Elon Musk's self-driving Tesla, a Cybertruck teardown, boosting phone batteries: The most popular tech stories
Someone took apart a Tesla Cybertruck and found a big battery pack that looks only half full
You never have to wait long for another story about the odd engineering choices of the Tesla Cybertruck. A new teardown videois going to show that even the angular truck’s massive battery pack seems half finished.
Scientists found a way to increase phone battery life by 50%
Researchers out of the University of California San Diego say that building more, smaller 5G towers could increase everyone in an urban area’s battery life by roughly 50%. Rethinking how urban areas approach 5G coverage would improve the area’s carbon footprint and overall coverage, according to a new study first reported by New Scientist.
10 modern feats of automation that were just humans in disguise
Amazon’s grocery stores ditched its “Just Walk Out” technology, though it turned out the automated checkout system included 1,000 reviewers in India. However, this is hardly the only example of times when automation breakthroughs were truly powered by human workers in hiding — a phenomenon known as “The Mechanical Turk.”
BMW is succeeding with electric cars while rivals like Tesla struggle
BMW was one of the few companies selling electric vehicles to report a surge of growth in the first quarter of 2024, even as rivals like Tesla and Volkswagen struggled.
Thousands of LG Smart TVs have security bugs that could let hackers hijack them
Recently discovered software vulnerabilities in tens of thousands of LG smart TVs could allow cybercriminals to hijack them. To make sure your TV isn’t one of the unlucky few that gets unscrupulously commandeered by a dark web cretin, make sure to update your device right now.
Elon Musk said a self-driving Tesla is coming this year. Not everyone is convinced
After swiftly denying a report that Tesla would be dropping plans for a $25,000 electric vehicle, CEO Elon Musk made his latest promise to investors and fans — a self-driving Tesla would be unveiled on August 8.
EV maker Lucid found a way to boost sales while Tesla and others struggled
It’s a tough time to be an electric vehicle startup, with pioneers like Tesla struggling to maintain momentum and demand at established automakers not quite matching projections. For EV maker Lucid, the answer to avoiding those woes was simple: slash prices.
Get ready for Tesla’s massive Supercharger site
Once Ford announced it had reached a deal with Tesla to allow its electric vehicle owners to use Superchargers, it was only a matter of time before every other automaker did the same thing. Fast forward to today, and Tesla’s charging takeover is officially complete. With so many more drivers charging their EVs at Supercharger stations, though, there’s a pretty big risk that when you show up, you might have to wait a while. Unless, as CarBuzz reports, you happen to visit the massive 200-charger super site that Tesla’s building in Florida.
Will Tesla finally unveil a self-driving vehicle? Don’t count on it
Elon Musk said a self-driving Tesla is coming this year. Not everyone is convinced
Electric cars are saving all Americans billions on their utility bills — not just EV drivers
Electric vehicle drivers have saved Americans billions of dollars on their electric bills — and that’s only the beginning, according to recent studies.