The TechMobility Podcast
Welcome to The TechMobility Podcast, your ultimate source for authentic insights, news, and perspectives at the nexus of mobility and technology. We're all about REAL FACTS, REAL OPINIONS, and REAL TALK! From personal privacy to space hotels, if it moves or moves you, we're discussing it! Our weekly episodes venture beyond the conventional, offering a unique, unfiltered take on the topics that matter. We're not afraid to color outside the lines, and we believe you'll appreciate our bold approach!
The TechMobility Podcast
Better EV Batteries, 2025 Cadillac Escalade iQ Review, Real Butter No Cows, Why Roadkill Matters
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Battery technology is evolving faster than most consumers realize. GM's announcement of its new lithium manganese-rich (LMR) battery cell represents a significant shift toward more affordable, efficient electric vehicles. By replacing expensive, rare-earth materials like nickel and cobalt with more abundant manganese and utilizing a more efficient prismatic cell design, GM expects to deliver over 400 miles of range in electric trucks while substantially reducing costs. This development follows the natural progression that many industry experts predicted—as manufacturers scale up production and refine their technologies, EVs become increasingly practical and affordable.
The all-new Cadillac Escalade IQ exemplifies the significant advancements in electric vehicle technology. This massive luxury SUV weighs approximately 9,000 pounds yet delivers an EPA-certified range of 460 miles. Its dual Ultium drive electric motors produce a jaw-dropping 750 horsepower and 785 foot-pounds of torque, outmuscling even legendary performance vehicles like the Dodge Charger Hellcat. Despite its heft, the Escalade IQ provides a driving experience that's remarkably refined, quiet, and responsive. With a starting price of $130,090, it represents the ultra-premium segment of the EV market, but demonstrates capabilities that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
Beyond automotive technology, we explore fascinating innovations in food production and wildlife conservation. A company called Savor has developed a process to create "cow-free butter" using carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and hydrogen from water. This revolutionary approach could transform food production by eliminating agricultural inputs while providing customizable fats for various dietary needs. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Rhode Island are tackling transportation safety by studying roadkill patterns to identify wildlife crossing hotspots. With wildlife collisions causing approximately 200 human deaths and over $8 billion in costs annually in the United States, their work could save both human and animal lives through targeted infrastructure solutions. Join us as we explore these cutting-edge technologies reshaping our world.
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Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the docket my impressions and review of the all-new Cadillac Escalade IQ making butter without a cow and reporting roadkill to save lives. To join the conversation, be it to ask a cow and reporting roadkill to save lives. To join the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or even to suggest a topic for future discussion. Call or text the TechMobility hotline, that number, 872-222-9793, or you can email the show directly. Talk at techmobilityshow. For those of you that support Substack, you can find me there too as a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative and that's KENCIOA. So that is K-E-N. The letter C-I-O-W-A. You can find me there, the letter C-I-O-W-A. You can find me there From the TechMobility News Desk. This is something that regular listeners know.
Speaker 2:I told you what happened. I told you this would happen and it's happening just the way I told you it would happen. So some context and some background. I had told you that when traditional automakers start ramping up manufacturing of their whole EV supply chain, which basically is totally different from the one they're using for internal combustion engines there's no engines, there's no transmissions and all the parts that go into those out, done, gone they got to build a whole new one based on batteries and all the component parts and battery management systems and all the raw materials that go into that. So they were building battery manufacturing plants from scratch. Gm had agreed to build five and for a while every automaker was either teaming up or going alone. But they were building these plants. Consider each one of those battery plants like building an engine plant Both would propel the vehicle. In GM's case, gm recently announced that they had developed a new battery cell intended for pickups and SUVs by 2028. Not news, not surprising.
