2025

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Reinforcement Learning Triples Spot’s Running Speed

Cars That Think

About a year ago, Boston Dynamics released a research version of its Spot quadruped robot , which comes with a low-level application programming interface (API) that allows direct control of Spots joints. Even back then, the rumor was that this API unlocked some significant performance improvements on Spot, including a much faster running speed. That rumor came from the Robotics and AI (RAI) Institute , formerly The AI Institute, formerly the Boston Dynamics AI Institute , and if you were at Mar

Boston 145
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Tesla new Model Y needs a telescope to see its closest competitor in China

Teslarati

Tesla China’s vehicle sales saw a strong recovery once the new Model Y started customer deliveries. This could be seen in China’s rankings for premium battery electric SUVs priced from RMB 200,000 to RMB 300,000 during the week of March 10-16, 2025. As per the week’s rankings, the new Model Y’s sales are so far ahead, it would need a telescope to see its closest competitor.

China 143
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BYD confirms new 1,000V ‘Super E-Platform’ capable of fast charging 400km in 5 minutes

Electrek

We EV enthusiasts have heard it all from the haters before. What are you gonna do with all those batteries? Theres just not enough range, and, of course, Charging takes so much longer than a gas station visit. As previously teased, Chinese auto conglomerate BYD has introduced a new 1,000-volt EV platform that can enable charging rates as fast (or perhaps faster) than a trip to the gas station.

BYD 145
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What Is Going On With The $43 Million In Rebates Tesla Claimed In Canada Over 3 Days?

CleanTechnica EVs

People have been asking us to cover this story from Canada about 4 Tesla stores claiming $43 million in EV rebates from the Canadian government in 3 days and thus emptying the program account and blocking other auto dealers from getting reimbursed for EV rebates they passed along to customers. [continued] The post What Is Going On With The $43 Million In Rebates Tesla Claimed In Canada Over 3 Days?

Canada 134
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How serious is Norway about climate change? So much that its streetlights self-dim

emissions global warming Norway climate change carbon dioxide youtube lighting

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Report: HEMI V8 Engine Production Resumes In Michigan This Summer

The Truth About Cars

Stellantis clearly did itself a major disservice by discontinuing its iconic line of V8 engines. But there have been endless rumors , and even public speculation from upper management , that the company wanted to correct that mistake and restore some goodwill with ardent Mopar fans. The latest of these are reports that the Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan will be retooled to manufacture the entire HEMI V8 family by August.

Michigan 113
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Flash Drive: 2025 Cadillac Optiq

Clean Fleet Report

Entry-Level Cadillac Electric SUV Ready to cross the bridge The 2025 Optiq will be the entry-level all-electric SUV for Cadillac when it goes on-sale in early 2026. The Optiq will be part of an ever-expanding Cadillac EV line-up of Lyriq, Vistiq, Escalade IQ, Escalade IQL and Celestiq. Our take, after seeing it up close and getting some time behind the wheel: The price, size, driving range, charging speed, performance and Cadillac look, touch and feel will be very appealing to first-time premium

More Trending

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These Graphene Tattoos Are Actually Biosensors

Cars That Think

Imagine its the year 2040, and a 12-year-old kid with diabetes pops a piece of chewing gum into his mouth. A temporary tattoo on his forearm registers the uptick in sugar in his blood stream and sends that information to his phone. Data from this health-monitoring tattoo is also uploaded to the cloud so his mom can keep tabs on him. She has her own temporary tattoosone for measuring the lactic acid in her sweat as she exercises and another for continuously tracking her blood pressure and heart r

Austin 139
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Tesla China seems to have overtaken Q1 2024’s registrations with new Model Y ramp

Teslarati

The new Model Y’s ramp is resulting in a strong comeback for Tesla in China. This was highlighted by the momentum of Tesla’s new vehicle registrations in the country. With the new Model Y now starting deliveries, Tesla China’s year-to-date registrations appear to have surpassed the company’s 2024 numbers in the same period. Tesla China Registrations During the week of March 17-23, Tesla China saw 17,400 new vehicle registrations, the highest this Q1 2025 so far.

China 145
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A Crucial Optical Technology Has Finally Arrived

Cars That Think

A long-awaited, emerging computer network component may finally be having its moment. At Nvidias GTC event last week in San Jose, the company announced that it will produce an optical network switch designed to drastically cut the power consumption of AI data centers. The systemcalled a co-packaged optics, or CPO, switch can route tens of terabits per second from computers in one rack to computers in another.

Light 135
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The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore’s Law

Cars That Think

We are all made of star stuff, as astronomer Carl Sagan was fond of reminding us. Supernova explosions, the catastrophic self-destruction of certain types of worn-out stars, are intimately tied to life on Earth because they are the birthplaces of heavy elements across the universe. Most of the iron in our blood and the sulfur in our amino acids originated in stars that detonated billions of years ago.

Powered 142
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Faurecia and Accenture partner on products and services for connected and autonomous vehicles

Brief

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Worry About Sentient AI—Not for the Reasons You Think

Cars That Think

When AI researchers talk about the risks of advanced AI, theyre typically either talking about immediate risks, like algorithmic bias and misinformation, or existential risks , as in the danger that superintelligent AI will rise up and end the human species. Philosopher Jonathan Birch , a professor at the London School of Economics, sees different risks.

