Shift: A podcast about mobility

Jeremy Bird, executive vice president of driver experience at Lyft, explains how the company is working with Mobileye, May Mobility and others to launch robotaxis in the near term. He explores the complementary and competitive aspects of relationships between ride-hailing networks and self-driving tech providers, and the pricing differences between human-driven and automated rides. Further, Bird addresses how Lyft’s human drivers feel about their jobs in an environment when self-driving...

Transcribed - Published: 29 June 2025

Kathleen Rizk, senior director in J.D. Power’s global automotive practice, and Lisa Boor, senior manager in the firm’s mobility benchmarking unit, address consumer confusion in the realm of driver-assist systems. They detail their latest consumer surveys, which reveal motorists do not find many driver-assist features useful and are unsure if these systems benefit safety or convenience. Rizk and Boor explore what that means for automakers, which have invested billions developing automated driv...

Transcribed - Published: 22 June 2025

From his time inside a robotaxi startup, Alex Roy knows what it really takes to build a business around self-driving technology. The venture-capital partner, business advisor, podcast host and founder of the Human Driving Association examines Tesla’s pending robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, and discusses whether robotaxis can become a profitable business. He further discusses the capability of Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” software, considers Waymo’s head start and details the four companies h...

Transcribed - Published: 15 June 2025

The founder and co-director of MIT’s Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium, Bryan Reimer, says the auto industry has been distracted by the allure of highly automated driving and should place short-term focus on developing smarter collaborations between motorists and machines. Reimer further explores the nuances involved in distracted driving discussions and the business models associated with fully autonomous driving. Finally, as the Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium marks its 10th ann...

Transcribed - Published: 8 June 2025

Bob Lee, the North American president of LG Energy Solution, details how the ongoing tariff turmoil has both helped and hindered the company’s long-term planning efforts. He details how the company’s decision to invest in a variety of battery chemistries, produced at eight different North American factories, has brought a growing number of interested customers, despite a more tepid electric vehicle market. Further, he discusses what happens next now that LG has bought General Motors’ stake in...

Transcribed - Published: 1 June 2025

Steven Jenkins, vice president of technology strategy at Magna Electronics, discusses how partnerships with the likes of Nvidia spur progress and sophistication in driver-assistance systems. Further, he explains how suppliers remain central in the commercialization of vehicles while working with tech companies and traditional automakers. Finally, he offers firsthand observations on China’s automated-driving future, and shares thoughts on how Western carmakers can keep pace.

Transcribed - Published: 25 May 2025

Grayson Brulte, founder and CEO of The Road to Autonomy, discusses recent developments in autonomous driving, including Sterling Anderson’s departure from Aurora for a new job at General Motors. Brulte details Aurora’s driverless launch and a short-seller report that has since detoured the self-driving truck startup. He further surveys Waymo’s progress, sizes up Tesla as a potential robotaxi rival and — finally — ponders a doomsday scenario for the city of Detroit.

Transcribed - Published: 18 May 2025

The executive vice president and chief technology officer at Oshkosh Corp. details the company’s efforts to infuse automated driving technology into work vehicles with niche applications. Those applications range from airport baggage trolleys to garbage trucks — and even autonomous garbage cans that bring themselves to and from the curb. Iyengar explains the compelling business propositions behind those products. Further, she outlines Oshkosh’s defense business and discusses the state of the ...

Transcribed - Published: 11 May 2025

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence principal analyst Bryan Bille assesses policy changes in the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term that affect critical mineral developments, batteries and the electric vehicle supply chain. Amid tariffs and a geopolitical rivalry with China as the backdrop, Bille compares and contrasts Trump’s plans to develop domestic mining and processing options with those of former President Joe Biden. Further, Bille details new seabed mining developments a...

Transcribed - Published: 4 May 2025

McKinsey’s partners Philipp Kampshoff and Patrick Hertzke break down results from the consulting firm’s annual global consumer pulse survey. They detail improvement in owner experiences with electric vehicles in the U.S. and the reasons driver-assist systems will likely become a “clear differentiator” with consumers in the years ahead.

