1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Look at the cast playground. Hi, this is Buzznight, the 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: host of the Taking a Walk podcast series. We are 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: in Leesburg, Virginia, Beautiful Leesburg, Virginia for this episode of 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: Taking a Walk with a dear friend of ours. He 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: is the executive director. He is also the business development man. 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: He is a market forecaster for the NPD Group. We're 7 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: going to be taking a walk and talking about EV 8 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: electric vehicles with Ben Arnold. He's taking a walk with 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: Buzz Night today. We're going to talk EV electric vehicles 10 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: and you will at the end of this episode understand 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: some things the wants and needs from audio entertainment regarding 12 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: EV consumers. You'll learn how swiftly EV is growing both 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: in consumer and in commercial vehicles. And you're going to 14 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: learn certainly what some of the specific companies are doing. 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: And for this we're going to turn to our dear friend. 16 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: He's the executive director. He's also the market forecaster, and 17 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: I'm sure he wears a few other hats. Ben Ardold, 18 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: it's great to see you in Leesburg, Virginia. Buzz, Welcome 19 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: to my home. Welcome to Leesburg. It's great to be here. 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: So this is an exciting topic. EV electric vehicles. So, 21 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: first of all, what's your take on what consumers are 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: looking for with EV and specifically what are they looking 23 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: for as it relates to the entertainment aspect in the 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: car in these electric vehicles. Well, it's very apropos that 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: we're sitting roadside having this conversation, I think, and there's 26 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: certainly a few evs that are driving by now. I 27 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: think the biggest draw of electric vehicles for consumers certainly 28 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: is the savings on gas, and that is a hot 29 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: topic right now, even as we see gas prices come 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: down a little bit. But also there's an environmental aspect 31 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: that you are being a little bit more green in 32 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: your daily habits, and I think those two elements are 33 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: the biggest draws to consumers investing in electric vehicles. You 34 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: can also say that they're pretty technology forward. You look 35 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: at the design of the vehicles, my son's, my son's 36 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: football team. It seems like every parent has a Tesla, 37 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: So there is that aspect. I think it carries a 38 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: little bit of cachet with it. But I think that 39 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: you know, those are the really the biggest elements in 40 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: terms of what people are looking for. I think on 41 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: the kind of the I don't know if you call 42 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: it the enterprise side the commercial side. Certainly the savings 43 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: and fuel costs I think are the biggest draw. And 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: when you start to talk about electric vehicles, many of 45 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: those vehicles have different varying levels of autonomy, being able 46 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: to have autonomous features or as Tesla talks about, the 47 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: full self driving feature that comes with a lot of 48 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: electric vehicles. And so I think there are a lot 49 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: of reasons why people want to invest in these products. 50 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,960 Speaker 1: And are they expecting the traditional audio entertainment systems the 51 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: consumers of these vehicles. So that's a great question, and 52 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: I think as we get deeper into the electric vehicle space, 53 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: what you'll see is this rise in infotainment features right 54 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: content inside of the car. I think that that is 55 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: an expectation that people have when they get an electric vehicle. 56 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: In a lot of ways, you can talk about the 57 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: car kind of becoming a computer on wheels. A lot 58 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: of vehicles are connected, bring our phones into the car 59 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: that provide some connectivity. There are different applications that you 60 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: can access in the car. So this idea that we 61 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: can pair electric vehicles with connectivity and infotainment, I think 62 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:23,280 Speaker 1: is very exciting for consumers, and what about market penetration 63 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: and then specifically involving market penetration the availability of charging stations. Well, 64 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: as I go throughout my day, I go to the 65 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: shopping center to go grocery shopping or something, I continue 66 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: to see more and more electric charging stations. We're sitting 67 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: here outside of an apartment complex. There are a couple 68 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: of electric charging stations there. I don't know that electric 69 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: vehicles have hit critical mass just yet, but we're definitely 70 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: heading in that direction. And I think one of the 71 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: takeaways is you can see just the proliferation of more 72 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: and more charging stations in parking lots. I was talking 73 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,799 Speaker 1: to somebody you mentioned Tesla. So there were a Tesla 74 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: owner and they were lamenting the fact that unless they 75 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: find a specific Tesla charging station, that it's really a 76 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: pain in the neck to be charging at these other 77 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: stations with their Tesla. Can you talk about that? So, 78 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,799 Speaker 1: one of the good things about the internal combustion engine 79 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: is that there's a standard in terms of the fuel. 80 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: Right I can go to any gas station and fuel 81 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: up and feel confident that my car is going to 82 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: get the mileage. One thing that we have in technology 83 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: one of the challenges is that there's a compatibility issue 84 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: sometimes right your computer may not run a specific type software. 85 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 1: You may not have the right charger for the computer 86 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 1: that you've gotten, so you have to get a charger 87 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: for you for that computer. And as we push into 88 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: this more technology focused future around vehicles, especially in the 89 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: way that we power vehicles, some of these same challenges 90 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: that we always see and technology are bound to come up, 91 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: and I think that's that's one of them. Now there 92 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: is a feeling in technology or we hit a point 93 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: in technology where companies come together and they say, we're 94 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: going to establish this standard for charging the device, or 95 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: we're going to establish this standard for connecting to the internet. 