1 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:07,180 Good morning Grid Connections listeners. 2 00:00:07,180 --> 00:00:10,180 In today's episode we're excited to have Brenton Murray, the founder of 3 00:00:10,180 --> 00:00:13,350 Electruck4x4 .com to join us. 4 00:00:13,350 --> 00:00:16,660 We'll dive into Brenton's journey from starring at Tesla, then working at Rivian, 5 00:00:16,660 --> 00:00:20,860 and from there explore how Electruck4x4 came to be. 6 00:00:20,860 --> 00:00:25,340 We'll take a closer look at the impressive range of products Electruck4x4 offers for 7 00:00:25,340 --> 00:00:27,260 off -road electric vehicles. 8 00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:30,760 Brenton will share insights on the EV models they currently support and give us 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,834 a sneak peek into the exciting EV models they're planning to cover in the future. 10 00:00:34,908 --> 00:00:39,508 We'll also discuss why EVs excel in off -road conditions and the burgeoning 11 00:00:39,508 --> 00:00:43,948 industry that's developing for aftermarket items to support off -roading EV 12 00:00:43,948 --> 00:00:45,208 enthusiasts. 13 00:00:45,328 --> 00:00:48,368 If you enjoyed today's conversation, please share this episode with at least 14 00:00:48,368 --> 00:00:51,668 one friend or colleague who you think would appreciate it as well. 15 00:00:51,668 --> 00:00:55,028 And don't forget to leave us a positive review on our podcast page. 16 00:00:55,028 --> 00:00:58,088 Your support helps us continue bringing you great content. 17 00:00:58,088 --> 00:01:00,159 With that, enjoy. 18 00:01:01,230 --> 00:01:03,070 Brenton thank you so much for being on today. 19 00:01:03,070 --> 00:01:06,530 And for those who may not be familiar, can just give kind of like a little quick 20 00:01:06,530 --> 00:01:10,530 background on how you got involved and then tell us more about Electruck four by 21 00:01:10,530 --> 00:01:11,284 four. 22 00:01:11,305 --> 00:01:12,155 Sure, yeah. 23 00:01:12,155 --> 00:01:15,125 Well, it's a long story, but I'll try and keep it short. 24 00:01:15,345 --> 00:01:19,565 But basically, I've been a car person, car guy my whole life. 25 00:01:19,565 --> 00:01:22,325 My journey kind of started in the aftermarket. 26 00:01:22,605 --> 00:01:27,465 I worked at a racing school in college, and then I worked at a brake manufacturer. 27 00:01:27,465 --> 00:01:31,325 We made racing brakes for classic cars, muscle cars. 28 00:01:31,385 --> 00:01:32,435 Went back to school. 29 00:01:32,435 --> 00:01:36,825 I kind of had a crisis of conscience where I was like, you know, this whole... 30 00:01:36,841 --> 00:01:41,041 hot rod thing is great and all, but I kind of also want to do something that's maybe 31 00:01:41,041 --> 00:01:46,381 a little bit more productive for the environment and society. 32 00:01:46,381 --> 00:01:49,101 And so I got my MBA in sustainability. 33 00:01:49,501 --> 00:01:52,841 At the time there was this company that nobody had heard of called Tesla that was 34 00:01:52,841 --> 00:01:54,601 working on a roadster. 35 00:01:54,601 --> 00:01:56,261 And so they were on my radar. 36 00:01:56,261 --> 00:01:59,741 I kind of packed my bags, moved out to California, said I'll figure it out when I 37 00:01:59,741 --> 00:02:04,821 got there and just started hitting the ground trying to network my way into 38 00:02:04,821 --> 00:02:05,705 Tesla. 39 00:02:05,705 --> 00:02:10,285 Got a job there early on with the launch of the Model S. 40 00:02:10,285 --> 00:02:15,765 I was at Tesla for about five years, moved on to another couple startups, wound up at 41 00:02:15,765 --> 00:02:17,745 Rivian, was at Rivian for two years. 42 00:02:17,745 --> 00:02:21,965 After that, I moved on and founded Electruck 4x4. 43 00:02:21,965 --> 00:02:27,125 I also worked at a company called Wind River doing software product management 44 00:02:27,125 --> 00:02:29,005 for software -defined vehicles. 45 00:02:29,005 --> 00:02:34,057 And yeah, now I'm doing the Electruck thing full -time and just 46 00:02:34,057 --> 00:02:37,445 Yeah, continuing to build and support the community. 47 00:02:37,853 --> 00:02:41,553 No, that's I mean, that's such a great foundational background to have to not 48 00:02:41,553 --> 00:02:45,413 only have the electric vehicle and kind of the software defined side of stuff that's 49 00:02:45,413 --> 00:02:49,173 become so prevalent, but then also kind of figuring out how can you implement 50 00:02:49,173 --> 00:02:53,593 hardware, especially kind of like the classic car background of what was OEM and 51 00:02:53,593 --> 00:02:56,133 what was stock and then kind of how do you take it to the next level and make sure 52 00:02:56,133 --> 00:03:01,133 all these systems and components on a hardware and also internal systems kind of 53 00:03:01,133 --> 00:03:02,233 work together. 54 00:03:02,233 --> 00:03:04,103 So let's talk about electric. 55 00:03:04,103 --> 00:03:07,613 I know you have electric four by four, and then there's also the make what kind of 56 00:03:07,613 --> 00:03:08,333 product 57 00:03:08,867 --> 00:03:13,087 Let's just kind of get a overview of both and I'm sure they'll can open up the door 58 00:03:13,087 --> 00:03:15,113 to a lot more conversations. 59 00:03:15,113 --> 00:03:17,793 Sure, yeah, so let's see. 60 00:03:17,793 --> 00:03:23,073 When I left Caribbean, yeah, back in, what was it, 2022, there was an opportunity 61 00:03:23,073 --> 00:03:27,313 that I had identified in the market for accessories for trucks. 62 00:03:27,313 --> 00:03:29,613 I had an R1, or have an R1T. 63 00:03:29,613 --> 00:03:34,153 I knew a bunch of other folks that I had worked with, as well as just other people 64 00:03:34,153 --> 00:03:38,473 in the community that were owners and that they had all expressed needs for different 65 00:03:38,473 --> 00:03:40,233 accessories and things like that. 66 00:03:40,233 --> 00:03:42,857 And so, yeah, I also... 67 00:03:42,857 --> 00:03:45,797 knew that there are plenty of, particularly in the overlanding space, 68 00:03:45,797 --> 00:03:48,777 there are all kinds of accessories that are universal, but just aren't marketed 69 00:03:48,777 --> 00:03:50,197 towards EVs. 70 00:03:50,197 --> 00:03:54,957 Things like ditch lights and various brackets and things like that, tires, 71 00:03:54,997 --> 00:03:56,837 certain wheels and things like that. 72 00:03:56,837 --> 00:04:03,857 And so, yeah, I basically set out to market those particular products to, at 73 00:04:03,857 --> 00:04:07,817 that time, Rivian owners specifically, as well as to develop additional products in 74 00:04:07,817 --> 00:04:08,177 -house. 75 00:04:08,177 --> 00:04:09,137 And so... 76 00:04:09,156 --> 00:04:15,257 One of the big items that we developed is the megawatt rock sliders, which we offer 77 00:04:15,257 --> 00:04:17,397 for the R1S and R1T. 78 00:04:17,397 --> 00:04:21,497 But early on there were some kind of more low -hanging fruits, things like sunshades 79 00:04:21,497 --> 00:04:23,977 and things like that that we designed as well. 80 00:04:24,638 --> 00:04:28,558 So rock sliders, I feel like one of the big things people have kind of talked 81 00:04:28,558 --> 00:04:33,058 about with, I think just off -roading in general, but especially with some of these 82 00:04:33,058 --> 00:04:34,988 electric vehicles, they're getting them the off -roading space. 83 00:04:34,988 --> 00:04:37,108 They're obviously awesome off -road. 84 00:04:37,108 --> 00:04:41,158 I just even rewatched Top Gear's kind of comparison between the Cybertruck and the 85 00:04:41,158 --> 00:04:41,998 Rivian R1T. 86 00:04:41,998 --> 00:04:46,334 Both did pretty amazing on challenging terrains. 87 00:04:46,334 --> 00:04:50,234 However, the concern I think a lot of people have in the off -roading community 88 00:04:50,234 --> 00:04:54,094 and just in general is just the general price of the vehicles and so adding 89 00:04:54,094 --> 00:04:59,934 something like rock sliders to help kind of protect and minimize damage that could 90 00:04:59,934 --> 00:05:05,954 happen while off -roading is that Has that been an area that kind of lent itself 91 00:05:05,954 --> 00:05:06,558 like? 92 00:05:06,558 --> 00:05:09,378 Like starting with what products you wanted to develop. 93 00:05:09,378 --> 00:05:12,638 Obviously in some ways rock sliders are a little bit just physically easier to add 94 00:05:12,638 --> 00:05:13,418 to the vehicle. 95 00:05:13,418 --> 00:05:19,638 But has there been any sort of decisions around what products specifically have 96 00:05:19,638 --> 00:05:20,608 like the highest return? 97 00:05:20,608 --> 00:05:24,658 I think just a lot of people who are new to the off -road community, those are kind 98 00:05:24,658 --> 00:05:28,758 of the things they look at first just because it helps them protect the vehicle 99 00:05:28,758 --> 00:05:33,858 electric or not getting into the off -road and sometimes the unfortunate side effects 100 00:05:33,858 --> 00:05:36,198 that can happen with some of these fun adventures. 101 00:05:36,361 --> 00:05:42,461 Yeah, that was kind of the what what prompted it really is I had a couple of 102 00:05:42,461 --> 00:05:46,081 friends and co workers that I would go four wheeling with we take our one tease 103 00:05:46,081 --> 00:05:46,891 out. 104 00:05:46,891 --> 00:05:49,211 This was pretty early days. 105 00:05:49,211 --> 00:05:54,521 So yeah, in like, yeah, there was 2022 or 20. 106 00:05:54,521 --> 00:05:56,251 Yeah, I can't recall the exact year. 107 00:05:56,251 --> 00:05:57,551 But anyways, we go. 108 00:05:57,551 --> 00:06:01,353 Yeah, we go four wheeling and we would tend to push the trucks kind of hard. 109 00:06:01,353 --> 00:06:05,213 But at the same time, you know, there's that kind of continual pucker factor when 110 00:06:05,213 --> 00:06:09,173 you're driving a vehicle that you really don't want to get damaged. 111 00:06:09,413 --> 00:06:14,333 And so rock sliders were a very apparent need for us. 112 00:06:14,333 --> 00:06:19,573 And then as I continued to engage with the communities, both online and forums and 113 00:06:19,573 --> 00:06:24,073 discord and other groups and social, you know, on social and things like that, that 114 00:06:24,073 --> 00:06:26,633 need was exemplified even further there. 115 00:06:26,633 --> 00:06:28,813 And so, yeah. 116 00:06:30,025 --> 00:06:37,685 reached out to some folks that I knew from my aftermarket days and kind of shook some 117 00:06:37,685 --> 00:06:39,405 trees networking wise. 118 00:06:39,405 --> 00:06:45,525 They introduced me to some folks who are fabricators. 