September 20, 2023 • 30 mins
What if the movements as small as a grain of salt could be detected in vehicles? This week, we take you into the world of sophisticated technology with our esteemed guest, Alex Qi, CEO of Pontosense. Alex gives us an in-depth look at their cutting-edge vehicle sensors capable of picking up movements as tiny as 0.3 millimeters, and shares how these precise measurements can offer vital insights into driver safety. However, it’s not all just tech talk - we also address the important ethical questions around privacy that emerge with such advancements.
In a dramatic shift, we'll leave no stone unturned in our exploration of the humble but critical, brake fluid. We'll guide you through its vital role as a force multiplier and unravel the mystery behind its ability to withstand sweltering temperatures. Delving into the nitty-gritty, we debate the differences between DOT 3 and DOT 4 fluids and the consequences of mixing the two. Plus, we ensure you're in the know with the top manufacturers' recommendations for changing brake fluid and clutch fluid.
Finally, we wholeheartedly invite you to join the In Wheel Time car talk community. Every Saturday from 8 to 11 am Central, we go live to bring you a blend of insightful automotive guest interviews, new car reviews, popular features like Konrad's car clinic, and a trip down memory lane with 'This Week In Auto History'. It’s all happening on InWheelTime.com, the iHeart app and on YouTube. So come on over, we’re ready to welcome you to our automotive car talk family!
Be sure to subscribe for more In Wheel Time Car Talk!
The Lupe' Tortilla RestaurantsLupe Tortilla in Katy, Texas
Gulf Coast Auto Shield
Paint protection, tint, and more!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
---- -----
Want more In Wheel Time car talk any time?
In Wheel Time is now available on Audacy!
Just go to Audacy.com/InWheelTime where ever you are.
----- -----
Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast provider for the next episode of In Wheel Time Podcast and check out our live multiplatform broadcast every Saturday, 10a - 12noonCT simulcasting on Audacy, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch and InWheelTime.com.
In Wheel Time Podcast can be heard on you mobile device from providers such as:
Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music Podcast, Spotify, SiriusXM Podcast, iHeartRadio podcast, TuneIn + Alexa, Podcast Addict, Castro, Castbox, YouTube Podcast and more on your mobile device.
Follow InWheelTime.com for the latest updates!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/InWheelTime
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inwheeltime/
https://www.youtube.com/inwheeltime
https://www.Facebook.com/InWheelTime
For more information about In Wheel Time Car Talk, email us at
info@inwheeltime.com
Tags: In Wheel Time, automotive car talk show, car talk, Live car talk show, In Wheel Time Car Talk
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to another In-Wheel Time Podcast, a 30
minute mini version of theIn-Wheel Time Car Show that airs
live every Saturday morning 8to 11am.
Central Podcast Channel Livefrom Studio A.
It's the In-Wheel Time Car TalkShow Coming up.
We speak with CEO of Ponto Sets, a company that develops
(00:27):
sensors for your vehicle.
Conrad's going to have theIn-Wheel Time Car Clinic and
will have this week's Auto NewsHowdy, along with Mike out of
this world, Mars King, ConradDeLong.
We always need more.
Jeff Zekin.
I'm Don Armstrong.
Glad you could join us on thisSaturday, Boy.
(00:47):
We had some big thunderstormshere yesterday.
I didn't need it, though.
Not here, not here, but about amile from here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, I didn't get a drop.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Not a drop.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I got a little bit of a drop in the office up in the
woodlands got hammered.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, got nothing.
Alex, how do you pronounce yourlast name?
Good morning guys.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
How do you pronounce your last name?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, it's pronounced chi Chi, Like the energy inside
the body.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, chi, even though it's spelled QI.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, they made it complicated on purpose, I'm sure
.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So, alex, accomplished, visionary industry
leader with relentless passionfor revolutionizing the
automotive landscape, chiefexecutive officer at Pontos
Sents, tell us what Pontos Sentsis and how you started this
thing.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
First of all, I hope you guysare staying dry.
I know what it feels like to bein a thunderstorm.
Yeah, it's always pleasant.
Yeah, exactly, but we focus onin cabin safety.
So we built a sensor that canmeasure movements.
If you believe they're not assmall as a heartbeat.
So just for those keeping signsat home there, it's 0.2 to 0.3
(02:08):
millimeters that we can measureand for reference, they're grain
of salt is 0.3 millimeters.
So we're measuring movements onyour body as small as 0.3
millimeters in a vibratingenvironment from maybe a meter
or so away.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
This is truly amazing .
I had no clue.
So what would you use a sensorfor something like that for?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, it's a great question because there's a use
case right now and there's alsoa use case that they're looking
at going forward.
The use case right now isreally a safety use case, right,
so it's like an airbag kind ofsafety device.
But the issue in the States isthat a child every week on
average dies from being leftalone on a hard car.
Yes, absolutely Right.
This is a big issue that I'msure you guys have heard a lot
(02:51):
about.
So we are the first sensor inthe world to be able to pass
Euro-Incap regulations forin-cap and safety for child left
behind.
But the interesting thing for alot of these OEMs going forward
is going to be what thistechnology can really bring as
an addition, and that's reallyaround a lot of driver
(03:12):
monitoring, passenger monitoring.
By analyzing the metrics withinvital signs, you can understand
your drowsiness, motionsickness, alcohol consumption,
things like that.
But it's really meant to keepyou safe.
So this is integrated intosystems that allow, for example,
a telecommunications company toreach out to me and say, hey,
(03:34):
listen, are you okay to drive?
Well, we'll keep an eye on you.
So something does happen, we'llget someone out there as soon
as we can.
So these are just safetyfeatures going forward that OEMs
that we work with are lookinginto.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well, you know, one of the first things that comes
to my mind is the fact thatthere's a lot of bad PR right
now about you know, big brotherlooking over your shoulder and
all of the information that thecar is giving manufacturers or
the government or whoever it isthat has access to this stuff.
But let me just say this I flyon a helicopter pretty much
(04:09):
every day and I will tell youthat in a helicopter I want
somebody looking after me andthe ramifications of the
information that your carsupplies is pertinent to me.
That you have information beingsent somewhere about your
behavior behind the wheel.
If you're drunk, I don't wantto be anywhere around you.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, just because they're sensing you doesn't mean
you're not impacting others,right?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And everybody takes it so personally.
But when you get behind thewheel of a vehicle of any kind,
you're putting everybody else atrisk, in jeopardy, based on
your behavior, and that's whereyou guys come in.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Absolutely.
I think also, just to add ontop of that, right, the other
way they're doing it alreadytoday is with cameras and listen
.
Like you know, I sing in thecar and probably do do even
weirder things in the car.
So you want to have a privacybecause I don't care if it's you
or somebody else, right, I justcare that somebody behind the
wheel is going through something, and there's a lot of things
(05:10):
that that car comes out do today, like you know I think you know
on star and those type ofthings as well, so that will
check in on you.
Just make sure you're safe.
I think that's really the mainthing.
I'd rather have something checkin on me that's privacy
protecting, then somethingthat's going to record my audio
and video at the same time.
So I think you're absolutelyright.
It's keeping yourself safe,it's keeping other people safe
(05:31):
and and that's kind of wherethings are going, especially as
art becomes autonomous right, ifyou hand back and in L three
type of vehicle on the highwayand you know your, your emotions
sick, like, like crazy, are yougoing to be able to take back
that control?
