The Zeekr RT minivan, which has been rebranded as Ojai, is now available to all riders in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (after launching to select passengers last May). The company plans on bringing the egg-shaped shuttle to Denver, San Diego, and Las Vegas as its next cities before the end of the year.
The company calls it the world’s first state-backed trial aimed at mitigating warming contrails across an entire flight corridor — specifically the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor, which accounts for around 5 percent of global contrail warming.
Contrails (not to be confused with conspiracy theories about “chemtrails”) are a big problem for the planet because they trap heat, accounting for about 35 percent of aviation’s global warming impact. Google has been working with American Airlines to help pilots find more sustainable flight paths.
Swedish trucking company Einride says it will buy 500 Tesla Semis, representing the largest order for the electric Class 8 truck yet reported. But as Electrek notes, it’s not clear that Einride has enough money to fund the purchase. The trucking company has about $77 million in the bank, which is less than the estimated $145 million it will cost to buy the Tesla Semis.
Last month, I spoke to Matthew Haiken, who owns a Polestar dealership in Short Hills, New Jersey, about the EV brand’s sudden decision to withdraw from the US market. Now, Haiken is suing the company, claiming it planned to pull out of the US even before the government issued a de facto sales ban. When we spoke, Haiken said Polestar had plenty of foreknowledge of the government’s decision.
We knew about this for a long time, and to hear that we got a red light and we couldn’t sell cars and we’re pulling out of the US when our sister brands and other brands got green lights, it was completely upsetting and shocking.
SV stands for Superveloce, or ‘super fast.’ And that’s an apt description for this heat-seeking missile of a sports car.
Bike shop owners say the law, which places heavy restrictions on e-bike ownership in the state, is fueling a steep drop in sales, with some saying as much as 90 percent of their business has evaporated.
“It has had a chilling effect on the legitimate e-bike industry,” said Mike Grotz, owner of Cyclesport in Park Ridge. “We sold over 50 Class 1 e-bikes last year, this year, a total of 4 e-bikes.”
Workers are being laid off, and some shop owners predict they will be forced to shut down. Who could have predicted this?
