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
Auto Suppliers Struggle, Kia’s SUV Sweet Spot, Personal Robocar Dreams, and the Rise of Garage Luxury
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What happens when the auto supply chain starts to wobble, a family SUV hits most of the right notes, and a startup promises a personal Level 4 robocar you can actually own? We connect the dots between factory floors, dealer lots, and your driveway to map out what’s next—and what to avoid.
We begin with a clear look at supplier stress: one-fifth of automotive suppliers are already struggling financially, and tariffs plus specialty material constraints could push more over the edge. With vehicles built from hundreds of globally sourced parts, a single tier-two or tier-three failure can stop assembly lines. That ripple effect quickly reaches buyers—lean inventories tighten, used car prices go up, and shopping feels like the pandemic all over again. We explain why re-shoring is slow, why just-in-time leaves no slack, and how contract pressure on suppliers fuels uncertainty you’ll feel at the showroom.
Next, we turn to the 2025 Kia Telluride. Built in Georgia and packed with thoughtful touches—adult-capable third row, flat-fold cargo, real climate control for every row, and a cabin that exceeds its price—the Telluride remains a compelling mid-size crossover. We also highlight the misses: a hunting eight-speed, soft midrange for merges, underbody spare risks, and infotainment paths that hide simple settings. Most of all, the market is ready for a Telluride hybrid to boost torque and fuel economy without losing the SUV’s everyday charm. If you value space, comfort, and reliability over sprints, it still belongs on your shortlist.
Finally, we explore the bold pitch for a personally owned robocar. Tensor’s design features 100+ sensors, redundant electronics, folding controls, and a data-driven autonomy stack. It’s ambitious—and it raises practical questions about legality, liability, insurance, and service when things go sideways. We balance that future with a different kind of car passion surging now: luxury garage condos. Think climate-controlled suites with glass doors, club lounges, event concourses, and on-site service for exotics—a community centered around the joy of machines.
Subscribe for more grounded reviews, smart tech analysis, and real-world buying advice. If you had to choose today—resilient family hauler or high-tech leap—where would you bet your money?
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SPEAKER_03:Visit pincommunity.org to get started. I'm Ken Chester. On the Docket, my review of the 2025 Kia Atelia Ride Crossover SUV, your personal robocar, and a luxury garage for your ride. To join the conversation, you can call or text the Tech Mobility Hotline, that number 872-222-9793, or you can email the show directly. That's talk at techmobility dot show. For those of you who enjoy Substack, you can find me there too. It's at Ken C Iowa. That's K-E-N, the letter C, I O W A. I'm a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative from the Tech Mobility News Desk. It's been a while since I've taken you down the rabbit hole. And I think it's time because this directly will have an impact on your ability, number one, to buy a vehicle in the future, and number two, to even buy a used vehicle in the future. So what am I talking about? One-fifth of suppliers topple into financial distress as pessimism grows. This is out of automotive news, and it's from last month. And the lead is this amid new tariffs, supplier executives are more pessimistic than they have been since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, save for one quarter in 2020. A recent survey found. At least 20% of automotive suppliers are in financial duress, and their leaders are more pessimistic than they've been in recent years. And that's two studies. An analysis of the automotive supply chain by financial analytics firm Rapid Ratings found that one out of five is already in financial distress, and that was even before tariffs. And it also found that tariffs as they stand could lead to a 23% increase in the number of distressed suppliers. Let me explain why that even matters. Right now I'm going to assume that you don't know much about the auto industry, even though you've been listening to me. But let me take you back for a minute. The average vehicle is supplied to by upwards of 700 to 2,000 different suppliers from around the world. And that doesn't matter where the vehicle is made, where the engine is manufactured, where the transmission is made, every single vehicle. It be a Tesla, it be a Dodge, it be a BMW. You've got hundreds of suppliers and they're tiered. You'll hear tier one suppliers. They're the ones that work directly with the manufacturers. They're usually the biggest. They usually coordinate the output of tier twos, which work with the tier ones, and tier threes, which are the smallest in the mom and pop businesses, the machine shops and the die shops, and the smaller businesses that are dependent on the auto industry, but will work with either a larger tier two and sometimes even directly with a tier one. But they really work directly with the original equipment manufacturer. This network, this is part of the supplier chain. And the last time it was this ugly was really about 25 years ago when automakers had this