Those are just different thingsthat OEMs are aware of these
days.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, because I don't think that most people realize
that cars today are a lotdifferent than they were just a
few years ago.
Oh yeah, and in fact, I'mdriving a car right now.
It's a beautiful car and I'mgoing to review it in a couple
of weeks, but I will tell youthat the car is brand new.
Yeah, I mean, it's only got acouple of thousand miles on it.
However, the technology that'sin the dashboard is old.
(06:12):
I've got two video screens inthere.
One is for the navigation on it, the rest of it is for the
audio infotainment infotainmentsystem down below.
Who does that anymore?
Nobody does that anymore, andthat car is a relatively new car
as far as development isconcerned.
So things moving along at areally fast pace.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Well and think about it.
You have car manufacturers thatare advertising oh, take your
hands off the steering wheel andlet the car drive for you.
You know, and now you knowyou're not active.
And that's where your sensorsare going to come in, as far as
you know, monitoring who thedriver is and what they're doing
, and are they truly payingattention?
(06:54):
I know the OEMs talk about,yeah, we have these eyelid
sensors out there that are there, they're watching you, but
yours is much more intense levelof monitoring the physical
movement and motion of thepassenger and driver of the
vehicle.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And it doesn't know who you are Like.
It doesn't need to know who youare, right?
I think that's listen.
I'm driving, someone's watchingmy outlets, I'm not feeling
great, right, but really, Ithink also it breaks down to
kind of what these car companiesare looking into, right?
I think you know you mentionedall these technologies going
into vehicles.
I absolutely agree.
You know they only move for twodifferent reasons, right.
(07:33):
They only move because thegovernment tells them to move,
or they move because they can,you know, make more profit,
Right, and you know there's abig push towards multi-use
sensors.
So, instead of having a weightsensor, an airbag sensor, a, you
know, privacy sensor, all thesedifferent things, why don't you
just have one sensor thatcovers everything?
Right?
So that's kind of where, as wedeploy into vehicles and you
(07:57):
know we just, you know, confirmanother 200,000 on the road but
as we deploy more into vehicles,the multi-use piece of it is
really really critical becausethey got to make some money.
And right now you know this ismaybe a timely point, but right
now it's what's happening withthe UAW, of course, and
everything that people areseeing around the country.
(08:18):
You know, profit questions aregoing to come into play and they
can make more money and theycan give some of that money to,
you know, to the unions and theworkers as well.
Then everybody wins in the end.
So profit is a big part of itas well for these large car
companies.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, and in what you're building you just talked
about, is you know why have 17different sensors in a car?
That all kind of trying to doone thing, where that requires
17 different SKUs or 17different part numbers, where
your sensors can be one sensorthat's going to be able to do
(08:53):
multiple tasks, that andeliminate those other 17 that
are in the car, simplify it inproduction, simplify it in
inventory as well.
There's a cost savings to theOEMs on that.
Are you already working withsome of the OEMs?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
We launched in Europe first astheir first market.
There's a bunch of EVs workingwith the there as well.
The ICEs are just, you know, acouple of years behind, but
they'll get there as well.
You know we're doing about200,000.
There's a bunch of you knowmetrics now that we're
estimating how many lives we'vesaved with this technology in
terms of children, things likethat as well.
So we're actually, you know,absolutely hoping to do more,
(09:34):
and you know the entireproduction process and
automotive used to be like fiveto seven years.
Right, they used to plan forlike a model in like 2030 or
something, but now theyshortened that to about one to
two years.
So you will see a lot of theseyou know, life saving, child
saving, driver saving type oftechnology in the market sooner
than later.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
What are you working on today?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Today we're building a lot of AI into the system.
So what we mean by that is wecollect a lot of your vitals,
again, all anonymous, allprivacy protected, all locally
stored.
We don't use cloud computing,we don't use any of that kind of
stuff, so it's all kind ofhoused within the vehicle itself
.
But if I tell you you're aheartbeat, that's not going to
(10:18):
give you any information.
Right, I need to tell you moreabout hey, are you at risk for a
certain type of accident?
I think that's something thatwe are actively working on here
in Ontario.
We've got a couple of officesin Toronto, in London, ontario,
in Waterloo, and also with ourAI lab in Tokyo.
It's all kind of putting thesepieces together where you know,
(10:38):
instead of saying yourheartbeat's 65, that doesn't
tell you anything.
But let me tell you hey, youhave a 30% chance that you're
going to fall asleep in the nexttwo hours if you keep on on
those drives, and that's kind ofwhat that predictive analysis
is going to be able to bring.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So how do you get to that?
I mean, I understand that yoursensors are much more attuned to
what's going on.
I mean I'm envisioning youactually being able to tell if I
stop breathing behind the wheel, I mean because my chest isn't
moving, or anything like that.
So if I just held my breath youwould pick it up, but you
wouldn't know exactly why and Icould see that maybe, ok, this
(11:17):
guy's not breathing, so I'mgoing to get some, I'm going to
shut the car down or I'm goingto do something to kind of help
that situation.
Is that kind of what you'retalking?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
You could be talking, and that's also.
You can't breathe and talk atthe same time.
So there's different reasonswhy you're doing those things.
But I'll tell you guys, the thehonest transparency is that the
key metric you're looking at issomething called HRV.
So HRV stands for heart ratevariability, it's the time and
space between each heartbeat andthat's in humans, that's the
fight or flight response.
(11:46):
So, to answer your question,we're looking at a bunch of
different metrics and then Ikind of you know tune it to like
WebMD is that you could be notbreathing for a lot of different
reasons.
Some of the reasons are goodreasons.
Right, you're, you know you're,you're relaxed, you're talking,
you're having a conversation,you're not breathing.
But as you go down thosedifferent things we can send,
(12:06):
then start to narrow down andunderstand again at a very high
level what is something thatcould be a potential risk in the
vehicle.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So your sensor could pick up somebody who's having a
heart attack?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
We technically, yes, but we would not use that as a
use case because for a lot ofcar companies that's a little
bit risky.
I think that's coming down thepipeline, that that's in the
roadmap, but it's not somethingwe're doing the next couple of
years just because, as you canprobably imagine, that's
something that is going to cause, you know, quite a bit of risk
for the car companies.
(12:39):
What we're doing for the firstone I'll give you the exact use
case.
It's going to be stress andcomfort.
You've had a rough day.
You're coming back from theoffice, you're not feeling great
.
You know your heartbeat, hrvall these different measures we
have are a little bit off.
Let us turn on that.
You know whirlpool seating inyour Porsche vehicle and you're
going to have a nicer ride homethan you did when you're at the
office.
(13:01):
I think that's the first stage.
Is that comfort level, safetylevel, and then you get into
more about that drowsiness,attention, cognitive attention,
alcohol detection.
In some states, maybe you knoweven marijuana detection as well
.
So those are things that thenagain, you're not feeling great,
you're not stopping the carbecause that's very dangerous,
but you're letting somethinglike on-star know, you're
(13:23):
letting something like thosesystems know that, okay, there
might be a risk there.
Let's keep a close eye on thisperson.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
So would you incorporate this with any of the
insurance?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
companies.
