Elon Musk has done it again. He said Battery Day would be insane and it was. His new 4680 battery system gives Tesla a 16% range increase and will cost less than half. I can’t wait to put a set of these “bad boys” into the ESPcat (Electric Solar Powered Catamaran). So how did Musk […]

Let’s face it.  China is becoming a rogue state.  Passage of the Hong Kong Security Law makes it clear that nobody, anywhere in China is safe or free.(1)  If China wants you to disappear, then you disappear.  There will be no jury, no defense lawyer and no right of appeal.  Hong King media tycoon Jimmy […]

Before I get into the technical bit, I have to report that we are back in lockdown after 100 days of virus freedom.  My guess is that someone working in one of the isolation hotels caught the virus but was asymptomatic and didn’t realize they were spreading sickness everywhere.  On the positive side, I see […]

What the hell is a kWh anyway?  Well, it is an amount of energy equal to 1,000 watts for one hour.  Look at it another way.  10 kWh is 10,000 watts for 1 hour or the amount of energy required to drive a 10 kW electric outboard motor for 1 hour at full power. I […]

Jacinda says we have now moved from Level 4 Lockdown to Level 3.  I can now go visit the ESPcat (Electric Solar Powered Catamaran) for the first time in a month.  Worry had begun to set in because I left an open packet of frozen squid bait in the freezer compartment of the fridge.  Just […]

Oh my God! I’m in coronavirus lockdown!  Not allowed to visit the Electric Solar Powered Catamaran.  Can only dream about her from afar.    I can’t even see Borderline so I must rely on this image of her by David Barker.* So I’m amusing myself by reading a biography of physicist Erwin Schrodinger by John […]

There is my friend John next to Borderline, self isolating on the mud in Oneroa Bay, Waiheke Island.  John and I spent the night there.  We may have misjudged the tide a bit.  It’s a mistake anyone could have made.  These photos were taken before the world went mad.  Too bad about the upcoming depression […]

Who has heard of perovskite?  Who even knows how to pronounce it?  Well I didn’t yet know of perovskite when I visited my friend John Minson at his solar powered, off-grid paradise on Waihiki Island.  Here he is (left) with friends Tony and Katrine visiting Borderline. John’s home is powered entirely by the sun which […]

Borderline had plenty of opportunity to attract attention at a recent outing at Oneroa Bay on Waihiki island.  Everyone wanted to know her story and I did my best to oblige.  Oneroa has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. What a great day! Over the years I have been involved […]