2026 Ram 1500 Review, Volvo ES-90 Heartbreak, Canceled EVs, and the Coming Robotaxi Wars

In this episode of the TechMobility Podcast, Ken Chester connects the dots between design, powertrains, and autonomy across a rapidly shifting auto landscape.

He opens with a look at Volvo’s new ES-90, a sleek full-electric premium car aimed at drivers who are burned out on SUVs but still want space, comfort, and ground clearance. Blending sedan elegance, fastback flexibility, and SUV practicality, the ES-90 targets professionals who value understated, confident design over flashy excess. The catch? Because it’s built in China, current U.S. tariffs make it unprofitable to sell here—so American buyers may never see it, even as European customers start taking delivery.

From there, Ken dives into a detailed review of the 2026 Ram 1500 Bighorn pickup truck. After a quick history lesson on how the old Dodge D/W pickups evolved into today’s Ram brand, he breaks down engine options, towing and payload numbers, and real-world driving impressions. With its mild-hybrid V6 or Hemi V8, comfortable ride, big-brash styling, and genuinely usable cabin, the Ram 1500 delivers the capability and refinement buyers expect from a modern full-size truck. He does call out some gripes—like the exposed spare tire placement and the lack of standard running boards on 4x4 models—but still concludes that, for those willing to pay the price, the Ram 1500 remains a highly compelling choice.

Ken then shifts to the growing wave of canceled or reshuffled EV programs. As tax credits fade and buyers gravitate toward hybrids over pure EVs, automakers are quietly killing or reconfiguring some electric models. He highlights surprising moves like Acura canceling the ZDX after just one year and GM walking away from its BrightDrop electric vans, with big financial implications for suppliers and owners alike. At the same time, he notes what hasn’t been canceled: key EVs like the Mustang Mach-E, Cadillac’s electric lineup, and GM’s Silverado and Sierra EVs are still moving ahead. The real story, he says, is not that EVs are dying, but that automakers are pivoting to hybrids and recalibrating timing, not abandoning electrification altogether.

Finally, the episode closes with the emerging “Robotaxi Wars.” Waymo, long the U.S. gold standard in autonomous ride-hailing, now faces incoming competition from Amazon’s Zoox and a late-to-the-party Tesla. Ken explains how Waymo has spent years and billions building a multi-city fleet using modified vehicles from established automakers, while Zoox is betting on funky, fully symmetric, purpose-built pods with no steering wheel at all. Tesla, meanwhile, is testing supervised robotaxis in Austin but trails Waymo by roughly a decade. Ken questions who will ultimately crack all-weather, all-city autonomy—especially in dense, messy environments like Boston—and suggests that while the field is getting crowded, Waymo is still the one to beat.

If you enjoy sharp, data-literate takes on cars, EV strategy, and autonomous tech, follow along, share with a friend, and leave a review. Have a question or hot take we should cover next? Drop us a note at talk@techmobility.show and subscribe for more deep dives.

Chapters

• 1:20 Volvo ES90: The Cure for SUV Fatigue!
• 12:22 2025 Ram 1500 Bighorn pickup review
• 22:23 Canceled EVs And The Hybrid Pivot
• 33:22 America's Robotaxi Wars

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:07

Welcome to the Tech Mobility Podcast. Brought to you by Playbook Investors Network. Your strategic partner for unstoppable growth. Visit pincommunity.org to get started.

