EDITOR'S CHOICE

Wing Begins Commercial Drone Delivery Service in Dallas Suburbs

08 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

"Wing's drone is designed as a hybrid, using both fixed-wing and hover propellers to transition between operating like an airplane and a helicopter. It flies at a speed of 65 mph or approximately 56 knots. According to its website, its record order-to-delivery time is just under 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The payload must weigh less than 2.6 pounds, and it can fly a roundtrip distance of up to 12 miles. While the drones are autonomous, remote pilots monitor the aircraft and can take over should something go wrong."

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Japan's Nissan Plans 'Game Changing' Electric Car Batteries

08 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

"The all-solid-state battery will replace the lithium-ion battery now in use for a 2028 product launch and a pilot plant launch in 2024, according to Nissan.

"The all-solid-state battery is stable enough to be used in pacemakers. When finished, it will be about half the size of the current battery and fully charge in 15 minutes, instead of a few hours."

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Piasecki Outlines Path to World-First Manned Hydrogen Fuel Cel Helicopter Flight

08 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

"Hybrid powertrains looked better (than batteries), Piasecki calculating they had the potential to deliver a 25-percent reduction in operating costs. But they would only reduce emissions by about 60 percent relative to a turbine-powered helicopter (80 percent if sustainable aviation fuels were used), and even the existing hydrogen fuel cell technology is enough to fulfill the target mission profiles, with zero emissions and an impressive 50-percent drop in operating costs."

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After Rough Start, Electric Buses Are Back On the Road in Minneapolis-St. Paul

07 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

"Metro Transit idled its first batch of electric buses due to mechanical and charging problems. They're now back in service, along with a plan to convert almost 12% of its fleet to electric models over the next five years.

"The transit agency reconfigured heating controls and addressed wheel slippage issues. All of the Siemens chargers were replaced in 2021 while still under warranty due to technical problems that included blown fuses and premature transformer failure."

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E-Scooter Injury Rates Are Worse Than Motorcycles, New Study Finds

07 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

One 2020 study published in JAMA Surgery found the incidence of annual e-scooter injuries in the US climbed from 4,582 in 2014, before the emergence of ride-share scooter companies, to 14,651 in 2018, when they had become far more commonplace. Nearly a third of those were head injuries - more than double the rate endured by cyclists - with annual hospital admissions rising from 313 to 1,374 across the same period.

A 2021 paper titled "Electric Scooter-Related Injuries: A New Epidemic in Orthopedics," found that of 397 patients presenting to an emergency room over a 12-month period, only 19 were wearing helmets at the time of their accident. Twenty-five percent of the cases required surgery. Another systematic review published in 2021 estimated that every 100,000 trips resulted in 20 to 25 emergency department visits.

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EV Startup Canoo Is Building a Launchpad Shuttle Prototype for NASA

07 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

NASA's $147,855 contract requires Canoo build at "least one vehicle -- coined the Artemis Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) -- for NASA by June 2023. The official use of the CTV will be to cover an approximately 10-mile journey from the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. And if the launch isn't successful, it will be responsible for bringing them back."

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GM Restarts Chevy Bolt EV Deliveries: Aiming for Record Sales

07 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

"GM restarted Bolt production on Monday at Orion Assembly and has about 800 Bolts built that are being shipped to dealers for sale, Majoros said.

"Our goal is to get back to and, quite frankly, increase all of our business metrics whether that's production, whether that's retail sales," Majoros said. "We all see what's happening in the marketplace and we think both Bolt EV and Bolt EUV can catapult to their highest levels ever in both production and sales."

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Sono Motors and Valmet Automotive Sign Terms to Manufacture Sion SEVs in Finland, But Will Hike Prices Again

06 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

The Sion is currently in its series-validation phase and remains on track to begin deliveries to all current reservation holders by 2023. Speaking of which, Sono Motors is reporting over 17,000 Sion reservations as of March 31, 2022. The first 15,000 or so reservation holders were able to lock in the Sion's original price of €21,400 ($23,350). However, Sono Motors upped that price to €23,950 ($26,100) for any reservations made after November 15, 2021

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GM and Honda to Produce 'Attainable EVs' In Bid to Surpass Tesla Sales

06 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

The automakers said the new deal is for 'affordable' EVs, including compact crossover vehicles, built using GM's Ultium battery technology. The compact crossover is the biggest selling auto sector in the world with annual volumes of more than 13 million vehicles, the companies said.

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IPCC Report Is a Prescription for Fixing the Climate Crisis -- 'It's Now or Never'

06 Apr 2022 | Synopsis

The latest report is very clear: We are likely to overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and staying under 2 degrees C will be difficult; there is not much left in that carbon budget.

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