Latest / Auto Collabs / Tesla is Apple, Everything Else is Android with Jimmy Douglas

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Tesla is Apple, Everything Else is Android with Jimmy Douglas · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  You know, sometimes we wonder why people actually take a step toward us. [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. 'Cause Cirillo smells sometimes. [laughs] Intentionally. That's the problem. Intentionally.
• 0:17
  And- Intentionally.
• 0:18
  [laughs] And, you know, I guess when you hear somebody else talk about the thing that made them take a step closer, it kind of reminds you of the fact that, like, "Oh, it's not just what I think we're doing, it's what we're actually doing."
• 0:31
  Mm-hmm. And, and today's guest is one of those reminders for me. Um, Jimmy Douglass, uh, founder and CEO of Plug. We can talk about it now because he announced it at a SoDoCon.
• 0:42
  And the first time we met with him, well, at, my first interaction with him was that he sent a LinkedIn DM. And r- at that point, it was just, like, he was the Tesla guy.
• 0:51
  And he was like, "Hey, I just wanted to reach out to the guy who said something about me on their show." [laughs] To which case, we scoured through our 700-page morning show prep document- You're like, "Oh, no.
• 1:01
  What did we say?" And I was like, "I have to know before I answer this." But we said a nice thing, and, and he- Yeah...
• 1:06
  has been one of my, the favorite new introductions of the last, uh, six months, is definitely today's guest. I, I'm having a Marvel cinematic universe moment right now because- [laughs]...
• 1:16
  I just c- the storyline just came full circle. Oh, you didn't realize. [laughs] I didn't know he was the guy that months ago you w- yep. Here we are. He was the guy. Yep. Here we are, guys. Yep.
• 1:26
  And then we were hanging out at the Reuters conference, and he was just, like, this just smooth cat that- [laughs]...
• 1:33
  like, everybody, w- y- we, there was this little, like, circle of conversation going on, and you got, like, Brian Kramer and a couple other people, and we're just chatting up, like, EVs and remarketing and all this type of stuff.
• 1:43
  Yeah. We found our people quickly. He's... It was so good. Yeah.
• 1:46
  So I, I, I've thoroughly e- enjoyed getting to know him, getting to know him at a SoDoCon just a little bit ago, and, and, like, this guy, he's, he's young guy, like, like ourselves, you know.
• 2:00
  [laughs] I'm not young anymore. But he's just, he's resolute and he's got a, he's just got a great way about him. So I can't wait to have this, like, longer form conversation in a podcast.
• 2:10
  So if you're here with us, we hope you enjoy the conversation today. [upbeat music] I always get angry when people don't talk about
• 2:20
  their history in the car business, and they just go right into, like, what they do in the industry. Not like you would do that. Mm-hmm. But I think, you know- Well, he won't anymore. Not, not after you said it like that.
• 2:30
  [laughs] He's like, "Well, I'm about to make you angry. Watch." [laughs] "Check this. Check me out." So tell, tell us about your first job in the auto industry. Yeah.
• 2:41
  Um, I think technically it wasn't really a job because, uh, it- It's always is... it wasn't really employment, but- 'Cause I didn't actually get paid, and they did- I-...
• 2:51
  see me off the lot with a police escort, but aside from that part. [laughs] Well, yeah, but, like, y- who, who hasn't had that experience? Um- [laughs] You know, it's...
• 3:02
  So, so what was it, the year 2001, and I'm in high school. And I have recently moved out of my parents' house. I'm 16. And, uh, I'm, I'm picking up income streams here and there.
• 3:16
  Uh, I was a LAN partier, though, so I pr- so primarily, like, uh, the easiest way was to find small businesses that needed help keeping their computers running. And
• 3:25
  my first job in auto was keeping the computers running inside of this Volkswagen dealer, which is what led to Dennis Teach, the service manager at Armstrong Volkswagen, uh, during that time, and actually today too, uh- [laughs]...
