This past fall I saw something I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

Let me set the scene here. It's September 2023.

The location is Munich.

The global auto industry has come together for its annual European

Convention. For one week, hundreds of thousands of automakers

of automakers, suppliers, industry watchers, and journalists will go from one manufacturer's massive booth to another to look at the latest sheet metal and listen to CEOs talk about the next generation of cars that are just around the corner.

This being a show held in Germany,

one of the key exhibitors is Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes essentially invented the automobile

way back in 1886, and today its CEO, Ola Kalanius is showing off the

manufacturer's newest car.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Mercedes-Benz here in Munich.

The car is called the Concept CLA. It's not ready for production just yet,

but even with its hand polished paint and some decorative touches

that wouldn't survive a parking lot, it's pretty close to what the finished product

will resemble. Like all concept

looking thing.

Today the concept CLA class is the forerunner to an entirely new portfolio of

electric first vehicles. Kalenius's address was a different kind of new car launch speech.

If you expected to hear a list of high performance stats and figures, well, you would have been disappointed.

Instead of zero to 60 times, Mercedes CEO talked about kilowatt

hours. Instead of top speed, he spoke about charging speed. Instead of driving

...