96 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: But that doesn't happen always right away. It happens, you know, 97 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: after a couple of years on the market. So I 98 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: would expect that there will be a standard for charging 99 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: electric vehicles, that Tesla will agree to that standard at 100 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: some point because it's a convenience and a value to 101 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: their owners. And as some of the more traditional car 102 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: makers get deeper into the electric space, I would expect 103 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: again this idea of standardization to become a little bit 104 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: more prevalent through the market. Can you talk about specific 105 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: companies beyond Tesla what they're doing and obviously some of 106 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: the mainstay companies who are immersed in building this. Are 107 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: there other startups that you see down the road as well? Well. 108 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: It seems like every major car manufacturer has one or 109 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: two or a handful of electric vehicles in their lineup, 110 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: and they're responding to the market, right. They see the 111 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: popularity of Tesla, they understand some of these some of 112 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: the motives that consumers have around buying these vehicles. One 113 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: that stands out to me is Ford making an electric Bronco, 114 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: which I thought was a kind of a seminal moment 115 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: in the electric vehicle history. Right. The Bronco is a 116 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: really well known car, It's widely owned. OJ drove one. 117 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: The white Bronco comes to mind as I bring up 118 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: the Bronco. But you know, that's I think an example, 119 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: right of a traditional car maker taking this leap into 120 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: electric vehicles and at least converting some of their stock 121 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: over to EV. You've also got, you know, some of 122 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: the more luxury brands out there. Mercedes very notably, I 123 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: think it was last year, came out with the electric vehicles. 124 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,599 Speaker 1: Very luxury though high price, right premium vehicle, which is 125 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: their MO But to me, that says there is interest 126 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: kind of up and down the you know, the pricing 127 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:10,959 Speaker 1: ladder and vehicles for for you know, for evs. If 128 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: it's a savings in terms of fuel costs and it's 129 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,839 Speaker 1: something that helps the environment, you know, those are things 130 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 1: that I think are are on the minds of consumers 131 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: at any kind of income level. So I'm not surprised 132 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: to see the luxury brands getting to electric vehicles, the 133 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: traditional brands converting some of their more you know, uh, 134 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: standard vehicles over and then of course you have to 135 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: talk about some of the startups, right, guys like Rivian, 136 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: which I feel like seeing a Rivian vehicle out in 137 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: the wild is kind of like seeing a unicorn. We 138 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: get really excited. But again, right, the design looks really cool. 139 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:54,960 Speaker 1: The idea that you can have kind of a more 140 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: heavy duty vehicle, a truck or a jeep that's electric, 141 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: I think it's catching on with consumers. So you know, 142 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: you look around and we're definitely in this era of 143 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: electric vehicles because they've just become so common at this point. 144 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: So lastly, is it hard to forecast something like EV 145 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: from MPD and your perspective, I mean to you know, 146 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: forecast percentages. Well, that's a good question because you've got 147 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: some government mandates and some news came out from California 148 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: where they're going to ban the sale of combustion internal 149 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:44,199 Speaker 1: combustion engine cars or traditional gas cars. I think it's 150 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: in the sometime in the twenty thirties, So you've got 151 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: that as kind of an accelerator. California is the biggest 152 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: vehicle market that we have in the country, so that 153 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: is something that certainly provides some insight into the forecast. 154 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: But one thing that I'll mention is the kind of 155 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: on the topic of EV and the infotainment services and 156 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: autonomous vehicles. A lot of consumers have cars with maybe 157 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: they're not full self driving, but there are autonomous features. 158 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: And I drove my family to Florida last month and 159 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 1: was on ninety five for I don't know, fourteen hours 160 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 1: and clicked on the cruise control and all of a sudden, 161 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: I noticed that my car was like going in line 162 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: with the curves on the road. I had no idea 163 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: that this car that I bought in twenty twenty is 164 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: not it's not fully self driving, but it can follow 165 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: the lane shifts, it knows to stay far enough away 166 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: from the vehicle in front of it. I have to 167 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: tell you, buzz I took my hands off the wheel 168 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: just to see what would happen, and like, we didn't crash. 169 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: It was it was kind of an interesting experiment until 170 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,200 Speaker 1: the car told me to put my hands back on 171 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: the steering wheel. And so our cars are getting much 172 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: smarter and many people have some of these features in 173 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: their vehicles and they don't know it. So we are 174 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: kind of on this push into, you know, more technology 175 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: in our vehicles, certainly in terms of the content and 176 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,319 Speaker 1: the services on the on the screen, but also in 177 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: how the cars are operating and how they utilize these features. Well, 178 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: you just did a brilliant tease for an upcoming episode 179 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: that it's gonna include you, by the way, regarding autonomous 180 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,719 Speaker 1: economist driving. So well done, Ben, and thanks for being 181 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: a part of this today. Oh my pleasure. And again 182 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: we're just so happy to have you in Leesburg. It's 183 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: a beautiful day today and it's just nice to see 184 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: you again. Always great to say and he always makes 185 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: sense in the world. Thank you. Taking a Walk with 186 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 1: Buzznight is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 187 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: get your podcasts.