@chris An innovative take on batteries that makes them safer, an alternate view on electric vehicles from a country that understands the importance of sustainability. BYD cars look interesting and I can't wait to see one in the wild - and other manufacturers' - available as alternatives to the F-150 Lightnings or Tesla iPhones-on-wheels 'domestic' manufacturers think we all crave.

But eyes wide open. The issue with China has always been in their treatment of labour. This article gives me visions of nets mounted to the exterior walls of factories.

Human + Fixture = Robot

Robots are not only used to replace the cost of human lavour - sometimes they're used to remove humans from dangerous environments.

Electrode material was being ladled out of vats with kitchen spoons. Workers in rubber gloves operated machines that looked like repurposed sewing equipment.

Plus this article reads like an ode to Wang Chuanfu who clearly sees himself as the next Elon Musk, moving fast and breaking things.

Just my 2p.

@zazzoo @chris

i agree, the treatment of labor in china is still a problem, BUT...

>Plus this article reads like an ode to Wang Chuanfu who clearly sees himself as the next Elon Musk, moving fast and breaking things.

...i will say there is a marked difference between wang, an engineer with a master's degree in metallurgical physical chemistry, who paid his dues and actually did prior engineering jobs in a field that's actually RELEVANT to EV manufacturing, and musk, a wealthy playboy and finance bro who LARPs as an engineer, does ketamine on the regular, and was on pewdiepie's meme review back in 2019.

(i shit you not, that last one actually happened, and i am quite happy to supply the link if you're interested)

also everyone forgets that tesla wasn't actually founded by musk, but by eberhard (M.S. in electrical engineering) and penning (B.A. in computer science), both men with engineering skills who were ousted by musk in a series A round of funding.

if eberhard and penning were still running tesla, perhaps wang would actually have some competent competition to deal with.

i think the real takeaway from this article here is that we need more people in charge with actual professional experience in the field the business actually works in, as opposed to parachuting in MBAs from god knows where.