Directly Current: The EV Politics Podcast

Directly Current: The EV Politics Podcast

EV journalist and law student Max Patten speaks to experts in government and the auto business to de-polarize electric cars and learn about how they’re key for a renewal of American manufacturing and the survival of our auto industry.

Episodes

28: Electric for Everyone with Josh Boone (Veloz)

September 2, 2025 • 28 mins
Veloz is a nonprofit leading the charge with a national messaging campaign to sell the public on EVs—not for environmental advocacy but for practical cost of ownership and tangible benefits. Josh Boone, their executive director, joins Max for a chat on their new Electric for All campaign we've partnered with them on—featuring the iconic voice of Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation).

Max and Josh go over...
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    27: Building a Better Battery (in America) with Deeana Ijaz, Our Next Energy

    July 22, 2025 • 26 mins
    Our Next Energy (ONE) is developing LFP battery cells in Michigan. If you're an EV nerd, you know how big of a deal that is. These kinds of chemistries are what are going to enable durable, long lasting, and most importantly, affordable EVs and China already specializes in them and currently basically chokes the world's supply, not just in terms of minerals, but also IP know-how and manufacturing for this super valuable batter...
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    26: Making EVs An Electric Grid Asset, with WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava

    July 8, 2025 • 31 mins
    You've probably heard that the electric grid is under severe strain and that electric cars are of no help. And this is in some ways a little bit overblown, but it's also true, particularly in the era of large data centers and AI. But it doesn't have to be that way.

    Electric vehicles can be part of the solution. We've spoken on this show briefly before about concepts like vehicle to grid and vehicles like the Ford F-15...
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    25: EV Fleets with Libby Bittman, Wex

    June 24, 2025 • 27 mins
    One of the biggest sources of electrification isn't your home or your neighbors', but the commercial fleets and trucks that power American business. Wex is a company doing fuel card services, but their EV charging solutions have taken off and they're continuing to invest in it despite federal headwinds. 

    In this episode of Directly Current, host Max Patten speaks to Libby Bittman, the Business Development Director for...
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    24: Charging Ahead with Electric Era, CEO Quincy Lee

    June 10, 2025 • 33 mins
    Max speaks to Quincy Lee, founder and CEO of Electric Era, a charging business that's integrating high-quality hardware with smart software and batteries to deploy rapidly at retailers like Costco for low cost. It's a story of entrepreneurship, quality-obsession, and paving the infrastructure for the future.

    Electric Era's Site
    Quincy's Twitter
    Quincy's LinkedIn

    American EV Jobs Alliance Messaging Cam...
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    23: Improving EV Towing and Camping with Toby Kraus, CEO of Lightship

    May 27, 2025 • 31 mins
    Electric towing is hard, particularly when you're hauling a big family-sized camper that can halve a Rivian's range. Lightship is a startup that's laser-focused on solving that pickle by engineering a smart trailer that not only makes itself more aerodynamic in motion, but also pulls its own weight with an e-axle and independent battery system. It's a clever piece of tech but it also costs a pretty penny.

    Max speaks w...
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    22: The Long, Messy Road To Desirable EVs with Declan Kavanaugh

    May 14, 2025 • 36 mins
    Long before the Tesla Roadster or GM EV.1 were a twinkle in engineers' eyes, there were people hard at work making whacky electric cars in their garages. Declan Kavanaugh, a college student and budding engineer interning at startup Telo Trucks, is one such enthusiast, taking pride in buying cheap EV curiosity projects from the 1970s and restoring them with modern-day battery technology and upgrades. He documents his efforts in...
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    21: Building Electric Trucks In America (with Harbinger Motors' John Harris)

    April 29, 2025 • 28 mins
    Harbinger Motors is making medium-duty electric trucks in America, which believe it or not, almost no one else is. While Rivian, GM, Ford, and Daimler have rolled out light duty vans for deliveries, John Harris wants to make chassis for vehicles with higher gross vehicle weight ratings for delivery customers with those needs. Of course, we talk tariffs—an ongoing and changing development for the auto industry—and how his compa...
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    20: Tesla in the Crosshairs (with Andrew Lambrecht)

    April 15, 2025 • 41 mins
    Andrew Lambrecht owns a Tesla Model 3, freelance writes for several EV publications, and is a graduating engineering student who's interned at startups like Lucid Motors. Max speaks to him to get a sense of where Tesla lies as a company in 2025 amidst a chaotic and unpredictable CEO, global headwinds, an aging product lineup, and revolt among some of its most formerly loyal customers.

    While we've explored the polling ...
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    19: Live Crew Show From EVCS in Vegas

    April 1, 2025 • 16 mins
    Max, Mike, Joe, and Sarah from the EV Politics team break down the goings-on at the EV Charging Summit and Expo live from Las Vegas. They also react in real time to the 25% imported car tariff. Special guest star Tom Moloughney!

