EV News and a Pivotal eVTOL Interview

[00:00:20] Hello everyone and welcome to Kilowatt, a podcast about electric vehicles, renewable energy, autonomous driving, and much, much more. My name is Bodhi and I am your host. And on today's episode, we are going to talk about EV news. There's no Tesla news today because honestly, most of the news surrounding Tesla is political. That's not something really we talk about here on this show. Although sometimes I do dabble in it. I try not to because I do like to stay, you know, on topic.

[00:00:51] As best as I can. So we're not, we're not going to talk about any Tesla news today. I do have some things at the top of the show to discuss though. First up, we have a question and one of our members in the community has a Chevy Silverado EV and this is his first EV and he just moved to Michigan. And he was wondering what is everybody doing for snow tires? And he asked me this question, which I think is a really good question.

[00:01:19] However, I have no idea because it never snows here. And on the rare occasion that we go somewhere where it does snow, we have chains that we'll put on our car if it gets that bad, but it rarely ever gets that bad here.

[00:01:32] So if you live in a cold climate or you, or you know, or have an answer to this question, can you please email it to me so I can pass it along? It's Bodie, B-O-D-I-E at 918digital.com. And just so you know, I will probably end up reading some of your, if not all of your answers on the air. So keep that in mind when you, when you write in.

[00:01:58] Next up, I want to give a little shout out to my friend James who runs the True North EVs podcast. There's a new episode out now and I'll put a link to that in this show notes. James is the president of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association. I think I said that right. Yep. Just went and double checked. It's, it is Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association. It's ManitobaEV.ca. If you want to go to the website and check out what they're doing.

[00:02:26] I am a big fan of James's podcast. So make sure to go check that out. I think it's a really good pairing for this show because James really concentrates on the experience of owning an EV and I learned a lot from him. All right. Last thing. And honestly, the thing that I'm most excited about, my friend Zion Kenyana started a new podcast. I've known Zion since he was seven. He is now 21. So I've known him for a while.

[00:02:55] I consider he and his mom part of my family. And in the 14 or so years that I've known him, I've found Zion to be extraordinarily thoughtful, even when he was like seven. Like he was, he's always been a very thoughtful human being.

[00:03:12] So Zion started a new podcast and it's called Blackness. And I'll put a link in the show notes. So it's easier to find that way. But if you're looking for it on Apple podcasts or Spotify or whatever, it's Blackness question mark. And as you might imagine, Zion is black. And this is an interview style show. But, but the overall goal or arching theme of the show is that blackness is not a monolith.

[00:03:37] And I've been lucky enough to give Zion advice on this podcast. I've heard the podcast early on. I helped a little bit with the editing and honestly, this is Zion's first podcast. And I wish that I had a 10th of his talent when it comes to interviewing. I am so proud of him and the work that he's putting out.

[00:04:04] So there's only one episode at the moment. Please go check it out. I would love for him to get a big boost for downloads. Again, the podcast is called Blackness question mark. And if you do check it out, let us know what you think. You can email me. I don't know if Zion's got his email address out there. So you can email me. It's Bodie, B-O-D-I-E at 918 digital.

[00:04:25] And then obviously, if you have suggestions for snow tires, then please send it, send it on my way. Same email address, Bodie at 918 digital.com. All right, let's go ahead and start the show. First up, Steve Sheridan passed this along to me. Canoe has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will cease operations immediately. So Canoe failed to secure some additional funding and now they are going out of business.

[00:04:54] They were founded back in 2017. And at one point in time, they had 800 people working for them. That was in 2021. But since it never turned a profit and mostly lived off loans, that 800 people slowly shrunk over the last few years.

[00:05:14] And now it is all over for Canoe as we know it. I'm not sure if everybody remembers, but Canoe did have a deal with NASA for a few, like a handful, like less than 10 Canoe vehicles. And that was to kind of help support the space program. I really think it was more of a publicity stunt, to be honest with you.

