MotoManTV Podcast

Nissan's Biggest Problem Was Nissan? | Alfonso Albaisa • MotoMan Podcast # 035

3K views · 5d ago · 2:13:16

When Nissan was on the brink of bankruptcy in 1999, it threw the fight of its life—delivering a renaissance of unforgettable machines. But how does a company that created legendary nameplates like the Z, GT-R, Maxima, and Xterra find itself repeatedly fighting for survival from the inside out?

Topics: Nissan's Greatest Contradiction · 38 Years at Nissan: Alfonso's Journey · The Nissan Z32 and Figaro · How GM Influenced Nissan Design · Inside Nissan's Rebel Design Studio · Nissan's Lost Icons and Identity

Buying a Porsche 911 Won't Save You | Jack Baruth • MotoMan Podcast # 034

7K views · 1w ago · 1:23:16

What do Porsche, Tesla, Chinese automakers, and the decline of affordable cars have in common? According to automotive journalist and racer Jack Baruth, the industry may be building faster, more technologically advanced, and more expensive cars while losing sight of the people who actually drive them.

Topics: The Automotive Dream: What Are We Chasing? · Jack Baruth Returns to the MotoMan Podcast · American Manufacturing Makes a Comeback? · GM, Cadillac and the Escalade Problem · Apple, Tariffs and Reshoring Manufacturing · Will American Manufacturing Stay?

Scout Is Building the Anti-Tesla. | MotoMan Podcast # 033

32K views · 2w ago · 44:09

Scout Motors is bringing back an American off-road legend. But while Tesla, Rivian and other automakers push toward increasingly futuristic electric vehicles, Scout is taking a radically different approach: physical buttons, traditional truck engineering, a solid rear axle and a driving experience that puts the driver ahead of the technology.

Topics: Why Scout Is Building the Anti-Tesla · Chris Benjamin Returns to MotoMan · From Startup to Scout Traveler and Terra · Bringing Back the Original Scout DNA · Why Scout Rejects Modern Styling Trends · What Jeep Taught Scout's Design Chief

The German Auto Empire Is Cracking — Bob Lutz | MotoMan Podcast # 032

74K views · 3w ago · 1:35:21

The global auto industry is changing faster than it has in decades — and Bob Lutz has some very strong opinions about who is getting it right, who is getting it wrong and which automakers may be in serious trouble.

Topics: Bob Lutz Returns · Bob’s Wild Custom Pontiac · Are EVs Still the Future? · The Battery Breakthrough Coming Next · Are German Automakers in Trouble? · China Changes the Equation

An EV Exec Says: Don’t Buy One | MotoMan Podcast # 031

4.1K views · 1mo ago · 1:32:55

Are EVs actually failing—or did the automotive industry simply promise too much, too soon? This week on the MotoMan Podcast, George sits down with EVgo product leader Alex Keros for a candid reality check on electric vehicles, EV charging infrastructure and where the industry goes from here.

Topics: The EV Reality Check · Reuniting After 16 Years · Stop Using “Hopeful Math” · Hydrogen vs. Batteries in 2010 · Why We Need to Fail More · Where EVs Really Stand in 2026

He Went From Selling Buses to Running Mercedes | MotoMan Podcast # 030

708 views · 2mo ago · 37:50

How does a young engineer from the Greek island of Crete go from selling buses to leading Mercedes-Benz in America? Dimitris Psillakis never mapped out the career that followed. He joined Mercedes-Benz through an international management-trainee program, took responsibility for a small bus division in Greece and then accepted a series of increasingly complex assignments across four continents.

Topics: One of Our Final Vault Episodes · From Crete to a Global Career · Studying in Britain—and Buying a Renault 5 Turbo · Military Service and a Multinational Dream · Joining Mercedes-Benz · His First Leadership Role: Buses

Why Slate Might Actually Work | MotoMan Podcast # 029

11K views · 3mo ago · 29:26

CJ Waelti joins the MotoMan Podcast to explain why the electric powertrain may be the least interesting part of Slate. Drawing on a career that has taken him from Harley-Davidson to Tesla, Rivian and now Slate, CJ lays out how the company is combining old-school mechanical expression with modern manufacturing.

Topics: Why Slate may be different · CJ Waelti joins the podcast · From Harley-Davidson to Tesla · Why CJ believes in Slate · The EV may be the least interesting part · No options, no trims

They Called Him Unreliable. Then He Proved Them Wrong | MotoMan Podcast # 028

656 views · 3mo ago · 1:25:38

Chris Benjamin’s path to the top of automotive design was anything but straightforward. Long before becoming Chief Design Officer at Scout Motors, Benjamin arrived at design school unable to properly draw a car in three dimensions, learned a painful lesson after being labeled “unreliable,” and eventually landed what looked like a dream job at Mercedes-Benz.

Topics: Mercedes by day, Taco Bell by night · How a childhood obsession with cars began · Discovering design could become a career · Three weeks from Miami to design school in Detroit · Learning the unwritten realities of car design · Being labeled “unreliable”

The Cars Everyone Mocked Are Coming Back | MotoMan Podcast # 027

1.5K views · 3mo ago · 1:00:13

What will car collectors want when today’s roads are filled with electric, autonomous computers on wheels? According to Tommy Mica of @TFLcar, the answer may be the exact opposite of a Tesla Model Y. In this very different MotoMan podcast episode, Tommy makes the case for the strange, tactile and overlooked cars hiding in plain sight.

