| Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg's newsletter on the future of the auto world. Read today's featured story online here. China's carmakers have been known to push the envelope when it comes to dreaming up new functions to attract buyers. There's in-car karaoke, steering wheels that turn into gaming consoles and seats that recline into comfy lie-flat beds. But a fresh feature from Geely's premium EV brand Zeekr has Chinese social media users wondering if these designs have gone a step too far. In videos released this month to promote the MIX minivan, Vice President Yang Dacheng enjoys a hotpot meal in the spacious interior, which can seat four people and, evidently, a table packed with ingredients to dip into a large pot of pungent soup stock.  The Zeekr MIX. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg The videos went viral, racking up almost 1 million views and over 4,100 reposts on Weibo alone. Netizens debated whether it's practical to eat a meal with boiling soup in a car and wondered what the smell may do to the interior. Others denounced it as a clear marketing gimmick, while some conceded the MIX being able to accommodate different uses would make outdoor activities more fun. Whether in-car hotpots takes off in China or not, Zeekr's campaign underscores the lengths EV makers will go to to stand out in an ultra-competitive market that's also weathering a bruising price war as sales growth slows. Local manufacturers are increasingly turning to high-tech software features that target a younger demographic or wading heavily into design elements to cater for more family-minded users.  Playing a car-racing video game inside a BYD Yangwang U8 EV. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg It's not uncommon, for example, for some people in China to use their EVs — most of which come with big screens — to watch entire movies in their stationary vehicles like a sort of second lounge room, keen to escape multigenerational family members living in the one apartment. Most of the gimmicks may be harmless but some can have deadly consequences. A Poer pickup truck from Great Wall Motor Co. was involved in a freak accident earlier this year in which a person died after getting their neck stuck trying to deploy a tent that can be set up over the back of the vehicle, according to media reports. Great Wall issued a statement at the time expressing its condolences and said it was closely monitoring the investigation into the incident. Wild Land Outdoor Gear, the supplier that provided the tent, said in another statement that, according to initial findings, it appeared the owner had entered the tent while it was being raised by the built-in electrical instrument. Wild Land is cooperating with authorities.  XPeng's G9 electric vehicle offers a one-click-to-bed function. Photographer: Raul Ariano/Bloomberg Geely's Yang, for his part, responded with another video on Oct. 13, which said that for people going camping where there are no restaurants, it'd be fun to have hotpot in the MIX. "The interior space can be modified a lot, [people] can play cards, drink tea and chat," Yang said in the video, adding that even more jazzy functions will be revealed once the MIX is launched later this month. As for the smell, well, Yang said the van comes equipped with a strong ventilation system. — By Linda Lew  Illustration: Glenn Harvey More hedge funds are on average net short batteries, solar, electric vehicles and hydrogen than are long those sectors; and more funds are net long fossil fuels than are shorting oil, gas and coal, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of positions voluntarily disclosed by roughly 500 hedge funds to Hazeltree, a data compiler in the alternative investment industry. The findings provide a glimpse of how the most rarefied corner of finance has cooled on the investment prospects of a green transition that scientists, many policymakers, company executives and economists argue is critical to avoid the most devastating impacts from global warming. | 
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