferred it and at that time she said indefinitely. But it went into effect this month after they tinkered with it some more and dropped the original price for passenger cars by 40 percent.
Speaker 2:Here's the thing. Like anything, the government gets involved with this. Thing's incredibly complicated. Depending if you are a passenger car, a taxi, ride hailing, if you're a commercial vehicle, different prices, different times, and then on top of that depends where you come into Manhattan and where you leave. You can get credits, you can get all kinds of stuff. Let me give you an example. Let me give you an example. Under the new program, a small one-unit truck will pay $14.40 to enter the area, while a large two-unit truck will be charged $21.60. By the way, that is every trip. So if you're a delivery vehicle coming in and out of Manhattan, that's every time you go into lower Manhattan. Regular toll rates apply from 5 am to 9 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 9 pm on weekends, and get this now and a 75% cheaper overnight toll outside those timeframes aims to encourage off-hour truck deliveries, which is great, except most stores and little bodegas and businesses ain't open in the middle of the night. So there's that problem. Who are you going to pay to be there to receive the shipment? Number two if you live in lower Manhattan, do you really want all that noise at 2 and 3 in the morning when you're trying to get some peace and trying to sleep? You know, that seems kind of boneheaded to me, but that's just one example. They got a whole. The New York Times attempted to explain this and build a chart depending on the combination of delivery truck. What are you driving from, where, through where, during peak or off peak, with or without an E-ZPass, and what the prices are? Yikes, and it's all over the place. Example driving a car from New Jersey via the Holland Tunnel during peak hours without an easy pass, the congestion fee is $13.50. Yikes. However, if you happen to be, let me give you another example, because this is craziness If you are a taxi in and out into, or out of or within the toll zone, the per trip fee paid by the person the taxi driver is carrying is 75 cents. Why? Because taxis and app-based ride-hail services such as Uber and Lyft are a significant source of traffic in Manhattan and passengers who use them already pay other congestion fees. And guess what pay are the congestion fees. And guess what? If you make less than $50,000 a year and you got to go into lower Manhattan, you can apply to cut the fare in half, by 50%. And the good news is, if you're an emergency vehicle, it's free which duh. But I mean you literally have to have a chart in order to figure out your combinations. And then they've got stuff built in that, if you leave via a couple of different ways, it's either free or it's a lower cost. It's nuts. So why what's the big deal? The big deal is this money that they're raising is going towards public transportation. They want to improve public transportation, to move people, more people to the existing public transportation system and off the streets, figuring that all sorts of benefits would happen Quality of life, less congestion, less pollution, less noise and it sounds wonderful. But trying to administer this, new York hired 500 people and set up a whole administration just for this, to the tune of $100 million a year. That doesn't count the half a billion dollars they spent setting it up and there are so many cameras and plate readers in lower Manhattan to make all this work. I don't even know how they're going to do it, but they're doing it. And right now obviously the complaints are starting to flow in. If you are a small business with business in lower Manhattan and you're getting charged per trip and maybe you make three or four trips times four or five trucks in the lower Manhattan each and every day, that adds up and it adds up fast. And that's the whole argument that they shifted seemingly the burden to the businesses. They, because if your car is one time're a car, it's one time. You're going to Manhattan one time, it's a one-time charge. If you're a commercial vehicle, it's per trip, and then it depends on all the crazy machinations that they do in order to try to make this work. I mean, it's just crazy. Here's another example Driving a small truck from New Jersey via the Lincoln Tunnel during peak hours with an E-ZPass and an E-ZPass is a toll pass that you know that you put money on and they give you a cash break. It starts with the base toll of $14.40, but because you paid a toll coming through the Lincoln Tunnel, you get a $7.20 credit. So your congestion fee, even if you're a small truck coming through the Lincoln Tunnel during peak times, is only $7.20, but that's still per trip. They argue that trucks are some of the biggest contributors to noise, smog and other pollutants around busy roads. Buses also take up much more space and contribute to more congestion compared with smaller vehicles. They want you to take public transportation. They want trucks to deliver off-peak. They want to take that money and improve public transportation in New York. At the end of the day, it's those three things they want to accomplish. The system they put in to do it seems as confusing as all get out Necessary, unfortunately, because you're looking at millions of people, but still confusing. But they say, if it works in New York, other American cities might look at adopting a version of it, particularly if it's successful in raising the money for public transit. The jury's still out. We're not even a month in We'll see A recent McKinsey Company white paper discusses the ins and outs of wind energy, the more you know we are the Tech Mobility Show. To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. Did you know that Tech Mobility has a YouTube channel? Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Each week, I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube Check it out.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:Over the last 30 years, wind energy has become a major force in the upper, midwest and southwestern parts of the United States. But I mean, you've heard about wind energy, but do you really have a good understanding of what it's all about? A recent white paper from McKinsey Company explains it all. This is Topic C. Let me start with this. I live in Iowa. Over half the energy produced in this state is renewable, predominantly wind energy with a smattering of solar energy. Our current utility is probably the utility that serves Des Moines is probably closer to three quarters renewable energy, and it didn't just start. And the same goes for Minnesota, nebraska, some other states. Now, if I asked you to tell me leading state for wind power, you'd probably say California and I'd say you're right, but do you know who number two is and that's the crazy part the second largest generator of wind energy generating all that power is the last state you'd expect. And no, it's not Alaska, it's Texas. Oil-rich, shale, oil-rich, permian Basin-based Texas, with all that petroleum going on, is the second largest generator of wind energy in the United States of America. Let's just start there. We are talking thousands of wind turbines, so let's just break this down.