• 3:39
  asking if I wanted a real job.
• 3:41
  And the real job was, uh, to be a lot attendant working the service drive, uh, for a new swing shift operation he was spinning up, where a new team of technicians and service advisor would come in at 5:00 PM, and they w- would work until the cars were done, and they were there on Saturdays too.
• 3:58
  So that was my indoctrination into helping to keep that machine running. That's amazing. [laughs] Wait a second. So f- da, da, da, da, da, da. What year was this? Yeah. Uh, let me think about this.
• 4:11
  Maybe it was 2002, actually.
• 4:14
  Because there's still people, this isn't q- totally about, but there's still people like, "How do we do this whole, like, two technician shift thing- [laughs] Swing shift, blah, blah, blah, blah...
• 4:23
  and then make sure that we're covering all the bases and stuff like that?" And this cat's out here. You g- you just so happened to be on the innovative front lines of a service bay. Mm-hmm. What, what was it like?
• 4:36
  'Cause I mean there, I mean there couldn't have been more than a handful of those people in the country doing it that at that point. No.
• 4:41
  Like, talk us through what, what the actual rhythms of the night and the, and the days were like. You know, one of the benefits or downfalls I had was having never worked in a shop before, so I didn't know any better.
• 4:54
  I, I didn't know- Sure... that we were doing something that was counterintuitive. And, uh, yeah, I mean, there were a lot of, uh, things about it that made it operationally difficult. And for example, um,
• 5:06
  all the bays were shared, right?
• 5:08
  Like, uh, if you, if y- y- you had your own bay as a technician during the day, but then you would have to get that car out of there if you could so that the s- the technician that used the same bay at night, uh, could pull their car in.
• 5:19
  And- Kind of like Airbnb-ing your bay... pretty much, yeah. Um, which sometimes that led to some really fast collaborations toward the end of that shift, uh, to get those things moved out of there- [laughs]...
• 5:29
  including people pushing them in and out, which was nobody's favorite part of the job. Um, two toolboxes for every bay, too, right? Everybody's got their own tools.
• 5:38
  Uh, and, uh, e- every now and then, uh, there would be some, some crossover because every, not every vehicle can actually be pushed out of there or driven out of there elegantly. And that was just in the shop.
• 5:51
  Uh, then in the service drive, you would have a bit of a changing of the guard.
• 5:55
  Uh, um, several service advisors who worked there during the day, one who ran the whole operation at night, who I was reporting to for the first few months before I became that person-Uh, and yeah, there may be like an hour in between where everybody's there at the same time, and then day shift people would disperse, and then we would be there, uh, really until the work got done or, uh, until we were too tired.
• 6:21
  Wow. Not the answer I was- So cool... fully expecting right there. It's so cool. And you said it's the same service manager there that was there when you started?
• 6:29
  You know, he, he, he's, he's had a few career stops amongst various groups around that metro area, uh, in Portland, Oregon. But today, he's back.
• 6:38
  And, uh, there are actually a, a few members of the leadership team, uh, who are still there today, uh, who, who were there when I worked there 20 years ago. And I think even, like, uh, some frontline people too.
• 6:49
  Technicians. That's great. I, I'm- That's amazing... I'm, I'm always fascinated by the, the potential far-reaching application or implication rather of you providing that service to a pocket community
• 7:04
  back in the day, way ahead of its time. And now 20, 21 years later, 22 years later, there's this concept kinda popping up here and there.
• 7:14
  But there's already customers that are so indoctrinated, they're like, "H- we've, we've had this since the 2000s. Like, what are you talking about?" [laughs] Right. What was the
• 7:24
  initial, if you can recall back, what was the initial, um, I guess acceptance of this concept in that j, uh, amidst your consumer base? Did they get it right away? Was there hesitancy?
• 7:36
  Like, how did you deepen the indoctrination for, for something that at that time was ahead of its time? It was mixed, for sure. There, there's a certain crowd that absolutely loved it, right?
