Directly Current: EVs for All America

Many new EVs like GM's EV pickup trucks, Ford's upcoming UEV, and Tesla's Cybertruck are capable of exporting onboard power from their large batteries into someone's home to act as a bckup generator, or even back into the grid to act as a grid stabilizer that could save people money on their bill each month. This is the promise of vehicle-to-grid. However,. the rules around vehicle-grid interconnection are fractured, local, and still nascent. Zach and his team at the Vehicle Grid Integration Council (VGIC) have been working to change that, making sure EVs and utilities are ready for the future in a safe, responsible way.
Max and Zach go over
- The bottlenecks to adoption that have slowed the technology
- The promise VGI has for a more strained than ever grid
- The work some states like Maryland have done to advance the ball
- The interoperability problem around vehicles, chargers, and gateway switches
- Driving down the cost of V2G systems, which are expensive today
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Resources and Links:
Check out VGIC's work
Follow Zach on LinkedIn
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James Bell is the head of PR and comms for Kia in America, and he's overseen the brand evolve from being a budget/used car alternative into a premium competitor, particularly in the EV space. Hot on the heels of announcing the affordable EV3 for the US, James speaks with Max to discuss how Kia isn't letting up on its EV platforms and strategy despite the doom and gloom of some US market forecasters. In fact, he's quite confident EVs are an inevitable future for passenger transport, even if some of his colleagues at other OEMs are taking big writedowns and blaming EVs for strategy failures.
Max and James go over
- Kia's reinvention as a premium, tech-forward brand competing with European auto
- The Georgia plants where many Kia are built in the US and consumers wanting desirable product regardless of origin
- The new EV3 which competes with the Bolt and Nissan LEAF as an affordable but desirable compact car
- His experience almost running out of range in a tiny Mercedes B-class electric during the very early days of EVs
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

Resources and Links:
Check out the new Kia EV3

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Alan Clarke, executive director of Advanced EV Programs at Ford, joins Max to discuss his team's work on the Universal EV Platform—an ambitious plan to make low-cost, next-gen vehicles that make the existing Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning look old-school. Ford's first BEV efforts were well received but had no path to profitability and were simply too expensive for consumers. Now, his team of Tesla vets and auto industry outsiders is using first principles engineering to do more with less, starting with a Ranger-sized pickup truck around $30,000.
Max and Alan go over
- The engineering tradeoffs going into the design like battery chemistry choices
- Emerging use cases like vehicle to grid and vehicle to home
- What first principals engineering looks like and the benefit of starting fresh
- Merging Michigan and California cultures to create a startup environment inside of one of the world's largest automakers
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform
Resources and Links:
Check out Ford's Bounty Hunters video
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Ed Kim joins Max from AutoPacific, where he's the chief analyst, to discuss data and insights he's gotten from working with nearly every major OEM on EVs' near future outlook. The good news? There's lots of work on affordability. Also, Republicans really are warming to EVs, as our own polling also shows. The bad news? The affordable EVs can't come soon enough, as fire sales on existing inventory is likely unsustainable for the industry.,
Max and Ed go over

The exciting recent news out of Detroit with Ford's Universal EV Platform

The upcoming launch of the affordable R2

The rise of software-defined vehicles across the industry

Where the industry goes after the loss of the tax credit

▶️ Watch the episode: YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

Resources and Links:
Check out AutoPacific's Insights
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Corey Cantor from the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) joins Max to discuss some positive trends for EVs going into the new year. 2025 was a rough year for EVs with the axing of federal support after Republican-led legislation dropped the $7,500 credit on new vehicles, and sales have shown it. However, automakers are bringing new compelling products out in mainsteam market segments, the used market has never been better for EV-curious shoppers on a budget, and fast chargers are expanding rapidly. 
Max and Corey go over

How providers like IONNA and Mercedes are racing ahead in charging

The market effects of used EVs, plug-in hybrids, and range-extended EVs

Advancing state and federal policies like surface transport reauthorization

What this moment of recalibration means for the long term Western EV market

▶️ Watch the episode: YouTube
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

Resources and Links:
Check out ZETA's work and Corey's research
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