The EVs for Everyone Podcast

John Voelcker, Contributing Editor at Car and Driver Magazine says today’s auto industry feels like “juggling chainsaws,” and that’s exactly the energy we’re bringing to this episode. We talked about why a “much smaller” U.S. auto market by 2040 might be overhyped, how $25-30K EVs could blow the doors open on adoption, and why used cars are becoming the real power center of the market. John also *...

Kirsten Von Busch, Director of Product Marketing at Experian Automotive brings the receipts from Experian's Automotive Consumer Trends Report (Q1 2026) on what’s really happening in the SUV market. Spoiler alert: your gut and the data are not on the same page. We reveal why electrified SUVs now command 27.68% of new retail share, how the Tesla Model Y is absolutely steamrolling the BEV SUV competi...

In this final episode of "Live from AutoTech Detroit," Gulnaaz Afzal, Senior Autonomy Systems Integration Engineer at Rivian, joined me to talk about what it really takes to get from cool AV demos to safe, scalable, production-ready autonomy. While playing Pong on the world’s smallest Atari (yes, really), Gulnaaz explains why reliability beats raw capability, why “production ready” is usually misu...

Jason Marks, CEO of Telo Trucks, joins the show to unpack why the MT1 is essentially a Toyota Tacoma in a Mini Cooper footprint and why that matters for cities, fleets, and the future of EV pickups. We get into the real pain points of driving and parking trucks in dense urban cores, how Japanese Kei trucks inspired Telo’s size, and why half of their paid reservations are from commercial customers...

We accidentally got our schedules crossed… and ended up with one of the spiciest short episodes of the season. Recorded live on the expo floor at AutoTech Detroit, this rapid-fire convo with Steve Bell, Chief Analyst Automotive Connectivity at Omdia is basically a masterclass crammed into a coffee break. In roughly 8 minutes, Steve explains why working in the auto industry in 2026 feels a lot like...

The EV market isn’t collapsing, it’s recalibrating. In this episode, I’m live at AutoTech Detroit while Lindsay VanHulle, Deputy Editor at Automotive News, calls in remotely to break down why this so-called "EV retreat" is actually a strategic pivot. Lindsay digs into how the end of the $7,500 tax credit scrambled U.S. EV demand, why automakers are reshuffling their lineups instead of abandoning E...

Heated seat subscriptions (aka “toasty buns”), the Little Tikes EV charging station and a Cary Grant–level Bear photoshoot? Yes, this episode covers ALL the important topics in automotive. Recorded live at AutoTech Detroit, Edward Wilford, Senior Research Director at Omdia Automotive is my guest today to talk about the leap from software defined vehicles (SDV) to AI-defined vehicles (AIDV), and wh...

What’s worse: hitting a speed bump with a full cup of coffee… or signing up for a $1,000/month car payment? Both are bad, but that $1K car note stings a whole lot more. Good thing we’ve got Melinda Zabritski, Head of Automotive Financial Insights at Experian Automotive, back on the show today to help us make sense of it all. Maybe not the coffee part but definitely the finance part! In this episod...

What do a Jenga tower, seamless tolling, and a sub 5-second 0–60 Volvo have in common? Apparently…a lot. In this episode, I sat down with Jim Nichols, VP, Head of Product Technology and Consumer Offer at Volvo Cars, live from AutoTech for a fast-paced convo that stacks real world insights you won’t hear anywhere else. You’ll hear, “Jenga with Jim:” a rapid-fire warmup game where we find out his fi...

China is quickly becoming the auto industry’s final boss, and Michael Dunne, CEO of Dunne Insights, is here to explain why everyone else in the world is still trying to play catch up. In this episode, we break down: The Trump-Xi Summit which had a huge red carpet but tiny outcomes for autos, BYD’s global glow‑up: from “cheap and cheerful” to Daniel Craig, a black lab puppy, and God’s Eye ADAS. Eve...

Is this an EV story, a China story, or an “America forgot how to build affordable cars” story? My guest today, Patrick George, Detroit Bureau Chief at The Wall Street Journal says it’s all of the above. On this episode, Patrick unpacks the latest twists and turns in the EV arms race, the China factor, and why US automakers are stuck selling $70k trucks while BYD is out here dropping tech-packed EV...

Car shoppers are now voice‑dictating their way to dealerships at 10pm from the couch. If your AI bouncer is guarding bad data, you’re losing deals before they ever hit your showroom. In this episode, I’m at the Used Car Summit in Miami with Experian Automotive’s Michael Kraut, VP of Advertising Data Solutions and Kirsten Von Busch, Director of Product Marketing to talk about how voice search and A...