• 7:48
  Because it worked better with their schedule.
• 7:50
  Like, it can be a little bit frustrating to have to organize your life around, uh, the business hours of a business that operates the same time when you're trying to do your job. And at baseline,
• 8:01
  um, m- most people aren't bringing their vehicle into a service department because some sort of celebratory event, right? So if you can make that- [laughs]... in any way, in any way more convenient. I love...
• 8:12
  [laughs] The way you said that is just so perfect. It took a minute for that one to land for me. [laughs] Sorry. Um- Typically not, "Yay." That's great.
• 8:21
  [laughs] I love it when people- "Jimmy, I'm so glad to see you again." Just kidding. I got that one a lot. Um- And, uh, yeah, just kidding. [laughs] Yeah. Um, so, so that was what was great about it.
• 8:29
  And then there would be, you know, the concept of maybe your vehicle was worked on during the day, but now you have until 9:00 or 10:00 PM to pick it up.
• 8:36
  And, uh, we also had a shuttle driver working into the evening, too. So people really liked that.
• 8:41
  Uh, where it would get really frustrating and counterintuitive is maybe you brought your vehicle in at night, and maybe it wasn't finished.
• 8:48
  And when you called in the next day, the technician that worked on it is not there. And I am not there. Mm. Right?
• 8:54
  And we, we did what we could to sort of, like, work around that and be mindful of situations that are maybe more time sensitive, uh, for example.
• 9:01
  But, uh, that was something that during my time, we never really fully, like, ironed the kinks out of. The other piece was parts availability.
• 9:09
  It was perfect if you had everything on hand in your own inventory, but it's difficult to do parts runs- Right... amongst, like, the network of surrounding dealers if they're not open at the same time as you. Mm-hmm.
• 9:19
  So those were some of the, the interesting nuance of, nuances of, uh, being a bit of a, a trailblazer, if you will- And w-... at that moment in time. But did you get, did you yell at your customers?
• 9:29
  Because every time I go into a service department- [laughs]... there is that service advi- "Be right with you, sir." And you're like, "Well, hey, I'm the only person here. What are you, what are you doing?"
• 9:40
  Cyrillo, this is in your therapy session, bro. Um- This is in your therapy session.
• 9:45
  [laughs] Yeah, you know, um, I'm not much of a yeller, but you know how I said, uh, that the person I reported to, um, I reported to him for a few months. Uh,
• 9:55
  you know, the, the customer satisfaction surveys rolled in, and, um, suddenly my, my career trajectory there escalated a lot faster than I had planned, and I became the service advisor, uh- Mm...
• 10:05
  uh, within that o- of that operation, I think about 90 days into my run there. And, uh, that was, that was a crash course, uh, on the industry, to say the least. [laughs] No. All right.
• 10:16
  So we've crushed, like, the first 90 days. I think he's got credibility. He's got some credibility. I think you've established credibility. You've established- He's a car person. I believe him. [laughs] He's a car dude.
• 10:26
  So, so okay, give us, like, the next, uh, what is, what is it? Like, 21 years. Try and give us that in, like, the next 90 seconds, 'cause I wanna get to the, the past six months- Yeah... pretty quickly. Super important.
• 10:38
  So, like, condense it as fast as you possibly can. That's okay. This is my specialty. Yeah, so- [laughs] Uh, l- like, like so many people, uh- Put that on the teleprompter... exactly, yeah.
• 10:50
  L- like so many people that, that I had worked with, like, uh, in the context of a dealership, like, this was, uh, this is a, a job that had career trajectory. You can make real money.
• 10:59
  You could pick up very valuable skills that are applicable everywhere, and you get thrown into the fire, like, very fast, and things escalate.
• 11:06
  And you end up doing a lot of jobs if you're, if you work hard and if, uh, if you enjoy yourself. So that was my ticket to paying for school.
• 11:13
  I, I, uh, was working the swing shift, so I would go to college during the day. Then I would show up at work at night, and I did that for a, a good few years.
