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The TechMobility Podcast
An Iowa City Hikes EV Charging Rates; Violence at the Car Dealership; The Loss of Consumer Protection ; More EV Makers Go Broke
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Join us for a riveting discussion about the current state of electric vehicles and the automotive industry on the latest episode of TechMobility Show. This week, we tackle pressing issues such as Dubuque's staggering 50% increase in public EV charging rates—an issue that has recently sparked widespread conversations among EV drivers and potential buyers. Learn about the implications of this price hike as we dive deep into factors driving this change, including a dramatic 128% rise in public charging usage. We also take a closer look at the dark side of the automotive landscape—an alarming rise in violence at auto dealerships. Disturbing incidents highlight the urgent need for better safety protocols and training to protect employees and customers alike.
Moreover, hear the sobering news regarding the fate of EV manufacturers Canoo and Nikola, both of whom have recently filed for bankruptcy. Discover what Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 mean for these companies, and what it could mean for the future of electric vehicle manufacturing. Whether you're an EV enthusiast, a consumer concerned about safety, or just curious about the business side of the automotive industry, this episode is packed with insights that will keep you informed and engaged.
Don't forget to subscribe to our show, share your thoughts, and let us know your experiences dealing with electric vehicles or shopping at a dealership. Every insight contributes to the conversation!
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Welcome to the Tech Mobility Podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester, on the docket when violence happens at the dealership, mourning the loss of consumer protection and walking through the EV maker graveyard. To add your voice to the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or suggest a topic for future discussion, call or text the TechMobility hotline, that number, 872-222-9793. Or you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow. Talk at techmobilityshow Also. Please be sure to subscribe, like and follow us on social media, our YouTube channel and our two podcasts, the Tech Mobility Podcast and Tech Mobility Topics From the Tech Mobility News Desk.
Speaker 2:This first article, this first conversation, comes to me by way of one of our affiliates. One of our listeners that listened to us at KXEL up in Waterloo, cedar Falls, sent this to our program director, jeff Stein, who kindly forwarded it to me, and I want to talk about this just briefly. The headline is Dubuque City Council approves charging rate increases for electric vehicles. Now I want to put this into perspective for you. First of all, let me read what they did and then let me coach this in perspective. The Dubuque City Council is raising fees for electric vehicle charging stations in public parking areas by almost 50%. The new fee will increase from 17 cents per kilowatt hour to 25 cents per kilowatt hour. City leaders cite the need for an increase to cover state taxes and fees, as well as an uptick in people using the stations. Since July 2023 to December 2024, city leaders say they've seen a 128% increase in usage at public charging stations. The city also approved a $2 per hour overstay fee for vehicles that have been charged at least 85%, and these charges were set to go into effect. They should have went into effect on January 27th. Now that sounds big, doesn't it? Oh, my goodness, 128%. Let me give you some perspective.
Speaker 2:First of all, Dubuque, iowa, in Dubuque County, is the 11th largest city in the Hawkeye State. They have a population of 58,877. That's as of 2023. All right, how many EVs could it possibly be? Well, according to figures, a court, through june of 2023, across all of iowa's 99 counties registered, there is 12,800 EVs statewide registered in the state of Iowa. That compares to 3.7 million vehicles registered in the state of Iowa. Now, fair to be fair, that includes semis, mopeds and some other things, but basically it's minuscule. So I can't imagine in Dubuque County, in the city of Dubuque, on the Mississippi River, next to US Route trying to remember I think it's 61, going into Wisconsin, that the volume that they see can't be local because there's not enough. Now there are EVs in every Iowa county. Now in some cases it may only be one, but there are EVs and I can't and was not able to determine how many EVs are in the city of Dubuque or Dubuque County.
Speaker 2:But again, let me give you some perspective. What you're looking is per kilowatt hour. Every EV has a battery pack of a certain size. Think of it as like a gas tank and think of kilowatt hours as gallons of gasoline. For comparison, the average vehicle and I'm not talking about big pickup trucks or anything like that, like the Hummer EV or the Ford Lightning, I'm talking about probably the average SUV, probably small to mid-sized EV cars and SUVs You're looking at a battery pack of probably between 50 and probably 75 kilowatt hours.
