korrents

electric vehicles

Cars on batteries: adoption forecasts, what drag and weight cost, and what they do to oil demand.

FilterEveryone, all time28 from 20 people
Group All Technologists 3Scientists 2Founders & executives 1Writers & journalists 6
Who Everyone AVAustin Vernon 5 DHDavid Heinemeier Hansson 2 DMDavid MacKay 2 GOGergely Orosz 2 PLPieter Levels 2 BVBen Vinegar 1 BMBill McKibben 1 DWDan Wang 1 DMDillon Mulroy 1 HRHannah Ritchie 1 JSJohn Siracusa 1 MGMichael Grunwald 1 MLMichael Liebreich 1 NBNat Bullard 1 NFNicole Forsgren 1 NSNoah Smith 1 RCRafa Conde 1 RDRakhim Davletkaliyev 1 RBRodney Brooks 1 TLTobias Lütke 1
When All time Past 1 yearPast 3 yearsPast 5 years
  1. PL

    Pieter Levels quoted

    Dutch bootstrapper who builds and runs his internet startups alone

    Our readingThe number of AI users will grow to be 200x the number of software developers.

    Their wordsThere's ~40 million software developers in the world There's 2 billion people regularly using AI tools now So that's 50x, it'll grow to the same number as internet access, that's 6 billion people, so 200x more AI users than devs

    ↗@levelsio on Xx.com

  2. 10 days earlier
  3. GO

    Gergely Orosz quoted

    Writes The Pragmatic Engineer

    Our readingOne reason startups in the 2010s adopted and blogged about new technologies was to hire strong developers more easily, especially those barred from new tech at their current company.

    startupsJavaScript

    Their wordsUnironically one reason startups in the 2010s would start using "hip" technologies + blog about them (eg Clijure, Go, React etc when these were 'new' and still rare) was to hire much easier, especially solid devs who were not allowed to introduce new tech at their current co!!

    ↗@GergelyOrosz on Xx.com

  4. 13 days earlier
  5. GO

    Gergely Orosz quoted

    Our readingThe business of the firms discussed depends on companies lacking enough in-house developer capacity and thus renting developers from them.

    Their wordsTheir business depends on co’s not having enough in-house dev capacity, and thus “renting” devs from them.

    ↗@GergelyOrosz on Xx.com

  6. 3 weeks earlier
  7. BM

    Bill McKibben quoted

    Writer and climate campaigner

    Our readingElon Musk's political backing of anti-EV, anti-clean-energy politics has undone far more good than his earlier advocacy for electric vehicles did.

    energypolitics

    Their wordsWhatever good he did with his early advocacy for electric vehicles has now been undone a hundred times over with his advocacy for the people who hate EVs and all the other things we need.

    ↗Two Menbillmckibben.substack.com 1st of 3 in this piece

  8. 3 days earlier
  9. NS

    Noah Smith quoted

    Economics writer; author of the Noahpinion newsletter

    Our readingChina leapfrogged the West on cars by treating internal combustion as obsolete and mastering the technology that replaces it.

    China

    Their wordsTechnological leapfrogging in action. China realized that internal combustion cars are largely obsolete, and mastered the he technology of the future. We didn't.

    ↗@Noahpinion on Xx.com

  10. 4 days earlier
  11. TL

    Tobias Lütke quoted

    Co-founder and CEO of Shopify

    Our readingRequiring two parallel agent instruction files in a monorepo is a complexity tax that leaves some developers working with a lobotomised agent.

    Their wordsWith thousands of developed in a mono repo, it just does happen that one directory is missing one of the two files and this means that a subset of devs work with lobotomy. We fix this with automation but it’s a stupid complexity tax that shouldn’t have to be paid.

    ↗@tobi on Xx.com

  12. 5 weeks earlier
  13. PL

    Pieter Levels quoted

    Our readingFrance and Germany will ban Tesla's full self-driving to protect their own car industry.

    self-driving cars

    Their wordsThe French and Germans will ban Tesla FSD to protect their car industry that's being decimated by Chinese EVs and Tesla Allowing Tesla full self driving would make it so popular that it'd probably the end of their car industry Because no French or German car has self driving like Tesla, many customers would probably flock to Tesla

    ↗The French and Germans will ban Tesla FSD to protect their car industrylevels.io

  14. 8 weeks earlier
  15. JS

    John Siracusa quoted

    Programmer and technology writer known for his long Mac OS…

    Our readingFlush door handles provide only negligible aerodynamic range benefit in EVs.

    Their wordsthe extra range provided by flush door handles is negligible, even at sustained highway speeds (and near zero at slower speeds).

