Safe Driving: FSD vs. V2X

Safe Driving: FSD vs. V2X
by Roger C. Lanctot on 02-22-2023 at 10:00 am

Safe Driving FSD vs. V2X

When it comes to competing with Elon Musk’s Tesla the automotive industry is, in many ways, its own worst enemy. For more than two decades the auto industry – in the U.S. and E.U. – has struggled to bring vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology to market – first as dedicated short range communications… Read More


ZoneCast Blast Misses Its Mark

ZoneCast Blast Misses Its Mark
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-19-2023 at 6:00 am

ZoneCast Blast Misses Its Mark

On my flight to Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics show I dug in to Jeff Smulyan’s autobiographical “Never Ride a RollerCoaster Upside Down – The Ups and Downs and Reinvention of an Entrepreneur.” As CEO, Chairman, and Founder of Emmis Communications Smulyan has had a front row seat to the evolution of the electronics… Read More


To EV or NOT to EV?

To EV or NOT to EV?
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-12-2023 at 10:00 am

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It’s anybody’s guess when it comes to future demand for EVs. KPMG is the latest to put a perspective out on the subject – drastically slashing timelines for EV adoption based on a survey of senior industry executives. KPMG says the surveyed executives reported a median expectation for EV adoption by 2030 to 35% of sales from 65% … Read More


Musk: The Post-Truth Messiah

Musk: The Post-Truth Messiah
by Roger C. Lanctot on 11-06-2022 at 4:00 pm

Musk Post Truth Messiah

The hand-wringing over Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter began in earnest, Friday, as General Motors announced it would suspend advertising on the platform. Ford Motor Company, too, said it would take a step back.

The news of Musk’s completion of his Twitter acquisition completely eclipsed Mobileye’s hugely successful… Read More


The Truly Terrifying Truth about Tesla

The Truly Terrifying Truth about Tesla
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-21-2022 at 2:00 pm

The Truly Terrifying Truth about Tesla

When I think about Tesla’s impact on the wider automotive industry, I conjure images of auto CEOs waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats. It isn’t just that Tesla virtually or actually gets away with murder, it’s that the level of impunity is almost completely unchallenged by regulators and is actually celebrated by consumers… Read More


OnStar: Getting Connectivity Wrong

OnStar: Getting Connectivity Wrong
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-24-2022 at 6:00 am

OnStar Getting Connectivity Wrong

One of my pet beefs with the car industry is that car makers, on the whole, have failed to agree among themselves as to what basic vehicle connectivity ought to consist of. From car maker to car maker prices vary, bundles vary, free periods of service access vary and the variations get worse between model years as offers change and … Read More


Tesla: Canary in the Coal Mine

Tesla: Canary in the Coal Mine
by Roger C. Lanctot on 04-17-2022 at 6:00 am

Tesla Canary in the Coal Mine

The automotive industry is tied up in knots over cybersecurity. Consumers expect their cars to be secure. Car makers spend millions on securing cars, but don’t know how, what, or if to charge consumers for security.

Meanwhile, most cyber penetration reports to organizations such as the Auto-ISAC are related to enterprise attacks. … Read More


Tesla: Kick-ass Radio in an EV

Tesla: Kick-ass Radio in an EV
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-29-2022 at 6:00 am

Tesla Kick ass Radio in an EV

It seems that all we hear about over-the-air radio broadcasts in electric vehicles is that AM is going away due to interference and FM is irrelevant due to streaming apps. Tesla has very affirmatively upended this conventional wisdom with an over-the-air update that adds Xperi’s DTS AutoStage to most Tesla’s.

This… Read More


Musk: Colossus of Roads, with Achilles’​ Heel

Musk: Colossus of Roads, with Achilles’​ Heel
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-23-2022 at 8:00 am

Elon Musk Achilles Heel 1

For Tesla, 2021 was an amazing year. A blindspot looms in 2022.

Critics cheered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for opening multiple investigations into fatal and near fatal Tesla crashes.  Legislators decried the de facto beta testing of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving beta on public roads. And in December,… Read More


LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque

LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-19-2021 at 6:00 am

LiDAR and the End of the Musk Marketing Masque

One of the key differentiating characteristics of companies working on autonomous vehicles is the willingness to explain or disclose the manner in which this technology works. Tesla and Mobileye have been standouts in the explainer category.  Companies like Waymo and Cruise have been less distinguished.

Tesla, though, … Read More