It's Not A Benz Or A Jag, It’s a 5-0 With A Rag

When you’re about to turn 60, it’s important to start planning the party well in advance. And sometime in the next year, Mustang turns 60. Check out this “60 years of Mustang” YouTube video. youtube.com

The Ford Mustang debuted at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, and its first official year of sale was 1965. autoblog.com

To celebrate the anniversary, Ford is opening the Mustang Experience Center, a “destination for all things Mustang,” adjacent to a North Carolina race track. You can get married there if you love your Mustang (I’m no expert in North Carolina law, but I suspect you can’t actually marry your Mustang). roadandtrack.com, carbuzz.com

Now you can be “rollin' in my 5.0” with a brand new Stang with fun vintage styling. motor1.com

Only 1965 of the anniversary models will be available for purchase. autoweek.com, autoblog.com

Special thanks to Vanilla Ice for the subject line inspo. youtube.com

GAC shows off a new supercar in Italy. “GAC claims its machine can crack 62 mph (100 km/h) in 1.9 seconds, which would make it almost as quick as the Nevera (1.8 seconds).” carscoops.com

Jaguar Land Rover might use an EV platform from Chery to try to reach their all-electric goal by 2030. carscoops.com

Chery plans a new central export plant in the former Spanish Nissan facility. reuters.com

BYD isn’t only focused on low-cost EVs. They released a stunning new sports car called the Super 9 alongside two new SUVs during a glitzy event in China. carscoops.com, youtube.com

BYDs’ and Mercedes’ joint venture produces the Denze Z9 electric wagon. autoevolution.com, carscoops.com

GMs’ and SAIC’s joint venture can now use NIO’s charge infrastructure in China. cnevpost.com

Honda launched new EVs in China, and they look great. arenaev.com

Tesla announces layoffs. The change impacts some senior and long-standing Tesla employees and engineers. Then, the company communicates the wrong package details to affected employees. People remain angry at Elon. electrek.co, electrek.co, reuters.com, reuters.com, cnbc.com, linkedin.com

The same week, Elon built a website to convince shareholders he should get his $55 billion pay package. electrek.co

Wall Street wants to know what the fuck is going on with the cheaper Tesla Model 2. reuters.com

Elon has a secret Twitter (X) account where he pretends to be a child (maybe he’s not pretending). businessinsider.com

If you’re new to Twitter (X), Elon will make you pay to Tweet (post), saying it is the only way to combat spam and bots on the platform. qz.com

Every one of the 3,878 Cybertrucks on the road has been recalled to have their accelerator pedal checked and fixed. Soap or other lubricants might cause the pedal to… fall off inconveniently while driving. techcrunch.com, mashable.com

Tesla cuts the prices of Model S, X, and Y by $2,000. reuters.com

Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics retired their hydraulics-based version of the Atlas robot, only to release a servo-based electric Altas a day later. Mashable refers to the new robot as “pure nightmare fuel.” techcrunch.com, mashable.com, techcrunch.com, youtube.com

Lawn robot maker Electric Sheep wins the 2024 “RBR50 Startup of the Year” award. therobotreport.com

Mentee Robotics has a new, mostly headless humanoid robot trained with AI that you can “mentor” for house chores. engadget.com, youtube.com, youtube.com

It is official: we’re training robots to fix other robots. newatlas.com

Advancements in fracking have unlocked “enhanced geothermal systems” (EGS) and made the technology more useable in more diverse geographies, even in places where we don’t have surface-level active lava or volcanos. arstechnica.com

Seven countries now generate nearly all of their energy needs from renewable sources. “Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produced more than 99.7% of the electricity they consumed using geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power.“ independent.co.uk

Twenty-five states are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block rules intended to reduce emissions and encourage electric vehicle manufacturing. reuters.com

Want EV fast charging in your condo or apartment building but don’t have the electricity to support that? It's simple: add a battery. arstechnica.com

2023 was a record year for wind power. electrek.co

The GMC Sierra EV Denali gets a bigger battery and more miles. theverge.com

Workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers, sealing another victory for the union. cnn.com

Toyota recalls 2023 and 2024 Prius models because the electronic rear door latches may open randomly. autoblog.com

Stellantis has a supplier problem. carscoops.com

Alfa Romeo will change the name of the Polish-built "Milano" to "Junior" to ease tensions with Italy's government. reuters.com

VinFast has an ebike. electrek.co

Rivian also had some job cuts. reuters.com

Google Maps now uses AI to help find your next EV charge station. theverge.com, businessinsider.com

The Washington Post called YouTube “the most consequential technology in America” and highlighted the massive scale of the video platform. washingtonpost.com

If this was somehow not obvious, don’t fucking drink the rat pee. arstechnica.com

Neural Concept Shape is a machine-learning-based system that makes aerodynamic suggestions for F1 team car designs. techcrunch.com

NASA looks for “innovative designs” to help expedite the planned mission to get samples from Mars back to Earth. “Mars Sample Return will be one of the most complex missions NASA has ever undertaken. The bottom line is, an $11 billion budget is too expensive, and a 2040 return date is too far away,” techcrunch.com, nasa.gov

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

Doja Cat crushed it at Coachella (depending on where you work, this YouTube video might be NSFW). youtube.com, pitchfork.com

Tay Tay’s new extended version of “Tortured Poets” dropped this week for those who need more than two full hours of swift-ie-ness. music.youtube.com

Song leaks from Taylor Swift’s new album caused a social media frenzy, chaos. cbc.ca

A whole whack of videos supporting Taylor’s extended album were uploaded to YouTube on Friday night. youtube.com

Taylor claims in one lyric that she’s an Aston Martin “I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch then ran and hid.” Road and Track speculates that it could be a metaphor for her rumoured fling with Fernando Alonso. roadandtrack.com

Metallica covered Elton John's "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" at Elton’s Gershwin Prize awards ceremony. youtube.com