    ↗EV Stupidity Checklisthypercritical.co 3rd of 3 in this piece

  16. 3 weeks earlier
  17. RC

    Rafa Conde quoted

    Design engineer at Retro

    Our readingBig companies can probably less afford the bigger design risks than they once did, so such work shows up more in small indie shops.

    design

    Their wordsbefore we would see more of like big companies doing these risks and now the big companies cannot afford to make these bigger risks and that's why we see it in the in smaller indie shops smaller devs that can make the risks

    ↗Rafa Conde - Make your designs memorableyoutube.com 2nd of 17 in this recording

  18. 6 weeks earlier
  19. NF

    Nicole Forsgren quoted

    Researcher of software delivery performance

    Our readingAdoption is worth measuring first despite being a bad metric, because developers are cranky enough not to use a tool that is awful.

    Their wordsI I will say I tend to start with adoption. I am not a fan of an adoption metric. I don't like it, but also devs are like a gloriously cranky bunch.

    ↗Nicole Forsgren: Leading high-performing engineering teams in the age of AI - The Pragmatic Summityoutube.com 13th of 18 in this recording

  20. 6 months earlier
  21. RD

    Rakhim Davletkaliyev quoted

    Programmer and teacher; writes on software

    Our readingModern electric vehicles feel less tactile and engaging to drive than older cars with manual gearboxes and hydraulic steering.

    Their wordsOne can experience similar change when switching from a modern soulless EV to an older car with a manual gearbox and hydraulic steering.

    ↗Benjamin Button Reviews macOSrakhim.exotext.com

  22. 9 months earlier
  23. RB

    Rodney Brooks quoted

    Robotics researcher, emeritus professor at MIT and former…

    Our readingElectric cars will not reach 30% of US sales by 2027; the forecasts that looked pessimistic in 2018 were still too optimistic.

    optimism

    Their wordsQ3 2024 had the rate 8.9% so there is no way it can reach 30% in 2027. I was way too optimistic at a time when EV enthusiasts thought I was horribly pessimistic.

    ↗Predictions Scorecard, 2025 January 01rodneybrooks.com 4th of 4 in this piece

  24. 12 days earlier
  25. BV

    Ben Vinegar quoted

    Co-founder of Modem, and before it VP of Engineering at Sentry

    Our readingWhen a growing SaaS product's architecture breaks down, the developers he has seen succeed are the ones who fix it one piece at a time, not the ones who want it rebuilt.

    SaaS

    Their wordsWhen SaaS products grow and the architecture starts to break down, two types of devs emerge: 1. Those who believe the system is beyond repair and needs to be totally rebuilt 2. Those who put their heads down and fix it one piece at a time I've only seen group #2 be successful.

    ↗@benv.ca on Blueskybsky.app

  26. 2 months earlier
  27. ML

    Michael Liebreich quoted

    Founder of what became Bloomberg New Energy Finance

    Our readingThe comparative cost of hydrogen fuel-cell cars versus battery EVs depends on which infrastructure costs are counted and to whom they are allocated

    infrastructurebatteries

    Their wordsThe only way you can make H2FC cars look cheaper than BEVs is to underestimate or ignore the cost of hydrogen production and infrastructure, socialise it, and then load the entire cost of grid build-out onto the marginal BEV.

    ↗Are BEVs more expensive than H2FC cars?liebreich.com

  28. 5 weeks earlier
  29. NB

    Nat Bullard quoted

    Energy and decarbonisation analyst

    Our readingPlug-in hybrids have moved past being a worst-of-both-worlds compromise and are now genuinely thriving.

    Their wordsNeither condition is now true, but plug-in hybrids are thriving.

    ↗Inflecting and Overtaking, SunPower, Waymonathanielbullard.com 1st of 2 in this piece

  30. 3 months earlier
  31. DM

    Dillon Mulroy quoted

    Principal engineer at Cloudflare as of 2026

    Our readingJavaScript has the lowest bar of entry to being productive, but one of the highest bars of any stack to building high-quality, stable, reliable software.

    JavaScript

    Their wordsMy hot take is that JS has the lowest bar of entry to building and being productive (a good thing) but one of the highest bars of any language and stack to building high quality, stable, and reliable software. Very few devs have the expertise to pull off the latter

    ↗@dillon_mulroy on Xx.com

  32. 7 weeks earlier
  33. AV

    Austin Vernon quoted

    Engineer and investor who writes quantitative posts…

    Our readingOff-grid data centres will win the way electric cars did, by redesigning the machine around the new power source instead of swapping the power source in.

    data centers

    Their wordsEfforts to improve efficiency and remove vestigial features pay off handsomely.

