Tesla’s License to Kill

Tesla’s License to Kill
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-04-2021 at 8:00 am

Tesla license to Kill

Even as Honda Motors puts a so-called Level 3 semi-autonomous vehicle on the road in Japan – 100 of them to be exact – the outrage grows over semi-autonomous vehicle tech requiring driver vigilance. Tesla Motors and General Motors have taken this plunge, creating a driving scenario where drivers – under certain circumstances … Read More


Tesla’s Musk Mocks Marketing

Tesla’s Musk Mocks Marketing
by Roger C. Lanctot on 12-27-2020 at 10:00 am

Teslas Musk Mocks Marketing

The Automotive News had a standout year in 2020 – thriving at a time when many publishers suffered. With factories and dealerships shuttered in the spring due to the pandemic, the outlook was bleak but the Automotive News dug in amplifying its reporting with multiple podcasts and video content documenting the ups and downs

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EV Pickups: The Week That Was

EV Pickups: The Week That Was
by Roger C. Lanctot on 10-17-2020 at 6:00 am

EV Pickups The Week That Was

From a legislative squabble, to a COVID-19 superspreader event, to claims of fraud and deception, the race to bring a pickup truck to market with an electrified powertrain went into overdrive last week. At the heart of the contest is the pursuit of ridiculous profit margins and impressive sales with Ford Motor Company’s F-Series

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The Car Data Monetization Muddle

The Car Data Monetization Muddle
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-30-2020 at 6:00 am

The Car Data Monetization Muddle

Four years ago, this month, McKinsey published a report – “Monetizing Car Data” – which continues to simultaneously haunt and mock the automotive industry. The report claimed that by 2030 the so-called “car data market” would be worth as much as $750B.

SOURCE: McKinsey

This report spawned… Read More


Privacy is Different in Cars

Privacy is Different in Cars
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-31-2020 at 6:00 am

Privacy is Different in Cars

The New Yorks Times’ “The Privacy Project” highlights all that is terrifying about our surveillance economy. We blithely throw away our privacy for the privilege of freely accessing mountains of information about the things we want to buy, the celebrities and teams we follow or support, or to get directions

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Even California Can’t Save Hydrogen

Even California Can’t Save Hydrogen
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-14-2020 at 10:00 am

Even California Cant Save Hydrogen

Fisita World Mobility Summit 2019 in Nagoya, Japan, brought together powerful perspectives on everything from vehicle architectures (Visteon), to open source software (Synopsys), mobility (METI), and connectivity (Bosch). The most enigmatic juxtaposition at the event, however, came in a panel discussion I moderated

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2020 The Year of Live In-Car Remote Assistance

2020 The Year of Live In-Car Remote Assistance
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-12-2020 at 10:00 am

2020 The Year of Live In Car Remote Assistance

After years of travel and computing remotely while on the road I have found that there are two magical experiences for the business traveler. One of those experiences is the hotline support I get from my preferred airline – United. The other is the live remote assistance I periodically receive from my company’s in-house IT department… Read More


Lyft & Auto Industry Annihilation

Lyft & Auto Industry Annihilation
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-31-2019 at 5:00 am

The good news is that Lyft’s initial public offering is over-subscribed, according to published reports. That also happens to be the bad news.

Like its disruptive corporate kin – Waymo, Uber, and Tesla Motors – Lyft is out to creatively destroy the automotive industry. In the process, the company is set on a course for its own annihilation… Read More


Tesla Leap of Faith (or the Adoration of Elon Musk)

Tesla Leap of Faith (or the Adoration of Elon Musk)
by Roger C. Lanctot on 08-08-2018 at 7:00 am

The Reverend Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, held forth to his flock on yesterday’s earnings call. Musk described at length his efforts to lead the company out of production hell. The lengthy session highlighted the challenges facing the company, which posted its greatest quarterly loss ever, and was emblematic of the typical … Read More


NVIDIA GTC 2018 Then There Were Three

NVIDIA GTC 2018 Then There Were Three
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-08-2018 at 8:00 am

If there was a central takeaway to Nvidia’s GTC event last week in San Jose it was this: autonomous vehicles are already operating or at least testing in virtual every corner of the planet including companies such as Tier IV and ZMP in Japan, and Pony.ai and Baidu in China. But two U.S. companies standout globally for the growing… Read More