SPEAKER_03: 0:18

I'm Ken Chester. On the Docket. My review of the 2026 Ram 1500 half-ton pickup truck. Another one bites the dust, canceled EVs, and Robotaxi Wars. To join the conversation, be to ask a question, share an opinion, or even suggest an idea for a future show, call or text the TechMobility Ontline, that number 872-222-9793. Or you can email the show directly, talk at techmobility.show. For those of you who enjoy Substack, you can find me there too. At Ken C Iowa. That's K-E-N, the letter C I O W A. I am a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative, and we're a group of writers phenomenal writing. You should check it out. From the Tech Mobility News Desk, an automaker has developed a vehicle for what they call the solution for SUV fatigue. It is a full electric, large premium car that blends the elegance of a sedan, the flexibility of a fastback, and the spaciousness and higher ground clearance of an SUV. I've seen a picture of it. It looks beautiful. The problem is, I probably will never get to sit in one in person. The vehicle is the Volvo ES-90. And because of the current environment regarding tariffs, particularly vehicles built in China, Volvo says they cannot make money selling that vehicle in the United States at this time. Therefore, we will not get it. And that is a cry and shame. It is a beautiful looking vehicle. And it looks like all of the above. It looks like a sedan ish, but a little bit SUV-ish and a little bit of fastback. But the funny thing of it is, it works. It looks great. Volvo says that while the SUV segments are very strong, not everybody's looking for one. There is SUV fatigue in some areas. And they believe that in this gap, the ES-90 will fill it. Volvo believes the mix, the blend of the elegance of a sedan, flexibility of a fastback, and that spaciousness and higher ground clearance of an SUV will help the ES-90 stand out from the full electric rivals in the segment that includes the BMW I5, Audi A6 Etron, and Mercedes-Benz EQE. Its versatility is very good compared with more traditional sedans. Let me give you an idea of what the numbers look like. So, how dominant really is the SUV globally and at Volvo? Let me give you those numbers. Through the nine months, that body style has accounted for 85% of Volvo's 514,294 global sales. That's according to the company. For SUVs globally, it's 55% of the 9,968,745 vehicle sales in the EK, I'm sorry, in the EU, UK, and what they call the EFTA markets. And that's according to Data Force. SUVs are 50% of the 17 million vehicles sold in China. That's according to the China Passenger Car Association. And no surprise, 60% basically six out of every 10 vehicles sold in the United States of America are an SUV. 60%. And that's according to Automotive News. Overcoming the allure of SUVs in the United States, which is a key market for Volvo, would have been one of the challenges of the ES90, in addition to dealing with the tariffs. But I'm telling you, I'm looking at this thing, and I can tell you for a fact, having ridden in some recent Volvos, which have been amazing, the ES-90 would be a hit here. I mean, I don't anticipate that even if it was available, the Volvo would sell more than 50,000 of them, but I bet they would sell every one of 50,000 at least. Because it is that different. For people who have maybe had three or four SUVs and said, geez, you know, I don't want a pickup truck. I can't go back to a sedan, but I don't want another SUV. What can I buy that is elegant, stylish, powerful, durable, and safe? Volvo ES-90. The reason why we won't get it, primarily, is because it's made in China and is in the current tariff situation means we will not see this vehicle. The piece in Automotive News says that the ES-90 is confident rather than showy and is expected to appeal to business professionals as well as lawyers and doctors. And honestly, looking at this, I'm going to throw in architects for good measure. It's that kind of car. It's that kind of solid, confident sensibility that Volvo's always had. That when you own one of these, it says a lot about you in terms that you were a solid citizen and safe, upwardly mobile, but not flashy about it. That value is something that means a lot to you. I mean comfortable and non-compromising also. Let me throw this at you. Volvo knows that they're not going to be able to pass along the entirety of the tariffs to customers. However, since the ES90 competes in the premium segment, it does have more pricing flexibility than a mass market automaker, but this is highly dependent on the market. What I'm going to quote is prices there in Euros, not dollars, and I didn't get a chance to look it up. But consider that the Euros are a little bit more expensive. It's relative. ES 90 is starting price in Germany, 71,990 euros. That's against the East the A6 E Transport back at 62,800 Euros, the Mercedes-Benz EQE at 67,187, and it's about roughly the same as BMW I5, which goes for 70,200 euros. If you use the A6 kind of as stick in the sand in the United States, that would probably be darn close to 58,000, 59,000. That would put the ES 90 probably solidly mid 65,000, 67,000. Probably. And that's not terrible, considering that their outgoing car, which was amazing, uh, the uh S90, the last generation of that went for middle six about 65,000, 66,000. And that car was worth every single cent. It was an amazing, amazing ride. They were asked by Automotive News whether Europe would be a top sales market for the ES-90. They said it would be an important market, and these lucky folks start getting them, the dealers, this month and next month, with deliveries slated for early next year. I would still love to get my hands on one of these things. I had driven an EX90 a little while back. And other than the fact you had to relearn how to operate everything in the vehicle, the Volvo rewarded you with outstanding performance that I can't even put into words. Now, yes, they totally reimagined, and this was not a strong point, all your interior controls. You had to relearn everything. But the reward you got when you mastered it was a vehicle that was almost flawless. I expect the ES90 to be every bit of that. They claim the driving range to the European evaluation cycle is 435 miles, and that it will charge 80% from 10% 20 minutes using a 350 kilowatt fast charging station, and that it can get 186 miles range in just 10 minutes. So it's there. It's there. They say it's the sleekest Volvo in the company's nearly 100-year history. I hope that someday, somehow, some way, we get to see one. And I promise you, if I put my hands on one, I will drive it. And I will share that with you because it looks amazing. And Volvo lately has not missed any hits at all with what they've been coming out with. They've all been pretty impressive. I expect this also to be equal. A truck that rides like a luxury car. My impressions of the Ram 1500 are next. You are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.