Speaker 2:We talked about Toyota, probably about six months a year ago. We talked about how Toyota was developing battery technology and what mile markers they were planning to achieve in terms of by next year, if they're still on track, Toyota would be developing or have developed a battery, an EV battery with a range of 600 miles. And if you're a long time listener, you might recall way back in our early days we talked about a couple of researchers in England that reimagined a battery pack for a Tesla Model S and they came up with between 600 to 800 miles worth of range. And that was six, seven years ago. The two biggest challenges the automakers are looking at of many when it comes to EVs cost of the battery, availability of materials, dependability, reliability, forever and a day they don't want it to ever break. So they're going to try it at extreme heat, extreme cold. They're going to take it through the ringer and make sure that even after all of that, they can build it each one consistently, job after job after job, at a level of quality they deemed acceptable to be put on a vehicle and offered for sale. In this case, gm developed a new battery cell with joint venture partner LG Energy Solution that will, surprise, bring down costs on mainstream electric vehicles without compromising on range. Again, I told you that would happen, that they would figure out a way to get the cost down get away from rare earth materials, get range up or, in this case, get a smaller battery which gives you the same range but a smaller footprint, using fewer materials. In this case, again, different battery chemistry. The cell is called a lithium, manganese rich or LMR battery and they expect this to be on the market by 2028, starting with pickups and full-size SUVs.
Speaker 2:Now let me stop right here. Unlike you, get up one day you decide you want to go to the store. You decide you want to buy something. The automaker's got a plan three to five years in advance for GM to tell you it will be on the market by 2028. They've already let the contracts for the tooling, for the materials, for everything they need to build this. They've already let the contracts, they've already approved the budgets. They're in the process of getting it pulled together.
Speaker 2:Plus, there is an exhaustive testing. When these first new batteries come off the line, probably in about nine months to a year, they will put them into the mules or the sample vehicles that they're going to use and they're going to beat them. They're going to thrash them, they're going to abuse them, submit them to water, salt water, extreme cold, extreme heat, miles after miles after miles, cycle cycle cycle, vibration, everything To find out that, okay, the new battery chemistry, the new way that we are putting these together, are robust enough to go on sale Anything they find. Between now and then they'll make changes and there'll be a lot of changes. That is how the auto industry works. You don't realize it because you're at the end of it. You're at the end of all that development, all that processing, all getting that approved. Oh yeah, and, by the way, they got to crash test these with the batteries in them, make sure they don't leak or catch fire or have thermal runaway. All of that will be done before you see the first 2028 full-size EV with this battery pack in it. All that will have been done. Part of it's required by federal law, but all of it will be done. This will also be the first commercial application of what they call prismatic EV battery cells by Ultium Cells LLC, the company's joint venture. Let me give you a little. We're going to go to school for a minute.
Speaker 2:Gm's current generation EVs are powered by what they call a pouch style-ion battery, with cathodes that are made from nickel, manganese, cobalt and aluminum. Nickel, manganese, cobalt Gee, rare earths, expensive. They need to get that down. Gm said the LMR sales are cheaper because manganese costs less than nickel and cobalt and because prismatic cells are more efficient and simpler to assemble. Three words simpler to assemble, lower cost of manufacturing, fewer materials used, lower cost per unit. That's where the automakers excel at wringing out cost. It unlocks the premium range and performance at an affordable cost. It's a game-changing battery for electric trucks. That was Kurt Kelty, gm's VP of Battery Propulsion and Sustainability, and he was talking to reporters at the Automakers Global Technical Center at Warren, michigan. We believe we can deliver more than 400 miles of range in a single charge in a truck while significantly reducing our battery costs.
Speaker 2:Hold up right now, this minute. Chevy Silverado EV EPA certified at 450 right now, and I also told you, if you've got a long memory, that I expect the de facto base will be 500 miles. I think that all but the cheapest vehicles will have a range of at least 500 miles. I think that is what the industry needs to be. Gm is there with a truck at 450, a heavy truck 450, right now it will not be reached and they're changing battery chemistries and they're going to achieve this with a smaller, more dense, more effective, efficient battery, meaning that they will get battery costs down, which also means they will get weight down. And that is a fortuitous cycle as they get better with battery chemistries and they get the weight of the batteries down. A vehicle that weighs less goes further, which allows them to further reduce the size of the battery and the materials going in it, which means the cost to produce the vehicle grows less. It gives them an opportunity to recapture the investment they made and it also makes sure that the consumer gets a better deal, better value.
