At this point, it’s a pretty well known fact that electric vehicles — and, at least in the popular imagination, Teslas especially — have a nagging habit of erupting into flames.
One Tesla owner in Maine evidently has that concern hovering in the back of their mind every time they leave the driveway.
While driving around the town of Tremont in a sleek red Model S, an unnamed driver hit an object on the road which punctured the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery, local station WABI5 reported. As most EV drivers are hopefully aware, any kind of damage to a car’s battery can easily spark a fire fueled by thermal runaway, resulting in a uniquely dangerous inferno that can be difficult to put out.
Luckily, this driver kept their head, driving straight to the Tremont fire station where the high-voltage battery immediately burst into flames, Bangor Daily News reported.
With help from the nearby Southwest Harbor Fire Department, the crew of the Tremont Volunteer Fire Department sprang into action, shutting down the road and dousing the Tesla using an arsenal of firehoses.
Based on photos of the incident, it seems the Tesla was totaled, but the driver is said to be doing alright.
The Tremont fire comes just days after an exploding Tesla in Seattle sent two firefighters to the hospital. That particular EV was parked inside an attached garage at the time, resulting in a two-alarm housefire that displaced an unfortunate family.
All told, if you drive an EV, it’s probably smart to have the address of the nearest fire department drilled into your head — especially if it’s a Tesla.
More on Tesla: It’s Looking Like the Cybertruck Is the Biggest Flop in Automotive History
The post Driver Pulls Up Directly to Firehouse When His Tesla Inexplicably Bursts Into Flames appeared first on Futurism.
A research team in Japan has won a US$1 million Milestone 2 award in the XPRIZE Healthspan competition for developing engineered “super exosomes,” microscopic biological delivery vehicles designed to target aging and damaged cells. Led by Professor Keisuke Goda of Tohoku University’s SiRIUS Institute of Medical Research and Graduate School of Medicine, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Chemistry, the team was selected from more than 600 competitors worldwide.
XPRIZE Healthspan is a seven-year international competition focused on extending the period of life people spend in good health. Participating teams are challenged to develop treatments capable of restoring muscle, cognitive, and immune function in adults between 50 and 90 years old. The competition sets a minimum target of reversing at least 10 years of biological decline, while the most ambitious goal is a 20-year improvement within one year or less of treatment. Goda’s team is now moving forward after receiving recognition for results obtained in aged animal studies.
At the center of the research are exosomes, naturally occurring nanoparticles released by cells. These membrane-bound vesicles normally transport proteins, lipids, messenger RNA, and other molecular signals between cells, functioning as part of the body’s communication network. Because exosomes can carry biological cargo and interact with specific tissues, scientists have been investigating them as potential alternatives to synthetic drug-delivery systems. However, naturally produced exosomes often lack sufficient targeting precision, limiting their ability to reach the cells most relevant to a disease or aging process.
The Tohoku-led group attempted to solve that problem by chemically modifying the surface of exosomes with lanthanide ions. Lanthanides are a family of metallic elements with distinctive electronic and chemical properties. According to the researchers, attaching these ions changes the surface behavior of the exosomes and substantially improves their ability to recognize and bind to senescent cells. The resulting particles have been named “super exosomes,” a term that reflects their enhanced targeting and delivery capabilities rather than a new biological category.
Cellular senescence is one of the major biological processes associated with aging. Senescent cells have generally stopped dividing because of accumulated damage or stress, but they do not necessarily disappear. Instead, some remain metabolically active and release inflammatory molecules, growth regulators, and other signals that can disrupt nearby tissues. This collection of secreted factors, often called the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, can contribute to chronic inflammation, impaired tissue repair, and the deterioration of organs. Precisely influencing these cells has therefore become a major objective in longevity research.
The proposed super-exosome platform is designed to deliver regenerative molecular cargo directly to aging tissues after attaching to senescent cells. Potential cargoes include growth factors, messenger RNA, and other genetic materials capable of altering cellular behavior. Rather than distributing such molecules broadly throughout the body, a targeted exosome could concentrate them near damaged or dysfunctional tissue. In theory, this approach could promote repair while reducing unwanted effects in healthy cells, although the degree of targeting and the durability of the response will need to be confirmed in human studies.
In preclinical experiments involving several groups of aged mice, the researchers reported statistically significant improvements in frailty, physical performance, and multiple functional measures associated with aging. They also described the treatment’s safety profile as excellent in the studies conducted so far. The team says the overall benefit corresponds to more than 15 additional healthy human years when estimated using cross-species lifespan scaling. Such calculations can help compare biological effects between species, but they are not evidence that a mouse treatment will extend human life by a specific number of years. Human biology, dosing, immune responses, and long-term risks could differ substantially.
The award will support the next stage of development: clinical studies planned in collaboration with Tohoku University Hospital and the Tohoku University Healthspan Research Center. These studies will need to establish how the particles behave in humans, how efficiently they reach senescent cells, what cargoes are most effective, and whether the treatment produces measurable improvements in strength, cognition, immunity, or other healthspan indicators. Researchers will also have to monitor possible immune reactions, unintended effects on healthy tissues, changes in tumor risk, and the persistence of engineered exosomes in the body. These questions are essential before claims of age reversal can move beyond the laboratory.