119 00:06:45,525 --> 00:06:50,245 They've been in the off -road and custom motorcycle space for decades building a 120 00:06:50,245 --> 00:06:54,805 lot of bikes for Hot Bike magazine and they do a lot of work with Harley and then 121 00:06:54,805 --> 00:06:57,865 they also dirt bikes and they... 122 00:06:57,865 --> 00:07:01,085 Also do some work with rock crawlers and trophy trucks and some serious off -road 123 00:07:01,085 --> 00:07:01,445 stuff. 124 00:07:01,445 --> 00:07:03,785 And so, yeah, started working with them. 125 00:07:03,785 --> 00:07:07,025 They're out in Arizona, which is where a lot of my aftermarket network is. 126 00:07:07,025 --> 00:07:10,125 So drove out there, drove my truck out there, and we spent some time kind of 127 00:07:10,125 --> 00:07:13,485 going over some of the product requirements as far as what we were 128 00:07:13,485 --> 00:07:14,115 looking to cover. 129 00:07:14,115 --> 00:07:17,885 Like a kick out, for instance, being a feature that was important. 130 00:07:17,885 --> 00:07:23,849 Obviously, the particular weight requirements for an electric truck. 131 00:07:23,849 --> 00:07:28,669 Yeah, spent some time designing and over time came up with a pretty solid product. 132 00:07:28,669 --> 00:07:34,229 You know, it worked without a few hiccups and twists along the ways, but yeah, we 133 00:07:34,229 --> 00:07:38,229 managed to deliver something that we're really happy with and has been very 134 00:07:38,229 --> 00:07:39,710 successful so far. 135 00:07:39,710 --> 00:07:40,880 So I have a question for you. 136 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,310 You're working with these great teams, but teams that have been pretty well 137 00:07:45,310 --> 00:07:49,270 entrenched in the combustion engine space for a while now. 138 00:07:49,270 --> 00:07:52,770 I've actually been surprised to the feedback and reception I have when I kind 139 00:07:52,770 --> 00:07:56,190 of talk about that or like even sometimes classic car conversions. 140 00:07:56,190 --> 00:08:01,170 There is sometimes people who have very strong opinions, pro and con, but I'm kind 141 00:08:01,170 --> 00:08:05,050 of curious, what has been in your experience overall the... 142 00:08:05,246 --> 00:08:08,156 interactions with these like, I'm doing these for electric vehicles. 143 00:08:08,156 --> 00:08:11,206 What are their kind of thoughts on it? 144 00:08:11,209 --> 00:08:12,909 Yeah, it's been really interesting. 145 00:08:12,909 --> 00:08:17,929 So the yeah, the my aftermarket experience was yeah, in muscle cars. 146 00:08:17,929 --> 00:08:21,549 And so you know, I kind of throughout my career transition from this world where I 147 00:08:21,549 --> 00:08:24,689 would go into the office and people would have carburetors on their desks to this 148 00:08:24,689 --> 00:08:27,319 world where people have circuit boards on their desks and things like that. 149 00:08:27,319 --> 00:08:32,669 And, you know, the the guys that we I partner with that are now part of the team 150 00:08:32,669 --> 00:08:38,729 to manufacture these there, I would say, you know, decidedly old school, you know, 151 00:08:38,729 --> 00:08:40,117 they'll they'll 152 00:08:40,117 --> 00:08:42,417 incredibly talented fabricators. 153 00:08:42,477 --> 00:08:47,017 That said, I would say they're not, environmentalism is probably not high on 154 00:08:47,017 --> 00:08:48,097 their list. 155 00:08:48,137 --> 00:08:49,897 Great guys though. 156 00:08:49,897 --> 00:08:56,437 And so they're interested in and curious, I mean, in developing new products. 157 00:08:56,437 --> 00:09:01,257 They see the vehicles starting to be on the road more and more. 158 00:09:01,257 --> 00:09:03,877 They know the direction the industry is headed. 159 00:09:03,877 --> 00:09:06,597 They just saw the opportunity as well. 160 00:09:06,597 --> 00:09:09,033 And so, I would say, 161 00:09:09,033 --> 00:09:14,633 We exchanged some jabs at each other about, whether it's politics or various 162 00:09:14,633 --> 00:09:15,653 things. 163 00:09:15,973 --> 00:09:21,333 But for better or for worse, we're all aligned on the same ultimate goal as far 164 00:09:21,333 --> 00:09:27,073 as expanding the availability and support of accessories for these trucks. 165 00:09:27,333 --> 00:09:31,507 And we've been really able to develop some really awesome products as a result. 166 00:09:31,998 --> 00:09:35,178 Yeah, I think that's great to hear because I think that's been my experience too. 167 00:09:35,178 --> 00:09:40,078 Environmentalism probably isn't the top reason for a lot of people in the, whether 168 00:09:40,078 --> 00:09:43,198 it be the classic car or the off -roading spaces. 169 00:09:43,198 --> 00:09:48,398 But what is pretty interesting to me is that aside, they're always pretty 170 00:09:48,398 --> 00:09:51,380 interesting, the performance and the actual like... 171 00:09:51,449 --> 00:09:53,260 usability or like how effective it is. 172 00:09:53,260 --> 00:09:57,110 And I think more often than not, they're pretty open to kind of like learning more 173 00:09:57,110 --> 00:09:58,490 and have a curiosity around it. 174 00:09:58,490 --> 00:10:03,000 And you're right, I think there can be some friendly jabs made here and there, 175 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,270 but it usually is in kind of good fun versus like. 176 00:10:06,270 --> 00:10:10,090 being completely shut off to the idea and there's an element I think also kind of 177 00:10:10,090 --> 00:10:14,430 times are changing but at the end of the day especially in if it's performance 178 00:10:14,430 --> 00:10:18,990 related I think what is more interest to them is like if it's better they're into 179 00:10:18,990 --> 00:10:24,148 it or they at least want to be aware of how it in what areas it's better 180 00:10:24,329 --> 00:10:31,169 Yeah, I think with the exception of the true zealots who are anti -EV or whatnot, 181 00:10:31,169 --> 00:10:37,169 yeah, when it comes down to it, we're all in this industry or in this car culture 182 00:10:37,169 --> 00:10:41,929 because we enjoy them as machines and the things they can do and the places they can 183 00:10:41,929 --> 00:10:43,229 take us. 184 00:10:43,249 --> 00:10:48,369 And so any vehicle that can do that in a different or perhaps more performant way 185 00:10:48,369 --> 00:10:53,993 is of interest to, just kind of transcends politics or 186 00:10:53,993 --> 00:10:55,173 things like that. 187 00:10:55,173 --> 00:10:58,743 But yeah, early on, you know, we'd be out on the trails and we'd come across like a, 188 00:10:58,743 --> 00:11:03,313 you know, an H1 Humvee on the trail or, you know, an old Jeep or something like 189 00:11:03,313 --> 00:11:03,733 that. 190 00:11:03,733 --> 00:11:07,793 And, you know, you kind of, you get a little uneasy, you know, you're not sure 191 00:11:07,793 --> 00:11:10,773 how this interaction is going to go out, go down. 192 00:11:10,773 --> 00:11:15,293 And almost every single time, whether it was here or, you know, Arizona is a little 193 00:11:15,293 --> 00:11:18,441 more, I live in the Bay area, but in Arizona is a little more conservative. 194 00:11:18,441 --> 00:11:22,001 People have been it's been positive across the board people are really curious and 195 00:11:22,001 --> 00:11:24,701 interested and it's been really awesome as a result 196 00:11:25,054 --> 00:11:29,294 Yeah, I actually have family down there and took a EV conversion course that's 197 00:11:29,294 --> 00:11:31,754 offered by a company down there called Legacy EV. 198 00:11:31,754 --> 00:11:37,174 And I think it has been really interesting to see that sometimes there will be 199 00:11:37,174 --> 00:11:42,214 definitely defenses and kind of walls up by a lot of people when you start talking 200 00:11:42,214 --> 00:11:42,834 about this. 201 00:11:42,834 --> 00:11:46,774 But I think pretty quickly there's once they kind of know, you know what you're 202 00:11:46,774 --> 00:11:48,414 talking about for sure. 203 00:11:48,414 --> 00:11:52,534 And that you're trying to come at it from like a logical position of either 204 00:11:52,534 --> 00:11:54,302 performance or 205 00:11:54,302 --> 00:11:57,262 Having clear metrics of what you're trying to accomplish and how like an ev may 206 00:11:57,262 --> 00:11:58,272 accomplish that better. 207 00:11:58,272 --> 00:12:03,802 It's definitely been Pretty positive and people start kind of I actually when I 208 00:12:03,802 --> 00:12:08,382 even took the course It was really funny because I was pretty much kind of the only 209 00:12:08,382 --> 00:12:11,722 let's say average joe in there There's a lot of people from different companies and 210 00:12:11,722 --> 00:12:16,882 a good quite a few were actually from shelby america And so them obviously 211 00:12:16,882 --> 00:12:19,362 building the massive like shelby, 212 00:12:20,190 --> 00:12:23,670 I think everyone knows the Shelby Mustang cars, but now they a lot of their cars are 213 00:12:23,670 --> 00:12:28,030 actually like jacked up Shelby F three fifties and stuff that are just like on a 214 00:12:28,030 --> 00:12:29,070 whole nother level. 215 00:12:29,070 --> 00:12:30,950 But they were also like pretty quickly. 216 00:12:30,950 --> 00:12:34,950 They saw that there's a huge area for this where these electric vehicles, whether 217 00:12:34,950 --> 00:12:39,250 it's Pike's Peak or off road that have some pretty big advantages. 218 00:12:39,250 --> 00:12:41,390 So that's kind of great to hear. 219 00:12:41,390 --> 00:12:45,970 And we're it's interesting being bring up Arizona, because I think when a lot of 220 00:12:45,970 --> 00:12:50,142 people think of the kind of 221 00:12:50,142 --> 00:12:58,402 Not necessarily off -road, but third -party space for cars. 222 00:12:59,062 --> 00:13:02,562 Southern California, I think, comes up for kind of tuning and like that sort of 223 00:13:02,562 --> 00:13:02,622 stuff. 224 00:13:02,622 --> 00:13:06,212 But there's such a large kind of industry now. 225 00:13:06,212 --> 00:13:10,162 I think there has been for quite a while, but I've found it pretty impressive just 226 00:13:10,162 --> 00:13:10,962 over the last decade. 227 00:13:10,962 --> 00:13:14,722 And maybe it is some of it has been a shift out of Southern California to the 228 00:13:14,722 --> 00:13:17,502 Phoenix area and kind of beyond around just 229 00:13:17,504 --> 00:13:23,584 off -roading classic car and then now even EV conversion kind of stuff in the Arizona 230 00:13:23,584 --> 00:13:24,724 area. 231 00:13:24,724 --> 00:13:30,504 Are there any things that you've noticed as to why that is or any preference to 232 00:13:30,504 --> 00:13:34,733 kind of working with third -party teams in that area? 233 00:13:34,921 --> 00:13:40,021 Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, the the aftermarket has been, I'd say, strong in 234 00:13:40,021 --> 00:13:41,331 Arizona for for a while. 