Tesla, Mobileye, and the Fight for Autonomous Roads

[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 news. So we had two earnings calls in a row and now we're on to news. So let's go ahead and dive in. Last week, Rivian rolled out the R2, their midsize electric SUV, and it looks great. I have not seen one in person.

[00:00:50] But I'm looking forward to seeing one in person. But last week, great, wonderful week for Rivian rolling out the R2. This week, they're not so great. They're laying off 300 people, which is just shy of 2% of their 15,232 workforce, if you spread that across North America and Europe. This is in addition to nearly 600 people that they laid off in October.

[00:01:20] You know, around 800 people, which in on the whole isn't a lot, but it's still 800 people. And if you're one of those people, it's definitely a painful experience for sure. The one thing that I just hope, right, is a lot of times automotive companies will be like, hey, be one of the first to get our new car here. You're an employee. You're the first in line. I hope that these, some of these people or any of these people,

[00:01:49] I hope that they didn't buy and take delivery of an R2 only to find out now that they have a vehicle loan, they just lost their job on top of that. Like if that happens, I think Rivian should just cover the entire car for them because that, that, that sucks. Uh, cause an 800 or a, uh, you know, $6, $58,000 car loan.

[00:02:13] That's, that's not a cheap monthly payment. So anyway, uh, that was where my head went moving on though. Mobileye is planning on launching a robo taxi service. So Mobileye builds, uh, they build hardware and software for autonomous driving. Uh, they were actually the first partner that Tesla had for autonomous driving. And then, uh, there was an, a really bad accident.

[00:02:41] I think it was in Florida and, you know, I, I'm sure Tesla was already working on hardware too by that point, but, uh, Elon was very critical of Mobileye. Mobileye blamed Tesla. The partnership went awry. And then not that long after that Intel bought them. And I think they were spun back out and bought by somebody else.

[00:03:05] I think it's an Israeli company that owns them now, but Mobileye will be launching their own robo taxi service in 2027. They're going to utilize their move it M O O V I T mobility platform. And they're expecting to launch with a hundred robo taxis. Uh, that sounds like a lot. And, and not, not only does that sound like a lot just to start with, like, even if they launched in early 2027,

[00:03:34] and by the end of 2027, I think that would be a lot of robo taxis, but we'll keep an eye on it and let you know how it's going. And their initial launch is supposed to be somewhere here in the United States. So hopefully fingers crossed, it'll be Tempe and I get to see them.

[00:03:51] Oh, and, and in my neighborhood, I saw one of the new Waymo Oh Hey vans. And I immediately went to, um, the Waymo app to request it.

[00:04:10] And I, I don't know, I had a bunch of other things going and I couldn't justify taking the ride, especially since there was, there was only one and there's a bunch of Jaguar eyepaces rolling around. So I had to be like, you know what, I got to do the responsible thing and be an adult and cancel this. And maybe at some point in time, when I have more time, I can play the summon the Oh Hey, um, uh, Waymo vehicle.

[00:04:37] And hopefully someday I'll get one because really there's still way more Jaguar eyepaces, uh, running around than, than the Zoox vehicles at the moment in my neighborhood or my area. The all electric version of the Toyota Helix is now has a price. So first the specs, this is going to be a body on frame truck, which makes it great.

[00:05:02] A little bit more heavy duty. It's good for towing, good for off-roading all wheel drive, 278 horsepower. It'll tow about 3,700 pounds. There's an option to select, make, make changes based on the terrain that you're driving on, which is beneficial, especially when you're off-roading, it'll be able to wade through 27 inches of water.

[00:05:25] It's going to come with a 59.2 kilowatt hour battery, which is right around 160 miles of range. Uh, Toyota says that it's capable of 236 miles of range in the city, which if we convert that to kilometers, we're looking at 257 miles versus 380 miles in the city.