The platform could eventually be investigated for conditions involving muscle decline, cognitive impairment, immune dysfunction, hair loss, skin aging, and reproductive health. The team plans to commercialize the technology through NanoTitan, with the aim of developing scalable manufacturing and international distribution for exosome-based therapeutics produced in Japan. “Advancing to the XPRIZE Healthspan finals is an important milestone, but our ultimate goal is to translate this technology into therapies that allow people to lead healthy, independent, and active lives longer,” Goda said. The research now enters its most demanding phase: determining whether an impressive result in aged mice can become a safe, reproducible, and clinically meaningful treatment for people.
Subject of Research: Engineered “super exosomes” designed to target senescent cells and deliver regenerative molecular cargo for healthy aging.
Article Title: Japanese Research Team Wins US$1 Million XPRIZE Award for “Super Exosome” Aging Technology
Web References: https://mediasvc.eurekalert.org/Api/v1/Multimedia/673c8fb3-268a-4a90-93b4-a0d531624a52/Rendition/low-res/Content/Public
Image Credits: Goda Lab
Keywords: Super exosomes, exosomes, cellular senescence, healthy aging, longevity research, XPRIZE Healthspan, regenerative medicine, Tohoku University, lanthanide ions, aged mice, healthspan, nanomedicine
© Asim Hafeez for The New York Times
Two firefighters were rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, after a Tesla parked in a family garage exploded.
According to local station KING5, the incident happened in the Seattle suburb of Auburn, after a massive fire spread from a family’s garage to the rest of their home.
The Tesla explosion set off what ultimately became a two-alarm fire, requiring emergency crews to battle back flames for hours. Thankfully, the two injured firefighters were discharged with non-life threatening injuries, and nobody else was hurt, though the single-family home was pretty much totaled.
The ultimate cause of the fire is still under investigation — whether the Tesla combusted on its own, setting off the blaze, or was the result of a fire which started elsewhere isn’t known.
Still, it’s fair to assume the explosion contributed to the severity of the fire, the latest example of an all-too-common situation plaguing Teslas and other electric vehicles.
Thanks to their massive lithium batteries, Teslas have an unfortunate habit of bursting into flames, often after being involved in collisions, but occasionally entirely on their own.
Regardless of what sparks the flames, battery fires are notoriously difficult to put out, requiring specialized hazmat units and thousands of gallons of water to end the battery’s combustion.
More on Tesla: Tesla Whistleblower Describes Wildly Dangerous Safety Lapses While Developing Full Self-Driving
The post Tesla Explosion Sends Injured Firefighters to the Hospital appeared first on Futurism.
Self-driving trucks could be hauling cargo across highways in the near future. But not without the Teamsters having a say in the matter first.
As Politico reports, the California branch of the nation’s largest union is suing state lawmakers, accusing them of rushing out new regulations that’re friendly to the autonomous vehicle industry without considering their impact on workers’ jobs.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, takes aim at several state agencies including the Department of Motor Vehicles, and governor Gavin Newsom’s administration. The union contends that the new regulations are an “existential threat” to hundreds of thousands of union jobs, and is demanding that the DMV should be blocked from enforcing the new rules.
“The DMV irresponsibly, carelessly, and unlawfully kept the public in the dark about the true economic and human costs of the amended Autonomous Vehicle regulations,” Julie Gutman Dickinson, an attorney representing the Teamsters, said in a statement, per Politico.
“The only way to protect the public’s right to properly scrutinize regulations that will transform transportation in California is for the Court to order the DMV to immediately rescind the illegally enacted regulations,” Gutman added.
California regulators have played hardball with autonomous vehicle companies in the past, including Elon Musk’s Tesla. And previously, Politico noted, it was the only state that prohibited large self-driving vehicles.
That changed in April. Snuck into a sweeping bill that imposed tighter limits on how driverless cars should operate was a clause that allowed testing of autonomous semi-trucks and other heavy duty vehicles, so long as the pilot programs go through an approval process.
At the crux of the suit, the Teamsters say that the DMV didn’t conduct a mandatory economic study to gauge the effects of the new regulations. Instead, the lawmakers expediently used a process meant to fast-track minor updates that have minimal economic impact, they allege.
The DMV, puzzlingly, calculated that no jobs would be eliminated by self-driving trucks. Fat chance, according to the Teamsters: by its own count, over 200,000 semi-truck drivers could be put out of work.
The Teamsters also raised the danger posed by allowing computer systems to control a vehicle weighing tens of thousands of pounds, compared to the smaller threat posed by a robotaxi. A Tesla Semi — a vehicle that’s envisioned as having autonomous driving capabilities — was involved in a grisly crash that killed two people, though it doesn’t appear that self-driving features were being tested at the time of the accident.
More on self-driving vehicles: Tesla Whistleblower Describes Wildly Dangerous Safety Lapses While Developing Full Self-Driving
The post Labor Union Sues Over Self-Driving Trucks appeared first on Futurism.
This year has already proved bountiful for brilliant EV releases, with the likes of BMW unleashing the debut models from its groundbreaking Neue Klasse series, Mercedes-Benz unveiling the impressively efficient CLA and Hyundai pushing electric high performance to the max with its Ioniq 6 N.