[00:05:35] And then they had an order from the U.S. Post Office for like 40 of them or something like that. Again, just a handful, not enough to change the tides, you know, financially for the company. And then beyond that, I'm not sure that they really had anything set in concrete. I do want to say that there might have been a deal with like a big painting company somewhere overseas, but I don't remember if that was Canoe or some other company.

[00:06:03] But effectively, they were just never able to gain any real traction. And that could be for a variety of reasons that I won't speculate on here. But yeah, it's a little bit of a bummer. I hate seeing companies go out of business, especially companies that are doing unique things like what Canoe is doing or was doing.

[00:06:25] But it is possible that we might see something from Canoe in the future because in Chapter 7, they're selling off their assets to pay their debts down. So maybe somebody will buy the name or some of the assets to build something that looks something resembling what Canoe was doing. But as far as the company itself, it's no longer. So that's a bummer.

[00:06:55] The long range Ram 1500 Rev EV pickup has been canceled. And to be clear, this is the 500 mile range pickup. It had something like a 218 kilowatt hour battery in it. This is according to Mopar Insiders. They're saying that the Ram is telling their suppliers that the Ram 1500 long range is dead.

[00:07:20] That is bad news. But the good news is not the Ram pickup EV itself is not dead. Just that longer range version is dead. There's still a 350 mile version of the EV pickup. We don't know when exactly that pickup is going to come out. We only know that it's delayed, but it's still expected to come out.

[00:07:44] So it'll be interesting to see how close the specs are when it was announced compared to when it was actually delivered. So I guess a better way to say that would be I'm curious as to how close the promised specs were versus the actual specs of the vehicle when it actually comes out. And I'm sure we'll see eventually someday. Not sure when.

[00:08:12] CATL is the world's largest EV maker, and they just announced a partnership with Stellantis for a new EV battery plant in Europe by the end of 2025. If you are saying to yourself, we already know this. You talked about it last month. You're right. Except for this is a second facility for Stellantis. And this will be CATL's fourth European battery plant. So obviously CATL is a Chinese company.

[00:08:40] Obviously, there's a lot of tariffs in Europe and in the United States now surrounding Chinese EVs and other things that go in EVs. So I would imagine that this helps CATL and Stellantis avoid some of those tariffs. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see where this goes in the next year for sure.

[00:09:04] And speaking of new factories, BYD will open its newest EV factory in Indonesia by the end of 2025. BYD is hoping to build 150,000 EVs a year at that plant. And when you consider BYD sold 4.3 million EVs last year, 150,000 sounds a little bit like a drop in the bucket. But, you know, every little bit helps.

[00:09:32] Something I found interesting was that Tesla and BYD were like neck and neck when it comes to producing and selling EVs in 2024. Tesla actually sold about 25,000 more EVs than BYD did. But BYD actually produced 4,500 EVs, more EVs in 2024.

[00:09:52] So that actually made BYD the world's largest EV maker as of 2024, whereas Tesla was the best-selling EV maker of 2024. But yeah, both are razor thin in terms of the competition there with BYD and Tesla. I got some good news, I think.

[00:10:16] I guess if you are the current owner of the OG R1T or R1S, like the first platform that the R1T and the R1S came out on, you can get $6,000 off or up to $6,000 off if you upgrade your old R1 series vehicle to one of the new R1 series vehicles.

[00:10:41] So just in case folks aren't aware, in the spring of 2024, Rivian shut down its normal Illinois plant to retool for the newest version of the R1T and R1S platform or the R1 platform. Rivian is trying to entice the owners of the older vehicles, obviously, to buying or upgrading to the newest platform. If you're interested, here are some of the details.

[00:11:08] This is for a purchase or a lease of a qualifying vehicle, so that's good to know. When you go in, you must request a trade-in request to qualify, but you don't actually need to trade in your vehicle. So if you're looking to get a second R1 platform vehicle, that's actually a good deal. And the promotion is running from January 21st, 2025 to March 31st, 2025.