Speaker 2:So if you're looking at 25 cents a kilowatt hour and that's assuming that it's completely dead, which usually it's not, because automakers talk about their charging times from 10% to 80%, typically you want to get there before it gets dead, so you're going to have anywheres from 10 to maybe 15% charge left, so you're not charging the whole battery actually, so it's not that expensive If you're looking at 25 cents a kilowatt hour on a hundred. If it was, if it was a big battery pack which a hundred kilowatt hour would be a big battery pack you'll get a $25 for a big one to recharge it at the higher rate and these are probably two thirds to three fourths that size. So you're looking at maybe 15, $17. By comparison, depending on how efficient the EV motor is and how many miles per kilowatt hour it can get, how well it uses energy, you look at typically you're looking at probably 3 miles per kilowatt hour, a little over 3, anywhere from 3.2 to 3.5. Some vehicles are way better, like Lucid Air, at over 5 miles per kilowatt hour, and some are not as efficient, like the Ford Lightning and other heavy pickup trucks that are EVs that tend to get 1.8 to 2.5 miles per kilowatt hour. But let's settle on three just as a rough basis and we'll settle on a 75 kilowatt hour battery pack.
Speaker 2:So you're looking at what A little over. If it's doing 375,. You're looking at a little over 200 miles of range for roughly 25 bucks. Okay, if you look at an internal combustion car, same size, probably a gas tank of maybe 13 to 15 gallons gas now is pretty close to $3 a gallon. So to get the same mileage roughly out of that and we're going to say it gets 20 miles a gallon, we're going to average You're looking at 10 gallons. The cost of gasoline in that example is actually more. It's actually almost $10 more. So think about that. But my big question is now the city of Dubuque says they've seen 128% increase in usage at public charging stations.
Speaker 2:What this article does not tell you and I do not know whether these are level two chargers or level three chargers and why does that make a difference? Because the level two chargers take a lot longer. Your high voltage chargers start at 150 kilowatts and go up from there and are considered fast chargers, and what that means is new EVs today usually can charge from 10% of charge to 80% of charge in as little as 15 minutes to no more than a half an hour. It's usually that remaining 20%. That takes 45 minutes to do and that's by design. That is a battery management system. That's by design not to burn up the battery or overcharge the battery, so you can get the majority of your charge now inside of half an hour.
Speaker 2:If in fact it's a level 3 charger, this does not say A lot of the chargers that you see in what I would call first-generation public chargers are level 2. They're not say A lot of the chargers that you have seen. What I would call first generation public chargers are level two. They're not fast. You plug it in, you walk away. You're looking at hours to charge.
Speaker 2:I do not know which ones these are, but they are charging the amount of electricity they actually use, not the amount of time they're sitting at the charger. So if it's a fast charger, theoretically you're looking at 45 minutes to an hour. If you're going to go all the way to 100. And they want to charge $2 an hour, and honestly, honestly, $2 an hour is not going to defer me from coming to fetch my car. And if they said $10 to $15 an hour or maybe $20 an hour overstay fee, once it's 85%, then yeah, I'm motivated to come get it. But at $2 an hour, yeah, and you know, if I get around to it, I get around to it. And if it's an extra three or $4, okay, no big deal. So I don't know how they thought their overstay fee was going to really do it. But this is not ridiculous. I've actually paid more per kilowatt hour in my trip over a year ago that I chronicled on this program a year ago, january, my trip to Chicago and using the change point chargers and paying the ridiculous amount of money that I paid per kilowatt hour, which was way more than 25 cents. Let me tell you I'd love to have paid 25 cents a kilowatt hour. So I wanted to share. This city is getting to and we and I also don't know how many chargers the city of Dubuque has in their public parking areas, so I don't know if this is a big deal or not.
Speaker 2:A reader, a listener, did forward it. I wanted to cover it. I thought it was interesting. I wanted to give you some perspective that they're a little early and it shouldn't make that much of a difference. But cities are dealing with it now, even smaller cities. It's not major metropolitan area, 11th largest city in the state of Iowa and they've already increased fees for EVs. Question is what kind of infrastructure do they have? When things turn violent at the auto dealership, it happens more than you think 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.
