Aditya Bhat

Curating cool stuff I read around automotive/mobility products & engineering topics. I design EV powertrain and onboard chargers for work.

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

Holiday season festive reading

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

I’ve simplified my podcast consumption routine

I call it my Podcast Menu:

For keeping up with my industry:
Munro Live Podcast @live_munro
Out of Spec Podcast @itskyleconner
(both their YouTubes are better, I find)

Because I’m working on my writing:
How I Write @david_perell

How winners win:
Founders @FoundersPodcast

Because I like the guy:
WTF is @nikhilkamathcio

Because I like the guys:
My First Million @ShaanVP @thesamparr

This is my pod menu for like the next 3 months or more

Why?

Because I have too many podcasts I genuinely enjoy and get value from

And you know how you take so long to pick the perfect tv show that you’re almost done with your dinner?

I find that happening with my runs/commutes

So this is the framework

These are the topics I’m focusing on

These are the pods I’ve selected within those topics

This is all I’ll listen to when it’s pod time, no browsing

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

I suspect the answer to this could be simpler than you’d expect.

These low voltage architectures power all kinds of ancillary functions on the car like wipers, mirrors etc.

And these are all built and supplied by different tier 1/2/3 supplier companies.. so it’s not just about the OEM moving to 48V but kinda that entire ecosystem.

Bit of a hassle to move the stack.. until someone does it

And maybe easier for Tesla if they’re doing everything in-house

[Karan Kaila @KaranKaila]

@BhatDotTech Nice explanation.

But if it’s so obvious then why hasn’t everyone done it? What’s the drawback of using a 48V system?

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

Since the 1960s, car companies have designed and used 12 volt systems for low voltage applications within their cars.

With the release of the new Cybertruck, Tesla has designed a 48 volt system

But why? And what's so great about it?

P = V * I

Power = Voltage multiplied by Current

Example:

If you need 100 W of power and you have a 12V system, you need 8.3 A of current (I = P / V)

But if you need the same 100 W power with a 48V system, you only need 2 A of current!

You 4x the voltage, you need 75% less current!

Okaaaaaay... which means what?

Lesser current flowing through all the wiring in the electric vehicle
which means..
You don't need thick beefy wires to handle heavy current flow and associated heat production
which means..
You can afford to have thinner wires

which means..
- weight reduction 💪
- cheaper wires 🤑

Electric vehicles need a lot of wiring, wires need copper.

Context:

Some Teslas use around 83 kg of copper within the wires in the car. The Cybertruck is bigger, may use more.

I've read 83kg of copper costs around 900 USD (75k INR) - unverified, could be totally wrong.

Tesla say that by just moving from a 12V design to a 48V design, they're looking at a 73% weight reduction in the wiring harnesses.

whoa.

Not only is a 73% weight reduction great for performance and sleeker packaging..

but if you assume 73% weight reduction means 73% lesser copper required, that means copper used to cost 900 USD per car, now it costs 243 USD per car.

657 dollars saved (55k INR).

Per car.

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@Sharu_Why Haha thanks 🤞🏻

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

When designing a car, what is the need for system architecture?

"Blind men and the elephant" remains the best and most commonly used example for why we need system architecture.

The blind men approach the elephant not knowing what it is.. (they’re blind)

One guy approaches the front, feels something sharp “oh! My job is to build a spear!”

Guy on top thinks he’s building a fan, tail guy thinks it’s a rope, this dude thinks the leg is a tree etc etc.

But nobody here sees the full (and/or correct) picture - it’s an elephant that needs to be built.

Blind men = development engineers (lol)
Elephant = the car that needs to be built

This is where system architecture is useful.

It is the job of the system architect to see the overall picture - it’s an elephant we’re building, boys!

- What needs to be built
- How it needs to be built
- How it should fit with the other things being built
- How these things should work with each other to achieve a task
- Where these things should go (can’t put the elephant’s eye on its tummy, can’t put two of its legs on its head and expect it to walk properly - but the individual developers don't know that, they're in their own cocoons)

It’s understandable to say architecture isn’t an “essential” job. Different parts of a car can be built separately, the architect isn’t “building” anything.

But with the complexity of systems and software within vehicles these days, making large scale mistakes because you didn’t see the complete picture can be a disaster.

You'll wish for good architecture then.

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@SensibleIdiot_ Important when designs get complex and organisations get massive!

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

I'm writing about technical automotive engineering topics.

I'm also studying how to write from great advertisement writers.

Weird?

Not really. Writing is writing. Reading is reading.

Me capturing your attention and getting you to spend time reading what I've written is what matters anyway.

So who better to learn this from than advertisers?

Here's something I read from David Ogilvy, the man widely considered the Father of Advertising

"I don't know the rules of grammar. If you're trying to persuade people to do something or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language"

makes sense.

I'm not googling fancy words to sound smart, I'm just trying to articulate my points clearly.

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@RealSudeep Thanks dude!

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

I'm convinced that writing is the one skill that will 10x my value as an automotive engineer

clear concise tech writing, sharing my learnings right here

This is what I'm actively working on this year

(well.. next year.. but what even is a new year's resolution? Dec 8 works)

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

To learn something really well, I should:

- Read about the thing
- Understand how the thing works
- Explain it to someone as clearly as I can

If I’m able to explain a deep tech concept in a way a 10 year old child can understand, safe to say I know something about it

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

Why should engineers care to write?

Thinking out loud in public, building network & brand - all great reasons

But at the core of it all, for me, is the Feynman Technique

👇🏻

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

Only problem Red Bull have is they don’t have a youngster tearing it up elsewhere.

Like Merc had Russell at Williams, Ferrari had Charles at Alfa.

I’ll concede that maybe Perez doesn’t have the exact car as Max, but consistently outperformed by a non Red Bull is crazy.

#F1

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@F1 @HulkHulkenberg @KevinMagnussen Good for stability. Now focus on making the car faster 🏎

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@formularacers_ About time they start going back up the field. The insane start to the season seems so long ago now

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

The kings and queens at ISRO never cease to amaze!

🚀🌙 🇮🇳

#Chandrayaan3

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@AkshitGaurav what you working on?

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

Every now and then, a new technology wave emerges. You have about 3-6 months to learn it, 18-24 months to make money off it, and you move onto the next one.

But this isn't really the case with electrical engineering.

The fundamentals of controls are evergreen.

[Aditya Bhat @BhatDotTech]

@formularacers_ @Motorsport That's not happening until 2026 at least and that's if they nail the new regs. But I like the attitude, they've shown they can turn it around