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Level 4 autonomous buses will begin operation in Scotland next month – the first service of its kind in the world.

Alexander Dennis Limited, a subsidiary of global bus manufacturer NFI Group, has today announced that a new autonomous bus service in East Scotland will commence on 15th May 2023. This follows the successful completion of an extensive testing program and registration by Stagecoach, the UK’s largest bus and coach operator.

Tesla has launched the CyberVault, a Cybertruck-inspired box with integrated EV home charging, but it seems to be only for the Chinese market for now.

As we reported last week, Tesla was teasing the launch of a new product called CyberVault in China.

Today, the automaker fully unveiled the product, which it refers to as the “Tesla CyberVault home charging service package.”

Woah, we’re halfway there. The company behind the hotly anticipated eVTOL Cavorite X5 announced it has completed construction of a 50-percent-scale prototype of its stylish flying vehicle concept.

Horizon Aircraft impressed us last year when it unveiled the Cavorite X5, with the Toronto-based company showing that the usually utilitarian world of eVTOLs could afford a little more attractive form with its function. The sleek, canard-style plane can takeoff, soar and land like a conventional aircraft, but the wings can open to reveal 16 ducted fans that provide the aircraft’s vertical lift. Once at altitude, the wing closes as it transitions to cruising. This technology would allow the aircraft to fly 98 percent of its voyage in a low-drag configuration, much like a traditional aircraft. When Horizon builds its full-scale version of the eVTOL, it will be powered by a hybrid electric system that can recharge a battery in-flight.

It can take off vertically with a lead-up (defined as the length of runway needed for take-off) of less than 300 feet, hover in austere environments, and fly forward at more than 450 miles per hour. And, by the way, it’s probably a fixed-wing plane.

That, at least, is the idea behind DARPA’s SPRINT X-plane, a project in the beginning stages of development for use by the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently called for proposals for a plane with a mind-bending set of capabilities. According to the March solicitation, DARPA wants a scaled demonstrator ready to fly within the next three-and-a-half years.

SPRINT, naturally, stands for “SPeed and Runway INdependent Technologies.”