That is part of it.
That is part of it, and I thinkyou know there is, I would say,
a tug of war right now in thisindustry I'm sure you guys have
heard it as well is previouslywe got our insurance from all
state, state farm, you know,farmers, all these different
insurance companies.
But looking forward, in thefuture you may be getting your
insurance from Ford and GM, andthere's a reason for that and
(13:56):
there's a way that they're goingto work together with the
insurance companies to make thathappen.
But these are things where youknow we are not a company that's
going to impact that ourselvesdirectly.
They have their own plans.
But I really think that youneed to see your premiums go
down.
There is a case study that cameout where you know, if you
(14:17):
switch to an OEM based insurance, your insurance could decrease
by as much as 40% every singlemonth, which is nice to have.
Oh yeah, absolutely so.
I think you know there is thisdanger.
I'm concerned, people areconcerned that your insurance
are going to go up because, hey,you know you're constantly
stressed when you're driving andthat may be causing your
(14:38):
insurance to go up, and thenthose are things that you know
we as an organization, want tomake sure that we're capturing
again.
It's, you know, potentiallyprivate and anonymous, so that
it doesn't know it's you as welland you can keep those rates a
little bit lower as well goingforward.
It's all about repair coststimely.
I live in Canada, guys.
I mean we have a lot of snowhere.
I crashed my tires, took me amonth to get new tires, so so,
(15:00):
insurance wise, I think you'llsee a streamlining of that
industry in the next, you know,five to 10 years.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Wow, I mean, the ramifications of that knowledge
are unbelievable.
We're talking about Jetsonskind of stuff here.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Absolutely.
I mean, besides the flying carsand the and the talking dogs
Absolutely, I think this iswhere we're going Right.
So you got to keep people safe.
You got to keep people safe andyou can't shut down cars.
You can't make cars not notstart because they're the
defective alcohol in the vehicle.
These cannot have those thingshappen, because there was a case
(15:35):
, I think you know, a couple ofyears ago, where someone was
assaulted and she ran into thevehicle and try to get the
vehicle to start and it wouldn'tstart because it detected
something.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Those are just cases, you can't have that.
They also have the vehiclesthat you can't start unless you
have a breathalyzer test, those,those that's on the other side
of that, though, that's a courtorder thing.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Right Right Right.
Do you ever watch Cujo?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So.
So, right now, your, yourmarket is Occupant detection in
the rear of the vehicle.
That's kind of where you'reselling at the moment.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
That is what the house on fire problem is going
to be right.
In the US it's going to come in2025, probably after the 2024
election, but in Europe it'salready happening.
In China, in Japan and aroundthe world it's already happening
as well.
So to your point there, that'slike the government mandated
house on fire.
You've got to have this goingforward type of situation.
(16:34):
But these car comes there smart.
They're run by reallyintelligent people.
So they're thinking okay, I'llput this in if you want, but I
want to do other things as well.
And that's kind of where wetalk about this aspect of driver
safety and monitoring as well.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Interesting.
There's all kinds of questionsyou want to ask.
Well, again, you mentionedprivacy a couple of times.
I understand the safety aspectsto make sure that there's no
children or somebody left in theback seat, and I'm not sure how
that works.
But I don't need to know how, Ijust know that it works.
(17:09):
But there was an example on oneof the news shows here recently
about stuff that people did intheir back seat of their car and
how it might be considered tobe a privacy issue.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, yeah, I believe that it was Tesla that was
spying on people having sex inthe back of their car.
They were showing it to thepeople that they weren't.
Hey, man, come over here andcheck this out.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah see what this couple is doing yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, so that's what he's talking about all the
privacy issues and the concernsabout that.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Yeah, I don't want any of my video recorded.
I don't want any of my audiorecorded, frankly.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So the children's car ?
It's almost like DavidHasselhoff and you're turning
the car into kit.
Yeah, you know as far as levelof understanding what the driver
needs and what the passengerneeds are, as well as as the
propulsion of the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
What does?
What does NCAP mean in inEuropean language?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It's a new car assessment program, so it
provides a safety rating for howyou know how how safe your
vehicle is.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Do we have most?
Do we have?
Do we have that here in theUnited States, some something
similar to it?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
We have.
We have American and cap hereat the US.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I see American and cap OK and who, who?
Who controls those regulations?
Is it the government?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I.
There's a bunch of peoplewearing ties over in Washington
and in Detroit making those,making those in demand dates.
So there is a governing bodyfor for those types of things
here in the US.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
So you have to deal with them.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I would say that in this case our interests are
aligned.
I think they also want to keeppeople safe on the road and,
sure you know, in hot vehicles.
So generally they have aguideline.
But what is more, you know,interesting is that actually car
companies have much stricterguidelines than than in cap in
many cases.
So I'll give you, I'll give youan example.
(19:10):
So in in the FDA, right, if youare, if your device can measure
heart rate accurate to plusminus 10 beats per minute, so if
it's 65, really, but yourregistered, between you know, 55
to 75, that is FDA cleared andthat's ready to go.
That's what Apple Watch does,right.
But OEMs, they need plus minusfive, right, they need a much
(19:32):
more accurate system for theirvehicles.
So I would say the in cap isone of those you know hurdles
you have to get through.
But OEMs are really the onesthat setting a much stricter,
you know regulation and they'rerun by very smart people that
have a view on these things thatgo in the future as well.
So so I would say that actuallywe work closer with the OEMs
(19:54):
and the car companies to makesure that we fit what they need
and then, just so happens, we'llalso clear the the in cap
requirements.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Well, Alex, you are truly one of the smartest people
that we've ever had.
A program we're not worthy, butwhere can we find out more
information about Ponto sense?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
You can check out our website at Ponto sensecom, so
that's P O N T O S E N S E dotcom.
We also have an email, socontact at Ponto sensecom as
well.
We'd love to hear from from youguys.
We'd love to hear from from theaudience as well, because I do
think that there is a new eranow of innovation within the US
(20:32):
and automakers and and what'swhat's happening right now with
the UAW and things like that.
I know that's you know tugtugging and pulling in different
strings there, but I do thinkthat there's a really bright
feature for this industry in theUS and we're happy to be a part
of it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
But truly having me on.
Yeah, thank you.
Truly a fascinatingconversation.
We appreciate it.
Let's stay in touch.
Hope to talk to you again soon.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Absolutely.
Folks have a nice day and staydry in the thunderstorm there.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Alex, chief CEO of Ponto sense.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Very cool A look into the future.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, no doubt All right time now on the In-Wheel
Time Car Talk Show for Conrad'scar clinic we're still talking
about fluids, fluids.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You know, last week we talked about transmission
fluid and how the color ispretty important, yes, indicator
of what's going on.
Well, the same thing with brakefluid.
Brake fluid should typically,when it's new, be like an amber
color, you know, very light tan,maybe even to the point of
being clear.
And the reason they use brakefluid is it's what I call a
(21:34):
force multiplier.
You know, if I, if I, it's thephysics of hydraulics.
You know, if I have a two inchpiston and I move it one inch
through a line on the other end,and doesn't matter how far away
it can be, you know, and in acar it could be 12, 14 feet away
you know a one inch piston isgoing to move two inches.
So all that force multiplyingso that when I step on the brake
(21:58):
the brakes happen.
