The automaker wants to leverage Google’s work in machine learning and AI-powered algorithms to augment future Ford Cars. But this sounds like it may also involve a lot of data collection from car owners.
(Photo: Tesla)
Tesla is already well-established in the electric vehicle market, but so far that s been limited to cars transporting people. The Semi is Tesla s solution to an all-electric truck capable of pulling 80,000 pounds of cargo, and it s ready to go into production. However, there s one big problem to get past.
As TechCrunch reports, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on the company s 2020 Q4 earnings call that the Semi truck is ready to enter production. The engineering and production line isn t a problem, it s the battery cells, or lack thereof, that are. The main reason we have not accelerated new products – like for example Tesla Semi – is that we simply don’t have enough cells for it, Musk said. If we were to make the Semi right now, and we could easily go into production with the Semi right now, but we would not have enough cells for it.
(Photo via Getty Images)
President Biden this week announced plans to replace federal government fleets with clean, electric vehicles made right here in America by American workers.
The move is part of Biden s Made In America executive order, signed Monday in an effort to redirect a portion of government spending toward American businesses and American-made products.
The federal government owns an enormous fleet, the president said, counting more than 645,000 vehicles as of 2019, based on data from the General Services Agency, which provides transportation to federal employees. Most of those run on some sort of fossil fuel primarily liquified petroleum products like gasoline and diesel. The largest single agency convoy is the US Postal Service, with more than 225,000 vehicles, fewer than 10 percent of which are electric.
German startup Sono Motors is showing off a solar-electric vehicle that can recharge when driven in daylight.
The Sion looks like a minivan, but the black exterior is covered with 248 polymer solar panels that absorb energy from the sun. As a result, the panels can recharge the car when it’s parked outside or on the move. At CES, Sono Motors debuted its latest Sion prototype, with plans to begin the first round of production next year.
The solar cells on the car s hood. (Credit: Sono)
“We engineered the Sion to be the first electric vehicle you can really afford,” says Chief Operating Officer Thomas Hausch, who tips a possible $26,400 starting price.