• 11:21
  And 20 years ago, you could do that on a service advisor salary and not take on student loans.
• 11:26
  Uh, on the tail end of it, um, I was extended the opportunity to try out internet sales, which was a nascent idea at the time. Like, there was a whole separate silo... I mean, I was the silo, but it's like, oh- Right...
• 11:37
  this is a customer that came in from the internet, therefore it will go to the internet person. And, uh, it, I think they gave me a little too much credit.
• 11:45
  Like, my, my conversion rate on people coming in was extremely high, like well north of 50%. But also, these were, like, high-intended people who came inbound, like, knew what they wanted when they were coming in.
• 11:55
  Um, and that was a, a, a whole different stack of experiences that I, I thoroughly enjoyed.
• 12:01
  Uh, I wasn't always the most popular person because customers would, like, walk in, and they would walk right past, uh, the showroom directly to an office.
• 12:08
  Uh, but I'm sure that that process is much more ironed out now, 20 years later. Uh-[laughs] Maybe. Um, so- [laughs]
• 12:19
  So I graduate in management information systems, going back to the roots of having fixed computers to get into that door, and, uh, I grew up in an entrepreneurial household, and I was super interested in working at a technology startup.
• 12:32
  So I joined a software company, uh, located in downtown Portland as a salesperson, and, uh, spent eight years there and did just about every non-technical job you can as it grew from 30 people to nearly 1,000 people.
• 12:46
  And, uh, when it got so big that, uh, uh, it, it felt more like, um, a growth stage than a early stage, uh, I kind of got the itch to try something earlier again.
• 12:58
  And, uh, I had one career stop in a really early stage, fintech company that ended up being acquired in under a year, which was super interesting in many different ways and a lot of fun.
• 13:09
  [laughs] But that's when I found, uh... That's when I found Tesla thereafter.
• 13:13
  And that to me felt like an opportunity to throw my ego out the door and just join in whatever capacity I could because, uh, the product seemed really interesting to me, the mission was super important to me, and I thought I had to l- a lot to learn from people who were operating at a scale that I never had access to.
• 13:30
  So that's what kicked off the five-year run. What part of the mission... Just I think it's easy to fa- forget what Tesla's mission was early on because now it's, who knows? [laughs] No, I, I know.
• 13:41
  No, it's still very similar. I think that's the thing, you know. Like, it's, it's just- I- go ahead... it, it's just, it takes on a persona- It's just buried... right? Yeah. Yeah.
• 13:49
  Well, um, so, so, so the mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.
• 13:54
  And, uh, i- initially that was done more explicitly through, uh, uh, road transportation, but now, um, as we all know, it's, it's a business of many businesses therein- Mm-hmm...
• 14:05
  around sustainability, both in the context of transportation, but then energy more broadly. Uh, but- Yeah... in 2018, uh, the, the focal point of that mission was, uh, Model 3 production ramp.
• 14:17
  So that was our focus at that time. And I joined on the finance team, but, uh, when you're, when, when, when you're in a stage of, of a company's life like that one, um, everything is everybody's job.
• 14:30
  So, uh, I had the opportunity to, uh- Wait, say that again. When you're at that stage of company, like everything is your job no matter who you are.
• 14:37
  Like, if it needs to be done- I think that we should just put that on the ASOTU job application. E- even when- Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Everything is your job all the time... even when there's gazillions in funding.
• 14:45
  That makes me feel so good. [laughs] Yeah. It does. It's like, oh, oh. Okay. And they had a lot of money.
• 14:52
  [laughs] Well, I mean, you, you could, you could read about what, what the financial outlook was i- in 2018, and, you know, it was the most shorted company in the world.
• 15:01
  Uh- [laughs] But, but yeah, I, I, I got to, I got to be on a finance team. I got to build cars.