So the fluid's a critical portof how that functions.
You know, you want to make surethat the fluid is clean, you
want to make sure that thefluid's not contaminated.
Brake fluid itself ishygroscopic.
It's always wanting to absorb alittle bit of moisture.
So opening and closing yourbrake cap all the time is a bad
(22:19):
thing to do because just alittle bit of humidity in there
can impact.
That Brake fluid has to notjust transmit hydraulic force,
it also has to withstand prettyhigh amounts of heat.
You know, if you think about apickup truck pulling off the
highway, coming up to a stopsign, those brake rotors could
be six, seven, 800 degrees hotand they're you know they're
(22:42):
inches away from four or fiveounces of brake fluid inside
your caliper, so that radiatingheat is going to generate the
heat inside the fluid.
So we talked about we talkedearlier before we got on the air
about DOT 3 fluid.
Department of Transportation.
Standard 3, that's DOT 3, is aboiling point of 400 degrees.
(23:06):
So the fluid, when it boils,that becomes a problem because
now all of a sudden we'veintroduced air pockets in the
brake fluid and that's wherethat spongy pedal comes.
The other problem is once itstarts to absorb moisture you
know what happens to water at212 degrees it turns to steam.
(23:27):
Now that steam also creates asoft or a spongy brake pedal.
If you watch your brake fluidcolor, that's going to give you
an indication of when it needsto be replaced.
But manufacturers know what'sgoing on.
Because brake fluid becomes old, it becomes corrosive, and one
(23:47):
of the things brake fluid doesis, as it becomes corrosive, it
begins to leach copper out ofthe inside of the system,
whether it's copper out of theanalog braking system or copper
out of the metalized fuel orbrake lines that are in the
vehicle.
And you see, people will go inwith like a little test strip to
(24:08):
test your brake fluid.
They're actually measuring theparts per million of copper.
You know, the funny thing is,you know Honda cars when their
brake fluid gets old it turnsgreen.
What color does copper turnwhen it corrodes?
Green.
So it's a good indication thatyour brake fluid needs to be
changed when it starts to turngreen.
(24:29):
But different manufacturers tellyou to change the fluid at
different intervals and I neverreally understand why
everybody's variance.
You know a lot of the Europeanssay every 20,000 to 24,000
miles or every two years.
A lot of the Asian imports willtell you every 30,000 miles.
Gm says every 45,000 miles youshould change your brake fluid.
(24:53):
Ford doesn't ever tell you tochange your brake fluid at all.
Mopar doesn't ever tell you tochange your brake fluid at all.
They all basically use a verysimilar fluid.
So as the fluid ages it needsto be changed.
What's?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
the difference between regular, like a DOT 3,
and silicone fluid, and can youmix the two?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You cannot mix the two at all.
Silicone fluid is going to havea boiling temperature generally
north of 600 degrees.
Dot 3 is the factory fill for99% of the vehicles out there.
And then there's also a DOT 4fluid which has a boiling point
above 500 degrees.
So the DOT 4 fluid.
(25:34):
You really don't see that asfactory fill anywhere.
But there's a lot of placesthat will put DOT 4 fluid which
is totally interchangeable withDOT 3.
But silicone brake fluid reallydoes not exist from an OEM.
That's purely on a race car andyou know we can talk to Richard
how often does he change brakefluid?
(25:55):
Probably every time he races acar he puts fresh brake fluid in
it.
Why?
Because he has to depend on thefluid doing what it's designed
to do.
So you always want to havefresh, new, fortified fluid
inside the vehicle.
So again, amber, light ambercolor is normal.
As it begins to darken, it'stime to think about it.
(26:16):
If it gets black you shouldhave replaced it already, and
it'll get so black it'll stainthe inside of the reservoir and
once that happens, the only wayto clean that reservoir is
basically to replace it.
There's no, you can't put anycleaner inside of a brake fluid,
brake fluid.
You don't want to intermix withanything at all because it'll
affect its performance.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Wow, very interesting .
Yeah, so I'm glad that I had myCorvette brake fluid changed a
couple of years ago.
That never had been in thecar's 20 years old.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And with that you also have the clutch fluid.
You know, in a manualtransmission with a hydraulic
clutch that's basically brakefluid that's in there.
That's also exposed to prettyhigh temperatures down there at
the clutch.
So you want to make sure you'rechanging that clutch fluid.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Well, I just want to change the clutch, so with the
clutch change, there goes thefluid, and now it's got a little
valve down there that it didn'thave before.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
That makes it easier to change the fluid Right.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, fluid, very good.
Thank you, fluid valve.
Okay, time now for a quickbreak and then we'll start the
top of the next hour.
Our next guest is already hereand standing by, so stay with us
.
Quick break on the Inwheel Timecar talk show.
The original group of loopytortilla restaurants will have
you telling your family andfriends just what the original
recipes mean when it comes tothe best fajitas in Southeast
(27:41):
Texas.
Founder Stan Holt invite you tovisit the original loopy
tortilla near I-10 at Highway 6.
Here's the original house thatinspired the design of all the
rest and the original charm thathelped make loopy tortilla the
go-to destination for HoustonTex-Mex.
Speaking of original, nothingcan compete with the original
lime pepper marinade.
That everyone will agree makesloopy tortilla award-winning
(28:01):
beef fajitas the best anywhere.
Loopy tortilla Katie is anotherlocation that gives you the same
quality and service Houstonianshave come to expect at loopies.
It's located just off I-10 inthe Grand Parkway.
At Kingsland Boulevard in Katie, find yourself an Aggie land.
Head to the loopy tortillacollege station, located just
around the corner from KyleField.
It's a great place to enjoythose famous frozen margaritas
before or after the game.
(28:22):
Head to East, to Louisiana.
Stop in at the loopy tortillain Beaumont it twos on I-10.
You can't miss it.
The original group of loopytortilla restaurants invites you
in for the best Tex-Mex.
Anywhere.
You own a car you love, but whynot let Gulf Coast Auto Shield
protect it?
Houstonian John Gray invitesyou to his state-of-the-art
facility to introduce you to hisspecialist team of auto
(28:42):
enthusiasts.
We promise you'll be impressed.
Whether you're looking tomassage your original paint to a
like-new appearance, apply aceramic coating, install a paint
protection film, nanoceramicwindow tint or new windshield
protection called ExoShield,gulf Coast Auto Shield is where
Houston's car people go.
Curb your wheels.
Instead of buying new, why nothave them repaired?
(29:03):
How about a professionallyinstalled radar detector?
Gulf Coast Auto Shield doesthat too.
Get a peek inside the shop andlook at the services offered by
getting online and heading toGCautoshieldcom.
Better yet, stop by theirfacility at 11275 South Sam
Houston Tullway, just south ofthe Southwest Freeway, and get a
personal tour.
Gulf Coast Auto Shield is yourplace to go for all things
(29:24):
exterior.
Call them today, 832-930-5655,or GCautoshieldcom.
The award-winning In Wheel Timecar talk show is available on
the most popular podcastchannels out there in 30-minute
episodes.
We realize our three-hour liveshow can be difficult to catch
in its entirety.
So now you can listen every dayto a convenient, fresh
(29:44):
30-minute episode.
Check us out on Apple Podcasts,spotify, google Podcasts,
amazon Music and Audible, alongwith a dozen more.
