Drop me a text and let me know what you think of this episode!
The autonomous vehicle revolution is happening faster than anyone predicted. Tesla recently made headlines by delivering a Model Y from its Austin factory directly to a customer's home—with no driver, no remote operator, and no human intervention whatsoever. This empty vehicle navigated 30 minutes of city traffic at speeds up to 72 mph, stopping for pedestrians and traffic lights while changing lanes like a seasoned driver. What once seemed like distant science fiction in films like "Minority Report" has arrived three decades ahead of schedule.
This breakthrough raises profound questions about our relationship with automobiles. For generations, driving represented freedom and independence. But as autonomous technology matures, how will our perspective shift? Would you trust a self-driving car to maintain your independence as you age? The conversation extends beyond personal preferences to the fundamental transformation of vehicles from hardware-defined to software-defined platforms, where features, performance, and capabilities can be continuously upgraded through over-the-air updates.
Beyond transportation, electricity is emerging as a revolutionary force in medicine. Companies are developing technologies that use low-intensity electrical fields to disrupt cancer cell division without the devastating side effects of traditional treatments. Other researchers are exploring electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve to regulate inflammation in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. These approaches could transform treatment by providing alternatives to expensive medications with severe side effects.
Meanwhile, a former Tesla employee has created an innovative "sport utility electric motorcycle" specifically designed for Africa and India. Priced between $1,000-$1,500, these vehicles feature swappable batteries that serve a dual purpose—powering transportation during the day and household appliances at night. Families are using these batteries to cook meals on energy-efficient stoves and charge devices, dramatically improving the quality of life in regions with limited electrical infrastructure.
Join us as we explore how technology is transforming mobility, medicine, and quality of life worldwide. Call our TechMobility Hotline at 872-222-9793 or email us - talk@techmobility.show to share your thoughts on these revolutionary developments.
Be sure to tell your friends to tune in to The TechMobility Podcast!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the TechMobility Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken Chester On the docket making the
software-defined vehicle areality.
Can electricity cure cancer anda cheap electric motorcycle?
As always, you're welcome tojoin the conversation by calling
or texting the TechMobilityhotline, that number,
(00:31):
872-222-9793, or, if you prefer,you can email the show directly
.
Talk at techmobilityshow.
For those of you who subscribeto Substack, you can find me
there too, as a proud member ofthe Iowa Writers Collaborative,
where you can find pretty muchany topic that your heart
(00:52):
desires or have an interest.
My handle there is Ken, theletter C, iowa.
So that's K-E-N-C-I-O-W-A Fromthe TechMobility News Desk.
Sometimes fact is stranger thanfiction and I don't watch a lot
(01:17):
of movies, but I keep comingback to this one movie and
you're going to groan, I know,but hear me out, because it's a
movie I've quoted before and itscares me because this movie was
made 23 years ago and a lot ofthis stuff relative to
transportation which was noteven direct part of the plot, by
the way, wasn't even directlyhad nothing to do with the main
(01:40):
plot, but some of the thingsthey showed is now coming to
life in real time.
Now the movie I'm talking aboutis Minority Report.
It was made in 2002, starredTom Cruise and it was talking
about the ability to predictcrime before it happened and
(02:00):
gave them the opportunity tostop crime before it happened.
I won't get into all thedetails, but theoretically it
was set in Washington DC in theyear 2054.
In that movie it showedautonomous cars.
It showed vehicles that drovethemselves.
(02:20):
It showed vehicles, in fact.
One particular was a GMC Sierrapickup.
I remember they were ridingalong.
The driver spoke to the vehicleand the steering wheel
disappeared into the dashboardand went full autonomous.
And the reason why I'm bringingthis up now, the reason why I'm
making this point, is thisheadline from IoT World Today.
(02:42):
It's an Internet of Thingsonline magazine that talks about
all the kind of stuff going on.
I'm going to read you theheadline.
Then I'm going to explain theheadline.
Tesla drives itself fromfactory to customer.
Let that sink in A brand newTesla Model Y, left the Tesla
(03:04):
factory in Austin, texas, droveitself across Austin 30 minutes
to its new owner's house andparked it by itself, without any
human intervention, without anymonitoring, you know, not a
safety monitor.
Nobody was in the car None ofthat Now.
(03:25):
They did put cameras in the car.
None of that Now.
They did put cameras in the carand showed the vehicle
negotiating all kinds of roadsand pedestrians and traffic in
real time without a driver.
I want this to sink in InMinority Report.
It was a Lexus assembly plantthat had nobody in it and when
(03:48):
the Lexus was built, it droveitself out the plant to where it
was going by itself, withouthuman intervention.
We are here now.
This is not the commercialtrucking business which we talk
a lot about here on this program.
This is a passenger vehicle forprivate ownership using Tesla's
(04:14):
full automated drive mode which, depending on who you talk to,
they're concerned about itbecause it's not 100%, but in
this case it was.
They filmed it, left the end ofthe line at the assembly plant
and, unlike most assembly plantswhere they park them to be
(04:34):
shipped and they get shippedeither by truck or by rail,
whatever this vehicle, thisModel Y drove across Austin,
texas to delivery, not fiveminutes away, not 10 minutes
away, not around the corner, notacross the parking lot, across
the city, and they even saidthat at times they were able to
(04:58):
register.
This vehicle traveled as fast,at times 72 miles an hour.
When you watch the video younotice it was able to keep up
with traffic.
It wasn't going too slow or toofast.
It would stop for pedestrians,it stopped for traffic lights,
it changed lanes.
What the article says and Ibelieve this is accurate Tesla
(05:23):
completed what it believed to bethe first autonomous delivery
of a car from factory tocustomer.
Here's what the article didn'tsay, and I'm going to explain
why.
They didn't say it was thefirst autonomous vehicle on the
road, because that would not beaccurate Right now.
For some time now, robo-taxisoperated by Waymo, a subsidiary
(05:49):
of Google, through Alphabet, hasbeen giving rides in Austin,
Phoenix and San Francisco for anumber of years and they move
hundreds of thousands of rides aweek.
So, no, not the first vehicle,not the first autonomous vehicle
out there, but Not the firstvehicle, not the first
autonomous vehicle out there,but it is the first vehicle
(06:09):
privately owned to be deliveredwith no human intervention.
Again, I turned to MinorityReport, because they thought it
was Alexis and they thought 2054.
It's 2025.
2054 is what?
Not quite what?
(06:31):
29 years from now, yet, oh mygoodness, by then, shoot driving
yourself.
That'd be old news.
To quote Tesla, there were nopeople in the car at all and no
remote operators in control atany point Fully autonomous.
To the best of our knowledge,this is the first fully
(06:52):
autonomous drive with no peoplein the car or remotely operating
the car on a public highway.
Not exactly true.
There Waymo could claim thatyeah, that part, not true,
delivery, absolutely.
Now, they were unclear aboutwhether or not they were going
to do this as a matter of courseto folks around the factory,
(07:14):
which to me would be pretty cool.
It would be a perk that if youlive probably within an hour of
the plant, it would be prettycool to get your vehicle
delivered by itself to your home.
Of course, it kind of begs thequestion about trade-ins, but
Tesla doesn't have dealers, sothat's not an issue.
But what do you think?
I was on a podcast a few weeksago and we were talking about
(07:44):
autonomous trucking in Texas,and the host of that podcast, a
very articulate, intelligent manby the name of Rodney Woods,
said oh, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm not ready for going downthe road at 65 miles an hour,
looking over at a truck andseeing nobody driving.
He said no, no, no, no, not forthat, not ready for that.