[00:05:47] Not, not, not huge, not a lot of miles, 125 kilowatt DC fast charging capability, 10 to 80% in 30 minutes. It'll have a 12.3 central infotainment screen and a another 12.3 driver display. So nice and big, similar to what he is using. The price, uh, in the UK, it's going to start around 42,000 pounds, which is about 56,000 US.

[00:06:17] In Australia, it's 75,000 Australian dollars, which again is 51,000 US. And then New Zealand, we're looking at 82,000 New Zealand dollars, which is about 48,000 US. So as this truck is spec'd, I mean, obviously this isn't going to succeed in the US, but as this truck is spec'd, it seems overpriced for what it's delivering.

[00:06:47] But, you know, every country has different needs. So maybe this will do very well in Australia and New Zealand. Um, you know, it might do well in the UK as well. Uh, but I mean, I don't know, this seems like a work truck and not a go out and, and let, not like a Rivian, not that, not an adventure truck like Rivians. This seems more like, uh, this is the area that you have to do work.

[00:07:17] And sometimes you are going to be driving on, uh, something that looks like a road, but really isn't a road. This is a good vehicle for you, but I mean, again, not a lot of range. So I don't know. Uh, a lot of people, a lot of my friends talking about the Helix truck though, for whatever reason, because they're Toyota fans. That's why, and that's all I'll say about that.

[00:07:40] Cause you all know my, my thoughts on Toyota, uh, Tello, Tello trucks, uh, took a big step forward recently. So if you aren't aware of Tello, I actually interviewed Tello co-founders, Jason Marks and Forrest North. The Jason's the CEO and Forrest is the CTO. So anyway, Tello is building an adorable little pickup truck. It's very roomy.

[00:08:10] It's about the size of a mini Cooper, but it's got five seats, a 60 inch bed for reference to Rivian has a 55 inch bed right around there. So yeah, just a very tiny, efficient truck. This Tello has signed with Schwab international to build the MT one, which is Tello's version of this pickup truck, or that's the, that's the name of it.

[00:08:35] The MT one, Mary Tom one Schwab international is building the body and white structure for the vehicle. This is the skeleton. Uh, this is what everything's going to attach to glass seat suspension and so on. So, I mean, it's, is it, does it mean that this truck is going to enter production? No, but it's closer.

[00:08:58] And I think they have a lot of, uh, really good, uh, momentum in terms of what Tello's doing. So yes, uh, I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing this company progress and, and hopefully they, they are able to put something out.

[00:09:19] The MT one will start at $41,520, which gets you, uh, a pickup truck with the range of 260 miles. And then there'll be a dual motor version that will get you around 350 miles, but that's going to cost about $56,000. Which honestly for trucks, not bad, you know, we're at, we're at a point, you know, where the prices are pretty expensive.

[00:09:46] However, you're also looking at, you know, slate in the new Ford pickup truck. That's going to be less than $30,000. So what is, what is Tello going to bring that is more valuable to most people, right? Then, uh, to, to justify paying $28,000 more for a vehicle. And I think are $26,000 more for a vehicle.

[00:10:16] And I think some of that might actually be that they have a, you know, the way that they design this truck, it's going to be roomy inside. That's going to have a 60 inch bed, which the five foot bed is, is pretty decent. Whereas the slate and the, uh, whatever Ford's going to call their, their electric truck probably won't. I mean, it was, is that super important to you? Then you'll probably spend the extra $28,000 if this truck actually comes out.

[00:10:44] If it's not super important to you, why would you, you know, you could probably get a really nice decked out Ford, whatever they're calling their affordable truck for less money. So, um, I mean, I'm excited to see what Ford does. I, I don't want a super small, tiny truck. I think for me, the Maverick's a little too small. Well, the Rivian R1T is perfect for me.

[00:11:10] Uh, I think for what I would use a truck for anything bigger than that is me just being silly, which is, I don't know. I still want the Scout, uh, Tara and that I don't need a truck that big. That's just me being silly, but I really liked that truck the way that it looked when I saw it in real life. So, I mean, I, I don't know. We'll see and best of luck to the Tello folks because I really did like Jason and Forrest when I chatted with them. They're real nice people.