Granted, I haven’t been able to drive absolutely everything that has gone on sale globally this year, but I have done my best to get behind the wheel of what, to me, feels like a crop of groundbreaking electric vehicles that push the powertrain forward.
From enormous, opulent vans to arguably the first 'kei car' to be sold in the UK, the spectrum of brilliant, battery-powered vehicles is as wide and as interesting as any internal combustion engine counterpart. Here’s my pick of the bunch.
I didn’t think Hyundai could improve much on the brilliant Ioniq 5 N, but the Ioniq 6 N seemingly takes everything that was great about the Korean marque's super hatch and seemingly turns performance up to eleven, while somehow making it more practical.
It takes the same recipe of simulated gears, synthesized engine noise and absurd straight-line performance and packages it in a more mature, long-distance-friendly sedan.
With 650 hp, 770 Nm of torque and a 0-62mph time of 3.2 seconds, it is seriously quick, but the revised suspension geometry and lower roll center make it considerably more composed at speed than its hot-hatch sibling.
The N e-Shift system now adds another simulated gear, while the upgraded sound system makes the artificial pops, bangs and revs remarkably convincing.
Yet it can switch back into a quiet, comfortable cruiser when the fun is over. Add 291 miles of WLTP range and 350 kW charging, and this might be the most complete performance EV I've driven, erm, ever.
The Kia EV2 might be small, but it has the sort of big-car technology and practicality that makes it surprisingly easy to live with. At just over four meters long, it packs a slick triple-screen infotainment setup, a huge array of driver-assistance systems and an interior that feels considerably roomier than its dimensions suggest. Imagine an EV5 or EV9 that’s been hit with a shrink ray and you’re not far off.
The 144 bhp version I drove didn’t feel particularly sporty, taking almost nine seconds to reach 62mph, but that isn't really the point. Its ride is excellent, it remains impressively composed at highway speeds and the Long Range version should comfortably break out of the usual urban EV routine.
Charging is also respectable, with a 10-80% session taking just under 30 minutes. Best of all, it makes a compelling case for ignoring that massive, heavy SUV for daily driving duties and settling for something that will happily slot into a supermarket parking space.
The Cupra Raval VZ is proof that small EVs don't have to be sensible or boring. With its squat proportions, aggressive styling and 19-inch wheels, it looks like a proper hot hatch, and the driving experience backs that up.
The 222 bhp front-wheel-drive powertrain can deliver 0-62 mph in 6.8 seconds, while Cupra mode brings huge amounts of grip, adjustable dynamic chassis control and a synthesized soundtrack to the party.
Yet it can settle down into a surprisingly comfortable and refined cruiser when required. I averaged around 4.5 miles per kWh during a day of enthusiastic driving, suggesting more than 200 miles of real-world range from the 52 kWh battery.
There's also a surprisingly spacious cabin and useful trunk, making the Raval an unusually convincing blend of fun and practicality — like all great hot hatches should be.
The Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric is a handsome demonstration of just how far EV performance has come. With up to 1,156 hp available using Launch Control, it can hit 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds and reach 162 mph, making it the most powerful production Porsche yet.
Those figures are astonishing, but what impressed me most was how effectively Porsche hides the car's considerable bulk. Despite weighing around 2.5 tons, it feels remarkably composed through corners, with superb feedback through the steering wheel, active suspension and optional rear-axle steering helping shrink its footprint on the road. It is also a seriously capable long-distance EV, with up to 415 miles of range in Coupe form and 390 kW charging capable of delivering a 10-80% top-up in as little as 16 minutes.
Oh, and the world’s first 11 kW wireless charging functionality is far from a gimmick, showcasing just how effortless life with an EV can be if you can afford it.
The Honda Super-N might be one of the least practical cars I've driven this year on paper, but that's completely missing the point. This tiny electric runaround is an absolute riot, with 94 bhp sent through the front wheels, a perfectly composed chassis and a big Boost button that encourages you to attack corners with old-school hot-hatch enthusiasm.
At just 1,097 kg, it feels wonderfully light and responsive, while clever regenerative braking and virtual gear changes add to the fun. The 29.6 kWh battery only offers around 128 miles of range and charging tops out at 50 kW, so it's hardly a road-trip machine. But for urban driving, it makes a brilliant case for small EVs, proving that you don't need huge power or battery capacity to have a genuinely entertaining car.
It’s the posh electric van that makes you wonder if that massive family SUV is really the right vehicle for your daily needs. Mercedes’ all-new VLE combines huge amounts of space with the sort of refinement more commonly associated with an S-Class, while the excellent air suspension delivers an exceptionally smooth, quiet ride.
The clever Roll & Go rear seats are by far my favorite feature, sliding along built-in rails and rolling out of the vehicle on their own wheels when removed — transforming the plush people-mover from a seven-seat bus into the ultimate transportation for active outdoor lifestyles.
Range is impressive, too, with the single-motor VLE 300 capable of a claimed 435 miles thanks to its 115 kWh battery, while 300 kW charging makes long-distance driving much more realistic. Add superb infotainment technology, rear-wheel steering and limousine levels of comfort, and this is a hugely compelling EV for large families… so long as said families have a healthy vehicle budget.