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. 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 5:With its 11-speaker spatial imaging sound system and sumptuous leather interior, the Chrysler LHS puts you in the lap of luxury. And if that's not enough, its 3.5-liter 214-horsepower engine invites you to try a few other laps as well. Chrysler LHS the North American luxury car redefined.
Speaker 2:The year was 1994. Chrysler had just introduced their cab-forward large sedans called the LH cars, which was the Chrysler LHS, the Chrysler New Yorker, the Chrysler Concord, the Dodge Intrepid and, for a minute, the Eagle Vision. All of these vehicles were cab-forward, they were sleek, they were large, they were powerful, they were comfortable, they looked good, they drove well and they were amazing cars, as you heard, I would argue probably the last set of cars that would be defined as opulent before the current, well before the new Chrysler 300 debuted in 2005, which recently was discontinued. For those people who may not remember Chrysler, that brand was a luxury brand, a domestic luxury brand. Most of you probably know Chrysler mainly for the minivan, and still fewer of you, if you're young enough, only remember the Chrysler Pacifica, which has been out now about 13, 14 years, relatively unchanged. By the way, it was a great time for Chrysler. They were on the ups, things were going well for them and these cars looked good. You wanted one of these in your driveway.
Speaker 2:The only issue I've got, though ironically enough, I've noticed that over the years, some cars last and some cars don't, and it's been fair. It's been almost 30 years since these cars came out, but I don't remember seeing any of them still on the road any of them, which is odd, and I don't know what killed them off, because even shoot. I've seen other cars 20, 25, 30 years still on the road, shoot. I've seen Toyota Corollas and Toyota Camrys that are over 30 years old and looking awesome, still driving as daily drivers. The more you know, new car dealerships receive a steady stream of customers and potential customers every day. While most interactions are uneventful, a small few make choices with outsized and sometimes deadly consequences. This is topic A consequences. This is topic A. What am I talking about Other than buying a home? For many people, the second largest purchase they make, if they're not going to college, is a car or a truck. With the average transaction price for a new vehicle hovering between $47,000 and $50,000, it's a big deal, needless to say. People coming in to try to make a deal as opposed to the dealership trying to make a profit. There's usually a lot of opportunity for disagreement, particularly when you're talking trade-ins, financing, a million different things, but what do you do when a customer or a potential customer decides to get violent?
Speaker 2:While I'm directing this at automobile dealerships directing this at automobile dealerships, really, in today's environment, it could apply to any business that deals with the public on a retail level, where the public is coming through the door. That's a grocery store, that's Walmart, that's a furniture store, that's clothing store not necessarily just a dealership. But let me give you an example of what has happened recently at dealerships across the United States. December, this past December, a man drove a used Subaru Outback he bought from a dealership in Utah through the dealership's front door after he demanded a refund. Obviously he was charged with a felony, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. But that's not all, there's more. Also in December, a woman who took a test drive of a Cadillac Escalade at a dealership in North Carolina was charged with assaulting an employee with a knife. The employee sustained shallow wounds to the hands and face, according to a local TV station.
Speaker 2:So what's going on? From robberies and even carjackings at the dealership during test drives to brutal arguments between employees and customers or coworkers, acts of violence at dealerships do happen. Shootings at dealerships have seriously injured employees and customers and have cost some of them their lives. Shootings, shootings At a dealership. This automotive news piece ironically chronicles one of our local dealers here in Des Moines, and that was kind of an added benefit. So let me talk about it in a minute. Willis Automotive in Clive, a suburb of this great city of Des Moines, invited two police officers to the company's monthly leadership meeting this past October to train senior employees on workplace violence. As I said before, this is where we're at now. The dealer's goal was to establish leaders throughout the company who could react to violent events appropriately and take charge, and they're talking about their four locations selling eight new vehicle brands and a used vehicle store, and I mentioned how many people work for them.
Speaker 2:Let me give you some more examples of violence at dealerships. It can take many forms, and sometimes it results from arguments. Forms and sometimes it results from arguments. Three years ago in the summer, an employee at a Hyundai dealer in Ohio shot a customer in the parking lot, followed an alleged argument. Same year, two fellas that worked for a dealership, one shot and killed the other one. After a week-long feud turned violent, they started fighting outside one of the dealership's service bays. One retreated, got a gun. March of last year, a dealership employee and a man got into a confrontation in an Alabama dealership. The man died and the employee was injured after both pulled out guns and shot each other in the parking lot.
