Kia’s vehicles are about to get a smart upgrade, starting in 2027
Starting next year, Kia will begin launching vehicles equipped with Hyundai’s new high-tech infotainment system.
Vermont’s largest energy source is now a virtual power plant
Green Mountain Power’s virtual power plant (VPP) – the state’s largest energy source – cut an estimated $6 million from all customers’ peak electricity costs during Vermont’s early July heat wave.
Baidu’s Apollo Go begins London robotaxi testing with Uber and Lyft
Baidu’s Apollo Go started robotaxi road testing in London today, and it’s doing it with both of ride-hailing’s biggest names at once — Uber and Freenow by Lyft.
The launch lands days after Apollo Go ran the first fully driverless trial in any right-hand-drive market, in Hong Kong. Two milestones in one week, on opposite ends of the world.
BMW ramps up iX3 output as orders near 100,000
The new BMW iX3 has already received nearly 100,000 orders. Now, BMW is ramping up production at a record pace to meet the strong demand.
Mitsubishi’s ‘all-new’ Eclipse Sportback EV is a rebadged Nissan Leaf
Mitsubishi is bringing a fully electric vehicle back to North America for the first time in over a decade, and it’s calling the 2027 Eclipse Sportback EV “all-new.”
It isn’t. The Eclipse Sportback is a rebadged next-generation Nissan Leaf, sourced from Mitsubishi’s Alliance partner and reskinned with new bumpers and lights.
Yamaha is preparing to launch another electric scooter, design filings show
Yamaha may not have found runaway success with its previous electric scooters, but new design filings suggest the company isn’t giving up on battery-powered two-wheelers just yet.
BYD launches the ‘world’s first’ SDV kei EV, starting at just $13,000
The Racco went on sale as the “world’s first SDV-based” light EV, BYD said, with a low starting price of around $13,000.
Tesla buys 90% of a 509 MW Arizona solar and storage project
Tesla has signed a long-term deal to buy 90% of the output of Project Sterling, a big solar and battery plant going up in Arizona.
The project pairs 509 MW of solar with a 360 MW battery, and it’s being built by ContourGlobal, the power producer owned by private equity firm KKR. It’s expected online in 2028.
Tesla buys the entire output of a new 140 MW Texas solar farm
Tesla has signed a long-term power purchase agreement to buy the entire output of a 140-MWac solar farm being built in northeast Texas.
The plant, called Lumen Farm, is being developed by Zelestra, an EQT-backed renewable developer. Construction is expected to start in 2027, with the farm going online in 2029.
E-quipment highlight: SANY SKT145Ei cabless, autonomous haul truck [video]
It’s not just capable of driverless operation, the SANY SKT145Ei doesn’t even have a place for the driver to sit! The company’s latest all-electric heavy haul truck ditches the driver’s cab in favor of a millimeter-wave radar-guided sensor suite on a purpose-built architecture that hints at the future of zero emission mining.