HELSINKI — Commercial launch company Orienspace has kicked off preparations for an IPO coaching process while closing a funding round for accelerating its reusable Gravity-2 rocket. The Shandong-based company, formally […]
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Anyone with a keen interest in the European car market will know that Cupra parted ways with its sister company Seat way back in 2018 to become the high-performance, funky standalone brand to attract the attention of a more youthful buyer.
The gamble paid off, as Cupra now outsells Seat in most regions, thanks to its heady line-up of handsomely styled SUVs and sporty hatchbacks, all with a fine selection of electrified powertrains.
This latest edition to the family, the relatively diminutive Raval, is the first of its kind to sit on parent company VW’s MEB+ platform, which will also underpin the upcoming and equally spicy ID Polo (including the GTI), the ID Cross and Skoda’s more crossover focused Epiq.
But Cupra being Cupra has seen fit to endow the Raval with almost comically sporty proportions, a fabulously appointed interior and the sort of electric powertrain that is designed to have true driving fans won over.
Having driven the top spec VZ models out on the beautifully flowing roads of northeastern Spain, it’s clear that there is still room for the compact, agile hot hatch in the often soulless world of modern EVs.
You only have to take a look at one of the many recent Cupra events to realize that the company approaches new product launches a little differently.
These shindigs are typically held in warehouses and other industrial settings, often involve world-class DJs and incorporate faces from fashion, sports and culture.
The overemphasized creases on the bonnet, super aggressive front lamps and chunky rear diffuser on this VZ model signal its racy intentions.
The Raval is all of this stuff distilled into a diminutive hatchback, with copper accents and contrast flourishes on the outside, myriad on-trend materials throughout the cockpit and the latest technology taking care of infotainment duties.
On the outside, the Raval rides low to the ground (well, as low as any modern EV can) and wears its squat proportions with pride.
The over-emphasized creases on the bonnet, super aggressive front lamps and chunky rear diffuser on this VZ model signal its racy intentions.
It also rides on 19-inch ‘Rebel’ rims and crams vegan leather bucket seats into the cockpit, as well as a 12.9-inch Android Automotive central display and a separate 10.25-inch digital cockpit that takes care of speed and whatnot.
Considering the Raval VZ starts at £34,9995 in the UK (that’s around $47,000 / AU$65,000), it feels like a generous dose of premium car for the money.
But for those happy with the smaller wheels and smaller battery pack (more on that later), the range actually starts from £23,785 (around $32,000 / AU$45,000) for the 115hp, 37kWh models.
Clearly, the VZ version driven here is a little ‘spicier’ when it comes its performance credentials, as it features the larger 52kWh battery pack and a powertrain that delivers 222bhp and 214lb ft to the front wheels in proper hot hatch fashion.
Prod the accelerator and the little Raval wants to move, whisking drivers and passengers from rest to 62mph in a respectable 6.8 seconds.
It even has a quasi launch control mode that sends little shudders and vibrations through the seat to make the process of accelerating feel more exciting.
Prod the accelerator and the little Raval wants to move, whisking drivers and passengers from rest to 62mph in a respectable 6.8 seconds.
Granted, it feels a little gimmicky but Cupra has done an excellent job of making the Raval feel as sprightly as its exterior lines would suggest.
Flick it into Cupra mode via a dedicated button on the steering wheel and, alongside a growling synthesized soundtrack, you’re treated to massive levels of grip.
This results in the ability to round corners with all the thrills of a go-kart, while the dynamic chassis control fitted to this VZ model keeps things flat and firm when the mood takes. Thankfully, it is adjustable through 15 stages, so you can easily get a set up that suits.
But when settling back down into Eco of Comfort modes, the Cupra does its best impression of a sensible, grown-up VW Group product, proving almost perfectly quiet and comfortable when cruising along the highway. The ride quality really is excellent.
Having driven almost too many EVs to remember, I have got into the habit of always checking battery efficiency after an event like this.
It’s a great indication of real-world driving, often taking in faster, flowing sections of road (where the regen will help top-up batteries), slower city driving and battery-sapping highway miles.
The Cupra Raval revealed that we averaged around 4.5 miles per kWh after a day of driving, which means we could have happily racked up over 200-miles from a single charge of the relatively small 52kWh NMC battery packs.
Cupra’s official WLTP rating has this pegged at 239-miles, which feels honest and achievable if driving sensibly… which I wasn’t during this particular test.
Raval’s recharging game is strong too, with a 10-80% session taking just 24-minutes from a 105kW DC public charger. It’s slightly longer than close rivals, such as the recent Renault 5 and Kia EV2, but neither of those cars can really be described as feisty.
But perhaps the most striking thing to note from the small, sporty hatchback is that there’s a decent amount of room inside. Two adults can very comfortably sit up front and there’s just enough room in the back for a few friends.
Admittedly, leg room in the rear isn’t exactly generous, but it’s very good in this segment, while the rear trunk is positively cavernous. Mounting the motor at the front results in an impressive amount of space to store bulkier items.
There’s even a clever folding floor that can be set at various levels, making it easier to throw in shopping when space isn’t required or free up a deeper hole for those weekend trips away.
