suigenerix

Business travel elasticity has traditionally been around 0.4, meaning business travellers will tolerate higher fees with only a small drop in demand. But there would still be a drop.

What no one has mentioned here so far is that the $250 additional visa fee is refundable. But it's not automatically refunded. You have apply for it after meeting some basic conditions. So for businesses, it's really a much smaller administrative cost.

So far the process for applying for the refund hasn't been established. So it's all a bit of a hot mess still.

Las Vegas has already achieved 97% storage supply for its needs - a city that barely sleeps at night.

Again, where is your evidence that it is not going to improve across the board, and will all fail?

"It's not all happening right now," is not even close to a convincing answer. If that was the reason to exclude any technology, there'd be none.

And it's an especially ironic answer given that it takes up to 20 years to commission a nuclear power plant. And they are down for scheduled maintenance for up to a month a year, etc.

Why wouldn't solar and other renewables combined with batteries be better?

It's very early days, yet California recently had 98 days on renewables. That started in winter.

What is it about renewables with batteries that you believe will fail, despite the mass adoption that is under way?

Why will the projected, continued decline in battery prices and advances in battery tech not occur?

Why would adjacent solutions, like the massive storage ability of vehicle-to-grid, be worse compared to nuclear?

Why are so many "in the know" getting it so wrong?

Yeah, to add to that, the majority of Americans unfortunately have poor literacy levels with reading below sixth-grade level.

https://www.apmresearchlab.org/10x-adult-literacy

And you can probably guess which party governs most states with the lowest funding levels for improving literacy.

Yep, he is clearly didn't learn from the shit show that his tariff war caused in his first term.

Over 245,000 US jobs were lost. And it cost consumers and businesses $900,000 for each job that was saved in the steel industry.

But yeah, let's do that again, only this time on a massive scale (sigh)

I think you're on to it here.

This image seems to be ironically referring to an old Penthouse/Playboy cartoon from the 70s where a hippy is in a car waiting in traffic. He's in a zippy little, gas-sipping car. Next to his car is another guy in a large gas-guzzling car. The hippy is saying something snarky to the other driver, referencing their car-size impact, or something like that.

I did a quick image search, but can't find the cartoon.

Yeah, for the last century we've been using starch in laundry to alter jeans and make them feel CRISPR

Yes, China dumps EVs on other markets.

But here are some extra insights to consider about the issue:

• To curb dumping, many countries already have, or are introducing, high tariffs against Chinese EVs. Biden had a 100% tariff on EVs, Canada is 100%, India is 70-100%, the EU is up to 45%, Brazil is ramping up to 35%, etc.
• Around 90% of all EVs China produces are sold in China. So even if EV dumping ends, it'll have only a minor effect on production
• Dumping is caused by over supply of Chinese EVs at the moment. Some countries, like the US under Trump policies, are deliberately attempting to drive down EV demand, further adding to the issue. And as with all markets, over supply can't be sustained indefinitely, so it's predicted that multiple Chinese EV manufacturers will go under or merge. This is normal in evolving markets
• China is innovating much faster with EV tech, especially with battery technology. Meanwhile the US under Trump is removing incentives for EV production and ownership, and causing significant market uncertainty. This will have a far greater effect on Chinese dominance of the technology than dumping
• China is in the majority of countries in offering government subsidies and tax breaks for emerging products, especially on things like R&D and infrastructure
• The US and other countries also dump products on a significantly larger scale. For example, the US government subsidizes corn which is sold to world markets under production cost. Exports of corn from the US in 2024 were ~$14 billion, while Chinese EV exports were under $5 billion

None of this is intended to condone China or any country dumping products, but as a warning about having overly simplified reactions to an issue without understanding the bigger picture.

The person I responded to only has one device. But even if there were multiple devices, you could just have a smart switch per device.

The fire hazard issue is that holding the battery at 100% increases the internal chemical stress on the battery, and increases the risk of thermal runaway. So keeping it well below that will definitely have significant benefit. Ideally, trickle charging it at around 50% would be best for almost eliminating further strain. (But you'll likely need to charge it from 20-80% occasionally to help the battery management system keep calibrated.)

And things can be done even smarter. Like only charge the battery at the coldest part of the day, typically early morning to reduce heat stress. Or throttle the device if it's temperature reaches a threshold. Etc.

Yes, if you can remove the battery, that's helpful. But keep in mind you lose the benefit of battery backup during mains failure.

Also, mobile phone fires get a lot of media attention because "drama," but they're not the hazard everyone thinks they are. You're far more likely to have a house fire from rodents chewing into electrical cables, clothes dryer lint catching fire, or anything with a heating component. Ebikes and escooters are far more likely to catch fire than phones.

The point is if you're not emptying your dryer lint filter every use; if you're not getting home pest inspections every six months and putting down rodent traps or baits; if you're not getting your heating-element devices professionally checked regularly; if you're not storing your ebike well away from flammables; etc., then worrying about phone battery fires is ridiculously out of proportion.

I've got a colleague who says she'll never buy an electric car because of the fire risk. But then she drives around in her gas car which is 8,000%+ more likely to catch fire.

If you're still paranoid, keep the device in a non-combustable container away from flammables, and near enough to a smoke detector. It's easy to setup something that if the phone catches fire it'll just burn itself out.

At all? What do you believe the fire hazard is then?

... you have an absolute right of entry as a citizen...

You may have the right, but I wouldn't count on it being upheld.

Trump has already deported US citizens (supposedly by mistake). And he has plans to make it legal.

Yes, that would be unconstitutional, but Trump has ignored the constitution and the courts multiple times already.

Use a smart power switch.

Battery level drops below say 20% - turn switch on and start charging.

Battery level goes above 80% - turn switch off.

For Android, you could use something like the Tasker app to do the monitoring and switching.