Balloons To Backorders - How Helium Messes With Cars

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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