Speaker 2:Let's start with the easy stuff, so common sense. What is wind energy? It's a renewable source of electrical or mechanical power that could help transform the energy sector, and it can. I mean the wind can do all kinds of amazing things. We've seen, I mean, particularly if you live in the upper Midwest, you've seen it do damage through tornadoes, and it can move boats across oceans, power machines that grind grain and, when channeled correctly, create electricity to run our appliances and gadgets. Let's talk about what's driving this. Global energy demand has been soaring for decades. Between 1950 and 2000,. Global energy demand has been growing by 3% a year. This growth has slowed and will continue to do so, although demand for electricity is still predicted to grow at seven times the rate of that for other energy sources Seven times, seven times.
Speaker 2:So how do they harvest the wind? We're going to get a little into the weeds here. It's harvested when it turns the blades of a wind turbine. When the wind turbine's propeller-like blades turn, they spin a generator that creates electricity. A medium voltage power collection system and this is important to know transfers that electricity via current to a substation where a transformer increases the current's voltage and connects it to a high voltage electric power transmission system.
Speaker 2:Part of the challenge of wind energy is where the wind is blowing, versus where the power lines are and versus where you can build these substations. If you are a farmer in the upper Midwest, you and you happen to have a piece of land that is conducive to wind energy, you get paid by the utility for the use of that land and depending you're not necessarily prohibited from planting on that land, and that is called agrivoltaic farming, where they actually some crops actually thrive in the shadow of not just wind turbines but specifically solar power as well. So they're still planting corn in and around those wind turbines and under solar arrays they're planting other crops, and there's a whole study that Iowa State did relative to the success of those ventures. So it's not an either, or it's actually an, and it's a chance to get paid for acreage that otherwise may be unpredictable relative to weather and yield and demand. By getting a steady stream of income from the rental, it's not bad. The important thing to note here is the medium voltage power collection system. It's not generating high voltage power. This power actually has to be stepped up in order to be transferred, in order to be transmitted to wherever it's going. So there's an additional expense of the right power lines and substations to capitalize on the wind farm's generation of electricity.
Speaker 2:Here's something else to consider. Back in the day, wind turbines didn't generate that much electricity in terms of the power rating. Back then, there were 3 to 5 megawatts. Now, by the end of last year, you're looking at 13 to 15 megawatt models that are coming to the market, with turbines capable of more than that to be available within a few years. What does that mean? It means, as this industry continues to mature, that the wind turbines are actually getting more efficient at generating more electricity from the same amount of wind, that the early turbines weren't as efficient as the ones they're building now.
Speaker 2:Here's something else you may not know, and I talked about this in an earlier show, but it bears repeating right here. The average age of a wind turbine is 20 years Average age. So you've got those that were put in around the turn of the century now being pulled out because they've reached the end of their useful life. Here's a question Probably doesn't matter much us being in the end of their useful life. Here's a question Probably doesn't matter much us being in the middle of the country.
Speaker 2:But they also have offshore wind farms and it's kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, because there's more wind in the ocean, there's more chance to generate electricity, but because of the nature of the conditions and everything you need to do to support it, they are way more expensive. Here's a point I want to make. It's not going to be a popular one, but again, this is a study. This is not a left-wing organization I'm reading from. Let me read this. I'm going to read the whole thing and then I'm going to make a point.
Speaker 2:In the past, one of the biggest drawbacks for using renewables have been production costs. Wind and solar energy couldn't be generated at an industrial scale without government subsidies. In markets such as the European Union and the United Kingdom, the cost of wind energy, and solar for that matter are now lower than the cost of traditional fuel and are likely to fall further in the next decade. And I will add that these onshore, these land-based wind farms as they're putting in more and more efficient wind turbines, will do the same in the United States will be cheaper or at parity with fossil fuels. Think about that for a minute. Think about that for a minute. They're close now. I expect there'll be parity in the next few years, particularly as they get more and more efficient.
Speaker 2:The question is is it too little, too late? Is it too late for this? I hope not, because we're already out here and it's working. It's a lot less than coal fired or natural gas fired plants, and I'm all for that, because they have their own challenges and problems and delivery systems and maintenance and investment, and for the most part, this is a cleaner way to go bottom line, and that's the thing. This is a cleaner way to go bottom line and that's the thing that I wanted to share with you. We've come to the end of our program. Be sure to join me again next time, right here. This has been the Tech Mobility Show, the.
Speaker 1:Tech Mobility Show is a copywritten production of Tech Mobility Productions Inc. Any rebroadcast retransmission or any other use is prohibited without the written consent of Tech Mobility Productions Incorporated. Any rebroadcast retransmission or any other use is prohibited without the written consent of Tech Mobility Productions Incorporated.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week, shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if you're interested in a particular topic covered on the weekly radio show. From Apple Podcasts to iHeartRadio and many podcast platforms in between, we got you covered. Just enter TechMobility topics in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place to be, and we're no exception. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the TechMobility Show. Several times a week, I post to TikTok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the Tech Mobility Show on TikTok. Check it out. To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow.
Speaker 2:Do you listen to podcasts? Seems that most people do. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. If you've missed any of our weekly episodes on the radio, our podcast is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility podcast just about anywhere you can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheartradio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility podcast in the search bar wherever you listen to podcasts.