Yet in Texas and Arizona foryears they've been testing
(08:09):
commercial trucks like that Beenmaking a run.
In fact, a number of truckshave made the run between
Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix,which is hundreds of miles,
autonomously.
They did it for the PostalService, ups and FedEx in
testing.
Right now.
(08:30):
Major trucking companies arerolling out what they call
autonomous lanes in Texas rightnow that within a year will not
even have a remote operator tomonitor and definitely won't
have safety drivers.
A lot of people say I wouldnever own an autonomous car.
Those people who hate drivingsays bring it on, I would love
(08:51):
an autonomous car.
My question is what say you?
I grew up during a time wherehaving a vehicle, having a car,
was freedom.
I lived in the country, ruralMassachusetts.
So getting a car man hangingwith my friends, being able to
get to work, going where Iwanted to go, it was freedom.
I lived in the country, ruralMassachusetts, so getting a car
man hanging with my friends,being able to get to work, going
where I wanted to go, it wasfreedom.
I live in not quite rural Iowa.
(09:13):
Still the same thing, it'sstill freedom.
What happens when I get too oldto drive?
Would I be more open to anautonomous vehicle who could
still allow me a certain qualityof life and a certain level of
independence?
Would I own one then, or wouldI still fight it?
If the legs no longer work andthe eyesight's not so good
(09:36):
anymore, would I trust anautonomous vehicle then to get
me around so I could keep mydoctor's appointments and not
relying on my kids, my grandkidsor my great-grandkids?
I think it's relative and Ithink it's a sign that's come
that, no matter how you feelabout technology, it's coming,
folks.
Whether you are ready for it ornot, it's coming.
(09:57):
This Tesla delivery is just onemore way to let you know
Computers on wheels, makingsoftware-defined car possible.
You are listening to the TechMobility Show.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
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Speaker 2 (10:46):
Social media is the main place to be these days, and
we are no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Facebook videos, from my latestvehicle reviews to timely
commentary of a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight.
You.
Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Facebook.
(11:07):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Be sure to subscribe to ourFacebook page.
Social media is the place to bethese days, and we're no
exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
(11:30):
Instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight.
You Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
For those of you that listen topodcasts, we have just the one
for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
(11:53):
topic-specific videos each week.
Shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show, from ApplePodcasts to iHeartRadio and many
podcast platforms in between,we got you covered.
Just enter Tech Mobility.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Topics in the search bar, wherever you listen to
podcasts.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I'm no car expert, but I do know what I want.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
You know what I want.
More bang More bang for my buckFrom a car and A car company.
That's why I got a Forensic bySuzuki.
Suzuki Protected by America'snumber one warranty.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
New middle.
I am sure that if you're aperson of a certain age.
(12:52):
I need to explain thatcommercial.
Yes, there was a time whenSuzuki sold passenger cars and
SUVs in the United States ofAmerica.
They stopped doing that about2012, roughly 13 years ago.
But yes, forenza and a wholebunch of funky like Aereo and
(13:12):
the XL7 and the Vitara and GrandVitara and Verona were all
vehicles that they sold in theUnited States.
Just in case you didn't realizeit, yes, they're known for more
than motorcycles, if you're aperson of certain age.
Well, yeah, suzuki, they domotorcycles right.
Well, yeah, but they used to docars too.
(13:35):
They used to be Suzuki dealersthat sold new and used vehicles,
but they ran out of time.
And remember, like I always tellyou, the auto industry is not
for lightweights.
Billions of dollars, pluraltens, if not hundreds of
(14:00):
billions and time, and, trust me, automakers a lot bigger than
Suzuki have toppled over andtripped up.
The only thing that saved themis they were so big at the time.
Well, it hurt them, but theytook it in stride.
If you don't believe me, googleFord Edsel and know people I
know Edsel was a separate brand.
It was no such thing as a FordEdsel.
Google Edsel, because thepurists would say yeah, there's
(14:22):
no such thing.
Ford wasn't an Edsel.
Edsel was a separate divisionof the Ford Motor Company,
google, it.
Ford lost $250 million, andthat was 60 years ago.
Can't tell you how manybillions of dollars that would
have been today.
So yeah, thought you'd like toknow.
(14:47):
As technology marches on, thenext generation of vehicles will
be defined by software, nothardware, with cloud software
concepts, think over-the-airupdates like containers,
delivering an agile approach toswapping out and updating
software services.
Now, in case you didn't realizeit, if you own a vehicle that's
newer than 10 years old, yourvehicle now is controlled by
millions of lines of code, withmore to come.
The big question are you ready?
(15:09):
This is topic A.
Let me explain what I mean, andyou may hear the abbreviation
SDV.
That's fancy talk for asoftware-defined vehicle.
And let me make adifferentiation here yes,
software and the many differentcomputers operating in your
(15:31):
vehicle.
Now, because there's more thanone and more than two.
You'd be amazed at how manysensors alone are in your
vehicle.
By one count, there could be asmany as 70 different sensors
measuring all sorts of stuff inyour vehicle and feeding that
data into any one of five, sixor more computers in your
(15:51):
vehicle.
Your engine has a computer,your transmission has a computer
, your entertainment system hasa computer, your dashboard and
stuff is controlled yet byanother computer Suspension and
handling a computer All of themdifferent, connected by the same
circuit.
This is where we start.
(16:12):
What they envision now, andwhat electric vehicles are
bringing hastening to the party,is an ability to say, hey, you
buy a brand new 2025, anythingin 2029, or maybe even as early
as next year.
We have this fantabulous newattribute for your vehicle that
(16:36):
is software-defined, that we cansell, you, rent, you, lease,
you have you even just try out,see if you like it.
Maybe it's free, maybe wecharge you for it.
Mercedes-benz is already doingthat with performance and I
really honestly believe thatthat's where you'll see it first
.
But there's so many differentthings going on behind the
(16:57):
scenes.
It's way more complicated thanthat.
Let's start with the easy stuffmaking the car relatively
hack-proof or not, subject tocyber crime and bad actors who
would want to manipulate andotherwise damage or compromise
(17:19):
your new vehicle.
I won't take you into the weeds.
I read a piece in Microwavesand RF, which is a magazine that
goes all the way into all thesystems involved and proofing
and collaborations andeverything.
We're not going that far offinto the weeds because I'm
afraid even I'd get lost.
So I'm going to summarize foryou and it boils down to this
(17:42):
there are many differentprotocols to handle many
different types of situations inorder to make that vehicle
robust, dependable and resistantto hackers, with a protocol if
the car does get hacked.
So it only goes so far.
Now, if you've been payingclose attention down through the
years, you will remember thatthe National Highway Traffic
(18:03):
Safety Administration issuedguidelines back oh eight, nine
years ago relative to developingframework and guidelines to
protect vehicles from beinghacked, from being compromised
through cybercrime andcybercriminals, and there were a
whole lot of best practices,but it didn't have the force of
(18:24):
law.
Best they could do is developbest practices and industry
guidelines, which is what theydid.
It's much more complicated today.
Why, number one?
Your standard vehicle today hasway more equipment than when I
was growing up.
If you go back to the 1960s,shoot the 1970s, okay, we'll
even go to the 1980s Mostvehicles didn't have power
(18:48):
windows.
Most vehicles still had avacuum system for cruise control
, still had mechanical devicesfor your dashboard, your
speedometer and how your gaugeswork.
All of that today is electronic,all of it.
And it didn't just get there,it's been there for years.
They've eliminated that.