wild idea that they could be more profitable as they spun off their parts operations into separate companies and just get rid of them. You don't have to worry about putting money into them no more and contracts and stuff like that. Problem is, hmm, the contracts they were stuck with weren't profitable. And as a result, a lot of those part suppliers went broke. And in some cases, the automakers had to buy them back and take them back. This time it's different. With everything going on, a lot of them are still struggling to recover from the pandemic. And the fact that working with the auto industry as a supplier is not a mad license to print money. For the longest time, each of GM Ford Chrysler had policies in place and supplier policies in place where GM has something called 322. And what that means is you get a contract, a multi-year contract. The first year GM is expecting a 3% price decrease. The next year they want 2% more. And the year after that, they want 2% more. They are arguing that as you ramp up in producing the goods, that there's certain operational efficiencies that you gain that they want you to pass along to them. That was then. GM recently, and it wasn't part of the story, but I just read it, changed their contracts with suppliers that said instead of giving you a fixed-term contract, now we are going to put it in that we can renew it for six months' intervals at our leisure at the same prices, or dictate to you what we're going to pay. And you're stuck. And these are existing contracts, by the way. These are not new contracts, which means suppliers now have even more uncertainty. Because if you're a supplier and you get a contract, you are ramping up equipment, you're buying new equipment or revising older equipment, training folk, going to the bank, expanding your plant, getting ready, spending money up front to honor this contract. And you're honoring this contract and the numbers the automaker gave you for sales and demand and where your profit's going to be, or where you're going to be relative to taking the contract on. Now the automakers are taking that away with all this uncertainty. Right now, there are suppliers that have failed, and the automakers are scrambling. There will be more. What does that mean? If a part supplier that produces a key part, even if it's a tier two or tier three, that is required further downstream to make something that goes into a vehicle and they can't do it, that production stops. Right now, GM's Warrenville plant is down because of something like that. They had a problem in the supplier plant. Ford's, one of their suppliers, just had a fire in an aluminum plant, which is impacting their F-150 manufacturing. And that plant's going to be offline until the first quarter next year because the fire happened in their hot roll mill for aluminum. Nobody expected that. This is what years of just in time and lean manufacturing do for you. It gives you very little wiggle room. Nobody has any. And now you're in a situation where you've got additional costs on materials. Even if you manufacture it here, but you're importing the aluminum and the steel. Because maybe it's a type of steel you can't get. Because there's more than one type of steel. There's many different alloys that go into different types of steel, and not every steel manufacturer in the United States makes every kind that automakers need or suppliers need. One particular steel is called electrical steel. It goes into manufacturing of EVs. There are very few plants in the United States that make it. And the one that does have really crazy pricing control over the industry. They don't like that. They want to change that. What would happen if you can't build new ones and the new supply falters? It drives up demand for the used ones and prices go up. You as a consumer find out that you're right back in the middle of the pandemic. You can't get a new one at any price, and the cost of used ones, even five, six, seven-year-old used vehicles that you would even entertain are much higher now. Will it get as bad as the pandemic? I don't know. I bought a vehicle just before the pandemic with 25,000 miles on it, it was two years old. Within a year, I had put I had doubled the mileage. And would you believe during the pandemic that vehicle was worth$7,000 more than I paid for it with double the mileage? Are we heading that way? Well, unless somebody figures out how to get some relief for these suppliers, you're going to start to see growing problems. Because it takes a while, even if they wanted to bring everything back, even if they could bring everything back to the United States, you're looking at three to five years to build a plant, build a sourcing, get everything up and running. It will not solve the problem anytime soon. That stuff takes years. Assuming they could do it and assuming they can find the workers. That is the challenge that we've got. And our suppliers are weak too right now? Not a good place to be. We don't need a recession. What we need is some help, and they need some relief. And they're stuck. Because with the average price being 50 grand for a new vehicle, they can't pass price increases to the automaker, and the automaker can't pass them on. There's no room. Food for thought. Built in Georgia and equipped to the teeth, the Kia Telluride is ready for anything the market has in store. This is the Tech Mobility Show.