235 00:13:41,331 --> 00:13:42,211 That said, you're right. 236 00:13:42,211 --> 00:13:47,301 I mean, you know, when you think of of hot rods and things like that, SoCal is 237 00:13:47,301 --> 00:13:50,401 definitely kind of the powerhouse. 238 00:13:50,401 --> 00:13:51,321 Right. 239 00:13:51,321 --> 00:13:55,401 That said, yeah, over time, you're starting to see the economics just in 240 00:13:55,401 --> 00:14:00,181 general of whether it's labor or real estate prices. 241 00:14:00,181 --> 00:14:04,361 The combination of that is driving a lot of that. 242 00:14:04,361 --> 00:14:06,801 growth in the Phoenix area. 243 00:14:07,021 --> 00:14:11,541 You know, the area also, you also have a lot of automotive culture around, you 244 00:14:11,541 --> 00:14:16,181 know, Barrett Jackson is out there, Russo Steel, a variety of other auctions out 245 00:14:16,181 --> 00:14:19,881 there, and so that drives the automotive culture big time. 246 00:14:20,281 --> 00:14:27,861 But yeah, so I think the exciting part actually is the growth in the EV space in 247 00:14:27,861 --> 00:14:29,181 particular, right? 248 00:14:29,181 --> 00:14:33,865 So obviously, you know, Lucid being in Casa Grande, that kind of was the 249 00:14:33,865 --> 00:14:37,825 the big, I would say one of the first big stakes in the ground. 250 00:14:38,265 --> 00:14:42,485 The OEMs have been using the proving grounds outside of Casa Grande for 251 00:14:42,485 --> 00:14:44,925 everything, EVs and otherwise for a while. 252 00:14:44,925 --> 00:14:50,145 But yeah, now you're starting to see, Licycle is out there for battery 253 00:14:50,145 --> 00:14:50,705 recycling. 254 00:14:50,705 --> 00:14:54,305 You're starting to see a lot of other folks in the space starting to grow there 255 00:14:54,305 --> 00:14:57,725 as well as the off -roading culture as well. 256 00:14:58,065 --> 00:15:00,845 Particularly growing up right there, I don't know if you're familiar with the 257 00:15:00,845 --> 00:15:02,793 term desert rat, but that's kind of. 258 00:15:02,793 --> 00:15:08,773 Yeah, so like that sort of desert off -road culture is big out there. 259 00:15:08,773 --> 00:15:11,813 And so you need parts and accessories for that. 260 00:15:11,853 --> 00:15:16,693 That's spurring that aspect of the aftermarket as well in the Phoenix area. 261 00:15:16,693 --> 00:15:22,033 But yeah, a lot of different avenues of growth out there. 262 00:15:22,817 --> 00:15:26,677 I think that's just awesome to see because there's been a lot of concerns, I think, 263 00:15:26,677 --> 00:15:28,207 around electric vehicles. 264 00:15:28,207 --> 00:15:32,657 And I think a lot of it in some regards is valid around electric vehicles replacing 265 00:15:32,657 --> 00:15:37,397 jobs and what is needed for the next generation of vehicles. 266 00:15:37,397 --> 00:15:43,217 But it's also been, I think, a lot harder for people to look at how to go to the 267 00:15:43,217 --> 00:15:46,877 aftermarket or how to improve their vehicles beyond maybe just aesthetic 268 00:15:46,877 --> 00:15:47,637 stuff. 269 00:15:47,637 --> 00:15:51,552 I think we're finally starting to see some of its right to repair, some of its 270 00:15:51,552 --> 00:15:55,571 the automakers, especially the startups, kind of being more open to sharing some of 271 00:15:55,571 --> 00:15:56,542 the software and other stuff. 272 00:15:56,542 --> 00:16:01,432 So you can actually, I wouldn't say tune so much, but actually have more access to 273 00:16:01,432 --> 00:16:05,212 that and like knowing what's going on with the battery to kind of take these 274 00:16:05,212 --> 00:16:07,432 aftermarket improvements to the next level. 275 00:16:07,432 --> 00:16:14,012 Now with the off road side of stuff, it's in some regards, obviously aesthetic, but 276 00:16:14,012 --> 00:16:16,672 there's a lot that you can bolt on that. 277 00:16:16,672 --> 00:16:20,712 well, aesthetic has huge things exactly like rock sliders where it's, it isn't 278 00:16:20,712 --> 00:16:28,692 maybe so defined like maybe the aftermarket for performance or car side of 279 00:16:28,692 --> 00:16:30,312 stuff versus off -roaders. 280 00:16:30,312 --> 00:16:33,072 So I'm kind of curious, you started with rock sliders. 281 00:16:33,072 --> 00:16:37,992 For those listening, can you share what vehicles that Electruck 4x4 right now is 282 00:16:37,992 --> 00:16:43,172 kind of focused on in the EV space and maybe which ones you're looking to expand 283 00:16:43,172 --> 00:16:46,732 to offering additional items for in the future? 284 00:16:47,145 --> 00:16:52,185 Yeah, I would say right now we're primarily focused on the Rivian segment 285 00:16:52,185 --> 00:16:54,205 within the EV space. 286 00:16:54,205 --> 00:16:59,605 We also offer a handful of products for F -150 Lightnings. 287 00:16:59,645 --> 00:17:02,275 The Cybertruck is something of interest to us. 288 00:17:02,275 --> 00:17:05,485 We're kind of seeing how things play out there. 289 00:17:06,065 --> 00:17:10,165 There's obviously some support, a decent amount of support already for the 290 00:17:10,165 --> 00:17:11,017 Cybertruck. 291 00:17:11,017 --> 00:17:15,577 But yeah, at this point it's been primarily focused on Rivians. 292 00:17:15,577 --> 00:17:19,437 The Silverado EV is another one that is possible. 293 00:17:19,437 --> 00:17:27,137 I think some of the kind of traditional or legacy OEMs have been a little slower on 294 00:17:27,137 --> 00:17:30,337 the rollout of trucks and SUVs. 295 00:17:30,337 --> 00:17:35,737 And so, yeah, and then I would say on the Tesla side, I'm sure somebody will have 296 00:17:35,737 --> 00:17:37,093 some feedback about... 297 00:17:37,093 --> 00:17:41,173 but the cyber truck, you know, it's it's I would say it it is a very capable and 298 00:17:41,173 --> 00:17:45,693 dynamic truck that said off -road it might not be quite as capable at least, you know 299 00:17:45,693 --> 00:17:53,353 until a couple upgrades or our OTA updates or whatnot later as you know, like some of 300 00:17:53,353 --> 00:17:56,893 the other trucks like the Rivian is a very capable vehicle and and you know being 301 00:17:56,893 --> 00:18:01,433 passionate about that the about four -wheeling it just you know that that that 302 00:18:01,433 --> 00:18:06,025 personal passion has really driven a lot of that interest in 303 00:18:06,025 --> 00:18:09,977 developing new accessories for that vehicle, those vehicles in particular. 304 00:18:10,335 --> 00:18:10,935 For sure. 305 00:18:10,935 --> 00:18:13,375 And it's kind of interesting some of the vehicles that you mentioned that you're 306 00:18:13,375 --> 00:18:18,195 covering and looking to cover because I'm curious when you talk about like Rivian 307 00:18:18,195 --> 00:18:21,655 R1T, it obviously has that kind of off -road. 308 00:18:21,735 --> 00:18:27,055 That's a huge part of why people buy the Rivian in general, let alone the R1T 309 00:18:27,055 --> 00:18:28,055 especially. 310 00:18:28,135 --> 00:18:32,975 And I think when you look at the R1T and even the Cybertruck off -road differences 311 00:18:32,975 --> 00:18:36,295 aside, they're kind of considered more kind of lifestyle trucks. 312 00:18:36,295 --> 00:18:39,595 And I don't know if that's necessarily the right 313 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,500 I think people kind of say that to almost cast them off, but I look at both vehicles 314 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:46,080 and obviously I want to see more of the Cybertruck. 315 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,040 But what I think is really cool when you look at it as like a spider graph, both of 316 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,740 those vehicles, maybe they don't do, I would say like the, speaking of like the F 317 00:18:53,740 --> 00:18:57,900 -150 Lightning and the Silverado, those are very focused, like traditional kind of 318 00:18:57,900 --> 00:19:02,660 work trucks that have kind of evolved to be more lifestyle and like SUV 319 00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:04,040 replacements. 320 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,860 Whereas I think some of the ones from the startups are a little bit more, cover a 321 00:19:07,860 --> 00:19:08,255 little. 322 00:19:08,255 --> 00:19:10,275 a little bit of everything pretty well. 323 00:19:10,275 --> 00:19:15,475 And so I'm kind of curious with the off -road and just like the aftermarket things 324 00:19:15,475 --> 00:19:19,395 that you're offering, are you seeing or even positioning the different things for 325 00:19:19,395 --> 00:19:23,335 like maybe what you do for the Rivian R1T as being more focused for off -road and 326 00:19:23,335 --> 00:19:28,375 then for the F -150 Lightning, probably some off -road stuff, but also maybe more 327 00:19:28,375 --> 00:19:32,595 for like if you are using it as a work truck or kind of a clear different use 328 00:19:32,595 --> 00:19:35,761 case day to day for what these additional items are. 329 00:19:36,617 --> 00:19:38,877 Yeah, you know, it is interesting. 330 00:19:38,877 --> 00:19:45,397 I think the startups have done their homework or chosen a great path there as 331 00:19:45,397 --> 00:19:49,477 far as pursuing more lifestyle, if you want to call it lifestyle trucks or 332 00:19:49,477 --> 00:19:52,836 whatnot, just, you know, the margins are going to be a lot bigger there in terms 333 00:19:52,836 --> 00:19:57,417 of, yeah, so compared to a work truck, which is going to... 334 00:19:57,417 --> 00:20:04,577 And so, you know, we are support just by nature of kind of what the... 335 00:20:05,181 --> 00:20:09,001 those owners tend to be interested in and gravitate towards. 336 00:20:09,001 --> 00:20:11,521 That's where the majority of our support there is. 337 00:20:11,521 --> 00:20:15,801 The other thing is, you know, the F -150 Lightning, this kind of goes back to what 338 00:20:15,801 --> 00:20:20,580 I mentioned about there being off -the -shelf products that are already available 339 00:20:20,580 --> 00:20:22,121 but just not marketed. 340 00:20:22,121 --> 00:20:28,201 It's sharing the same, you know, a large, yeah, exactly. 341 00:20:28,261 --> 00:20:32,131 So, you know, suspension items, maybe not quite the same. 342 00:20:32,131 --> 00:20:33,881 I mean, we do, 343 00:20:35,312 --> 00:20:39,853 have a number of F -150 Lightning suspension items in our catalog. 344 00:20:40,073 --> 00:20:44,813 I'm not sure if they're online right now, but we do have access to those. 