Barra on TikTok, Uptimes on Chargers, and Elon on the Move

The Automotive Troublemaker w/ Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier

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Wednesday is rockin’ and we are covering the east and west coast this morning. On the east coast we track down our friends Mohawk Chevrolet hanging at GM headquarters and on the west coast everyone is trying to figure out where Elon is going…again. We will take a stop by an EV charger study along the way.

Show Notes with links

• Mohawk Chevrolet’s TikTok series, 'The Dealership,' has garnered attention with a comedic twist, featuring GM's top brass including CEO Mary Barra.
  • Mohawk Chevrolet’s series, "The Dealership," parodies “The Office” with episode 11 features co-creator Grace Kerber pitching a rebrand of the Silverado to GM execs.
  • Kerber humorously suggests shortening the Silverado's name to “Rado.”
  • Mary Barra makes a cameo, endorsing the rebrand idea.
  • The series highlights the power of creative, low-budget content, drawing over 300,000 views on TikTok in the first 24 hours.
  • “We were so honored to be invited by Chevrolet to visit GM headquarters,” said Kerber. “Meeting Mary was such a cool experience, she was so kind and fun to shoot with.”
    
• A new study uncovers significant gaps between reported and actual uptimes of EV chargers, shedding light on reliability issues and potential solutions for public charging infrastructure.
  • ChargerHelp’s report analyzed over 19 million data points to assess EV charging reliability.
  • Actual uptime is frequently lower than reported uptime, eroding driver confidence.
  • Older charging stations and those in long-established states show higher downtime rates.
  • Reliability varies widely across 20 different charging networks, with some networks having 10-20% downtime.
  • Major downtime causes include component failures, communication issues, and payment system malfunctions.
  • Professor Gil Tal, Director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC Davis, shared "the discrepancy between reported and actual uptime is a major challenge. Accurate data and local technician support are essential for improving reliability.”
    
• Elon Musk is closing X's San Francisco headquarters, marking the end of an era for the company formerly known as Twitter. The move will impact many employees as the company transitions to new Bay Area locations.
  • The San Francisco office will close “over the next few weeks,” according to an email from CEO Linda Yaccarino.
  • Employees will transition to existing offices in San Jose or a new engineering-focused space with xAI in Palo Alto.
  • X was headquartered in San Francisco's SoMa area since 2011 due to a tax break that eliminated a 1.5% payroll tax.
  • Elon Musk stated that operating in San Francisco is impossible for companies processing payments, prompting the move.
  • Despite Musk's previous commitment to stay in San Francisco, he now says, “It is impossible to operate in San Francisco if you’re processing payments. That’s why Stripe, Block (CashApp) & others had to move.”

Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier
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