EDITORIAL One of the articles published this month in our newsletter concerns two robotaxi services: one from Volkswagen (MOIA) and one from Tesla that started a trial with a mini-fleet of 11 vehicles. By the way,
yesterday I read a piece of news where Elon Musk was super happy saying that one Tesla vehicle drove autonomously from the manufacturing site to the client’s house without any supervision from the control centre and without inconvenience. |
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WEBSITE OF THE MONTH The "Website of the Month" is a spotlight
feature in our email newsletter, where we showcase a standout website, recognising its exceptional tools, valuable resources or content. |
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Partners for Automated Vehicle Education United Kingdom (PAVE UK) is a national initiative that aims to enable public trust and acceptance of self-driving vehicle technology through inclusive and accessible
public awareness and education programmes. Founded by the Department of Business and Trade, the Department for Transport, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles and Transport for West Midlands and WMG (the University of Warwick), PAVE UK believes future users are the core of this new technology and help shape a safe AV future in the UK. |
UK DfT launches £1bn "Structures Fund" to fix British Transport Infrastructure The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has launched The Structures Fund, a £1bn fund to transport infrastructure including bridges, tunnels and
roads.
DfT estimated that approximately 3,000 bridges are currently unable to support the heaviest vehicles, restricting access for agricultural and freight transport in regions, and slowing down journeys.
Additionally, the fund is designed to help fix, maintain and improve existing transport infrastructure, with a
further £590m provided to to help finish the Lower Thames Crossing
However, there are those directly affected by this announcement who stated that the Structures Fund is too little, too late, with Britain’s roads in already dire state of repair.
VW unveils robotaxi production vehicle while Tesla launches first robotaxi fleet After Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox, VW has now also entered the robotaxi fray, but with a slightly different offering. Its MOIA brand, a tech subsidiary of the VW
Group, has unveiled the ID. Buzz AD – an autonomous production-ready version of its all-electric ID. Buzz microbus.
The difference is that while MOIA supplies the “comprehensive end-to-end solution” – the electric vehicle, self-driving tech, digital customer booking platform and operator training – the robotaxis themselves will be managed by public and private service providers.
In the meantime, Tesla launched its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, with 11 vehicles.
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This EV battery fully recharges in just 18 seconds — and it just got the green light for mass production The British VarEVolt battery has been granted the certification needed so it can be manufactured on a large scale, meaning more EV makers can use
them in their cars. A British firm has received approval to mass-produce an ultra-high-power-density electric vehicle (EV) battery that can be fully recharged in just 18 seconds.
The RML Group was granted Conformity of Production certification for its VarEVolt battery on June 2. This government approval signifies that the firm can mass-produce the powerful batteries for EV manufacturers. RML's battery can deliver lots of power in a short span. The VarEVolt battery can supply 6 kilowatts per kilogram, and it's capable of dumping all its power really, really quickly, The battery has a C rating of 200, meaning it's capable of fully charging or discharging in about 18 seconds. The 10 top emerging technologies chosen by the World Economic Forum What makes some new technologies take off, while others show potential but fail to get off the ground? The factors at play are multiple, and they
clearly reach beyond the functionality of the technology itself. The timing of its arrival and market readiness matter – an innovation must respond to people’s unmet needs or concerns, as innovations as diverse as burglar alarms and MRI scanning have shown. The presence of a supportive environment is pivotal too, in terms of everything from infrastructure to
government support – as electric vehicles are finding out. |
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