Electric Vehicles (EV) – Climate, Sustainability, Technology

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019

Interview with Ruben Schultz of Swoop

Can you talk a little bit about what Swoop is, the service you provide and what makes you different?

Swoop is an online marketplace for group transportation. Think airbnb, but instead of getting accommodation, you get a group vehicle (limo, party bus, charter bus) with a professional driver. So next time you and your friends or colleagues are headed out to go wine tasting, dinner or a wedding, use Swoop to get you there.

What makes us different is the technology- we’re a startup and are changing the way this outdated industry works. This means no more phone calls, price comparisons, and uncertainty in the process. Right now if you book a party bus for a formal, there is no guarantee that the car will show up, that you will get the car that you booked, and that there won’t be any fees after the trip is over. We got rid of all that noise, added a lot of technology and make it easy for anyone in the US to book group travel.

What made you decide to found Swoop in the first place?

Our CEO Amir has been in this industry pretty much all his life, given his parents owned a limo/party bus company. And then around 3 years ago, he realized how outdated and insane some of the practices in this industry are. He spent some time with some of his friends, who are still with Swoop today to put together an MVP and the traction spoke for itself. There was a clearly an opportunity to revolutionize this space and Swoop was born.

It’s important to note that the vehicle utilization for these vehicles is only 5%, meaning they are just collecting dust 95% of the time. Our vision is to increase the utilization of these limos, buses and party buses and get cars off the street by having people go together, rather than in separate cars. Especially relevant here in Los Angeles, where Swoop started.

You guys are building a successful start-up based in California – where the heart of the action is. Do you have any advice for future entrepreneurs?

Let me preface this answer by saying that we are far from our vision and are still learning daily. But I think in order to be great at running your company you should be able understand the vision and strategy at a high-level and at the same be able to go really deep into the weeds and the operations. My day often consists of investor meetings in the morning, and then decals and sticking the on the car in the afternoon- there is something strangely rewarding about building a company though that makes it worth it.

This blog looks at what’s coming in the future – when you look ahead at transportation in 2030, how do you see people traveling from point A to point B?

At a high level our play is to continue to the marketplace and platform that hosts all types of group transportation vehicles, and make sure we have the types that customers request. If autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles are part of that, you can bet they will be on Swoop. I think the key shift we will see is convenience- in 10 years people will laugh about group transportation was booked in 2019 and we are confident that we will be at the forefront of that.

What we are also seeing is that the new generation spend more on experiences than they do on physical things. Swoop is already enhancing experiences, by allowing you to start them to start at your door. Imagine going to a Beyonce concert, in party bus that’s playing beyonce on the screens, has the same drinks as the concert destination and was included in your concert ticket price- that is something that is already possible today, and we’re excited to bake AR/VR into this experience.

With more electric vehicles on the road, how is Swoop thinking about this?

There are not many electric buses yet. We would welcome them on the marketplace and I am sure our customers as well

One of my favorite classes during my studies was Climate Change, so at heart I am beyond excited about a world without gas stations. It’s also exciting that that this is already happening in the consumer space, and we feel like group vehicles have some catching up to do. As previously mentioned Swoop would love to host these vehicles on the platform, so your next sprinter van or charter bus is fully electric.

You recently decided to make all of your rides carbon neutral (with my company Carby Box – full disclosure!) – can you talk about why you made that decision and what sustainability means to you as a company?

As I alluded to earlier, I am a huge proponent of a world where we use fewer resources. We feel immense responsibility for the impact that Swoop will have on our planet. As we grow and continue to transport tens of thousands of people, we need to make sure our planet is unharmed by our impact. Carby Box has been the best partner possible in this process, and as Swoop is looking to take a step in the right direction. Swoop has gone green, and I hope others in the space will do so to.

Check Out Swoop at: https://swoopapp.com/

June 4, 2018May 26, 2018

The main reason electric cars will succeed – they are better, cheaper cars

Beautiful, top-performing electric vehicles are here and more are on the horizon.

The Porche Mission-E electric vehicle, as seen in Berlin in April 2018, is going into production in 2019.

The Porche Mission-E electric vehicle will go into production in 2019 with a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) and an expected range of over 500 km (310 mi)…and looks extremely cool.