345 00:20:44,813 --> 00:20:46,463 And so we do support it. 346 00:20:46,463 --> 00:20:49,733 But that said, right now, it's kind of the bread and butter, I would say, low 347 00:20:49,733 --> 00:20:54,593 -hanging fruit that appeals to kind of the broader ownership base rather than just 348 00:20:54,593 --> 00:20:58,615 off -road or lifestyle sort of owner. 349 00:20:59,006 --> 00:21:00,066 Gotcha. 350 00:21:00,066 --> 00:21:04,826 And so when you start looking at like you mentioned, Cybertruck Silverado, obviously 351 00:21:04,826 --> 00:21:08,686 a big component of that is the actual volume of these that will be delivered. 352 00:21:08,686 --> 00:21:13,686 But what have what are kind of the I'm just curious from yourself, what are the 353 00:21:13,686 --> 00:21:17,506 determining factors like, OK, we're going to start offering it is it has to be 354 00:21:17,506 --> 00:21:21,806 volume or are there other kind of considerations that go into what future 355 00:21:21,806 --> 00:21:25,257 vehicles that you want to kind of offer support for? 356 00:21:25,257 --> 00:21:31,197 Yeah, I mean, I would say the determining factors are a lot more basic than that. 357 00:21:31,197 --> 00:21:34,197 We're an entirely bootstrap company. 358 00:21:34,197 --> 00:21:41,217 And so it comes down to what's a mix of what are the capital requirements in terms 359 00:21:41,217 --> 00:21:45,277 of developing new accessories and then what is the potential return. 360 00:21:45,617 --> 00:21:51,917 And so owning an R1T myself, that makes it a lot easier, particularly early on, to 361 00:21:51,917 --> 00:21:53,470 develop products for. 362 00:21:53,470 --> 00:21:54,345 for sure. 363 00:21:54,345 --> 00:21:58,354 And then now the community in Arizona has been incredibly supportive. 364 00:21:58,354 --> 00:22:03,625 So we work with a number of owners out there for, yeah, for measurement and 365 00:22:03,625 --> 00:22:05,885 engineering of new accessories. 366 00:22:06,125 --> 00:22:08,225 I don't have a Cybertruck. 367 00:22:08,225 --> 00:22:10,605 I know a handful of folks who do. 368 00:22:10,765 --> 00:22:16,985 It's, you know, the, we just kind of need to see how, what that ownership is going 369 00:22:16,985 --> 00:22:20,925 to be like, you know, what sort of delivery volumes are going to be for the 370 00:22:20,925 --> 00:22:22,705 Cybertruck and things like that. 371 00:22:23,711 --> 00:22:26,731 So, and I, that totally makes sense. 372 00:22:26,731 --> 00:22:31,631 Kind of taking a step back when you're talking about, kind of choosing the right 373 00:22:31,631 --> 00:22:37,631 products, what, not, not even for which, cars by me or trucks, but what has been 374 00:22:37,631 --> 00:22:41,771 kind of the determining factors or like, is it market research or is it on 375 00:22:41,771 --> 00:22:42,291 personal? 376 00:22:42,291 --> 00:22:45,491 Like, I've like figuring out like, there are ones he definitely needs rock sliders. 377 00:22:45,491 --> 00:22:48,311 And then to kind of like, what are some of the things that you're offering today for 378 00:22:48,311 --> 00:22:49,101 people listening? 379 00:22:49,101 --> 00:22:51,838 And then maybe go into some of the products that 380 00:22:51,838 --> 00:22:57,198 probably aren't ready just yet but ones that you're hoping to really offer maybe 381 00:22:57,198 --> 00:22:59,358 in the medium to longer term future. 382 00:22:59,689 --> 00:23:05,369 Yeah, you know, we engage with the community a lot on various forums as well 383 00:23:05,369 --> 00:23:06,989 as on social media. 384 00:23:06,989 --> 00:23:12,889 There's also a couple Discord and other channels as well that we're engaged on. 385 00:23:12,889 --> 00:23:19,149 So yeah, we work with owners there as well as with the Rivian Clubs of America. 386 00:23:19,149 --> 00:23:23,889 They've been great partners of ours as well as just a variety of other places 387 00:23:23,889 --> 00:23:27,409 like that to perform market research and really assess kind of like what's the 388 00:23:27,409 --> 00:23:28,105 demand. 389 00:23:28,105 --> 00:23:35,685 The other aspects that we look at are, is there an offering for that product 390 00:23:35,685 --> 00:23:35,995 already? 391 00:23:35,995 --> 00:23:38,245 Is somebody already offering that? 392 00:23:38,245 --> 00:23:44,925 And then what sort of design and engineering requirements are going to be 393 00:23:44,925 --> 00:23:47,145 needed in order to develop that product? 394 00:23:47,185 --> 00:23:48,725 What does manufacturing look like? 395 00:23:48,725 --> 00:23:52,235 Is that something that can be easily produced here domestically? 396 00:23:52,235 --> 00:23:54,265 Is that something that has to be made abroad? 397 00:23:54,665 --> 00:23:59,605 some hybrid of the two, how complex is the product, is there assembly required, 398 00:24:00,025 --> 00:24:00,995 things like that. 399 00:24:00,995 --> 00:24:04,585 So we kind of take all those into consideration before determining where 400 00:24:04,585 --> 00:24:06,185 we're gonna go next. 401 00:24:06,785 --> 00:24:07,505 Gotcha. 402 00:24:07,505 --> 00:24:09,785 That what we're gonna say. 403 00:24:09,861 --> 00:24:13,021 yeah, and then I'd say coming down the road, we're looking to do a number of 404 00:24:13,021 --> 00:24:18,061 other off -road products for the R1S and R1T. 405 00:24:18,881 --> 00:24:28,541 The platform has been revised recently, and so we kind of need to, that will 406 00:24:28,541 --> 00:24:31,261 obviously influence where we go next. 407 00:24:31,581 --> 00:24:34,799 But I would say things like, 408 00:24:35,369 --> 00:24:39,869 steps or running boards as opposed to rock sliders or something that's on our radar 409 00:24:39,869 --> 00:24:42,169 in the future. 410 00:24:42,169 --> 00:24:48,589 There are a handful of other items for mounting things in the bed of the R1T that 411 00:24:48,589 --> 00:24:51,109 are also coming down the pipe. 412 00:24:51,269 --> 00:24:52,949 Yeah, those are a couple of them. 413 00:24:52,949 --> 00:24:55,639 Yeah, I mean, this is a, it's a passion project of mine. 414 00:24:55,639 --> 00:24:59,929 It's something that I've put a lot of time and energy into, but at the same time, I 415 00:24:59,929 --> 00:25:01,545 also have a day job. 416 00:25:01,545 --> 00:25:09,925 And so that kind of split, and obviously now with a growing family, that makes time 417 00:25:09,925 --> 00:25:16,565 a resource that is not as easily, it's harder to find somebody who's willing to 418 00:25:16,565 --> 00:25:23,519 invest time as opposed to other resources, you know, and so that also is a factor. 419 00:25:23,777 --> 00:25:29,357 For sure with with kind of where you are and like you said there's there is a lot 420 00:25:29,357 --> 00:25:32,957 you're kind of juggling But obviously there's a big interest in the space with 421 00:25:32,957 --> 00:25:37,137 where you are now What what are some of the things that kind of like surprised you 422 00:25:37,137 --> 00:25:40,037 along the way to get to where you are whether it be? 423 00:25:40,037 --> 00:25:44,337 Maybe things that were more difficult or just maybe they're being a larger market 424 00:25:44,337 --> 00:25:48,637 than you expect I'm just kind of curious what what have been the challenges good 425 00:25:48,637 --> 00:25:51,937 and bad maybe that you can share with us 426 00:25:52,169 --> 00:25:56,118 Yeah, so well, yeah, there have been quite a few challenges. 427 00:25:56,118 --> 00:26:00,909 I mean, with the platform itself, the R1 platform changed. 428 00:26:00,909 --> 00:26:06,549 There were some cost reduction changes that were implemented that required us to 429 00:26:06,549 --> 00:26:10,309 go kind of go back to the drawing board and re -engineer some aspects of a couple 430 00:26:10,309 --> 00:26:12,209 of products like the rock sliders. 431 00:26:12,209 --> 00:26:15,289 That was a hiccup that we overcame. 432 00:26:16,229 --> 00:26:19,049 There, you know, when you're... 433 00:26:19,049 --> 00:26:21,939 Yeah, when you're bootstrapping something like this, everything is new, right? 434 00:26:21,939 --> 00:26:27,489 So everything from packaging, finding a carrier who's going to support direct 435 00:26:27,489 --> 00:26:31,219 consumer freight on an ongoing basis, things like that. 436 00:26:31,219 --> 00:26:35,389 That's been a learning experience that we've overcome. 437 00:26:35,729 --> 00:26:38,289 We also do manufacture parts abroad. 438 00:26:38,289 --> 00:26:40,429 So there's four. 439 00:26:40,429 --> 00:26:47,369 I tend to use, so yeah, I'm very particular about which parts we'll. 440 00:26:47,369 --> 00:26:50,209 build domestically versus abroad. 441 00:26:50,389 --> 00:26:55,209 And it's kind of without naming any names of retailers, but there are inexpensive 442 00:26:55,209 --> 00:26:59,769 tool resellers that many automotive enthusiasts go to. 443 00:26:59,769 --> 00:27:05,029 And I use the same philosophy for when I buy tools from those sorts of stores, and 444 00:27:05,029 --> 00:27:09,919 it's the dumber the part, the more acceptable it is to manufacture it abroad. 445 00:27:09,919 --> 00:27:14,793 If it's a solid chunk of aluminum. 446 00:27:14,793 --> 00:27:21,113 Sure, with the right partner abroad, we can co -produce that or contract those 447 00:27:21,113 --> 00:27:22,213 sorts of things. 448 00:27:22,273 --> 00:27:26,913 And so, yes, building the supply chain for that, as well as we also drop ship and 449 00:27:26,913 --> 00:27:28,963 resell a variety of other products as well. 450 00:27:28,963 --> 00:27:34,893 And so building out that network of suppliers has been a learning experience. 451 00:27:34,933 --> 00:27:37,953 And then everything, yeah, I mean, I'm kind of the, other than the actual 452 00:27:37,953 --> 00:27:42,393 assembly and engineering of the rock sliders, I'm kind of the chief cook and 453 00:27:42,393 --> 00:27:43,033 bottle washer here. 454 00:27:43,033 --> 00:27:43,849 And so, 455 00:27:43,849 --> 00:27:47,569 learning everything from the e -commerce platform. 456 00:27:47,569 --> 00:27:54,029 We use Shopify, which luckily is very intuitive, but kind of lean back on some 457 00:27:54,029 --> 00:27:57,619 of prior work experience for some of that other software stuff. 458 00:27:57,619 --> 00:28:01,609 But yeah, there's been learning kind of across the board and changes that we've 459 00:28:01,609 --> 00:28:07,753 had to kind of follow in order to stay competitive and keep growing. 460 00:28:08,384 --> 00:28:11,684 I realize you're doing obviously the majority of kind of getting this off the 461 00:28:11,684 --> 00:28:13,064 ground and the bootstraps I saw. 462 00:28:13,064 --> 00:28:17,844 But if you're willing to share, is there any, if there's anyone listening, are 463 00:28:17,844 --> 00:28:22,744 there any skill sets or something that might be of value that if someone wanted 464 00:28:22,744 --> 00:28:27,804 to work with you to maybe to reach out to maybe kind of help you get electric moving 465 00:28:27,804 --> 00:28:30,729 even faster or just kind of keeping the momentum going. 