Welcome to Wednesday as we talk about GM’s Cruise staging a comeback. We also talk about the tension around the only active lithium mine in the US, as well as the potential return of the cubicle (yeah, those things).
GM's Cruise driverless fleet is steering its way back into action with a human touch. After a high-profile suspension, they're hitting the road in Phoenix with human-driven vehicles for data collection, signaling a cautious return to their autonomous ambitions.
Aiming to rebuild trust, the initiative marks a tentative step towards resuming fully autonomous operations in collaboration with cities, after a suspension triggered by safety concerns and regulatory actions following a series of incidents, including a significant accident in San Francisco.
Amid ongoing Justice Department and SEC investigations into the handling of a past accident, Cruise emphasizes progress in safety protocols and a commitment to earning back public trust.
Despite setbacks, Cruise remains optimistic about the future of autonomous driving, touting its potential to enhance safety and reduce accidents.
Nevada's lithium demand is drying up its water sources. As the Silver Peak mine expands and new players enter, the race for this vital battery component is challenging the arid state's limited water reserves.
Nevada's Clayton Valley, home to the U.S.'s only active lithium mine, faces growing competition for water amid a lithium mining boom.
Local residents and environmental advocates are expressing deep concerns about the mining's impact on water resources, with fears that increased lithium mining could deplete already scarce water supplies in Nevada's arid environment, affecting both communities and ecosystems
Water rights disputes are intensifying as Albemarle claims almost all groundwater, crucial for lithium extraction, leaving little for newcomers.
Sustainable water use is questioned, with current aquifer volume estimates outdated, raising concerns about environmental impacts.
Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology could offer a less water-intensive solution, but water rights remain a contentious issue.
Remember those cubicles? They might just be making a comeback as millennials, once critics of this office staple, are discovering their hidden value. A Business Insider article highlights Sydney Baker, a 27-year-old millennial, who shares how her cubicle became a blend of personal sanctuary and social hub.
Baker initially viewed cubicles as outdated, only to find them offering a unique blend of privacy and personalization but now appreciates the cubicle's ability to balance sociability with focus, although maintaining concentration can be challenging amidst the office buzz.
Decorating her cubicle transformed it into a personalized and inviting workspace, debunking the myth of dreariness.
The shift towards a hybrid work model post-pandemic has highlighted the importance of flexibility and work-life balance, making cubicles a surprisingly fitting choice for the modern worker.
Morning Wednesday, April 10, causing Kentucky I'm holding down the fort here talking about the crews come back. A contentious contentious lithium mine and the return Have you heard it here first the cubicle kind of looks like you're in a cubicle right now Kyle it does.
Kyle Mountsier:
I was like man this would have been so much better if I would have had like horse racing in the background because I'm in Kentucky but it is you got
Paul J Daly:
your at the cane friends and family event. Are you all going to the track today? Is that the day where you go to the track or
Kyle Mountsier:
the day we go to the track, but it is downpour ran outside? So we're not really sure what the you know, I have no clue. Of course, his race and the dam. But yeah, and I guess if it's not do thunder and lightning.
Paul J Daly:
I don't know. That sounds really exciting. If
Kyle Mountsier:
there's some I will say there are some people dressed to the nines are ready this amazing.
Paul J Daly:
I think that's the best part of the whole deal. I went last year and that was my first experience at a horse at horse racing. And like any kind of like those real Kentucky vibes, and it was a thing. It was a thing. That's
Kyle Mountsier:
definitely a thing.
Paul J Daly:
Well, I bet I bet I bet on one race, I've never bet on like a ratio in my life. I bet on and I want.
Kyle Mountsier:
Okay, maybe I'll bet on one race and race.