Future 140
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Tesla best-rated car brand in UK, beats Toyota in reliability: survey

Teslarati

Tesla critics would typically paint the company’s electric vehicles as reliability nightmares with subpar build quality and cheap materials. As per a survey from the U.K., however, the opposite is true, as Tesla is not just the country’s overall best-rated car brand, it is also the second most reliable carmaker. The survey was conducted by HonestJohn.co.uk , which asked its readers to rate their cars across several metrics, such as efficiency, reliability, practicality, safety, comfo

Toyota 132
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Electric Propulsion Magnets Ready for Space Tests

Cars That Think

Nestled at the foot of a steep, forested hill, 16 kilometers outside Wellington, New Zealand is a rather unassuming building; one among many on a research campus that was first established in the 1940s. From outside, theres little to suggest that this is the birthplace of a remarkable piece of technology bound for the International Space Station (ISS) in the coming months.

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A Self-Balancing Exoskeleton Strides Toward Market

Cars That Think

Many people who have spinal cord injuries also have dramatic tales of disaster: a diving accident, a car crash, a construction site catastrophe. But Chlo Angus has quite a different story. She was home one evening in 2015 when her right foot started tingling and gradually lost sensation. She managed to drive herself to the hospital, but over the course of the next few days she lost all sensation and control of both legs.

Market 137
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ExxonMobil announces 6th oil discovery offshore Guyana with Ranger-1; Guyana may move from non-producer to regional powerhouse

Oil

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Flawed Diamonds Are a Quantum Sensor’s Best Friend

Cars That Think

Quantum sensors take the biggest roadblock for quantum computersunwanted interference, or noise and turn it into a strength. Noise wrecks quantum computers because the quantum states they use for computation are affected by the slightest disturbances from the environment. But quantum sensors use those disturbances to detect minuscule changes in magnetic and electric fields.

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Tesla at risk of 95% crash, claims billionaire hedge fund manager

Teslarati

Christer Gardell, a Swedish billionaire and hedge fund manager, issued a stark warning about Tesla stock and what he believes are bubbles in the stock market. The billionaire’s insights about Tesla were shared during an interview with EFN. Tesla stock has been extremely volatile as of late amidst controversies and souring sentiments over CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly political leanings.

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AlexNet Source Code Is Now Open Source

Cars That Think

In partnership with Google, the Computer History Museum has released the source code to AlexNet, the neural network that in 2012 kickstarted todays prevailing approach to AI. The source code is available as open source on CHMs GitHub page. What Is AlexNet? AlexNet is an artificial neural network created to recognize the contents of photographic images.

Google 137
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Tesla leads in vehicle longevity and mileage, study finds

Teslarati

Tesla has emerged as the leader in vehicle lifespan and mileage among various car brands and fuel types, as per a recent study. The research, which was published in Nature , was based on vehicle inspection data from the UK. Key Highlights on Tesla: As per the study, Tesla’s electric vehicles are expected to cover an average of 204,000 miles over their lifetime, surpassing all other brands regardless of powertrain, as noted in a report from Allt Om Elbil.

Tesla 132
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Tesla is back on top in Norway with new Model Y starting deliveries

Teslarati

Tesla has staged a comeback in Norways electric vehicle market with the launch of the new Model Y. With deliveries starting domestically, the new all-electric crossover has reclaimed its spot as Norways most registered car this month and year-to-date. Teslas results in Norway this month could be seen in Elbilstatistikk , which closely tracks EV registrations in the country.

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In Praise of “Normal” Engineers

Cars That Think

A version of this post originally appeared in Refactoring , a Substack offering advice for software engineers. Most of us have encountered a few software engineers who seem practically magician-like, a class apart from the rest of us in their ability to reason about complex mental models, leap to nonobvious yet elegant solutions, or emit waves of high-quality code at unreal velocity.

Engine 145
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Tesla named as one of world’s safest car brands: UK study

Teslarati

A study from U.K. car insurance comparison service Confused.com has revealed that Tesla is one of the safest car brands in the world. Tesla’s vehicles have proven their safety over the years, highlighting the industry’s shift towards safer vehicles. The findings: In its study, Confused.com analyzed vehicle safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).

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AIs and Robots Should Sound Robotic

Cars That Think

Most people know that robots no longer sound like tinny trash cans. They sound like Siri, Alexa, and Gemini. They sound like the voices in labyrinthine customer support phone trees. And even those robot voices are being made obsolete by new AI-generated voices that can mimic every vocal nuance and tic of human speech, down to specific regional accents.