SPEAKER_00: 10:20

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SPEAKER_03: 11:24

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: 12:23

Where there was once only a place to sit, there's now a convenient place to replace. Where there was once only a usable space, there's now an ingenious storage system of interchangeable pins and trays. Where there was once only a holster, there's now a place for an old.

SPEAKER_03: 13:06

At that time it was called the Dodge Ram. When it comes to vehicle reviews, I normally have no trouble at all at determining where to start. But for the Ram 1500, I'm a bit overwhelmed. Aside from its rich history and my interactions with the brand over the years, as I used to sell Dodges way back in the old days. The trials and tribulations of its parent companies, along with a rebranding thrown in back in 2009 for good measure in the midst of all that turmoil, suggests that you might be a bit confused too. And I know because most of y'all don't say the name of the truck right. So before I actually start talking about the vehicle that is the focus of this review, let's review a little history. The half-ton pickup truck, currently known as the Ram 1500, originated as the Dodge DW series sold by the Automaker from October 1960 through September 1993. The 4x2 models carried the D designation, while the 4x4 models carried the W designation. In an example, D150, D250, etc. And editors note, Chevy did something similar with the CK designations about the same time for their pickups. For the 1994 model year, Dodge completely reimagined its full-size pickup, adopting that polarizing big rig look, which it still carries today to some extent. Giving an example, the year before they came out with it, they were lucky to move 90,000 trucks. The year they introduced this look, they had so many orders, they turned orders away, they couldn't build every truck that people ordered. 270,000 that year. So you know. While the automaker was in the midst of becoming Fiat Chrysler, moving on from its Daimler Chrysler and Chrysler LLC days, opera management decided to make RAM its own standalone brand. Since 2010, the half-ton 1500 series trucks manufactured by Fiat Chrysler, now Stillantis, are known as Ram pickups, not Dodge. Ram pickups, not Dodge. You good now? It's no surprise that today's full-size pickup trucks offer consumers a little cornercopia of models, powertrains, and equipment offerings. I mean, after all, the full-size truck is the profit machine of the current domestic automotive industry here in the United States. A uniquely American offering that doesn't necessarily export well. Big interior space, a high driving position, and a body-on-frame foundation that delivers amazingly comfortable ride while able to traverse a great deal of unforgiving terrain, not to mention its ability to haul a payload while talling an impressive amount of weight. What's that to love? So, the review. And that's just for openers. The trailer to me chart for the Ram 1500 runs three pages. Talk about something for everybody. To narrow this down to a conversation worth having, this review is based on the nameplate's volume leader, the Ram 1500 Bighorn model. Offered in quad cab and crew cab body styles and either a 5 foot, 7-inch or 6 foot 4-inch cargo box sizes, and editors note again, the 6'4-inch is the only choice for the quad cab. Standard power is generated by the Automaker's Tried and True 3.6-liter Penistar gasoline V6 engine with