she's so cute

She is so much more engaging now. 

Today I learned that a company in Taiwan is partnering with a company in India on battery swapping for two-wheelers. 

I think this is very cool because, when I was in Vietnam, I realized that if everyone got what they wanted - cars - those streets would be impassable. They could only fit all those people because they were on scooters. Vietnam is a country where it is very exciting to cross the street. You eventually learn how. The trick is to go at a steady pace so the vehicles can maneuver around you. 

Motorcycles and scooters put out more pollution than cars because they don't have the same quality of pollution control systems. One of the questions I asked a lot was people's interest in electric scooters. It turns out that a lot of people were interested but their experience with cheap electric scooters was terrible. Drilling down further, they were unhappy with the batteries. If someone came up with a cute scooter (this was very important) with good batteries or a battery swapping system, a lot of people would be in. 

Wouldn't an electric bus be better? Yes it absolutely would but there was no excitement or interest in a better bus system from anyone but me. 

A decade ago there was a project to electrify tuk tuks (roofed three-wheelers) in the Philippines with retrofits. According to someone I worked with, it was a massive failure because it was too expensive to do. That said, there are ongoing efforts in Asian cities because the idea is too attractive in terms of reducing pollution, oil dependence, and noise. 

I'm so glad I got to go to Vietnam. What a great trip! What wonderful photography! Vietnam was very strict, very early, and has dealt with Covid extremely well with very few cases and deaths.