In Wheel Time has the mostinformative automotive guest
interviews and new car reviews,along with popular features
including Conrad's car clinicand this week in auto history,
along with automotive newsheadlines.
Our live broadcast airs everySaturday, 8 to 11, central on
(30:05):
InWheelTimecom, the iHeart appand on YouTube.
Be sure to say hello when we'rebroadcasting from the tailpipes
and tacos cruise in AutoRamaand the Houston Auto Show, among
others.
Now it's easier than ever tohear about all things automotive
all week long.
You're invited to join fellowcar enthusiasts in becoming part
of the ever-growing In WheelTime car talk family.
Don't forget those 30-minutepodcast episodes on your
(30:28):
favorite podcast channel.
That's it for this podcastepisode of the In Wheel Time car
show.
I'm Don Armstrong, inviting youto join us for our live show
every Saturday morning 8 to 11am, central on Facebook, youtube
, twitch and our InWheelTimecomwebsite.
Podcasts are available on ApplePodcasts, spotify, stitcher,
(30:48):
iheart Podcast, podcast, addict,tunein, pandora and the In
Wheel Time car show.
Welcome to another In-Wheel Time Podcast, a 30
minute mini version of theIn-Wheel Time Car Show that airs
live every Saturday morning 8to 11am.
Central Podcast Channel Livefrom Studio A.
It's the In-Wheel Time Car TalkShow Coming up.
We speak with CEO of Ponto Sets, a company that develops
(00:27):
sensors for your vehicle.
Conrad's going to have theIn-Wheel Time Car Clinic and
will have this week's Auto NewsHowdy, along with Mike out of
this world, Mars King, ConradDeLong.
We always need more.
Jeff Zekin.
I'm Don Armstrong.
Glad you could join us on thisSaturday, Boy.
(00:47):
We had some big thunderstormshere yesterday.
I didn't need it, though.
Not here, not here, but about amile from here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, I didn't get a drop.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Not a drop.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I got a little bit of a drop in the office up in the
woodlands got hammered.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, got nothing.
Alex, how do you pronounce yourlast name?
Good morning guys.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
How do you pronounce your last name?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, it's pronounced chi Chi, Like the energy inside
the body.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, chi, even though it's spelled QI.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Well, they made it complicated on purpose, I'm sure
.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So, alex, accomplished, visionary industry
leader with relentless passionfor revolutionizing the
automotive landscape, chiefexecutive officer at Pontos
Sents, tell us what Pontos Sentsis and how you started this
thing.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
First of all, I hope you guysare staying dry.
I know what it feels like to bein a thunderstorm.
Yeah, it's always pleasant.
Yeah, exactly, but we focus onin cabin safety.
So we built a sensor that canmeasure movements.
If you believe they're not assmall as a heartbeat.
So just for those keeping signsat home there, it's 0.2 to 0.3
(02:08):
millimeters that we can measureand for reference, they're grain
of salt is 0.3 millimeters.
So we're measuring movements onyour body as small as 0.3
millimeters in a vibratingenvironment from maybe a meter
or so away.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
This is truly amazing .
I had no clue.
So what would you use a sensorfor something like that for?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, it's a great question because there's a use
case right now and there's alsoa use case that they're looking
at going forward.
The use case right now isreally a safety use case, right,
so it's like an airbag kind ofsafety device.
But the issue in the States isthat a child every week on
average dies from being leftalone on a hard car.
Yes, absolutely Right.
This is a big issue that I'msure you guys have heard a lot
(02:51):
about.
So we are the first sensor inthe world to be able to pass
Euro-Incap regulations forin-cap and safety for child left
behind.
But the interesting thing for alot of these OEMs going forward
is going to be what thistechnology can really bring as
an addition, and that's reallyaround a lot of driver
(03:12):
monitoring, passenger monitoring.
By analyzing the metrics withinvital signs, you can understand
your drowsiness, motionsickness, alcohol consumption,
things like that.
But it's really meant to keepyou safe.
So this is integrated intosystems that allow, for example,
a telecommunications company toreach out to me and say, hey,
(03:34):
listen, are you okay to drive?
Well, we'll keep an eye on you.
So something does happen, we'llget someone out there as soon
as we can.
So these are just safetyfeatures going forward that OEMs
that we work with are lookinginto.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well, you know, one of the first things that comes
to my mind is the fact thatthere's a lot of bad PR right
now about you know, big brotherlooking over your shoulder and
all of the information that thecar is giving manufacturers or
the government or whoever it isthat has access to this stuff.
But let me just say this I flyon a helicopter pretty much
(04:09):
every day and I will tell youthat in a helicopter I want
somebody looking after me andthe ramifications of the
information that your carsupplies is pertinent to me.
That you have information beingsent somewhere about your
behavior behind the wheel.
If you're drunk, I don't wantto be anywhere around you.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, just because they're sensing you doesn't mean
you're not impacting others,right?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And everybody takes it so personally.
But when you get behind thewheel of a vehicle of any kind,
you're putting everybody else atrisk, in jeopardy, based on
your behavior, and that's whereyou guys come in.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Absolutely.
I think also, just to add ontop of that, right, the other
way they're doing it alreadytoday is with cameras and listen
.
Like you know, I sing in thecar and probably do do even
weirder things in the car.
So you want to have a privacybecause I don't care if it's you
or somebody else, right, I justcare that somebody behind the
wheel is going through something, and there's a lot of things
(05:10):
that that car comes out do today, like you know I think you know
on star and those type ofthings as well, so that will
check in on you.
Just make sure you're safe.
I think that's really the mainthing.
I'd rather have something checkin on me that's privacy
protecting, then somethingthat's going to record my audio
and video at the same time.
So I think you're absolutelyright.
It's keeping yourself safe,it's keeping other people safe
(05:31):
and and that's kind of wherethings are going, especially as
art becomes autonomous right, ifyou hand back and in L three
type of vehicle on the highwayand you know your, your emotions
sick, like, like crazy, are yougoing to be able to take back
that control?
Those are just different thingsthat OEMs are aware of these
days.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, because I don't think that most people realize
that cars today are a lotdifferent than they were just a
few years ago.
Oh yeah, and in fact, I'mdriving a car right now.
It's a beautiful car and I'mgoing to review it in a couple
of weeks, but I will tell youthat the car is brand new.
Yeah, I mean, it's only got acouple of thousand miles on it.
However, the technology that'sin the dashboard is old.
(06:12):
I've got two video screens inthere.
One is for the navigation on it, the rest of it is for the
audio infotainment infotainmentsystem down below.
Who does that anymore?
Nobody does that anymore, andthat car is a relatively new car
as far as development isconcerned.
So things moving along at areally fast pace.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Well and think about it.
You have car manufacturers thatare advertising oh, take your
hands off the steering wheel andlet the car drive for you.
You know, and now you knowyou're not active.
And that's where your sensorsare going to come in, as far as
you know, monitoring who thedriver is and what they're doing
, and are they truly payingattention?
(06:54):
I know the OEMs talk about,yeah, we have these eyelid
sensors out there that are there, they're watching you, but
yours is much more intense levelof monitoring the physical
movement and motion of thepassenger and driver of the
vehicle.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And it doesn't know who you are Like.