Speaker 2:Can you imagine being in the middle of in the parking lot? Can you imagine being in the middle of this? Excuse me, can you imagine going in to buy a vehicle, doing all your paperwork, and all of a sudden there's a commotion? Or let me even make this simple, because, okay, maybe you're not in the market for a car, maybe this does not even impact you, but if you walk into a grocery store, if you walk into a retail store of any kind, this risk exists. Unfortunately, most stores don't train their employees on what to do should an active shooter be on the premises, either for helping the customers or saving themselves, and I'm talking about some of the major grocery store chains in the state of Iowa. There's no protection for you. You need to be aware. It is not unreasonable anymore to expect somebody with a beef for what, real or imagined to walk into a public place and open fire. It's unfortunate we even have to have these conversations, but these dealerships are going through the steps of what to do, how to do it, thinking through to keep their employees safe, to keep their customers safe, and it's unfortunate that even in places where you do not think this is a thing and Des Moines. Iowa is not a place where you would think they'd have to worry about that, but here's one of the largest dealerships in the state thinking about this and making plans. It is a sad state of affairs, my friends, that we even have to have this conversation, but you need to be aware and you need to ask questions and you need to know what's going on around you, because we're there and hopefully you'll never be in a situation like that. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned over 21 billion dollars to consumers since its founding. The administration has shut it down.
Speaker 2:This is the Tech Mobility Show. 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, social media, it's the place to be. We're no exception. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of 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:Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It was created in the aftermath of a financial crisis during the early part of this century to protect consumers from unscrupulous behavior by financial institutions. This doesn't only include banks, but payday lenders and buy here, pay here, car lots, to name a few. With little fanfare, the Bureau has been shut down and its website's been taken offline. What does this mean for you? This is topic B. If you're buying a home, if you're renting an apartment, then the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking out for you.
Speaker 2:They're what the founders called the cop on the beat, to help enforce the laws on the books and to make sure everybody plays by the rules. In order to keep it independent when Congress created this agency, it doesn't get its budget from Congress. It actually gets its operational money from the Federal Reserve. That's by law, and they did it that way so it could stay independent and not subject to being political or subject to being swayed, depending on what's going on. However, it's been shut down. $21 billion is the number. $21 billion.
Speaker 2:Since it was founded, it has returned to hundreds of thousands of American consumers from all sorts of unscrupulous things. This is happening right now, as consumers face mounting challenges. Finding housing they can afford, with home prices at record highs, mortgage rates around 7%, rent prices remaining high after going up during the pandemic and, on top of all of that, the rising cost of home insurance premiums due to severe weather, made worse by climate change, is weighing on buyers, owners and renters. Without a federal agency keeping tabs on the mortgage and rental housing industries, consumers could see an increase in predatory business practices and God forbid even scams. I said hundreds of thousands of people. I was wrong, I'm sorry. 200 million people split that $21 billion, people harmed by credit bureaus, big banks, debt collectors and predatory lenders.
Speaker 2:If not the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, then who? So you're wondering. Okay, they had regulation before the creation of this. Well, let me help you with something. They had regulation before the creation of this. Well, let me help you with something. The agency was originally created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Up till then, there were seven different agencies seven, seven, seven that regulated the mortgage market the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Control of the Currency, the former Office of Thrift Supervision and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Speaker 2:Let me explain this to you If everybody's responsible, nobody's responsible. There's a whole lot of room for stuff to fall through the cracks there and a whole lot of finger pointing which was going on by bringing this all to a point through this Bureau and financing it and funding it the way that Congress intended was designed to protect us little people, the working class, those of us that do the living and dying and buying and selling in this town. To take from a movie that I like called it's a Wonderful Life, yeah us. It was built to protect us. Protect us from people who could scam us with little recourse, because who's got money for a lawyer and a lawyer wants money up front. Very few lawyers take cases on contingency. They want real money and if you've already been scammed or otherwise defrauded out the little money that you had, to have a roof over your head some kind of way. Where are you going to get the other money to hire a lawyer and go after them, which could take years. By the way, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was designed to put a point on that oversight. For example, you might remember this Three years ago, the Bureau ordered Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 billion after the bank allegedly mismanaged customers' loans over several years. In some cases, the bank improperly denied homeowners' requests for mortgage modifications, resulting in thousands of people losing their homes to wrongful disclosures Full disclosure here, because I need to tell you this. My brother, a military veteran, was one of those people that got wronged by Wells Fargo back then Lost his house Beautiful house too. The bank was aware of the problem for years before it ultimately addressed the issue.