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SPEAKER_03:To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. 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 Techmobility.show. You can also drop us a line at talk at Techmobility.show.
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SPEAKER_01:Imagine a best-selling minivan. Now at a five-star crash safety rating and give it a one-year powertrain warranty. Back it with five years roadside assistance and price it right. What would you have? The Kia Sedona. It's not only a better value, it's a smarter buy. Get a 2005 Sedona for 18,120 after 3,000 cash back and 1000 owner loyalty base. Hurry, offer in soon.
SPEAKER_03:Don't you wish you could buy a brand new minivan for less than$20,000? That was back in 2005. No, you can't do that now. Anybody's minivan. Of the companies that's still making them, which are not that many anymore. But yeah, yeah, Kia had then and has now one of the best warranties in the entire industry. And you can't go wrong. It was a master stroke for them to do that. And it's still a brilliant idea. You know, get people to try your product by making it a no-lose proposition. You can't lose. On that note, Kia Motors America has a simple philosophy when it comes to its very successful mid-size crossover SUV. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Kia first teased the public with a concept telluride in 2016, with a production model following in 2019. The Telluride went on sale in the United States for the 2020 model year. And the Kia Telluride is manufactured at the automaker's facility in West Point, Georgia, the sole source for the vehicle. The Hyundai Palisade is a mechanical sibling. Named after the town of Telluride, Colorado, the mid-sized Kia Crossover SUV is the largest vehicle the company makes in the United States. As the first Kia that was designed specifically for the U.S. market, excuse me, design work was handled at the company's design center in Irvine, California. Since its debut, annual sales numbers have only increased year over year. In 2024, sales of the Telluride topped 115,000 units. Available with seven or eight passenger seating, the Tellu Ride is offered in 10 trim levels and in front are all-wheel drive configurations. Power is generated from a 3.8-liter gasoline six-cylinder engine producing 291 horsepower and 262 foot pounds of torque. Energy is communicated to the drive wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission with manual shift mode. There are five drive modes in all-wheel drive, and that's Smart, Sport, Comfort, Eco, and SNO, not to mention a locking rear, a locking center differential, tow mode, and hill descent control. EPA fuel economy numbers are 20 city 26 highway for the front wheel drive, 18 city 23 highway for all-wheel drive. Cargo capacity is 87 cubic feet with the second and third row seating folded flat. Towing capacity is 5,000 pounds. Here's what I loved about the telluride. And let me start first by saying there's a lot to love about this vehicle. From its good outward view of the road to its smart, sophisticated, and upscale look and finish of the passenger cabin, it's a study and research. The center console is deep and useful. Displays, controls, and switch gear are generally well laid out. A little bit more of that in a bit. Second row seating features a switch activated power fold function, while the third row seating is folded with manual controls. Most importantly, both rows fold flat with a cargo floor. Head up display, heated and cooled first and second row seating, heated steering wheel, and a four-aft adjustment in the second row to optimize leg room and the second and third row of seating only adds to the telluride's functionality and versatility. A combination functioning sunroof and fixed panoramic glass adds to the airiness of the cabin. Theater seating for the second and third row passengers decrease that claustrophobic feeling. Hair