e-torque. This power plant is referred to in the industry as a mild hybrid with a 48-volt, 12-cell lithium-iron, nickel, manganese cobalt graphite battery, working with the V6 to generate a combined 305 horsepower and 271 foot pounds of torque. Motorists can opt for the legendary 5.7-liter V8 Hemi back in the lineup for 2026 that is also paired with a battery pack as a mild hybrid. And it produces 395 horsepower and 410 foot pounds of torque. I want to stop right here because you need to know this. Both models of the Automaker's twin turbo Hurricane Straight 6 produce considerably more horsepower and torque of either of these two engines, but they're not available in the Bighorn trim. Energy is communicated through a torque flight 850 RE 8-speed automatic, and the 4x4s get the BW, which is short for Borg Warner 48-12 part-time transfer case. The V6, I'm sorry, for the that's for the V6. The V6 4x4. The V8 gets a Torque Flight HP 75 8-speed automatic bolted to a Borg Warner 4811 on-demand transfer case. EPA fuel economy for the V6, 20 city, 20 highway for two-wheel drive, 19 city, 24 highway for four-wheel drive. For the V8, 17 city, 23 highway for two-wheel drive, 16 city, 20 highway for four-wheel drive. Payload capacity, 1,770 pounds. Towing capacity, 11,320 pounds. Obviously, that is for the Hemi V8. Here's what I liked about the Ram 1500. The Ram 1500 starts with an exterior that is big, brash, and bold. Underway, the 1500 Q cab, equipped with the optional Hemi V8, was comfortably responsive and very easy to drive, despite its heft and overall size. Placement of displays, controls, and switch gear is practical and very useful. Inside the large passenger cabin, the driver enjoys a high commanding outward view, with comfortable seating and decent legroom throughout. Rear seat passengers benefit from a flat cabin floor and very comfortable split-folding rear seat accommodations. Rear doors open wide to facilitate access. Center armrests with dual cup holders and dual USB ports round out the experience. Hand grips at all three passenger doors facilitate entry and exit. In amidst all this goodness, yes, there's some stuff I don't like about the Ram 1500. And it starts with my typical complaint. For all full-size body-on-frame pickup trucks, they all do the same stupid thing. And it's the placement of the full-size spare tire on the underside of the frame at the rear of the truck, exposed to the elements. Because the day you're going to need that, you're probably going to blow a rear tire. She's going to be out of warranty, and you're going to be stuck. Although wide doors and hand grips facilitate entry and exit, running boards should be standard for the 4x4 models. Bottom line. Despite their high purchase costs and total cost of ownership, the allure of full-size pickup trucks in the United States mean they will continue to be a major part of the mix for years to come. The Ram 1500 offers plenty for motorists to experience and enjoy. Patience, an order book, and a sharp pencil are recommended to secure yours just the way you want it. The base manufacturer's suggested retail price for the 2026 Ram 1500 Bighorn Pickup starts from$47,125 for the 4x2 up to$53,275 for the 4x4 crew cab. Destination charges add$2,195. Wow. But it was fun though. It was really, really fun. The vehicle that I had as tested came to$63,835. In the midst of changing consumer demand, a number of EV models have been canceled. We got the list. This is the Tech Mobility Show.