They're even now talking aboutsomething called break by wire,
(19:09):
where they're going to eliminateall the mechanical parts of
your braking system and make itall electric.
You press the brake.
You're not actually movinghydraulic fluid at some point
someday.
Today you are, but they'regetting ready to change that.
How do they develop all thesesystems and computers to work
together, share the load?
The first thing they're doingis a whole rethink of how all
(19:33):
these computers work and they'remaking them task agnostic
meaning they're there, but inthe brave new world, as opposed
to an engine computer or atransmission computer or an
infotainment computer.
It would be a computing sourcein the vehicle but would be
designed to take on all theirtasks.
It may not be directly relatedto that specific item, unlike
(19:54):
the past, and they do thatbecause it gives them the
ability to give you upgrades.
Now we're doing someover-the-air updates, but mainly
right now they're safetyrelated.
Their goal is to give youchoices so that the car you
trade in that's 10 years oldwill be as fresh and as current
software wise as the brand newones coming out of the factory
(20:17):
same day.
That's the beautiful part aboutit.
The days of having upgradehardware are almost over.
You want to improve performanceit's a software upgrade.
You want longer range if it'san EV, it's a software upgrade.
You want some new fancy whizbank they just developed, you
just got to have for yourvehicle it's a software upgrade.
(20:39):
They have to build a systemrobust enough to handle all that
and more.
And that's where we're at whenwe talk about a software-defined
vehicle, no longerhardware-related.
All software, all of it, fromhow it stops, handles, climbs a
hill all of thatSoftware-related.
Imagine the possibilities.
(21:02):
Electricity is gaining newfoundtraction as a potential
treatment of diseases.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
But what about?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
cancer.
This is the Tech Mobility Show.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
(21:28):
You can find the Tech Mobilitypodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
platforms in between.
We are there.
Just enter the Tech Mobilitypodcast in the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place
(21:49):
to be.
We no exception.
Hi, I'm ken chester, host thetech mobility show.
Several times a week, I post totiktok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the tech mobility showon tiktok.
(22:11):
Check it out.
Electricity it seems that it'snot just AI models.
Electric cars are large datacenters that need to juice.
Electricity is gaining newfoundtraction as potential treatment
(22:31):
for diseases.
New technologies and devicesare widening the scope of how
electric fields and pulses couldbe used as medicine.
Now I know what you're thinking.
You think about electricity.
You're thinking about, you know, physical shock treatments,
mental shock treatments.
That's what you're thinkingabout.
I know that's what's on yourmind, but I'm here to tell you
it's way more than that.
This is topic B.
(22:53):
This is from the Wall StreetJournal, and the article says
the next frontier to treatcancer electricity.
Scientists are testing electricfields and pulses against a
range of diseases, includingrheumatoid arthritis and brain
cancer.
And let me explain how that'sworking, because some of this
(23:16):
they're doing now with Food andDrug Administration approval, by
the way.
Biotech companies andresearchers, including NovoCure,
setpoint Medical and theUniversity of Cincinnati, are
deciphering how to shrink devicesizes, deploy electric fields
and hijack a person's own immuneresponse.
(23:40):
Now there's a quote here we'releveraging the electrical
property of cancer cells, andthat's Ashley Cordova, chief
executive officer of oncologycompany Novacure, which
developed technology thatdisrupts electrical forces at
play in cell division to slowdown tumor growth.
(24:01):
You think biological, you thinknatural, you think mechanical.
You never realize that even ourbodies use electrical impulses
to do things, to handle things,to operate, and she makes that
point.
We think about bodies as beingbiological beings or chemical
beings, but we are alsoelectrical beings.
(24:22):
It's how a lot of stuff getscommunicated around your body.
You are a walking electricalbeing, whether you know it or
not, and what they're doing nowis they are finding out that
they can take electricity,depending on the dosage, the
length of time exposure andwhere it's applied, to do some
(24:45):
changing.
That is amazing.
Let me give you a couple ofexamples.
Novocure and they quoteNovocure a lot its strategy is
to use low-intensity electricfields to disrupt cell division.
That's how they plan to beatcancer, to slow it down from
(25:05):
multiplying and maybe even inthe future, stop it completely
using electrical current.
Cancer cells also have unusualelectrical properties enabling
researchers to target them atspecific frequencies and leave
healthy ones unscathed.
The company says Stop righthere.
(25:28):
I have a friend of mine,brilliant young lady worked in
Minneapolis.
She was brilliant About now 20years ago.
She contracted two differentkinds of cancer and, being the
sharp woman that she was, shewas very directly involved with
(25:50):
her own plan of cure.
She'd ask questions, she'd doresearch.
I remember her sharing with methere was one pill, one pill
that she used to have to takefor her cancer, and I mean it
was not regular, but she had totake it every so often.
That one chemical pill cost her$4,500, that one pill.
(26:15):
And the problem is because hertreatment at the time was both
radiation and chemical.
There were a lot of unfortunateside effects that she also had
to deal with.
A lot of the stuff that youknow hair falling out, being
very prone to illness, sicknessdropping your white blood cell
(26:36):
count all of that stuff had tobe monitored.
Sickness dropping your whiteblood cell count All of that
stuff had to be monitored.
Then it messed with theirnerves in their fingers and feet
All an issue.
Imagine if they knew then whatthey know now and could say we
could apply electrical current,low levels of it, targeted
(26:59):
current to maybe arrest, slowdown or otherwise stop the
growth of cancer in your body.
No chemicals, no pills, noradiation how would that change
people's lives?
How would that improve thequality of life for people?
Electricity it's a phenomenalthing.
(27:24):
Let me give you another examplewhere they're looking at it,
because really what it gets downto is using electricity in a
more nuanced and sophisticatedway, how they deliver that.
Another way that they arelooking to test is they've got a
device.
Let me back up a little bit.
(27:45):
They've got a device.
This implantable device is thesize of multivitamin that can
send electric pulses down aperson's vagus nerve.
The nerve carries electricalsignals throughout the body and
helps regulate digestion andheart rate.
It also plays a role in theimmune system, regulating the
production of key proteins thatcause inflammation.
(28:05):
And in this case, too muchinflammation can lead to
autoimmune conditions such asrheumatoid arthritis.
And the company is hopingelectrical pulses can block the
inflammation-causing process.
And they say we're hijackingthe system, we're going to make
it do what it's supposed to do,but we're going to do it
(28:27):
artificially.
This device, not only are theysubmitting it for rheumatoid
arthritis to the FDA, butthey're testing the concept for
Crohn's disease.
And another thing near and dearto my heart multiple sclerosis.
My youngest brother's wife ischronic sufferer of multiple
(28:50):
sclerosis.
One of my very good friends inhigh school, his very vivacious
mom who was a dental technicianback in the 70s multiple
sclerosis and watched itbasically take that vibrancy
away from her over time.
Imagine if there's a devicethat gets them away from the
(29:11):
chemicals and the side effectsof the radiation and all that
other stuff they got to dealwith Now.
Granted, this is still evolving.
They don't have these are notcures yet In the trials that
they are testing this in variousdiseases, various cancers.
They're learning and they'reslowing stuff down.
(29:33):
They're not totally eradicatingit yet, but in some cases, in
some cases already, in somecases, yes, the person could
stop taking the pills.
The change it would turn thepharmaceutical industry on its
(29:56):
ear.
It would change how doctorsprescribe cures or not cures,
remedies or resolutions tochronic disease.
It could improve the quality oflife, not just for the
individual suffering, but thefamilies and the loved ones, and
the future.
