Lifeboat Foundation

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas is about to start its operations, and when it does, it would be one of the United States’ most ambitious vehicle production facilities. The massive factory, which Elon Musk has noted will be almost a mile long when completed, is expected to hire thousands of workers in the area.

The arrival of Tesla in Texas and the influx of companies moving into the state will likely trigger an increase in the number of people residing in cities like Austin. With this in mind, Austin transit leaders recently stated that the city’s transportation network would play a critical role in aiding or hindering further development. After all, all those new workers need a way to get to and from their jobs.

The discussions were held during a South by Southwest panel on Thursday, where transportation startup leaders highlighted that Austin’s efforts to invest in new mass transit operations are steps in the right direction. Austin-based AI Fleet CEO Marc El Khoury noted that the city and its surrounding areas would be attractive for companies developing innovative transit technologies.

It’s getting close to the time of year when we need to start carefully vetting projects here at Hackaday. After all, nobody likes to get punked by an early April Fool’s joke. But as silly as this outsized PC fan looks, it sure seems like a legit build, if a bit on the pointless side.

Then again, perhaps pointless is too harsh a word to use. This 500-mm fan is by [Angus] over at Maker’s Muse, and it represents a lot of design work to make it buildable, as well as workable and (mostly) safe. Using both CNC-cut MDF and printed parts, the fan is an embiggened replica of a normal-sized case fan. The fan’s frame had to be printed in four parts, which lock together with clever interlocking joints. Each of the nine blades locks into a central hub with sturdy-looking dovetails.

Continue reading “3D-Printed Parts Let You Assemble Your Own Biggest Fan” »

The ex-Tesla worker was reportedly laid off for sharing play-by-play footage of an FSD slip-up. Always be careful what you post online.

Bernal was fired and lost beta access after video review showed a minor collision.

Continue reading “Tesla fires employee who posted YouTube videos of Full Self-Driving accident” »

For the second time in less than a week, Tesla has raised the price of its vehicles. Only this time, we see a significant hike across the entire lineup. The Model 3, its most affordable EV, cost around $42k at the end of 2021 but now starts at $47,000.

We’ve showcased plenty of EV conversions on the channel before, but up until now they’ve mostly been high-end, beautifully refurbished classics. In this episode, Jack heads to France to investigate the entry-level of EV conversion. For €5,000 after government subsidies, a company by the name of Transition One claims it can turn your old banger into a no fuss, no-emissions electric car. Is this the answer to overpriced new cars? Could this be the key to accelerating EV uptake? Check out the episode to find out.

00:00 Welcome to a crusty Fiat!
1:54 Welcome to Transition One.
3:35 One very charismatic founder.
5:30 How does it work?
7:37 The gearbox lives!
8:50 How much??
12:12 Range and specs.
13:39 Who fits it?
14:43 How many orders?
15:35 When can I buy one?
17:12 Final thoughts.

Continue reading “An ultra-cheap electric car conversion kit is FINALLY here!” »

While it may be too late for the breakthrough to allow mass adoption for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, Professor Chiang believe it could revolutionise energy storage for large-scale renewable operations.

He has founded a startup, Form Energy, to further develop and commercialise the technology, with the hope of rapidly pushing forward zero carbon energy solutions.

Need to get to a park-and-ride in the suburbs? No problem. Somewhere in the city? Get on the bus.

The last-mile mobile health services provider, DocGo, has announced the delivery of its new all-electric, zero-emissions ambulance that eliminates the pollution of a standard gasoline ambulance.

The all–electric vehicle will be the first of its kind to be registered in the U.S. The new vehicle has been developed in partnership with Leader Emergency Vehicles in South El Monte, CA, and marks the first step towards “Zero Emission,” the company’s latest sustainability mission to have an all-electric fleet by 2032.

DocGo stated that its new vehicle produces 1/10th of the pollutants expelled by a standard gas-powered ambulance. In addition to being less harmful to the planet, the electric ambulance has the potential to lower patient transportation costs due to lower fuel costs and maintenance needs.

Abundant fuel cell raw materials and renewables potential could add up to a green hydrogen economy in the Philippines, according to Jose Mari Angelo Abeleda Jr and Richard Espiritu, two professors at the University of the Philippines Diliman. In a paper published in this month’s Energy Policy, they explained the country is a latecomer to the sector and should develop basic and applied knowledge for training and research. The country should also establish stronger links between industry and academia, the report’s authors suggested. “The establishment of the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute (Perpi) is a move towards the right direction as it will be instrumental in crafting policies and pushing for activities that will usher for more private-academ[ic] partnerships for the development of fuel cell technology in the Philippines,” the scholars wrote. “However, through enabling legislation, a separate and dedicated Hydrogen Research and Development Center (HRDC) will be pivotal in ensuring that sufficient government and private funding are provided.” The authors reported progress in the production of fuel cell membranes but few developments towards large scale production, transport, and storage facilities. “The consolidation of existing renewable energy sources for hydrogen production can also be explored in order to ensure reliable and sustainable hydrogen fuel supply,” they wrote. “This is because the country will gain more benefit if it focuses more on the application of fuel cell technology on rural electrification via renewa[ble] energy-based distributed power generation, rather than on transportation such as fuel cell vehicles.”

Paris-based energy engineering company Technip Energies and Indian energy business Greenko ZeroC Private have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore green hydrogen project development opportunities in the refining, petrochemicals, fertilizer, chemical, and power plant sectors in India. “The MOU aims to facilitate active engagement between the teams of Technip Energies in India and Greenko to step up collaborative opportunities on a build-own-operate (BOO) model – in which Greenko will be the BOO operator and owner of the asset and Technip Energies will support with engineering services, integration and EP/EPC [engineering and procurement/engineering, procurement and constructrion] – for pilot and commercial scale green hydrogen and related projects in India in order to offer economically feasible technology solutions to clients,” the French company wrote today.