The TechMobility Podcast
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The TechMobility Podcast
Shifting Gears: EVs, Tiny Homes, and Ghost Trucks; 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander review
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California's charging revolution has quietly reshaped the electric vehicle landscape, with the Golden State now boasting an astonishing 48% more EV chargers than gas nozzles. This remarkable milestone challenges the persistent narrative about charging scarcity, though important questions remain about fast charger availability and accessibility for apartment dwellers. The dramatic 70% year-over-year growth demonstrates how quickly infrastructure can evolve when necessity drives innovation.
Behind the wheel of the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander reveals a vehicle that represents the automaker's best effort yet. This seven-passenger SUV delivers surprising refinement with its mid-cycle refresh, featuring upgraded interior materials that push it toward luxury territory alongside meaningful improvements in sound insulation and driving dynamics. While the third row remains best suited for emergency use only, the overall package represents compelling value with its extensive feature set and competitive pricing between $29,645 and $43,145.
Meanwhile, America's affordable housing crisis might find partial relief through innovative tiny house villages, as demonstrated by a thoughtfully designed community in upstate New York. These developments balance privacy with community connection, offering homes between 500-1,100 square feet arranged in clusters that foster belonging without sacrificing independence. Unfortunately, restrictive zoning laws continue blocking similar projects nationwide despite their potential to simultaneously address housing affordability and rural revitalization.
Most alarming is China's commanding lead in autonomous trucking technology, with logistics giant ZTO Express already accumulating an incredible 124 million miles with their cabless "ghost trucks." While American companies celebrate pilot programs measuring success in thousands of miles, Chinese firms are deploying hundreds of fully autonomous vehicles that communicate with infrastructure through vehicle-to-everything technology. This widening technology gap threatens to reshape global shipping economics, with Chinese companies targeting 50% labor savings through automation.
What mobility technologies are you most excited or concerned about? Join the conversation by calling our TechMobility hotline at 872-222-9793 or emailing talk@techmobilityshow.
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Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the docket my impressions and review of the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. Can tiny house villages revive small towns and China's army of ghost trucks Revive Small Towns and China's Army of Ghost Trucks. To add your voice to the conversation by asking a question, sharing an opinion or even suggesting a topic for future discussion, call or text the Tech Mobility hotline that number, 872-222-9793. Or, if you prefer, you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow. Also, 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. And for those of you that subscribe to Substack, you can find me there too, as a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, and that's at Ken C Iowa. So that's Ken, the letter C, and Iowa spelled out I-O-W-A. Ken C Iowa. From the TechMobility News Desk.
Speaker 2:One of the major complaints that is leveled against EVs is the fact that there are so few chargers, there's so few high speed chargers available, and that when the chargers are available, that they don't work, that they're broken or otherwise offline. What if I told you that one state in the United States of America has almost 50% more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles? Now I know, I know and this time you would be right You're going to say well, it's got to be California. Well, it is California, believe it or not. And the point I want to make is this I had told you that over time this network would be built out. It takes time. I mean it takes time to build, engineer and design this stuff, just like it took time to build, engineer and design this stuff. Just like it took time to build the gasoline retail infrastructure. It took years. It didn't just pop up one day. It took a number of years to do that and they had to refine the concept. I would say that by the 1950s that was probably the high watermark for the typical standalone gasoline station. But they did it. So I don't know why people would be surprised that it would take the EV industry a while to build a level of EV chargers that were comparable and as convenient. They're getting the number of chargers right Now. They're working on technologies that will allow you to charge vehicles in as little as five minutes. We covered that last week. So let me read a little bit more about what's going on in California, and this is from Automotive News, which is a trade publication of the auto industry. It's been around for over 100 years. Let me just give you the numbers. According to California Energy Commission, they said California has 178,549 electric vehicle chargers. That is of last year, compared with California Energy Commission's estimates of 120,000 gasoline nozzles and that works out to having 48% more electric vehicle chargers than gas pump nozzles in the state, a milestone that highlights its steady march towards an electric future, despite headwinds from the federal government. Steady march towards an electric future, despite headwinds from the federal government.