Transcribed - Published: 27 April 2025

Fischer, vice president of commercial and operations, discusses the tech startup’s new partnership with Nissan, which is Wayve’s first public tie-up with a global automaker. She details how Wayve’s end-to-end AI models help drive the company’s ability to rapidly scale, deliver on its global aspirations and forge an “AV 2.0″ era. Further, she discusses the allure of Level 3 automation and talks about what it’s like to transition from a traditional auto supplier to a tech startup.

Transcribed - Published: 20 April 2025

On this week’s podcast, the chief technology officer and director of Woven by Toyota details the latest developments at Woven City, the company’s technology and mobility test bed located at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan. He discusses Woven’s ongoing work with the Arene operating system and its role in accelerating the maturity of software-defined vehicles. Further, Absmeier explains Woven’s self-driving strategy and how it fits within the broader Toyota ecosystem.

Transcribed - Published: 13 April 2025

The author of “Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile, Past, Present And Driverless” examines the effectiveness of efforts to improve road safety with automated-driving technology. In a wide-ranging discussion, he further discusses the appeal of Kei trucks, General Motors’ 1939 Futurama exhibit, Peak Auto, and the virtues of tech-free road trips.

Transcribed - Published: 6 April 2025

Self-driving tech company Aurora Innovation plans to launch commercial service with its driverless trucks in April. In this episode, Nat Beuse, Aurora’s head of safety, and Gerardo Interiano, senior vice president of government relations, preview the launch and delve into the details of how the company prepared to safely deploy trucks with no humans aboard on public roads in Texas.

Transcribed - Published: 30 March 2025

This week’s Shift podcast features multiple interviews regarding news developments shared at Nvidia’s GTC, a prominent conference for developers sharing their latest artificial intelligence innovations. In this episode: Nvidia automotive Vice President Ali Kani discusses the company’s new partnership with General Motors and delves deeper into the tech giant’s long-term automotive strategy. Wayve CEO Alex Kendall takes us for a spin around San Jose, shows us firsthand how an end-to-end learnin...

Transcribed - Published: 23 March 2025

Following a driverless ride around Ann Arbor, Mich., Edwin Olson, the CEO and co-founder of Toyota-backed May Mobility, sits down for a discussion on the company’s plans for new deployments and the company’s work with Lyft. Further, Olson explains how May Mobility’s business model differs from those of its competitors, who actually owns self-driving vehicles, and how the startup quietly emerged as one of the few remaining alternates to robotaxi front-runner Waymo.

Transcribed - Published: 16 March 2025

Adam Rodriguez, executive director of product and advanced driver-assistance systems at General Motors, shares the latest updates to the company’s Super Cruise feature. Further, he details how GM is integrating software from Cruise, the company’s abandoned robotaxi subsidiary, into blueprints for someday offering personally owned autonomous vehicles.

Transcribed - Published: 9 March 2025

The senior vice president and general manager of automotive business at computing tech firm Arm underscores the importance of software-defined vehicles to the automotive future. Further, she explains how carmakers can keep up with the frenetic pace of industry innovation.

Transcribed - Published: 2 March 2025

The founder and managing director of consulting firm Sino Auto Insights discusses BYD’s new “God’s Eye” automated driving system and how it ratchets up competition with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature. Further, Le underscores the significance of BYD surpassing 4 million vehicles sold in 2024 and China’s broader automotive ascendance.

Transcribed - Published: 23 February 2025

The Waabi co-founder and CEO of the autonomous-trucking startup discusses a new partnership with Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Further, she details the generative AI advances at the heart of the company’s end-to-end AI stack and approach to developing “AV 2.0.”

Transcribed - Published: 16 February 2025

Self-driving trucks are expected to make substantial progress in 2025. Here, the Kodiak Robotics CEO and founder takes stock of the burgeoning industry while detailing how his company readied for driverless deployment with partner Atlas Energy in the Permian Basin area of Texas.