Before you buy a used EV, don’t trust, “it charges fine” as an answer. Scott Lear, President of Battery4Life, joined me in Miami at the Used Car Summit last month to unpack the realities of used EV ownership and why your battery is the single most important part of the deal. Scott explains how Battery4Life flips traditional service contracts on their head with VIN-specific coverage and lifetime pr...

Friend of the show Elizabeth Krear, President & CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), is back again (for a third time!) to unpack why working in the auto industry in 2026 feels a lot like joining the circus, plus a smorgasbord of other hot topics. In this episode, Elizabeth and I cover how tariffs and a reshuffled USMCA landscape are squeezing margins for automakers, the reality beh...

Three used‑EV pros walk into an industry conference… and immediately start competing on who’s seen the most insane battery quote. In today's episode, live from the Used Car Summit in Miami, we've got a fun episode for you with Chip Geppi, Owner of Hybrid and Electric Car Sales in Nashville, Scott Lear, Founder of Battery4Life, and Gary Pretzfeld Co-Owner of AutoTrust USA in Hollywood, Florida. Dur...

Live from the Used Car Summit in Miami, Kirsten Von Busch, Director of Product Marketing at Experian Automotive, is back on the show today to unpack what’s really happening on America’s roads (and in consumers’ heads). More specifically, we're taking a close look at how evolving consumer behavior and market trends are influencing new and used vehicle buying in the U.S. with Experian’s Q4 2025 Auto...

If you like your auto news with a side of legal intrigue, this one’s for you. Today, Brian Maas, President of the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) is back on the show *again* to talk lawsuits, EV reversals, and why Scout’s reservation list might be more complicated than it looks. First up, a federal court allows CNCDA’s lawsuit move forward, challenging Scout’s direct-to-consumer res...

Christian Spencer, Senior Manager of Marketability at Nissan Technical Center North America joins the show today to tell us exactly what happens when you mash up EV-style performance with hybrid convenience. Nissan calls it e‑POWER, and the all-new 2027 Rogue Hybrid is bringing it to U.S. roads later this year. Driven exclusively by dual electric motors (eliminating the need for a transmission) th...

Working in the auto industry in 2026 is either “a marathon” or “like fracturing a couple ribs” and this episode lives right at that intersection of never ending hustle and pain tolerance. Jimmy Douglas, CEO of Plug,&nbsp...

Elon Musk has apparently decided that building cars and rockets wasn’t enough, so now he’s launching Terrafab, a trillion‑watt chip factory that has ambitions of powering both Teslas and the galaxy. About 20% of this computing power will stay on Earth for cars, robots, and ground AI, and the other 80% is basically going to outer space. Skepticism levels: very high. Meanwhile, Ford’s BlueOval plant...

Dealer franchise law is front and center in today's episode with Brian Maas, President of the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) where we talked about the latest lawsuits involving Sony Honda's Afeela and VW's Scout Motors, how California’s franchise statutes really work, and why every OEM and dealer should be paying close attention. For example, what’s really at stake if automakers st...

Covering the automotive industry these days often feels like trying to hit a moving target blindfolded or playing an endless round of Whack-a-Mole. Yet somehow, amid all the chaos, flip-flopping policies, and doom scrolling, EV owners are happier than they've ever been. Shocked? Yeah, me too. That's why I'm happy to welcome back Brent Gruber, Executive Director of the EV Practice at JD Power, to t...

Uber’s letting you hail the future: this summer you can book a driverless Zoox in the Uber app in Las Vegas, with LA on deck for next year. Meanwhile, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is sounding the alarm that winning the autonomous vehicle race is a national security, economic, and safety must win for the U.S. and yes, he’s the same guy from MTV’s The Real World: Boston, 90's (core memor...

Grab your calculator, ping your CPA, and maybe get a comfort snack or two because Trump’s new car loan tax break might be less ‘cash in your pocket’ and more ‘political brain fog' with extra paperwork. Chris Otts, Autos Reporter at The Wall Street Journal joined me today to break down the confusing new auto loan deduction, reveals which cars really qualify, and asks the hard question: does this in...

By the time your team feels like somebody’s watching, they’ve already taken the money and run. Jim McGuire, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Experian Automotive, joined me at NADA a few weeks ago to talk about the rising threat of fraud in auto dealerships. Jim explains that nearly 9 in 10 dealers are concerned about fraud, and about 70% say the problem is growing compared with previous yea...