
Balloons To Backorders - How Helium Messes With Cars
From In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show by In Wheel Time Podcast | Automotive talk with Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, and Jeff Dziekan
April 24, 2026 · 30 min · Season 2026 · Episode 80
About this episode
The episode discusses how a global helium supply shortage can impact automotive chip availability.
Helium is the last thing most drivers think about until a car can’t ship because a chip can’t ship. We follow a surprising thread from helium balloons to the clean rooms where semiconductors are made, and why a strained global helium supply can raise fresh questions about automotive chip availability. If you remember the pandemic-era semiconductor shortage, this conversation makes one thing clear: the next bottleneck might come from a material most of us never associate with cars. We break d...
People in this episode
Hosts: Don Armstrong, Michael Marrs, Jeff Dziekan
Topics covered
- automotive supply chain
- helium shortage
- semiconductor availability
- chip manufacturing
- pandemic impact
- automotive industry
Keywords
- helium
- automotive
- semiconductors
- supply chain
- chip shortage
- pandemic
- manufacturing
Mentioned in this episode
Products: semiconductors, helium balloons
Places: global
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