EDITOR'S PICK

VinFast VF 3 Shipments Are Officially Underway With Starting Prices Under $13,000

02 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"...VinFast said the new mini electric SUV is designed to make city travel 'not only sustainable but also more accessible.'

"Within 66 hours, VinFast secured 27,649 pre-orders, a new Vietnam automotive record...The VF 3 will first roll out in Vietnam, followed by the Philippines later this year and other overseas markets like Europe, Southeast Asia, and the US in 2025...it will still cost under $20,000 when it arrives in the US."

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Telo Is Building An Electric Truck With The Footprint Of A Mini Cooper

02 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"The second motivator for the Telo team was its perception of the proliferation of supersized trucks in the marketplace...Telo set out to create a battery pack with a small footprint and better-than-average range. The company started with off-the-shelf 21700 cylindrical Lithium-Ion batteries...Telo get a 106 kilowatt-hour battery pack into that miniature truck, when a comparable Mini Cooper can only fit a 54.2 kWh? "

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California Digitizes Car Titles, Putting 42 Million Vehicles On The Blockchain

02 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"Residents will be able to access or transfer their car titles in minutes, cutting down on trips to the DMV and post office..

"In an effort to fight fraud and speed up transfer times, the California DMV has digitized 42 million car titles...If California follows through on its plan to incorporate more records into the blockchain and if other states follow California's lead, we could see this technology come to a number of different areas -- mortgages, birth certificates, and more."

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Walkability In Neighborhoods Linked To Health, Study Of Siblings Shows

01 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"...examining records from nearly 2 million people, including 1 million siblings and 14,000 identical and fraternal twins, the team found that across all three samples, positive built environment characteristics were associated with 15%–20% reductions in obesity and diabetes rates...researchers collected nearly 1.4 million Google Street View images from all the main streets across Utah...neighborhood features like green streets, sidewalks and crosswalks encourage more physical activity."

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Auto Industry Push To Plug-In Hybrids Has Surprising Outcome

01 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"On paper, plug-in hybrids sound like a great 'middle of the road' alternative to EVs...Although most plug-in models do not have the equivalent electric range of a full battery-powered EV like a Tesla, they are often seen as great for trips around town and left to charge overnight.

"manufacturers are resting a lot of faith on the idea that buyers are being properly educated on how to plug in their cars and that their buyers actually plug in."

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Why Elon Musk's Politics Are So Problematic For Tesla - In One Graph

01 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

"... several astute analysts have also argued that the politics of Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, are dragging down its car sales. Musk has increasingly trafficked in right-wing, transphobic, white supremacist, and conspiratorial communications since purchasing Twitter

"Overall, Musk's net rating was -9 (40% favorable vs. 49% unfavorable), with 34% of U.S. adults rating him very unfavorable and only 17% holding a very favorable opinion of him."

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Germany Sets A New Renewable Power Generation Record In Q1

01 Aug 2024 | Synopsis

Germany produced a whopping 121.5 billion kilowatt hours from renewables, an 11.6% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the output from fossil-fuel power sources plummeted by 25.4%, making up just 41.6% of Germany’s total electricity production.

"Wind power made a notable contribution, generating an additional 5 billion kilowatt hours – up 12% from last year – and now accounts for 38.5% of the country’s electricity."

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Want To Buy An Electric Car But Unsure You Can Justify It? Here's How The Arguments Against EVs Stack Up

29 Jul 2024 | Synopsis

"...for Australia to reach net zero it needs to electrify vehicles (and expand public transport use)...arguments against electric cars: they have limited range and many owners can't easily charge at home. They cost too much, resale values are poor and insurance costs are higher than for other cars.

"Aside from justifiable concerns about human rights abuses, most of the perceived barriers to EV uptake aren't really barriers at all, or soon won't be."

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Scientists Created Revolutionary EV Batteries Derived From Shellfish

29 Jul 2024 | Synopsis

"... a 2022 study, experts from the University of Maryland’s Center for Materials Innovation developed batteries that use a product derived from crustacean shells to store energy...Researchers were able to use chitin, a substance found in the shells of crustaceans, to power batteries when combined with zinc.

"...the chitin-zinc batteries being 99.7% efficient after over 1,000 battery cycles or 400 hours of use."

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MIT Engineers Create Hydrogen Fuel From Soda Cans, Seawater, and Caffeine

29 Jul 2024 | Synopsis

"Carrying a tank of volatile hydrogen to power a fuel cell is also a problem. The MIT team was searching for ways to solve these issues when they turned to aluminum.

"Using a small pellet of treated aluminum, the experimental setup generates 400 milliliters of hydrogen in just five minutes when exposed to deionized water... adding imidazole, a component of caffeine..can pierce the surface of aluminum, increasing the available surface area for hydrogen production."

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