• 15:09
  Uh, I got to talk to suppliers and help make decisions that manifested themselves physically on the exterior of the cars that I can look at today and say, "Yeah, I know why that happened," and, or- Hey...
• 15:19
  "I helped make that happen." Uh, and that was a, a transformational experience, to say the least. And that was before I found the used car team, uh, which was, uh, ultimately my home there for a good several years.
• 15:33
  We were going- And, and to which David Long rejoiced. He was like, "Yes, he found used cars. Congratulations." Right. [laughs] One of us, one of us. One of us. I know. I love it, like, you, you...
• 15:44
  A- and, and this is, I think this is probably true. You know, I, I'm leaning on your Tesla side of stuff, right? Like, people just look at Tesla and they're like, "Ah, you know, big conglomerate EV company."
• 15:54
  And it's like, no, you were a part of the used car team, of which, like, was selling and, and repositioning and moving around vehicles and, and remarketing them and, and getting them into customers' driveways.
• 16:11
  And you have a deep history in auto, and I'm guessing you probably weren't the only one that had- Yeah... like, a, a, a deep intimate knowledge of the, the real retail auto industry in those teams, right?
• 16:24
  Oh, oh, for sure. Um, I think the most relatable thing about me when I joined that team was that, um, I liked to call myself a 30 under 30.
• 16:32
  Not because Forbes had ever heard of me, b- but because that's how many cars I had owned before I turned 30 years old. Uh- [laughs]... which is, which is probably the sign of a diagnosable problem. Ah.
• 16:42
  [laughs] Uh, but I was in very good company, and there were plenty on that team that could have absolutely, like, roasted that number by comparison. And, uh- I gotta get working on...
• 16:50
  I think my only chance now is 50 under 50. [laughs] Hey, man. That's six years to acquire a lot of cars. [laughs] That's great. Let's do it together.
• 16:59
  I'm, uh, I'm just, I'm just working hard over here so I can have a house with a garage. Uh, let alone, like, uh, cars to the side of it. That's that... You're living that LA life. [laughs] One day. Oh, one day.
• 17:10
  Yep, one day. But yeah- So-... Kyle, no, it's true. A lot of very experienced automotive operators on that team. Right. Far more than me.
• 17:17
  So, and I, I d- I, I don't wanna miss out because we don't have a ton of time left, but wh- when you were at a company like that, and then seeing the industry headed toward a clear path toward EVs, that it's coming, right?
• 17:31
  We, we were actually, Paul and I were talking about this morning, just automotive news alone, talking about the new entrants into the market. Yeah.
• 17:38
  Actually, the EV stack is higher than the ICE stack on what's coming in the next two years. It's crazy. So it's just clear, like all the OEMs, it's coming. It's just how we handle it as, as, as a market and as a culture.
• 17:50
  And you're seeing that, and you're going, "There's gaps here. I need to fill a gap." Talk about how the gap that you're filling now with Plug, that m- we'll give you a chance to plug in just a second.
• 18:02
  Uh, but talk about how, uh, the lead up to seeing that, this particular gap happened. Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:10
  Uh, we, we were keeping an eye on the market very broadly outside of the context of our own walls, and it was both in terms of how our own vehicles, uh, were beingSold to, uh, retail customers in their second life, but then other EVs that were on the road.
• 18:25
  And, uh, uh, the way that we wanted to see those assets being marketed, which is fundamentally different than what's true for, for normal cars, because EVs are fundamentally different.
• 18:38
  And I don't wanna fall into my typical talk track, but, um,
• 18:44
  if you think about all of the EVs that are coming to the market and one's ability to be a subject matter expert on them, you're really asking people to be subject matter experts on computers that are on wheels.
• 18:54
  And just imagine as a salesperson trying to have enough first-hand experience with every Android phone that's ever been made, uh, and be able to speak about them confidently. Mm.
• 19:04
  Uh, really it's impossible without having information at your fingertips, but it's not enough to have information about them from when they were brand new several years ago, because things change, right? Mm-hmm.