Speaker 2:Okay, you've heard all the fuss about California and you're like I don't understand why California's special or different. If you've never been to California, let me help you. The topography of the Golden State, particularly in the Los Angeles Basin, has the ability to trap all the emissions and with the bright sun it was creating something back in the 70s called photochemical smog. In fact, the pollutants were going up into the air, interacting with the sun and becoming completely different compounds that even they didn't know what they were, but they were carcinogenic, deadly, and it was bad all the way around. When the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, congress gave special permission to California to actually enact standards that were stricter than federal law.
Speaker 2:Folks might remember back in the days, particularly the 80s and the early 90s, of the 49 plus 1 cars, that you had one standard for 49 states and you had the California standards, which were stricter. You probably didn't know that in the United States today. You probably didn't know that in the United States today there are 40 different blends of unleaded regular. Why? Because of pollution standards, because of certain geographical areas, high altitude, california, other reasons. You did know that there was a difference between your summer blend and winter blend. Right In case you didn't. Now you know that, yeah, the gasoline that you buy isn't the same everywhere all the time and it depends on season, it depends on location and it depends on the level of pollution going on where you live. We'll determine what the formula is for the gasoline that you're putting in your vehicle. It's different Getting back to California putting in your vehicle, it's different Getting back to California.
Speaker 2:Everything that made the state desirable for people to go to also made it a place to die. If they didn't get this together, people were dying Respiratory problems, high pollution. It was not pretty. So that's the thing. But here's something that I want to point out Not only does California have more chargers than gas nozzles. This increase is up 70% from 2023. In 2023, there were 105,012 chargers in the state. Last year, it was 178,549. What that means is is that, when everything is right, the money will be spent to build out the infrastructure.
Speaker 2:I was in the California desert two years ago, and I mean in the desert. I was north of Bakersfield and at this hotel in the middle of nowhere and I mean the middle of nowhere there were two electric chargers One was for Teslas, another one for everybody else. At the hotel right there and I do mean the middle of nowhere, off of a two lane state highway, I was at an event for major automaker and, while the lunch was very delicious, we were really, really, really on the middle of nowhere. We were in a high desert. There were two charges out there. California's commitment you think California is in California.
Speaker 2:California had to do this because they had no choice From an air quality standpoint. They had no choice. That's why you've heard of the California Air Resources Board, or CARB as it's called, and it's been around for years, because they needed to get ahead of it and they still need to get ahead of it, and they still need to get ahead of it With all those cars and all that pollution going up into the air. California had to take the lead or the state was going to be inhospitable to human life, and with everything else going on in California, the last thing you needed to do was not being able to breathe, or what you breathed in was harmful to you. So that's why the big move, that's why California is all about this stuff.
Speaker 2:Now, of those 178,000 chargers, only 17,000 are fast chargers. That's an issue for me, because it should be the other way around. A level two charger, unless you're able to plug in and walk away for a while, ain't going to do you no good, because it's going to take hours to charge, so it doesn't really address the problem. So, while, yes, california should be commended for the progress, have they really made progress, though? Only 17,000? Eh, not so much, and the issue is that I don't know what it would cost to retrofit those level 2 chargers.
Speaker 2:Let me add this while we're on the subject the state estimates the consumers have installed more than 700,000 level 2 chargers in single-family homes, and home charging is the method most owners use to repower their EVs. And my beef with that is it discriminates against those of us either unable, unwilling or don't want to own a home. If we want to own an EV, we are either at the mercy of a public charger or we're just stuck. We can't buy one, and I don't think that's right, because that tends to give privilege to the money class and not the people who really need it, which are people in the low-income, high-pollution areas of these cities which would benefit from a lot of EVs if they could charge them. But since they don't own a home, they don't have a level two charger, so they can't play it overnight. Oh well, the current Mitsubishi Outlander is the automaker's best ever. 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. We're no exception. I'm ken chester, 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 Thank you.