466 00:28:30,729 --> 00:28:35,969 Yeah, something that actually I found that has been really unique to this particular 467 00:28:35,969 --> 00:28:38,689 startup. 468 00:28:38,689 --> 00:28:41,789 I've had a couple other startups in the past, but something that's very unique 469 00:28:41,789 --> 00:28:45,869 about this particular one is the community aspect. 470 00:28:46,749 --> 00:28:50,539 We've worked with owners who also are building their own parts. 471 00:28:50,539 --> 00:28:53,269 I've worked with owners. 472 00:28:53,449 --> 00:28:59,913 There's a great guy who lives in Oregon who owns a manufacturing. 473 00:28:59,913 --> 00:29:05,233 company and he's he's co -produced some some parts for us out of stainless steel 474 00:29:05,233 --> 00:29:06,733 and been really great there. 475 00:29:06,733 --> 00:29:12,593 I've worked with a number of owners to design and engineer accessories like 476 00:29:12,593 --> 00:29:14,233 brackets and things like that. 477 00:29:14,573 --> 00:29:17,463 So shout out to my friends over at Sunish .com. 478 00:29:17,463 --> 00:29:19,633 They've been fantastic partners. 479 00:29:19,633 --> 00:29:25,573 We've worked together on we make iPad brackets for the seat back out of out of 480 00:29:25,573 --> 00:29:26,213 stainless steel. 481 00:29:26,213 --> 00:29:29,577 And so yeah, I would say folks with 482 00:29:29,577 --> 00:29:34,837 you know, engineering expertise, that's been great, you know, working with folks 483 00:29:34,837 --> 00:29:35,897 there. 484 00:29:36,337 --> 00:29:39,417 That's probably the biggest one. 485 00:29:40,637 --> 00:29:48,537 I'm a software guy and I would say aspiring mechanic, you know, I can rebuild 486 00:29:48,537 --> 00:29:52,717 an engine or, you know, do things like that, but I'm not, you know, an engineer 487 00:29:52,717 --> 00:29:53,437 by trade. 488 00:29:53,437 --> 00:29:57,717 And so having someone particularly with like Fusion 360 skills, that's really kind 489 00:29:57,717 --> 00:29:58,677 of like... 490 00:29:58,793 --> 00:30:00,113 That's really the biggest part. 491 00:30:00,113 --> 00:30:08,573 It's the, you know, the transforming the sketch into a digital model that is then 492 00:30:08,573 --> 00:30:09,433 manufacturable. 493 00:30:09,433 --> 00:30:13,773 And then that can then be tested, you know, to ensure performance and things 494 00:30:13,773 --> 00:30:14,573 like that. 495 00:30:14,573 --> 00:30:17,979 That's kind of, those are the skills that I'm looking for really. 496 00:30:18,493 --> 00:30:21,573 That's great to know and hopefully anyone listening can definitely kind of reach out 497 00:30:21,573 --> 00:30:22,953 and help you with that. 498 00:30:22,953 --> 00:30:28,653 With where you're looking to kind of take Electruck 4x4, can you share any of the 499 00:30:28,653 --> 00:30:32,173 roadmap maybe that we haven't discussed already that I realize this is kind of 500 00:30:32,173 --> 00:30:34,713 your passion project and you've got a lot you're juggling right now. 501 00:30:34,713 --> 00:30:38,313 But is there anything you can kind of share for maybe like the next year as far 502 00:30:38,313 --> 00:30:42,289 as roadmap for where you're looking to take Electruck and maybe expand into? 503 00:30:42,665 --> 00:30:47,065 Yeah, I think Cybertruck is definitely on the horizon. 504 00:30:47,205 --> 00:30:56,905 I think we might pursue more of a reseller route there, more so than building 505 00:30:56,905 --> 00:30:57,645 Megawatt products. 506 00:30:57,645 --> 00:31:05,525 I think there are a handful that it's possible we might make, but yeah, it's 507 00:31:05,525 --> 00:31:06,485 kind of a... 508 00:31:06,485 --> 00:31:12,025 right now, we wanna kind of stay abreast of where things are headed with the R1 509 00:31:12,025 --> 00:31:13,205 platform. 510 00:31:13,205 --> 00:31:16,465 And so I think, yeah, a combination of kind of, I guess you could call it 511 00:31:16,465 --> 00:31:21,845 maintenance and just staying up to speed with changes on the platform as well as 512 00:31:21,845 --> 00:31:26,265 expansion into more of the Tesla vehicles. 513 00:31:26,665 --> 00:31:28,979 That's kind of what we'll see over the next year. 514 00:31:29,468 --> 00:31:30,138 Okay, that's great. 515 00:31:30,138 --> 00:31:33,128 And I guess this kind of maybe brings a couple of things together. 516 00:31:33,128 --> 00:31:36,388 You're talking about not just expansion of your business, but like one of the areas 517 00:31:36,388 --> 00:31:38,648 you're trying to work on more is community. 518 00:31:38,648 --> 00:31:42,348 And I actually am involved kind of with the central Oregon Land Rovers off 519 00:31:42,348 --> 00:31:43,848 -roading group here. 520 00:31:43,848 --> 00:31:49,248 Obviously not really EV focused, but is that something that you're looking to do 521 00:31:49,248 --> 00:31:55,348 on the community side is looking to kind of do even maybe not like longer trips, 522 00:31:55,348 --> 00:31:57,108 but even kind of day. 523 00:31:57,495 --> 00:32:02,316 Rivian or other kind of focused vehicle off -road trips or even just EV focused 524 00:32:02,316 --> 00:32:06,306 off -road trips to maybe build awareness or kind of get the name out there more. 525 00:32:06,306 --> 00:32:10,836 Because I found that to seem like it's a really effective way for people in kind of 526 00:32:10,836 --> 00:32:16,136 your area to get the name out there and definitely get those kind of adamant 527 00:32:16,136 --> 00:32:19,716 customers that want to really return for specifically your products. 528 00:32:19,881 --> 00:32:25,801 Yeah, so we work a lot with the clubs, the Rivian Clubs of America, both at the 529 00:32:25,801 --> 00:32:27,121 national level. 530 00:32:27,121 --> 00:32:31,921 Those folks have all been great supporters and customers, as well as the individual 531 00:32:31,921 --> 00:32:33,101 local clubs. 532 00:32:33,101 --> 00:32:39,321 The club in Texas just did an event that we sponsored here in the Bay Area. 533 00:32:39,781 --> 00:32:41,421 There's folks in New York. 534 00:32:41,421 --> 00:32:45,897 Basically, yeah, nationally, there have been a lot of events that we've supported. 535 00:32:45,897 --> 00:32:50,577 There are also a handful of off -road schools that use Rivians. 536 00:32:50,577 --> 00:32:55,817 And so we've been fortunate enough to connect with them and they've become 537 00:32:55,817 --> 00:32:59,557 customers and advocates for our products. 538 00:32:59,557 --> 00:33:03,957 And so, yeah, really continuing to engage with the community. 539 00:33:07,197 --> 00:33:11,287 We're owners just as much as we are contributors and suppliers. 540 00:33:11,287 --> 00:33:14,121 And so we want to continue to... 541 00:33:14,121 --> 00:33:17,981 participate as well as learn from the community to figure out how we can 542 00:33:17,981 --> 00:33:20,321 continue to better serve them and support them. 543 00:33:21,184 --> 00:33:23,064 No, that's all great. 544 00:33:23,064 --> 00:33:27,944 and kind of awesome to hear because I think that that has been an area that I 545 00:33:27,944 --> 00:33:28,154 don't know. 546 00:33:28,154 --> 00:33:33,164 I feel like over the last five years, there has been such a, and maybe it's like 547 00:33:33,164 --> 00:33:36,024 a unintentional kind of outgrowth of COVID. 548 00:33:36,024 --> 00:33:40,084 I feel like there has been a much larger interest in overlanding and kind of off 549 00:33:40,084 --> 00:33:42,354 -roading, almost like a rebirth. 550 00:33:42,354 --> 00:33:45,444 I feel like, I feel like it's always been a thing, but I just feel like the, and 551 00:33:45,444 --> 00:33:47,354 maybe just personal experience. 552 00:33:47,354 --> 00:33:50,624 I just feel like there's been such a growing interest that we just haven't seen 553 00:33:50,624 --> 00:33:51,630 for awhile. 554 00:33:51,976 --> 00:33:54,847 and going to kind of where you're based. 555 00:33:54,847 --> 00:33:58,397 I'm really curious, like in the Bay Area, I lived down in Palo Alto actually for a 556 00:33:58,397 --> 00:34:01,717 little bit, but I'm kind of curious, like for you, where are some of your favorite 557 00:34:01,717 --> 00:34:07,913 trails or like best areas to go to to go off road and kind of get away from things? 558 00:34:07,913 --> 00:34:13,453 Yeah, you know, it depends on how long we're going to go for. 559 00:34:13,453 --> 00:34:16,353 Hollister is great because it's right there. 560 00:34:16,893 --> 00:34:18,153 Yeah, Carnegie's nearby. 561 00:34:18,153 --> 00:34:24,873 There are a variety of, you know, SBRAs and OHV sites that are accessible and a 562 00:34:24,873 --> 00:34:26,073 good time. 563 00:34:26,073 --> 00:34:29,033 Personally, I'm a big fan of the Sierras. 564 00:34:29,033 --> 00:34:32,745 So, you know, anywhere from Lone Pine to Tahoe. 565 00:34:32,745 --> 00:34:34,345 There's great stuff. 566 00:34:34,345 --> 00:34:39,265 Death Valley is, yeah, I've got a soft spot for Death Valley. 567 00:34:39,265 --> 00:34:41,905 There's some great trails out there. 568 00:34:42,125 --> 00:34:48,145 Infrastructure, that kind of comes back to the unique aspects of off -roading in an 569 00:34:48,145 --> 00:34:48,884 electric vehicle. 570 00:34:48,884 --> 00:34:54,045 And so it's been a learning process, particularly over the last couple of 571 00:34:54,045 --> 00:34:54,585 years. 572 00:34:54,585 --> 00:34:58,165 Luckily, the charging networks, particularly in California, are getting 573 00:34:58,165 --> 00:35:00,025 more expansive. 574 00:35:00,025 --> 00:35:02,057 But even then, there's still areas, 575 00:35:02,057 --> 00:35:08,197 If you're out in Arnold, which is a small town, kind of, yeah, inland a ways kind of 576 00:35:08,197 --> 00:35:11,377 on the way towards Tahoe ish. 577 00:35:11,497 --> 00:35:16,937 There it's kind of a charging desert and there are a lot of good trails out there. 578 00:35:16,937 --> 00:35:22,477 You know, I, it's funny that you mentioned the COVID thing because that's kind of 579 00:35:22,477 --> 00:35:25,617 what reinvigorated my interest in four wheeling. 580 00:35:25,617 --> 00:35:30,677 I grew up kind of stealing or borrowing my dad's truck going four wheeling, you know, 581 00:35:30,677 --> 00:35:31,625 for, 582 00:35:31,625 --> 00:35:32,985 years. 583 00:35:32,985 --> 00:35:38,185 And then more recently, you know, when COVID hit, I was big into camping and 584 00:35:38,185 --> 00:35:40,985 backpacking, but campgrounds started to get closed down. 585 00:35:40,985 --> 00:35:44,545 And so, you know, I kind of turned to my wife and I said, you know, like, 586 00:35:44,545 --> 00:35:47,385 campgrounds be damned, we're getting out into nature. 