Professor Taylor sighed, unsure whether it was out of frustration at others’ lack of ambition. But this was the reality in most industries: if you can make easy money as an OEM, who would bother researching new technologies? As a professor at Xiake University, Professor Taylor had grand ambitions, but now could only scrape by on Brian Carter’s dirty money.

After all, everyone has to eat.

------------

Chapter 14: SUV

“Professor Taylor, you’re a research consultant for Guosheng. I’m curious, what exactly do you do?”

“Battery pack optimization design.”

Professor Taylor knew what Brian Carter was getting at: “There’s competition among OEMs too. If we optimize and lower costs, we can get more orders. But compared to BYD and Tesla’s battery pack technology, Guosheng is still a bit behind. Actually, I want to develop a better battery management system, but unfortunately, no one’s willing to invest.”

Brian Carter joked with a smile, “When I start my own company and invest in battery R&D, Professor Taylor, you can come help me design.”

Professor Taylor joked back, “Haha, sure, I’ll be waiting for you, Mr. Carter, to hire me… By the way, Little Brian, you’re not seriously thinking of starting a company, are you? The battery industry is too complicated. In China, only BYD can really pull it off… But BYD’s success isn’t about technology, it’s about service.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t BYD a world leader in the battery industry?”

“Uh, let me put it this way: there’s still a big gap between BYD’s batteries and Tesla’s.”

“How is that possible?” Brian Carter didn’t believe it. BYD batteries are exported overseas and get tons of orders in Europe. “Are Tesla’s batteries really that good?”

“Tesla uses Panasonic’s lithium cobalt oxide batteries, which store a lot of energy and can greatly increase driving range, but the downside is they’re very expensive. BYD uses its own lithium iron phosphate batteries, which don’t perform as well, but they’re cheap. BYD sells service—free battery replacement, low vehicle cost—so why wouldn’t consumers buy something that’s both affordable and good quality?”

After finishing the comparison, Professor Taylor pointed at Brian Carter’s BYD Han: “How much did you pay for this car?”

“Three hundred and twenty thousand, top configuration.”

“Free battery replacement?”

“Lifetime free.”

“There you go. The BYD Han has a range of up to 500 kilometers, which totally meets your needs. Even if the battery doesn’t last as long, you can just get it replaced, right? So for home use, it’s a great deal. Your top configuration is 320,000, and the lower trims probably cost less than 300,000. Isn’t that a better deal than buying a Tesla?”

It really is a great deal.

But Brian Carter’s BYD Han wasn’t bought—it was “made” by himself. After his psychic power reached Level 2 Psychic Touch, the energy limit of his psychic armor doubled, and he could finally materialize a car. He chose this stylish, cutting-edge new energy flagship sedan as his first pick.

Professor Taylor continued, “And lithium iron phosphate batteries are very safe. Lithium cobalt oxide batteries aren’t as safe, which is why you often see news about Tesla cars catching fire, but BYD has never had a spontaneous combustion incident. The few cases that did happen were due to owners modifying the circuits themselves. So you see, cheap and safe, with such a high cost-performance ratio, it’s only natural that BYD is dominating the market.”

After parking and finding a restaurant to sit down, Professor Taylor kept chattering on about the battery industry, lamenting both the fierce competition and his own unrecognized talent.

Brian Carter listened quietly, occasionally asking a question.

He had a few drinks with Professor Taylor, using soft drinks, and then took Professor Taylor back to his residence at Xiake University. After Brian Carter drove home and entered the parking garage, the BYD Han quickly vanished, and the psychic armor returned to his body. If he wanted, Brian Carter could drive a different luxury car every day.

He had visited most of the 4S dealerships in Lucheng, checking out so many cars that the salespeople rolled their eyes at him.

Opening his laptop, he started a WPS document and began jotting down some notes: “The new energy battery industry is generally divided into two types: power batteries and digital batteries… BYD is a leader in power batteries, holding core patents for lithium iron phosphate batteries, while the digital battery sector is a battleground of many contenders.”

“And I will unify the new energy battery industry!”

……

At the end of the year, Brian Carter closed his “laboratory” and destroyed all the equipment inside.

In fact, of the eleven test tube samples he brought back from the fantasy world, only the humus soil sample was preserved; most of the others were gone. The springtail isopods and crawling tadpoles died as soon as they crossed back to Earth, and the moss, bean sprouts, and yellow algae couldn’t adapt to the environment and died as well.

He had tried to cultivate the large mushroom spores, but they never sprouted and eventually rotted.

It turned out that Earth’s air or soil must lack some essential substance needed by those fantasy world organisms, so they couldn’t survive.

Now, there weren’t many of the explosive hairs from the bomb caterpillar left, and Brian Carter had to use each one sparingly.

Driving the BYD Han, Brian Carter returned to his rural hometown for the New Year. The past year, 2020, had been full of disasters—pandemics, floods, one after another. Fortunately, everything was fine at home, except the promised demolition was delayed until the end of the year and still hadn’t happened, so his parents were still living in the old house.

They grew a small vegetable garden, played a little mahjong, and life was quite pleasant.