Speaker 2:Nobody stands behind their cars like Mitsubishi, because every new Mitsubishi now comes with a 10-year powertrain limited warranty, 5-year new vehicle limited warranty and 5-year roadside assistance. Mitsubishi the best back cars in the world. He came back when I came in my 10-year. That was from 2005. The vehicle that they showed in that television commercial was actually the Mitsubishi Endeavor, which was their first domestically built SUV, which for the time and they built it for five years was pretty advanced. It was pretty gnarly, it was one generation. It was built at their plant in normal Illinois and I remember being invited to California to evaluate the vehicle and I was very impressed. The problem is between the recession and getting crunched in the marketplace. Mitsubishi never put in any money into the endeavor to upgrade it. So it was one generation and one generation only, which was too bad because it could have been so much more. But now we have the Mitsubishi Outlander, so let me introduce this SUV to you. The Outlander was originally introduced to the American motorists in the 2001 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as the Mitsubishi ASX concept vehicle, with ASX standing for Active Sports Crossover. This represented the automaker's approach to the industry-wide crossover SUV trend at the time for retaining all-season and off-road abilities offered by a high ground clearance and four-wheel drive, while still offering car-like levels of emission economy and size. Replacing the body-on-frame Montero Sport in North America, the Outlander went on sale during the 2003 model year.
Speaker 2:The fourth and current generation of Outlander debuted in 2021. For the 2022 model year, as part of the Renault-Nissan-Mishibishi alliance, the Outlander is based on the Nissan Rogue, which rides on the CMF CD platform. For 2025, the seven-passenger Outlander gets a mid-cycle refresh with revised front and rear styling, along with greater levels of luxury in materials and design throughout the interior and inside the passenger cabin. These upgraded and redesigned materials bring Outlander even closer to the luxury class, with the addition of sound-deadening material in significant areas. Upgraded and redesigned materials bring Outlander even closer to the luxury class, with the addition of sound-deadening material in significant areas, bringing about a reduction more than a half a decibel in road noise and nearly six decibels in overall sound insulation compared to last year. Occupants will discover redesigned placement and sizing of the cup holders, a more functional area for wireless mobile phone charging and a larger arm rest center console area with more storage.
Speaker 2:Underneath. The Outlander sees a recalibrated power steering system, delivering more precise steering feel, with recalibrated springs, shock absorbers and stabilizer bars, which bring greater assurance in driving confidence. Available in four trim levels, power for the front drive Outlander is generated by a 2.5-liter gasoline four-cylinder engine that makes 181 horsepower and 181 foot-pounds of torque. Energy is communicated to the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission with an eight-speed sport mode. The automaker's legendary super all-wheel control. All-wheel drive system is optional. Epa fuel economy numbers are 24 city 31 highway for front-wheel drive, 24 city 30 highway for all-wheel drive. Cargo capacity is 64.3 cubic feet with a second and third row seating folded flat. 4.3 cubic feet with a second and third row seating folded flat. Towing capacity comes in at 2,000 pounds.
Speaker 2:Here's what I liked about the vehicle. The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander is designed to be bold and stylish and, without a doubt, the best Outlander ever. The Mitsubishi SUV has a look of sophistication inside and out and there's so to love. I don't even really know where to begin. The Outlander is capable and a talented highway performer when underway Smooth, quiet and responsive. The driver can choose from six drive mode settings on demand Eco, normal, tarmac, gravel, snow and Mud. There's also an auto hold function as well, and a manual shift mode via steering wheel mount and paddle shifters, giving the driver a variety of options depending on road conditions.
Speaker 2:The Outlander boasts solid overall construction head-up display, retained accessory power, lcd interior lighting, heated cooled front seats, heated outbound second row seats and a second row climate control, as well as a low stepping height and decent second row legroom. And put a pin in that, because I said second row Displays, controls and switchgear are easy to read and use and, as I mentioned earlier, the second and third row seats fold flat with the cargo floor, adding a level of versatility and functionality. And, speaking of seating and I don't know if somebody needs to know this, but I'm putting it out there both power front seats fully recline. Here's what I didn't like about the vehicle. The accommodations for the third row seat Okay, I'm just going to say it like this Do not fit for child, man or beast and honestly, it is not really a problem that is unique to Mitsubishi.
