A new era of electric mobility is on display at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. After a three-plus-year pause, the industry has undergone several changes. Though many automakers are pulling away from traditional auto shows, the bigger automakers, including Ford, GM, Toyota, and Stellantis are still there, showcasing the future of transportation, as more manufacturers pivot to electric vehicles. Scott Painter, CEO of Autonomy, breaks down what people can expect at this year's auto show and highlights the challenges of the EV infrastructure rollout. 

Opening Bell

Detroit Auto Show Reveals Future of Electric Vehicles

here to discuss scott painter ceo of autonomy. Thank you so much for being with us. What can people expect at this year's auto show? Well, I think the real departure from a traditional auto show where you see internal combustion engine cars this year, what you're gonna find is that you've got 17 different automakers showcasing 38 different electric vehicles. And this is really a glimpse into the future. I think one of the things that's exciting is that the industry has clearly decided that it's going to go fully electric. Nobody's just said we're gonna make a car. Everybody has said, we're going all in on electric. So you're seeing full model lineups. And I really believe that the exciting part for consumers isn't just the really aspirational cars where you've got some excitement around old classics like the Corvette and the Hummer EV E from General Motors, for example, The Ford F150, the most highly produced car on the world or vehicle in the world is also going all electric, but it's really about affordability. You've got a full range of cars and you've got vehicles that are going to cost customers all the way from $30,000 in total, Gets you into the car for under $300 a month, all the way up to things that are going to cost a little bit more like $100,000 and a little bit over $1,000 a month. So it's a full range and a full offering. It's an exciting moment for the auto industry. They've had a, you know a couple of year break. Yeah, affordability really the name of the game right now with consumers. But the one change here, that is not about an all electric future forward. Unveiling a new gas powered mustang, a strategy that is in contrast with a lot of these rivals. Uh, so what does this say about consumer preference right now? And when do you anticipate demand shifting from any traditional combustion engines even with a legacy like mustang into all electric? Well, you've got car companies here that have invested billions of dollars in legacy infrastructure and internal combustion engines. So you are gonna still see that, um, in states like California where they tend to be a bellwether. And you've got a number of states, almost 15 that are going to follow California's legislation here have really reggae And they're starting to legislate the idea that we're going to go all electric by 2035. And they've got a pretty aggressive schedule today in California, 16% of all new car sales are already electric and that's going to be moving very quickly to 2026 where we're gonna see about 40% and then 2030 where we're going to see close to 80%. So things are changing, but you do have vehicles that have been in the pipeline for a long time. Those vehicles were also showcased. So the new Mustang I think is a smart move for forward and that they're definitely gonna be satisfying demand as we make that transfer, but there is no question the world is going all electric and it's not just who's making electric cars, it's also high gas prices, interest rates, You've got a lot of big forces at work and that's all conflated with the fact that both federal and state are heading in the direction where they're providing heavy incentives and rebates and a lot of infrastructure is getting built to fill in behind that. I think consumers can take a lot of comfort in the fact that the infrastructure, the charging infrastructure is definitely getting built to backfill and to make the idea of going electric, something that we can all feel comfortable with. Yeah, and Scott as we talk about this all electric future that consumers are being primed for. It's no surprise that we're gonna look at competition and Tesla is the market leader in EBS, it hasn't had a floor show booth in Detroit since 2015. So in your view, I'm curious, do you think there are any automakers on display, uh, for this show that could eventually overtake Tesla's dominance here? Well, just to put things in perspective, Tesla is currently producing over 30,000 vehicles per week for the US market that's a very, very tall order and at autonomy, we're building our fleet and we're starting to see um, Evie reg emerge all over the country, but California is by far five times ahead of everywhere else on a rate basis. We do see cities like Austin texas and Miami florida starting to gain. But clearly some of these large automakers, General Motors and ford and Volkswagen, they have the capacity to certainly add the volume that would give Tesla a run for its money, but with 80% of production today remaining Tesla, it's going to be that way for the foreseeable future. And with our 23,000 vehicle order for example, we are getting a real sense of who's going to be able to deliver what and when, but the backbone of our growth is going to definitely still remain with Tesla Alright. And yeah, that's also the name of the game. It's not just affordability but those who can actually make those deliveries happen for the demand that they're seeing. I also wonder as we talk about this future in terms of infrastructure for the electric vehicle space, what hurdles do you think still need to be cleared before we see mainstream adoption? And I'm glad that you pointed out all of the different initiatives that are at play here? Well, I think there's really three barriers to adoption. Um, you know, mass adoption of electric vehicles. # one is the physics of what's being built, you can't drive, what isn't being made. So Tesla is going to be at the forefront of this conversation for a very long time, but we look at who's putting shovels in the dirt and who's actually falling through on their plans. Not everybody is at the same place. You've got not only legacy carmakers that are switching over and transforming to electric, but you've got a lot of new entrants that are multi billion dollar companies that in some cases are pre product and pre revenue. So you've got a lot of things that are coming, but there just are not here yet. The second one is clearly charging infrastructure and the third is affordability. What we've really focused on an autonomy is figuring out how can we make an electric car less expensive than an internal combustion engine car. The average car payment in America today is $650 no matter what you drive. So it is very important for us to figure out how can we get these cars below $500 a month. And that was our launch initiative. And what we're. Learning is that the secondary market for electric cars is going to remain scarce for so long that we believe it's a great asset to own. It's gonna hold its value because there's just simply not enough of them. You've got 300 million non electric cars on American roads, less than two million electric cars and it's gonna be that way where there's that massive imbalance for some time. Lots of good perspective here that scott painter ceo of autonomy, Thanks so much for joining us