SPEAKER_00: 21:23

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SPEAKER_03: 21:53

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. The American auto industry has always been sensitive to the winds of change, be it the economy, government regulation, or consumer tastes and preferences. With the end of EV tax credits and the average cost of vehicles in general, and the American EVs in particular, consumers voted with their dollars. They want hybrids. As a result, Detroit has pivoted to meet the demand of the consumer. What a surprise. We have a list of EVs by automakers that will never be. This is topic B. When I looked at this list in automotive news, I was actually surprised by the number of EVs that were not on the list by automakers. We've talked a lot about product cycles on this program. How Detroit thinks, how they plan years in advance, billions of dollars in investment. It's not easy to cancel the program. There is a lone exception here, and I'm gonna start with them, because this is very unusual. Let me start with the two that are most unusual. Acura, which is the upscale trim, the upscale um nameplate from Honda. They ended after one year the Acura ZDX, electric mid-size crossover. It was a product of Honda's collaboration with GM and shared its underpinnings with the Cadillac Lyric. They discontinued it after one year. What does that mean? I'm gonna put you in the mind of a supplier. Suppliers usually sign contracts for two, three, five years in a vehicle program. They tell them how many they expect to sell, what the combinations are gonna be, and you bid. And you basically align your production, your assets, your factory, a factory line, if need be, your employees, all of this to meet that contract. Acura discontinued this car after one year. How bad did it have to be for them to throw in the towel? Because trust me, the expenses didn't stop when the production did. They had to make those suppliers whole. Those suppliers spent considerable amounts of money to be able to fulfill these contracts going forward. And no doubt it cost many millions of dollars to do that. And for an automaker to be in a position like that to say, you know what, we don't see a future, we're out. One year. Not to mention, if you bought this car, what are you gonna do now? Because they no longer make it, you bought it. How much less is it worth? And is the factory gonna do anything for you? Because you just took my car and depreciated it through no fault of my own. Car's not worth hardly anything now. Because you don't make it anymore. You discontinued after one year. It's not common to anything else. I'm stuck. So, yeah, a lot of money was spent there. The other example, and we reported on this at length, and I still think GM is wrong. They discontinued their bright drop vans, the two-size vans, and they idled the plan in Canada. I I said it before, I'm saying it again. It is a major mistake. This is one that GM should have either found a partner, or B tried harder, or C decided, you know what, we're gonna slim down, we're gonna bite the bullet, this market's gonna turn. And I still do believe it, having experienced their Zivo 600 large van. I saw a lot of markets for it. I'm still hoping that maybe a supplier will see the light and buy the tooling. These are the big examples. Now you've heard mumbles uh where Ram discontinued or wasn't going to build their full electric truck. What they're doing, and I want to try to explain this to you because it's kind of a little sleight of hand that they're doing. RAM is not building the original light duty truck that they said they were going to. Their electric 1500 pickup truck, which they've delayed several times. But what they are doing is they're going to sell a hybrid light duty pickup that uses an onboard gasoline generator to extend the range of its electric motor and battery. Originally called the Ram Charger, it's going to take the name of a former electric truck. So when you see the Ram 1500 ReV, it's not the same truck that they said they were going to build. It has the name, but the powertrain's different. So I don't mind if you get a little confused about that. I didn't think that was fair. And then it was a little bit of fine-tuning at Stallantis. They dropped the RT trim, the electric charger, they kicked, they canceled the plug-in version, plug-in hybrid of the Jeep Gladiator pickup. A couple of things. Ford was on record of saying they weren't going to build a couple of mid-size electric SUVs that they were thinking about doing that they decided not to do. Okay. Plans start and stop all the time. So that's not that's not bad news. The full-size electric pickup, though, that they were going to build at Blue Oval City, which is their brand new plant in Tennessee, delayed another year, not canceled. And like I said, the pair of three-row electric crossovers built in Ontario, they're dead. You can get away with it depending on where you are in the planning cycle. And obviously, they weren't far enough along where it was going to cost them billions. Might have cost them hundreds of thousands, but they had not locked in tooling, they had not locked in designs, they had not done all the testing. Trust me, they haven't. The thing that surprises me the most about this list, and it's mainly some of the boutique manufacturers not building this, delaying that, is the number of vehicles that didn't get canceled. All the Cadillac electrics didn't get canceled. Not even the Escalade IQ. They're full-size electrics, the Silverado EV and the GMC Sierra EV and the Hummer by GMC EV, not canceled. Ford Lightning. Ford's made some noise in recent weeks about, well, maybe we'll cancel it. But they haven't made a decision. And the Mustang Mach E, which is a first generation, one of the first of this crop, still safe. Those didn't get canceled. You didn't hear them making noise about canceling the Chevy Equinox EV, the Blazor EV. Those are still in production. Those are still being built. Those are still being found on dealer lots. My point is this yes, there was some EVs that either got delayed, cancelled, or changed. Some got converted to hybrids, some got delayed, most got canceled. But around the edges, no major volume vehicles got canceled. No middle market vehicles got canceled that are in production now. If they're in production now, it looks pretty safe bet, with the exception of the bright drop vans and the uh ZQX, which were in production getting canceled. One other one that you haven't seen, but I saw three years ago was the Volkswagen ID 7. They had brought it to Huntington Beach for a uh Volkswagen uh ID Buzz promotion. I got pictures of it. They're not gonna sell that in the United States, and you may never see that one. But for the most part, the automotive industry has pivoted towards hybrids or delayed their electrics. But electrics are not going away, folks. They're still being built, they're still being sold at your local dealer. And you can still get one. So all is not lost because it's the money. They've got too much invested. They can't just pull it up and say, ah, we made a mistake, we're done. They're gonna make it work. And when it does, when it comes around, and it will come around, they'll be ready. Not only are autonomous taxis a thing, but there's growing competition in the field. That's next. We are the Tech Mobility Show.

