Chapter 197: Earth Car's Goal
I had never really thought about car design before.
‘It's not like you need to know the principles of CPU or memory semiconductors to use a computer.’
I knew terms such as engine, transmission, accelerator, and brakes, but little beyond them.
I only had very basic knowledge about cars, like changing engine oil.
‘How dangerous is it if an electric car catches fire?’
I searched for videos of electric car fires on Earth Channel.
The moment it hit a wall, flames erupted from the undercarriage, engulfing the entire vehicle.
And that took just 2 or 3 seconds.
―If there's an accident, you have to run no matter what.
―Gives you exactly 3 seconds. If you don't escape in 3 seconds, you're dead.
―Electric cars' zero-to-sixty in 5 seconds, but it catches fire on impact in 3. You're dead in 8.
―It's not instant death when it catches fire. You burn alive.
―Who'd ride an electric car after seeing that?;;;
“My God.”
The electric car accident videos were shocking.
Orders were pouring in due to low fuel costs and performance, but who knew about risks like this?
‘I should study up before talking to the Mirae Motors researchers.’
At Earth Resource's office.
Being a liberal arts major, I studied the structure of lithium-ion batteries, which I didn't know much about.
Batteries had a negative electrode and a positive electrode, like magnets.
When lithium ions inside moved from positive to negative, it charged.
When they moved from negative to positive, the separated electrons powered electronic devices.
‘So that's the principle—moving lithium ions back and forth.’
The battery used carbon for the positive electrode and lithium oxide for the negative.
But if there was an accident or physical damage causing the positive and negative to meet directly, it caused a short circuit.
Electrical energy released all at once led to thermal runaway and fire.
The battery's electrolyte turned into flammable gas, spreading rapidly throughout the battery pack.
‘Isn't this way too dangerous?’
Memories of driving electric cars without a second thought came back.
I might cause an accident by mistake, but there's no law saying someone else won't crash into me.
* * *
The Mirae Motors researchers who came to San Francisco were, so to speak, living the dream.
“Earth Resource is amazing. Just amazing.”
They were given hotel-level accommodations and state-of-the-art research facilities.
The workload—working only set hours—was incomparable to the daily overtime back in Korea.
“I was nervous about meeting Kim Shin, the guy who crushed the prime minister, but he's not picky at all.”
“He's not arrogant and really considerate of engineers.”
“And the research funding is generous.”
Collaborating with top-tier car engineers hired by Earth Resource.
They thought participating in the Earth Car project would build a career that would earn recognition back at Mirae Motors.
“Once the Earth Factory is complete and Earth Cars start rolling out, the profit margins will be insane.”
“Back at Mirae Motors, they scrutinize costs even for a single part, but not doing that here is nice.”
They were reporting key matters related to Earth Car development directly to Kim Shin.
“Research ways to reduce electric car fires and let me know.”
Kim Shin made an incredibly demanding request.
“Ways to reduce fires? How?”
“Well, it's not something unknown to electric car developers. Just organize it well and report.”
The next day, the Mirae Motors researchers entered the Earth Messenger group chat where Kim Shin was.
Earth Car's 400 researchers—a space for reporting on key vehicle development matters.
When they first joined Mirae Motors, they used paper documents with handwritten Hangul.
Even simple reports needed stamps from assistant manager, section chief, department head, and deputy manager in sequence.
“Stamp it tilted sideways.”
“Pardon?”
“New hires stamp at 110 degrees, like bowing in greeting.”
That was the advice they had received from their mentor.
New hires had to tilt their stamps sideways to show respect.
As rank rose, the stamp angle gradually straightened.
Mirae Motors couldn't be dismissed as just old paper culture.
Even with electronic approval systems in place, they still preferred paper.
There were strict rules governing fonts, indentation, and other details.
They cherished the stamping culture.
Reporting directly to Kim Shin—who was like the group chairman—via messenger felt awkward.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Hello, CEO Kim Shin. As per your request yesterday, I'll report on ways to reduce electric car fires.
No set format.
More than four hundred people were in the group chat.
Mirae Motors Earth Car developers and Earth Resource-hired developers could all see the chat.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: First, fundamentally preventing electric car fires is difficult.
―Kim Shin: Is there really no way?
They had written up the report content and figured it'd be good if he checked it in a day or two.
But Kim Shin replied right away in the group chat.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes, for now, one way is switching battery materials to better fire-resistant options like lithium iron phosphate or solid-state. Lithium iron phosphate is cheaper but heavier, with lower energy density leading to shorter range, so customers don't prefer it. Solid-state is in development.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Tesla is now heavily adopting lithium iron phosphate batteries in their base models.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: It's 20-30% cheaper than lithium-ion, and tech improvements mean range differences are negligible.