Speaker 2:That's what's going on here? Excuse me. It was said some years ago in consumer reports, when they are assessing vehicles, they came to the conclusion that a vehicle would have to improve on average 10% a year in order to keep the same ranking year after year in their surveys. That, not improving not being the same, it had to improve by 10% to keep the ranking 10%. So this is not a surprise. This is happening and they expect a bunch of different battery chemistries for different vehicles and applications, more of the lithium iron batteries for less expensive cars and less range these for the big ones. Cadillac has introduced the Escalade IQ, a big electric SUV. My impressions are. Next, you are listening to the Tech Mobility Show.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the main place to be these days, and we are no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Facebook videos, from my latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary of a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Facebook. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to our Facebook page. Social media is the place to be these days. We're no exception. I'm ken chester, the tech mobility show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week, shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if We'll see you next time. The 345 horsepower Cadillac Escalade.
Speaker 1:An.
Speaker 2:Escalade EXT.
Speaker 1:Powerful enough to put everything in its place Cadillac.
Speaker 2:Breakthrough. Visit your tri-state Cadillac dealer for this attractive offer See dealer for residency restrictions. You know what kills me. That's from 2004. 2004. 21 years ago, and you heard 345 horsepower and I want you to remember that number because I can tell you right now, the vehicle we're about to talk about also a Cadillac produces horsepower double that number and doesn't need gasoline to do it. It rides on 24-inch tires, weighs approximately 9,000 pounds and is some 33% heavier than the gasoline-powered version. It has crazy big horsepower and can travel up to 450 miles between charges, and that is EPA certified. You will not fail to notice this one when you see it on the highway. It is the Cadillac Escalade IQ, the nameplate's first fully electric SUV, manufactured at GM's redesigned Hamtramck plant in Detroit, now known as Factory Zero.
Speaker 2:But as always, I'm getting ahead of myself here, so let's take a step back in time. It was the mid-1990s and the truck and SUV craze was getting started in earnest, and at the time, cadillac told the world that it had no intention of fielding a truck or an SUV model. I remember that distinctly. The standard of the world believed at the time that its storied lineup of cars would be more than enough to satisfy the demands of the luxury market in which it competed. Unfortunately, for Cadillac, this would prove to be a grave error. Bolstered by the runaway success of the Chevrolet Tahoe, a shortened version of its full-size Suburban SUV, cadillac changed course and introduced the Escalade SUV in 1999. Sharing the same underlying platform as the Chevy Suburban, tahoe and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, it went into production some 10 months after it was approved. If you know anything about the auto industry, that is lightning, fast Lightning with the key on the lightning. That is killer fast. Cadillac would go on to introduce several more body-on-frame truck-based models under the Escalade banner the EXT, based on the Chevy Avalanche, and the ESV, based on the Chevy Suburban, gmc Yukon XL. It proved to be the right move and Cadillac would even develop a performance version called the Escalade V, billed as the largest performance SUV in the American market, with a 0-60 time of get this now, all of that vehicle 4.4 seconds. And that was three years ago, in 2022. This brings us to the Escalade IQ. Production of the new Cadillac started in 2024. The model is designated as a 2025 for the 2025 model year, offered in four models. The new Cadillac EV is the first Escalade that is not built exclusively at the automakers Arlington Texas manufacturing facility, which up till now, was the sole source for all GM's full-size SUVs that was based on that platform.