587 00:35:47,385 --> 00:35:51,005 And so I bought an old XJ Jeep. 588 00:35:51,105 --> 00:35:58,545 It was, yeah, it was, it was one of the more interesting and also one of the more 589 00:35:58,545 --> 00:36:00,905 ramshackle vehicles I've ever owned, but it was great. 590 00:36:00,905 --> 00:36:08,105 got us out there and that kind of then continued on into the R1 ownership and 591 00:36:08,105 --> 00:36:09,025 things like that. 592 00:36:09,025 --> 00:36:11,085 And yeah, it's been awesome. 593 00:36:12,863 --> 00:36:17,243 Yeah, I'm kind of like I think that's been one of my things lately is a lot of the 594 00:36:17,243 --> 00:36:21,883 trips we've done are kind of day trips and I'm definitely looking to do more longer, 595 00:36:22,843 --> 00:36:27,183 kind of few day, if not more extensive trips or even doing just a long road trip 596 00:36:27,183 --> 00:36:32,723 across the country and then kind of having a couple, multi -day kind of, detours here 597 00:36:32,723 --> 00:36:33,123 and there. 598 00:36:33,123 --> 00:36:34,053 But it's interesting. 599 00:36:34,053 --> 00:36:37,203 You mentioned the infrastructure side a bit because. 600 00:36:37,310 --> 00:36:38,750 I think a lot of people talk about that. 601 00:36:38,750 --> 00:36:45,070 I think in general, EV charging has come massively from where it was a decade ago. 602 00:36:45,070 --> 00:36:48,250 And I mean, DC fast charging wasn't even a thing pretty much a decade ago. 603 00:36:48,250 --> 00:36:53,470 And now where we are today and you go by like I -5 and pretty much any of the major 604 00:36:53,470 --> 00:36:57,230 corridors, especially for kind of passenger vehicle EVs, that's not a 605 00:36:57,230 --> 00:36:57,370 problem. 606 00:36:57,370 --> 00:37:01,990 But being based here in central Oregon, really within the last year, actually both 607 00:37:01,990 --> 00:37:06,690 Tesla and Rivian have expanded their charging options, especially north and 608 00:37:06,690 --> 00:37:07,217 south. 609 00:37:07,217 --> 00:37:11,187 you're going west, but you had east of here being in Bend. 610 00:37:11,187 --> 00:37:14,077 There really isn't much until you hit Boise. 611 00:37:14,997 --> 00:37:19,117 And so that is kind of interesting when it's looking at Rivian, one of the cool 612 00:37:19,117 --> 00:37:21,797 things I've thought they've done, obviously have kind of maybe slowed down 613 00:37:21,797 --> 00:37:25,737 on the DC fast chargers, but they offered a lot of level two charging and kind of 614 00:37:25,737 --> 00:37:29,777 working with the national parks and getting more places for that, which I 615 00:37:29,777 --> 00:37:31,027 think is kind of the perfect balance. 616 00:37:31,027 --> 00:37:34,037 You really don't necessarily need DC fast charging. 617 00:37:34,238 --> 00:37:38,418 You just need more plentiful and reliable level two charging in a lot of these 618 00:37:38,418 --> 00:37:39,948 national parks and other areas like that. 619 00:37:39,948 --> 00:37:46,018 I mean, I'm just kind of curious, has that been anything that with what you do and 620 00:37:46,018 --> 00:37:48,978 kind of your background working in Riviera and others, is that going to come up as 621 00:37:48,978 --> 00:37:53,758 far as like a partnership opportunity of like trying to look at areas to kind of 622 00:37:53,758 --> 00:37:55,806 help extend and maybe speed? 623 00:37:55,806 --> 00:38:01,846 the charging opportunities even through kind of sponsored or advertised ways add a 624 00:38:01,846 --> 00:38:04,786 lot more kind of off -road opportunities. 625 00:38:04,809 --> 00:38:09,649 Yeah, you know, I have a number of friends on both, I guess you could say, on the 626 00:38:09,649 --> 00:38:17,029 Supercharger team, or you know, still, as well as Destination Charging, and as well 627 00:38:17,029 --> 00:38:22,429 as at Rivian on their waypoint team and their RAND team, and I think both of 628 00:38:22,429 --> 00:38:27,049 their, yeah, and each of them, you know, they're kind of often under the same 629 00:38:27,049 --> 00:38:27,913 umbrella. 630 00:38:27,913 --> 00:38:33,753 But each kind of has a different mantra or different methodology that they have 631 00:38:33,753 --> 00:38:35,893 pursued to building out those charging networks. 632 00:38:35,893 --> 00:38:39,773 And so, you know, DC fast charging, you're looking at corridors between spots of 633 00:38:39,773 --> 00:38:40,893 where you're going to be camping. 634 00:38:40,893 --> 00:38:47,773 But I think for those overnight lodging, I think that there's an opportunity there 635 00:38:47,773 --> 00:38:50,573 for partnerships with campsites. 636 00:38:50,573 --> 00:38:55,153 It would be great to see, you know, more national parks as well as US Forest 637 00:38:55,153 --> 00:38:57,001 Service campgrounds. 638 00:38:57,001 --> 00:38:58,901 to have integrated charging. 639 00:39:00,761 --> 00:39:07,161 I personally prefer more backcountry camping and four -wheeling. 640 00:39:07,161 --> 00:39:15,661 And so having a 30 -amp charger at a campsite is luxury, which is great. 641 00:39:15,661 --> 00:39:19,821 But I think the opportunity to see more level two charging at campgrounds is 642 00:39:19,821 --> 00:39:24,479 definitely an opportunity that needs to be capitalized on. 643 00:39:25,150 --> 00:39:27,670 Well, it's kind of interesting to talk about that too, especially when you start 644 00:39:27,670 --> 00:39:34,290 getting the more off road and really kind of making your own path sort of EV 645 00:39:34,290 --> 00:39:35,290 adventures. 646 00:39:35,290 --> 00:39:40,670 And there have been some really wild and interesting, there's still pretty early 647 00:39:40,670 --> 00:39:45,570 type, but kind of solar roof mount things that I've seen for a couple different EVs 648 00:39:45,570 --> 00:39:51,110 that essentially do spread out and kind of unlock to anywhere from one to two 649 00:39:51,110 --> 00:39:53,893 kilowatts of solar, which is a decent, I mean, it's not. 650 00:39:53,893 --> 00:39:57,067 of solar, I mean for portable, yeah. 651 00:39:57,067 --> 00:40:00,027 if you're gonna be like camp there or something it obviously will kind of cover 652 00:40:00,027 --> 00:40:04,767 whatever usage you're gonna use for your Water and some other stuff and maybe 653 00:40:04,767 --> 00:40:09,907 recharges the battery a little bit, but I'm kind of curious I'm sure as someone 654 00:40:09,907 --> 00:40:13,307 personally who's been in the EV space like one of the first things you get her asked 655 00:40:13,307 --> 00:40:16,467 about are kind of Why don't you put a solar panel on it? 656 00:40:16,467 --> 00:40:20,958 and I'm just kind of curious being on now the off -road and the 657 00:40:20,958 --> 00:40:23,658 side that you're on selling these products, I'm sure you get a lot of 658 00:40:23,658 --> 00:40:28,718 questions around kind of products around that or how has that been? 659 00:40:28,841 --> 00:40:35,801 Yeah, you know, it's that conversation has been the same since I since I was at 660 00:40:35,801 --> 00:40:36,741 Tesla. 661 00:40:37,041 --> 00:40:39,991 You know, at first it was road trips pre -supercharger, right? 662 00:40:39,991 --> 00:40:42,941 How are you going to get to how are you going to go on a road trip? 663 00:40:42,941 --> 00:40:49,681 And so it's and it's really difficult to kind of convey it in a way that sinks in 664 00:40:49,681 --> 00:40:54,531 and registers with people until they like until you actually like try it and own it. 665 00:40:54,531 --> 00:40:57,673 Then if you really understand the kind of 666 00:40:57,673 --> 00:41:02,533 how overblown a lot of the range anxiety is. 667 00:41:02,533 --> 00:41:07,813 You know, four -wheeling, we'll go out for a couple days out in the backcountry and 668 00:41:07,813 --> 00:41:13,093 when you're sitting there camping, you're not consuming a lot of power, even if you 669 00:41:13,093 --> 00:41:16,933 do have, you know, string lights hooked up and, you know, an inductive cooktop and, 670 00:41:16,933 --> 00:41:20,493 you know, all these other things that are great luxuries to be able to have and run 671 00:41:20,493 --> 00:41:22,823 off your truck, you still don't use that much. 672 00:41:22,823 --> 00:41:26,057 And then when you're rock crawling, you don't consume 673 00:41:26,057 --> 00:41:30,116 that much energy, you'll spend a whole day out in Hollister and use under a hundred 674 00:41:30,116 --> 00:41:34,137 miles or, you know, I'm sure somebody's going to blast me for an inaccurate 675 00:41:34,137 --> 00:41:38,242 statistic there, but you'll use significantly less mileage than you would 676 00:41:38,242 --> 00:41:38,948 expect. 677 00:41:38,948 --> 00:41:44,768 It's kind of the only situation it seems like where your power really goes is if 678 00:41:44,768 --> 00:41:48,978 you're doing a lot of sand stuff and then and obviously then you're going to. 679 00:41:48,978 --> 00:41:52,288 Yeah, I mean, yeah, high speed or even just kind of mess around the sand. 680 00:41:52,288 --> 00:41:53,588 But even then, you're right. 681 00:41:53,588 --> 00:41:57,548 Like the majority of the time, especially rock crawling stuff, it uses definitely 682 00:41:57,548 --> 00:41:58,208 some. 683 00:41:58,208 --> 00:42:00,799 But the Delta is. 684 00:42:00,799 --> 00:42:03,959 pretty small compared to what you think it'd be, especially as opposed to like 685 00:42:03,959 --> 00:42:06,219 doing highway driving or something. 686 00:42:07,959 --> 00:42:08,699 Exactly. 687 00:42:08,699 --> 00:42:09,389 Yeah. 688 00:42:09,389 --> 00:42:14,009 I mean, we've gone to King of Hammers the last couple of years and that's way out, 689 00:42:14,009 --> 00:42:15,109 you know, in Johnson Valley. 690 00:42:15,109 --> 00:42:18,429 And there's this last year we towed a trailer as well. 691 00:42:18,429 --> 00:42:24,189 And so, you know, I would say that that is the only, the only time when range anxiety 692 00:42:24,189 --> 00:42:29,429 has become a thing is that combination of middle of nowhere and towing. 693 00:42:29,589 --> 00:42:32,369 That said, you know, Optima has been great. 694 00:42:32,369 --> 00:42:33,801 Optima batteries has been great about. 695 00:42:33,801 --> 00:42:35,781 providing charging out there. 696 00:42:35,781 --> 00:42:41,201 They had this whole hydrogen powered DC fast charging setup this last year. 697 00:42:41,201 --> 00:42:42,721 So we're able to continue charging. 