Swedish business consultant Mats Larsson reveals why electric vehicle transition requires Apollo program-scale government investment. We explore the massive infrastructure gap between EV ambitions and reality, from doubling power generation to training electrification architects. This isn't about building better cars—it's about reimagining our entire transportation ecosystem in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.
⸻ Podcast: Redefining Society and Technology
https://redefiningsocietyandtechnologypodcast.com
______Title: Why Electric Vehicles Need an Apollo Program: The Reneweable Energy Infrastructure Reality We're Ignoring | A Conversation with Mats Larsson | Redefining Society And Technology Podcast With Marco Ciappelli
______Guest: Mats Larsson
New book: "How Building the Future Really Works." Business developer, project manager and change leader – Speaker. I'm happy to connect!
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matslarsson-author/
Host: Marco Ciappelli
Co-Founder & CMO @ITSPmagazine | Master Degree in Political Science - Sociology of Communication l Branding & Marketing Advisor | Journalist | Writer | Podcast Host | #Technology #Cybersecurity #Society 🌎 LAX 🛸 FLR 🌍
WebSite: https://marcociappelli.com
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-ciappelli/
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⸻ Podcast Summary ⸻
Swedish business consultant Mats Larsson reveals why electric vehicle transition requires Apollo program-scale government investment. We explore the massive infrastructure gap between EV ambitions and reality, from doubling power generation to training electrification architects. This isn't about building better cars—it's about reimagining our entire transportation ecosystem in our Hybrid Analog Digital Society.
⸻ Article ⸻
When Reality Meets Electric Dreams: Lessons from the Apollo Mindset
I had one of those conversations that stops you in your tracks. Mats Larsson, calling in from Stockholm while I connected from Italy, delivered a perspective on electric vehicles that shattered my comfortable assumptions about our technological transition.
"First of all, we need to admit that we do not know exactly how to build the future. And then we need to start building it." This wasn't just Mats being philosophical—it was a fundamental admission that our approach to electrification has been dangerously naive.
We've been treating the electric vehicle transition like upgrading our smartphones—expecting it to happen seamlessly, almost magically, while we go about our daily lives. But as Mats explained, referencing the Apollo program, monumental technological shifts require something we've forgotten how to do: comprehensive, sustained, coordinated investment in infrastructure we can't even fully envision yet.
The numbers are staggering. To electrify all US transportation, we'd need to double power generation—that's the equivalent of 360 nuclear reactors worth of electricity. For hydrogen? Triple it. While Tesla and Chinese manufacturers gained their decade-plus advantage through relentless investment cycles, traditional automakers treated electric vehicles as "defensive moves," showcasing capability without commitment.
But here's what struck me most: we need entirely new competencies. "Electrification strategists and electrification architects," as Mats called them—professionals who can design power grids capable of charging thousands of logistics vehicles daily, infrastructure that doesn't exist in our current planning vocabulary.
We're living in this fascinating paradox of our Hybrid Analog Digital Society. We've become so accustomed to frictionless technological evolution—download an update, get new features—that we've lost appreciation for transitions requiring fundamental systemic change. Electric vehicles aren't just different cars; they're a complete reimagining of energy distribution, urban planning, and even our relationship with mobility itself.
This conversation reminded me why I love exploring the intersection of technology and society. It's not enough to build better batteries or faster chargers. We're redesigning civilization's transportation nervous system, and we're doing it while pretending it's just another product launch.
What excites me isn't just the technological challenge—it's the human coordination required. Like the Apollo program, this demands that rare combination of visionary leadership, sustained investment, and public will that transcends political cycles and market quarters.
Listen to my full conversation with Mats, and let me know: Are we ready to embrace the Apollo mindset for our electric future?
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and join me on YouTube for the full experience. Let's continue this conversation—because in our rapidly evolving world, these discussions shape the future we're building together.
Cheers,
Marco
⸻ Keywords ⸻ Electric Vehicles, Technology And Society, Infrastructure, Innovation, Sustainable Transport, electric vehicles, society and technology, infrastructure development, apollo program, energy transition, government investment, technological transformation, sustainable mobility, power generation, digital society
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In this episode, Marco Ciappelli speaks with Swedish business consultant Mats Larsson about the massive infrastructure challenges facing electric vehicle adoption and why the transition requires Apollo program-scale coordination and investment.
Key Discussion Points:
Notable Quotes:
Marco Ciappelli: "We need to admit that we do not know exactly how to build the future. And then we need to start building it... from my perspective, going electric is inevitable."
Marco Ciappelli: "We got spoiled. I guess that's really something... people just don't do anything anymore. You don't even need to put the CD-ROM as we used to back in the days to upgrade the software."
Mats Larsson: "Tesla and the Chinese, they were 10, 15 years ahead of American and European incumbents... because they have been working seriously with this development for a longer time. They spent more money, they've invested more money in the development."
Mats Larsson: "In order to change all vehicles, all transportation in the United States to electric, that would be a need to double power generation. And we need to invest in all parts of power grids."
Mats Larsson: "There are very few people who understand how to build power grids that can distribute enough electricity to, say, a logistics area in a city where a couple of thousand vehicles come every day to load and unload."
Mats Larsson: "Changing a really cost effective system of transportation to a new type of more expensive initially and less developed type of transportation system is not in any way like changing or implementing smartphones or PCs."
Mats Larsson: "We need electrification strategists and electrification architects... there will be a need for these type of competencies that are almost not present today yet."