Show Notes
Are EVs actually failing—or did the automotive industry simply promise too much, too soon? This week on the MotoMan Podcast, George sits down with EVgo product leader Alex Keros for a candid reality check on electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure and where the industry goes from here. Alex has spent years working on alternative-fuel vehicles, from hydrogen at General Motors to today’s public EV charging network. And his view of the electric future is far more nuanced than the usual pro-EV vs. anti-EV debate. His philosophy? Stop dealing in “hopeful math” and deal with reality. That means admitting EVs aren’t the right solution for every driver. It also means recognizing where electric cars genuinely offer a better experience—and confronting why public EV charging can still be frustrating, unreliable and unnecessarily complicated. George and Alex dig into why EV charging still feels like “Windows 3.1,” why Tesla approached charging differently, whether America’s aging power grid can actually support millions more EVs, and why China’s extraordinary pace of battery and charging development should have Western automakers paying attention. They also explore BYD and megawatt charging, 5–10 minute charging technology, 800-volt and 1,000-volt architectures, solid-state batteries, the future of hydrogen and why learning to fail faster may be one of the most important lessons the American auto industry can take from its global competitors. This is not an argument for EVs or against them. It’s a conversation about where the technology actually works, where it doesn’t, what the industry got wrong—and what needs to happen next.
CHAPTERS: 0:00 The EV Reality Check 1:36 Reuniting After 16 Years 3:05 Stop Using “Hopeful Math” 9:30 Hydrogen vs. Batteries in 2010 13:30 Why We Need to Fail More 19:00 Where EVs Really Stand in 2026 21:08 Who Should NOT Buy an EV? 23:27 EVs Don’t Need to Work for Everyone 25:02 How EVs Became a Movement 27:40 Why Automakers Sold EVs Wrong 32:17 The Reality of EV Road Trips 35:17 Hopeful Math vs. Charging Reality 38:03 The Ohio EV Road Trip Challenge 41:03 Why Public Chargers Still Fail 44:47 EV Charging Is “Windows 3.1” 47:01 Why Charging Isn’t Frictionless 53:56 Why Tesla Got Charging Right 59:17 Can the Power Grid Handle EVs? 1:04:32 Can the Grid Handle 20M EVs? 1:07:24 Is China Beating America in EVs? 1:09:20 BYD & 5-Minute EV Charging 1:13:00 Why America Needs to Fail Faster 1:14:50 Who Is Actually Innovating? 1:20:25 EVs That Get It Right 1:23:58 What Comes After 800 Volts? 1:25:48 Solid-State Batteries: How Far Away? 1:26:46 Is Hydrogen Really Dead? 1:27:48 Advice for the Next Generation 1:32:18 Final Thoughts
What do you think: Have EVs been oversold—or is the technology simply going through the growing pains every major innovation faces?
#ElectricVehicles #EVCharging #EVgo #EV #Tesla #BYD #ElectricCars #EVInfrastructure #AutomotiveIndustry #FutureOfCars #MotoMan #MotoManPodcast
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