[00:11:41] Um, all right. Oh, and we did the interview. Unfortunately, at this time I didn't have, I wasn't doing video, but they did the interview facing their little shop. And when I say little, it's not, it wasn't very big, but you could see in the background, you know, different things that they were working on and stuff like that. It was just a, it was a neat, um, it was a neat chat. All right.

[00:12:06] We are on to our last EV story, not our last story, just the last one that just has to do with general EVs. Recently, we listened to GM's earnings call and they made a big deal that Chevy was number two in sales, uh, when it comes to EVs in the U S. But it looks like Hyundai is moving in on that number two spot.

[00:12:30] So Chevy delivered, I believe this was for April, 2026. Chevy delivered 5,890 vehicles. Whereas Hyundai delivered 4,936. Now, does that mean that they are close? Um, you know, they're, they're kind of close. They're not super close.

[00:12:53] But if you, if you add in like Toyota's, uh, not Toyota cheese, if you add in Cadillac's EV sales, that's another 4,000. So GM is a company's around 9,000. Oop, dropped my phone. If you look at Hyundai and Kia, you know, you're looking at just a little over 7,000. So at, at the moment, right? Chevy's probably, or GM and Chevy, all the GM products, they're probably safe.

[00:13:21] And Hyundai Motor Group, however, will probably catch up and become number two before too long. If I had to guess. But, I thought I would go through the top 10 selling EV companies, uh, in the United States in April of 2026. So we're starting with Subaru. And they sold 1,959, right? Kia, I already said, sold 2,456.

[00:13:50] Toyota, 3,524. Rivian sold 3,537. It'd be interesting to see how many vehicles they sold, you know, in, uh, on their next earnings call. I know the ramping up the R2. So I don't expect it to be a lot more than what they typically, but it would sell in a quarter. But I do expect it to be higher. Cadillac sold 4,020.

[00:14:19] Ford sold 4,033. I'm going to guess, you know, the last remaining Lightnings. And then, uh, I don't think they sell their transit van anymore. And then they have the Maki, which a friend of ours has a Maki and he's got a gray one. And man, does it look good? Um, and then Hyundai, like we said, sold 4,936. And Chevy is number two at 5,890.

[00:14:48] Now that's number, you know, we went through number two through number 10, um, Chevy to Subaru. That's a total of 32,872 EVs sold amongst those nine companies. Tesla is of course, number one, they sold 45,800. So Tesla's still, uh, far and beyond the winner when it comes to selling EVs in the U S and that's not to be unexpected.

[00:15:17] We all kind of know that that's the case, but man, when you look at how many they sell versus how many, all the other companies in the top 10 cell, you know, if you added up all of the EV cells in the U S, um, based on that, you know, all the companies that are selling EVs, Polestar and all this stuff, Lucid, you're, you're probably still less than what Tesla sells. So pretty impressive Tesla.

[00:15:48] All right. So before we move on to our EV news, our Tesla news, excuse me, we're done with our EV news. I just want to say, if you want to support this show, you can go to support kilowatt.com. All the money goes to support the show. None of the money goes back into my own pocket. Um, you know, last week on Saturday, I was not feeling very well at all. Friday, I kind of felt off, but Saturday I definitely did not feel good.

[00:16:17] And I spent most of my day in bed, recorded on my laptop, no microphone, no, nothing, no fancy studio or anything like that. Just recorded straight on my laptop and had my headphones in for monitoring purposes. And then I finished a little bit of it on Sunday outside of a Costco parking lot when I was getting my tire fixed. Um, and a lot of you said that that sounded good, that the episode actually sounded pretty good. And I agree it did. It did sound pretty good.

[00:16:43] So, um, but yeah, anyway, the point is, is no matter, I am sometimes late, but I always have an episode for you. I, I very, very rarely, if ever, um, I think I did it once in 2025 will miss an episode. And that I don't think has happened other than the 2025 episode. I don't think that's happened since my dad died in like 2018.