Some of these people will getto live decent lives, maybe not
(30:19):
at 100%, but way more thanthey've got now, because of
electricity being applied to thebody in new ways designed to
manipulate where possible, stopwhere necessary and maybe even
reverse some stuff, some stuff.
These are exciting times, butelectrical fields and pulses
(30:43):
maybe could be used to treatcancer, rheumatoid arthritis and
who knows what else.
Wow, wow, getting a treatmentas opposed to having to take a
pill or radiation or all theother stuff.
Imagine A former Tesla employeehas developed a low-cost
(31:06):
motorcycle aimed at customers inAfrica and South Asia.
He has a long waiting list.
We are the Tech Mobility Show.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
(31:26):
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings ofthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
(31:46):
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
Did you know that Tech Mobilityhas a YouTube channel?
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
Each week I upload a few shortvideos of some of the hot topics
that I cover during my weeklyradio program.
I've designed these videos tobe informative and entertaining.
It's another way to keep up oncurrent mobility and technology
news and information.
Be sure to watch, like andsubscribe to my channel.
(32:09):
That's the Tech Mobility Showon YouTube.
Check it out.
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Social media is the place to be these days, and
we're no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
you.
Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
(33:09):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Zeno, an electric motor bicyclestartup founded by a former
Tesla employee, has developed amotorbike that is primarily
aimed at markets in Africa andIndia.
Its motorbike both outperformsgasoline powered motorcycle and,
(33:32):
believe it or not, costs lessto purchase.
The waiting line is in spite ofthe absence of any sort of
governmental incentive or rebate.
This is topic C.
Can you imagine a vehicle thatis low cost, affordable and has
the ability to change your life?
(33:53):
That is what this vehicle does,and I'm going to explain that
in a minute.
But can you imagine?
The challenge is that in thosecountries that I just mentioned
Africa and India roads, once youget outside of major
metropolitan cities, are asuggestion, an afterthought and
(34:15):
maybe barely a cow path?
The challenge was to develop abike that could do a better job
of carrying heavy loads ormultiple passengers on rough
roads.
And remember I'm talking abouta motorcycle.
We're not just talking about,you know, two folks and whatever
.
No, no, no, you got wholefamilies in the third world that
(34:39):
ride these bikes at the sametime.
They're all together.
I mean, hey, you're trying toget around, you're doing it the
best way you can.
This startup, xenon.
They recently officiallylaunched its first product, a
sport utility electricmotorcycle called the Amara.
Let me read that again, becauseyou have not heard those words
(35:01):
put together before A sportutility electric motorcycle.
Bet you didn't know there wassuch a thing.
But there is Ranging from$1,000 to $1,500, depending on
the market.
It's designed to be cheaperthan gas alternatives and do a
(35:22):
better job of carrying heavyloads of multiple passengers on
rough roads.
How did they do it?
They got creative, they gotgenius and they did this.
The battery, which is soldseparately, can be either
charged or instantly switchedout at swapping stations.
Put a pin in that.
We're going to come back tothat.
Figure this out.
I can buy the motorcycle, I canlease.
(35:45):
The battery Brings costs waydown.
It brings costs way downBecause in any EV, the battery
is the most expensive part of it, just like your motor vehicle
gasoline, your engine andtransmission the most expensive
part of the car.
They wanted to get this in thehands of the people who had the
(36:05):
need most, but these bikes hadto be robust.
You couldn't take a bikedesigned for American streets,
throw some fancy tires on it,think it's going to work in
Africa.
It'd be broke that day, brokeand busted.
Did I mention a sport utilityelectric motorcycle?
(36:26):
And I'm saying this to thepeople who say, ah, electrics,
they're not sturdy, they're notgood.
Ah, they never last.
Ah, blah, no, you're thinkingabout them.
Scooters about seven or eightyears ago that had an average
life of 18 months.
That's what you're thinkingabout.
No, no, no, no, nothing likethat.
I like the term sport utilityUtility Electric Motorcycle.
(36:50):
Wow, I just want you to turnwith your mind on that for a
minute.
I want you to turn Now.
They tested this in the easternprovinces of Kenya and Africa
and they felt that in Africathere were a lot of markets
(37:12):
where they started a lot ofgreenfield development
opportunity for energyinfrastructure.
Meaning there ain't much of one.
A large portion of thepopulation isn't grid connected
yet, but being grid connectedquickly, gdp growth is
increasing, the middle class isgrowing and energy consumption
(37:33):
is increasing.
One point of interventionmotorcycles.
When someone living in acountry like Kenya earns enough
money to buy a vehicle, it'stypically a gas motorcycle about
150 cc's, which is not a bigengine, by the way.
The founder saw an opening for abetter electric version and he
(37:53):
contended that while Chinesemanufacturers make electric
scooters, they're not wellsuited for common use in Africa,
which is three or fourpassengers with heavy loads on
rugged, bumpy roads and I useroads in quotes.
High-end electric motorcyclebrands for other markets, like
Damon, were unaffordable.
(38:13):
Now these people who were goingto buy these can't afford that.
Other companies hadn't focusedon redesigning the standard mass
market 150cc motorcycle fromthe ground up.
So what does that mean?
That means that some of thesefolks would take motorcycles
(38:34):
that they developed elsewhereand cobbled something together.
Try to pawn it off in Africa.
Didn't work, they weren't madefor the terrain, they weren't
made for the load, they weren'tmade to deal with and they broke
down and they were awful.
This guy said no, we can dobetter.
We can do better.
And they did.
(38:55):
And I said motorcycle, notscooter.
I did not stutter, just in caseyou were wondering, these are
not scooters.
Let me come full circle for aminute.
I told you a few minutes ago toput a pin in the ability to
swap out batteries.
Let me tell you how that thingone it gets the cost of the
(39:18):
motorcycle down, which is waycool, and that you can rent
batteries at swapping stationsAgain way cool.
It is cheaper than buying.
But what does this do?
Because I said and I did not,didn't stutter, I said would
improve the quality of life.
Let me read this to you thesebatteries swapped out batteries
(39:42):
can play another role.
When they're plugged intocharge, they can support the
grid by charging when demand islow.
Customers can also take thebatteries home.
If they have access toelectricity at home, they can
charge the batteries there.
But if they don't, thebatteries can charge other
devices when they're not in thebikes.
We've got customers today whoare driving all day on their
(40:04):
motorbikes, swapping at swapstations and they're cooking on
their batteries withenergy-efficient stoves,
induction cook stoves and thenrepeating the cycle the next day
, if you can.
Can you imagine you don't haveelectricity at home, but maybe
you managed to get yourself atablet or a laptop and imagine
(40:29):
you can plug it into thisbattery and now you have
internet access.
You can use your computerbecause of a motorcycle.
Recharging this electricity ispennies compared to a gasoline
version which would run, in acourse of a year, $3,000 to put
gas in it, and that is typically40 to 50% of the average income
(40:49):
of the people who need to ridethese bikes, who need to own
these bikes, who need to buythem.
Electricity pennies Plus thegasoline versions don't do what
these batteries will do for folkin boosting their standard of
living, helping them connect andget better.
The possibilities, they say,are endless.
And yes, they tested this thingout and they have a list.
(41:10):
They can't build them fastenough.
Investors paying attention too,because they said we like stuff
that's cheaper, better, fasteralready for the consumer and the
environment is a drag alongbenefit.
So there isn't sales fiction.
People end up buying thesebecause they're green.
They're buying them becausethey're better and affordable
and at the end of the day,that's what matters.
People end up buying thesebecause they're green.
(41:31):
They're buying them becausethey're better and affordable
and at the end of the day,that's what matters.