• 19:13
  Like, what software is installed, which, which processor does this thing have, how much memory does it have? Uh, let alone battery, which is the focal point of many conversations. And
• 19:24
  yeah, we saw this playing out firsthand very, very slowly, right? Because even to this day, it's only, it's barely 1% of the used car market.
• 19:32
  But what really took me back and gave me enough conviction to take the jump and build this business was just how fast the growth curve is gonna hit us. And it's a 45x growth in under a decade. It's huge. Oof.
• 19:46
  Couple things. Yeah. I, when I think about this knowledge necessary to sell, I think, okay, and you, I, I love that you pinned it against like the Android phone, right? Because,
• 20:04
  you know, if we can do some like slight apples and oranges competitive comparison between, uh, phones and cars, where like Tesla, Apple, right, and then Android phone's kind of legacy automakers, that's shaping up in that general direction.
• 20:19
  There's a large owner- Totally... sort of market share, clear lines, you know, like simple, simple structure of, of, you know, options, right?
• 20:27
  You've got four or five options that are totally available with not a lot of package differences. That's very similar to the app.
• 20:34
  But like when you look over at Android, it's just like this hodgepodge of billions of different options and phones and different stuff like that. Mm-hmm.
• 20:40
  But it's not even, it doesn't even, the, the phone comparison actually pales in comparison to how many options automakers create in, in their like not just body styles and interior features, but now the types of computers and the type of software that might be available, and then the software upgrades.
• 20:59
  I, I never even thought like that deeply about the, it's not just the single computer tech knowledge or like, you know, like self-driving, like what is that technology?
• 21:09
  It's the deep level knowledge of what's actually in the guts of that, that computer on wheels that is gonna be so hard for,
• 21:19
  uh, like forget about a salesperson that's dedicating their entire life, but the- The, the buyer... just the technology for, for the, for the buyer to be able to see what they're buying, right? Absolutely. Yeah.
• 21:31
  One of the most popular proof of concepts that we came up with, uh, and we were socializing amongst dealers in our customer discovery was, uh, what we called the plug guide.
• 21:41
  And it's really, it's designed to be printed out. It's a piece of paper. And it's, uh, a customer-facing summary of the information that we're able to pull together from any specific vehicle, right?
• 21:52
  Like, what do we know about its hardware? What do we know about its options and its configuration? What do we know about its software? What do we know about its battery?
• 21:58
  Uh, but it's not enough to just throw all that data at somebody. Like, present it in such a way so that it's like easy to navigate through the context of a sales conversation for, for, for both sides.
• 22:11
  I mean, asking for a friend. [laughs] Your friends are my friends. Some guy. You know, say I know someone who's a close relative that may or may not sleep in the same bed as me. Like most close relatives.
• 22:30
  And she owns an EV. [laughs] And battery comes up once a week. Wow. When should they consider not owning that vehicle anymore? Like wh- is- Oh, you mean like battery comes up once a week- Like-...
• 22:43
  like, "I'm gonna get stranded"... out of battery. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ah. Yeah, yeah.
• 22:46
  Like when does that sucker, like 'cause you're, you know, from a wholesaling perspective, what- [laughs] And we're back to our therapy session with Michael Cirillo. Michael Cirillo. I said a close friend.
• 22:56
  I don't, you know, it's not for me. Well, your wife's gonna have questions. [laughs] Because as you figure, [laughs] 'cause- Close relative. Yeah. [laughs] Even more questions. Yeah. Okay. Cat's out of the bag.
• 23:08
  She doesn't bring up the battery every week. I do. [laughs] It's not even my car. [laughs] So like- Oh, no... but is there a time limit?
• 23:16
  Like when you, when you look at that, 'cause you brought up battery a couple times, hardware, this and that. Mm.
• 23:21
  But, you know, that seems to be the common thing that the market understands is, oh, like after, you know, everybody has their own number.