[00:11:33] So if you're one of those folks that has one of those vehicles, good news, you can, and you want to upgrade, I guess. Good news, you can get $6,000 off that vehicle. I should also say it's only for select vehicles. It's not for every single trim. But if you're interested in this promo, then definitely head over to Rivian's website and check it out. All right, our final EV story is all about Volvo.

[00:11:59] The 2025 Volvo EX30 and EX90 EVs have arrived here in the United States. So I'm a very big fan of the EX30, although I'm not a huge fan of the price. We were promised a very affordable car, and we haven't really hit that here in the United States. But, interesting enough, Volvo sold close to 100,000 EX30s.

[00:12:25] Just the EX30s last year alone, most of those sales were in Europe. If you're interested in a 2025 Volvo EX30, I should let you know that the starting range is around 253 miles, which is not great when you consider the twin motor performance starts at $45,000. Or $45,000, excuse me. But if you pay for the Ultra Trim, which is about $1,700 more, you're going to get Park Pilot Assist,

[00:12:53] 360-degree camera with a 3D view. You're going to get Pilot Assist, which is their autonomous driving package, and a couple other little things here and there. But an extra $1,700 is pretty good. You're not going to get any more range. You're just going to get some new features, but I think the extra $1,700 is worth the Pilot Assist and the 360 cameras and stuff like that.

[00:13:17] And then you have the 2025 Volvo EX90, which is a bigger three-row SUV. It's got a range of 310 miles. In terms of DC fast charging, you can charge from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes. That's the twin motor seven-seater version starts at $80,000. It's just like $79,800 or something like that.

[00:13:43] All U.S.-bound EX90s will be built in South Carolina. So as you can see, the Volvo EX30 starting at $45,000 and the EX90 starting at around $80,000. You know, that's kind of a wide range. There is the EX40, which was called originally the XC40 Charge. I saw this morning that there's an article about that vehicle out now.

[00:14:10] I didn't have time to put it in the show notes by the time I was recording because this is already late. So I'll make sure to add that to next week's episode. But that's in like the $50,000 range. And then the EX30 is expected to come out with a single motor version here in the United States. And that's going to be around $37,000. I'm not sure what the range on that will be. I would imagine that it's probably going to be a little bit more than 250 miles, but probably not much.

[00:14:39] If I had to guess. All right. Our final EV story. I know I said the last one was the final, but I have one more. If you buy a Hyundai Ioniq 5, then you will get free charging. And let me explain. You get to choose between a free ChargePoint Level 2 Home Flex Charger, which does not include installation. They just give you the charger. Or you can get a $400 credit for ChargePoint chargers.

[00:15:07] So if you are living in an apartment and that apartment happens to have ChargePoint Level 2 chargers, you could actually charge your car for free until those $400 credits are gone. And then you got to start paying again, but not a bad deal. I think this is great because it gives you the opportunity to choose what works best for you.

[00:15:31] Because getting a free charger when you have nowhere to put it because you live in a rental, whether that be a house or an apartment or a condo, what are you going to do with that charger? Nothing. So having the option of the $400 credits I think is great. If you're not sure which option is going to work best for you, you have 60 days to decide.

[00:15:56] But if you go with the $400 credit option, those credits do expire after two years. So just be aware of that. All right, everybody. That is it for our EV news. But that is not the entire show because I have an interview with Tim Lum, who was the first customer and a beta tester for a company called Pivotal.

[00:16:21] And what Pivotal does is they are an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft company. So it's pretty cool. It's very much like a drone. And it's a little bit hard to explain, or at least I'm struggling to explain it. So I'll put a link to Pivotal's website in the show notes. But it's basically like a single seater drone that you can fly in. It's pretty cool. So let's welcome Tim to the show. So I'm here with Tim Lum.

[00:16:49] Tim, you are one of the first customers of the... You are the first customer. The first customer, yeah. Of the Pivotal Helix. Kind of tell us what that is. It is a single-person aircraft that weighs 340 pounds. So it's a Part 103 ultralight aircraft, according to FAA. It takes off and lands vertically.