Paul J Daly:
And I bet that the horse I bet on I bet that they would come in third. I didn't bet on that. And I won. That's harder to do than betting on first. But still, I didn't win as much as if I would have signed one. dollars because that's what happens. That's what happens when you get $1.50. I was I've never been more joyous in my life. No, yeah, like I was up and I quit while I was. Oh, so I was on a call yesterday with Don Hall, the President CEO of Virginia Auto Dealers Association, and you couldn't be there because you were doing the event thing. And you really missed out because Don Hall is straight, hot fire through and through. He told me some of his backstory before we got on. And the man just laid out probably the best value proposition for coming to a Soto con that I've ever heard. And it was just, it was like the value of being together. And what happens when you're together and how that's different than when you're on Zoom or when like he just laid it out so well. And so he's going to be at ASOTU CON in May. It's coming up it's only what 34 days from today. Not last speakers Donald be there. A lot of other ATA presidents will also be there. Maryland auto dealer association is having their annual meeting there. We have well can having a breakfast meet up there. We have we'll get dere keynote speaker we have 60 plus speakers, most of which are dealers sharing best practices and fixed ops, marketing, data sales. We're talking we're doing sales model head to head right. This was yeah,
Kyle Mountsier:
this was no no, that wasn't my idea that was Nathan's idea, our producer basic nations idea single point of contact versus traditional, like with a will call with a finance manager and like which one is better for the future, the industry, the consumer, the employee, all of that and just like this, we're going to try and make it go cop go head to head because
Paul J Daly:
I think there's valid arguments on both sides. It's such a it's such a brilliant that Nathan, kudos he's behind the backstage right now. And we can see him he's given his prey hands. But yeah, realistically, there's just so many pros and cons to both and people like weigh in on the side there are people who are very successful at both and so you can go to that session and one of how many sessions do we have like a lot so
Kyle Mountsier:
many sessions actually I think it's like what is 24 sessions over two days so it's doable it's the mainstage plus plus
Paul J Daly:
plus it's thanks coming back live pitching I was telling somebody about this yesterday and they were really excited about pitch tank so look if you can get there get there so to conduct comm if you're coming book a hotel room, we're probably under a dozen hotel rooms in the block. You need to book your room and a lot of people were just gonna say this already bought tickets didn't book a hotel room don't Don't Don't be cloud like that. Don't get cloud don't get clown like that.
Kyle Mountsier:
I think we're on like less than five rooms up.
Paul J Daly:
Right? Oh my gosh, that happened in the last day. That's that's we were like at 20 rooms like two days ago so All right, well get your hotel or other hotels but you know the event hotel this is the time to do it. Literally we're listening to show by the time you hear this if it's like after Wednesday or later ones that you might check it out. Alright, let's get into some news today. So it's funny when like we had Steve Greenfield on yesterday. We were talking About the top 150 do ls getting some insights? He posed the question like, I wonder if we'll ever see anyone get to 1000 stores? And and that's a great question. But the top 1/5 He's kind of dominated the cycle for the last two, three days. Sometimes there's just not a ton going on. So this is one of those types on the automotive side because everybody's working right?
Unknown:
After Yeah.
Paul J Daly:
Yeah. But you know what was going on in the middle of April, four years ago? COVID COVID. Somebody texted me it was like, hey, like happy work anniversary. Right. Can you know how LinkedIn like puts that up there? Apparently, yesterday was a sodoku anniversary. So four years ago. Wow, what a wonderful reminder every year that like, at this time, when a soda started, we had no idea what the heck was going on. There certainly wasn't anyone in Kentucky at the friends and family event.