• 23:27
  They're like, "After eight years, that battery's gonna cost more to replace than the car itself." Like, is that an actual thing? Not really. Um, I mean, here, here's the truth. Like,
• 23:40
  we don't know how long these vehicles will, uh, be able to survive on their initial powertrain end to end. But the data suggests that fears of, uh, high voltage battery pack failure are largely overblown.
• 23:57
  The, the only sizable, uh, data set that's ever been shared so far was shared by Tesla in their environmental report. It's published publicly. You can, you can Google it and look it up.
• 24:10
  And what they showed was the broader Model SX, uh, fleet battery retention as they started crossing 200,000 miles.
• 24:22
  And-The data showed that on an average running basis, the capacity retention, uh, is looking like, I believe it was 88%. So you're talking about- Whoa. 200K miles, and the car is practically the same car, honestly.
• 24:39
  That's almost a million Canadian kilometers. [laughs] Right. That's... [laughs] How about- And that makes it sound even more impressive. Have you heard...
• 24:45
  So I was thinking about this as, as after seeing your presentation at ASOTU CON, and I was like, "Well, what are the other fail points," right? Like, how, how do the motors do on the wheels?
• 24:57
  How do the electric motors fare? Yeah. Uh, it, it, it's a great question.
• 25:01
  Uh, not a lot of data on that in aggregate, but i- in general, you're talking about a very small number of moving parts, and you're talking about an electric motor. It's a, it's a fairly stable piece of hardware.
• 25:12
  Uh, and also like a, a, a relatively innocuous replacement cost if there is a failure mode. Certainly- That's exactly it, right. It's not an engine. It's not a transmission, right?
• 25:21
  It's a motor, which is right there by the wheel, [laughs] right? Yeah. I mean, if... Did, did you ever play with, like, RC cars when you were a kid? Oh, yeah. Did you ever, like- Yeah...
• 25:28
  put these things together and have- Yes... like, the little electric motor- Yeah, right... and you just attach it to the thing? The, the little motor- Exactly... in the back, and pop the wheel in there, and off you go.
• 25:36
  Yeah. I mean, it, it's kinda like that, only a lot bigger and a lot more powerful, and- Heavy, yes... you know, one of my cars has three of them. Uh, but- [laughs] Yeah. That, that's pretty much it. Wow. Wow.
• 25:46
  Well, hey, before we get off, I wanna give you a chance just real quick, if people are listening to this, to just share, like, the couple one-liners about exactly what Plug is doing. Yes.
• 25:55
  Because I do think it is solving a problem for our industry that maybe a lot of people didn't even realize could be solved in the unique way that you've figured out how to do it. Yeah. I appreciate that, Kyle.
• 26:04
  But before I do that, I just wanna say anybody who's thinking about attending ASOTU CON next year needs to come. Hey. [clapping] Uh, that was, that was a game changer, uh, for me and for us.
• 26:13
  So, so thank you for hosting such a wonderful event and enabling me to meet what I believe will be some lifelong friends. Uh- Love that.
• 26:21
  So, so Plug is addressing the gap in the market right now, where used electric vehicles are being transacted in a wholesale context with incomplete information.
• 26:31
  So what we've built is a online marketplace that facilitates wholesale buying and selling of used electric vehicles amongst a network of dealers and fleet operators, where, uh, th- there's, there's three, like, core, uh, premises of differentiation here.
• 26:48
  And the first one is that we believe that information needs to be collected from every single vehicle before it's, uh, proposed for sale.
• 26:55
  Uh, the second is that we have seen in the market that, uh, about a third of used EV retail transactions are compressed into a very small, uh, population of dealers across the country.
• 27:07
  So we're curating that population, uh, to serve up critical mass to anybody that is selling so that they are selling to a pool of very, uh, high intention and very highly informed buyers who can act quickly because they have access to that information.
• 27:22
  And the third is EVs are different, and, and, a- and leveraging the differences in terms of velocity, maximizing, uh, transactions.
