TechBlick 18 - Michael [EN]

Yeah, okay. What can the automotive industry do to promote a circular economy or are they doing that already?

I don’t see a lot of it, but I can tell you that I see more of it here in Europe than I see in the United States. So what they can do is they need to cater more to the recyclability aspect of the vehicles. I think more along the lines of recyclable materials, materials that are vegan. I’m starting to see that in in available. I will make that choice. If I can purchase that vehicle for a reasonable price, I will make that decision. If somebody said to me, well. I’m not going to mention this to the client. It’s not really worth talking about. You know, all of these things are worth talking about. So the automotive industry really does need to make a big deal about recyclability. I don’t hear enough about that from the automotive sector. I don’t hear enough about what do we do with this vehicle after you’ve used it? Here’s the one thing that I haven’t seen. Everyone’s on board with battery power. Great. What are you going to do with the batteries when you’re done with them? Love to hear that one. Nobody’s talked to me about that. Especially the people who are making electric cars. What I want to know is when that battery has finished its useful life cycle, what are you going to do for me, the consumer, to help me to be green? Nobody has answered that yet for me. Nobody. I’m interested. I’m loving to hear that one.

Do you currently own a car?

I do.

Which kind of car is it?

I have an Audi.

Is it petrol or hybrid or electro?

Yeah, petrol, but it’s a I’m going to say that it’s a smart petrol vehicle because it goes into a savings mode where the vehicle will shut off. So. And I approve of that. At first I wasn’t sure what to think. Did my car just stall on me? And that’s what I thought. But I realized it was an energy savings and I’m good with it. I’m fine with it.

What personal or professional experience have you had with electronics in cars you have used?

I think the most would be the Audi that I have right now, and I’m still trying to figure it out. So we have integrated seats where you’ve got heat. We’ve got the steering wheel that’s heated, we’ve got the vehicle is interacting with my phone, I love that. I love the fact that it’s interacting with my telephone. I would have never thought that would have been possible, but I can unlock my car without my keys as long as I have my phone. These are things that I’m just now starting to, I think, learn about and I approve of all of it. I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I approve of all of it. So yeah, going to take me a little while to get used to it.

Do you have concerns about privacy and personal data stored by electronics in a car?

no. I believe that people are very unaware of the things that they are agreeing to with their cell phones. I believe that there are more people who have agreed to more things on a cell phone than you would ever find in a car, so I think if somebody actually read what they were saying, yes, I agree too. I think they would. I think they’d think twice.

And what are their general concerns about privacy in thinking about circular economy, practice, reuse and so on.

So getting rid of that data, how do you guarantee that the vehicle that you’ve owned and the vehicle that you’ve interacted with and the privacy of the information that you’ve shared with that vehicle, how do you know that that’s actually going to erase? Nobody’s answered that question for me yet. That’s something that the automotive industry could do. If there was a function that would completely erase my thumbprint from the vehicle, I would love to have that and have the automotive manufacturers guarantee that that happened. Nobody has stepped up with that one yet. That’s still one, I think, for the lawyers to fight with. So yeah, and I’m not an attorney.

one of the last questions does recycling and reusing mean different things to you?

It does. Reusing materials are it’s a different form of recycling. Recycling is basically breaking parts down and turning them into something different when you upscale or you. Find a part that was used off of a vehicle, and you use it for another reason. That is what I would consider not recycling. I would I would consider that something different. And I approve of that, by the way, if you can. And this is again what we talked about, responsibility. If you can design something. And you can knowingly design a life after its initial life. And you had that design intent. That is gold. Because now you’ve proven to not just yourself, but to the people who are making the investment because it is an investment. These vehicles are not inexpensive. You’re proving to the person who’s investing in that vehicle that you’re in it for the long haul. So you better be thinking about what happens to this part when I’m done with it. Again, we bring back to the batteries. Prove to me that you have a $5,000 battery, and you’re going to find a way to dispose of that battery. Please don’t tell me you’re going to throw it in the ocean. Because if I found that out, I wouldn’t be buying your vehicle, would I? I would find another person. Even if the vehicle was ugly, I would still buy it just because they were more responsible. I really would.

On a scale of 1 to 5, one means not at all concerned, and five means extremely concerned. How concerned are you about issues of environmental waste and pollution?

I am not at all concerned that I will tell you why I’m not. Because money makes money and money drives these issues. And when people listen to their clients. The industry will change based on knowing what their clients want. If we as consumers make people aware that we are willing to spend our hard earned money on something that we know shows us to be responsible humans, they will sell it to us. Money is money.

What, if any, actions do you take in your life to promote sustainability?

Every choice that I make every day in what I design, the way in which I design it, the people that I approach to help me make that design become a reality. All of those things are taken into consideration for me personally. If I know that I have a choice is to either buy a product A or product B, yet product B is doing something for the economy or doing something for the good of humankind. I will always choose product B, always. That’s my responsibility. Now my clients knowing that about me is why they choose me.