It doesn't need to know who youare, right?
I think that's listen.
I'm driving, someone's watchingmy outlets, I'm not feeling
great, right, but really, Ithink also it breaks down to
kind of what these car companiesare looking into, right?
I think you know you mentionedall these technologies going
into vehicles.
I absolutely agree.
You know they only move for twodifferent reasons, right.
(07:33):
They only move because thegovernment tells them to move,
or they move because they can,you know, make more profit,
Right, and you know there's abig push towards multi-use
sensors.
So, instead of having a weightsensor, an airbag sensor, a, you
know, privacy sensor, all thesedifferent things, why don't you
just have one sensor thatcovers everything?
Right?
So that's kind of where, as wedeploy into vehicles and you
(07:57):
know we just, you know, confirmanother 200,000 on the road but
as we deploy more into vehicles,the multi-use piece of it is
really really critical becausethey got to make some money.
And right now you know this ismaybe a timely point, but right
now it's what's happening withthe UAW, of course, and
everything that people areseeing around the country.
(08:18):
You know, profit questions aregoing to come into play and they
can make more money and theycan give some of that money to,
you know, to the unions and theworkers as well.
Then everybody wins in the end.
So profit is a big part of itas well for these large car
companies.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, and in what you're building you just talked
about, is you know why have 17different sensors in a car?
That all kind of trying to doone thing, where that requires
17 different SKUs or 17different part numbers, where
your sensors can be one sensorthat's going to be able to do
(08:53):
multiple tasks, that andeliminate those other 17 that
are in the car, simplify it inproduction, simplify it in
inventory as well.
There's a cost savings to theOEMs on that.
Are you already working withsome of the OEMs?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
We launched in Europe first astheir first market.
There's a bunch of EVs workingwith the there as well.
The ICEs are just, you know, acouple of years behind, but
they'll get there as well.
You know we're doing about200,000.
There's a bunch of you knowmetrics now that we're
estimating how many lives we'vesaved with this technology in
terms of children, things likethat as well.
So we're actually, you know,absolutely hoping to do more,
(09:34):
and you know the entireproduction process and
automotive used to be like fiveto seven years.
Right, they used to plan forlike a model in like 2030 or
something, but now theyshortened that to about one to
two years.
So you will see a lot of theseyou know, life saving, child
saving, driver saving type oftechnology in the market sooner
than later.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
What are you working on today?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Today we're building a lot of AI into the system.
So what we mean by that is wecollect a lot of your vitals,
again, all anonymous, allprivacy protected, all locally
stored.
We don't use cloud computing,we don't use any of that kind of
stuff, so it's all kind ofhoused within the vehicle itself
.
But if I tell you you're aheartbeat, that's not going to
(10:18):
give you any information.
Right, I need to tell you moreabout hey, are you at risk for a
certain type of accident?
I think that's something thatwe are actively working on here
in Ontario.
We've got a couple of officesin Toronto, in London, ontario,
in Waterloo, and also with ourAI lab in Tokyo.
It's all kind of putting thesepieces together where you know,
(10:38):
instead of saying yourheartbeat's 65, that doesn't
tell you anything.
But let me tell you hey, youhave a 30% chance that you're
going to fall asleep in the nexttwo hours if you keep on on
those drives, and that's kind ofwhat that predictive analysis
is going to be able to bring.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So how do you get to that?
I mean, I understand that yoursensors are much more attuned to
what's going on.
I mean I'm envisioning youactually being able to tell if I
stop breathing behind the wheel, I mean because my chest isn't
moving, or anything like that.
So if I just held my breath youwould pick it up, but you
wouldn't know exactly why and Icould see that maybe, ok, this
(11:17):
guy's not breathing, so I'mgoing to get some, I'm going to
shut the car down or I'm goingto do something to kind of help
that situation.
Is that kind of what you'retalking?
Speaker 3 (11:26):
You could be talking, and that's also.
You can't breathe and talk atthe same time.
So there's different reasonswhy you're doing those things.
But I'll tell you guys, the thehonest transparency is that the
key metric you're looking at issomething called HRV.
So HRV stands for heart ratevariability, it's the time and
space between each heartbeat andthat's in humans, that's the
fight or flight response.
(11:46):
So, to answer your question,we're looking at a bunch of
different metrics and then Ikind of you know tune it to like
WebMD is that you could be notbreathing for a lot of different
reasons.
Some of the reasons are goodreasons.
Right, you're, you know you're,you're relaxed, you're talking,
you're having a conversation,you're not breathing.
But as you go down thosedifferent things we can send,
(12:06):
then start to narrow down andunderstand again at a very high
level what is something thatcould be a potential risk in the
vehicle.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So your sensor could pick up somebody who's having a
heart attack?
Speaker 3 (12:19):
We technically, yes, but we would not use that as a
use case because for a lot ofcar companies that's a little
bit risky.
I think that's coming down thepipeline, that that's in the
roadmap, but it's not somethingwe're doing the next couple of
years just because, as you canprobably imagine, that's
something that is going to cause, you know, quite a bit of risk
for the car companies.
(12:39):
What we're doing for the firstone I'll give you the exact use
case.
It's going to be stress andcomfort.
You've had a rough day.
You're coming back from theoffice, you're not feeling great
.
You know your heartbeat, hrvall these different measures we
have are a little bit off.
Let us turn on that.
You know whirlpool seating inyour Porsche vehicle and you're
going to have a nicer ride homethan you did when you're at the
office.
(13:01):
I think that's the first stage.
Is that comfort level, safetylevel, and then you get into
more about that drowsiness,attention, cognitive attention,
alcohol detection.
In some states, maybe you knoweven marijuana detection as well
.
So those are things that thenagain, you're not feeling great,
you're not stopping the carbecause that's very dangerous,
but you're letting somethinglike on-star know, you're
(13:23):
letting something like thosesystems know that, okay, there
might be a risk there.
Let's keep a close eye on thisperson.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
So would you incorporate this with any of the
insurance?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
companies.
That is part of it.
That is part of it, and I thinkyou know there is, I would say,
a tug of war right now in thisindustry I'm sure you guys have
heard it as well is previouslywe got our insurance from all
state, state farm, you know,farmers, all these different
insurance companies.
But looking forward, in thefuture you may be getting your
insurance from Ford and GM, andthere's a reason for that and
(13:56):
there's a way that they're goingto work together with the
insurance companies to make thathappen.
But these are things where youknow we are not a company that's
going to impact that ourselvesdirectly.
They have their own plans.
But I really think that youneed to see your premiums go
down.
There is a case study that cameout where you know, if you
(14:17):
switch to an OEM based insurance, your insurance could decrease
by as much as 40% every singlemonth, which is nice to have.
Oh yeah, absolutely so.
I think you know there is thisdanger.
I'm concerned, people areconcerned that your insurance
are going to go up because, hey,you know you're constantly
stressed when you're driving andthat may be causing your
(14:38):
insurance to go up, and thenthose are things that you know
we as an organization, want tomake sure that we're capturing
again.
It's, you know, potentiallyprivate and anonymous, so that
it doesn't know it's you as welland you can keep those rates a
little bit lower as well goingforward.
It's all about repair coststimely.
I live in Canada, guys.
I mean we have a lot of snowhere.
