rgmerk

6 ms·

91.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
I don’t understand why Hawaii doesn’t have more solar. Gotta be a lot cheaper than imported oil, even with the the US solar premium.
92.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
You’re not going to build a nuclear reactor (other than military ones) anywhere near a major port. You power this the same way you power aluminum smelters - you have a big honking grid connection and build the generation capacity in places
93.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
In any case, the near-term use case isn’t across the Pacific, it’s to other Asian ports, of which there are numerous very large ones in reasonably close proximity. Think Singapore, Japan, Korea, and so on, all of which are well within 5000
94.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
The Port of Los Angeles is one of the largest ports in the USA, and has about 1,800 ship arrivals annually. If they were all electric, all of this size, and required a full charge on arrival, you’re talking about (very roughly) 1 GW continu
95.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Not quite. The difference in energy density is way more than that. However, most large ships apparently have multiple times more fuel capacity than is required for 5,000km of range, which is what makes the electric version realistic.
96.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Battery energy density is way behind that of bunker fuel, it’s just that cargo ships (at least as far as some googling suggests), have fuel capacity far in excess of what is required for a 5000km range.
97.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
A quick googling suggests that unloading such a vessel takes at least a couple of days, more likely 3-4. Assuming two days available to charge the vessel, you'd need about 100MW continuous. Not trivial, but doable. As far as battery f
98.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
OK, I did some calculations based on: * a 5,000 km electric range. * 40MW continuous power requirement for a 21.5 knot cruise speed[1] for a 14000 teu container vessel: * the size and weight capacity for the batteries being the same as the
99.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
No. I’m too lazy to do it myself but 5 minutes of searching and calculating will show you that the area of solar panels required to move a ship is far, far, larger than the area of that ship. Not to mention that a container ship’s deck is t
100.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
The old Group A touring cars of the 1980s and early 90s are perhaps closer to what you’re thinking of. Nissan built the R32 Skyline GT-R and killed the category (and birthed a legend in the process, admittedly).
101.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Yes, this year's Bathurst finale was quite the spectacle if you haven't seen it! But while Supercars can be entertaining, they are in some ways a faster version of the categories I'm describing - they don't have much dow
102.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
The 15-25% of demand number is pretty similar to the number I've seen in multiple places. Furthermore, cars have an economic lifespan of approximately 20 years, so that increase in demand will take place over a couple of decades. Furth
103.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
For what it's worth, the most entertaining circuit racing in the world happens at grassroots level featuring slow, cheap cars that permit a lot of drafting. The faster the cars get, in the main, the less overtaking occurs.
104.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
It's been done. Look up the Can-Am series. At best, it would last a couple of years until the cars got way too fast for the tracks, and the manufacturers were no longer prepared to invest in it because there was no commercial return
105.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Hugely unlikely. Even if the power is free you still need a grid connection to move it to where you need it, and, guess what, the US grid is bursting at the seams. This is not just due to data center demand; it was struggling to cope with
106.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Seriously? I know Silicon Valley runs on out there ideas and outright BS because 0.1% of the ideas pan out and pay for the other 99.9%, but this is just laughable for the reasons pointed out in the article.
107.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
Is there a way I can take bets on this not happening? Because I’d sure like to.
108.
by rgmerk 11mo ago
For some applications. Photography didn’t make artists obsolete. For that matter, the car didn’t make horse riding completely obsolete either. For artists, the question is whether generative AI is like photography or the car. My guess, at
109.
by rgmerk 1y ago
100% of the population will die of something. If I die at 90 of a heart attack havjng maintained the ability to live independently up until then, I’d take that as a massive win compared to my relatives suffering through a decade of me with
110.
by rgmerk 1y ago
It means you're likely to survive in a crash. The Cerice is lovely but if you have a high-speed crash with another car in it you're in big trouble.
111.
by rgmerk 1y ago
They’re a Dutch company. You can drive from just about any point in the Netherlands to any other in less than 300km. For a weekend toy in the densely populated parts of Europe the range is fine.
112.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Privacy nightmare undoubtedly, but if you want affordable EVs BYD has you covered. A fully-functional, crash-worthy and apparently quite decent EV for around 16,000 USD (in Australia). If you can't buy one, blame your government: htt
113.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Reliable gas cars still require a lot more maintenance than an EV does. Oil and oil filter changes. Fuel filters. Air cleaners. Brake pads (that mostly goes away with hybrids too).
114.
by rgmerk 1y ago
There’s clearly a demand for self-driving privately owned vehicles as well, but think of it this way - why own a self-driving Chevy when you could hire a self-driving Cadillac when you need to go somewhere?
115.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Statistically, and from a global perspective, the apartment-dwelling car owner (most likely with a lower income than yours) is a heck of a lot more common than living in American-style suburbia or a small town.
116.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Windows on the desktop. Android phone.
117.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Apple gets this better than any other company IMO. You literally pay a premium to be bothered less than the alternatives.
118.
by rgmerk 1y ago
Um…is this satire?
119.
by rgmerk 1y ago
You can't build permanent software in a world where a) everything is connected to everything else, and b) hackers will exploit anything and everything they can get their hands on.
120.
by rgmerk 1y ago
That’s impressive but it hardly sounds like a comfortable experience for passengers, and while I get the whole argument that overregulation has made light aircraft less safe, i wouldn’t get in that plane thanks.

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