[00:17:12] It's 100% electric, fly-by-wire, has three flight computers, and a ballistic parachute if something goes wrong. Oh, that's crazy. So because it's considered ultralight, you don't have the license? In the United States, there's no licensing for the pilot or the aircraft. Okay. Do you have a pilot's license? I do not. Okay. Yeah. So what made you... Have you flown ultralights before? I have.

[00:17:39] Since 1993, I've been flying paragliders and powered paragliders. And then I ran into a YouTube video during the COVID lockdown. I sent an email, and they replied. And they invited me to come by the factory. They were looking for a uniform to kind of be the first customer.

[00:18:02] Someone that would want to fly the aircraft, who fit in the costume, you know, work too heavy, and live somewhere remote. And I fit the bill. I meshed well with the staff. And they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. That is so awesome. Awesome. So how would you describe the way this bad chicken looks? Odd. Like an alien spaceship. Yeah.

[00:18:32] As it sits on the ground, you have a row of propellers and a foil. Would this be a foil or a wing? Yep. It's two wings. It's a front wing and a back wing. I describe it as it's a biplane with a high wing in the back, low wing in the front. And it just happens to take off vertically like a drone and land. But 99% of the flight, you're going around like a biplane.

[00:18:59] Like Star Wars fans, that Bubba Fett craft that kind of sits upright and looks odd. Yeah. Yeah. No. And when it flies, it definitely has a more attitude, I guess, to use an aviation term. It does. Like if you're sitting in a seat, it's as if the seat is tilted forward. And that just gives you an amazing field of view.

[00:19:27] So let's just start off with like my co-host, Rob Dunwood, is 6'3". Okay. He's running around here somewhere. He's probably not going to get comfortable in this thing, is he? You can be 6'5", I think. And they're really looking at your torso height. And your average person who's 6'5 and 220 pounds fit into the clown suit, let's call it. Okay. Yeah.

[00:19:57] Yeah. My dad used to just call these like with the when I was a kid, you know, you'd have the stun planes and stuff. He just called them a coffin, is what he called them. Oh, okay. Yeah. And my dad loved planes. So what's it like to fly this? It's sheer joy. It's flying without the drama. Like for instance, when I used to fly paragliders and power paragliders, you'd have to spread out

[00:20:25] the wing, make sure all the sticks were out of the lines. The winds would have to be just right. I would pull up the wing and then I would have to sidestep left or right. I then turn around and then be on top of a hill or have a motor spinning on my back that's 50 pounds. And that adds the complexity. And then there's a couple of moments of terror and then you're off the ground.

[00:20:52] And then you wiggle into your harness and then you can relax and fly. This is, I literally have a hand boat trailer and this aircraft is in my carport. I pull it out, you know, 10 feet into my driveway. Give a 10 minute pre-flight. And then I give it the launch command and it takes off. So can you manually take off or is it just the launch command?

[00:21:22] Let me be specific. I don't fly the aircraft. It's 100% fly-by-wire. The computer flies the aircraft. I just tell the computer where to go. And the computer manipulates all of the controls coordinated, yeah, in a very coordinated manner that a human can't possibly do. Much like a F-35 or a F-22.

[00:21:47] Okay, so when we look inside this cockpit here, we see a very Rivian-like display. And then we have two controllers, one on the left, one on the right. So if you wanted to, let's say, ascend or descend, which one of these are you using? It's simply the launch command and the ascent and descent command. That's ascend. Okay, so just a thumb control. A thumb control, and then there's the thumb down. Okay.

[00:22:15] If you want to go faster, you just put it forward. Okay. If you want to go slower, you hold it backwards. If you want to bank right, you bank right, and then you go there to bank left. If you're in a hover, you want to nose left and right, you just twist it to the left or to the right. Okay. And then let's say if I am confused and I want everything to stop, no matter where it is, I just let go of the stick.

[00:22:40] And it holds three-dimensionally where you are right there. And if you're in light mode, let's say I'm in the bi-flame mode and I'm going 62 miles an hour. If I release the stick, it just keeps on the last command and keeps the heading in altitude. Okay, that's so cool. Yeah. What's the left stick do?