Speaker 2:The iQ is considered to be a reimagination of the luxury full-size SUV experience, brimming with iconic design, the highest level of craftsmanship and the latest automotive technology. To say that the Escalade iQ is a tour de force for the automaker would be an understatement. Cadillac this Cadillac is making its own place in the automotive market and trust me when I tell you there isn't anything quite like it for sale in America today. It's tall stands, about 76 inches high, and the standard exterior running boards are needed and appreciated for entry and exit into the passenger cabin. Power for the cadillac ev is provided by dual ultium drive electric motors. The drive power to all four wheels and deliver get this now a staggering 750 horsepower and 785 foot pounds of torque in its velocity max mode. And here's where I wrote in a little editor's note, just for context, the Dodge Charger Hellcat, which was a gasoline-powered oh my godly. Model, was powered by a 6.4 turbocharged V8, and it only produced 707 horsepower, and that sucker was, oh my god, fast. I remember driving one.
Speaker 2:Despite its heft, cadillac advertises an equally impressive 460 miles of range. 460 miles of range for a vehicle that weighs four and a half tons, let that sink in a minute. I said four and a half tons is what it weighs and it will deliver 460 miles between charges, and that's slightly more than the Chevy Silverado EV. Handling and control. The vehicle is further enhanced by a continuously variable actuator at the rear wheels that turns up to 10 degrees. Cargo capacity is an impressive 119.2 cubic feet, with the second and third row seats folded. Equally impressive, as with the gasoline-powered Escalade ESV, is that you still have over 20 cubic feet of cargo space behind a third row of seating without compromising passenger comfort. Towing capacity comes in at 8,000 pounds. This thing will tow four tons. It weighs four and a half. It will tow another four, meaning that you will be rolling fully loaded. You will be rolling 10 tons. Think about that for a minute. Darn near 10 tons.
Speaker 2:Here's what I liked about the SUV. Make no mistake, the Escalade IQ experience is a must. It's like traveling in first class on your favorite international airline, and it doesn't matter If you're in the first, second or third row. You will have an experience that is tough to match. The optional executive seating package is a must for this vehicle and I would consider that $7,500 to be money well spent. The IQ starts with ground clearance of almost 7 inches, but you can adjust vehicle height to make loading more convenient.
Speaker 2:Underway I found the Cadillac IQ was mannerable, quiet, responsive and, dare I say this, even graceful at speed. An over-the-top view of the road and proven suspension hardware inspires confidence from behind the wheel. Here's what I didn't like about the vehicle. Now, while I do understand, at this six-figure price point, all things are relevant, but really charging almost $6,000 for a special exterior paint Six grand Yikes. And while I did appreciate the running boards trust me I did I would really have appreciated some hand grips for us older folks. At all four doors, I found that the access to the third row seating area was overly complicated and honestly, at 76 inches tall and 4.5 tons of vehicle weight, I'm not going to be driving this in any weather that threatens to drop more than 3 to 4 inches of snow. Getting this beast stuck would be expensive for sure, not to mention if you manage to damage either the tires or the rims. I'm pretty sure they won't be in stock. So here's the bottom line. Despite its six-figure price, cadillac says that this model is drawing younger buyers to the brand and driving the Cadillac Escalade. Iq is, for sure, an aspirational experience once again. I-q is, for sure, an aspirational experience once again. The base manufacturer projected retail price for the 2025 Cadillac I-Q SUV starts from $130,090. Destination charges add $2,290. This thing had way more luxury than I have time to talk about, and standing alone it don't look strange, but you park it next to something, you see how big it is. Oh my goodness, they are making butter out of thin air. We tell you how.
Speaker 2:This is the Tech Mobility Show. Do you listen to podcasts? Seems that most people do. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. If you missed any of our weekly episodes on the radio, our podcast is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility Podcast just about anywhere. You can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility Podcast in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts, social media, it's the place to be. We're no exception. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show.
Speaker 2:Several times a week, I post to TikTok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility, technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the Tech Mobility Show on TikTok. Check it out. The company is called Saver and they make what they call cow-free butter using carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and hydrogen from water to create edible fats. In other words, turning air and water into butter.