The Cupra Raval offers a beguiling mix of sensible, grown up elements — such as the responsive Android Automotive-based infotainment system, practical interior space and premium-feeling fabrics — and laces it with a hefty dose of fun.
Granted, this isn’t the all-out hot hatch that we might be used to from the ICE era, but it gets very close.
Plus, with VW set to unleash an ID Polo GTI later this year with eerily similar performance figures, it makes you wonder if it’s worth holding out for that revered badge when the Raval VZ is this good.
I bought my first Tesla Model 3 in June 2019. It was my dream car. The promise of getting in, selecting a destination, and the car taking care of the rest was one I bought into.
I originally bought the Model 3 without Full Self Driving (FSD), which at the time cost $6,000. Then about a month later, Elon Musk announced the cost would start going up by $1,000 every few months. So, I bought FSD outright before that happened. I even ordered custom license plates to make it very clear to other drivers my car was driving itself.
A couple of years later, the first beta arrived, and during the next few years, after many updates, it got good. Really good.
I know headlines love to point out when an accident happens during FSD use — and rightfully so — but my overall experience with it as of a year ago was that I felt safe when using it. I could get in, tell it where to take me, and the majority of the time, I only had to babysit.
I used FSD probably 95% of the time; I was behind the wheel. I no longer hated driving.
Then, life changed. My wife and I decided to open a pizza food truck, and we quickly learned the truck we planned on using wasn't up for the job of towing our trailer. So, I traded in my Model 3 for a 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash. Bye-bye FSD.
My Lightning came with three free months of BlueCruise, Ford's hands-free driver-assist system that only works on highways. When you're on standard roads, Ford has a basic lane-keeping feature that keeps you within the lines, and that's about it.
After my BlueCruise trial ended, I opted not to pay the $50 a month/$500 a year subscription fee, mainly because it's limited to highways and I wasn't doing a lot of highway driving at the time. In town, I was still able to use lane keep and deal with the super annoying "Keep Your Hands on The Wheel" nag that goes off all the time.
I didn't miss the more advanced self-driving-like features of BlueCruise at all. I got by.
Then, in January, I had shoulder surgery. The extended recovery process meant driving an hour away for physical therapy at least once a week, and I'm still making that same drive. So, I decided to turn my Ford Rewards points into a couple of free months of BlueCruise to help me get back and forth.
Only this time, I loved it. I could cruise up and down the highway at 80 miles per hour, tap the blinker to start an automatic lane change and just relax — all hands free.
With a few weeks left in my extended trial, I decided to sign up for the $500-per-year subscription. While I waited for the charge to hit my credit card, a friend reminded me about Comma.ai, the small dash cam-like device that helps control your vehicle.
In Comma's own words: "It's upgraded active driver assistance for your Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, and more." Comma states it supports over 300 different vehicles.
Knowing I was about to commit to $500 per year for BlueCruise, curiosity got the best of me, and I spent over a week reading everything I possibly could about Comma and how it works.
The overly simplified explanation is that you need to install the device and a wire harness specific to your vehicle. The two components then intercept and send driver assistance commands to your vehicle, enabling hands-free driving on any marked road — not just highways.
I also spent more than a few days reading through and asking far too many questions in the Ford-specific Discord channel. The group there was amazing and patiently answered every single one.
I'll admit I felt very uneasy about random people on the internet writing software that can control my car. I still do, to an extent, but eventually I felt comfortable and curious enough to order the $1,000 gadget.
A few weeks later, a small box arrived with the camera, the Ford-specific wiring harness, and zero instructions.
Thankfully, there are quite a few YouTube videos detailing the installation process. That process requires installing the wiring harness under the dash, where my truck's Image Processing Module A (IPMA) is located. I had to remove some paneling to get to it, then route the included OBD-C cable from under the dash to my rear-view mirror where the Comma 4 is mounted.
The install process took about an hour, with the most difficult part being connecting the wiring harness to the IPMA — it's such a tiny space and hard to get to, but eventually I got it.
With the harness connected, the Comma 4 mounted, and the cable run, the next thing I needed to do was install an operating system.
The Comma 4 comes with a bare-bones operating system installed, able to do just enough to help facilitate whatever version of driving software — commonly referred to as forks — you want to use.
OpenPilot is Comma's own driving software, but it's not optimized for every vehicle. For my Ford Lightning, I have to use BluePilot, a Ford-specific fork that's customized and optimized to handle quirks in driver-assistance commands, for the best experience.
I went through the software setup process in about 10 minutes, and then it was ready for me to take a short calibration drive. Once that was done, I had my very own self-driving assistant, ready to begin driving me around.
Activating Comma is done using the same buttons I would use to turn on BlueCruise or Ford's lane-keeping features. I can see when Comma is active by looking at the Comma 4's screen for green border indicators where the edges of the lane are, and a solid green line in the middle showing that path the truck is going to take.
It took me a few days of tweaking features and settings to fine-tune how the Comma controls my truck. For instance, out of the box it doesn't handle lane changes for you. You have to enable lane changes, and even then it'll only perform a change when you activate your blinker — it won't do it on its own.
