The Passion of John Ellis

John Ellis has published the forthcoming book “The Zero Dollar Car” – currently available for pre-orders on Amazon. The book documents Ellis’ journey from Valparaiso to Motorola and Ford Motor Company at the outset of the connected car and Internet of things industries.

Pre-order now on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y82xvk4e

I remember the first few times I saw John Ellis speak at automotive industry events on behalf of Ford. He always played the genuine, shoot-from-the-hip, tell-it-like-it-is, self-confessed “software guy” doing his best to understand the strange ways of the auto industry while attempting to lead the way to the promised land of vehicle connectivity.

Ford Motor Company had hired Ellis to be its global technologist in 2012 in the clearly stated recognition that the organization needed better internal software leadership. Ellis took the bull by the horns creating a software developer program which attracted thousands of developers and building an open source app platform for deployment in millions of Ford vehicles around the world and suitable for adoption by competing car makers.

As he describes it in his book, Ellis prides himself on his ability to perceive patterns and leap to conclusions. This ability served him well during his 21-year term at Motorola and his briefer stay at Ford. He acknowledges being wrong on occasion, but emphasizes the strength of his convictions and his reasoning. (This is reminiscent of former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz’ motto: “Often wrong, never in doubt.”) John is a passionate guy with powerful ideas.

Ellis’ arrival at Ford created a bit of culture shock for both parties. Ellis recalls explaining to one Ford colleague that the Apple app store was not a physical place and to another that “the cloud” had nothing to do with condensation.

Ellis made a huge contribution to Ford and to the industry, but by 2014 he was no longer with the company. It’s hard to say whether Ford’s rejection of his style overwhelmed his substantive contributions, but the separation meant Ellis was free to evangelize his message around the monetization of vehicle data transforming the automotive industry and all industries.

Ellis’ over-arching message is that in a world of connected things software is king, everyone is in the software business, and the makers of connected things must live with their creations indefinitely. Manufacturers can no longer make and sell things and then look the other way (sell and forget). They must remain engaged (sell and remember).

Behind this need to remain engaged is the growing array of sensors on devices of all kinds. Sensors create data. Data creates value.

By gathering, aggregating and interpreting and sharing data, car makers will ultimately be able to create marketplaces for vehicle data enabling the cost of vehicles to be subsidized and thereby reduced. Ergo, the Zero Dollar Car.

Ellis’ zero-dollar epiphany comes after his departure from Ford. But it is important to understand his life journey, which includes his crossing paths with Enrique Pena Nieto (Mexico’s current president) when the world-leader-to-be was just the brother of an exchange student friend of Ellis' and later rubbing shoulders with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen at the Barcelona Olympics, where Ellis was acting as an interpreter. (There is some life advice from Ellis: “Learn a second language.")

In essence, the same company (Motorola) that gave the world the first car radio, the first mobile phone, and the first walkie-talkie also produced John Ellis. Almost anywhere that you might roam in the world of connected car technology you will come across Motorola alumni with their fingerprints all over connected cars.

Motorola supplied the original OnStar modules to General Motors and Motorola executives were involved in Brazil’s now-defunct Contran 245 connected car mandate and the existing ERA-Glonass connectivity program in Russia. Continental acquired Motorola’s automotive connectivity assets which included the original Ford Sync module, so it is appropriate that Ford turned to a former Motorola executive to help define the company’s platform strategy.

The automotive industry has yet to come to terms with the opportunity inherent in monetizing vehicle data and enabling true IoT experiences. Ellis notes that the industry must also come to terms with the cybersecurity implications of this newfound connectivity. He provides multiple examples of connected cars and Webcams gone awry or used for nefarious purposes.

His time at Valparaiso nearly put Ellis on a career path in the clergy. So it is fitting that he is evangelizing even if it is only in the interest of “saving” the automotive industry.

“The Zero Dollar Car” is a thoughtful consideration of one man’s personal and professional journey and his interaction with technology. Ellis has learned much about mastering life and his lessons are shared, much in the manner that his software innovation at Ford was shared.

Some of what Ellis has to say is alarming, but John is no alarmist. He is nothing more or less than a connected car… or rather a connected anything… prophet.

He is also one sincere and determined fellow, which probably serves him better outside the corporate confines of Motorola or Ford. The last time I saw John just a couple weeks ago he was cajoling a representative of a global car maker over the company’s decision to adopt Apple’s CarPlay and Alphabet’s Android Auto connected smartphone platforms – instead of the Ford solution. Given the setting was a casual cocktail party after a day of planning I was a little surprised … but only a little. That’s John.

To keep in touch with John's latest thinking - after you buy and read his book - visit: johntellis.com

Roger C. Lanctot is Director, Automotive Connected Mobility in the Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics. More details about Strategy Analytics can be found here: https://www.strategyanalytics.com/access-services/automotive#.VuGdXfkrKUk?