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Category: transportation – Page 64

Solar EV startup Aptera Motors continued its welcomed level of public transparency today, posting another progress update video for February, offering some juicy details. Aptera co-founder Steve Fambro walks you through the first glimpse at the upcoming Aptera app, which promises several cool features; plus, we get a look at some Solar EV battery packs and some hints at how safe the production vehicle will be. You can learn more in the full video below.

There is a multitude of reasons why Aptera Motors is different from the other OEMs out there. The most obvious is that the California-based startup is really the only company left trying to bring Solar EVs to full-scale production, and it is closer than ever, following a successful $34 million crowdfunding program.

Additionally, Aptera constantly keeps its growing fanbase as well as EV enthusiasts in the know of its progress in developing its solar EVs, posting monthly updates to YouTube. There is also plenty of news coming out of Aptera HQ in between those monthly videos. For example, Aptera offered the public a look at its production-intent build process in mid-February.

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Tesla has made significant strides in improving its supply chain sustainability and human rights practices, as per a new study by environmental group Lead the Charge. This was highlighted by the fact that the electric vehicle giant jumped from ninth to third place in the group’s annual Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard and Report.

Lead the Charge’s Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard and Report analyzes publicly available data from 18 of the industry’s leading automotive manufacturers. The study also provides rankings of automakers’ efforts to eliminate emissions, environmental harms, and human rights violations from their supply chains. In a press release, Lead the Charge noted that its study comes at a crucial time as industry experts are calling for automakers to foster a cleaner supply chain.

Tesla is among the automakers that stood out in Lead the Charge’s study. As per the environmental group, Tesla achieved the largest score increase among its peers in the study, with the company jumping from ninth to third place. Tesla was also the only company to make improvements across all eight of the study’s indicator categories.

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Zinc-air batteries are an inexpensive, powerful battery alternative that can be used on the small scale to power electronics or on the large scale for electric vehicles or energy storage. These batteries work when oxygen from the air oxidizes zinc, but the difficulty in oxygen activation which degrades battery performance has prevented their wide commercial adoption.

Information presented in a paper published in Carbon Future (“Fullerene-metalloporphyrin co-crystal as efficient ORR electrocatalyst precursor for Zn-air batteries”) shows how the addition of fullerene-derived carbon materials as catalysts can improve performance, stability, and cost of zinc-air batteries.

This graphic illustrates a zinc-air battery can using a fullerene-metalloporphyrin co-crystal as an oxygen reduction reaction catalyst. (Image: Carbon Future, Tsinghua University Press)

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The industrial innovation fund is seeking to invest in start-ups that can support the ecommerce group’s aims of becoming “more efficient, safer for our associates, and increase the speed of delivery to our customers.” Bossart said.

She said the Amazon fund would expand its focus this year, including by seeking to invest in companies involved in the “last mile” of deliveries, when packages arrive with customers, as well as geographically and in later-stage companies. However, Bossart would not be drawn on how much the fund has deployed so far, declining to comment on a report it has invested $110 million as of June.

The focus on the automation of warehouses and logistics was not about cutting people out of them altogether, but would result in a “shift in jobs” as more robots and automated vehicles took on repetitive or dangerous tasks, she said. “We’re also a long way off from replacing all humans,” she added.

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The move also comes when Apple faces stiff competition from other tech giants in the electric vehicle space, such as Xiaomi and Sony.

Apple has reportedly finally given up on its long-running and secretive electric car project.

The project was dubbed Project Titan. According to a report by Bloomberg, the tech giant reportedly broke the news to its employees on Tuesday. The report said that many of the 2,000-strong car team will be reassigned to other areas, such as generative AI.

The decision to scrap the electric car project is a surprise, given that Apple has been on it for years. Reportedly it has even tested its autonomous driving technology on public roads.

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