What’s A Road Trip Without Some Setbacks?

TOGETHER WITH

Define a great experience. We say those words in our industry a lot. We all want to deliver a great experience. What is it for your company?

Today's exercise - Write down all the things you think it is then put them in 3 buckets: table stakes, things others can easily copy, and things only you can do.

Make sure you have something in each bucket and that will allow you to serve up great experiences every day!Keep Pushing Back-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

AUTOMOTIVE

Lessons From a Long-Distance EV Journey

Joann Muller, a writer for Axios, took a 1500-mile road trip in her Kia EV and shared what she learned from the experience:

🔎 Finding chargers can be a bit like playing Where's Waldo? Chargers are unlike gas stations; you won't find them along every highway. More often than not, they're tucked away in parking lots and tourist hotspots. Remember to have a plan B in case the charging station you find is inoperable.

🎩 Don't expect anything fancy like bathrooms or roofs. Charging stations lack many conveniences typically provided by gas stations, such as trashcans, restrooms, air/vacuum machines, snacks, or canopies.

👀 Keep your eyes peeled. Minimal lighting and security surround EV chargers, so it's hard not to feel like a sitting duck, especially at night.

⚠️ Not all "fast" chargers are created equal. Typical charging stations offer various power levels to suit your specific vehicle. But if the charger that is fastest for your car is occupied, you may have to take what you can get.

🪫 Charging can be slower than expected. It really all depends on the output of the charger. Remember: the lower the kW, the slower the charge.

💸 It’s expensive. Charging at home costs an average of 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. On the road, it's an average of 30-43 cents. Not to mention, time is money, and charging requires a lot of extra time.

🤗 Camaraderie. Fellow EV drivers are eager to check out each other's rides and compare notes.

🔑 Actionable takeaways:

• Plan and prepare ahead.

• Always stay alert while charging.

• Allow yourself more time than you would expect.

• Road trips in an EV aren't as seamless as with ICE vehicles, but they are possible with proper preparation.

Telling it like it is - "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." - Benjamin Franklin in response to EV travel.

AUTOMOTIVE

Tesla Comes Home?

After moving its headquarters out of the state in 2021, Tesla announced it would return to California with a new engineering headquarters. Previous comments that the state was overregulated and overtaxed were absent from the press conference at which Musk and Governor Newsom celebrated the news.

Of course, Tesla never really left the state. Its Fremont factory has maintained strong production and expects to build around 600K cars this year.

The EV giant is also scaling back its German battery plant in light of recent US incentives. While the company will continue building vehicles for the global market in Europe, the focus has shifted to milking all possible benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Telling it like it is - Discounts AND tax incentives? What’s a few bucks for a U-Haul in this economy?

TOGETHER WITH STITCH FIX

Look The Way You Want

• Job interview

• Date night

• Trip to the grocery

• Weekend vacation

• Weekend stay-cation

No matter the setting, your clothes should first and foremost make you feel comfortable inside and out.

Stitch Fix offers men's and women's clothes from XS through 3XL to meet any needs. They offer expert-selected outfits, free shipping, great prices, and no commitment. You get to shop how you want and when you want.

So if you are ready to try a new look or love your look and want more of it delivered right to your door, try Stitch Fix today.

ASTOUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Automotive WORD•RO•NYMS

Defining the industry terms and acronyms we use in easy to use language.

"VDP" - Vehicle Details PageA page on a dealership's website that is dedicated to a specific vehicle and contains all of the vehicle's information, including photos, pricing, calls to action, features, descriptions, and additional data made available by the dealer or website provider

AUTOMOTIVE

Stock Slide, Profit Share, and Raising Raises.

Lucid stocks are down 9.5%, following the news of missed revenue targets and lower-than-expected delivery numbers. The company projected 2,813 delivered for Q4 but ended up with just under 2K.

Not all bad. Full-year production for the EV maker topped forecasts at 7,180 compared to 6,000-7,000 estimates. Although, those estimates were walked down from 20K throughout 2022.

Stellantis will pay workers a profit-sharing check of up to $14,760. Record annual profits (up 26%) will also pay out nearly $4.5B to shareholders.

Up, up, and away. Net profits were not the only double-digit growth for the brand, as it increased annual battery and EV sales by 41% globally to 288K sales. This is kind of crazy for a company that is essentially only about two years old - well, kind of.

Toyota will begin production of electric SUVs in the US in 2025. The company has maintained a critical distance from EV adoption. However, a recent decision by the longtime CEO to entrust control to Lexus head Koji Sato may prove there is still time to grab a piece of the booming market.

Raising raises. Since Toyota is one of Japan's biggest employers, its labor talks often set a tone for other major companies. The automaker agreed to the highest raise in 20 years in the interest of combatting inflation. Shortly after Toyota’s announcement, Honda agreed to a 5% raise for its workers. The specific amount of the Toyota raise is not disclosed at this time.

TL: DR - Lucid is down but working on it, Stellantis is up and sharing, and Toyota’s new boss is handing out raises and building EVs.

CULTURE

Coffee, Jeans, and Screens

Starbucks launched a series of olive oil-infused drinks in Milan on Wednesday. Like the drinks, opinions are…mixed. It’s still unclear when or if the coffee giant may take the option global. We’d venture to guess that if the coffee connoisseurs of Italy don’t care for it, it doesn’t have a great shot of succeeding elsewhere.

Add olive oil to the list of complicated drink orders you’ll have to snag from your coworkers before a coffee run.

Swedish design company Mo’cycle (we wish we made that up) introduced a pair of jeans designed for motorcyclists that inflate in the instance of an accident or mishap. Alternatively, if you’re just looking to thicken up those thighs and glutes in a hurry, these might just be the pants for you!

You know what they say: thick thighs save lives.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled the new interior of its 2024 E-Class that is expected to arrive later this year. The new E-Class will feature a “Superscreen” that combines the standard central touchscreen with a second display in front of the passenger, a selfie camera, and built-in apps for TikTok and Zoom. Mercedes says it has implemented plenty of safety measures to prevent any driver distraction caused by the new features, but didn’t say how they will prevent state governments from banning the car from driving near the county clerk’s office.

Is this a smart way to keep up with the times, or will it contribute to inattentive driving? Hit reply and let us know what you think!

Quick Hits

• Domino’s shares and Papa Johns shares fail to get the extra cheese. Unimpressive sales figures lead to market drop.

• China’s UN Ambassador says “sending weapons will not bring peace,” in discussion about the Ukraine war.

• Study finds humans outperform AI in “commonsense psychology” before the age of 1.

History

• 1831: The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed.

• 1942: The Voice of America goes on the air for the first time under the Office of War Information with news programs aimed at Japan and to areas occupied by Nazi Germany.

• 1955: F1 Champ Alain Prost is born.