698 00:42:42,721 --> 00:42:47,401 Even then though, I think you could still do a night or two out there and still be 699 00:42:47,401 --> 00:42:48,321 fine. 700 00:42:48,381 --> 00:42:55,001 But yeah, I mean, as long as you plan, if you're just going four -wheeling or 701 00:42:55,001 --> 00:42:58,201 overlanding, if you're in the back country, you're going to use significantly 702 00:42:58,201 --> 00:43:01,513 less than you think you're going to use, although it's nice to plan with a buffer. 703 00:43:01,513 --> 00:43:04,793 But yeah, you also get, you know, regen back and so you're going to get that back 704 00:43:04,793 --> 00:43:05,163 as well. 705 00:43:05,163 --> 00:43:10,113 And so, yeah, I think it's just a, it's a learning experience and just, you kind of 706 00:43:10,113 --> 00:43:13,353 have to do it in order to fully internalize it. 707 00:43:13,353 --> 00:43:17,313 You know, you can, you can talk about it and have it register, you know, but it 708 00:43:17,313 --> 00:43:21,019 doesn't actually register until you, you're, you do it yourself. 709 00:43:21,407 --> 00:43:26,527 Now, and I think I even kind of realize how fruitless like usually adding solar to 710 00:43:26,527 --> 00:43:30,127 any sort of UV is, but there have been just, I feel like it's only within like 711 00:43:30,127 --> 00:43:34,747 the last six months and I still don't know how practical it is, but there are now 712 00:43:34,747 --> 00:43:39,507 these stationary things that essentially a roof mounted that fold out and now you're, 713 00:43:39,507 --> 00:43:42,467 it's still not a whole lot, but the fact you're kind of getting around the two 714 00:43:42,467 --> 00:43:46,357 kilowatt mark, you're like, okay, that is a decent amount of solar. 715 00:43:46,357 --> 00:43:50,462 And that could actually, if you're not driving far, or if you're like based, 716 00:43:50,462 --> 00:43:52,382 camp for a couple days. 717 00:43:52,382 --> 00:43:54,242 It's probably a net positive. 718 00:43:54,242 --> 00:43:54,962 Yeah. 719 00:43:55,382 --> 00:43:56,482 Well, exactly. 720 00:43:56,482 --> 00:43:57,362 Exactly. 721 00:43:57,373 --> 00:44:04,323 I would say, when we first started going out and it was a concern, I was like, 722 00:44:04,323 --> 00:44:08,373 okay, well, what if we run out of range? 723 00:44:09,073 --> 00:44:11,173 And so I found myself driving on conserve. 724 00:44:11,173 --> 00:44:17,733 I'd be on these dirt roads, just, traction was mostly there, but probably could have 725 00:44:17,733 --> 00:44:22,121 been in a different drive mode, but just for the sake of using as little 726 00:44:22,121 --> 00:44:23,040 energy batteries and blah, 727 00:44:23,182 --> 00:44:23,854 yeah. 728 00:44:40,286 --> 00:44:41,386 Yeah. 729 00:44:46,655 --> 00:44:51,115 Well, and I'm like, as someone who's been in the space for so long, I realize it's 730 00:44:51,115 --> 00:44:55,135 really not necessary, but I still kind of fall for it every now and then. 731 00:44:55,135 --> 00:44:58,265 Like, God, that does seem kind of cool just to get, you don't have a generator, 732 00:44:58,265 --> 00:44:59,065 you don't have to have anything. 733 00:44:59,065 --> 00:45:02,715 If you have like just enough solar, it doesn't need to be a lot. 734 00:45:02,715 --> 00:45:06,375 And especially when the battery's that big, yeah, you could be like posted out, 735 00:45:06,375 --> 00:45:09,935 especially like in Southeast Oregon or anywhere in the Southwest. 736 00:45:09,935 --> 00:45:12,975 It's like, you could be out there for a week at least. 737 00:45:13,737 --> 00:45:16,807 Yeah, I think it's definitely that, you know, that. 738 00:45:16,807 --> 00:45:17,656 Yeah, exactly. 739 00:45:17,656 --> 00:45:19,857 It's it's it's kind of, you know, it's it's it's the dream. 740 00:45:19,857 --> 00:45:22,157 That's the ideal scenario. 741 00:45:22,377 --> 00:45:25,223 Unlimited gas from that, you know, falling from the sky. 742 00:45:26,942 --> 00:45:28,342 No, exactly. 743 00:45:28,662 --> 00:45:33,362 Well, OK, so let's I realize we're kind of coming up a little bit here, but when 744 00:45:33,362 --> 00:45:39,322 you're looking at some of these products that you're trying to offer for electric, 745 00:45:39,322 --> 00:45:41,882 have there been any? 746 00:45:42,334 --> 00:45:45,934 I think one, it's just such a new thing to have, obviously electric four by four is 747 00:45:45,934 --> 00:45:48,794 that anything is kind of a great option. 748 00:45:48,794 --> 00:45:55,214 But are there any things that you're most excited about or like you really want to 749 00:45:55,214 --> 00:46:00,872 maybe take to the next level for specifically an electric four by four? 750 00:46:02,089 --> 00:46:06,349 You know, suspension systems, I think, are an opportunity there. 751 00:46:06,449 --> 00:46:12,209 Obviously, focusing on Rivian specifically right now with the air suspension, which 752 00:46:12,209 --> 00:46:13,969 is fantastic. 753 00:46:14,449 --> 00:46:21,469 The truck is kind of a Swiss Army knife of performance, which is great. 754 00:46:21,849 --> 00:46:24,889 Great road handling as well as off -road handling. 755 00:46:24,889 --> 00:46:28,829 That said, long travel suspension, higher ground clearance, and things like that 756 00:46:28,829 --> 00:46:30,089 does provide 757 00:46:30,089 --> 00:46:36,119 an opportunity, particularly for more aggressive off -road or higher speed. 758 00:46:36,119 --> 00:46:44,009 I think we're starting to see more and more motorsports involvement in the off 759 00:46:44,009 --> 00:46:45,469 -road space. 760 00:46:45,669 --> 00:46:52,209 I think things like short track racing and other more off -road, Pike's Peak is 761 00:46:52,209 --> 00:46:56,334 fantastic, but it would be great to see more off -road involvement. 762 00:46:56,334 --> 00:46:59,654 got paved, I think would be like the perfect ride. 763 00:47:00,414 --> 00:47:01,448 Yeah, yeah. 764 00:47:01,501 --> 00:47:01,841 a Rivian. 765 00:47:01,841 --> 00:47:05,341 I know there was definitely a Cybertruck at the Mint 500 this year. 766 00:47:05,341 --> 00:47:09,221 I don't know as far as actual competition wise, but you know, just having the 767 00:47:09,221 --> 00:47:09,971 representation there. 768 00:47:09,971 --> 00:47:13,561 And I think from there, you'll start to see more, you know, those suspension 769 00:47:13,561 --> 00:47:19,281 systems that are capable of supporting, you know, higher impact, longer travel, 770 00:47:19,341 --> 00:47:22,814 higher performance, those sorts of things are something I'm really excited about. 771 00:47:22,814 --> 00:47:27,234 You know, that's a great topic actually, because there's so many people, even 772 00:47:27,234 --> 00:47:30,874 coming from the non -EV space, like the defender world, everyone's all about that 773 00:47:30,874 --> 00:47:34,974 hard axle, like traditional kind of stuff, like in the old Jeeps and obviously the 774 00:47:34,974 --> 00:47:36,234 Land Rovers. 775 00:47:36,334 --> 00:47:40,394 And I'm a big fan of them personally, but what starts getting really interesting is 776 00:47:40,394 --> 00:47:44,154 there's a couple of companies, one in particular of Australia called airbag man 777 00:47:44,154 --> 00:47:49,754 that, which is just such a funny name, but they have an airbag system, airbag ride 778 00:47:49,754 --> 00:47:50,844 system for a hard axle. 779 00:47:50,844 --> 00:47:52,294 And it is truly, 780 00:47:52,768 --> 00:47:57,728 not just about like delivering a better on -road experience but what it can do off 781 00:47:57,728 --> 00:48:01,218 -road without impacting your travel and stuff is unbelievable. 782 00:48:01,218 --> 00:48:06,168 It's obviously not the cheapest thing and I think there's a lot of kind of 783 00:48:06,168 --> 00:48:10,948 predisposition and understandably so from some of the history of like air ride 784 00:48:10,948 --> 00:48:14,648 systems being really finicky or breaking and then you think well semis use them 785 00:48:14,648 --> 00:48:15,948 there's a reason. 786 00:48:16,510 --> 00:48:19,550 But either way, people start kind of getting scared off because it does seem 787 00:48:19,550 --> 00:48:23,230 like it's such a much more, there's obviously an electronic component to it. 788 00:48:23,230 --> 00:48:26,790 There's just the air unit unto itself. 789 00:48:26,790 --> 00:48:29,770 And so that's really interesting to hear that. 790 00:48:29,770 --> 00:48:32,550 And it makes sense that there'd be an opportunity for that, but you look at the 791 00:48:32,550 --> 00:48:37,090 Rivian, you look at the Cybertruck, both of them have air suspension setups. 792 00:48:37,170 --> 00:48:41,469 What do you think are like the easiest ways? 793 00:48:41,469 --> 00:48:42,479 to get those big ones. 794 00:48:42,479 --> 00:48:46,709 Is it really just increasing the ride height, increasing the ability for travel? 795 00:48:46,709 --> 00:48:51,949 I've heard from some on the Rivian, I'd be curious on your take on this, is the air 796 00:48:51,949 --> 00:48:56,909 tank itself kind of could be bigger and is like that something you could see as even 797 00:48:56,909 --> 00:48:58,689 being a replacement too. 798 00:48:59,337 --> 00:49:03,117 Yeah, you know, obviously there's trade -offs with raising suspension. 799 00:49:03,117 --> 00:49:04,957 Drag goes up significantly. 800 00:49:04,957 --> 00:49:06,607 You're going to lose a lot of range. 801 00:49:06,607 --> 00:49:11,077 And so I think for an off -road or motorsports application, those sorts of 802 00:49:11,077 --> 00:49:16,517 lifted or long travel suspension systems are more kind of like traditional shock 803 00:49:16,517 --> 00:49:23,157 and spring setups can be a bit, or yeah, are great options. 804 00:49:23,157 --> 00:49:24,869 You're seeing 805 00:49:24,969 --> 00:49:26,869 Airbags Continental makes a great product. 806 00:49:26,869 --> 00:49:32,909 And so, you know, you're seeing things like airbags on an air ride on, yeah, the, 807 00:49:32,909 --> 00:49:36,069 the cyber truck and on the Rubian, because you're trying to be that jack of all 808 00:49:36,069 --> 00:49:36,629 trades, right? 809 00:49:36,629 --> 00:49:39,789 You know, you want to, you want a truck that you can take to the track and then 810 00:49:39,789 --> 00:49:43,449 you can take off road and you can't do both of those things unless you have the 811 00:49:43,449 --> 00:49:49,009 dynamic suspension, you know, off, you know, in an airbag, or other, yeah, other 812 00:49:49,009 --> 00:49:50,069 dynamic suspension. 813 00:49:50,069 --> 00:49:50,537 So. 814 00:49:50,537 --> 00:49:55,857 Personally, it's a longevity thing as well as a complexity thing. 815 00:49:56,097 --> 00:50:04,117 Trail repairs, being a Land Rover owner, I'm sure you're all too familiar with the 816 00:50:04,117 --> 00:50:07,577 hunting down leaks on lines and things like that. 817 00:50:08,717 --> 00:50:13,197 But yeah, I think it's a great product. 818 00:50:13,777 --> 00:50:17,157 It's a great configuration. 