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Category: transportation – Page 365

Tesla is scrapping plans for a bargain Model Y SUV because of its short range on a single charge, CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet over the weekend.

Earlier this year, the electric car maker began producing its pricier, dual-motor all-wheel drive version of the Model Y, which starts at $49,000.

Tesla had planned to roll out a cheaper version of the Model Y — expected to be priced under $40,000 — with a single engine, rear-wheel drive and smaller battery. But Musk tweeted that the range on that vehicle would have been “unacceptably low” at less than 250 miles on a single charge.

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Japanese start-up SkyDrive is preparing to fly its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) test aircraft in public for the first time in August, as it sets its sights on building a thriving air taxi and urban air mobility market in the country on the back the developmental battery-powered design.

SkyDrive says it began flight testing a proof of concept model at its test centre in Toyota in December 2019, and the aircraft” completed its technical verification phase” in March.

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Panasonic has begun testing robotic mobility devices at the newly constructed Takanawa Gateway train station in Tokyo.

The effort is art of a plan to bring a series of automated services to the airport and surrounding facilities that are part of a massive redevelopment project in the surrounding Shinagawa business district.

Three mobility devices, essentially intelligent electric wheelchairs, will be used as a single group in the trial. The experiment will focus on ensuring the safety of passengers with mobility issues as they are transported throughout the huge facilities.

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As sales of electric vehicles start to soar, the thorny issue of what to do with end-of-life lithium-ion batteries isn’t going away. We look at the problem and explore the solutions.

To say that the legacy of today’s electric vehicles is set to be a mountain of lithium-ion battery waste would be kind. In 2017, when worldwide sales of electric vehicles exceeded one million cars per year for the first time, calculations from UK-based University of Birmingham researchers revealed stark figures. These vehicles alone are destined to leave some 250,000 tonnes of unprocessed battery waste when they eventually reach the scrap heap in 2027. This is just the beginning.

Latest modelling from the Paris-based International Energy Agency indicates the number of electric cars on the road will lie between 125 million and 220 million by 2030. Given this, come the middle of this century, the 250,000-tonne waste figure looks meagre against the tens of millions of tonnes of waste that could follow. And to make matters worse, recycling is playing catch-up.

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We need one in Nigeria too.

Elon Musk has come to hint about his wish to set up Tesla’s second gigafactory in Asia. As he responded to queries on the Twitter handle, he indicated that the location of the second outlet won’t be necessarily inside China.

The soaring market

At present, the third gigafactory in China happens to be the electric carmaker’s only operational facility across the globe, producing Tesla Model 3 sedans and stands on a 9,300,000-square feet ground. On the other hand, the company aims to expand its lineup in the country with a locally built Model 3 sedan which is expected to offer a longer driving range. The next goal under the plan lies in producing a brand new Model Y.

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Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense and GM Defense LLC announced an agreement worth about $214,3 million to build, field and sustain the Army’s new Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV).

The ISV program will provide Infantry Brigade Combat Teams an additive lightweight vehicle to move Soldiers and their equipment quickly over complex and difficult cross-country terrain. Designed to provide rapid ground mobility, the expeditionary ISV is a light and agile all-terrain troop carrier intended to transport a nine-Soldier infantry squad moving throughout the battlefield.

The total production ISV contract award value is $214.3 million to procure the initial Army Procurement Objective of 649. The approved Army Acquisition Objective is 2,065 vehicles.

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SHANGHAI/BEIJING — U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.

Musk added that he was confident Tesla would attain basic functionality of the technology this year, in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai’s annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an autopilot driver assistance system.

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