[00:23:06] Before takeoff, I declare am I going to be left or right-handed during this flight. Oh, okay. Then there's also redundancy. Let's say if I said I did the flight on the right joystick, then for some reason it stopped working, I would hit this button on the joystick and it would transfer control to the other joystick. Ah, I see, I see. What's our max altitude? It's 400. Wow.

[00:23:32] You see, I have the black fly and they tell me it's 4,500 feet density altitude. The helix, which comes out later this year, they're saying 8,000 or 10,000 feet. Wow. Yeah. And then what, I don't see any, I mean, this is obviously a demo. What kind of radio equipment do you have to interact with? I have a multi-band radio. So I have the aviation frequencies and I have all the normal search and rescue frequencies and, yeah, and Coast Guard frequencies.

[00:24:02] And then what kind of looks do you get? I would imagine every now and again you come across somebody up in the sky. What are you seeing up there? My local pilots that fly, I live in the Methow Valley in north central Washington state. And it's a narrow valley. You know, I just come up on the 122.8 or 122.9 depending where I am in the valley. And we look out after each other because you don't want any collisions.

[00:24:27] But when I first started flying, the people would call the sheriff for UFO sightings or errant Chinese drones. And it was real. So, yeah. That leads me to my next question, which you played into awesome. Are you guys responsible for all the drone sightings in New Jersey? We have nothing to do with the drone sightings in New Jersey. Is that your official statement or is that the real statement? That's the real statement. Okay. Yeah.

[00:24:57] No, man. This is cool. Thank you. Thank you very much, Tim. Is there anything that I should have asked you that I'm woefully ignorant of and I didn't? No. These are great. And it's just a sheer joy to fly. What was one of these guys cost? The base model is $190,000. And the top model with all the extra charging stations is $260,000. Oh, yeah. I should ask. Flight time. What's our flight time? 20 minutes and about 20 miles. Okay. Yeah.

[00:25:26] And I would assume just like a drone, if you're low on battery, it just takes you home? No. You have to fly home. Yeah. So. If you run out of, you know, at minus 5%, the motors are going to stop. Okay. So you need to plan ahead. And for some reason, you didn't plan ahead. It has a holistic parachute that shoots out of the nose. Yes.

[00:25:49] And as long as you're at 165 feet or so, you have enough altitude to deploy before you get to ground. Nice. Nice. Well, I don't know how to end it off of that. Hopefully that never happens. Yeah. Tim, thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you, Bodhi. Good luck. Thanks, Bodhi. Yeah. Cool. All right. I would like to thank Tim for agreeing to being interviewed. As you could tell, that was at CES. I forgot to mention that at the front.

[00:26:20] But yeah, there was a lot of people there. I can't remember if it was, I think it was Pepcom that we met at. We got to do the interview right next to the pivotal aircraft, the Helix, it's called. I think Tim had the Blackfly, which was the first model. But super cool. Like when I went up and I was talking to somebody from the company and I was like, hey, do you want to do an interview? And he's like, well, I have the very first customer here.

[00:26:47] And you can tell that Tim was extraordinarily excited to talk about this product. Like when we were chatting, his face just lit up about how fun it was to fly this vehicle. So again, I'll put a link in the show notes to that as well. All right, everybody. If you want to email me, it's Bodie, B-O-D-I-E at 918digital.com. You can also find me on X at 918digital.

[00:27:14] I'm trying to figure out a good social media strategy and I haven't really figured it out yet, but that's where I am at the moment. I also have, I put together a new website. It's not done. I'm kind of getting pulled in a bunch of different directions at the moment. And I've been hesitant to give it out until I am done, but I'm just going to give it to you now. It's 918digital.com. And at the moment it has, you know, Beyond the Post and Kilowatt in my other podcast, Shuffle Playlist up there.

[00:27:44] But I do have grander plans. I'm just time constrained at the moment. So I'm slowly getting that worked on. But if you want to check it out, it's 918digital.com. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. And I will talk to you on Friday.