Kyle Mountsier:
That kind of just blew my mind. I'm like, I don't even know if I can finish the show that that was four years ago. Just think about the resilience. I remember that live stream. I remember it like it was yesterday,
Paul J Daly:
man. So if you don't know a soda started during COVID, just to have a live stream. So people would have somewhere to Don Hall's point be together. Yep. To build resilience to share what was going on to feel the power of being the 1000 people showed up to this, like LinkedIn live stream and LinkedIn live was brand new, it was glitchy as could be. It felt like we were like jamming a satellite signal from a bunker like in a Star Wars movie, it was glitchy, it's fine, you can go to the asoto page and go back and watch the first one total time capsule of what it was like this time, four years ago, in COVID, you should go check it out. So you know, now we're talking about other things here, the kind of things we talked about four years after we first get locked out from COVID GMs crews, driverless fleet is steering its way back into the action. But this time with the human touch. After a high profile suspension, we all know they shut it down. They're back on the road in Phoenix with human driven vehicles for data collection. So there's a human at the seat now. So you know, they are collecting data, while they're in the seat trying to build back trust, that they lost falling series of incidents, including a significant accident in San Francisco. So the Justice Department and the SEC investigations into the handling of a past accident has crews emphasizing more safety protocols putting things in place. And despite the setbacks, Cruz is still very much optimistic about the future of autonomous driving, talking about the potential to enhance safety and reduce accidents. Overall,
Kyle Mountsier:
we've talked about this before, but it is clearly the quickest path to autonomy, doing this at scale for like people to interact with it in some sort of controlled environment where company cars kind of has their hands on it, I love that they're putting a driver back in the seat, it gives just that general confidence to the person in the backseat, or the rest of the drivers on the road that they don't see this, you know, thing driving around with no person in it, right? That's kind of, it's almost like daunting. So there's some confidence for everybody out there. And I think this is a great step back into it. I'm excited to see what comes of it because I think this is I think this is a great opportunity. And I think like there's a world where I see myself sitting back in the back of an autonomous vehicle. That would be especially some sort of like Uber or Lyft or autonomous drive, you know, driven like taxi type service. Because it is it's tough to find that type of service.
Paul J Daly:
And I know and new Tesla's Robo taxi is about to be released and revealed. So maybe another step in that direction. So we'll see what happens EVs and ultimate and Evie autonomous vehicle. There you go. Speaking about getting the EVS. This one surprised me. Did you know there is only one active lithium mine in the US.
Kyle Mountsier:
That's really kind of wild. It kind of blows my mind.
Paul J Daly:
So Nevada's lithium demand is actually this this new story from Fast Company is drying up Nevada's water sources as the silver peak mine expands and new players competing in the space are kind of vying for access to the water access to the lithium so Nevada is Clayton Valley home to the US is only active lithium mine has growing competition for water. Amongst the you know, the lithium boom local residents and environmental advocates are expressing deep concerns about the impact on water resources in general, with fears that increased mining could deplete already scarce water supplies. There's not that much water in Nevada, by the way, affecting both communities, the people and the ecosystem. So the thing that's supposed to be good for the environment and be bad for the environment. So water rights disputes are intensifying, intensifying as Abra mal claims, which is the the company that is owning the lithium mine that is currently active. They're claiming almost all the groundwater for lithium extraction. So they're saying like there's none for anybody else. So sustainable water use being questioned and direct lithium extraction or DL e which is another method of getting lithium, which uses less water is also a very big contentious issue because of what that does to the environment. So I had no idea there's only one mind in the US all this promise lithium is everywhere we can get it everywhere. There's only actually one mind and seems to be there's a bit of a debate over that one.
Kyle Mountsier:
Yeah, well, and so like I looked into this a little bit, it's a ton of water that's necessary to do this strip mining to get the lithium off the ground. Because of the reaction that it has with it basically, like boils it to the top. And so like you think about and it's not like it's like in Florida, where it's sitting on water, right we're like water all over the place. This is you know, already an arid climate. It's kind of just one of those new complexities that maybe you didn't think about three years ago that isn't as you know, necessary to see more batteries produced but puts the strain on local residents and water supply. So um, you know, Mike, what are they going to do next right wonder
Paul J Daly:
what the others might I mean, that's like all of it is, is it? Like I know like is it all in Nevada? Like I felt like I heard like lithium is everywhere and right all the talk all the hyperbole educated not educated don't know all the all the stuff you have you hear going on? I think that's just the lesson and like, you hear things and you always have to look under like who's spinning What, what's the reality the reality is there's only one active lithium ion in the US that is actually struggling to get more mines up because water resources so I think another reason that, you know, foot off the gas or the accelerator on the Evie conversation is definitely merited. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna go back. Speaking of going back,
Kyle Mountsier:
that's not one bad. Oh,
Paul J Daly:
that's a good one. I like this one.