    Subscribe to Directly Current

    Learn More About the American EV Jobs Alliance

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    18: How To Make EV Charging Profitable ft. Stable CEO, Rohan Puri

    March 18, 2025 • 31 mins
    EV charging is a hard business, and it's only gotten tougher with the federal axing of incentive programs like NEVI. But Rohan Puri, CEO and co-founder of Stable, thinks there's a way to make it sustainable in the long term. His company uses data analytics so that site hosts can have happy accounts and keep deploying electrons to a growing population of EV drivers.

    Check out Stable's Site and Data Insights

    Su...
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    17: The EV Transition is Messy, But Inevitable ft. Mike Colias (Author, WSJ)

    March 4, 2025 • 31 mins
    Max speaks with Mike Colias, WSJ autos reporter and author of "Inevitable: Inside The Messy, Unstoppable Transition to Electric Vehicles" about his just-published book and the stories of American innovation and manufacturing he encountered along the way, from the booming low-interest early 2020s to the messy reality of today's EV transition amidst a hostile Trump administration.

    Order Mike's Book

    Subscribe to...
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    16: EV Charging's Rapid Improvement with Tom Moloughney (State of Charge)

    February 18, 2025 • 44 mins
    Tom Moloughney—who hosts State of Charge on YouTube, maintains an EV charging news site, and cohosts the Batteries Included Podcast—is the go-to guru for EV charging. He's covered EVs since the BMW Mini E program in the late 2000s. Max speaks with him on developments in DC fast charging as well as how normal people can know how to pick a good "Level 2" charger for their home.

    Subscribe to State of Charge:  @StateOfCha...
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    15: Rep. Ro Khanna on American Industry, EVs Under Trump

    February 4, 2025 • 27 mins
    Ro Khanna is the Democratic House representative of CA-17, better known as Silicon Valley. He's a popular progressive candidate, serving his fourth term, but he's also moderate and pro-business. He wrote a book on American entrepreneurship and manufacturing, has taught at Stanford, and been close with tech leaders like Elon Musk. Max speaks with the vocal and talented Congressman to get an idea of how Democrats can seize the m...
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    14: Gasoline Superusers and State Environmental Policy with Matthew Metz

    January 21, 2025 • 28 mins
    EVs may be on a mission to save the planet, but they could also save some of our country’s most frequent drivers by being much cheaper to run. Matthew Metz, founder of data and policy firm Coltura, joins the show to talk how gasoline superusers can save on EVs and give Max some legislative and political insights into how battles over electric car policy at the state level might play out.

    Calculate EV Savings on Coltur...
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    13: Your EV Holiday Shopping Guide Before The Tax Credit May Be Axed

    December 10, 2024 • 17 mins
    Max goes over how to bargain hunt for a new, or used, or even leased EV with the looming death of the Inflation Reduction Act's clean vehicle tax credit.

    Eligible New Cars
    Eligible Old Cars
    Learn More About the American EV Jobs Alliance
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    12: Batteries, America, and Asian Dominance with Doron Myersdorf, StoreDot CEO

    December 3, 2024 • 33 mins
    Happy post-Thanksgiving season! Max sits down with Doron Myersdorf, CEO of Israeli battery startup StoreDot, to talk battery technology and what the US can learn from the rest of the world when it comes to industrial policy.

    Subscribe to Directly Current
    Learn More about The American EV Jobs Alliance
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    11: The State of US EV Policy with Former Tesla Exec. Rohan Patel

    November 19, 2024 • 31 mins
    Max picks the brain of White House and Tesla alum Rohan Patel, who pivoted from advising Obama on climate policy to working at the world's leading EV player for eight years making pivotal business and policy decisions.

    With the state of the Inflation Reduction Act in question given a new administration and Republican control of Congress, what does Rohan think of the US' current place in the race to transition to gree...
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    10: What Trump's Win Means for EVs with Jamie Butters of Automotive News

    November 12, 2024 • 37 mins
    Max is joined by Mike Murphy as well as Executive Editor of Automotive News, Jamie Butters, to talk EVs in the wake of a big Election night for Republicans across the board. Trump and Elon's alliance looms large, as do headwinds for EVs in the US amidst the march of ever more available and cheaper vehicles. It's not all doom and gloom, we promise!

    Listen to The Daily Drive Podcast
    Learn More about The American EV ...
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    9: Election Night Eve and EVs with John Heilemann

    November 5, 2024 • 34 mins
    Max speaks to John Heilemann, journalist with Puck News and analyst with NBC to discuss how the candidates are treating (or not treating) EVs in the final sprint to election day, and WTF is going on with Elon Musk and Trump.

    Listen to John's Podcast at Puck
    Find out more about the American EV Jobs Alliance
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