Is Anything Better Than AC?

TOGETHER WITH

We’re PUMPED to announce a formal partnership with Automotive Ventures and their Investment Club. This bold move paves the way for our ASOTU community (that’s you 🫵🏻) to play a bigger direct role in elevating the culture and perception of the industry we all love.

We have a feeling that the stage at ASOTU CON might be a little more crowded when we call investors up this year 😉. They may even be a special, limited edition swag in the mix…

You can get all the deets on the allocation of shares available to Troublemakers, er, investors from our friends at Automotive Ventures here.

Keep Pushing Back-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

AUTOMOTIVE

KBB’s EV Insights

Kelley Blue Book’s new Brand Watch Report revealed some intriguing insights into the current EV consumer landscape:

🛒 18% of consumers consider hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) when shopping, while only 9% consider fully electric models (BEVs).

⏬ Tesla has seen shopping consideration fall for two straight quarters.

🤔 Consumers were most likely to consider a Toyota hybrid over other brands (followed by Honda).

💰 The report theorizes that the higher prices of BEVs and lack of infrastructure contribute to limited consumer interest.

🧠 Learn all about different types of EVs here.

Telling it like it is - For now, hybrid electric > full electric.

AUTOMOTIVE

Tesla Investor Day

Elon Musk envisioned a sustainable energy civilization at Tesla's first-ever Investor Day.

A $10T plan would increase renewable energy production and energy storage capacity. It was also proposed that the plan would revolutionalize home and industrial power use, without destroying nature or asking people to give up luxuries like, you know, lamps and air conditioning.

Chop! Musk did not share much about the brand's affordability plans, but he did say they intend to reduce production costs per vehicle by half.

Telling it like it is - Cutting the manufacturing costs in half should bring the total price down… $5.00 or maybe even $10.00!

TOGETHER WITH VUMO

Complicated Problem; Simple Solution

Who says complicated problems need complicated solutions? It wasn't VUMO!

Their cost-effective, DMS-integrated imaging robot provides a simple solution for a dealer's inventory photography needs!

Indoors or outdoors, the robot follows a track around any vehicle to provide high-quality images with an option to automatically remove background distractions with AI!

It is as simple and fancy as it sounds.

Check out VUMO today!

AUTOMOTIVE

Ford’s AI, Polestar’s 2022, and Aston Martin’s 2023

Ford launched a new automated driving division, Latitude AI, to replace its old Argo AI unit. The new unit will expand the functions of the BlueCruise tech that already lets some models travel hands-free on highways.

Just in time. Ford also announced production of the F-150 Lightning will begin again on March 13. Deliveries, on the other hand, have not been given a restart date.

Polestar reports a revenue surge for 2022 that saw its losses cut in half. With over 50K deliveries last year and another 80K expected this year, the company is doing well, while other EV start-ups are struggling.

Any day now... The company did not comment on when they expect to break even or profit, but last year's movement from $1B in losses to $466M suggests it could be soon.

Aston Martin saw a 14% jump in stock value following a strong 2023 profit forecast. Wholesale volume for 2022 was up 4% yearly, while gross profits increased by 31% in the same period.

Not a moment too soon. The luxury brand also announced an electric overhaul for its model lineup. Fully electric vehicles will be announced this summer.

TL: DR - Ford launched a new self-driving unit and will start building EV trucks again soon, Polestar cut its losses in half last year, and Aston Martin plans on making big bucks this year (Wall Street like that sort of talk).

WHAT THE KIDS ARE INTO

TikTok Throttles Teens

Restrictions are the latest TikTok trend, but not voluntarily. This week, the social media giant announced new measures to help safeguard underage users from too much screen time, like time limits and weekly usage recaps.

The deets. TikTok will enforce a default 60-minute daily screen time limit for users under 18. They may choose to extend their time by entering a passcode but the company says the setting forces users to "make an active decision to extend the time." A provision for users 13 and younger will allow a parent or guardian to enter a passcode to extend their time for another 30 mins. TikTok will also provide teen accounts with a weekly summary of their screen time and encourage those who spend over 100 minutes on the platform to establish stricter daily limits.

Telling it like it is - 13-year-olds to their friends: “Oh, it was easy. I just made him put in the passcode while he had Cheeto dust on his fingers. Works every time.”

Quick Hits

• Elon Musk can’t even handle Twitter, but he wants to put brain chips in our heads?

• A nasty case of whiskey fungus is plaguing a Tennessee town.

• No joke! On April 1st, LEGO is launching a new set to build the Up house in a partnership with Disney, who is celebrating their 100-year anniversary.

History

• 1845: Florida is admitted as the 27th state of America.

• 1875: The first-ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal.

• 1931: The Star-Spangled Banner is officially adopted as the national anthem of the United States.