[00:17:10] I just had to take a little two episode, three episode break. So yeah, I mean, I am here to, to provide EV news and autonomous driving and renewable energy. So, um, if you want to support the show, go to support kilowatt.com. You can support for as little as a dollar and, uh, yeah, that is my pitch and you can support on Patreon or Supercast, whichever one you're most comfortable supporting with.

[00:17:40] Some people have asked, uh, do you have a buy me a coffee? And I don't, um, or I don't have like a PayPal link or anything like that. Cause I would, the, the, the, the benefit of supporting the show is you get an ad free experience. It's, I don't know how to give you an ad free experience on those platforms. So I just don't offer them because I believe if you give money, you should get something for your money.

[00:18:06] So, all right, let's see here. Tesla news. There was a sighting of a Tesla semi. This was spotted at a Costco warehouse in Arizona. Um, and the Tesla semi said Costco on the little sliding door looked really cool. Um, it says the article said that the Tesla was at a Costco warehouse. Well, every retail location is called Costco warehouse.

[00:18:34] This looks like it was at a distribution center, which, um, I'm might have lived close by to this distribution center when I first moved to Arizona. So I think I know where it is is what I'm saying. Um, but yeah, it looks cool. And if I happened to, I live in a completely different part of the city or, you know, metropolitan area now, but if I happen to see one driving around, I'll try and snap a picture.

[00:19:01] A new report is claiming that Apple is working on the missing link or may have solved the missing link to get Apple CarPlay on Tesla. So Apple held their developer worldwide developer conference last week and nine to five Mac spotted a new feature in CarPlay that could bridge the gap between Tesla and CarPlay. And it is called route sharing. And what it does is it gives the navigation app on your car.

[00:19:31] It allows the ability to share data from Apple Maps, or it could even be, you know, Google or any other navigation app that's out there. I'm blanking on the other one. That's big that Google also owns. But anyway, you, they can share that information with your car's own personal, uh, or not personal, but it's the car's built in navigation system. Um, so it wouldn't technically be like, uh, Apple CarPlay.

[00:20:00] However, you would get all of the Apple Maps or app, whatever, uh, car navigation system you're using. You'd get all of that on native would look natively on, on your actual car. So this would be awesome. Um, I don't really care that much about CarPlay. My wife's car has it and it is nice. But I don't necessarily need it.

[00:20:25] However, the one area that I don't think Tesla did a very good job on with my car is the navigation system. It's not bad, but it's not great. It is squarely okay. So, um, if this actually works and this was the only feature that came over, I would be thrilled. So fingers crossed. Hopefully that will, that will actually be the case. All right.

[00:20:55] Moving on. X user Airwave Dynamics flew their drone over Gigafactory Texas and found over 100 cyber cabs, not cyber trucks, excuse me, cyber cabs lined up in a staging area just outside the factory. Now this is in Austin. In Dallas, X user Scott's rule 08 discovered that there are around 50 cyber cabs lined up.

[00:21:25] And I've had similar sightings in places like Pittsburgh. So it sounds like Tesla's getting ready to roll out, you know, uh, robo taxi to more places. I'm sure there's a few in Arizona roaming around. They're just not testing them quite yet. And these are the cars without steering wheel. So, um, pretty cool.

[00:21:48] And again, we'll see what happens in over the next couple of weeks or next couple of months, uh, here in Arizona. When I went to that Tesla training, I think it was in February, the, um, it sounded like it was imminent based on some of the folks that I was talking to and not just Tesla, but some of the folks that were working with Tesla on city sides. And it's still not here yet.

[00:22:14] So, uh, I would, I would imagine there's probably a lot that has to go on for this to actually work and, and take off and be successful. So, you know, I'm not in a hurry, but I'm looking forward to trying a cyber cab out. Um, I think it would be, I think it'd be neat. Speaking of neat, we also have some specs for the cyber cab, and this is based off of an EPA filing that Tesla filed with the U S government.