Speaker 2:Yikes. This effort has some serious ramifications for the food industry, and this is topic B. Let me start here. Y'all know how I feel about my coffee. Let me tell you how I feel about my butter. When I was growing up, mom and dad there was five of us and they really couldn't afford regular creamery butter, so they bought the imposter stuff, the margarine, imperial. Margarine Ate so much imperial. When I got married I banished it from my house. Having butter was a I don't know was a treat. So for the last 40 years in my house it's been butter or else I don't do. I can't believe it's not butter, no butter. Okay, butter from cows that's how I like my butter, lightly salted, because you know butter without salt, why Just don't get it? But let me talk about this. This definitely has some ramifications here.
Speaker 2:Now the process they developed for manufacturing one of the most essential ingredients in the human diet fat. They're doing it using no biological inputs at all. But here's something that will blow your mind. Unlike companies growing genetically engineered cultivated meats, savor relies solely on an ancient natural process. I bet that threw you just then, didn't it? You said what An ancient natural process. I'll explain it in a minute. If it takes off, savor could shift how the food industry approaches not just butter but the entire supply chain behind edible fats in a world increasingly strained by land usage and climate instability. Their first product that they developed after starting this business in 2022 was an animal-free, plant-free butter that mimics the same taste, texture, melting point and mouthfeel of dairy fat. It makes the same taste, texture, melting point and mouthfeel of dairy fat, and they shared it with some Michelin-starred restaurants and they got some feedback. And the funny thing of the feedback is they said we just want something that equates to regular garden-variety butter.
Speaker 2:But again, as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me back up. As I told you, I'd explain how ancient process For real, though, so let me take you way back. Three and a half billion years ago, deep beneath the turbulent sunlight, absent ocean, savor's process happened. Naturally, heated, hydrogen-rich water surged through hydrothermal vents and mixed with carbon dioxide, believe it or not, forming fatty acids. These are the building blocks of life, and they bet that this process will support it well into the future. This team performs a chemical process similar to that primordial chemistry instead of capturing industrial carbon dioxide emissions, merging them with hydrogen from water to synthesize fat molecules. Boy, is there anything you can't do with water? You can make fuel from water Now. You can make fat from water. Fuel from water, now you can make fat from water. And the irony she's using something that is a waste gas, a greenhouse gas, something we're trying to reduce the use of, and she's pulling that out of out of the atmosphere to put it into this and make it something that is good for you, something that is beneficial.
Speaker 2:In today's agricultural system, different fats require entirely different crops or animals, truly, but Savor's system allows them to shift fat profiles with a change in processing conditions, not supply chains. Can you imagine, literally, designer butter Designer fats and conditions, not supply chains? Can you imagine, literally, designer butter designer fats that you can design now with the attributes you want? You don't have to worry about animals or picking your farm or making sure of the diet. None of that matters now because you're not using it. What will this do to the dairy industry? What will this do to the creamery industry, the butter industry, if this thing catches on? And obviously no. They're not in a position where they're going to be scaling up and putting anybody out of business in the next three, five, maybe 10 years, but as they get better at it and they get more efficient, could 15 to 20 years out. We'd be looking at adoption of the non-cow butter, non-edible fats that don't come from animals. Hmm, that's a thought for you.
Speaker 2:Once savor produces fatty acids, through the thermochemical process they convert them into usable fats and oils. This involves blending and tempering the molecules in the chemical structures that behave like the fats we know and love, whether it's the soft richness of milk fat, the firmness of tallow or the mouth-melting quality of butter. I'm just my mind is reeling If you could go manipulate all these industries and you don't need all this stuff and all their current inputs become obsolete, particularly if they can get the price down. Because nowhere in this article does it talk about what it costs a pound, which I'm very sure ain't nowhere near butter, even though butter is still about $5 a pound. It's probably many times that at this point.
