One of the knocks on the potential of electric vehicles has been the paucity of charging stations compared with the near-ubiquitous presence of gas stations. The standard question posed by EV naysayers is, “What if an EV’s battery is nearly depleted and the nearest charging station is too far to reach?” BT Group, Britain’s largest… Continue reading BT Group Converts Telecom Infrastructure to EV Chargers
Author: IEEE_Spectrum
The Case for Nuclear Cargo Ships
The shipping industry has been trying to cut its carbon emissions for years, and with little to show for it. Nearly all of the world’s ship fleet still runs on diesel fuel, with about a quarter of new ships on order being built to run on somewhat lower-carbon alternatives like liquefied natural gas, methanol, or… Continue reading The Case for Nuclear Cargo Ships
Daimler Truck Fuels Big Rigs With Hydrogen
At CES this past week, the trucking startup Nikola showed off a hydrogen-fueled semi truck, one of its first ever built in the U.S. But the troubled company with a convicted founder is not the only player these days seeing a promising future in fuel-cell fueled big rigs. Daimler Truck has also recently announced their… Continue reading Daimler Truck Fuels Big Rigs With Hydrogen
500-Mile EV Pack Uses Two Batteries in ONE
Dragging a fledgling American battery company through myriad minefields into mass production is a daunting mission—even for a veteran battery engineer and executive who played lead roles with Apple’s hush-hush EV program, the now-defunct A123 Systems, and Ford. In December, Mujeeb Ijaz stepped aside as CEO of Michigan-based Our Next Energy (ONE), following the layoffs… Continue reading 500-Mile EV Pack Uses Two Batteries in ONE
What You Might Not Know About Connected Autonomous Vehicles
Critical considerations pertinent to connected autonomous vehicles, such as ethics, liability, privacy, and cybersecurity, do not share the same spotlight as the CAVs’ benefits. Although CAVs’ abilities to reduce the number of fatal accidents and to consume less fuel receive most of the attention, the vehicles’ challenges are equally worthy of discussion. In a trio… Continue reading What You Might Not Know About Connected Autonomous Vehicles
11 Intriguing Engineering Milestones to Look for in 2024
This story is part of our Top Tech 2024 special report. Journey to the Center of the Earth To unlock the terawatt potential of geothermal energy, MIT startup Quaise Energy is testing a deep-drilling rig in 2024 that will use high-power millimeter waves to melt a column of rock down as far as 10 to… Continue reading 11 Intriguing Engineering Milestones to Look for in 2024
An Electric Train You Can Pedal
E-bikes have, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, become staples for businesses and independent gig workers who earn money transporting small, lightweight items like food deliveries. If the item can fit in a basket mounted on the handlebars or behind the rider’s seat, it can be dropped off just about anywhere. But as the… Continue reading An Electric Train You Can Pedal
From Cleaning Offices to Designing EV Charging Stations
Greta Bekerytė started out cleaning offices and ended up designing electronics for EV charging stations. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in your career when you follow your dreams. It wasn’t easy. Bekerytė moved from her native Lithuania to Norway in 2010 to take advantage of the country’s free university tuition, but first she had… Continue reading From Cleaning Offices to Designing EV Charging Stations
Neural Reactions to Fear Make AI Drive More Safely
This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. Driving in the winter, say, or in stormy conditions can induce feelings of fear—and inspire more caution. So could some of the same hallmarks of fear and defensive driving be somehow programmed into a self-driving car? New research suggests… Continue reading Neural Reactions to Fear Make AI Drive More Safely
Autonomous Subs Use AI to Wayfind Without GPS
This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. Uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) are underwater robots that operate without humans inside. Early use cases for the vehicles have included jobs like deep-sea exploration and the disabling of underwater mines. However, UUVs suffer from poor communication and navigation control… Continue reading Autonomous Subs Use AI to Wayfind Without GPS