[00:22:44] The cyber cab is going to be front wheel drive, 48 kilowatt hour battery pack, 326 volt operating voltage, uh, 163 kilowatt electric motor, which will deliver 219 horsepower. The curb weight on this vehicle is 3,113 pounds.

[00:23:05] And just for reference, the model Y rear wheel drive is 3,880 pounds right around there, depending on what year you're talking about. It could be, you know, it could be a little bit different. The range is 418 miles, which if true is, is fantastic. Uh, the cyber cab is, you know, according to Tesla, super efficient.

[00:23:28] But just to kind of, um, give you a little bit of perspective, the premium rear wheel drive, a model three, it's not, it's not the lowest, uh, trim. It's the second to lowest trim, but the premium rear wheel drive model three has a range of 363, uh, three miles.

[00:23:52] And that's running off of a 77, between the 77 and 80 kilowatt hour battery. So, I mean, if true, if Tesla's actually accomplished this, uh, much efficiency out of a 50 kilowatt hour battery or less than 50 kilowatt hour battery, pretty impressive. And Tesla engineers are smart. So I, I, I don't doubt Tesla engineers.

[00:24:20] However, we all know that our, um, the Tesla leadership can sometimes exaggerate numbers a little bit. So yeah, just keep that in the back of your head. All right. Our final Tesla story, and this is in, this is coming out of New Jersey.

[00:24:41] Tesla is sending New Jersey Tesla owners an email about a bill that it's working through the state's, uh, uh, lawmakers legislation that would block robo taxis in the state of New Jersey. Now I have not read this bill, so I have no idea if it will or will not block legislation of robo taxis. It might just make it a little bit harder to operate a robo taxi in New Jersey.

[00:25:11] I don't know, but here, here's the thing. Um, Tesla sent this email and I'm going to read it to you because Tesla put it on their website and you know, you judge. So it says what you need to know legislation moving through Trenton right now. S 1677 slash a 39 68 would create New Jersey's first autonomous vehicle pilot program.

[00:25:39] That sounds like progress. It isn't as written. The legislation imposes restrictions so severely that Tesla's autonomous vehicle technology couldn't operate in the state of New Jersey. Rather than prioritize real safety outcomes and performance. The bill specifically bands. The bill specifically banned Tesla from the New Jersey market. Now, again, I have not read this bill.

[00:26:06] I don't know if it really does specifically ban Tesla or if they just crafted it in such a way that Tesla falls outside of what their parameters are. Um, but I do find that wording interesting. I don't, I highly doubt there would be a lawsuit if, uh, immediately, and there's going to be a lawsuit anyway, but there would be a lawsuit immediately. If it said, if you're Tesla, you can't do this.

[00:26:31] I would imagine that the way that the bill is written, that it makes it so that however Tesla has set up their, their robo taxi service and, and, you know, their, their technology stack and all that stuff. It just doesn't, it just doesn't work for what New Jersey's got. And is it misguided? I don't know. It very well could be.

[00:26:52] But when it says this is, I'm reading it exactly as it's written, the bill specifically bans Tesla from the New Jersey market. Now, had I done, I mean, it's already Wednesday on a five when I'm recording this. So I'll look it up. I'll look up the bill and see if it specifically bans Tesla, but I doubt that it specifically bans Tesla. I highly doubt that Tesla is named in this bill. Anyway, it goes on.

[00:27:22] Tesla's little email here goes on to say the effect, this affects real people. Parents who want their children to be safe on commute to school, on the commute to school, aging populations that want to maintain their independence. First, parents who want their children to be safe on the commute to school. There's multiple ways for kids to get to school. And one of them happens to be a school bus.

[00:27:47] The other, and I mean, I don't know if this was technically okay, but when I was driving Uber, like early on when I was doing this podcast and trying to afford the equipment that it takes to do a podcast and sound decent at it. I drove Uber for a little while or Lyft.

