January has so far proven to be one of the busiest months for the transportation industry. CES in early January was flooded with car news, including the debut of a new $45,000 electric SUV by a Chinese Tesla competitor called Byton. Then, just days after CES wrapped, we had the Detroit auto show, where America’s largest car-makers trot out their designs for the next year. WIRED transportation editor Alex Davies pays close attention to all of these announcements and developments. He joins us this week to discuss the latest in autonomous car tech, electric driving, and why China is the future of the auto industry.

Some notes: What we’ve already learned about the future of cars in 2018. Jack Stewart on Byton’s launch at CES. How automakers getting into self-driving tech are turning to a new breed of manufacturing partners. Recommendations this week: Wormwood on Netflix, Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich, and Electric Dreams on Amazon.

Send the hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds. Arielle Pardes is @pardesoteric, Alex Davies is @adavies47, and Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. Our theme song is by Solar Keys.

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