Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com 
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com 
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
We at LSS candidly admit we will never be able to afford a Bentley. But we have always had a strong admiration for the designers and engineers of top class cars, because they’re are always pushing to the limits. In this spirit we want to list a couple of Guardian articles on the efforts made by Bentley to turn their entire range over to electric by 2030. We’re linking both the leader and Jasper Jolly‘s coverage.
But this is not a motoring column; we think there are two deeper lessons here. Firstly, we think it gives an answer to the age old question-what’s the point of rich people? Look at this from Jasper’s article:
Bentley is particularly suited to quickly changing to electric technology, because bigger margins as a luxury carmaker mean it can absorb the higher cost of batteries
It’s always been the same for luxury brands; they pioneer the technologies which become standard for everyone. If you drove a 1964 Rolls Royce, you would find that the makers were pioneering all sorts of things like electric windows and automatic transmission which we ordinary folk now take for granted. The very existence of demand for high quality goods draws out the best in all sorts of disciplines from materials science to leatherware, and so it has always been.
But we think there is a deeper lesson. The engineers at Bentley have to respect facts and data to succeed. You can’t have a tantrum just because the melting point of steel is too low for your wishes. Or throw armed supporters on to the streets to contest the laws of motion. Well you can, but you won’t stay in business long. History shows that societies can ignore truth and facts for a while by using force. But in the long run they have to drift into decline as their scientific and technological skills must decline. Supporters of Donald Trump take note.
#bentley #electriccars #batteries #technology #donaldtrump
Learning, Science and Society 