819 00:50:17,177 --> 00:50:17,961 I just think. 820 00:50:17,961 --> 00:50:21,081 for yeah, that sort of more high performance. 821 00:50:21,161 --> 00:50:26,541 You start to have to, there are trade -offs that have to be made and that's kind 822 00:50:26,541 --> 00:50:27,280 of, yeah. 823 00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:31,820 well that kind of just remind me of something I does the Rivian does it have 824 00:50:31,820 --> 00:50:36,140 an electronic does it have a sway bar or is it essentially kind of like a because 825 00:50:36,140 --> 00:50:40,880 of the fluid system that it has the hydraulic system it has it kind of creates 826 00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,913 like a fake sway bar essentially 827 00:50:43,913 --> 00:50:46,773 Yeah, so it has hydraulic roll control. 828 00:50:46,773 --> 00:50:51,713 It's very similar to some of the systems on McLarens and basically compensates. 829 00:50:51,713 --> 00:50:53,653 Yeah, it's really cool. 830 00:50:53,653 --> 00:50:56,573 And again, that's another one of those things where it's like, okay, you want to 831 00:50:56,573 --> 00:51:01,093 make something that's very dynamic and performant, but at the same time, then you 832 00:51:01,093 --> 00:51:02,753 wind up with additional complexity. 833 00:51:02,753 --> 00:51:09,153 And so I think in terms of the future of overlanding and off -road, particularly 834 00:51:09,153 --> 00:51:12,265 truly off -road capable EVs, 835 00:51:12,265 --> 00:51:16,505 I think simplicity is something that we're going to need to see more of. 836 00:51:16,505 --> 00:51:21,245 Also in terms of affordability, the Rubian's a fantastic vehicle, but there 837 00:51:21,245 --> 00:51:22,885 are a lot of bells and whistles. 838 00:51:23,085 --> 00:51:26,285 And so I think some of that could be stripped out for the sake of just 839 00:51:26,285 --> 00:51:30,025 durability, longevity, and obviously affordability. 840 00:51:30,364 --> 00:51:33,224 Well, it's funny you should say that because I was going to throw out possibly 841 00:51:33,224 --> 00:51:35,584 a product idea for you guys. 842 00:51:35,584 --> 00:51:38,984 If you do go down the path of cyber check, because one of the interesting things 843 00:51:38,984 --> 00:51:42,864 about it, just with the research I've been doing, kind of looking into it, is it does 844 00:51:42,864 --> 00:51:48,304 have a sway bar, but it doesn't have a physical or electronic disconnect. 845 00:51:48,379 --> 00:51:50,939 Just some of the reviews I've been watching lately. 846 00:51:50,939 --> 00:51:54,159 It's like obviously now that the locker updates kind of gone out It's definitely 847 00:51:54,159 --> 00:51:58,739 improved pretty significantly its off -road ability, but the travel issue is 848 00:51:58,739 --> 00:52:02,539 kind of still it's not bad But that could be an area would be better. 849 00:52:02,539 --> 00:52:06,939 I've just be curious on Because I feel like it wouldn't be even if you did a 850 00:52:06,939 --> 00:52:11,379 manual one That would be a pretty big improvement and there might be that may be 851 00:52:11,379 --> 00:52:16,319 a quick off -road win for people who are looking to do that with their Cybertrucks 852 00:52:16,617 --> 00:52:18,357 No, it's a great point. 853 00:52:18,357 --> 00:52:25,057 I think lockers are probably a pretty transformational change. 854 00:52:25,057 --> 00:52:29,917 But then independent suspension does have its limitations in terms of travel and 855 00:52:29,917 --> 00:52:33,063 being able to disconnect that sway bar would go a long ways. 856 00:52:33,627 --> 00:52:37,107 And you know, I'm not as familiar with the electronic systems like on Toyota. 857 00:52:37,107 --> 00:52:39,507 I mean, obviously that's kind of big one with a lot of the land crews, the newer 858 00:52:39,507 --> 00:52:43,087 land cruisers and the forerunners as they just don't electronic one. 859 00:52:43,087 --> 00:52:50,127 Do you know if that would ever be easy to do as like a third or essentially 860 00:52:50,127 --> 00:52:52,327 aftermarket retrofit option? 861 00:52:52,327 --> 00:52:55,737 Not even Cybertruck, because I just don't think I've even seen that. 862 00:52:55,737 --> 00:52:56,507 I could be wrong. 863 00:52:56,507 --> 00:53:00,107 I just don't think I've even seen that many in for other vehicles. 864 00:53:00,713 --> 00:53:06,133 Yeah, you know, I think, yeah, if I recall correctly, there are some reliability 865 00:53:06,133 --> 00:53:11,953 issues that Jeep owners have had with, yeah, with Rubicon and just having that 866 00:53:11,953 --> 00:53:12,893 sway bar disconnect. 867 00:53:12,893 --> 00:53:16,713 I think a lot of folks actually have deleted it. 868 00:53:16,713 --> 00:53:24,033 But yeah, you know, with the right platform, I think a retrofit is not out of 869 00:53:24,033 --> 00:53:27,833 the question, but I think, yeah, the cost associated with it as opposed to something 870 00:53:27,833 --> 00:53:29,653 that's manual. 871 00:53:29,929 --> 00:53:31,855 might not be worth the trade off. 872 00:53:31,855 --> 00:53:32,555 for sure. 873 00:53:32,555 --> 00:53:33,555 Interesting. 874 00:53:34,895 --> 00:53:37,795 Well, no, I really appreciate this conversation. 875 00:53:37,835 --> 00:53:42,095 And this has really been just kind of a fun area to talk about that I'm excited to 876 00:53:42,095 --> 00:53:42,555 see grow more. 877 00:53:42,555 --> 00:53:46,615 And I think honestly, it's been an area, especially if you're on the West Coast, 878 00:53:46,615 --> 00:53:47,358 that 879 00:53:47,358 --> 00:53:50,518 I think a lot of people I talk to, it's part of the reason they've kind of held 880 00:53:50,518 --> 00:53:55,798 off on going to EVs is maybe they maybe they're not a traditional Jeep or some 881 00:53:55,798 --> 00:53:58,418 other kind of driver, but they have a Subaru or something because it has the 882 00:53:58,418 --> 00:54:04,038 ground clearance and has a little more of at least the adventure ability that you 883 00:54:04,038 --> 00:54:05,938 really haven't seen until the entry of Rivian. 884 00:54:05,938 --> 00:54:09,598 And like we've kind of talked about as of now, at least there's still a bit of a 885 00:54:09,598 --> 00:54:10,838 price issue. 886 00:54:10,838 --> 00:54:15,718 So seeing more opportunity and just kind of future products coming out to help with 887 00:54:15,718 --> 00:54:17,838 that, I think such a great thing. 888 00:54:18,227 --> 00:54:23,147 there's anyone that's kind of looking to reach out to you or learn more about your 889 00:54:23,147 --> 00:54:27,287 product, what's the best way to kind of get in contact with you or like learn more 890 00:54:27,287 --> 00:54:29,033 about Electruck 4x4? 891 00:54:29,033 --> 00:54:35,173 Yeah, and folks are welcome to email me directly, brenton at Electruck4x4 .com. 892 00:54:35,173 --> 00:54:38,413 There's always the website, Electruck4x4 .com. 893 00:54:38,413 --> 00:54:41,233 We're on a number of social outlets. 894 00:54:41,233 --> 00:54:43,513 We're pretty well engaged. 895 00:54:44,893 --> 00:54:48,893 The door is always open, live chat, any of those things. 896 00:54:48,893 --> 00:54:53,993 Yeah, very accessible and happy to engage with folks about their trucks, about just 897 00:54:53,993 --> 00:54:56,073 the industry. 898 00:54:56,425 --> 00:55:01,705 or yeah, the hobby or passion for trucks and off -road as well. 899 00:55:01,789 --> 00:55:04,149 And I think that's actually something to mention. 900 00:55:04,149 --> 00:55:07,089 Did you say before our conversation, you'll be at SEMA this year? 901 00:55:07,089 --> 00:55:10,949 Are there any other events that you'll be at, you know, just yet that maybe if 902 00:55:10,949 --> 00:55:13,769 people want to talk to you or meet with you in person? 903 00:55:14,089 --> 00:55:15,549 Yeah, let's see. 904 00:55:15,789 --> 00:55:20,049 So, yeah, I've been going to SEMA for a while. 905 00:55:20,049 --> 00:55:21,789 I'm not sure if I'll make it this year. 906 00:55:21,789 --> 00:55:23,269 I'm gonna try. 907 00:55:23,349 --> 00:55:25,089 Same thing, King of Hammers. 908 00:55:25,089 --> 00:55:26,349 We've gone in the last few years. 909 00:55:26,349 --> 00:55:28,629 I'll try and go again this year. 910 00:55:29,969 --> 00:55:30,909 Let's see. 911 00:55:30,909 --> 00:55:35,289 There are a couple EV Expos we'll be going to as well. 912 00:55:35,989 --> 00:55:41,489 Yeah, I would say, you know, if folks are in the Bay Area, definitely shoot me a 913 00:55:41,489 --> 00:55:42,009 note. 914 00:55:42,009 --> 00:55:43,465 I'm also out in Phoenix from... 915 00:55:43,465 --> 00:55:45,165 you know, pretty regularly. 916 00:55:45,945 --> 00:55:50,075 Otherwise, yeah, just email and all that other stuff. 917 00:55:50,075 --> 00:55:51,937 Happy to, happy to engage with folks. 918 00:55:51,965 --> 00:55:52,485 That's great. 919 00:55:52,485 --> 00:55:55,745 And thank you so much for coming on today, Brenton looking forward to kind of just 920 00:55:55,745 --> 00:55:59,565 seeing the company grow and talk with you more about this space specifically. 921 00:55:59,565 --> 00:56:01,375 So we'll definitely have to have you on soon. 922 00:56:01,375 --> 00:56:02,795 Thank you so much. 923 00:56:02,795 --> 00:56:03,015 Chase. 924 00:56:03,015 --> 00:56:04,037 Yeah, thanks for having me. 925 00:56:09,492 --> 00:56:12,392 Thank you for tuning into this episode of Grid Connections. 926 00:56:12,392 --> 00:56:16,272 We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Brendan Murray, the founder of electric4x4 927 00:56:16,272 --> 00:56:16,922 .com. 928 00:56:16,922 --> 00:56:19,892 It was fascinating to learn about Brendan's background, the genesis of 929 00:56:19,892 --> 00:56:23,982 electric4x4, and the innovative products they offer for off -road EVs. 930 00:56:23,982 --> 00:56:27,072 We hope you found insights on the current and future EV models covered by 931 00:56:27,072 --> 00:56:31,452 electric4x4, as well as the growing aftermarket industry for off -roading EVs, 932 00:56:31,452 --> 00:56:33,472 both informative and inspiring. 933 00:56:33,472 --> 00:56:36,272 If you enjoyed today's episode, please take a moment to share it with at least 934 00:56:36,272 --> 00:56:39,540 one of their listener who you think would appreciate the insights as well. 935 00:56:39,540 --> 00:56:42,760 And don't forget to leave a positive review on our podcast page. 936 00:56:42,760 --> 00:56:45,880 Your feedback helps us to continue bringing you engaging and valuable 937 00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:46,980 content. 938 00:56:46,980 --> 00:56:50,700 Thanks for tuning in and until next week, this is the Grid Connections podcast 939 00:56:50,700 --> 00:56:51,447 signing