Speaker 2:It is any auto manufacturer trying to put in a compact or a mid-sized package a third row of seating. While it's commendable that they try, very often they fail because it either means I got to choose either carrying people or carrying stuff, because I don't have, except in a very few vehicles, enough room behind that third row seat to carry any meaningful volume of anything. Unfortunately, the Outlander is no better right there with that particular thing. I'd be better off doing it as a five passenger and not even using the third row of seating. There are no USB ports for the second and third row of seating, and I need to clarify that, because Mitsubishi actually has a set, but it's at the very back of the center console and I guess they mean for that to be used by the second row passengers. I'm not thrilled with it because it's not really user-friendly and if you're in the third row you ain't got none at all.
Speaker 2:Here's something else. Not that you would ever need to do it, but if you got to go look at the engine to check the oil, to add winter wiper fluid, be careful that hood is all steel and it's heavy, don't get hurt. And then finally, and I don't get this, there's no spare tire, and I've tried to find out whether the tires that it's running on are run flats, which they're not self-sealing or puncture resistant, which is usually the thing they'll do. If they're not going to include a spare tire, I am not sure that these tires are any of those things. They are Toyo Open Country HTs and they're 20-inch tires, which gives me pause and you know why. You know they're expensive and you'll have to probably order them. So here's the bottom line.
Speaker 2:Despite some of the drawbacks, the Mitsubishi Outlander continues to be a bright, shining star in the automaker's limited North American lineup. Now this particular, the Outlander, offers a little something for everybody and if you want to take economy to the next level, there's even the availability of a plug-in hybrid, which we did not review and maybe next time we will. The manufacturer suggested retail price for the 2025 mishubishi outlander starts from 29,645 for the es up to 43,145 for the platinum edition, which, by the way, platinum edition comes all-wheel drive. Standard destination charges $1,495. Msrp is tested. Test vehicle was the Outlander SEL equipped with all-wheel drive. It was outfitted with the following factory installed options Premium package, two-tone exterior paint, door-ground Mitsubishi illumination, to-note cover, chrono hood emblem and welcome package. Total cost of the options $4,385. Total MSRP $44,675.
Speaker 2:Can a tiny home village bring new life to a small town? We investigate. 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 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 podcasts, social media, it's the place to be, and 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:Tiny houses. With the stock of affordable housing severely diminished in many parts of the country, the rise of tiny houses offers some people an alternative when considering a safe place to live. A twist on that concept is actually the rise of tiny house villages, often near or just outside small towns in rural America. Could this concept be a win-win for all? This is topic B.
Speaker 2:I was looking at an article, and this article talked about an example in upstate New York York where a general contractor, some 29 years ago, got inspired to build in, during the slow season, three small rentals which mimicked gingerbread houses from a you know child story that he was reading his granddaughter. People loved him. The next year, during the slow season, he built three more and as this went on, he actually ended up in a small town in upstate New York buying a 2.8 acre lot and putting 12 of these little homes on that lot and making them available for people. Folks loved them. Here's why. Number one, an obvious affordability. Number two, the way that he approached building them. You had privacy but yet you had community. They were in groups of three, but the homes were turned in such a way that when you looked out the window you weren't staring into your neighbor's living room. The average size ran from anywhere from roughly 500 square feet to a little over 1,100 square feet, depending and the way that he designed and built them, they still were quite airy for their size. So what you're looking at is anything from roughly a studio apartment size to maybe a small two-bedroom, but it worked.
Speaker 2:He took 40 acres of land and built an actual community of these near a small town, and the beautiful part about that is, even though it's rural, that it actually has bus service, so you can live literally rural New York and still have access without having to own a car, which I think is really super cool. That are putting a crimp into the ability to replicate. This obviously, to me, is one solution to a very prickly problem. Bet, you can't guess what it is Zoning laws, zoning laws and the fact that people have a not-in-my-backyard mentality when it comes to this stuff. Now, we're not talking about a bunch of noise. We're not talking about a bunch of crime. We're not talking about a bunch of crime. The way he's got it designed is very nice and very elegant. It looks really classy.