[00:28:08] And a lot of times people would call, would order an Uber and there would be a kid there and the kid would be like, oh, I slept in. My mom ordered me this Uber so I can get to school. So it's not as if kids aren't using Ubers. Is it the safest way? Probably not. I don't know if I would do that for my kids.

[00:28:35] But, you know, there are other programs like Uber has a service specifically for kids where the drivers are vetted. And Waymo, I think, is 14 years old. You have to be to ride in a Waymo. And there's no driver, but you have to be at least 14 to be able to be on a parent's account.

[00:28:53] So, you know, parents that want their children to be safe on the commute to school, to me, sounds like I would not put my kid in a, especially young kid, in a driverless car and then just let them go to school. Like, my kids can take a bus. Most kids can take a bus.

[00:29:15] And if you, for some reason, live so far out that you can't take a bus in New Jersey, you probably aren't in the robo taxi service anyway. You're not in that service area. So anyway, aging populations that want to maintain their independence, I'm 100% more on board with this. Like, I am 51, not that far away from 52.

[00:29:38] And when it comes time for me to have to give up my ability to drive, 100%, I would like to have the ability to still get places. When I think of my grandparents, my grandma and grandpa on one side were like hardcore smoking and drinking and gambling. And for whatever reason, I never associated getting old with them.

[00:30:06] However, my grandparents on the other side, the Grimm side, they were old. Like, my grandpa was 48 when I was born. So he wasn't much older than I am now when I actually have my memories forming of him. And he was always like this little old man. Like, my other grandpa on the other side, not in the least. My other grandma on the other side, not in the least. My grandma Grimm, she had diabetes and a bunch of health issues.

[00:30:35] And she always seemed old. And they did old people things, like watch black and white movies, which my other grandpa did too. But he had a glass of whiskey and a cigar. And I would sit on his lap and we'd watch black and white movies together. And, you know, it wasn't just, I don't know. It was a different experience. So my thing is, is I've always kind of been afraid of getting old like my grandparents on the Grimm side of things.

[00:31:03] And having the ability to have that independence and still be able to go places, even though you can't drive anymore, I think is so critical. And, you know, you can, fortunately, that exists in some places right now through Waymo and, you know, the RoboTaxi in Austin for that. And then there's some other companies out there doing it. But I think that's a valid thing that Tesla is saying there.

[00:31:31] People with disabilities who hope for mobility options, not few, for more mobility options, not few, agree with that. But rural communities that lack access to public transportation, again, I doubt that Tesla is going to be in the rural communities operating in a way that these folks need them to operate. Maybe someday, but not right away.

[00:31:56] Every arbitrary roadblock is a delay for the people who need this life-changing technology. Most legislation that bans Tesla's proven autonomous vehicle technology from the market is not caution. It's anti-competitive favoritism that will cause New Jersey to fall behind while other states move forward. Here's what that means for you. And then it has safer roads delayed.

[00:32:26] Last year, 578 people were killed in traffic accidents in New Jersey. This is unacceptable. More than 94% of serious crashes are attributed to factors caused by human error, including impairment, distraction, and fatigue. Autonomous vehicles cannot drive drunk, distracted, or drowsy. They can't, but they're not immune to mistakes.

[00:32:57] I do think they're probably less likely to have them, but they're not perfect. It goes on to say that states that have embraced this technology are already seeing improved safety performance. I would like to see the stats on that.

[00:33:26] Again, it sounds like this bill is to put safeguards in place for autonomous vehicles' robot taxi-type services. So I don't see New Jersey not wanting to have robo-taxis. It sounds like New Jersey is like we want to have safeguards.

[00:33:49] And again, it sounds like those safeguards do not line up with how Tesla is currently doing business, which is interesting because I don't see a state writing a bill.

[00:34:05] Well, it doesn't make sense to me why a state would write a bill that would completely ban robo-taxi-type services while not just coming outright and banning it. So, and I don't think, again, that this is specifically targeted to Tesla in the bill.

