“Waymo announced that Washington, DC will be its next robotaxi city. The company aims to launch its Waymo One ridehailing service in the nation’s capitol in 2026 — though it acknowledged that it will first need to change the city law prohibiting fully autonomous vehicles without safety drivers.

Currently, companies that want to test autonomous vehicles in DC are required to have a human driver behind the steering wheel in case something goes wrong. Tech advocates have been pressing the city council to loosen the restrictions to allow fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. A spokesperson for the DC transportation department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”

From The Verge.

“Help may at last be on the way for the Nepali Sherpas who carry heavy loads for foreign climbers through treacherous sections of the world’s tallest peak.

When the main climbing season begins next month on Mount Everest, expedition companies will test drones that can ferry loads as heavy as 35 pounds in the high altitudes, bring back ladders used to set the climbing routes, and remove waste that is typically left behind.

Goods that would normally take seven hours to be transported by foot from Everest’s base camp to Camp I can be airlifted within 15 minutes. By lightening the Sherpas’ burdens, drone operators hope that the chances of fatal accidents — which have risen as climate change has accelerated snowmelt — can now be reduced.”

From New York Times.

“On the shores of the Baltic Sea, in the south of Denmark, a vast engineering marvel is taking shape — piece by giant concrete piece — that, when finished, will drastically redraw the road and rail maps of Europe.

The Fehmarnbelt tunnel may not have grabbed the popular imagination in the same way as the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France did more than 30 years ago, but this structure is just as impressive, if not more so.

Linking Denmark and Germany, the Fehmarnbelt will carry two-lane road highways under the water in both directions, plus two electrified rail lines — a multiple tube thoroughfare that will plunge beneath the waves of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

At 18 kilometers (11.2 miles), it’s nowhere near as long as the 50-kilometer (31-mile) Channel Tunnel, but in many other ways it’s bigger. The project will, in fact, be the world’s longest road and rail tunnel, and the world’s longest immersed tunnel.”

From CNN.

“BYD has unveiled its groundbreaking Super e-Platform, setting a new global benchmark for EV technology. The platform boasts 1,000 kW ultra-fast charging (1 MW), enabling 400 km (249 miles) of range in just 5 minutes – twice the speed of Tesla’s Tesla’s latest Superchargers (500kW).

The breakthrough, part of the all-new BYD Super e-Platform, was unveiled on March 17 at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen.”

From ZEcar.