You can even customize how aggressive it is during the lane change, how long it will wait after activating the blinker before changing, so you need to confirm the change by nudging the wheel in that direction before it fully commits. It's really cool stuff.
What's taken me the longest to get just right is adjusting my truck's alignment in a lane. With default settings, my truck was consistently riding the left side of every lane I was in. It wouldn't go over it, but it was too close for my comfort. I spent some more time figuring out the proper setting to adjust and started tweaking. A few minutes later, my truck is almost perfectly centered.
I'm still tweaking different settings, but for the most part it drives just like I want. I continue to experience some very slow ping-ponging — when the car goes from one side of the lane to the other and then back — but it's easily remedied if I just place my hand on the wheel. From what I understand, I may never get fully rid of it.
I've learned a lot along the way, too. In my Ford, the Comma 4 only controls lateral movements to keep you centered in the lane, not longitudinal controls such as speeding up and braking. Ford's ACC system still handles the latter feature – something I found reassuring.
There are a few things I want to make clear, should you decide to get a Comma 4 (or one of the older models).
First, you, as the driver, are responsible for your vehicle at all times. The Comma 4 is an assistance device, not a fully-take-over-all-controls device. It hasn't tried to steer me unexpectedly into another lane, but I've seen reports and feedback about a recent update doing just that.
Second, Comma 4 will never offer a Full Self Driving-like point-to-point experience. There are just too many variables to how a third-party device can interact with and control various vehicles. In a Ford, for example, Comma 4 has limits in how aggressively it can steer, which makes tight corners difficult if not downright impossible. A recent update to BluePilot has made progress in this regard, but a 90-degree turn is all but out of the question.
My original intent was to take full advantage of the 30-day no-questions-asked return policy and send the Comma 4 back if I had any reservations after testing it. And, well, that window closed a few weeks ago.
All told, I'm nearing 1,000 miles over 97 driving sessions and 26 total hours since installing the Comma 4 in my truck. Not all of that is with it activated, but I'd wager that 75% or more of those miles were driven by Comma.
It's earning my trust with every drive and scenario I throw at it. The system has built enough confidence that I'm now going fully hands-free on longer drives.
Even with its quirks and limitations, the trade-off is a no-brainer for me. The Comma 4 handles backroads and standard city streets where BlueCruise simply gives up.
Best of all, I don't have to pay Ford $500 a year for a highway-only feature on top of what I already pay for premium connectivity. For a one-time $1,000 hardware investment, I got a sliver of my FSD experience back, saved money in the long run, and gained a system that continuously gets better thanks to an active community.
Clean Energy Council calls for a national, legislated scheme to funnel benefits of hosting renewables projects back to local councils
Organised campaigns against wind and solar energy have proved “extremely effective” in undermining community support for renewable energy but enthusiasm for electric vehicles has jumped after Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, according to a detailed snapshot of Australian attitudes to the clean energy transition.
The survey found levels of “deep support” for clean technologies were highest for home batteries and rooftop solar and also improving for major infrastructure projects such as transmission lines, which have been a target for critics of renewables.
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© Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian
© Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian
© Photograph: David Kelly/The Guardian
Tesla’s latest earnings report was very bad news for the company. In the second quarter, it made $1.1 billion in net profit, less than the $1.2 billion it reported a year earlier. Vehicle sales were up, but profits remain about a quarter billion short of expectations, and the automaker’s cash flow is negative for the first time in over two years.
But the real blow has been the slow rollout of its Robotaxi service. Elon Musk has staked his automaker’s future on fully autonomous vehicles, promising investors it would help push Tesla’s valuation to an eyebrow-raising $30 trillion — approximately the gross domestic product of the United States, for perspective.
And importantly, he promised to get this done quickly. Before launching Tesla’s first Robotaxi service in Austin last summer, Musk estimated that over 1,000 of the self-driving cabs would be roaming the streets “within a few months.”
Now, a year later, Tesla doesn’t even have a hundred Robotaxis in operation. And its efforts seem to actually be regressing. According to a new chart the company released Wednesday, the Robotaxi network racked up fewer miles from paying customers in the second quarter than it did in the first.
The chart, which may be the most dismal single aspect of the entire earnings cycle, misleadingly displays this data as cumulative miles to make it appear like the Robotaxi service is steadily growing.
But TechCrunch broke it down, finding that in the first quarter, Tesla’s driverless cabs carrying paying passengers drove around 1.1 million miles, but fell to just 700,000 miles in the second — cratering by over a third.
The misleading chart isn’t the only way Tesla has tried to dress up its stalling efforts. A day before releasing the earnings report, it announced that it was expanding to two more cities in Florida, Tampa and Orlando — without sharing the size of those fleets, Electrek noted.
It should tell you something that Tesla has gone to great lengths to keep the size of its operation under wraps. In June, Bloomberg reported that its fleet size across all cities was just 59 robotaxis. Only third of those are fully unsupervised; the other vehicles have a human safety monitor sitting in the front seats.
It’s also tried to play up its seemingly spotless safety record. Before the report, the official Tesla account on X bragged that there were “0 notable incidents across over 380,000 miles traveled by Robotaxi.”