[00:34:27] Maybe it's, you know, maybe some lawmaker did get mad at Tesla and targeted them, but it doesn't say that specifically in the bill, or I don't think it does. And again, I'll look it up. Anyway, and if I'm wrong, I will come back on and let you know I'm wrong. Freedom of movement denied. Wait, denied. For older and disabled residents who cannot drive, autonomous vehicles aren't merely a convenience.

[00:34:54] They're, they represent independence and the bill excludes a pathway for commercial autonomous vehicle deployment, effectively denying New Jersey residents access to reliable independent transportation option that will significantly improve their mobility and quality of life. The other U.S. states recognize these mobility benefits and are clearing hurdles.

[00:35:19] New Jersey should do the same rather than create barriers for more barriers to mobility independence. Again, I go back to that's if you're in the area that these folks live in. Like this is written as if Tesla just snaps their fingers and there's, you know, robo-taxis everywhere and Uber still exists.

[00:35:45] And when I drove for Uber, I drove plenty of people with, who are elderly or had mobility issues. Like there were plenty of times that I was helping folks from my car to get into their office, doctor office visits because they had such bad mobility issues and I didn't feel right just leaving them there. So that's what I did. Like, and I wouldn't imagine that, uh, I mean, there might be some Uber drivers that just drop you off on the curb and they're like, good luck.

[00:36:13] But if you could really truly see somebody struggling, taking their bag and helping them get to the, into the office and stuff, the cyber cab is not going to do that. You know, I did that. I have seen other Uber drivers do that. I can't say that everybody does that. Maybe there's some that don't, but if you have a conscience and a soul, I can't imagine that you're not, uh, at least helping somebody out a little bit or at least offering to help. Cyber cab can't do that. Uh, smarter, cheaper travel blocked.

[00:36:44] I'm sorry, blocked, uh, autonomous vehicles, reduce congestion, cut emissions and offer more affordable transportation option. New Jersey should be leading on this, not legislating against it. Do you know what it costs me to take an Uber or not an Uber, excuse me, a Waymo from my house to Trader Joe's? It's about $11. Okay.

[00:37:12] It's a, it's about $9 without the tip. It's about $9 without the tip for me to go from my house to Trader Joe's in a lift. I can certainly drive from my house to Trader Joe's it much more affordably. Um, and it's about maybe 1.2 miles from my house. It's not far. So is it affordable? No, I don't think so.

[00:37:39] I don't know what Tesla will be charging, but I do know whatever they were charging in Austin, it's gone up since they first announced, which, you know, is to be expected. But, you know, the smarter, cheaper travel thing that, that remains to be seen. Um, economic boom, unrealized. I don't know how to make that different than an economic boom. Unrealized.

[00:38:04] Widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles is expected to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs naturally. Many of which do not require college degrees and pay above median wages, which accounts for around $93 billion in additional federal tax revenue. Combined with annual reductions, uh, annual reductions in accident related costs.

[00:38:28] Autonomous vehicles will create jobs, free up consumer spending, stimulate growth in logistics, retail, technology, and beyond. And if passed in, uh, current state, these bills will, uh, disincentivize autonomous vehicle companies from, oh, hold on. Entering the New Jersey market instead force and instead forced investment in other states.

[00:38:57] I'm not a good reader. Um, all right. I mean, I'm sure autonomous, uh, uh, uh, robo taxis will create some jobs. It's also going to take some jobs. I don't think it'll be a net zero. I think it'll be probably a net positive, but what do they say here? Hundreds of thousands of new jobs naturally. I do not think that that's the case.

[00:39:26] Uh, that seems like nonsense. Uh, hundreds of thousands, not hundreds or thousands, hundreds of thousands of new jobs nationally. Did I say naturally nationally? Now it's not to say that there wouldn't, I don't know. I don't, I don't think it's going to create that many jobs. Autonomous driving. Honestly, it'll create some for sure.

[00:39:51] Uh, I don't think it'll be that many, especially when you offset how many, uh, people will be out of work because, you know, as much as I like to support folks, I prefer to take a Waymo because not always. It's sometimes cheaper. Um, to be fair, taking a Waymo from my house to the airport was way cheaper than taking a Uber or Lyft.

