49: Hardware Standards, Cybertruck and The Autonomy Boondoggle

Today, Horace and Oliver talk about the newly released SAE Micromobility Standards, the Cybertruck announcement and Horace’s latest thoughts on the boondoggle of autonomy. Specifically, they dig into:- Why the new SAE Micromobility standards matter, what they’re competing against and why definitions like this default to lowest common denominators.- The Cybertruck announcement, including discussion about what appears to be a new type of body manufacturing, and the implications of the radical design. Plus, Horace admits to liking it, even if he doesn’t think that the entire category of trucks should exist.- We dig into why Horace believes that autonomy for cars is such a boondoggle, and the implications for wider mobility technology investment and talent.If you’re interested in hearing Horace and Oliver talk in more detail about these issues on exclusive calls plus get discounts on the Micromobility Conference, swag and more, sign up to Triple M here: https://micromobility.io/triple-mShow notes:- SAE Micromobility Standards [https://www.sae.org/news/press-room/2019/11/sae-international-publishes-industry’s-first-standard-for-classification-and-definition-of-powered-micromobility-vehicles]- Cybertruck Coefficient of Drag modelling [https://electrek.co/2019/11/25/tesla-cybertruck-aerodynamics-cfd-rendering/]- Scooter supply chains with Michal Naka and Stephen Lambe [https://medium.com/mimomusings/on-the-origin-of-scooters-76f6a28d49d] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit micromobility.substack.com/subscribe