Transportation – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Here’s how every major automaker plans to go electric

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in transportation

Oct 7
2017

Traditional automakers are increasingly shifting their focus on electric and electrified cars, investing millions and pledging to release new EVs soon.

More than 70% of US fears robots taking over our lives, survey finds

Posted by John Gallagher in robotics/AI, transportation

Oct 5
2017

As Silicon Valley heralds progress on self-driving cars and robot carers, much of the rest of the country is worried about machines taking control of human tasks.

Tesla says it’s halfway done building the world’s biggest battery

Posted by Dan Kummer in Elon Musk, energy, sustainability, transportation

Oct 3
2017

On Friday, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the company was halfway done building the battery bank that will become the world’s biggest battery once it’s complete. Musk made the announcement at a party overlooking the project’s construction, ABC News Australia reported.

Tesla is building the 129-MWh battery with French energy company Neoen. The battery will be draw energy from Neoen’s Hornsdale wind farm that’s 142 miles north of Adelaide. The electricity will be delivered to South Australians during peak grid times to reduce the number of blackouts in the area, which are frequent in summer months.

“The system is a big battery, a battery big enough to power 50,000 houses — the biggest in the world,” Neoen global COO Romain Desrousseaux previously told Business Insider.

Rio Tinto Steams Ahead With First Driverless Ore Train

Posted by Dan Kummer in robotics/AI, transportation

Oct 2
2017

Trains autonomously hauling iron ore across Australia’s arid Pilbara region were meant to transform the mining industry, but the technology proved trickier than expected. Now, Rio Tinto says it has completed a driverless pilot run, operated by people hundreds of miles away.

The Senate Is About to Approve Commercial Sale of Self-Driving Cars (But Not Trucks)

Posted by Dan Kummer in robotics/AI, transportation

Oct 1
2017

Senators John Thune and Gary Peters reach a bipartisan deal.

By Minda Zetlin

Mercedes-Benz’s $1 billion electric car ‘attack on Tesla’ is missing a zero, says Elon Musk

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Sep 30
2017

Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, announced last week a $1 billion investment in electric car and battery production in the US.

As with any new EV investment from a legacy automaker, the media painted it as an “attack on Tesla”, but Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and largest shareholder, doesn’t seem too worried about it.

BMW is set to offer a pad to wirelessly charge your car

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in transportation

Sep 30
2017

But it’s not coming to the US — yet.

There’s a fake city where cars are learning to drive themselves

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in transportation

Sep 30
2017

Mercedes Will Build Electric SUVs at its Alabama Assembly Plant

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in sustainability, transportation

Sep 30
2017

The company’s just invested $1 billion into electric car and battery production.

Gogoro raises $300 million for its battery-swapping technology

Posted by Shailesh Prasad in sustainability, transportation

Sep 30
2017

Gogoro, which wants to redefine urban transportation to make it more sustainable, announced today that it has raised a whopping $300 million to further its mission. New investors Temasek, Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, Sumitomo Corporation, and ENGIE joined existing investors Dr. Samuel Yin, founder of the Tang Prize and chairman of Ruentex Group; Panasonic; and others.

Based in Taipei, Taiwan, Gogoro developed a cloud-powered battery-swapping network called the Gogoro Energy Network. The aim, according to cofounder and CEO Horace Luke, is to build an infrastructure model to power electric mobility.

“The smart connected infrastructure focuses on optimizing the Gogoro Energy Network to make sure that customers always have access to charged batteries,” Luke said in an interview with VentureBeat.