grips molded into the vehicle side at the wide rear doors facilitate access to the third row. And third row passengers are not treated like third-class citizens in the telly ride. In addition to what I've already mentioned, those seated in the third row are also treated to their own USB ports, climate control vents, and dual cup holders, while second row passengers also benefit from separate climate control temperature controls. Added benefit is the added storage located under the cargo area floor. What's not to love? However, here's what I didn't love about the Telluride. And yeah, in the midst of all of this goodness that is key to Telluride, I do have some issues. First, the subjective. That said, the multi-speed transmission seems to hunt for highway gears, I'm sorry, hunts for gears at highway speeds. And honestly, that shouldn't be happening with an eight-speed automatic. And I'm thinking, is that a matter of software programming? The mid-range response at speeds of 45 to 65 miles an hour is lacking. If I need to get on a highway, an on-ramp, and I'm rolling about 35-40, I need to punch it to merge with traffic, this ain't happening. And that's not okay. The adjustment or the angle of the third row seat back is not adjustable. And to me, it seems very upright. And I think it could be uncomfortable for some passengers. And pet peeve, I'm sorry, the full-size spare tire is mounted under the vehicle frame exposed to the elements. And honestly, the one time you're going to need it is going to be one when this thing's out of warranty, probably seven or eight years old, and that thing's been on there a while. How easy do you think it's going to come off? And to be fair to Kia, this is not the only automaker that does that. I don't like it. And I call it out every single time that I come across it. It's not safe, it's not convenient, and when you need it, it's going to be difficult. I'm sorry, it makes no sense. Kia, you can do better. The fuel economy on this vehicle in 2025 I find underwhelming. So, question, yo, Kia, is there a hybrid in the works for a telluride? I mean, I know you got your electrics. I feel you get it, I understand it, but could we do something here and kind of maybe get a hybrid for the telluride, please, and get that improved? And while I generally love the presentation and the layout of the displays and controls, I found the setting trying to set the radio presets was a bit fussy. As was trying to find the easy exit driver's seat settings. I'm not a big person. I don't like stuff worried out of the way that I got to reset it every time I sit in the car. I turn it off. So to try to find it, not okay. And I do realize that usually if you're gonna buy the vehicle, you're only gonna set that once. So it doesn't need to be probably that easy to get to, but still, really, really, even Stallantis system, I'm two taps away from anywhere. In this case, in IKEA, I'm not. And I wasn't okay with it. And then finally, and again, this is typical for this particular safety feature across what everybody makes. The in-dash traffic speed sign indicator was often wrong. So here's bottom line The 2025 Kia Telluride is a solidly built, American-made, well-equipped, mid-size crossover SUV. It's reasonably priced and comes real well equipped. It's weak mid-range performance, lessened stellar fuel economy, and funky radio controls are drawbacks. Unless you actually listen to the radio as opposed to a playlist on your phone, don't travel very far during a delay of the dispatch, or in situations where responsive mid-range performance is a must-have, then this SUV is more than enough. The manufacturer suggests a retail price for the Kia Telluride Crossover SUV starts from$36,190 for the LX front-wheel drive and up to$53,385 for the SX Prestige X Po X Pro All-Wheel Drive. Destination charges add$1,495. I liked it. I just wish it maybe they had a hybrid. I can hold out hope. This is the Tech Mobility Show.