[00:40:15] But, um, sometimes taking a Waymo, sometimes I just want to be by myself, basically. Like when I go to work, I work with nine other people, you know, eight to nine other people. And then if it's during the weekday, there could be even more people here on top of that. Um, sometimes I just don't want to talk to somebody and just want to work on my stuff and taking a Waymo feels better to me.

[00:40:42] Um, so I'm saying this as a proponent of, uh, autonomous vehicles, but yes, I think that's a little, uh, little much on Tesla side here. So anyway, it goes on to say, you can change this, but only if you speak up now, contact your state legislators today to using the tools above. Tell them that you want New Jersey to access safe, proven autonomous vehicle technology, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:41:12] So yeah, I, I, I think Tesla has a right and a shareholder responsibility to fight this law. If it doesn't, or not a fight, maybe influence, uh, the law, uh, to, to be a little more friendly towards them. Um, but, um, or maybe not specifically, I don't know. This is sounding very much like government corruption.

[00:41:41] As I'm saying this, I do think Tesla has a right to protect its business and within the law, um, influence things that will help them protect their business. As long as it's not illegal. Now we can argue that some of the things that these companies do and some of the access that just a few thousand dollar donation to a policy.

[00:42:06] It gives them way more access and an outsized voice than what you and I have as, as just regular citizens. And I will agree with that, but Tesla does have the right to be upset about it and encourage people to make changes. Now I did find the bill. There's, uh, about the 30 ish pages. If you include all the different things that they have, and I'm not going to do that now, but maybe I'll do a special episode specifically on this bill.

[00:42:36] Um, if you're interested in that kind of thing. Um, yeah, as far as I can tell, there are no driverless taxis operating in New Jersey. It does sound like way most is, is practicing or testing in Trenton, but they have to have a driver. So it's not even keeping Tesla from, uh, testing there as far as I can tell.

[00:43:05] Oh, also I did search for Tesla in the bill. Um, and I searched all, there's three little sections and I searched all three sections and Tesla does not show up, uh, oddly enough in, in any of those sections. So yeah, anyway, um, that, that's all I got. I just thought it was kind of a, uh, I thought that the information that they provided was overly slanted towards their own.

[00:43:36] Uh, um, it felt like they were having a tantrum. Um, if I'm just going to be honest with you, I was like, this is, if Tesla doesn't operate in New Jersey, are people going to survive? And the answer is yes. Will people still be able to get places? The answer is yes. Is it going to cost them a little bit more money? The answer is maybe we, we don't know what Tesla is going to charge.

[00:44:02] Um, and when I say maybe it might be cheaper in years one through three. And once they're embedded, it might be way more expensive. Uh, so it's not, it's not as simple. Um, it's just going to be cheaper for people to, to get around because the bus is going to ultimately be way cheaper. And I don't care what Elon says. You're not going to get a, a cyber cab or robo taxi ride for less than the bus.

[00:44:31] Again, in the beginning, maybe, but in over time, Tesla is going to hit saturation. They're like, okay, now we just turn that lever up and raise the prices. Um, it's just what companies do. And this isn't an altruistic thing for Tesla. This is them actually wanting to make money and who can blame them for me wanting to make money. I just didn't like their note. Um, anyway. All right, everybody. That is it for me. I went way longer than I thought I would.

[00:45:00] So hope you all have a wonderful week. And, uh, if you want to email me, you can do so. It's Bodie, B-O-D-I-E at 918digital.com. You can find me on X at 918digital. And then if you want to, which I don't, I'm not on X. I don't, I mean, I'm on there, but I don't ever really go on there. If you want to interact with me on LinkedIn, I'm Bodie Grimm, B-O-D-I-E, G-R-I-M-M. And, uh, yeah, that's it, everybody. Thank you so much for listening.

[00:45:29] And I will talk to you soon. If you like the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.