Speaker 2:But people need a place to live and a lot of people can't afford what's out there right now. And if you are semi-retired or maybe you're a widower or maybe you're a young family starting out husband and wife, this is exactly what you would need, not to mention being in the countryside. You get the beauty of the scenery and you get a quality of life without the kind of crowd mentality of an apartment building complex. You don't get all those people packed in there so you actually get some freedom that, literally, if you will breathe, which in and of itself makes it almost worth doing. Why do people not want these homes in their community? It's a question we need to ask. What we're doing right now as a country relative to what we're calling affordable housing is not working for more and more people. And, honestly, the average house, even if you're able to afford to get into it, the maintenance, the taxes, the upkeep is going to break you and there have been stories in the last couple of years. We've talked about the cost of actually doing it, not to mention property tax values and snow removal, maintaining the lawn, fixing appliances when they go on the fritz, having plumbing issues, electrical issues all that stuff falls on the homeowner and it's not cheap. And that's on top of insurance, that's on top of the mortgage and that's assuming, depending where you live, that you can get homeowner's insurance, which is a whole other subject we're not going to deal with here.
Speaker 2:But imagine a community within a community that promotes community Everybody knows everybody but nobody's nosy that promotes peace and quiet and quality of life that you cannot replicate in the city. Would you live in a tiny home? Our apartments about 1350 square feet. This 1100 square feet would work for us. We've lived, actually, in an apartment slightly smaller than that at one time of about 965 square feet. It was snug but we made it work. 11001,100 would be a little better. It's doable.
Speaker 2:And if you are on a fixed income, if you have health challenges can't get around a lot this would be the ideal thing for you, not to mention a community setup where people are looking out for everybody. So you would have a built-in community to make sure you're checking on your neighbors, your neighbors checking on you. You're not alone. You have on you. You're not alone. You have privacy, but you're not alone. And again, if you're over a certain age, loneliness is a major cause of depression, dementia, suicide, et cetera. So being able to be part of a community like this, on your own terms, is pretty good. It really, really is. And I'm telling you, I'm looking this is Fast Company magazine and I'm looking at these homes and they look pretty classy. I wouldn't mind living in one of them. They're nice. Not to mention the view they got. In this case, he built a number of homes overlooking a lake. Can you imagine that that is your view when you get up in the morning, you can hear the wildlife and you can see the sun and smell the breeze and enjoy even you know the water and the noise of the water lulling you to sleep at night. It would be really, really awesome.
Speaker 2:But again, zoning laws. Zoning laws favor large lots, single homes, single families. The problem with that is that might have worked in the 50s, maybe even the 60s, but it doesn't work now. It is an incredible waste of valuable land and there are a whole bunch of approaches, of which the tiny house village is one approach. The other one is unattached dwellings, or granny flats as they're called, or mother-in-law flats if you will, where certain laws and certain communities allows the homeowner to build a separate structure that they can either rent out or have family live in. There are a lot of different approaches, but the bottom line is affordability, community being able to enjoy quality of life and have some freedom.
Speaker 2:In this case, with this particular builder who's fielding calls all over the country and he tells builders who are interested in replicating what he's done in New York State, he said the problem is going to be zoning Number one problem. It's going to be the zoning in your community that's going to fight you tooth and clock because they don't want it. To me, I think I'd rather have these small homes in a cluster than a major large overbearing apartment building with all that noise and all those people all squished together. This is a much better quality of life because it's spread out a little bit and it was planned so. It wasn't built willy-nilly. He actually put some planning in it and it looks quite nice and I think a lot of people could relate. He said they've been real popular and he's going to keep building them. He'd like to replicate this across the country. People could relate he said they've been real popular and he's going to keep building them. He'd like to replicate this across the country, but time will tell if planning and zoning will get the message and be willing to make those changes to facilitate this, at least in some part of town Called ghost trucking and a fleet of driverless trucks are shaping the future shipping in China. Is this what's next for the United States?
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 TechMobility 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 TechMobility 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. Imagine passing a truck on the interstate at highway speed that doesn't have a space for the driver. There's no cab that is, in fact, just a flat wall crowned with sensors and cameras. In China, these futuristic yet cheap-looking trucks are part of a fleet of driverless light trucks that can carry a thousand parcels autonomously and that means autonomously with no oversight, over a range of 110 miles. Sound far-fetched. Well, in China, like I said, it's happening right now, and some form of this is in America's immediate future. This is topic C. Let me say this when it comes to autonomous trucking China, is head and shoulders above us.