But Tesla doesn’t define what a “notable incident” is. Its vehicles have regularly been caught driving erratically and at times dangerously. Only a day after launching in Tampa, one of its Robotaxis was spotted blundering the wrong way down a one way street in the city.
Musk has frequently emphasized that he’s “paranoid about safety” to explain why progress has moved slowly, while at the same time promising to scale things up rapidly. In January he projected that the Robotaxis would cover half the US population by the end of the year.
But investors are running out of patience. Tesla shares plunged by 15 percent on Thursday after the earnings were released, in part due to frustration over the Robotaxis’ laggard progress, and another three percent on Friday.
“More is needed to show that Tesla’s capabilities are inflecting” on robotaxis, Barclays analysts said in a note per Reuters, noting that Tesla didn’t provide new expansion targets and “hasn’t met previously laid out targets.”
More on Tesla: It’s Looking Like the Cybertruck Is the Biggest Flop in Automotive History
The post This May Be the Most Damning Single Fact in Tesla’s Quarterly Earnings Report appeared first on Futurism.
Ford Apple Maps integration will place the navigation service directly inside a new family of affordable electric vehicles, beginning with a midsize pickup expected to start at approximately $30,000 in 2027.
The truck will not depend on CarPlay or a connected iPhone to access Apple Maps. Ford plans to embed the service through MapKit for Automotive, allowing the automaker to incorporate Apple navigation into its own displays, controls and software environment.
CarPlay will remain available for drivers who want to use iPhone apps, messages, calls and media. The native integration, however, means Apple Maps can continue providing directions when no phone is connected or when the driver uses a device from another manufacturer.
The partnership extends beyond dashboard navigation. Ford also intends to use road-level information from Apple Maps while developing future versions of BlueCruise, connecting Apple mapping data with the driver-assistance technology planned for its Universal Electric Vehicle Platform.
Ford Apple Maps represents a different approach from the familiar relationship between an iPhone and a vehicle.
CarPlay runs from the phone and presents selected apps through the dashboard. The embedded version of Apple Maps will operate as part of the truck software, giving Ford greater control over how directions, charging information and vehicle data appear across its displays.
Drivers can expect turn-by-turn guidance, live traffic conditions, incident reports and detailed destination information. Ford will be able to adapt the visual experience to match the interface created for its new electric platform rather than reproducing the standard CarPlay layout.
EV routing may become the most practical benefit. The system can consider available range, charging locations and route conditions before recommending where a driver should stop.
When supported by the vehicle, navigation can also trigger battery preconditioning before arriving at a fast charger. Bringing the battery toward an appropriate temperature can reduce charging time, particularly during cold or extremely hot conditions.
Integrating those functions removes part of the planning burden from longer electric trips. Drivers will not need to move constantly between a navigation app, charging network software and separate vehicle menus to understand whether a station is suitable.
The native experience also gives Ford an alternative to building a complete mapping platform internally. Apple already maintains search, traffic, routing and place information across a large geographic network, while Ford can concentrate on vehicle-specific functions.
Apple, meanwhile, gains a route into factory-installed automotive software without needing to produce its own car.
The Ford arrangement should not be confused with CarPlay Ultra.
CarPlay Ultra expands the iPhone experience across multiple vehicle screens and can combine phone content with information supplied by the car, including speed, fuel or battery levels and climate controls.
Ford is taking a more selective path. Apple Maps becomes a native service, but the broader dashboard remains a Ford environment.
That distinction may appeal to automakers reluctant to hand control of the cabin interface to another company. Ford can use Apple technology for navigation while preserving its own identity, subscription services and software architecture.
Drivers still receive a recognizable Apple product, but the vehicle manufacturer determines where it appears and how it interacts with charging, driver assistance and other functions.
The arrangement could provide a model for other automakers that want access to individual Apple services without adopting the complete CarPlay Ultra experience.
Ford plans to introduce the unnamed four-door pickup as the first vehicle based on its Universal Electric Vehicle Platform.
The targeted price of approximately $30,000 would place it below many electric pickups currently available in the United States. Ford is aiming at drivers interested in an EV but unwilling or unable to spend the amounts associated with large premium trucks.
The company says the vehicle will provide more passenger space than a recent Toyota RAV4 while including a front storage compartment and a conventional truck bed. Performance is expected to compare with a Mustang EcoBoost, giving the pickup a stronger argument than affordability alone.
Reaching the price target requires changes throughout the vehicle rather than a smaller battery placed inside an existing truck design.
Ford has reduced the number of components, fasteners and assembly operations involved in the new platform. Its zonal electrical architecture is intended to shorten wiring and simplify how software-controlled systems connect across the vehicle.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries will form part of the structural floor. The chemistry avoids nickel and cobalt, generally costs less than alternatives focused on maximum energy density and can offer strong durability for repeated charging.
Production is planned for the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, where Ford is introducing a manufacturing process that separates major vehicle sections before bringing them together later in assembly.
Apple Maps supports the same cost-conscious strategy. Ford can offer a mature navigation experience without financing the creation of every mapping layer from the beginning.
The partnership becomes more significant when mapping information begins supporting driver assistance.
Ford Latitude AI plans to use road-level Apple Maps data while developing future BlueCruise capabilities. The objective is to create smoother hands-free travel from a highway entrance ramp through the eventual exit.