Google 141
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With Gemini Robotics, Google Aims for Smarter Robots

Cars That Think

Generative AI models are getting closer to taking action in the real world. Already, the big AI companies are introducing AI agents that can take care of web-based busywork for you, ordering your groceries or making your dinner reservation. Today, Google DeepMind announced two generative AI models designed to power tomorrows robots. The models are both built on Google Gemini , a multimodal foundation model that can process text, voice, and image data to answer questions, give advice, and general

Google 131
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Texas awards SpaceX $17.3M grant to expand Bastrop tech hub

Teslarati

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that SpaceX has received a $17.3 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund. The grant will be used to expand SpaceX’s Bastrop complex. SpaceXs Bastrop complex is headlined by its Starlink factory , which is currently capable of producing 15,000 dishes per day, as per a video published by the private space company on social media platform X.

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We’re Charging Our Cars Wrong

Cars That Think

If theres one thing we could do now to hasten the transition to electric vehicles , its this: Build a robust public EV-charging infrastructure. While the media has focused on vehicle performance and range, consumers have always been clear that they want electric cars to do essentially everything their old vehicles doincluding long overnight trips. To those who dont yet own an EV, a robust infrastructure may seem unimportant.

Charging 129
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Mozambique Retools Weather Tech for Impactful Forecasting

Cars That Think

Extreme weather events are increasingly impacting eastern and southern Africa, with Mozambique among the worst affected. In response, the country is overhauling its early warning system in collaboration with the Savona, Italy-based International Center for Environmental Monitoring Research Foundation (CIMA). Together, they aim to enhance the capacity for forecasting and responding to floods, droughts, and cyclones.

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Former Tesla, Lucid execs form new EV brand Longbow, whose first two models are sharp and ultra-light

Electrek

A new niche EV brand, Longbow, has emerged into the public eye, hailing itself as the first-ever British electric sports car manufacturer. It has unveiled its first two featherweight models, inspired by British automotive icons and designed with real-road performance and the overall driver experience in mind. Despite debuting today, the limited hand-built production of these two featherweight EVs is expected to begin relatively quickly, and they start at a price that doesnt just cater to the af

Light 141
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UK Greenlights Amazon Kuiper, Starlink Faces New Rival

Cars That Think

Last month, Ofcom , the United Kingdoms telecom regulator, granted Amazons Kuiper Systems a license to provide low-Earth orbit-based (LEO) broadband Internet in the country. The move places Kuiper systems in a rival position with the industry leader, and SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink Services. And while more specialized LEO broadband Internet interests are also emergingin the public and private sectorsOfcoms decision signifies an important shift in consumer LEO internet providers.

MIT 135
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SpaceX’s Starlink dish with Gigabit Speeds leaves EU scrambling to catch up

Teslarati

SpaceX is preparing to release a Starlink dish with gigabit speeds, likely leaving the European Union scrambling to catch up. During a webinar for Starlink resellers, SpaceX mentioned the development of a new Starlink dish that would offer customers gigabit internet speeds. The new Starlink dish is expected to boost current download speeds of around 200 Mbps. “Next generation, we’ll have smaller beams, more capacity per beam, lower latency,” noted SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwe

Ukraine 128
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VinFast Ships 2,500 Electric Vehicles to Indonesia

CleanTechnica EVs

As this article is being written, VinFast’s dedicated cargo ship, the Silver Queen, has docked at the Jakarta port and is unloading 2,500 VinFast electric vehicles. The shipment departed MPC Port in Haiphong, Vietnam, coming from VinFast’s assembly plant nearby. The Silver Queen is the same ship that brought the. [continued] The post VinFast Ships 2,500 Electric Vehicles to Indonesia appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Indonesia 140
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Tesla is NOT done in Germany–exact same poll debunks its own “94% won’t buy Tesla” narrative

Teslarati

As it turns out, news of Teslas demand death in Germany have been widely exaggerated. This is highlighted by the same poll that was used to frame the narrative that 94% of car buyers will not buy a Tesla in Germany. So no, Tesla is not done in Germany. Nowhere close. The Survey and the Reports A look at the Tesla news cycle over the past few days would show that one of the biggest stories about the electric vehicle maker involved the results of a survey from German publication t-online.

Germany 137
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Rivian supports Tesla despite all the Elon Musk hate

Teslarati

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe showed some support for Tesla despite all the Elon Musk hate that has been spreading. Scaringe’s stance on all the Tesla amid the protests and vandalism starkly differs from what seems to be the popular opinion lately. RJ Scaringe attended the South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin earlier this week. The Rivian CEO briefly talked about Tesla and its current predicament. “When we look at Tesla and other manufacturers, I think it’s incredibly important t

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A Tiny Jumping Robot for Exploring Enceladus

Cars That Think

Salto has been one of our favorite robots since we were first introduced to it in 2016 as a project out of Ron Fearings lab at UC Berkeley. The palm-sized spring-loaded jumping robot has gone from barely being able to chain together a few open-loop jumps to mastering landings , bouncing around outside , powering through obstacle courses , and occasionally exploding.

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The Coming Quantum Boom: A New Industry a Century in the Making

Cars That Think

Why build an industry around a scale that cuts across established verticals? This question occurred to me on a long flight to Paris, to attend the opening ceremony of the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), at UNESCO headquarters last month. I was part of an IEEE delegation led by 2025 IEEE President Kathleen Kramer. The event celebrated the 100th anniversary of several seminal quantum-science publications, including Wolfgang Paulis paper on his exclusion principle ;