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Category: transportation

Transportation @ PNNL: Eliminating Critical Materials in Batteries

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle and supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the DOE Office of Science website. For more information about PNNL, visit PNNL’s News Center. Follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

“Unlimited range” stealth ebike never needs plugging in

:3year 2019

If e-bikes tend to look a little ungainly for your tastes, check out this thing from Barcelona’s Nua Bikes. With the motor, sensors and battery built into a discreet hub unit, the Nua Electrica is barely distinguishable from a regular fixie, and its innovative “self-charging” mode means you can get away without ever charging it.

Weighing in at just 13 kg thanks to a full titanium frame, the Nua Electrica is the stealthiest single-speed e-bike we’ve seen to date. It uses a very cool motor/battery combo unit that we suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the coming months and years.

The Zehus Bike+ is an all-in-one hub unit that weighs just 3 kg (6.6 lb) and fits into any frame with a rear wheel dropout 120 mm (4.7 in) or wider. It contains a 250-watt motor, a 160-watt-hour battery, several sensors, a Bluetooth communications system and all the electronics required to run an e-bike.

A high-tech park is being built in Killeen

The establishment of a new business park in Killeen is underway.

Wolf Technology Park is set to inhabit 94-acres of real estate located on Texas Highway 195 in south Killeen.

“Wolf Technology Park is a cornerstone of our strategy to attract next-generation employers to Killeen,” Tyler Robert, vice president of the Killeen Economic Development Corporation, said. “With infrastructure investments already in place and sites ready for development, the park is well-positioned to support advanced manufacturing, federal services, health and life sciences, research and development, cybersecurity and semiconductor-related industries.”

Automaker clears major hurdle with first-of-its-kind flying vehicle: ‘The road to aircraft certification is broad and complex’

SkyDrive, a Toyota-affiliated startup in Japan, has crossed a major hurdle on the path to bringing flying cars to everyday life.

According to New Atlas, the company’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, the three-seat “SkyDrive,” has officially been issued a G-1 certification basis by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau — a critical step toward full approval and commercial use.

“The road to aircraft certification is broad and complex, particularly for new aircraft such as eVTOLs,” the company noted, adding that this latest agreement “provides further clarity and direction.”

Elon Musk Admits Tesla Could Hit $20 Trillion, Robotaxi Skeptics Still In Denial

Questions to inspire discussion.

🛻 Q: How did the Cybertruck perform in safety tests? A: The Cybertruck received a 5-star rating from NITSA, achieving the lowest overall probability of injury and lowest chance of rollover ever for a tested pickup truck.

🤖 Q: What role do humanoid robots play in Tesla’s future valuation? A: Tesla’s humanoid robots at massive scale are considered a key factor in reaching a potential $20 trillion valuation, according to Elon Musk’s modeled scenarios.

Expansion of Autonomous Services.

🚕 Q: What are Tesla’s plans for robotaxi service in San Francisco? A: Tesla plans to launch a robotaxi service in San Francisco this weekend, with drivers in the driver’s seat to collect data for regulatory approval.

📊 Q: How quickly is Tesla expanding its robotaxi service in Austin? A: Tesla’s autonomous vehicles have collected thousands of intervention-free drives in Austin, with robotaxis expanding their service area in less than 3 weeks after launch.

Continue reading “Elon Musk Admits Tesla Could Hit Trillion, Robotaxi Skeptics Still In Denial” | >

Tesla FSD About to Go Unsupervised

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology is on the verge of a significant breakthrough, with potential approvals and expansions in multiple states and countries, paving the way for widespread adoption in robo-taxis and personal vehicles.

Questions to inspire discussion.

FSD and Robotaxi Progress.
🚗 Q: What is the most important catalyst for Tesla investors? A: Tesla’s Robo Taxi and FSD progress, with a 10x expansion in Austin area in 2 weeks, exponential increase in service area, and unsupervised FSD available for personal use in Texas and California by year-end.

They helped make Waymo go. Now they’re building AI-powered robots to solve America’s labor crisis

To confront this growing labor crisis, Boris Sofman—a Carnegie Mellon robotics Ph.D. and early Waymo executive—cofounded Bedrock Robotics in 2024. Instead of building autonomous machines from scratch, Bedrock retrofits existing construction equipment like excavators, bulldozers, and loaders with AI-powered operating systems, sensors, and lidar to make them fully autonomous.

Sofman has brought together fellow engineers from Waymo, Google, and Caterpillar (CAT), many of whom were instrumental in scaling autonomous technologies in some of the world’s most complex machines. The team shares a fundamental belief: the future of construction lies in autonomy, not more manpower.

“I saw the powerful potential of applying modern ML approaches we developed at Waymo to construction. This is a problem you could not solve without the modern approaches we saw to be so effective, and helped deploy, in transportation, so it felt like a huge opportunity to address this critical need,” Sofman tells Fast Company. “We can get to a deployed product for a fraction of the cost it took Waymo, and continue to build toward the full potential while growing revenues and serving real customers.”

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