Transcribed - Published: 9 February 2025

The General Motors senior vice president of software and service engineering details efforts to build a software-oriented culture, explains why the company eschewed Apple CarPlay and examines similarities between Apple and GM’s product-first focus.

Transcribed - Published: 2 February 2025

Nuro COO Andrew Chapin and Vice President of Engineering Tilo Schwarz explain the company’s pivot from developing bespoke delivery bots toward licensing automated driving tech to carmakers and others. Further, they detail testing efforts on private and public roads.

Transcribed - Published: 26 January 2025

The executive director of the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, part of the Securing America’s Future Energy think tank, breaks down new Commerce Department rules that keep Chinese and Russian software and hardware out of the connected-vehicle supply chain. Further, he discusses the state of America’s competitiveness with China in commercializing new transportation technology at meaningful scale.

Transcribed - Published: 19 January 2025

From Las Vegas, BCG analyst Augustin Wegscheider provides an overview of auto-tech trends at CES. Then Mobileye chief technology officer Shai Shalev-Shwartz details the company’s plans for evolving its driver-assist features into fully autonomous vehicles.

Transcribed - Published: 12 January 2025

Ahead of CES, the CEO of DARPA-backed startup details artificial-intelligence advances that prioritize energy efficiency and eliminate memory bottlenecks. Further, he explains the impact of such gains in vehicle computing architecture and the ability to add new AI features.

Transcribed - Published: 5 January 2025

The CEO of the Consumer Technology Association spotlights transportation technology headlines from the upcoming CES show in Las Vegas. Further, he offers candid thoughts on growing trade tensions and what it will take for American companies to survive and thrive amid global uncertainty.

Transcribed - Published: 22 December 2024

The vice president at consulting firm Gartner, Inc. analyses General Motors’ decision to abandon robotaxi development and pivot its Cruise subsidiary toward personally owned vehicles. Further, he discusses the steep challenges legacy automakers like GM face in sustaining big technology bets.

Transcribed - Published: 15 December 2024

Mobility strategist Selika Josiah Talbott and Michigan chief mobility officer Justine Johnson detail the prospect of a ‘mobility czar’ overseeing policy for autonomous and electric vehicles. Further, they discuss the role states can play in fostering innovation amid a changing federal landscape.

Transcribed - Published: 8 December 2024

The founder and CEO of Bot Auto showcases his new startup, recounts his fraught experience at TuSimple and explains what it really takes to ensure self-driving trucks are profitable. Bonus: He details his passion for music, from classical to Judas Priest.

Transcribed - Published: 1 December 2024

The co-founder and CEO of startup Croft unveils plans for a hydrogen-powered pickup truck, details new technology that circumvents an intractable infrastructure barrier, and explains how a hydrogen movement comprised of “gearheads, rednecks and mad scientists” can help sustain the legacy of the automobile.

Transcribed - Published: 24 November 2024

Product planning will be difficult for automakers amid a changeover in the White House, said Jeff Schuster, global vice president of automotive research at GlobalData. He outlines the incoming Trump administration’s potential impact on electrification, affordability, automaker plant utilization and more.

Transcribed - Published: 17 November 2024

The investment director at the LG Group’s venture capital arm discusses the investment atmosphere for battery startups, the race to develop low-cost battery chemistries and promising stationary energy storage developments.

Transcribed - Published: 10 November 2024

The University of South Carolina professor and autonomous-driving safety expert discusses Tesla’s Cybercab rollout, Waymo’s growing operations, and how self-driving rules, regulations and laws might be shaped by upcoming elections.

Transcribed - Published: 3 November 2024

The chief strategy officer at Zero Emission Industries details the startup’s work in developing a suitcase-sized device that functions as a portable hydrogen fueling station. Further, he discusses ZEI’s work in pioneering hydrogen fuel-cell systems for first-of-their-kind maritime applications.

