Tag: Mobility

You can ride Bird’s e-scooters in London starting today — but only in Olympic Park

It was only a matter of time before the electric scooters infiltrated the U.K. Today, the well-funded startup Bird is launching a fleet of its shareable e-scooters in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. As part of the pilot, the company is making the scooters available between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. for anyone heading between Stratford and Here… Continue reading You can ride Bird’s e-scooters in London starting today — but only in Olympic Park

Volvo invests in mobile charging company FreeWire

Volvo has acquired a stake in San Francisco-based mobile charging company FreeWire Technologies via the Volvo Cars Tech Fund. While Volvo does not plan to own charging or service stations directly, it says the investment reflects its support for user-friendly charging options as electric mobility continues to grow. “To support wider consumer adoption of electric… Continue reading Volvo invests in mobile charging company FreeWire

A Whopping 33,000 Charging Points In U.S. & Canada Are Now Linked

33,000 ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING SPOTS NOW NETWORKED TOGETHER THROUGHOUT US AND CANADA One of the great things about owning a Tesla is that you have a simple and easy charging experience when you’re on the road. A Supercharger is a Supercharger, whether you’re heading down I-95 to Florida or taking I-10 across the desert to… Continue reading A Whopping 33,000 Charging Points In U.S. & Canada Are Now Linked

SEAT rolls out Amazon Alexa in Spain, Italy and France

SEAT, the first automotive brand in Europe to roll out Amazon Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, launches today the service in Spanish and Italian, and in French as of Monday November 12th, giving customers access to a host of functions accessible through simple voice commands. As our lives become increasingly busy, bringing Amazon Alexa into… Continue reading SEAT rolls out Amazon Alexa in Spain, Italy and France

Christian Stein, new General Director of Communication of SEAT and Institutional Relations of SEAT and the Volkswagen Group in Spain

SEAT global Communications director Christian Stein has been appointed General Director of Communication and Institutional Relations for SEAT internationally and of Institutional Relations for the Volkswagen Group in Spain. In his new role, which he will assume on 1st November, Stein will continue to lead all of SEAT’s Communication activities and will also coordinate Volkswagen… Continue reading Christian Stein, new General Director of Communication of SEAT and Institutional Relations of SEAT and the Volkswagen Group in Spain

Volkswagen ensures intelligent traffic management with quantum computers

The Volkswagen Group is making further progress with its work with quantum computers. For the first time, Volkswagen experts have succeeded in using a quantum computer to develop a traffic management system that will replace forecasting for urban traffic volumes, transport demand and travel times with precise calculations. As a result, public transportation organizations, taxi… Continue reading Volkswagen ensures intelligent traffic management with quantum computers

Elon Musk says Tesla ‘probably would not’ take money from Saudi Arabia now

Elon Musk says he probably wouldn't take Saudi money
8:23 AM ET Fri, 2 Nov 2018 | 00:53

Tesla “probably would not” take money from Saudi Arabia in the wake of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Chief Executive Elon Musk said.

Musk and his electric car manufacturer hit headlines in August after the billionaire put out a tweet sayingthat he was considering taking the firm private at $420 per share.

Later explaining his tweet in a blog post, Tesla's boss said he had been approached by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund “multiple times” about the prospect of taking Tesla private, and that it has bought a nearly 5 percent stake in Tesla through the public market. Plans for a take-private deal were subsequently shelved.

In an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher, which was published early Friday morning, Musk was asked directly about his thoughts on the death of Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Saudi regime.

“Yeah, I mean, that sounds pretty bad. So … that is not good. That is bad,” he said.

Asked whether he would accept Saudi money now, following Khashoggi's death, Musk said: “I think we probably would not.”

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor last week acknowledged for the first time that Khashoggi's killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey was “premeditated,” deviating from previous claims that his death was unintended.

The Arab kingdom initially denied any involvement in his disappearance, saying the Washington Post journalist had left the consulate unharmed. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said he is cooperating with Turkey over Khashoggi's killing, and that those found guilty will be brought to justice.

Musk, asked about the influence of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in Silicon Valley, added that it was important to recognize that not all Saudi cash is the same.

He said: “I think we should just consider that there is a whole country, and there's, you know … There are a lot of good people in Saudi Arabia, and Saudis who are outside of Saudi Arabia. So I think you cannot paint an entire country with one brush.”

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is a major backer of SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund, which has been ploughing cash into Silicon Valley's start-up economy. The PIF has already committed $45 billion to the fund, and Saudi Arabia's crown prince said last month the PIF plans to invest another $45 billion into the Japanese firm's second major fund.

The relationship between SoftBank and Saudi Arabia appears to have become increasingly uncertain, however, following the controversy surrounding Khashoggi. Masayoshi Son, the firm's chief executive, reportedly backed out of the country's high-profile Future Investment Initiative business conference last month.

Various other tech executives withdrew from the investment conference, including Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, Google's Diane Greene and Simon Segars of Arm Holdings — which is fully owned by SoftBank.