Our Electric Future w/ Tony Posawatz - CoT 049

Citizens of Tech

Today on Citizens of Tech, we interview Tony Posawatz, President & CEO of Invictus iCAR LLC. Tony’s had a long history in the automotive industry and electric vehicles specifically working at GM, Fisker, and currently Invictus.

BACKGROUND

Please introduce yourself and what you do to the CoT audience.

You’re at Invictus now, which appears to be a engineering consultancy with expertise in electrification of vehicles. Is that about right?

When companies seek your expertise, what are the challenges they are typically facing?

We noticed in your Twitter feed that Ben Franklin coined the term “battery.” Do you happen to know the story behind that? (Leyden jar.)

GM & THE VOLT

You spent a lot of years at GM, one of the largest automotive manufacturing concerns in the world. What drove GM to bring electrified drivetrains into their lineup?

Tell us about the conception and eventual decision to “go” with the Volt. Was there doubt? Internal opposition? Competing projects that lost?

You’re a Dartmouth MBA and a PE (professional engineer). As you led the teams you did on the Volt project, which skills did you bring to bear more?

The Volt drivetrain is complicated. We’ve talked about in some detail on the show, as Eric is a Volt owner. What do you remember as the biggest engineering hurdles to overcome with gen 1 Volt?

Sometimes you hear that the Volt sells (at least sold) at a loss. Is this actually true? And is that still true, as far as you know?

THE STATE OF THE EV

Weight is the enemy of efficiency when it comes to cars. Yet, EVs weigh quite a bit. A Tesla Model S is well over 2 tons, and a model X is pushing 3. Do batteries ever get lighter or storage capacity denser?

EV charging infrastructure is spearheaded by Tesla, but Tesla chargers don’t work for all EVs. I’m banging my head in frustration. Don’t we need standards here? Shouldn’t we be de-risking build-out of charging infrastructure?

Can you explain why the multi-gear transmissions & CVTs that we’re used to in traditional drivetrains don’t make sense in electric vehicles?

What sorts of skills does the EV industry need right now?

What do you see as the role of governments in the EV marketplace?

Who are the most interesting EV-related companies we’ve never heard of?

Momentum Dynamics

Ytricity

Qualcomm (Halo IPT acquisition)

Battery tech -- silicon anode tech companies -- Nexiod, Amperus, along with big companies like LG

EV FUTURE

Is EV tech interesting to the aeronautics industry? eg: Solar Impulse

What about for big transportation -- ships, trucks, and trains?

Will on-board solar ever become a useful technology to electric vehicles?

A Tesla-imagined future seems to be solar cells on residential roofs, power stored in batteries mounted on our walls, and an electric car charged from this infrastructure. Is that a realistic view of the future? Why or why not?

Let’s say I want to get into the EV business. Does it make sense to design & build my own EV? Or should I be a supplier? IOW, why the heck is Apple building a car?

Do you see the autonomous car and electric car movements as related or even interdependent?

What does climate change tell us about the future of the EV?

Outro

We hope you learned something today on CoT. If you like what we’re doing, please share this podcast with your friends, rate us on iTunes, and send us some upvotes in the /r/citizensoftech subreddit. Until we show up in your podcatcher again, visit citizensoftech.com, where you can become a Patreon patron.