Speaker 2:Even renters have been protected under this agency. The agency is charged with monitoring the rental process, including application fees, tenant screenings and debt collection activities, among other actions focused on renters. The agency has raised alarms about inaccurate background checks that result in people being unable to rent apartments. In November 2022, the agency issued reports describing how tenant background checks were sometimes filled with largely unvalidated information. And what recourse do you have? They run a report, it's wrong, you get denied. They don't tell you that the information they pulled was negative but was inaccurate. They didn't know that, they didn't verify it and you didn't know.
Speaker 2:The CFPB also highlighted how some tenant screening companies were using an algorithm to assess a prospective renter's risk level. In one study, the agency cast doubt on the effectiveness of such background reports in predicting how renters would behave. I reported here a few weeks ago how AI, when it came to medical benefits and the denial in those systems, was more designed to save money than make available benefits available to the people who deserve them and, as a result, low income and disadvantaged people were getting denied at a higher rate with little recourse, because of these algorithms which were skewed against them from the get. That's problem. It's not like you feed things into a computer and it takes away all the bias. In fact this is a fact the algorithms can actually amplify the bias that humans put into the process, meaning they become more magnified, not less, when machines sometimes making racist decisions.
Speaker 2:The agency also tried to address junk fees in rental housing and, oh my God, if you've ever rented an apartment, you get about fees from rental, payment processing services, which was added to their rent as a required fee, and a whole bunch of other expenses, and you don't get a chance to debate, discuss or otherwise question these fees. You're stuck, don't pay them. It's as if you didn't pay the rent and you get charged accordingly. Who's looking over these people to make sure all of this technology treats people fairly? It is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which, by the way, just got shut down by the administration and they're looking to abolish it completely. That puts the little guy back under the thumb of people who might take advantage of people who can't protect themselves. And, after all, isn't part of government supposed to take care of the people who need the help and don't have a voice and aren't able to defend themselves? Question Because I wanted to share this with you for sure. Two more EV manufacturers have gone broke, but only one may live to see another day.
Speaker 2: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. 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:I want to apologize for the kind of frog in my throat clearing my throat here, not sure what's going on. I don't have a cold or anything. So if I sound a little scraggly and a little rough and clearing my throat, I'm fine, I'm fine. Just wanted to apologize because usually I'm in better voice than this. Over the course of this program, I have said many times that vehicle manufacturing is not for the faint of heart or light of pocket. Years of upfront investment and I'm talking billions of dollars to build out of a dealer network, parts network, marketing department, engineering and being able to build and launch a brand new manufacturing facility, not to mention managing what could be hundreds, if not thousands, of suppliers, is often a daunting task, even for the established traditional companies that have been in business for many years. Two more EV manufacturers have gone broke and maybe, just maybe, one may live to see another day. This is topic C. The two companies I'm talking about. Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't. One is called Canoo, that's C-A-N-O-O. The other one is called Nicola. Different Canoo has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Nicola has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. For those of you that are not well-versed in bankruptcy law when it comes to corporations, let me clue you in the difference between the two, and then we'll get into this a little more.
