I ran into this guy a few times on the Last Thursday Alberta street festivals around 2010. Part DJ, part spinner, he went by the moniker of Spinnaface. He had a good schtick going:
Sadly, he wasn’t exactly the best DJ and I never really saw him again in later years. Still, it was an interesting time in Portland’s history of good natured keeping it weird before the city’s sharp decline in the 2020’s.
It’s no longer Tesla – it’s BYD from China. BYD sold 1.86 million cars in 2022 which surpassed Tesla’s 1.3 million cars. This wasn’t unexpected – back in the financial crisis of 2008’s, Berkshire Hathaway invested a hefty $230 million in BYD stock. How has that gone? Charlie Munger of Berkshire has said the investment was one of his best investments and is doing ridiculously better than Tesla. (paywall free) That outlay has ballooned more than 1,570%, and even after the most recent selldown of it’s holdings in late 2022/early 2023, Berkshire’s remaining stake is still worth around $4.5 billion. BYD is looking to expand it’s reach in Japan and Europe.
BYD has made batteries for commercial and industrial purposes for years – and now they have developed their Blade Battery that seems to handle puncture and temperature tests much better than current EV batteries that have a bad tendency to catch fire and explode in accidents. Tesla plans on using a blade battery in its car in upcoming models.
BYD hasn’t come to the US, but are (obviously) selling quite well in China and Europe. Middle class Chinese customers are flocking to the $14,500 and $29,000 price tag instead of Tesla and other EV makers. So what do these cars look like? Their more recent dual motor flagship model the BYD Han is quite nice. It sells for $42,000 in China and 70,000 Euros in the EU. The interiors and ride is about as nice as the fact it can do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds.
Some of the other offerings from BYD, and a whole host of other makers if you’re curious:
Over the last couple of years, there are different estimates of when the Apple Car (Project Titan) might finally make it to market. The estimates have ranged from 2024 to 2028. Now the latest report predicts a debut in 2026 with a custom Apple Silicon chip, no self-driving, and a price tag under $100,000 (after previously considering pricing it above $120,000).
Back in 2017 after several years of work, it appeared Apple had given up on producing a physical vehicle and was ready to focus on autonomous vehicle software.
However, at the end of 2020, Apple pivoted back to working on producing an actual car powered by its own software. You can read more about the current rumors here.
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The oft hinted Apple Car seems to have had some rocky development over the years with various starts/stops. The estimate is Apple’s next generation EV is projected to be revealed in 2024 with production starting 2025 – 2028.
At least some folks are coming up with designs for the automobile.
I am definitely sold on snow socks. Just like him, I couldn’t believe they were as good as chains. It seems so counter-intuitive. Yet, in some cases (like stopping distance), they are even better than chains. Snow socks are slightly easier to put on than chains too.
What’s nice about snow socks is that you can use them on bare pavement – unlike chains that often quickly get destroyed unless driving really slow. With socks, you can drive on bare pavement for a while until you find a safer spot to pull over to take them off.
I also found they were astounding on ice as well. The first time I used them, I was on a stretch of road that looked like glass. It was so slick I could barely stand on it when I got out of the car. I put the socks on, and drove without a single problem. Amazing. I will probably never go back to chains.
His video does a great job of comparing the two in actual conditions. His conditions were lots of fresh snow, but I can confirm on hard-packed roads and/or straight ice, they work just as exceptionally.
The only downside of socks is that they can get little holes if you drive on a lot of rocks or dry pavement for too long. However, in several years of occasional use, they are very small and do not affect the performance. Personally, I found chains only lasted about 2-3 seasons anyway – and socks cost just about the same; so I don’t see this as a big deal. If they get too shredded, I’ll just buy a new set.
Quantum Computing Inc used their new Entropy Quantum Computing (EQC) quantum based hardware solution to solve BMW’s 2022 Vehicle Sensor Placement Challenge (VSPC) in just 6 minutes. It marks a new high water mark in the ability of quantum computers to solve real-world problems.
The 2021 BMW Group and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Quantum Computing Challenge included a Vehicle Sensor Placement use case that challenged participants to find optimal configurations of sensors for a given vehicle that would provide maximum coverage (i.e. detect obstacles in different driving scenarios) at minimum cost.
The problem consisted of 3,854 variables and over 500 constraints. Placing sensors in vehicles – and especially autonomous vehicles – is an incredible challenge. A multitude of variables have to be taken into account – variables such as chassis design (which has implications on vehicle security), absence of obstruction (different placements offer different fields of view or allow for lower error possibility), wind resistance and weight balancing to name a few.
Although QCI placed as a 2021 finalist, its 2022 acquisition of quantum photonics systems company QPhoton provided a powerful suite of new quantum hardware technologies, including EQC. As a result, QCI today presented BMW with a 2022 solution: a superior sensor configuration consisting of 15 sensors yielding 96% coverage using QCI’s quantum hardware and software system.
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I like my little Subaru Crosstrek. It’s the right amount of offroad utility and daily driver. I’ve taken it up to the mountains to go snowboarding, through rough forest roads and trails, as well as use it as my daily driver. My only grips are that it lacks in storage space and is pretty underpowered. The later is a fair tradeoff considering the MPG I get from it.
But I was surprised to learn how many other car makers are now trying to capture that same form factor. Enter cars like Nissan Kicks, Mazda CX-30, Honda HR-V, and others. Unfortunately, it looks like a fair number of them aren’t really good for off-road use. I guess I’ll stick with my affordable Crosstrek for now, but good to know there are other options. I hope they get better and give Subaru a run for their money.
The Mill created The BLACKBIRD, the world’s first fully adjustable car rig, that allows movies to film and insert any CG car. The Blackbird’s frame can adjust to mimic the dimensions and driving characteristics of any real car chassis. It captures accurate reflection and environmental reflection data while filming to allow the virtual re-skinning of almost any car in CG over the original modular frame.
Take an eight-minute high-speed drive through Paris in 1976 during the early hours 05:30am on a Sunday morning in August 1976 when much of Paris is on vacation. Amazing how similar, and different things look.
I love visiting where my favorite movies and TV shows were filmed. This guy has put together the most comprehensive and detailed shooting locations website I’ve ever seen. In this case, it’s for every location in the long running 1980’s hit Miami Vice.
This page discusses one of the most famous scenes in all of TV history – the drive to a deal in Heart of Darkness episode. He breaks down where every single cut was taken – even to the point of confirming locations based off the reflections off the car.