Welcome to the TechMobility Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Ken Chester On the docket making the
software-defined vehicle areality.
Can electricity cure cancer anda cheap electric motorcycle?
As always, you're welcome tojoin the conversation by calling
or texting the TechMobilityhotline, that number,
(00:31):
872-222-9793, or, if you prefer,you can email the show directly
.
Talk at techmobilityshow.
For those of you who subscribeto Substack, you can find me
there too, as a proud member ofthe Iowa Writers Collaborative,
where you can find pretty muchany topic that your heart
(00:52):
desires or have an interest.
My handle there is Ken, theletter C, iowa.
So that's K-E-N-C-I-O-W-A Fromthe TechMobility News Desk.
Sometimes fact is stranger thanfiction and I don't watch a lot
(01:17):
of movies, but I keep comingback to this one movie and
you're going to groan, I know,but hear me out, because it's a
movie I've quoted before and itscares me because this movie was
made 23 years ago and a lot ofthis stuff relative to
transportation which was noteven direct part of the plot, by
the way, wasn't even directlyhad nothing to do with the main
(01:40):
plot, but some of the thingsthey showed is now coming to
life in real time.
Now the movie I'm talking aboutis Minority Report.
It was made in 2002, starredTom Cruise and it was talking
about the ability to predictcrime before it happened and
(02:00):
gave them the opportunity tostop crime before it happened.
I won't get into all thedetails, but theoretically it
was set in Washington DC in theyear 2054.
In that movie it showedautonomous cars.
It showed vehicles that drovethemselves.
(02:20):
It showed vehicles, in fact.
One particular was a GMC Sierrapickup.
I remember they were ridingalong.
The driver spoke to the vehicleand the steering wheel
disappeared into the dashboardand went full autonomous.
And the reason why I'm bringingthis up now, the reason why I'm
making this point, is thisheadline from IoT World Today.
(02:42):
It's an Internet of Thingsonline magazine that talks about
all the kind of stuff going on.
I'm going to read you theheadline.
Then I'm going to explain theheadline.
Tesla drives itself fromfactory to customer.
Let that sink in A brand newTesla Model Y, left the Tesla
(03:04):
factory in Austin, texas, droveitself across Austin 30 minutes
to its new owner's house andparked it by itself, without any
human intervention, without anymonitoring, you know, not a
safety monitor.
Nobody was in the car None ofthat Now.
(03:25):
They did put cameras in the car.
None of that Now.
They did put cameras in the carand showed the vehicle
negotiating all kinds of roadsand pedestrians and traffic in
real time without a driver.
I want this to sink in InMinority Report.
It was a Lexus assembly plantthat had nobody in it and when
(03:48):
the Lexus was built, it droveitself out the plant to where it
was going by itself, withouthuman intervention.
We are here now.
This is not the commercialtrucking business which we talk
a lot about here on this program.
This is a passenger vehicle forprivate ownership using Tesla's
(04:14):
full automated drive mode which, depending on who you talk to,
they're concerned about itbecause it's not 100%, but in
this case it was.
They filmed it, left the end ofthe line at the assembly plant
and, unlike most assembly plantswhere they park them to be
(04:34):
shipped and they get shippedeither by truck or by rail,
whatever this vehicle, thisModel Y drove across Austin,
texas to delivery, not fiveminutes away, not 10 minutes
away, not around the corner, notacross the parking lot, across
the city, and they even saidthat at times they were able to
(04:58):
register.
This vehicle traveled as fast,at times 72 miles an hour.
When you watch the video younotice it was able to keep up
with traffic.
It wasn't going too slow or toofast.
It would stop for pedestrians,it stopped for traffic lights,
it changed lanes.
What the article says and Ibelieve this is accurate Tesla
(05:23):
completed what it believed to bethe first autonomous delivery
of a car from factory tocustomer.
Here's what the article didn'tsay, and I'm going to explain
why.
They didn't say it was thefirst autonomous vehicle on the
road, because that would not beaccurate Right now.
For some time now, robo-taxisoperated by Waymo, a subsidiary
(05:49):
of Google, through Alphabet, hasbeen giving rides in Austin,
Phoenix and San Francisco for anumber of years and they move
hundreds of thousands of rides aweek.
So, no, not the first vehicle,not the first autonomous vehicle
out there, but Not the firstvehicle, not the first
autonomous vehicle out there,but it is the first vehicle
(06:09):
privately owned to be deliveredwith no human intervention.
Again, I turned to MinorityReport, because they thought it
was Alexis and they thought 2054.
It's 2025.
2054 is what?
Not quite what?
(06:31):
29 years from now, yet, oh mygoodness, by then, shoot driving
yourself.
That'd be old news.
To quote Tesla, there were nopeople in the car at all and no
remote operators in control atany point Fully autonomous.
To the best of our knowledge,this is the first fully
(06:52):
autonomous drive with no peoplein the car or remotely operating
the car on a public highway.
Not exactly true.
There Waymo could claim thatyeah, that part, not true,
delivery, absolutely.
Now, they were unclear aboutwhether or not they were going
to do this as a matter of courseto folks around the factory,
(07:14):
which to me would be pretty cool.
It would be a perk that if youlive probably within an hour of
the plant, it would be prettycool to get your vehicle
delivered by itself to your home.
Of course, it kind of begs thequestion about trade-ins, but
Tesla doesn't have dealers, sothat's not an issue.
But what do you think?
I was on a podcast a few weeksago and we were talking about
(07:44):
autonomous trucking in Texas,and the host of that podcast, a
very articulate, intelligent manby the name of Rodney Woods,
said oh, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm not ready for going downthe road at 65 miles an hour,
looking over at a truck andseeing nobody driving.
He said no, no, no, no, not forthat, not ready for that.
Yet in Texas and Arizona foryears they've been testing
(08:09):
commercial trucks like that Beenmaking a run.
In fact, a number of truckshave made the run between
Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix,which is hundreds of miles,
autonomously.
They did it for the PostalService, ups and FedEx in
testing.
Right now.
(08:30):
Major trucking companies arerolling out what they call
autonomous lanes in Texas rightnow that within a year will not
even have a remote operator tomonitor and definitely won't
have safety drivers.
A lot of people say I wouldnever own an autonomous car.
Those people who hate drivingsays bring it on, I would love
(08:51):
an autonomous car.
My question is what say you?
I grew up during a time wherehaving a vehicle, having a car,
was freedom.
I lived in the country, ruralMassachusetts.
So getting a car man hangingwith my friends, being able to
get to work, going where Iwanted to go, it was freedom.
I lived in the country, ruralMassachusetts, so getting a car
man hanging with my friends,being able to get to work, going
where I wanted to go, it wasfreedom.
I live in not quite rural Iowa.
(09:13):
Still the same thing, it'sstill freedom.
What happens when I get too oldto drive?
Would I be more open to anautonomous vehicle who could
still allow me a certain qualityof life and a certain level of
independence?
Would I own one then, or wouldI still fight it?
If the legs no longer work andthe eyesight's not so good
(09:36):
anymore, would I trust anautonomous vehicle then to get
me around so I could keep mydoctor's appointments and not
relying on my kids, my grandkidsor my great-grandkids?
I think it's relative and Ithink it's a sign that's come
that, no matter how you feelabout technology, it's coming,
folks.
Whether you are ready for it ornot, it's coming.
(09:57):
This Tesla delivery is just onemore way to let you know
Computers on wheels, makingsoftware-defined car possible.
You are listening to the TechMobility Show.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Are you tired of juggling multiple apps and
platforms for meetings, webinarsand staying connected?
