Directly Current: EVs for All America

Dario Pagani transitioned from ChargePoint to Autel Energy years ago as the compancy, once a scan-tool manufacturer from Shenzhen, was building out its transition to charging hardware with a North Carolina factory and California-based innovation center. He's ready to share some of the trends he's seen in both the level 2 (slow) and DC (fast) charging industries for EVs, where market and incentive structures are shaping a lucrative but novel business that's part-construction, part-manufacturing reliant on global supply chains, and part-technology company.
Max and Dario go over
- The aggressive pace of EV charging relative to modest EV passenger adoption in the US
- The challenges since COVID of being a global manufacturer who produces their own hardware
- The evolution of his role from being at a CPO (Charge Point Operator) to a company that ships interoperable hardware that is flexible
- Trends he's seeing in the charging business as retail and multifamily adoption grows
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Resources and Links:
Check out Dario's LinkedIn

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Jamie Butters was the Editor in Chief of Automotive News, has covered the Motor City at outlets like the Wall Street Journal, and is hosting a regular radio show called Auto Town speaking to folks inside the American car industry. Max speaks with him to get an idea at how Detroit is doing in the current US moment where oil prices are high, consumers love hybrids, and fuel standards are absent, giving automakers a spout of relief but also uncertainty for the future ahead as Chinese cars continue their global conquest abroad. 
Max and Jamie go over
- The pause in fuel economy standards giving American automakers relief
- Hybrid portfolios and the hype over "EREVs" in Detroit
- The tension of value per dollar to the consumer and privacy/national domestic manufacturing that Chinese EVs present to North America
- The enduring, emotional appeal of combustion to enthusiasts
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

Resources and Links:
Listen to Jamie's Auto Town on Radio or Podcast Feeds

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Transportation electrification is often framed in environmental terms, but Ben Prochazaka and his colleagues at the Electrification Coalition present a different reason to plug in. Oil dependence is a dangerous addiction for economic and geopolitical reasons, as current events have reminded many Americans. He joins the show to explain the progress made in EVs, both passenger and freight, and how barriers like affordability are rapidly becoming less steep.
Max and Ben go over
- The roadblocks to EVs in charging, supply chain, and affordability
- Oil dependency in the US and why electrification is a must
- The progress in medium and heavy duty electrification with Tesla Semi
- The unfair surface transportation bill being proposed to unduly tax EV drivers
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

Resources and Links:
Tell your Congress person about the unfair EV bill
Stay tuned to the Electrification Roadmap
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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
🎙️ Listen on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform

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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Support EVs for All America (and buy our merch!)