Speaker 2:You're talking trucking companies evaluating in the Southwest with maybe thousands of miles of pilot testing under their belt with a few trucks. China's talking hundreds of trucks. And get this now for one fleet one autonomous trucking fleet one 124 million miles. There is not a developer right now developing either autonomous taxis or autonomous trucks that can boast that kind of mileage. Not one, in fact. I doubt all of them combined could do that right now. In America. They've made progress and they've been at it hard.
Speaker 2:The first time we talked about autonomous anything was back in 2016. Our local radio show, cnh Industrial they make case tractors, was at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, iowa, and they were showing videos back 10 years ago of two autonomous, fully autonomous tractors working a farm in Kentucky. One had a cab, the other one did not. This was 2016. China's taken this and run with it. They have got in a variety of provinces. They've got these on the road working now and they are not in a pilot mode. This is real life going on. The company that's doing this is called it's a logistics giant called ZTO Express, and they're at the vanguard of a silent, state-sponsored effort to revolutionize the way China ships goods around the country. This next sentence is on them. Their fleet is already vastly outperforming the efforts of startups in the United States. Again, again, they navigate this particular province's suburban and rural routes thanks to an artificial intelligence-powered computer that sees the world in 3D. Using lasers and high-resolution cameras. The trucks are capable of obeying traffic lights, dodging obstacles get this yielding to pedestrians and talking to the road itself and other vehicles. And let me stop right here. They have embraced vehicle to infrastructure V2X and they've spent money the government has spent money to build that infrastructure into the roads to facilitate autonomous trucking Unlike here. And did I mention, under their belt, 124 million miles autonomously, 124 million? Most of these companies, zto included, have been active on this realm for now four years and they're taking it all the way.
Speaker 2:This particular article shows a delivery of 400 autonomous heavy-duty trucks 400. These areduty trucks 400. These are not a pilot. These trucks are being deployed in hauling freight right now in China, this vehicle-to-everything communication that they've got set up. This technology allows them to talk to traffic lights, road sensors and other vehicles in real time. As we talked about, v2x reduces collisions and optimizes traffic flow by sharing data like speed, direction and road conditions. What are we going to do? This delivery of 400 heavy trucks marked the largest single delivery of intelligent freight trucks globally at the time, each equipped with light detection and ranging sensors that create 3D maps of surroundings, redundant braking systems and autonomous driving software A proprietary system developed by an outfit called Inceptio software a proprietary system developed by an outfit called Inceptio.
Speaker 2:Our trucking industry is navigating the messy middle, and what they're talking about is decarbonization. China's like don't even worry about all that. We're going full autonomous right now, to the wall all the way, and we're not even playing. We want to rewrite this whole bit. Yet it's been nine years since a farm implement manufacturer showed the world working autonomous tractors and, honestly, the farm implement industry, the manufacturers, have embraced autonomy big time, and if you've ever sat in the seat of a brand new combine, it pretty much does everything but turn at the end of the corn row. In another few years, you'll probably be able to do that without the driver inside.
Speaker 2:So how did we get so behind? Why can't we get it together, people, they expect these light-duty trucks. Just in one province, they expect to have 1,500 on the road, and what they're targeting is a 50% reduction in labor cost 50%, because while their labor costs in China have gone up by 8%, e-commerce parcel volumes exceeded $130 billion last year. They don't have a choice. Chinese retail giant JD's Logistics Division has and this is right now 600 autonomous vehicles in operation, making millions of deliveries. That's right now of fully driverless delivery trucks in major urban area centers like Beijing and Shenzhen. According to its third quarter, 2024 earnings call.
Speaker 2:And then there are others China's embraced autonomous trucking. China's embraced autonomous commercial delivery. These vehicles are on the road racking up millions of miles right now. The government facilitated it by making the roads, giving the roads ability to communicate with these vehicles, making the whole thing better. They made the investment. Private investment covered the rest of it. We should be able to do the same. We've got one company that's bragging about self-driving tech in the United States 1,200 miles to Inceptio's 124 million miles. That's not even comparable in terms of evaluation. But trust me, if they perfect it there, they can export it, and they will in due time, because it makes too much economic sense.