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SPEAKER_03: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. Tensor, a Silicon Valley-based autonomous driving startup, has unveiled a personal electric robo taxi called the Tensor Robocar. Developed in partnership with VinFast, a Vietnamese EV maker, the startup is planning to start delivering vehicles to customers during the second half of next year. Hmm. Is this practical? This is topic B. I don't even know where to start. So I'm gonna try to break a little at a time. What Tensor wants to do, what's it planning to do, is basically go against the model that automakers were introducing autonomous vehicles to consumers in the United States has chosen since about 2018. Their approach was a robo taxi carrying more than one person as a way to introduce autonomous vehicles to the masses in a low-risk way. They don't have to risk any money, you just get a ride. Tensor is saying, you know what? We're past that. We are going to give you a design built level four, fully autonomous, and I do mean fully autonomous vehicle for personal ownership. Tesla's trying to get there, trying to come through a backdoor with their full autonomous mode in their cars. We're not even going to talk about the legality of it yet, or even if it would be legal in how many states? And what if you want to own it, but you're not in a state where it's necessarily legal or illegal, then what? How do you register this thing? Who's liable? A lot of questions. Now I saw a picture of it, and it looks sharp. It is a sharp-looking vehicle. Uh, the only thing is that the big LiDAR um system on the top looks more like a police car, uh, an old-style police car with the single revolving light. That other takeaway, otherwise, it's a clean-looking vehicle. But I got a bunch of practical questions, in addition to just the legality of even selling it. Let me start with what the company says, and then I got questions. The Tensor RoboCar is equipped with over a hundred sensors to support level four autonomous driving without human intervention. But the vehicle can still be driven as needed. The vehicle's steering wheel folds away and its pedals retract when not in use, which Tensor says is the world's first such feature. It may be in a production vehicle, but you've actually seen this before. If you've seen 2002's minority report, I know, I keep going back to that one, but honest to God, uh, you saw it in a GMC Sierra. Uh, there were some Audi commercials here in the last seven or eight years that showed a folding steering wheel folding into the dashboard. So you've seen it, but they're actually saying we're gonna do it. In areas where level four autonomy is not supported, a driver can take the wheel or switch to assisted driving mode for a smooth handoff. Now, set 100 sensors, let's break this down. The RoboCar's comprehensive sensor suite includes 37 cameras, five LIDARs, 11 radars, 22 microphones, 10 ultrasonic sensors, 16 collision detectors, eight water level detectors, four tire pressure sensors, a smoke detector, triple channel 5G network connectivity, and other tech. I got a question. Parts and service? Maintenance support? I mean, what could possibly go wrong? It's an electric vehicle. And the first ice storm, the first electric storm, I'm sorry, the first rainstorm, hard rainstorm, snowstorm, ice. Yeah, I don't even know where you do this. Tensor said its robocar sets a benchmark on automotive sensing with the world's most vertically integrated level four autonomy stack. All I see is a bunch of stuff that can go wrong, personally. To further ensure safe driverless operation, the vehicle is built with a fully redundant electrical and electronic architecture across power, communications, and motion control, including its drive-by-wire system, which sensor says ensures fail-safe operation. The personal robo taxi also features brake-by-wire, steer-by-wire, and four-wheel steering. What that means is there's no mechanical attachment to all that stuff. No mechanical attachment to the brakes, no mechanical attachment to the steering. It's all electric. What happens if the puppy shorts out? I mean, that's my question. And they talk about being they didn't say it was hack-proof, but boy, this scares me to death. Sensor's approach to autonomous driving is built on what it refers to as the Tensor Foundation model, which is entirely data-driven as opposed to rule-making rule-based systems. Here's where that's different. It's based on a transformer architecture that allows the vehicle to learn complex patterns based on its environment according to the release. The technology stack also includes what it calls dual system AI, which the company says mirrors human cognition for decision making. All the vehicle's AV perception, prediction, and motion planning systems were fine-tuned using real-world and simulated data sets. One part of the dual AI system is designed to deliver quick vehicle responses through imitation learning from data collected from expert drivers. The other uses a multimodal visual language model to reason through rare edge cases, which have been known to trip up Waymo vehicles, leaving them stuck. The VLM is trained on both