Kyle Mountsier:
Well, a lot of us may not remember those cubicles. But I can tell you the accounting departments still remember them? Actually. They see them every day but cubicles made becoming making a comeback as millennials once critics of this office staple are discovering a hidden value in them. Business Insider article recently highlighted Sidney Baker, a 27 year old millennial, I question the millennial piece of that, why there's 27. She's like right on the edge right on the edge, who shares her cubicle, we came up blended personal sanctuary and a social hub. So she initially viewed cubicles as outdated, only finding them once she returned to work to offer a unique blend of privacy and personalization. She's got flowers, see the image of it. It's like a whole little Zen state, it's got slippers, a blanket, it's a whole, the whole thing, transforming it into this kind of inviting workspace, instead of you know, the dreariness of the way that we have seen. The cubicle of old. This shift back to hybrid work post pandemic has highlighted the importance and flexibility of work life balance, making a cubicle for a lot of people heading back to work, surprisingly, a fit for the modern worker, just a wild surprise out of left field. You
Paul J Daly:
know, I thought about this. So you and I were at the Reynolds and Reynolds headquarters several weeks ago, and it's just a really big building, right with a lot of floors, beautiful spot, a lot of cubicles, and I did notice as we were walking through there, just how people really had their cubicles kind of like up to them. And I was like, Okay, I was like I, I see this. And this is how the pendulum swings, right? Because like 10 years ago, I was like, these cubicles are ruining everything. We work hits the stage, Google does this. Right? They're like all this is the best for social. Turns out people weren't getting a ton done. People need a little bit quiet. So So then we went remote, and we're coming back. I think there is like a happy medium here because it is very distracting to try to get work done. And I think if that if you can give, like millennials, Gen Z like people a place where they can personalize, make it feel like home, it could almost be like inviting somebody over, right. So I'm a fan. And I think that people will always find a way to make something their own and but they're gonna go away again, right? Like,
Kyle Mountsier:
I remember, I remember I ran a BDC that had cubicles, right and I actually ended up buying everyone like because the cubicle board is hard to like pin stuff to I actually bought additional like pin boards and cork boards to put on their little walls because it was this thing where they kind of like created their own little space that they felt comfortable and every single day so I can see how that's a reality still. You know if you can make that inviting space, make it a fun place to come to work. And as it
Paul J Daly:
caught we're going to start a new company. It's called cubicle glow. up.com
Kyle Mountsier:
right low,
Paul J Daly:
low upside calm just You just wait it's gonna have about with the hybrid work, you could really integrate some really great video conferencing things into this as well. And you feel like you can go a little YouTube through if I had a cubicle, it would feel The YouTube studio to studio Yeah, it really would
Kyle Mountsier:
mean you would basically put up what you have right now somewhere in the thing. Let's
Paul J Daly:
just talk about it. It's not a cubicle. It's a personal studio. Let's rebrand the thing.
Kyle Mountsier:
Oh person, I
Paul J Daly:
gotta get some. Imagine your company. Well, here's your cubicle. If you're like, here's your personal studio. Everyone's like, I got a personal studio and you
Kyle Mountsier:
have a $200 budget with which to personalize it. See now you got we're just solving the world now we got it. Working.
Paul J Daly:
Whatever you're doing, whether you get with Kyle off the cane friends and family event or if you're booking your tickets with soda con. We're just getting it done this morning. You hope you care about some people sell and service in cars. We'll see you here tomorrow.