The Queens are excited this week as they get their first listener question. This has them diving into the world of autonomous and electric vehicles, from legislation and job displacement to off-roading and safety. A koala-seeking drone even sneaks in.
Meanwhile, Amanda electrocutes her face on purpose and Rad has a crack at a posture-fixing gadget.
This episode was sponsored by Shure and Jands.
Show Notes
- Forio: The. Bear microcurrent device Amanda has been zapping her face with
- Here’s a review of the Upright Go 2 that Rad has been trying out
- The Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025 project
- Tegan’s experience with Tesla’s autopilot features
- Nikola tried to sue Tesla
- Tegan accidentally said that 700 laws are preventing EVs rolling out in Australia, but she meant to say autonomous vehicles! Here’s the article about it from a couple of years back.
- Here’s some extra info on Luxury Car Tax (LCT) While EVs and low emissions vehicles have a more generous threshold when it comes to LCT, they are still hit by it. During the 202-2021 financial year the threshold for these vehicles is $77,565. For regular petrol and diesel cars the threshold is $68,740.
- You can find some more information on luxury car tax (based on the 2019-2020 figures) as well as the current state incentives for EV uptake in Tegan’s article on why Tesla’s are so expensive in Australia.
- Since we recorded the episode the Victorian government proposed a bill that would tax EV and low emissions drivers for every km they drive. Here’s Tegan’s write up about it
- Heat-vision drone helps QUT count threatened koalas
- More info on the use of robotics in mining and automation in mining
- The use of robots at Amazon
- This AI scans EV user forums to create a real-time database of that information
- The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report from 2020. It estimates that estimates that 85 million jobs will be displaced by 2025, but that 97 million new jobs will be created across 26 countries.
Queens of the Drone Age 