―Kim Shin: Great. So we can apply it to Earth Car too.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes, considering Earth Car's popularity, aggressively using lithium iron phosphate to cut costs would be ideal.
Baek Sin-jong Section Chief and the Mirae Motors researchers thought similarly.
‘Lower manufacturing costs, higher margins—he'll like it.’
Saving 1 million won per car meant 2 trillion for 2 million units.
Mirae Motors executives would welcome it unconditionally.
They rewarded promotions and bonuses for cost-cutting ideas.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Earth Car's projected profit margin is 23%. Tesla's sales profit margin after manufacturing costs is 32.9%.
―Kim Shin: Tesla is impressive as expected.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Switching Earth Car batteries to lithium iron phosphate could boost margins close to 30%.
―Kim Shin: Batteries are so expensive, so that's perfect.
Baek Sin-jong and the Mirae Motors researchers thought the report was a success.
Using cheaper materials for expensive components to reduce costs sounded like a satisfying report.
―Kim Shin: Then we can invest the increased margins into vehicle improvements.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Pardon?
Unexpected words.
―Kim Shin: Due to the car's structure, highly flammable, explosive battery cells are mounted underneath.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Correct.
―Kim Shin: We need to reinforce the partitions around the battery cells. Also, I heard electric car door handles sometimes won't open during fires.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes, handles are electric, and impacts can disconnect battery terminals under the car.
―Kim Shin: Consider adding small backup batteries to handles or switching to mechanical.
Well-thought-out points someone pondering electric cars would know.
‘But that raises production costs.’
Baek Sin-jong worried, but company life taught unconditional obedience to the owner.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Understood. We'll pursue design and research in that direction.
―Kim Shin: Also, regardless of autonomy, max out collision avoidance on all vehicles.
Modern cars detected frontal, rear, and side collisions aggressively.
Some even auto-braked or evaded if collision was imminent.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Not sure if I understand correctly. You're saying even base models get full collision avoidance?
―Kim Shin: Yes. Base models don't avoid accidents.
Such a proposal would have been unimaginable at Mirae Motors.
And Kim Shin wasn't done.
―Kim Shin: I think tires are the core of a car. The only part touching the road—good tires improve braking by over 20%, right?
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes. Good tires shine especially in repeated braking.
―Kim Shin: All Earth Cars shipped will use top-grade tires.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Ah, yes.
Tires were a high-cost part, so the surprises kept coming.
―Kim Shin: I hear Volvo is safe among mass-market makers.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes, a bit overhyped, but true.
Volvo SUVs aimed for zero fatalities.
They had almost no or very rare fatal accidents.
Volvo sold fewer vehicles than Mirae Motors, but its safety record was undeniable.
―Kim Shin: Earth Car's safety goal is beyond Volvo.
―Kim Shin: I won't allow selling unsafe vehicles.
It was not an easy goal.
It was even harder when profits were taken into account.
―Earth Car Section Chief Baek Sin-jong: Sir, that would make the production costs too high.
―Kim Shin: Yesterday's report said no money leaking from online sales and ads.
―Kim Shin: All savings go to vehicle development.
“…….”
Baek Sin-jong was speechless.
Kim Shin's words in the messenger painted a world utterly different from what he'd known.
‘Is this a dream?’
The group chat was filled only with Kim Shin and Baek Sin-jong's exchange.
Researchers from the US, Europe, etc., outside Korea would be watching via Earth Messenger's auto-translation.
He could imagine how thrilled they felt.
―Earth Car Baek Sin-jong Section Chief: Yes, we'll give it our all.
He thought that was it.
―Kim Shin: I've asked Mirae Motors to specially produce 200 Earth Car prototypes.
―Kim Shin: Coordinated with Texas government—secured a closed airport and rented a circuit.
―Kim Shin: Run 200 Earth Cars, crash them, test whatever.
―Kim Shin: Make it more fun to drive, better handling, ride comfort, safety—better in every way.
Baek Sin-jong had devoted his life to car development since college graduation.
Efforts for great cars were his life.
Such words felt like a life's purpose.
He'd compromised with reality before, but now—a chance to chase dreams freely.
Regret tinged it, though.
‘If only I were 20 years younger.’
What if he'd worked on Earth Car, not Mirae Motors, for 20 years? What could he achieve?
The 400 in the group were silent, but he knew their hearts burned hot.