Speaker 2:You hear a lot of companies talking about filing Chapter 11. Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code allows protection from the court for the company to operate as it restructures. It gives them immense power under protection of the court. They can break leases, they can break union contracts, they can change stuff unilaterally when they're in bankruptcy court. Now they do have to get permission from the judge to do a lot of this and they have to negotiate very often with a committee of creditors, which the court will oversee, to negotiate a better settlement. Companies go into a chapter 11, either to get their debt restructured because they couldn't do it outside of it or to get the company in better shape. They use it to get the company downsized because for some reason their revenue is below their expenses or their debt is ridiculous and a debt service is killing them and they can't operate the business. But in chapter 11, the goal is in chapter 11 that the company will get down to fighting trim and come out whole, smaller, restructured, maybe owned a little bit differently, but whole.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about chapter seven. You don't hear about chapter seven, bankruptcy, as often. Chapter seven is what I would call, and these are both corporate business chapters. There's others for personal bankruptcy. I think it's chapter 13. We're not talking about that. We're talking about business bankruptcies under the law of the US Bankruptcy Code, chapter 7 under the Bankruptcy Code. You hear a lot less often and this is where Canoo is. I want to point out one major thing. We've talked about EV companies on this program that have yet to build a product, that go belly up and broke. Both Nikola and Canoe have built and delivered product to customers. In Canoe's case, walmart, nasa and some others bought their EVs.
Speaker 2:Canoe's Chapter 7 filing means not only could we not get the financing, we don't see any other way out. We're done, we're through. We're selling everything. We're closed. It's over. There is no more company Going into Chapter 11, we're selling everything. We're liquidating assets. The company is dead. What that means if you are an investor in a company like that, you just lost everything. That's the challenge I have in common stock. Common stock means, yeah, you're the first one to lose equity. You're the first one that's going to lose in a bankruptcy Under Chapter 11, you have some choices in some wiggle room, not much Chapter 7, you have some choices in some wiggle room, not much Chapter 7, you have none.
Speaker 2:Canoe never made a profit. To give you an idea, the money the sales they had in 2023 was $1.5 million. They bought a plane for the CEO that year. The plane cost $1.7 million. The plane cost more than the money they made all year, the last quarter, the last well, I'm sorry, the last year they were in business.
Speaker 2:This past year, they lost $165 million. They were trying to get financing. They even went overseas, could not get it. And I can understand why. Because the first question an investor is going to ask is you're losing all this money. Before I give you a dime, show me a way to profitability. Show me a way that you are going to grow these assets so I can expect a return on my money. Or if I lend it to you, which I can't see lending it to you if you're losing $165 million, a way for me to get paid. Yeah, no, under Chapter 11, you have something called debtor in possession financing and what that is. It's a special sort of financing that allows a company getting reorganized to have money to do what they need to do, but it also makes these folks who lend that money, puts them at the top of the food chain. They get their money first before anybody gets theirs. Nikola is selling pieces of the company and a restructuring. When they come out of it, they're expecting to sell the company, but the company will go on in some form afterwards, but the company will go on in some form afterwards.
Speaker 2:The one thing that I miss that never came to light about Nikola that would have been an amazing vehicle if they had stuck to their guns and pulled it off. They had developed something called the Nikola Badger pickup and it was a dual power pickup. It was an EV, but it was both a fuel cell and a battery EV Together With incredible range. The thing had range of 600 miles. Now this was back about 4 years ago when it developed it. Challenge is, technology has changed since then, but I can only imagine If that thing had evolved, it probably had pretty close to 1,000 miles of range, if they could have brought it to market. Nikola, which had concentrated on their Class 8 trucks, the Class 8 EV trucks and they actually delivered about 600 of them, and it still wasn't enough. They're selling part of it.
Speaker 2:The company that stepped up to buy some of their assets before they filed for bankruptcy was Mullen Automotive, and if you're really paying close attention in this program, you might remember Mullen Automotive has done this. Before they came to, another company we talked about called Bollinger Motors actually bought a controlling stake in Bollinger to help Bollinger bring out their medium-duty EV strip chassis in Class 5, class 6, and they're going to market. I wonder they're not sure who would step up for Nikola. I'd say it's probably Mullenullen, because Mullen's already in it and I think that they may end up getting the company. So Nikola may not be dead.
Speaker 2:As far as the name is concerned, as the man says, watch this space, but as far as canoe it's over. I wonder how NASA's going to get parts to keep their little canoes going the little people transportation items, now that the company doesn't exist as it to Fisker Fisker Ocean. If you own a Fisker Ocean, you're in the same boat, a vehicle that outlived the company that built it. It's part of the challenge in this brave new world of EVs. We've come to the end of this visit. Be sure to join me again next time, right here. This has been the Tech Mobility Show.
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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 where, no exception Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of 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. 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 at the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's 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 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, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility Podcast in the search bar, wherever you listen to.