I crashed my tires, took me amonth to get new tires, so so,
(15:00):
insurance wise, I think you'llsee a streamlining of that
industry in the next, you know,five to 10 years.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Wow, I mean, the ramifications of that knowledge
are unbelievable.
We're talking about Jetsonskind of stuff here.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Absolutely.
I mean, besides the flying carsand the and the talking dogs
Absolutely, I think this iswhere we're going Right.
So you got to keep people safe.
You got to keep people safe andyou can't shut down cars.
You can't make cars not notstart because they're the
defective alcohol in the vehicle.
These cannot have those thingshappen, because there was a case
(15:35):
, I think you know, a couple ofyears ago, where someone was
assaulted and she ran into thevehicle and try to get the
vehicle to start and it wouldn'tstart because it detected
something.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Those are just cases, you can't have that.
They also have the vehiclesthat you can't start unless you
have a breathalyzer test, those,those that's on the other side
of that, though, that's a courtorder thing.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Right Right Right.
Do you ever watch Cujo?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So.
So, right now, your, yourmarket is Occupant detection in
the rear of the vehicle.
That's kind of where you'reselling at the moment.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
That is what the house on fire problem is going
to be right.
In the US it's going to come in2025, probably after the 2024
election, but in Europe it'salready happening.
In China, in Japan and aroundthe world it's already happening
as well.
So to your point there, that'slike the government mandated
house on fire.
You've got to have this goingforward type of situation.
(16:34):
But these car comes there smart.
They're run by reallyintelligent people.
So they're thinking okay, I'llput this in if you want, but I
want to do other things as well.
And that's kind of where wetalk about this aspect of driver
safety and monitoring as well.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Interesting.
There's all kinds of questionsyou want to ask.
Well, again, you mentionedprivacy a couple of times.
I understand the safety aspectsto make sure that there's no
children or somebody left in theback seat, and I'm not sure how
that works.
But I don't need to know how, Ijust know that it works.
(17:09):
But there was an example on oneof the news shows here recently
about stuff that people did intheir back seat of their car and
how it might be considered tobe a privacy issue.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, yeah, I believe that it was Tesla that was
spying on people having sex inthe back of their car.
They were showing it to thepeople that they weren't.
Hey, man, come over here andcheck this out.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah see what this couple is doing yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yeah, so that's what he's talking about all the
privacy issues and the concernsabout that.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Yeah, I don't want any of my video recorded.
I don't want any of my audiorecorded, frankly.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
So the children's car ?
It's almost like DavidHasselhoff and you're turning
the car into kit.
Yeah, you know as far as levelof understanding what the driver
needs and what the passengerneeds are, as well as as the
propulsion of the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
What does?
What does NCAP mean in inEuropean language?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
It's a new car assessment program, so it
provides a safety rating for howyou know how how safe your
vehicle is.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Do we have most?
Do we have?
Do we have that here in theUnited States, some something
similar to it?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
We have.
We have American and cap hereat the US.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I see American and cap OK and who, who?
Who controls those regulations?
Is it the government?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
I.
There's a bunch of peoplewearing ties over in Washington
and in Detroit making those,making those in demand dates.
So there is a governing bodyfor for those types of things
here in the US.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
So you have to deal with them.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
I would say that in this case our interests are
aligned.
I think they also want to keeppeople safe on the road and,
sure you know, in hot vehicles.
So generally they have aguideline.
But what is more, you know,interesting is that actually car
companies have much stricterguidelines than than in cap in
many cases.
So I'll give you, I'll give youan example.
(19:10):
So in in the FDA, right, if youare, if your device can measure
heart rate accurate to plusminus 10 beats per minute, so if
it's 65, really, but yourregistered, between you know, 55
to 75, that is FDA cleared andthat's ready to go.
That's what Apple Watch does,right.
But OEMs, they need plus minusfive, right, they need a much
(19:32):
more accurate system for theirvehicles.
So I would say the in cap isone of those you know hurdles
you have to get through.
But OEMs are really the onesthat setting a much stricter,
you know regulation and they'rerun by very smart people that
have a view on these things thatgo in the future as well.
So so I would say that actuallywe work closer with the OEMs
(19:54):
and the car companies to makesure that we fit what they need
and then, just so happens, we'llalso clear the the in cap
requirements.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Well, Alex, you are truly one of the smartest people
that we've ever had.
A program we're not worthy, butwhere can we find out more
information about Ponto sense?
Speaker 3 (20:12):
You can check out our website at Ponto sensecom, so
that's P O N T O S E N S E dotcom.
We also have an email, socontact at Ponto sensecom as
well.
We'd love to hear from from youguys.
We'd love to hear from from theaudience as well, because I do
think that there is a new eranow of innovation within the US
(20:32):
and automakers and and what'swhat's happening right now with
the UAW and things like that.
I know that's you know tugtugging and pulling in different
strings there, but I do thinkthat there's a really bright
feature for this industry in theUS and we're happy to be a part
of it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
But truly having me on.
Yeah, thank you.
Truly a fascinatingconversation.
We appreciate it.
Let's stay in touch.
Hope to talk to you again soon.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Absolutely.
Folks have a nice day and staydry in the thunderstorm there.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Alex, chief CEO of Ponto sense.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Very cool A look into the future.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, no doubt All right time now on the In-Wheel
Time Car Talk Show for Conrad'scar clinic we're still talking
about fluids, fluids.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
You know, last week we talked about transmission
fluid and how the color ispretty important, yes, indicator
of what's going on.
Well, the same thing with brakefluid.
Brake fluid should typically,when it's new, be like an amber
color, you know, very light tan,maybe even to the point of
being clear.
And the reason they use brakefluid is it's what I call a
(21:34):
force multiplier.
You know, if I, if I, it's thephysics of hydraulics.
You know, if I have a two inchpiston and I move it one inch
through a line on the other end,and doesn't matter how far away
it can be, you know, and in acar it could be 12, 14 feet away
you know a one inch piston isgoing to move two inches.
So all that force multiplyingso that when I step on the brake
(21:58):
the brakes happen.
So the fluid's a critical portof how that functions.
You know, you want to make surethat the fluid is clean, you
want to make sure that thefluid's not contaminated.
Brake fluid itself ishygroscopic.
It's always wanting to absorb alittle bit of moisture.
So opening and closing yourbrake cap all the time is a bad
(22:19):
thing to do because just alittle bit of humidity in there
can impact.
That Brake fluid has to notjust transmit hydraulic force,
it also has to withstand prettyhigh amounts of heat.
You know, if you think about apickup truck pulling off the
highway, coming up to a stopsign, those brake rotors could
be six, seven, 800 degrees hotand they're you know they're
(22:42):
inches away from four or fiveounces of brake fluid inside
your caliper, so that radiatingheat is going to generate the
heat inside the fluid.
So we talked about we talkedearlier before we got on the air
about DOT 3 fluid.
Department of Transportation.
Standard 3, that's DOT 3, is aboiling point of 400 degrees.
(23:06):
So the fluid, when it boils,that becomes a problem because
now all of a sudden we'veintroduced air pockets in the
brake fluid and that's wherethat spongy pedal comes.
The other problem is once itstarts to absorb moisture you
know what happens to water at212 degrees it turns to steam.
(23:27):
Now that steam also creates asoft or a spongy brake pedal.