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SPEAKER_03: 31:51

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: 32:22

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: 32:54

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. Waymo. The first and dominant robotaxi provider in the United States is considered the gold standard in the space. But success in having that space largely to itself for the last several years is about to change. Elon Musk's Tesla and Amazon's Zooks are in the process of launching their own robotaxi services in some of the very same markets as Waymo. Welcome to the Robotaxi Wars. This is Topic C. It seems to me that this head-to-head competition is about seven years later. Back ten years ago. 2015, 2016, 2017. It was anticipated that the auto industry would introduce the American motorists to autonomous vehicles through robotaxi services. GM was gonna launch something called Maven, which was gonna be one of the first ones, and that was gonna be their way of educating people in a low-risk situation of the coming autonomous wave of vehicles. Maven didn't happen. Waymo has been at this since 2009. They started hauling paying passengers five years ago. To give you an idea, they got to San Francisco in June of 2024. Since launching their service in Phoenix in 2020, Waymo has provided more than ten million paid rides. And the company said that this past May. How many billions of dollars have they spent? Waymo's approach is contracting with a variety of manufacturers. They've contracted with Jaguar, they've done business with Chrysler and Volvo to modify their vehicles to be autonomous. An attachy situation. They just started allowing select San Francisco users to haul to ride in their driverless vehicles. They started in Las Vegas in September. But their vehicles are not modified. They built them themselves. And I gotta tell you, they look funky. They look like something that you would see in a kindergarten, personally, I think. You know, looks like a kindergarten toy to me. But they think this is the way to go. And they're building their own. And in fact, they've got a plant in Hannaford, California, where they expect to build eventually 10,000 of these. By comparison, right now on the road across four cities, five cities, Waymo has 2,000 vehicles deployed right now. Zeux is going all in with their own. And when they built their own, they don't have a steering wheel, they don't have any human controls. And everything's the same, either direction. It could go either direction, doesn't matter. Got the same lights and wheels and everything, and it's designed that way. Can haul four people, the Zooks. They've been testing, Zux has been testing since 2017 in San Francisco. And right now, they've got 50 robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas on the road right now. And they're looking to expand. As they build out their service, they are currently have a test fleet deployed in Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. And I don't suppose you can tell me, other than Seattle, what is so special about the rest of those cities? The fact they're into the south, the fact that snow, ice, freezing rain is not an issue down there. Seattle will be interesting. It's very hilly, it's very condensed. Waymo is trying to expand. They've got vehicles, test vehicles on the street in Boston. Oh my God. That ought to be real interesting. If you've ever been to Boston in any Boston neighborhood, you would understand why. Yeah, if they master that, they can go anywhere. Because Boston streets are congested with a capital C. And our side streets, we park both sides of the road. You got one lane, which is why a lot of those commercial, a lot of those residential streets are one way. You don't have the room for two-way traffic in most of those neighborhoods. But then again, Boston was originally settled in 1630. And a lot of those neighborhoods were laid out long before cars came along. Now yes, you're probably asking about, okay, Ken, you mentioned Tesla. What's going on with them? Well, they started testing a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, where they're based, this past June. Though they had human supervisors on board. So honestly, conservatively, Elon Musk's company is 10 years behind. Behind Waymo, and at least five years behind Zeoks. Can they leapfrog? A lot of companies have tried it. GM tried it through a company called Cruise Automation. And the reason why GM threw in the towel at that time, one of their autonomous vehicles dragged a woman that fell in front of it 20 feet. She was injured. And GM didn't report it. California board found out about it and said, guess what? We're taking your license. Forget it. Until you can get it straight. Uh-uh, you can't do this here anymore. GM thought long and hard about it, decided, well, you know what? We're just gonna fold that into the rest, and we're just gonna get out of that business for now. And the key is for now. I think GM is showing some signs of maybe looking to redeploy autonomous driving some kind of other way. So that I wouldn't write them totally off just yet. Do you notice that the automakers were not involved in this? You don't see Toyota, you don't see Honda. Heck, you don't see Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW in this. And they have experience in their home countries. And the Chinese are way further than we are right now on this subject. So the question are robotaxis the thing of the future? And if they are, are you only going to be able to see them south of the snow line, south of the Mason Dixon line, which means basically around here, south of Missouri? Will you ever see an autonomous vehicle operating without a human driver picking and dropping passengers off in the middle of a snowstorm in Des Moines, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Chicago. My money's on Waymo. If anybody does it, it will be Waymo that figures it out. And they may still be a few years away from making that happen. The rest of these guys, we're gonna see. Because Zeux is being the most being the most optimistic with building their own and going all in. And Elon Musk is being the most cautious. So I don't know if they're gonna leapfrog, step up, buy one of them out. Don't know.

SPEAKER_00: 41:53

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SPEAKER_03: 42:25

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 and talk at TechMobility.show.

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