The quickest car in the world today is already an electric car – the Tesla Model S, with a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 seconds. The only other two cars that equalled this performance previously were the “LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder. However, it’s worth noting that the LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder were limited run, million dollar vehicles. While those cars are small two seaters with very little luggage space, the pure electric, all-wheel drive Model S P100D has four doors, seats up to 5 adults plus 2 children and has exceptional cargo capacity.” – Tesla press release.

The Tesla Roadster 2020 – top speed of 248 mph and a range of 621 miles.

The Tesla Roadster will be relaunched in 2020, with a top speed of 400 km/h (248 mph) and a total range of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). When it launches, the Tesla Roadster will almost certainly be the quickest production vehicle on the planet with 0-60 acceleration time of 2.1 seconds.

Of course, the cars listed above are high priced, top-performance vehicles. The entry level Model S is $74,500 before federal and state tax credits. The 2020 Roadster will cost $200,000. The Porche Mission E will cost approximately $75,000 according to pre-launch information available.

E-Vehicles Version 3.0

However, looking ahead at the next class of electric vehicles, we see that the long-term trend of higher-quality, lower cost vehicles will emerge. The Tesla Model 3 has already gone into production in 2018 and deliveries have begun. The cost of this vehicle after federal tax credits is $27,500, with 15 states offering additional incentives ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

There are safety features inherent to well-designed electric cars, such as Teslas, primarily their structural integrity originating in their compact engine structure and low center of gravity caused by the placement of batteries at the bottom of the car. Elon Musk claimed during production that the Model 3 will be the safest car in the class – overtaking the Volvo S60 – and shared this video on Twitter showing a side-impact crash test. Judge for yourself.

Electric cars have already achieved the milestones of better performance, safer crash performance and reduced fuel costs.

The only remaining hurdle which is soon to fall is the cost of the vehicle itself. With the Model 3, a purchaser in Colorado with state incentives would pay $22,500. Are electric cars a thing of the future or have they already arrived?

Graham Majorhart is the co-founder of Carby Box, the first way to become carbon neutral through Amazon.com.

May 7, 2018May 3, 2018

The Question of Electric Cars – No Question at All

Frequently the question arises: “Are electric cars really better for the environment than internal combustion engine cars?”

Short answer: yes – electric cars are better in every state than driving an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

The question arises because electricity must be produced somehow, and in the USA electricity is often produced by burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.

There are two factors at play that make electric vehicles a better choice for the environment:

The power mix of the United States has a significant portion of wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, which produce few or no greenhouse gas emissions.
Power plants are more efficient at generating electricity from fossil fuels than cars are – so even electric vehicles powered by natural gas-generated-electricity will usually get more bang for the environmental buck than simply burning gasoline in the engine of the vehicle.

The Union of Concerned Scientists recently published a study on the total greenhouse gas emissions created required to power an ICE vehicle compared to the greenhouse gas emissions from generating the electricity required to power electric cars. The results of this study are clear:

If you are driving a new electric car such as the Tesla Model 3, Prius Prime or Honda IONIQ Electric, you will have lower emissions by driving that electric vehicle (EV) than from a 50 mpg ICE car.

Here you can see the data from the Union of Concerned Scientists’ study, showing the equivalent fuel economy of one of these new electric vehicles in each area of the country:

If you’d like to use a tool to check electricity use in your specific area, you can use this tool. For example, if you’re up in Middlebury, VT driving a Tesla Model S – you’re getting the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions as 98 mpg ICE vehicle.

Furthermore, electric vehicles are actually getting more efficient over time – this is due both to improvements in technology and the improvements in the power mix of the United States: more and more renewable energy is powering the electricity grid in the US with coal becoming less common every year.

United States Electricity Mix 2007-2017 — Source: Union of Concerned Scientists Data Source: US Department of Energy, Energy Information Agency.

This is a doubly positive trend because electric vehicles are themselves improving, while the electricity they use is becoming cleaner over time. Renewables make up almost 10% of electricity generated in 2017, and this will continue to increase every year for the foreseeable future.

So the answer is clear: electric cars are certainly better for the environment than old-school gasoline vehicles. Additional advantages of electric vehicles include better performance, less money and time for maintenance because they have fewer moving parts, and that they are a money-saver for their owners.

The Tesla Model 3, Prius Prime or Honda IONIQ Electric, all cost less than $30,000, meaning electric cars can provide better performance and are accessible to nearly everyone as of 2018.

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Graham Majorhart is the co-founder of Carby Box, the first way to become carbon neutral through Amazon.com.