Transcribed - Published: 27 October 2024

Mobility expert Selika Josiah Talbott and SkillFusion CEO Elaina Farnsworth offer a pragmatic look at how the 2024 election results could bolster mobility innovation, affect the zero-emission transition and impact the American workforce of the future.

Transcribed - Published: 20 October 2024

Pam Fletcher, a former leader at General Motors and Delta Air Lines, discusses her move to the battery startup world as CEO of Sion Power. Then Loren McDonald, CEO of analyst firm EV Adoption, provides a status report on the rollout of federally backed EV chargers.

Transcribed - Published: 13 October 2024

Kristy Fleischmann Groncki and Stephanie Leach, both of the clean energy solutions team at Baltimore Gas and Electric, detail first-of-their-kind initiatives which allow EV owners and utilities to explore time-of-use charging cooperation and vehicle-to-home power used in parallel with the grid.

Transcribed - Published: 6 October 2024

False starts and missteps define the auto industry’s initial attempts to build software-defined vehicles. In this panel discussion from Automotive News Congress, experts detailed the right way to prioritize software and unlock its transformative potential. The panel includes Bosch’s Stefan Buerkle, Intel Automotive’s Rebeca Delgado, Gentex CEO Steve Downing, General Motors’ Achim Pantfoerder and Ford Motor Co.’s Alex Purdy.

Transcribed - Published: 29 September 2024

Shift brings two timely conversations this week. First, Austin Russell explores what it takes to industrialize lidar at a time of turbulence in the industry. Then, Jeff Allen, previews the Forth electric transportation conference as it moves to Detroit.

Transcribed - Published: 22 September 2024

The director of the University of Michigan’s Law and Mobility Program argues against removing humans from self-driving vehicles and suggests the autonomous-vehicle industry can learn a lot from aviation on building trust.

Transcribed - Published: 15 September 2024

The chair of the automated and connected vehicle practice at law firm Venable breaks down California’s new draft regulations regarding autonomous trucks. Further, he details the state of AV laws and regulations –- or absence thereof -- across the country.

Transcribed - Published: 8 September 2024

The CEO of ChargerHelp weighs in on the industry’s inaccurate uptime calculation and what issues actually underlie charger unreliability.

Transcribed - Published: 1 September 2024

The Guidehouse Insights principal analyst examines forces driving Ford Motor Co. to scale back its electric-vehicle plans, steady sales growth in the overall EV market, and why it’s hard for legacy automakers to get software right.

Transcribed - Published: 25 August 2024

The administrator of the Federal Highway Administration details a new U.S. DOT plan for rolling out a long-simmering technology capable of saving thousands of lives on American roads. Further, he discusses the ways artificial intelligence and infrastructure can accelerate safety improvements and reduce the more than 40,000 traffic deaths that occur in the U.S. every year.

Transcribed - Published: 18 August 2024

The founder and CEO of the multi-city EV festival details the impact of a shift from early adopters to mass-market consumers and identifies counterintuitive ways to drive adoption of electric vehicles.

Transcribed - Published: 11 August 2024

The managing partner at FM Capital examines barriers to electric-vehicle proliferation. Further, he discusses investing in transportation-tech startups and the economic conditions ending the “order taking” era in the auto industry.

Transcribed - Published: 4 August 2024

Although hydrogen may cost more initially, the FirstElement Fuel co-founder and chief business development officer argues hydrogen-powered trucks will be more efficient and viable than battery-electric counterparts at scale.

Transcribed - Published: 28 July 2024

The chief business development officer and founder of FirstElement Fuel details what it really takes to build hydrogen fueling infrastructure and the overall state of the nascent hydrogen ecosystem in California and beyond.

Transcribed - Published: 21 July 2024

The investor, advisor and former U.S. DOT senior scientist links the emerging eVTOL industry with America’s global innovation leadership. She further explains how aviation must be better integrated with other transportation options.

Transcribed - Published: 14 July 2024