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Sebastian Blanco

Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in Car and Driver, The New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, among others. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology's importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. He tracks the supply chain details of this shift through the Transmission show and its accompanying newsletter.
May - 2021 -
21 May
Sebastian Blanco

Chip shortage will have ‘severe impact’ on 93% of auto industry

The chip shortage has been going on long enough to generate some survey data, and there are some positive things to be found there, but overall the picture is bleak. […]

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17 May
Sebastian Blanco

Chip shortage or crisis? Semiconductor issue illustrates the difference

On the Transmission show this week, we speak with Dan Hearsch, managing director at AlixPartners, about the difference between a shortage and a crisis. In the auto supply chain world, […]

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Sebastian Blanco

Chip shortage will be with us a long while; Hyundai invests over $7B in US

The semiconductor chip shortage continues to be the dominant news item in the automotive supply chain world. Not that anyone is surprised by this anymore. The NTEA, the association for […]

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Sebastian Blanco

Changing the supply chain doesn’t mean just one thing

The evolving automotive supply chain — and it is evolving, perhaps more than casual observers are aware — is forcing companies to rethink best practices when it comes to getting […]

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06 May
Sebastian Blanco

The time has come to abandon the just-in-time model

Next week on the Transmission podcast and FreightWavesTV show, I’ll be speaking with Dionis Teshler, the CTO and co-founder of GuardKnox. There are two things we recommend doing in preparation […]

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Apr - 2021 -
30 April
Sebastian Blanco

Transmission: GM wants you to plug into Ultium Charge 360

When it comes to making the switch to an electric vehicle, public recharging can be a hurdle for drivers. General Motors made the hurdle a bit lower this week, announcing […]

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27 April
Sebastian Blanco

Transmission: Chip shortage hits EV production; specific tires for performance EVs

The fallout from the semiconductor chip shortage continues, and since it’s affecting the production of vehicles across the globe, it should be no surprise that automakers will be making fewer […]

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22 April
Sebastian Blanco

Transmission: EV sales jump 45 percent in Q1; 100+ companies have now signed Climate Pledge

Anyone who’s been tracking electric vehicle sales for the past decade, like yours truly, knows that progress has been slow but steady. It looks like 2021 might be a year […]

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19 April
Sebastian Blanco

Transmission: GM invests $2.3 billion, again, in U.S. battery factory

Electric vehicles are being manufactured around the globe, but automakers are making moves that will mean production is a bit more localized in the future. GM’s big battery plant announcement […]

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