Look no further thanAONmeetingscom, the all-in-one
browser-based platform that doesit all.
With AON Meetings, you caneffortlessly communicate with
clients, host virtual meetingsand webinars and stay in touch
with family and friends all inone place and for one price.
Here's the best part you canenjoy a 30-day free trial.
(10:35):
It's time to simplify your lifeand boost your productivity.
Aonmeetingscom, whereinnovation meets connection.
Get started today andrevolutionize the way you
communicate.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Social media is the main place to be these days, and
we are no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
Facebook videos, from my latestvehicle reviews to timely
commentary of a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight.
You.
Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Facebook.
(11:07):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Be sure to subscribe to ourFacebook page.
Social media is the place to bethese days, and we're no
exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
(11:30):
Instagram videos, from thelatest vehicle reviews to timely
commentary on a variety ofmobility and technology-related
topics.
These short features aredesigned to inform and delight.
You Be sure to watch, like andfollow us on Instagram.
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
For those of you that listen topodcasts, we have just the one
for you.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester.
Tech Mobility Topics is apodcast where I upload
(11:53):
topic-specific videos each week.
Shorter than a full show.
These bite-sized programs arejust the thing, particularly if
you're interested in aparticular topic covered on the
weekly radio show, from ApplePodcasts to iHeartRadio and many
podcast platforms in between,we got you covered.
Just enter Tech Mobility.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Topics in the search bar, wherever you listen to
podcasts.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I'm no car expert, but I do know what I want.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
You know what I want.
More bang More bang for my buckFrom a car and A car company.
That's why I got a Forensic bySuzuki.
Suzuki Protected by America'snumber one warranty.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
New middle.
I am sure that if you're aperson of a certain age.
(12:52):
I need to explain thatcommercial.
Yes, there was a time whenSuzuki sold passenger cars and
SUVs in the United States ofAmerica.
They stopped doing that about2012, roughly 13 years ago.
But yes, forenza and a wholebunch of funky like Aereo and
(13:12):
the XL7 and the Vitara and GrandVitara and Verona were all
vehicles that they sold in theUnited States.
Just in case you didn't realizeit, yes, they're known for more
than motorcycles, if you're aperson of certain age.
Well, yeah, suzuki, they domotorcycles right.
Well, yeah, but they used to docars too.
(13:35):
They used to be Suzuki dealersthat sold new and used vehicles,
but they ran out of time.
And remember, like I always tellyou, the auto industry is not
for lightweights.
Billions of dollars, pluraltens, if not hundreds of
(14:00):
billions and time, and, trust me, automakers a lot bigger than
Suzuki have toppled over andtripped up.
The only thing that saved themis they were so big at the time.
Well, it hurt them, but theytook it in stride.
If you don't believe me, googleFord Edsel and know people I
know Edsel was a separate brand.
It was no such thing as a FordEdsel.
Google Edsel, because thepurists would say yeah, there's
(14:22):
no such thing.
Ford wasn't an Edsel.
Edsel was a separate divisionof the Ford Motor Company,
google, it.
Ford lost $250 million, andthat was 60 years ago.
Can't tell you how manybillions of dollars that would
have been today.
So yeah, thought you'd like toknow.
(14:47):
As technology marches on, thenext generation of vehicles will
be defined by software, nothardware, with cloud software
concepts, think over-the-airupdates like containers,
delivering an agile approach toswapping out and updating
software services.
Now, in case you didn't realizeit, if you own a vehicle that's
newer than 10 years old, yourvehicle now is controlled by
millions of lines of code, withmore to come.
The big question are you ready?
(15:09):
This is topic A.
Let me explain what I mean, andyou may hear the abbreviation
SDV.
That's fancy talk for asoftware-defined vehicle.
And let me make adifferentiation here yes,
software and the many differentcomputers operating in your
(15:31):
vehicle.
Now, because there's more thanone and more than two.
You'd be amazed at how manysensors alone are in your
vehicle.
By one count, there could be asmany as 70 different sensors
measuring all sorts of stuff inyour vehicle and feeding that
data into any one of five, sixor more computers in your
(15:51):
vehicle.
Your engine has a computer,your transmission has a computer
, your entertainment system hasa computer, your dashboard and
stuff is controlled yet byanother computer Suspension and
handling a computer All of themdifferent, connected by the same
circuit.
This is where we start.
(16:12):
What they envision now, andwhat electric vehicles are
bringing hastening to the party,is an ability to say, hey, you
buy a brand new 2025, anythingin 2029, or maybe even as early
as next year.
We have this fantabulous newattribute for your vehicle that
(16:36):
is software-defined, that we cansell, you, rent, you, lease,
you have you even just try out,see if you like it.
Maybe it's free, maybe wecharge you for it.
Mercedes-benz is already doingthat with performance and I
really honestly believe thatthat's where you'll see it first
.
But there's so many differentthings going on behind the
(16:57):
scenes.
It's way more complicated thanthat.
Let's start with the easy stuffmaking the car relatively
hack-proof or not, subject tocyber crime and bad actors who
would want to manipulate andotherwise damage or compromise
(17:19):
your new vehicle.
I won't take you into the weeds.
I read a piece in Microwavesand RF, which is a magazine that
goes all the way into all thesystems involved and proofing
and collaborations andeverything.
We're not going that far offinto the weeds because I'm
afraid even I'd get lost.
So I'm going to summarize foryou and it boils down to this
(17:42):
there are many differentprotocols to handle many
different types of situations inorder to make that vehicle
robust, dependable and resistantto hackers, with a protocol if
the car does get hacked.
So it only goes so far.
Now, if you've been payingclose attention down through the
years, you will remember thatthe National Highway Traffic
(18:03):
Safety Administration issuedguidelines back oh eight, nine
years ago relative to developingframework and guidelines to
protect vehicles from beinghacked, from being compromised
through cybercrime andcybercriminals, and there were a
whole lot of best practices,but it didn't have the force of
(18:24):
law.
Best they could do is developbest practices and industry
guidelines, which is what theydid.
It's much more complicated today.
Why, number one?
Your standard vehicle today hasway more equipment than when I
was growing up.
If you go back to the 1960s,shoot the 1970s, okay, we'll
even go to the 1980s Mostvehicles didn't have power
(18:48):
windows.
Most vehicles still had avacuum system for cruise control
, still had mechanical devicesfor your dashboard, your
speedometer and how your gaugeswork.
All of that today is electronic,all of it.
And it didn't just get there,it's been there for years.
They've eliminated that.
They're even now talking aboutsomething called break by wire,
(19:09):
where they're going to eliminateall the mechanical parts of
your braking system and make itall electric.
You press the brake.
You're not actually movinghydraulic fluid at some point
someday.
Today you are, but they'regetting ready to change that.
How do they develop all thesesystems and computers to work
together, share the load?
The first thing they're doingis a whole rethink of how all
(19:33):
these computers work and they'remaking them task agnostic
meaning they're there, but inthe brave new world, as opposed
to an engine computer or atransmission computer or an
infotainment computer.
It would be a computing sourcein the vehicle but would be
designed to take on all theirtasks.
It may not be directly relatedto that specific item, unlike
(19:54):
the past, and they do thatbecause it gives them the
ability to give you upgrades.
Now we're doing someover-the-air updates, but mainly
right now they're safetyrelated.
Their goal is to give youchoices so that the car you
trade in that's 10 years oldwill be as fresh and as current
software wise as the brand newones coming out of the factory
(20:17):
same day.
That's the beautiful part aboutit.
The days of having upgradehardware are almost over.