If you watch your brake fluidcolor, that's going to give you
an indication of when it needsto be replaced.
But manufacturers know what'sgoing on.
Because brake fluid becomes old, it becomes corrosive, and one
(23:47):
of the things brake fluid doesis, as it becomes corrosive, it
begins to leach copper out ofthe inside of the system,
whether it's copper out of theanalog braking system or copper
out of the metalized fuel orbrake lines that are in the
vehicle.
And you see, people will go inwith like a little test strip to
(24:08):
test your brake fluid.
They're actually measuring theparts per million of copper.
You know, the funny thing is,you know Honda cars when their
brake fluid gets old it turnsgreen.
What color does copper turnwhen it corrodes?
Green.
So it's a good indication thatyour brake fluid needs to be
changed when it starts to turngreen.
(24:29):
But different manufacturers tellyou to change the fluid at
different intervals and I neverreally understand why
everybody's variance.
You know a lot of the Europeanssay every 20,000 to 24,000
miles or every two years.
A lot of the Asian imports willtell you every 30,000 miles.
Gm says every 45,000 miles youshould change your brake fluid.
(24:53):
Ford doesn't ever tell you tochange your brake fluid at all.
Mopar doesn't ever tell you tochange your brake fluid at all.
They all basically use a verysimilar fluid.
So as the fluid ages it needsto be changed.
What's?
Speaker 1 (25:09):
the difference between regular, like a DOT 3,
and silicone fluid, and can youmix the two?
Speaker 2 (25:13):
You cannot mix the two at all.
Silicone fluid is going to havea boiling temperature generally
north of 600 degrees.
Dot 3 is the factory fill for99% of the vehicles out there.
And then there's also a DOT 4fluid which has a boiling point
above 500 degrees.
So the DOT 4 fluid.
(25:34):
You really don't see that asfactory fill anywhere.
But there's a lot of placesthat will put DOT 4 fluid which
is totally interchangeable withDOT 3.
But silicone brake fluid reallydoes not exist from an OEM.
That's purely on a race car andyou know we can talk to Richard
how often does he change brakefluid?
(25:55):
Probably every time he races acar he puts fresh brake fluid in
it.
Why?
Because he has to depend on thefluid doing what it's designed
to do.
So you always want to havefresh, new, fortified fluid
inside the vehicle.
So again, amber, light ambercolor is normal.
As it begins to darken, it'stime to think about it.
(26:16):
If it gets black you shouldhave replaced it already, and
it'll get so black it'll stainthe inside of the reservoir and
once that happens, the only wayto clean that reservoir is
basically to replace it.
There's no, you can't put anycleaner inside of a brake fluid,
brake fluid.
You don't want to intermix withanything at all because it'll
affect its performance.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Wow, very interesting .
Yeah, so I'm glad that I had myCorvette brake fluid changed a
couple of years ago.
That never had been in thecar's 20 years old.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
And with that you also have the clutch fluid.
You know, in a manualtransmission with a hydraulic
clutch that's basically brakefluid that's in there.
That's also exposed to prettyhigh temperatures down there at
the clutch.
So you want to make sure you'rechanging that clutch fluid.
Speaker 1 (27:06):
Well, I just want to change the clutch, so with the
clutch change, there goes thefluid, and now it's got a little
valve down there that it didn'thave before.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
That makes it easier to change the fluid Right.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Yeah, fluid, very good.
Thank you, fluid valve.
Okay, time now for a quickbreak and then we'll start the
top of the next hour.
Our next guest is already hereand standing by, so stay with us
.
Quick break on the Inwheel Timecar talk show.
The original group of loopytortilla restaurants will have
you telling your family andfriends just what the original
recipes mean when it comes tothe best fajitas in Southeast
(27:41):
Texas.
Founder Stan Holt invite you tovisit the original loopy
tortilla near I-10 at Highway 6.
Here's the original house thatinspired the design of all the
rest and the original charm thathelped make loopy tortilla the
go-to destination for HoustonTex-Mex.
Speaking of original, nothingcan compete with the original
lime pepper marinade.
That everyone will agree makesloopy tortilla award-winning
(28:01):
beef fajitas the best anywhere.
Loopy tortilla Katie is anotherlocation that gives you the same
quality and service Houstonianshave come to expect at loopies.
It's located just off I-10 inthe Grand Parkway.
At Kingsland Boulevard in Katie, find yourself an Aggie land.
Head to the loopy tortillacollege station, located just
around the corner from KyleField.
It's a great place to enjoythose famous frozen margaritas
before or after the game.
(28:22):
Head to East, to Louisiana.
Stop in at the loopy tortillain Beaumont it twos on I-10.
You can't miss it.
The original group of loopytortilla restaurants invites you
in for the best Tex-Mex.
Anywhere.
You own a car you love, but whynot let Gulf Coast Auto Shield
protect it?
Houstonian John Gray invitesyou to his state-of-the-art
facility to introduce you to hisspecialist team of auto
(28:42):
enthusiasts.
We promise you'll be impressed.
Whether you're looking tomassage your original paint to a
like-new appearance, apply aceramic coating, install a paint
protection film, nanoceramicwindow tint or new windshield
protection called ExoShield,gulf Coast Auto Shield is where
Houston's car people go.
Curb your wheels.
Instead of buying new, why nothave them repaired?
(29:03):
How about a professionallyinstalled radar detector?
Gulf Coast Auto Shield doesthat too.
Get a peek inside the shop andlook at the services offered by
getting online and heading toGCautoshieldcom.
Better yet, stop by theirfacility at 11275 South Sam
Houston Tullway, just south ofthe Southwest Freeway, and get a
personal tour.
Gulf Coast Auto Shield is yourplace to go for all things
(29:24):
exterior.
Call them today, 832-930-5655,or GCautoshieldcom.
The award-winning In Wheel Timecar talk show is available on
the most popular podcastchannels out there in 30-minute
episodes.
We realize our three-hour liveshow can be difficult to catch
in its entirety.
So now you can listen every dayto a convenient, fresh
(29:44):
30-minute episode.
Check us out on Apple Podcasts,spotify, google Podcasts,
amazon Music and Audible, alongwith a dozen more.
In Wheel Time has the mostinformative automotive guest
interviews and new car reviews,along with popular features
including Conrad's car clinicand this week in auto history,
along with automotive newsheadlines.
Our live broadcast airs everySaturday, 8 to 11, central on
(30:05):
InWheelTimecom, the iHeart appand on YouTube.
Be sure to say hello when we'rebroadcasting from the tailpipes
and tacos cruise in AutoRamaand the Houston Auto Show, among
others.
Now it's easier than ever tohear about all things automotive
all week long.
You're invited to join fellowcar enthusiasts in becoming part
of the ever-growing In WheelTime car talk family.
Don't forget those 30-minutepodcast episodes on your
(30:28):
favorite podcast channel.
That's it for this podcastepisode of the In Wheel Time car
show.
I'm Don Armstrong, inviting youto join us for our live show
every Saturday morning 8 to 11am, central on Facebook, youtube
, twitch and our InWheelTimecomwebsite.
Podcasts are available on ApplePodcasts, spotify, stitcher,
(30:48):
iheart Podcast, podcast, addict,tunein, pandora and the In
Wheel Time car show.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.