Last Diesel Volvo Ever

The Change Optimist Podcast

I kicked off my new podcast this week with an interview with renowned journalist and author Kara Swisher. You can listen to it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, I Heart Radio, or on my podcast website.

Last Diesel Volvo Ever

Volvo made its last diesel-powered vehicle, a blue XC90 SUV. bloomberg.com

Now that this “end of an era” vehicle rolled off Volvo’s Torslanda, Sweden production line, it is bound for the World of Volvo museum in Gothenburg. drive.com.au

By 2030, Volvo aims to be a 100% electric-only automaker. electrek.co

Demand for diesel vehicles in Europe has fallen off a cliff in a few short years.

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

A cargo ship, The Dali, which is Singapore-flagged and contracted by shipping giant Maersk, lost power, collided with, and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the Port of Baltimore. cnbc.com

Six workers are missing and presumed dead as a result of the accident. cbsnews.com

Along with the tragedy of the event, the fallout will be immense, expensive and cause disruptions in the city, the port, and global shipping for years. reuters.com, canada.autonews.com, apnews.com, businessinsider.com

Unicorn Robot

BMW, Mercedes and Tesla have all gotten excited about their humanoid robots.

But China may have them all beat.

Xpeng Robotics now has a “ride-on” Unicorn (yes, you read that correctly) robot with a foldaway robotic tail/arm. Making it weirdly functional in addition to just being… weird. newatlas.com, pxing.com

China’s Automotive Expansion

Chinese automakers Geely, Zeekr, Changan Automobile, and Xpeng Motors unveiled their latest EVs at the Bangkok auto show this past week. reuters.com

Xiaomi received nearly 90,000 orders for their SU7 electric vehicle in 24 hours. reuters.com

Xiaomi priced the SU7 $4K cheaper than a Tesla Model 3. cnbc.com

The Luxeed S7 electric sedan, developed by Huawei and Chery, started mass delivery. reuters.com

BYD posted their worst quarter in the last two years. reuters.com

Must Know Musk News

Tesla plans to build a “Private 5G” mobile internet network for their cars and robots. interestingengineering.com

Elon might be in trouble for “special favours” granted to Tesla by the Chinese government. nytimes.com, autoblog.com

Elon changed how Tesla dealerships sell all models, pushing a hard sell of their Full Self Driving features. Makes FSD available as a free one-month trial for all new Tesla purchases. teslarati.com, businessinsider.com, twitter.com

Congressman Earl Blumenauer has asked the FDA why it did not inspect Elon Musk's Neuralink before allowing the brain implant company to test its device in humans. reuters.com

Sure, it may not be FDA-approved, but Canadians can now apply to have a Neuralink chip dropped into their skull. globalnews.ca

Before becoming one of the world's richest men, Elon would often couch surf at Larry Page’s house. finance.yahoo.com

Is Elon’s drug use helping to normalize using drugs at work? businessinsider.com

Energy

Walmart is funding solar projects across the US with plans to build nearly 1 gigawatt (GW) of new clean energy production. electrek.co, corporate.walmart.com

The Oak Run Solar Project will be Ohio’s largest solar farm – and the US’s largest agrivoltaics project. electrek.co

Self-building crane promises to reduce the cost of offshore wind turbine construction. newatlas.com

A global gold rush is underway to unearth natural, geologic hydrogen. If we find it, we have no place to put it. Maybe putting it in salt caverns is the answer? cnbc.com, ualberta.ca

But Wait, There’s More

The Ford Explorer EV (using the Volkswagen MEB platform in ID.4) is now on sale, just not in North America. And that’s kind of sad since it's priced at about $50K USD and has 375 miles of range; it would likely sell like hotcakes. autoweek.com, qz.com, autocar.co.uk, theverge.com

Nissan made news this week by announcing a massive expansion of their EV line-up. They laid out a new plan (calling it “the Arc”) to electrify 16 of the 30 vehicles it produces by 2026. theverge.com, businesswire.com

A potential deal between Nissan and Fisker fell apart. Fisker has lost millions in customer payments. And then they got kicked off the NYSE. techcrunch.com, techcrunch.com, techcrunch.com, reuters.com

Toyota is going to make an electric version of their popular (outside of North America) Hilux truck. reuters.com

Hyundai Group launched a new Genesis performance brand with the GV60 Magma. motor1.com

Just as North American manufacturers pull back on EV production, Hyundai intends to “double down” on EVs. They will allocate $51 billion for electric vehicle production, factory retrofits, software development, and battery technology, and they will hire 80,000 more new employees to support the venture. reuters.com

Polestar announced the “rear windowless” Polestar 4 at the New York International Auto Show. engadget.com, theverge.com, autoblog.com, arstechnica.com, caranddriver.com

Lucid gets a stock bump after securing another $1 Billion investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. wsj.com, techcrunch.com

Petrina Gentile calls out the five flashiest cars that stole the New York International Auto Show. theglobeandmail.com

Marques Brownlee reviews the VinFast VF8. Pronounces that it’s better than Fisker, but not by much. Will he accidentally kill another EV startup? youtube.com

Bankrupt van startup Arrival is selling some of its assets to struggling van startup Canoo. techcrunch.com

The US has new emission requirements for heavy vehicles, 18-wheelers and buses. theverge.com

NYC announced it would allow self-driving robotaxis, as long as they include a driver. theverge.com

ICYMI

Ontario couple crashed car while having sex but tried to blame the accident on hitting a deer. globalnews.ca

Webex will become available for video conferencing in Lincoln and select Audi models. Who the fuck is still using Webex? theverge.com, theverge.com

The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern hit up 10 Tesla Superchargers in her Ford Mustang Mach-E to test out charging using the NACS adapter. youtube.com

Other Interests

Poolman, a movie directed, produced, co-written and starring Chris Pine, looks fucking fantastic. youtube.com

Canada’s strategic maple syrup reserve is holding its lowest amount of syrup since 2008. bbc.com

Kick Out The Jams

Some entirely unnecessary links to music for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.

Beyoncé released her country album ‘COWBOY CARTER’ to rave reviews. bbc.com, pitchfork.com, washingtonpost.com, theguardian.com

Just when you thought your Nu Metal mid-90s nightmare was over, new music from Alien Ant Farm, P.O.D. and Linkin Park drops in the same week.

If you are wondering what the “kids are into,” Nathan is blasting the new Future & Metro Boomin album from the downstairs bathroom in a way that I’m sure our neighbours can hear very clearly every morning (sorry, Bryan and A.J.).

The tables have turned! Turntables, that is. Vinyl records are outselling compact discs again. Don’t call it a comeback… chartr.co