You want to improve performanceit's a software upgrade.
You want longer range if it'san EV, it's a software upgrade.
You want some new fancy whizbank they just developed, you
just got to have for yourvehicle it's a software upgrade.
(20:39):
They have to build a systemrobust enough to handle all that
and more.
And that's where we're at whenwe talk about a software-defined
vehicle, no longerhardware-related.
All software, all of it, fromhow it stops, handles, climbs a
hill all of thatSoftware-related.
Imagine the possibilities.
(21:02):
Electricity is gaining newfoundtraction as a potential
treatment of diseases.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
But what about?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
cancer.
This is the Tech Mobility Show.
Do you listen to podcasts?
Seems that most people do.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
If you've missed any of ourweekly episodes on the radio,
our podcast is a great way tolisten.
(21:28):
You can find the Tech Mobilitypodcast just about anywhere you
can enjoy podcasts.
Be sure to follow us from ApplePodcasts, iheart Radio and many
platforms in between.
We are there.
Just enter the Tech Mobilitypodcast in the search bar.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place
(21:49):
to be.
We no exception.
Hi, I'm ken chester, host thetech mobility show.
Several times a week, I post totiktok several of the topics
that I cover on my weekly radioshow.
It's another way to keep up onmobility, technology news and
information.
I've built quite a library ofshort videos for your viewing
pleasure, so be sure to watch,like and subscribe.
That's the tech mobility showon tiktok.
(22:11):
Check it out.
Electricity it seems that it'snot just AI models.
Electric cars are large datacenters that need to juice.
Electricity is gaining newfoundtraction as potential treatment
(22:31):
for diseases.
New technologies and devicesare widening the scope of how
electric fields and pulses couldbe used as medicine.
Now I know what you're thinking.
You think about electricity.
You're thinking about, you know, physical shock treatments,
mental shock treatments.
That's what you're thinkingabout.
I know that's what's on yourmind, but I'm here to tell you
it's way more than that.
This is topic B.
(22:53):
This is from the Wall StreetJournal, and the article says
the next frontier to treatcancer electricity.
Scientists are testing electricfields and pulses against a
range of diseases, includingrheumatoid arthritis and brain
cancer.
And let me explain how that'sworking, because some of this
(23:16):
they're doing now with Food andDrug Administration approval, by
the way.
Biotech companies andresearchers, including NovoCure,
setpoint Medical and theUniversity of Cincinnati, are
deciphering how to shrink devicesizes, deploy electric fields
and hijack a person's own immuneresponse.
(23:40):
Now there's a quote here we'releveraging the electrical
property of cancer cells, andthat's Ashley Cordova, chief
executive officer of oncologycompany Novacure, which
developed technology thatdisrupts electrical forces at
play in cell division to slowdown tumor growth.
(24:01):
You think biological, you thinknatural, you think mechanical.
You never realize that even ourbodies use electrical impulses
to do things, to handle things,to operate, and she makes that
point.
We think about bodies as beingbiological beings or chemical
beings, but we are alsoelectrical beings.
(24:22):
It's how a lot of stuff getscommunicated around your body.
You are a walking electricalbeing, whether you know it or
not, and what they're doing nowis they are finding out that
they can take electricity,depending on the dosage, the
length of time exposure andwhere it's applied, to do some
(24:45):
changing.
That is amazing.
Let me give you a couple ofexamples.
Novocure and they quoteNovocure a lot its strategy is
to use low-intensity electricfields to disrupt cell division.
That's how they plan to beatcancer, to slow it down from
(25:05):
multiplying and maybe even inthe future, stop it completely
using electrical current.
Cancer cells also have unusualelectrical properties enabling
researchers to target them atspecific frequencies and leave
healthy ones unscathed.
The company says Stop righthere.
(25:28):
I have a friend of mine,brilliant young lady worked in
Minneapolis.
She was brilliant About now 20years ago.
She contracted two differentkinds of cancer and, being the
sharp woman that she was, shewas very directly involved with
(25:50):
her own plan of cure.
She'd ask questions, she'd doresearch.
I remember her sharing with methere was one pill, one pill
that she used to have to takefor her cancer, and I mean it
was not regular, but she had totake it every so often.
That one chemical pill cost her$4,500, that one pill.
(26:15):
And the problem is because hertreatment at the time was both
radiation and chemical.
There were a lot of unfortunateside effects that she also had
to deal with.
A lot of the stuff that youknow hair falling out, being
very prone to illness, sicknessdropping your white blood cell
(26:36):
count all of that stuff had tobe monitored.
Sickness dropping your whiteblood cell count All of that
stuff had to be monitored.
Then it messed with theirnerves in their fingers and feet
All an issue.
Imagine if they knew then whatthey know now and could say we
could apply electrical current,low levels of it, targeted
(26:59):
current to maybe arrest, slowdown or otherwise stop the
growth of cancer in your body.
No chemicals, no pills, noradiation how would that change
people's lives?
How would that improve thequality of life for people?
Electricity it's a phenomenalthing.
(27:24):
Let me give you another examplewhere they're looking at it,
because really what it gets downto is using electricity in a
more nuanced and sophisticatedway, how they deliver that.
Another way that they arelooking to test is they've got a
device.
Let me back up a little bit.
(27:45):
They've got a device.
This implantable device is thesize of multivitamin that can
send electric pulses down aperson's vagus nerve.
The nerve carries electricalsignals throughout the body and
helps regulate digestion andheart rate.
It also plays a role in theimmune system, regulating the
production of key proteins thatcause inflammation.
(28:05):
And in this case, too muchinflammation can lead to
autoimmune conditions such asrheumatoid arthritis.
And the company is hopingelectrical pulses can block the
inflammation-causing process.
And they say we're hijackingthe system, we're going to make
it do what it's supposed to do,but we're going to do it
(28:27):
artificially.
This device, not only are theysubmitting it for rheumatoid
arthritis to the FDA, butthey're testing the concept for
Crohn's disease.
And another thing near and dearto my heart multiple sclerosis.
My youngest brother's wife ischronic sufferer of multiple
(28:50):
sclerosis.
One of my very good friends inhigh school, his very vivacious
mom who was a dental technicianback in the 70s multiple
sclerosis and watched itbasically take that vibrancy
away from her over time.
Imagine if there's a devicethat gets them away from the
(29:11):
chemicals and the side effectsof the radiation and all that
other stuff they got to dealwith Now.
Granted, this is still evolving.
They don't have these are notcures yet In the trials that
they are testing this in variousdiseases, various cancers.
They're learning and they'reslowing stuff down.
(29:33):
They're not totally eradicatingit yet, but in some cases, in
some cases already, in somecases, yes, the person could
stop taking the pills.
The change it would turn thepharmaceutical industry on its
(29:56):
ear.
It would change how doctorsprescribe cures or not cures,
remedies or resolutions tochronic disease.
It could improve the quality oflife, not just for the
individual suffering, but thefamilies and the loved ones, and
the future.
Some of these people will getto live decent lives, maybe not
(30:19):
at 100%, but way more thanthey've got now, because of
electricity being applied to thebody in new ways designed to
manipulate where possible, stopwhere necessary and maybe even
reverse some stuff, some stuff.
These are exciting times, butelectrical fields and pulses
(30:43):
maybe could be used to treatcancer, rheumatoid arthritis and
who knows what else.
Wow, wow, getting a treatmentas opposed to having to take a
pill or radiation or all theother stuff.
Imagine A former Tesla employeehas developed a low-cost
(31:06):
motorcycle aimed at customers inAfrica and South Asia.
He has a long waiting list.