proprietary and large-scale internet visual data, including images and videos, to help ensure the vehicle can adapt to any driving environment. Trust me when I tell you, no matter how hard and how thorough they are, there's going to be a situation the vehicle doesn't know what to do with. Guaranteed. Guaranteed that I don't care if you do 100 million of them, that 100 millionth and one is the one that they didn't catch. Other Robocar features designed to improve the ownership experience are vehicle self-diagnostics, automatic over-the-air software updates, autonomous parking and charging, and even protective sensor covers to protect sensors from pollen, dust, sand, or debris when not in use. Yeah, I want to see this thing in a dust storm in the southwest. I want to see how it does. I want to see it in an ice storm in Iowa. A hard rain or hard wind. Yeah. I want to know how robust this thing is. Now they say the day I've dealt with all the major tier one suppliers, Autoliv, ZF, Bosch, Continental, VNIR, and others. Sensor also partnered with chipmakers, Nvidia, AMD, NXP, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Samsung. Here's the kicker. Because by now you're probably wondering okay, let's assume all of this is kosher. How am I going to insure this thing? Sensor said it's also working with global insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh to offer customers what it calls the world's first insurance policy for robots. Robocars. What does that look like? And here's the difference. If you have an accident while it is in full autonomous mode, is that a product problem or is that a driver problem? And okay, let's say it's not even engaged and the driver's driving it gets in an accident. How does that work? And in a lot of these states, according to law, in most states, regardless of who's driving, the driver, the person sitting in front of the steering wheel is the one responsible, autonomous or not. And then there's a lack of laws. There's no federal laws governing any of this. So where can you go? Where will you buy it? And oh, I left out the best part. This ain't even going to be made in the United States. They're going to build it in Vietnam. Parts service dealers. Those are my questions. Because stuff does get squirrely. Who's going to be around to fix it? And how close? And how's that going to work? An over-the-air update ain't going to be able to fix it all the time. Somewhere at times it's going to be hardware. Oh well. Imagine a luxury auto garage for your cars. Is that a thing? More than you think. We are the Tech Mobility Show.
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SPEAKER_03: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 Techmobility.show. That's Techmobility.show. You can also drop us a line at talk at Techmobility.show.
SPEAKER_00:In business, opportunity doesn't wait, and neither should you. At Playbook Investors Network, we connect visionary entrepreneurs with the strategies, resources, and capital they need to win. Whether you're launching, scaling, or reimagining your business, our network turns ambition into measurable success. Your vision deserves more than a plan. It deserves a playbook that works. Playbook Investors Network, where bold ideas meet bold results. Visit pincommunity.org today.
SPEAKER_03: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. Luxury garages. Or luxury garage condominiums, if you will. Once a thing for the very well-to-do, recent developments around the United States suggest they're also a market for the simply well-off. Not to just store performance and showroom conditioned vended vehicles, but to display them, compete in controlled environments, and show them off. And yeah, it's really a thing. This is topic C. Now here in Iowa, what usually happens, you got a farmer, he's got toys, he's got, he maybe will build a building off to the side, a pole building, porcelain slab, park his cars in there. It's great. And a lot of fellows who've collected stuff down through the years, that's what they do. But we're talking about next level stuff. And I started this because I there's a new place opening in Plano, Texas, and I'm going to talk about it in a minute. But it's actually way more sophisticated than that. And then there was a place uh in Michigan that was trying to do the same thing. So let me give you a little background and then we'll kind of segue into the one I want to talk about in Texas. A luxury collector's garage complex refers to a high-end facility where enthusiasts can own or rent storage units, often called garage condominiums, for the vehicle collections. These complexes go beyond the simple storage, offering luxury car-centric lifestyle with social amenities and custom-built features. Let me just give you a list. I'm not going to get into all the details, but just a list. A clubhouse and lounge, customizable condo units, controlled environment, advanced security, on-site services, and community events. Can you imagine? Several developments across the United States, and when I saw this list, I got blown away because there's one near us here in Iowa. In fact, right here in Metro Des Moines, and I did not know it. The one I'm going to talk about