Apple Maps can provide advance knowledge of road layouts, interchanges, curves and exits. Ford sensors and onboard systems must still identify vehicles, pedestrians, construction and unexpected changes in real time.
Apple is not developing or controlling BlueCruise. Ford remains responsible for the cameras, sensors, processors and driving decisions used by the system.
The maps provide another layer of context. A vehicle that understands the route in advance can prepare for lane changes, merges and exits before its sensors reach them.
Ford is also developing a large driving model through Latitude AI using extensive road data. Combining that work with detailed maps could allow the company to improve assistance without depending entirely on moment-to-moment visual detection.
The Universal Electric Vehicle Platform is expected to support more capable automated driving in later models. Ford has discussed eyes-off operation from 2028, although final hardware, pricing and regulatory approval remain unresolved.
Introducing that technology through an affordable platform would represent a departure from the usual industry pattern. Advanced driver assistance often begins in expensive vehicles where premium pricing absorbs the cost of sensors and computing.
Ford wants to distribute the development expense across a larger family of electric products.
The Apple Maps name may make the new truck feel less unfamiliar to customers buying an electric vehicle for the first time.
Charging behavior, range estimation and route planning can create hesitation among drivers accustomed to gasoline vehicles. Presenting those functions through a navigation service already used on millions of iPhones reduces the number of unfamiliar interfaces introduced at once.
Existing Apple Maps users may also recognize saved locations, search behavior and visual guidance, although Ford has not explained which personal features will require an Apple Account or connected iPhone.
The embedded service will still need reliable integration with vehicle range, charger availability and battery temperature. A familiar logo alone cannot compensate for inaccurate charging information or route estimates.
Ford has not yet announced the truck name, final driving range, battery capacity, production specifications or confirmed base price. Those details will determine whether the pickup can combine its promised affordability with enough capability for everyday work and travel.
The first production model is scheduled for 2027, leaving Ford time to refine the software and reveal how Apple Maps will appear across the dashboard before the Louisville assembly line begins building customer vehicles.
The post Ford Apple Maps Deal Puts $30,000 EV in the iPhone Family appeared first on AppleMagazine.
The United States Space Development Agency (SDA), in support of the U.S. Space Force, has awarded contracts to L3Harris Technologies and Sierra Space Corporation to build and deliver 36 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 (AMDT3) space vehicles (SVs) designed to operate in four distinct orbital planes.
Part of the Tracking Layer for Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the space vehicles will support the White House’s space-based segment ‘Golden Dome for America’ antimissile defense system to expand the country’s missile tracking and defense network, with a projected delivery date of 2028.
According to a statement announcing the awards, the 36 space vehicles will operate across four separate orbital planes. Half of the vehicles covering two of the four orbital planes will be made by Sierra Space Corporation. The statement from the SDA describes the vehicles as “missile warning/missile tracking” SVs loaded with specialized sensor packages. An official at the SDA speaking on background told The Debrief that the details of the sensor technologies and capabilities are not available at this time.
The second half of the vehicle order covering the other two orbital planes will be made by defense technology company L3Harris Technologies. Their award calls for 18 Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)-like missile defense variant SVs.
When The Debrief asked the SDA for clarification on the term “variant” space vehicles, the official explained that this designation represents the different types of sensor packages that each company will provide. For the L3Harris award, the SDA explained that their sensor is an advancement on earlier work performed with the Missile Defense Agency under the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program.
When discussing the significance of the twin awards, the SDA said their deployment will expand the company’s missile defense sensing established in previous phases “in support of homeland defense and theater defense.”
“Each AMDT3 SV will be interoperable with all SDA Tranche 1, Tranche 2, and Tranche 3 SVs and will operate in an integrated fashion through a common ground system,” the statement explained.
They also note that the tracking layer is equipped with infrared sensors “that will integrate with a low-latency communication network.”
“With these awards, SDA is accelerating the deployment of the Tracking Layer to provide the homeland, our deployed forces, and allies with global, persistent indications, detection, identification, warning, tracking, and defense against advanced and evolving missile threats,” explained G.P. Sandhoo, Space Force Portfolio acquisition executive for Missile Warning and Tracking and SDA director. “AMDT3 expands upon SDA’s previous and current Tracking Layer generations — Tranches 1, 2 and 3 — marking another milestone in delivering a resilient, global missile warning, missile tracking, and missile defense capability.”
Although a specific delivery date for each of the company’s separate awards was not made public, the announcement did say they are expected to be available for launch “by the end of 2028.” Once aloft and in their respective orbital planes, the missile tracking and defense space vehicles will be operated and maintained by the U.S. Space Force.
When asked by The Debrief if there are any plans to add capabilities beyond detection and tracking to the multi-layer system in the future, the SDA said future improvements are one of the main pillars of the organization’s business model.
“We use spiral development to deliver new generations of satellites (we call them “tranches”) every few years,” the SDA explained. “Each new tranche represents an enhancement over the previous and offers greater capability to the warfighter, either through additional sensing coverage, or through technology advances (or potentially both).”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and has spent the last six years as Associate News Editor and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him at christopher@thedebrief.org
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