Category Archives: Alternatives

Asymcar 20: Iconic Design

JoyThroughWork

We consider Uber’s street smarts, “cash on the hood” driver acquisition tactics and their ability to operate over the top, that is above local regulations and norms.

The proposed elimination of diesel cars in Paris and London ignites a side trip through today’s regulatory labyrinth.

Horace reflects on a recent Tesla test drive while evaluating innovation on jobs to be done, form factor design, production methods and their business model.

Jim considers Sandy Munro’s recent BMW i3 teardown, which lead him to conclude that “this car makes money”. Might BMW have leaped ahead of Tesla while pumping out 500,000 traditional 3 series this year?

We close with news that Porsche has once again rejected an “entry level” sports car project. This, despite their growing SUV and large car portfolio.

29mb mp3 about 60 minutes.

Subscribe to Asymcar podcasts via iTunes or RSS.

Notes:

The Future of Cars Looks Very Different: Forget Power and Symbolism, Auto Are Becoming Communication and Utility Tools.

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Herb Chambers, Auto Dealer Extraordinaire, Will Never Retire.

Possible changes to Europe’s diesel landscape.

Ford’s cap on lifetime service costs.

Porsche’s “baby boxster” project cancelled.

## Correction: Jim mentioned in the podcast that the Uber driver paid $10.00/month. It was $10.00/week.

Asymcar 18: Cars of the People

Why did the Tata Nano fail? What is the future of low end disruption in the auto industry?

What does sharing mean for cars? What are the jobs that spaces in cars are hired for that their makers don’t understand?

Is Elon Musk an Industrialist?

30mb mp3 about 61 minutes.

Subscribe to Asymcar podcasts via iTunes or RSS.

Notes:

1. The naming changes are said to be pushed by marketing chief Ola Källenius, with the executive aiming to bring more clarity to Mercedes’ lineup.

2. Mini cars will soon lose their flavor.

3. Shared Automated Vehicle.

4. The Democratization of Luxury (Stupidity).

5. Top Gear, Cars of the People (James May). iTunes.

Asymcar 15 & 16 Metadata

Chris Mohajer:

As someone who works in the cleantech industry, I thought I would share a few things that relate to Asymcar 15 & 16.

The California Energy Commission recently held a workshop where Ford, GM, BMW, Nissan, and Honda all gave presentations discussing how they plan to integrate EVs into the grid. LINK

At a JVSV event in the Bay Area, Tesla’s CTO JB Straubel gave an interesting talk where he discussed how they see themselves as an energy innovation company rather than a car company. LINK

Solar over generation is a real problem in California. They even named a graph for it: The Duck Curve. LINK

Flow batteries from companies like EnerVault can provide long term energy storage with the need for lithium. The beauty of a flow battery is that you decouple the scaling of power and energy. They have already built a 1MWH system. 10 MWH systems have even better economies of scale. LINK

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab is working with the Department of Defense at the LA Air Force Base on vehicle to grid (reverse charging) applications. It is currently focused on non-tactical vehicles that have scheduled uses. LINK

Companies like Stem can provide battery systems to business for zero upfront cost. There is lots of room for financial engineering. LINK

Asymcar 9. Stasis: Depreciation, Brands, Information Intransigence

Horace and Jim discuss shopping online for used cars and how and why the value of cars disappears so quickly. The conversation drifts into information asymmetry, the declining interest in auto maintenance and the perpetual closed-loop auto information model. We hypothesize on the impact of the coming self-monitoring and awareness of the lives of vehicles. Finally we ask whether the dysfunction in the industry is the cause or the effect of the ancient integrated factory model and the sustaining auto eco-system incentives that impede transformation.

Finally, we note Gordon Murray’s iStream vision and the deal with Yamaha.

32mb mp3 about 63 minutes.

Subscribe to Asymcar podcasts via iTunes or RSS.

Notes:

via ALG’s Brand Pricing Score,”depreciation ranking” and 14th annual residual value awards.

KBB Best Brands 2014.

US used car retailer Carmax annual reports and KMX stock information: bloomberg google.


The Market for ‘Lemons’: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism
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