Two Classes of Electric Vehicle Owners

Dan, Dan The Transpo Man and the non-rich majority.

From The Atlantic:

“It’s not just battery size. In an electrified America, charging access may become a status symbol. Because the first wave of new EVs have been so expensive, America’s affluent tax brackets made up the bulk of early adopters. The same people are also those most likely to be able to afford their own homes and install a charger that can power up their car overnight. As EV adoption reaches mainstream levels—which is happening at rates outpacing even rosy expert predictions—lots of new electric drivers will be the same urban dwellers that have been priced out of their local housing market, creating two classes of EV owners.

‘You’re talking about renters who may not have the option to install charging infrastructure,’ Jeremy Michalek, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the director of its Vehicle Electrification Group, told me. ‘And even if they have charging infrastructure this year, renters tend to move, and they don’t know whether they’ll have that access next year. Even a lot of homeowners don’t have off-street parking, and relying entirely on public charging infrastructure is a whole different ball game.'”

Siddhartha Mukherjee Writes In Bed

I sang his praises here. He won a well-deserved Pulitzer for general nonfiction for Empire of All Maladies. And he deserves a Nobel Prize for science writing for helping a knucklehead like me (mostly) understand cellular biology.

I’m just settling in with The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human.

Here’s the backstory to the book and his writing process.

Maybe The Future Is Okay

Boy’s hot cocoa stand in southwest Spokane has raised $300 to help people who are homeless.

In unrelated news, except for the fact it’s another young person, I like this picture of a girl and Rafael Devers who recently signed an 11 year, $331m extension (no wonder he’s smiling) for two reasons. She has the exact right color of hair and she has mastered the selfie+, something I’m terrible at.

Year-End Awards

Fabulist. Trump and Putin started the year with a HUGE lead, but Bankman Fried and George Santos closed FAST. Tie. Women are notably underrepresented, but honorable mention goes to The Good Wife who said I looked “sexy” a few days ago.

  • Trump
  • Putin
  • Bankman Fried
  • Santos

Worst Billionaire

  • Elon Musk

Athlete. Tie.

  • Katie Ledecky
  • Roger Federer
  • Gustav Iden

Song

  • Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill

Car . Don’t take it just from me.

  • Rivian R1S

T.V. show. Tie.

  • White Lotus
  • Grand Design

Personal Tech. Tie.

  • AirPods Pro
  • Apple Watch Ultra

Life Affirming Twitter follow. And I’m not even a “cat person”.

  • Patrick Skinner @SkinnerPm

Animal

  • Nutria

Podcast

Movie

  • Banshees of Inisherin

Investment

  • Cash

Bike Ride. Tie.

  • McKenzie Pass, Sisters, Oregon
  • Victoria coast with the daughters

Person. Tie.

I need to keep better track of my reading because I can’t recall my favorite books of the year. In the non-fiction category, The Power of Fun by Catherine Price.

Be Your Own Therapist

I trained a ChatGPT AI chatbot on my childhood journal entries to talk to my inner child.

“Young Michelle told me: ‘I’m honestly proud of you for everything you’ve accomplished. It hasn’t been easy, and I know you’ve made a lot of sacrifices to get where you are. I think you’re doing an amazing job, and I hope you continue to pursue your dreams and make a difference in the world.’ 

I sensed the kindness, understanding and empathy that she was so willing to give other people, but she was so hard on herself. I was tearing up during that exchange.”

A Good Sentence

“The protests in Iran, now in their third month, are a historic battle pitting two powerful and irreconcilable forces: a predominantly young and modern population, proud of its 2,500-year-old civilization and desperate for change, versus an aging and isolated theocratic regime, committed to preserving its power and steeped in 43 years of brutality.”

“The Question Is No Longer Whether Iranians Will Topple the Ayatollah”