We are the Tech Mobility Show.
To learn more about the TechMobility Show, start by visiting
our website.
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
The website is a treasure troveof information about me and the
(31:26):
show, as well as where to findit on the radio across the
country.
Keep up with the happenings ofthe Tech Mobility Show by
visiting techmobilityshow.
That's techmobilityshow.
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
(31:46):
You can also drop us a line attalk at techmobilityshow.
Did you know that Tech Mobilityhas a YouTube channel?
Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host ofthe Tech Mobility Show.
Each week I upload a few shortvideos of some of the hot topics
that I cover during my weeklyradio program.
I've designed these videos tobe informative and entertaining.
It's another way to keep up oncurrent mobility and technology
news and information.
Be sure to watch, like andsubscribe to my channel.
(32:09):
That's the Tech Mobility Showon YouTube.
Check it out.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
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Social media is the place to be these days, and
we're no exception.
I'm Ken Chester of the TechMobility Show.
If you enjoy my program, thenyou will also enjoy my weekly
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These short features aredesigned to inform and delight
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(33:09):
You can find us by typing theTech Mobility Show in the search
bar.
Zeno, an electric motor bicyclestartup founded by a former
Tesla employee, has developed amotorbike that is primarily
aimed at markets in Africa andIndia.
Its motorbike both outperformsgasoline powered motorcycle and,
(33:32):
believe it or not, costs lessto purchase.
The waiting line is in spite ofthe absence of any sort of
governmental incentive or rebate.
This is topic C.
Can you imagine a vehicle thatis low cost, affordable and has
the ability to change your life?
(33:53):
That is what this vehicle does,and I'm going to explain that
in a minute.
But can you imagine?
The challenge is that in thosecountries that I just mentioned
Africa and India roads, once youget outside of major
metropolitan cities, are asuggestion, an afterthought and
(34:15):
maybe barely a cow path?
The challenge was to develop abike that could do a better job
of carrying heavy loads ormultiple passengers on rough
roads.
And remember I'm talking abouta motorcycle.
We're not just talking about,you know, two folks and whatever
.
No, no, no, you got wholefamilies in the third world that
(34:39):
ride these bikes at the sametime.
They're all together.
I mean, hey, you're trying toget around, you're doing it the
best way you can.
This startup, xenon.
They recently officiallylaunched its first product, a
sport utility electricmotorcycle called the Amara.
Let me read that again, becauseyou have not heard those words
(35:01):
put together before A sportutility electric motorcycle.
Bet you didn't know there wassuch a thing.
But there is Ranging from$1,000 to $1,500, depending on
the market.
It's designed to be cheaperthan gas alternatives and do a
(35:22):
better job of carrying heavyloads of multiple passengers on
rough roads.
How did they do it?
They got creative, they gotgenius and they did this.
The battery, which is soldseparately, can be either
charged or instantly switchedout at swapping stations.
Put a pin in that.
We're going to come back tothat.
Figure this out.
I can buy the motorcycle, I canlease.
(35:45):
The battery Brings costs waydown.
It brings costs way downBecause in any EV, the battery
is the most expensive part of it, just like your motor vehicle
gasoline, your engine andtransmission the most expensive
part of the car.
They wanted to get this in thehands of the people who had the
(36:05):
need most, but these bikes hadto be robust.
You couldn't take a bikedesigned for American streets,
throw some fancy tires on it,think it's going to work in
Africa.
It'd be broke that day, brokeand busted.
Did I mention a sport utilityelectric motorcycle?
(36:26):
And I'm saying this to thepeople who say, ah, electrics,
they're not sturdy, they're notgood.
Ah, they never last.
Ah, blah, no, you're thinkingabout them.
Scooters about seven or eightyears ago that had an average
life of 18 months.
That's what you're thinkingabout.
No, no, no, no, nothing likethat.
I like the term sport utilityUtility Electric Motorcycle.
(36:50):
Wow, I just want you to turnwith your mind on that for a
minute.
I want you to turn Now.
They tested this in the easternprovinces of Kenya and Africa
and they felt that in Africathere were a lot of markets
(37:12):
where they started a lot ofgreenfield development
opportunity for energyinfrastructure.
Meaning there ain't much of one.
A large portion of thepopulation isn't grid connected
yet, but being grid connectedquickly, gdp growth is
increasing, the middle class isgrowing and energy consumption
(37:33):
is increasing.
One point of interventionmotorcycles.
When someone living in acountry like Kenya earns enough
money to buy a vehicle, it'stypically a gas motorcycle about
150 cc's, which is not a bigengine, by the way.
The founder saw an opening for abetter electric version and he
(37:53):
contended that while Chinesemanufacturers make electric
scooters, they're not wellsuited for common use in Africa,
which is three or fourpassengers with heavy loads on
rugged, bumpy roads and I useroads in quotes.
High-end electric motorcyclebrands for other markets, like
Damon, were unaffordable.
(38:13):
Now these people who were goingto buy these can't afford that.
Other companies hadn't focusedon redesigning the standard mass
market 150cc motorcycle fromthe ground up.
So what does that mean?
That means that some of thesefolks would take motorcycles
(38:34):
that they developed elsewhereand cobbled something together.
Try to pawn it off in Africa.
Didn't work, they weren't madefor the terrain, they weren't
made for the load, they weren'tmade to deal with and they broke
down and they were awful.
This guy said no, we can dobetter.
We can do better.
And they did.
(38:55):
And I said motorcycle, notscooter.
I did not stutter, just in caseyou were wondering, these are
not scooters.
Let me come full circle for aminute.
I told you a few minutes ago toput a pin in the ability to
swap out batteries.
Let me tell you how that thingone it gets the cost of the
(39:18):
motorcycle down, which is waycool, and that you can rent
batteries at swapping stationsAgain way cool.
It is cheaper than buying.
But what does this do?
Because I said and I did not,didn't stutter, I said would
improve the quality of life.
Let me read this to you thesebatteries swapped out batteries
(39:42):
can play another role.
When they're plugged intocharge, they can support the
grid by charging when demand islow.
Customers can also take thebatteries home.
If they have access toelectricity at home, they can
charge the batteries there.
But if they don't, thebatteries can charge other
devices when they're not in thebikes.
We've got customers today whoare driving all day on their
(40:04):
motorbikes, swapping at swapstations and they're cooking on
their batteries withenergy-efficient stoves,
induction cook stoves and thenrepeating the cycle the next day
, if you can.
Can you imagine you don't haveelectricity at home, but maybe
you managed to get yourself atablet or a laptop and imagine
(40:29):
you can plug it into thisbattery and now you have
internet access.
You can use your computerbecause of a motorcycle.
Recharging this electricity ispennies compared to a gasoline
version which would run, in acourse of a year, $3,000 to put
gas in it, and that is typically40 to 50% of the average income
(40:49):
of the people who need to ridethese bikes, who need to own
these bikes, who need to buythem.
Electricity pennies Plus thegasoline versions don't do what
these batteries will do for folkin boosting their standard of
living, helping them connect andget better.
The possibilities, they say,are endless.
And yes, they tested this thingout and they have a list.
(41:10):
They can't build them fastenough.
Investors paying attention too,because they said we like stuff
that's cheaper, better, fasteralready for the consumer and the
environment is a drag alongbenefit.
So there isn't sales fiction.
People end up buying thesebecause they're green.
They're buying them becausethey're better and affordable
and at the end of the day,that's what matters.
People end up buying thesebecause they're green.
(41:31):
They're buying them becausethey're better and affordable
and at the end of the day,that's what matters.
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