• 27:32
  So if you're selling a computer on wheels, uh, one of the most important things to do is to sell it fast, because computers are mobo- more vulnerable to, uh, volatility in pricing, uh, because of where we are in the, uh, innovation curve right now.
• 27:46
  New technology comes out all the time. Uh, so optimizing everything about a selling dealer's ability to move a car very quickly, uh, which means that we do everything, uh, remotely. We do everything online.
• 27:59
  There's no physical brick-and-mortar location, uh, nor are there any humans, uh, involved in the inspection or evaluation process. Technology enables the whole thing. So the optimization point is velocity. Wow.
• 28:12
  That's awesome. That's really cool. Well, Jimmy, thanks for sharing that with us. Thanks for going a little bit on a history tour, uh, all the way back to your days- My favorite part... as a lot attendant.
• 28:20
  That was a super, uh, a super fun tour, and congratulations on everything that you're, that you're building. Can't wait to see the success. And thanks for joining us here on Auto Collabs. Appreciate you guys.
• 28:30
  And, uh, the feeling is mutual across the board. [upbeat music] Hey, I didn't see the first 15 minutes of that conversation. [laughs] It takes a lot to get us to go past 18 minutes on this show. Yeah.
• 28:44
  I, like, we were, uh, the minute he said- Yeah. Uh, and, uh, you know, I just, I was a part of, like, one of these overnight service things. Swing shift service department. [laughs] I was like, back in '02.
• 28:55
  And now we've got our whole podcast ahead of us. Next. 21 years ago. Right. Everybody's still wondering how to get it done. That's a lot. I mean, I told you guys. I told you guys.
• 29:02
  I'm a ferocious note taker, and my note from today was, "I wish I was smart."
• 29:07
  [laughs] Well, that's a, it's, it's cool because when you look back and you think about, and this service manager is now back with that same group, and you look back, and this is, I think, key with anybody that has some level of success in any industry they're in.
• 29:25
  You can normally point to some person that was their leader that gave them access to insights or knowledge or information or new or innovative thought that just broadened their horizon to say, "Oh, now I can just, I see the world differently," right?
• 29:42
  Jimmy's a guy that now, I, I, you know, I don't, I don't know what his history was before that, but there's probably something about that that just allowed him to see the world differently. And that progresses through.
• 29:54
  Like, I, I mean, I can say that Aaron Hill, right, that, that I, I worked with back in the day at, at Sandy Sansing Nissan, just opened...
• 30:02
  Not that I wasn't an innovative, entrepreneurial, like, like, f- forward-thinking type personality, but he allowed me to see the world in a different way, and I think that's, that's true of Jimmy, obviously.
• 30:12
  Well, it, it's clear that he made the choice. Regardless of where he was at in his career, his environment that he was in, he made the choice to use that and be inspired by it. And that's- Yeah.
• 30:26
  I, I'm, I'm inspired by that thought process.
• 30:28
  I mean, even, you know, listening to Jesse Cole as the keynote, this is, these are people that have not created anything net new but have innovated using or leveraging tools and resources at their disposal.
• 30:42
  And it's because they're making a choice to be inspired by their environment, their circumstances, or whatever. And I, and I just love that.
• 30:49
  That was a reminder, listening to Jimmy today, that, that each of us, it's available to each of us. We can make a choice to be inspired and then innovate. Ooh. Got me. There it is.
• 30:59
  I actually have a T-shirt that says, "Innovation is a choice," on it. I'm gonna get you guys one. Oh, really? Oh. I need one of those. Yes. I'm gonna get you guys one.
• 31:05
  Well, regardless, we're glad you hung around with us for this kind of extended edition of Auto Collabs, because it was great.
• 31:13
  Um, on behalf of Kyle Mounser, Michael Cirillo, and myself, thanks for being with us today on Auto Collabs.
• 31:19
  Sign up for our free and fun to read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
• 31:32
  If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 31:41
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Kyle, are we recording yet? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.