Topics: The Opposite of a Tesla · Tommy Mica Has a Problem · $46,000 in Porsche Warranty Work · The $11,000 Porsche Headlight · Cars You Should Never Own Past Warranty · Maintenance vs. Reliability

The Truth About the $25K Truck | MotoMan Podcast # 026

35K views · 3mo ago · 1:03:34

Guest: Rod Copes

Slate Auto has been described as a Jeff Bezos-backed EV startup building a $25,000 electric truck — but that is only part of the story. In this episode of the MotoMan Podcast, we sit down with Rod Copes, @slateauto board director and employee number one, to discuss the real strategy behind Slate: radical simplicity, American manufacturing, affordability, and avoiding the mistakes that crushed so many EV startups.

Topics: Highlight Open · Why Rod Copes Matters To Slate · Harley-Davidson, Royal Enfield & Rivian · Rebuild Manufacturing & MIT · Why US Manufacturing Matters · What Changed After The Pandemic

Why Every New Car Looks The Same | MotoMan Podcast # 025

1.5K views · 4mo ago · 53:20

Most car designers are supposed to follow a path. Alfonso Albaisa did not. Before he became the global design leader behind Nissan’s future, he was a Cuban-American kid in Miami who did not learn English until he was six or seven, dressed like Napoleon, drew in a closet, nearly failed engineering with a 0.5 GPA, and found his way through art, architecture, balsa wood boats, New York, Detroit, and one unforgettable Jaguar E-Type.

Topics: The Outsider Who Ended Up Running Nissan Design · Two Years In The Making · From Immigrant Kid In Miami To Global Design Leader · Leaving Cuba And Starting Over · Architecture, Train Stations And Transportation In The Family · The Real Forrest Gump Story

Why Designing Motorcycles Is Harder Than Cars | MotoMan Podcast # 024

308 views · 4mo ago · 49:48

Greg Tada left software development to chase something far more personal: motorcycles. In this episode of the MotoMan Podcast, Greg joins MotoMan at ArtCenter to tell the story of how he went from working in tech to designing motorcycles for some of the most important brands in the industry, including Kawasaki, Indian Motorcycle, Piaggio, Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi.

Topics: Greg Tada: Guardian of the Brand · Countach, Tank Engines, and a Very Different Podcast Set · The Motorcycle Designer Who’s Been Everywhere · Do You Have to Ride to Design a Great Bike? · The Kid Who Wasn’t Supposed to Ride · Software Paid the Bills, But It Wasn’t the Dream

The 12kg Motor Changing Supercars | MotoMan Podcast # 023

543 views · 4mo ago · 57:10

What happens when a university engineering project completely upends the power dynamics of the world's most elite supercar manufacturers? In this episode of the MotoMan Podcast, we meet Dr. Tim Woolmer, the CTO and Founder of YASA Motors. Long before the automotive establishment fully embraced electrification, Woolmer engineered a radical departure from traditional propulsion: the axial flux "pancake" motor.

Topics: The Future of Italian Exotics Started in Oxford · A Quick Note on the Vault Episode · The Pancake Motor That Stopped the Room · Why YASA Had to Exist · Radial Motors, Axial Motors, and the Big Difference · The Tiny Stator With 250 Horsepower

How A Homeless Kid Cracked The Game • Read Choi | MotoMan Podcast # 022

775 views · 4mo ago · 1:01:34

What happens when you apply the brutal discipline of elite military training and the high-stakes pressure of a two-Michelin-star kitchen to the wild west of the modern digital algorithm? In a total departure from our usual deep dives with the key people shaping the car, tech, racing or business worlds, this episode MotoMan sits down with digital creator @readchoi for a raw, unscripted peer-to-peer conversation.

Topics: Why Read Is Here: Shorts, Friendship, and No Car Talk · The Cigar Lounge Meeting That Started Everything · Cigars, Faith, and Real Conversations · Dream Meetings, Planning Meetings, and Life Structure · Read Choi’s Story: Upbringing, Survival, and Urgency · Community College, UC Berkeley, and Building Work Ethic

He Worked at Tesla, Lucid & BYD Then He Started a Car Company | MotoMan Podcast # 021

759 views · 5mo ago · 1:30:03

Guest: Mark Tapscott

What happens when you take the collective genius behind Tesla, Lucid, and BYD, and use it to build an EV that completely rejects Silicon Valley tech bloat? In this episode of The MotoMan Podcast, we sit down with Mark Tapscott, co-founder of the radical new British automotive startup, Longbow.

Topics: What Longbow Means and Why the Driver Comes First · The Speedster: No Screen, No Roof, and Only 150 Cars · Meet the Founders and the Startup Behind Longbow · From Design Engineering to the Philips Lesson · Leaving Lighting Design and Finding Cars Again · Brands Hatch, Lotus Elise, and Learning Race Cars