    ↗How to Make Off Grid Data Centers Affordableaustinvernon.site 8th of 9 in this piece

  34. 3 months earlier
  35. DW

    Dan Wang quoted

    Writer and analyst of Chinese technology and industry

    Our readingChina's industrial lead was manufactured by deliberate state industrial policy rather than by market forces alone.

    Chinabatteries

    Their wordsThe foundations of China’s success in EVs were built a decade ago, when the state decided to bet on batteries, and then bought up a lot of the mines for these metals.

    ↗2023 letterdanwang.co 3rd of 10 in this piece

  36. 3 months earlier
  37. DH

    David Heinemeier Hansson quoted

    Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals

    Our readingElectric vehicles can control power on each individual wheel with millisecond response time

    Their wordsSee the other magic trick of EVs is their ability to control all that power on each individual wheel with millisecond response time

    ↗That Model S Plaidworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece

  38. 7 weeks earlier
  39. DH

    David Heinemeier Hansson quoted

    Our readingTraditional car industry virtues are under attack by a portion of the market

    Their wordsMost of its traditional virtues under attack by a huge portion of the market who just don't give a damn

    ↗Tesla winsworld.hey.com

  40. 6 days earlier
  41. HR

    Hannah Ritchie quoted

    Data scientist at Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World

    Our readingAn acre of solar panels powering electric cars carries you orders of magnitude further than an acre of crops grown for fuel.

    solar

    Their wordsYou can drive about 150 times as far from a solar-powered electric car compared to using corn bioethanol.

    ↗Biofuels: the US could switch to electric cars and solar power on just a fraction of the landhannahritchie.substack.com 3rd of 5 in this piece

  42. 3 months earlier
  43. MG

    Michael Grunwald quoted

    Journalist and New York Times contributing writer

    Our readingAn acre of solar panels powering electric cars carries you orders of magnitude further than an acre of crops grown for fuel.

    solarenergy

    Their wordsan acre of solar panels generates as much energy as 100 acres of corn grown for ethanol.

    ↗A Climate Killer Disguised as a Climate Solutionmichaelgrunwald.substack.com 3rd of 5 in this piece

  44. 9 months earlier
  45. AV

    by

    Austin Vernon quoted

    Our readingCutting drag is worth far more in an electric vehicle than in a combustion one, because carrying the energy is so much more expensive.

    energy

    Their wordsDrag and tire friction dominate energy expenditure. Engineering effort to improve drag is worth so much more with electric vehicles.

    ↗Electric Trucks are Ready for the Roadaustinvernon.site

  46. 6 months earlier
  47. AV

    by

    Austin Vernon quoted

    Our readingElectrifying high-mileage vehicles — trucks and vans — cuts oil demand more than electrifying private cars does.

    Their wordsTrucks, vans, and other high mileage vehicles promise to impact oil demand more than EVs.

    ↗The Electric Car's Shrinking Role in Reducing Oil Demandaustinvernon.site 1st of 2 in this piece

  49. AV

    by

    Austin Vernon quoted

    Our readingOil demand will fall mainly because petrol cars get driven less, not because they are replaced by electric ones.

    robotics

    Their wordsFalling consumer oil demand looks much more like driving the Camry 6000 miles per year instead of 12,000 miles rather than a shiny new electric car in every garage or robot taxis swarming everywhere.

    ↗The Electric Car's Shrinking Role in Reducing Oil Demandaustinvernon.site 2nd of 2 in this piece

  50. 4 months earlier
  51. AV

    by

    Austin Vernon quoted

    Our readingA hybrid is a poor machine because it carries two complete powertrains, and most e-bikes repeat the same mistake.

    Their wordsHybrid-electric cars are an engineering abomination. They have both gas and electric powertrains, ensuring they are more expensive and complicated than their competitors.

    ↗The Future of E-Bikesaustinvernon.site 2nd of 2 in this piece

  52. 13 years earlier
  53. DM

    David MacKay quoted

    Physicist

    Our readingSwitching to electric cars is already a good idea, even before the electricity supply is greened.

    energy

    Their wordsSo I conclude that switching to electric cars is already a good idea, even before we green our electricity supply.

    ↗Sustainable Energy — without the hot airinference.org.uk All 27 from this book

  55. DM

    David MacKay quoted

    Our readingRamping up electric vehicles alongside wind power, roughly 3,000 vehicles per 3 MW turbine, with smart charging, would go a long way to solving the problem of wind fluctuations.

    Their wordsIf we ramp up electric vehicles at the same time as ramping up wind power, roughly 3000 new vehicles for every 3 MW wind turbine, and if we ensure that the charging systems for the vehicles are smart, this synergy would go a long way to solving the problem of wind fluctuations.

    ↗Sustainable Energy — without the hot airinference.org.uk All 27 from this book