Speaker 2:But this ability that they're talking about to fine tune the composition allows savor to achieve a specific taste, texture, behavior and culinary function, and they describe dairy fat as a spectrum. Each product is distinguishable, with its own flavor profiles, textures and best use cases. Wow, wow, wow. What restaurants want is a garden variety butter that doesn't use the animal inputs. Boy, what would that do for those folks that are vegan? If you have a butter that uses no animal inputs, how does that change how you eat? Wow, particularly if they can engineer it with certain attributes to fine-tune it for a vegetarian diet, a vegan diet or any sort of special diet. Wow. And what about if you're lactose intolerant? Now, with this not an issue, it opens up a whole new world. But, more importantly, as it does that, what does it do for the dairy farm, for the farmer out there, for the crops that they grow, to feed it to the livestock? What happens to that out there in the future?
Speaker 2:Today, savor produces fats from its 25,000-square-foot pilot facility and it's close to me, bavaria, illinois. By mid-2025, they expect to be producing 100 kilograms of fat per week at what it calls its end-to-end fat production facility. What they're looking at right now is that they plan to enter the market through limited channels, such as specific restaurant menus and consumer packaged goods brands. Think snack bars, chocolates, cookies, products made at large volumes. Think about this If they can engineer out the bad stuff and engineering the good stuff for the packaged foods that we eat, I mean the possibilities of game changer are endless with this, particularly as they get better at engineering in and out. Engineering in good attributes, engineering out bad attributes, literally dialing it in the way they want it. Yikes, I don't know. I don't know. It just goes on and on and I could hardly wait. I would love to try this, but until I will be a skeptic though, because I love my butter, my cow-produced butter. College researchers are asking folks to report roadkill. The result is that it may help both people and wildlife.
Speaker 2:We are the Tech Mobility Show. To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobility dot show. Did you know that TechMobility has a YouTube channel? Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the TechMobility show. Each week, I upload a few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel. That's the Tech Mobility Show on YouTube. Check it out.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:Researchers at the University of Rhode Island are asking its state residents to help them count roadkill. While that ask may seem odd, they are reassuring those that ask that it could make roads safer for drivers as well as wildlife. This is Topic C. Here I come with the context again, because it's important for you to know how this fits. Each year in the United States, wildlife collisions result in approximately 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries and a cost of over $8 billion, according to the US Department of Transportation's Wildlife Crossings Program. But beyond the numbers is the deeper question of how infrastructure disrupts the natural movement of wildlife.
Speaker 2:I can tell you personal experience today, this morning coming home up a road, four-lane divided highway with a median strip that had vegetation in it flat ground, no hills, no trees far as the eye could see and at 72 miles an hour up comes, out of the median strip, a deer. Needless to say, I had to stand on the brakes. The deer lived. I didn't hit it, but yeah, could be something like that. And those deer. Car collisions, those dear motorcycle collisions, yeah, every now and then there are injuries and occasionally a fatality. Fact about 15, 20 years ago there was even a piece where I grew up, where a baby moose and they're not moose, they're not known for being in that part of Massachusetts where I grew up and they're not most, they're not known for being in that part of Massachusetts where I grew up Came through a woman's windshield In town, yikes. Or there was the night here in Iowa. I'm coming home from work and downtown in a suburb downtown, not in the woods walking down the middle of the street, three deer. So this is a real thing.
Speaker 2:So what are they talking about? What's going on here? Well, much the same way, and we reported on this a wildlife crossing in California across US 101. What they want to look at is the hot spots where these animals are most likely to be killed, how infrastructure and vegetation enters into that at that place and what can they do in modifications, if any, to guide the wildlife away from those situations? To either cross through a culvert or under a bridge, in other words, prevent the meeting of vehicles with wildlife. That's what they're trying to get away from and hence why they're recording this, because they want to map it out.