because they're getting ready to break ground on this, is called Marinello, and they're in Plano, Texas. The next one that came up is Waukee Garage Condos in Waukee, Iowa. Waukee, Iowa is a western suburb of Des Moines, and I had no idea. This development, I'm talking about the one in Joe Kee, offers units with amenities like temperature control, individual metering, and plumbing rough-ins for bathrooms. Each unit features a large overhead door and a separate access door. Talked about another one called the Vault, and it's various locations around the country. And it offers climate control storage suites for collectors that can be customized with interior build-outs and mezzanines. And then another one called G2 Motorsports Park, again, parts around the country. These complexes feature garage condos with high-end features and include a VIP membership to a private motorsports track and clubhouse. And we won't even talk about the condos down in Miami where you can literally park your car. And I'm talking about stories up literally next to your condo, regardless of floor. And even that that particular one, which uh had a Porsche uh part to it, was talking about being able to accommodate virtual takeoff and landing craft as well. So, what's going on here? What what what is going on here? Think of this as a man cave on steroids. I mean, literally on steroids. They're kind of taking a cross between our European showroom and a man cave. I mean, it just next level. And I and uh they give you an idea. I'm gonna talk about the one that Marinero's getting ready to build. Because that's what caught my attention originally. They call it the Marinero Luxury Auto Garage. And what this is, they plan to playground, and of the units that they're gonna have, and I'll tell you about all the amenities, already they have not broken yet. They're getting ready to do it. 25% of those units are already sold. Let that sink in. Underscoring strong demand for its luxury climate-controlled auto storage concept. And boy, they're taking it to the next level here. Their client base collects Ferraris, Kozignegs, which is a Scandinavian, high-powered, electric, extremely blindingly, oh my god, fast performance car. Aston Martin's, Porsche's, Ford GT's, McLaren's, and other sports brands. Marinero, if you can believe this, is Texas' first facility designed exclusively for sports car owners with 80 indoor facing garage condos. They said 20% of these are already sold. Twenty of them are already sold. From 1,000 to 2,000 square feet in size on the first floor. The facility is designed with a 13,000 square foot two-story lounge and a 60,000 square foot open-air concurso located in the middle of the building for both public and private events. I'm just gonna let that sit for a minute. This is just unbelievable. I went to the website because I want to know more about it. Every garage condo opens into the interior of the building, climate-controlled Eurom facility for the protection of your vehicle, glass garage doors, show off owner's prized vehicles, put a pin in that, because we're gonna come back to that. Concorso access and balcony options, combine contiguous condos to expand your personal suite. Yeah, I'm sure these are six and seven-figure condos, by the way. Customize your space from top to bottom. No doubt these folks will bring in folks that design automotive spaces. Shoot, I would not be surprised if they didn't bring in folks who design automotive dealerships to design and showrooms to design this place for them. It's unbelievable. There's nine different things. They talk about lounge and private event space, the concorso for car-related events, an on-site service center, Marinella hosted car shows, fire sprinkler system throughout, exclusive private security, app control premium overhead doors, wiring wiring for internet, TV, and phone, interior and exterior cameras. That's what they'll have. Now, if you think you can just show up here with money and a McLaren, yeah, no, sorry. One of the benefits that they boast about is what they call ownership requirements. And they say rigorous screening and interview process to become an owner. Money and the car does not guarantee you a spot. Sports Car Service Center, on-site Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, and Lamborghini Service Center, private security system, advanced facility security, professional photo studio, installation and detailing, and of course, trailer and transporter storage because you're gonna have someplace to park uh your trailer or transporter when you're gonna move these. I don't know. I I I understand it. And if you've got the money and you want to treat your baby right, I got you. But this is definitely high six figures, not low seven figures, APs. This is definitely rarefied air, and it ought to be way cool if you can even get in and see some of this stuff. But I worry about the showcasing though. Somebody is gonna be tempted to try to beat the system and steal some of this stuff. I guess we'll have to see just how robust it is. And I hope for their sake it's every bit as robust as they are claiming. Because it's gonna be ugly if it isn't.
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