Welcome to 2035. Welcome to Acceleramota – a tech website that happens to be about cars, not the other way around. As the automotive industry undergoes one of its most transformative moments in history, we recognize EVs are the future of passenger mobility, the next big thing in consumer tech.
What is Acceleramota?
Although it's been over a decade since the first batch of mainstream gas-less cars debuted in the US, as I reported for The Shortcut during CES 2023, upcoming state bans have accelerated the move to electric. Regardless of how you feel about government intervention to combat climate change, the reality is there are over 14 million drivers in California alone. The decision to phase out internal combustion engines was decided for automakers the moment Gavin Newsom signed his executive order into law. But, rest assured, it's really not that bad.
It was at The Shortcut that my tempestuous foray into EV journalism began. It's also when my confusion set in as to why specialty car websites were dominating electric car topics on Google. Tech publications are lagging behind enthusiast press, and many outlets seem unfazed. There's no money in automotive. Now is not the time. We can't compete with legacy car mags. It's not like cars are one of the most lucrative industries in the US. Or that, with some automakers taking a stand against dealers and an influx of vehicle subscription services cropping up, new affiliate partnership opportunities for car sales and leads are already beginning to surface. As for online legacy car magazines, we're not competing with Car and Driver or Motor Trend. They're writing about cars and we're more concerned with the tech inside.
Acceleramota was born from a fantasy. Daydreaming about a world free from the premature defeatism of risk-averse bosses, I contemplated my passion project. If the sky is the limit, what service can I provide that no one else can? Someone much smarter than me once said, "No one needs another website. So, if you're going to make one, it better be something different."
My mission for Acceleramota is simple: educate, elaborate, and entertain so everyone understands electric. The five Es. We're not here to sell you on battery-powered motors. We're here to help you navigate the car market as it undergoes radical change – to educate readers and viewers alike on muddied concepts including range, charging times, eMPG, ownership costs, and dual-motor powertrains, among others. More importantly, though, we aim to elaborate on why those things matter. But as I've learned from watching copious amounts of Regular Car Reviews, deconstructing complicated subjects for the purpose of relaying digestible information back to readers is more effective if it can also entertain.
Think of Acceleramota as old Gizmodo meets old Jalopnik from the pre-Thiel Gawker days. Lighthearted tone, a little snarky sometimes, but ultimately intended to be helpful or informative without putting you to sleep. The deluge of misinformation around electrified vehicles is staggering. No, emissions from power plants and battery production aren't just as destructive as carbon dioxide pollution from ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, especially considering how fast we're moving to renewable energy. And while some EVs might cost more upfront, at least for now, they're significantly cheaper to maintain.
In addition to putting out insightful reviews, contextualizing the latest auto news, hosting giveaways, and sharing deals on car-related items of all sorts, Acceleramota will extend beyond the online world and into local communities. That starts with the biggest city in the US. Since October 2022, I've organized NYCars & Coffee each week, bringing together a diverse cohort of attendees from around the five boroughs. You can expect close integration between Acceleramota and NYC's premiere cars and coffee meet.
While our website is so futuristic it doesn't exist yet, you can follow us on Instagram in the meantime. For our New York-based events, visit NYCars & Coffee.
About the editor
My name is Gabe Carey, founder and editor-in-chief of Acceleramota. For nearly a decade, I've covered consumer technology for a wide range of publications. It started with a blog I created in my childhood bedroom. As a teenager in rural Maryland, I had thoughts about technology: consumer gadgets, the state of the industry, and its symbiotic relationship with video games. Unlike students growing up in larger cities, such as New York or San Francisco, my hobbies made me weird. You might say I was a weirdo.
Rather than alienating classmates with hot takes on tech use in schools or the smartphone wars back when anyone cared, I took my ideas online. While my peers were doing things like "homework" and "socializing," I spent my evenings clacking away at a keyboard, usually opining about whatever trivial topic made me mad that day. And I wasn't the only one. Around 50 other amateur writers joined me at the now-defunct Current Digital Magazine, covering everything from the latest FKA Twigs album to anime and video games, while I stayed focused on tech. To this day, I'm still in touch with a few former colleagues from CDM – one was even my coworker at two different companies!
Incredibly, it didn't take long for some of my work to climb its way to the top of Google results pages, before the volatile rules of SEO lived rent-free in my head. When an editor from Digital Trends stumbled on an inflammatory op-ed I'd published about why Windows 8 was cool and good or something, he reached out asking if I'd be interested in coming on board to contribute features on PC hardware and software. In dire need of a part-time job to buy more video games, I eagerly accepted. That experience snowballed into more opportunities contributing to prominent sites like TechRadar. Naturally, as is required by many employers in digital media, I moved to NYC after receiving an offer from PCMag.
Fast forward to February 2020. One month prior to the genesis of the covid-19 pandemic, I was brought on by Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Lifehacker, and The Onion parent company G/O Media to lead commerce content operations and manage affiliate partnerships across a network of iconic blogs. My primary objective, at least at first, was to grow The Inventory – best known for its Kinja Deals vertical. That involved negotiating rates with advertisers, securing and executing branded content campaigns, as well as collaborating with the sales team on traditional ads. Was it exhausting? Yes. Did my mental health suffer as a result? Also yes. However, to the credit of my managers, I was entrusted to carry out my own strategies. Despite a couple of misfires here and there, you can see my LinkedIn profile for a sense of the outcome, that is, I was asked to come back as Editor-in-Chief six months after my first resignation.
Finally, this takes us to The Shortcut, where I was hired by Matt Swider – yes, the PS5 restock guy – as VP of content strategy & partnerships. My tenure was cut short at The Shortcut (get it?) after my position at the company was eliminated due to "budget constraints." A few weeks later, two of the remaining seven employees resigned on their own terms. Be that as it may, I absorbed as much as I could from my first media executive role. Once again I alternated between the responsibilities of a chief affiliate liaison and what essentially boiled down to deputy editor. At Matt's request, about 15-20% of my time was spent on planning and writing for the one-man auto section.
As for the silver lining, I already have a long-term content plan for an automotive tech vertical in place, complete with monetization opportunities I'm pursuing to keep the lights on. With a few adjustments to better reflect our mission, that blueprint can easily be repurposed for Acceleramota. To the editors of tech sites operating as though normal people still argue over iPhone versus Android like it's 2009, it may seem like a misguided decision to launch an automotive site. To be fair, it is notoriously difficult to make money from car content. CNET's shuttering of Roadshow is fresh on the minds of media insiders, but then again, the infamous ChatGPT scandal is even fresher. Maybe CNET isn't the best example.
I have it on good authority that more reputable outlets are exploring ways to expand their mobility coverage behind the scenes. Automakers aren't waiting until 2035 to care about electric cars – they're committed. We as tech journalists have an obligation to acknowledge one of the most significant technological advancements of our lifetime, regardless of the challenges it presents.
Are you a proactive investor with an appetite for innovation? Email gabe@acceleramota.com to schedule an introductory call. If you can sign an NDA, I'll share with you the Acceleramota roadmap beyond its online publishing arm.