Speaker 2:They said that Rhode Island, which I've only been to several times in my life, is one of the most dense populated states, second only, I'm guessing, probably Delaware in the United States, and you've got animals trying to transverse, both rural and country, urban and suburban, ex-urban, where the growth of people and company and things, and roads and traffic and all of this they're trying to get through and, according to the researchers, really they're only looking for one of two things either dinner or a mate, which is why they're on the move. I can understand that In the case of Rhode Island, rhode Islanders can report roadkill sightings with a two-question survey available online by simply pointing your smartphone at a QR code. The survey allows the members of the public to share their location with permission and a photo to help researchers. What the researchers want to do is crunch survey data to identify roadkill hotspots, potential locations for safe passages such as culverts, underpasses or span bridges which could reduce collisions, because they want a win-win here Less wildlife getting run over, hit or killed means less damage and less injuries to human drivers and fellow passengers hitting stuff or things. So I mean this is not just Rhode Island, but this is nationwide. They're looking at ways, not because people are so warm and fuzzy all by themselves for wildlife, which it doesn't hurt, but they're looking at the real toll, both in property damage and human life and injuries and money, which I just read is big money and that's per year. Per year, $8 billion per year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we've got a saying here in Iowa that DOT likes to use and they say don't veer for deer. What they're trying to tell you is that if you veer, you might veer into oncoming traffic and actually make it worse by either hitting the car next to you or an oncoming vehicle and everybody gets hurt. Better to take the deer out. My question for the Iowa DOT is okay, who's going to pay to fix my vehicle when I hit the deer? Just asking. You say, don't fear, okay, I hit it, or it hits me because I've been hit by a deer about oh, almost 10 years ago now. It was the scariest experience ever. Don't know if the deer lived or died, though Still don't know. After he hit, rolled over the car, kicked out the sensors in the rear bumper. I stopped, freaked out, looked up the hill. He looked back at me, got up, shook himself once, bounced once and was gone and I couldn't find him. I went looking, thought he might've bled out in the forest. I'll never know. That's what they're trying to prevent.
Speaker 2:That one deer did a lot of damage to that little Lincoln I had, brand new Lincoln. Took out the side view mirror, dented the front fender, went up over the hood, up over the windshield, down the back and kicked out the rear sensors. And oh, by the way, when he hit because he came up out of a wash, hit me from the side. He also damaged the driver's side and passenger side, driver's front and driver's rear doors on the left side. Oh yeah, we were fine. We didn't hit anything. The car was not fine. It was drivable but not fine, and to this day don't know if the deer was fine or not. He was a buck deer and it was during rut season. I will admit to both of those.
Speaker 2:So the researchers in Rhode Island? They want to roll this out across all of New England, but they're starting in Rhode Island in an attempt to get their hands around the problem. See if they can't reduce it, see if there are cost-effective ways to making roadways safer for both drivers and wildlife the drivers trying to drive it and the wildlife trying to cross it. Because I'm telling you you don't want to see what's left when a deer gets hit by a truck at 75 miles an hour. It's ugly and, depending on the season, at least here in Iowa, lots of raccoons, occasionally other stuff, mainly raccoons and deer. If you're down in Arkansas, it would be. Let's see. I'm trying to think, oh, armadillos, you see a lot of dead armadillos in the road that get hit by cars. Everybody wants safe transportation and that's all this really is, and it's just interesting that they're taking this approach.
Speaker 2:We'll see how successful they are and if doing this helps to mitigate any of this, because I don't know how much money they'll need to put with it If they identify it and they need to spend some money. Where's that funding coming from? And you know what kind of timeline are you looking at? Because California did one and it was many hundreds of thousands of dollars for the one they were building as a wildlife passage. We reported on that, I believe, last year. Rhode Island's not there yet. They're still assessing the problem and they're looking at the whole state as opposed to California. They were just looking at that one stretch or one-on-one. Oh well, nationwide problem, local solutions. We can only hope so. Good luck to them and we'll see what we find out. We'll keep you apprised of what they learned, thank you.
