
SWAPPABLE BATTERIES
Rather than EV drivers waiting for 40 minutes to re-charge the car battery at a charging station, could the solution be stations where drivers can quickly swap their battery for a fully charged one?
Swap Battery Rather Than Wait To…

All At Sea For Carbon Capture
With container ships being bigger greenhouse gas producers that aeroplanes, London-based company ‘Seabound’ has developed technology that reduces up to 95 per cent of CO2 emissions per ship.
The Problem
The shipping…

Watching TV To Be Allowed In Automated Vehicles
The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that following changes to The Highway Code, users of automated vehicles will be allowed to watch TV on built-in screens.
Viewing Content On Built-In Screens
Following…

New Graphene-Based Batteries Could Be Fireproof & Safer
Los Angeles based Nanotech Energy claims to have developed a fireproof, graphene-based lithium-ion battery that could be safer for Electric Vehicles.
What Is Graphene?
Extracted from graphite, graphene is a single layer (monolayer) of…

Charging Electric Vehicles : What You Need to Know
In this article, we look at the different types and locations of EV charging in the UK, plus the challenges and legislation relating to it.
How Many Electric Cars In The UK?
By the end of August 2021, there were more than 600,000 plug-in…

Tech-Insight – What Is A Solid State Battery?
In this tech-insight, we take a brief look at what solid-state batteries are, their benefits and challenges, and how why they hold a great deal of promise for use in electric vehicles in the near future.
Solid State
A solid-state battery…

Tech Insight : Carbon-Free Travel – What Is Hyperloop?
In this tech-insight, we look at what hyperloop technology is, how it has been tested and used to date, and whether it could be a viable form of carbon-free travel for the future.
What Is Hyperloop Technology?
First invented by mechanical…

Jeff Bezos And The Space Race
In this article, we look at some of the lighter aspects of the technological achievement that was the recent Blue Origin rocket flight, and we look at the vision behind it.
Space Passengers
The recent flight of the rocket containing and…

Scotland Shames The Rest of UK for Free Electronic Car Charging
Zap-Map figures show that Scotland has the largest number of free electronic vehicle (EV) charging points in the UK.
More Than A Quarter of the UK’s Free Chargers
The latest figures from EV charging infrastructure trackers Zap-Maps…

Electric Cars Allowed in Bus Lanes Pilot Causes Concern
Cambridgeshire County Council’s pilot scheme to allow electric vehicles to use bus lanes from December 2020 has caused safety concerns among cyclists, who also use the bus lanes.
December Decision
Under an Experimental Traffic Regulation…

Tesla Delivered (Almost) 500,000 Vehicles in 2020
Tesla reached its target of producing 500,000+ vehicles in 2020, although it very narrowly missed its target of delivering that number of vehicles.
Target
Electronic vehicle company Tesla’s own target set five years ago under CEO Elon…

Hyundai Buying Robot Company
South Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor Group, has agreed to buy a controlling stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics.
Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics, which is currently owned by Tokyo-based multinational conglomerate holding company…

Which? Reveals Truth About EV Battery Life
A recent (Which?) survey of 1,016 electric vehicle (EV) owners has revealed that worries about battery degradation should not be an issue for potential EV buyers.
The Survey
The survey by consumer champion Which? was conducted from December…

Uber Reclaims London Licence
A year after Transport for London (TfL) stopped ride-hailing service Uber’s London operating licence over safety concerns, an appeal has led to the company being granted a further 18-month licence.
What Happened?
Back in November 2019,…

Zero-Emission, Hydrogen-Powered Commercial Aircraft by 2035 Says Airbus
Airbus has announced that a zero-emission, hydrogen-fuelled commercial aircraft could be a reality by 2035.
Targets
The dramatic drop in air pollution levels during the global pandemic lockdown reminded many people of the pressing need…

Delivery Drones Get Go Ahead
Amazon’s Prime Air drone parcel delivery service has been approved by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to test autonomous delivery drones.
Prime Air
Amazon Prime Air completed its first fully autonomous drone delivery…

Toyota To Upload Driver’s Data To Amazon
Toyota will use Amazon’s (AWS) cloud services for a Mobility Services Platform that will upload data from Toyota cars globally that could be used for monetised services.
Data Gathering From Fleet
Toyota’s platform in Amazon’s cloud…

Electric Vehicles, Batteries & Renewables
7 million electric vehicles are already on the world’s roads and it is predicated that 31 per cent of the overall car fleet will be electric by 2040 (i.e. 58% of all vehicles sold). How these vehicles are powered by (or can store) renewable…

Vertical Take-Off Air Taxi
German vertical take-off air taxi start-up company Lilium has just received a major funding boost from Baillie Gifford, the second-biggest shareholder in Tesla.
Additional Funding
Lilium had already raised $340 million, $240 million…

Fuel Engine Car Sales Fall Faster Than Electric Cars
Fuel engine car sales fall faster then electric cars as Bloomberg NEF (BNEF) forecasts that sales of combustion engine cars will drop 23 per cent in 2020. Compared with worldwide electric car registrations being set to fall by only 18 per…

Robot Food Deliveries in Milton Keynes During Lockdown
Delivery robots from U.S.-based company Starship Technologies have come into their own during the lockdown as a way of delivering food to the residents and workers of Milton Keynes.
First Commercial Deployment in the UK
The autonomous…

Uber Loses London Licence
A decision by Transport for London (TfL) means that ride-hailing service Uber has lost its licence to carry passengers in London over safety and security failures.
Why?
According to TfL, it had identified a pattern of failures by Uber,…

Windows Still Needs Some Work on Tesla’s New “Cybertruck”
Tesla’s Elon Musk proudly launched the new ‘Cybertruck’ in front of the world’s media last week, only to find that the distinctly breakable difficult-to-break windows were the main focus of media reports.
Cybertruck
The new Tesla…

Dyson Scraps “Not Commercially Viable” Electric Car
Dyson has scrapped its £2.5 billion ‘N526’ electric car project with Sir James Dyson announcing that it was “not commercially viable”.
So Close
The project, which could be traced back to 1993 with the development of a cyclonic…

Tesla Owners Locked Out
Some Tesla Model 3 car owners found themselves decidedly locked out in the cold due to a vital Phone Key app being down for maintenance.
Labor Day Dismay
On US Labor Day, some owners of Tesla Model 3 cars who tried to use their Phone…

Four-Year Lifespan For Self-Driving Cars
As large car manufacturers seek to reinvent themselves as ‘mobility companies’ in an effort to compete for global leadership in the growing autonomous driving sector, a Ford Executive has predicted that self-driving cars will only…

London Underground To Get 4G Next Year
Transport for London (TfL) has announced that from March 2020, 4G rollout will begin across the London Underground network, thereby allowing customers, for the first time, to check emails and travel information, use social media, and stream…

New Electric Cars Will Emit Noise For Safety Reasons
In contrast to the vision of a quieter, close-future utopia where vehicles pass noiselessly by, a new law means that from 2021, all new four-wheel electric cars will be required to include a noise emitting device so that pedestrians can hear…

Is CCTV Surveillance By Amazon Drones Be The Future?
An Amazon patent from 2015 appears to indicate that Amazon may consider 'surveillance as a service' using a swarm of its delivery drones armed with CCTV, as a monetising opportunity in the future.
Patent
The details in the patent foresee…

First Organ Delivery By Drone
A human kidney for transplant has been delivered by drone to a Medical Centre in Baltimore in the first flight of its kind.
Cutting Edge Technology
The drone transportation of the living organ over a one-mile journey used cutting-edge…