Month: May 2023

Tesla’s magnet mystery shows Elon Musk is willing to compromise

The EV maker said it will expunge rare earths from its vehicles’ motors.

Tesla motor

Enlarge / A 158 kW electric motor for the front-wheel drive of a Tesla Model Y. (credit: Patrick Pluel/Getty Images)

Last month, at a livestreamed Tesla investor event that went short on new cars and long on grandiose narratives, a minor detail in Elon Musk’s “Master Plan Part 3” made big news in an obscure corner of physics. Colin Campbell, an executive in Tesla’s powertrain division, announced that his team was expunging rare-earth magnets from its motors, citing supply chain concerns and the toxicity of producing them.

To emphasize the point, Campbell clicked between a pair of slides referring to three mystery materials, helpfully labeled Rare Earths 1, 2, and 3. On the first slide, representing Tesla’s present, the amounts range from a half kilo to 10 grams. On the next—the Tesla of an unspecified future date—all were set to zero.

(credit: Tesla)

(credit: Tesla)

To magneticians, folks who study the uncanny forces some materials exert thanks to the movements of electrons and sometimes use cryptic hand gestures, the identity of Rare Earth 1 was obvious: neodymium. When added to more familiar elements, like iron and boron, the metal can help create a powerful, always-on magnetic field. But few materials have this quality. And even fewer generate a field that is strong enough to move a 4,500-pound Tesla—and lots of other things, from industrial robots to fighter jets. If Tesla planned to eliminate neodymium and other rare earths from its motors, what sort of magnets would it use instead?

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New USPS electric vans delayed until mid-2024, according to court docs

With the bespoke NGDV delayed, the USPS has ordered 9,250 Ford E-Transits.

A closeup of the NGDV nose with a USPS van in the background

Enlarge / The United States Postal Service's Next Generation Delivery Vehicle is delayed, we learned today. (credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The United States Postal Service's attempt to replace its aging fleet of delivery vans with a more efficient model is going to take longer than anticipated. Originally, the USPS was to accept the first of its new Next Generation Delivery Vehicles by December of this year. But that has been pushed back until June 2024 at the earliest, according to court documents.

An unambitious plan

The quest to replace the US Postal Service's aging and increasingly dangerous Grumman LLVs began in 2015. After several years of evaluation, in 2021 the USPS announced it had arrived at a winner—a rather odd-looking van with something of a duckbill, designed by defense contractor Oshkosh. The USPS said it wanted to order between 50,000-165,000 NGDVs over a 10-year period, with an initial contract of $485 million.

Enthusiasm over the announcement was rapidly tempered, however. The NGDV has been designed to be powertrain-agnostic and can be fitted either with electric motors and a lithium-ion battery or an internal combustion engine. And it rapidly became clear that only a small minority of NGDVs—10 percent in fact—would be battery-electric vehicles.

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Pirate IPTV: 24 MEPs Demand Action From EC President Ursula von der Leyen

This week the European Commission is expected to publish its recommendation for combating live sports piracy in the European Union. A draft leaked to the media last month revealed that despite rightsholders’ calls for urgency, the EC envisions a three-year review period. In a letter sent to EC President Ursula von der Leyen, 24 Members of the European Parliament demand more urgency and a commitment towards legislation.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

iptvPirate IPTV providers and streaming websites offering discounted or even free access to live sports broadcasts are controversial worldwide.

Rightsholders say these illegal platforms threaten their business and need to be brought under control. In the European Union, pressure has been building on the European Commission to urgently address the problem, via new legislation if necessary, but responses thus far have left rightsholders underwhelmed.

Last October, over 100 rightsholders and organizations, including the MPA, UEFA, Premier League, beIN, LaLiga, Serie A, Sky, and BT Sport, told the European Commission time was running out. Three weeks later the EC rejected demands for legislative instruments or European-wide regulation but promised to come up with a recommendation on mitigation measures under existing law.

Following public submissions that mostly underlined rightsholders’ claims that existing law is inadequate, the EC began to prepare its recommendation for combating piracy. A draft leaked to the media last month revealed that rightsholders will be expected to wait for another three years while the situation is monitored for change.

Faced with the prospect of no legislative action until 2026, rightsholders vented their disappointment via the Live Content Coalition, well in advance of the recommendation’s official publication.

Two Dozen MEPs Issue Demands at the Highest Level

The Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT) is leading the campaign for legislative change on behalf of its members, some of which are multi-billion dollar businesses in their own right.

actbe

This morning, ACT made public a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Dated April 28, 2023, it references the EC’s recommendation due to be published this week or, more accurately, the draft leaked to the media last month.

One Year Monitoring Period

Signed by 24 Members of the European Parliament, the letter is a follow-up to correspondence in March that called on the the Commission to “act decisively, efficiently and with the utmost priority against those who drain our creative economies.” Once again, a refusal to address the problem with urgent legislation is highlighted as a major concern.

“As previously outlined, we, together with many of our colleagues remain disappointed that the European Commission proposed a Recommendation despite unambiguous requests from the European Parliament for a legislative instrument,” the MEPs write.

“The only encouragement this house received from the European Commission can be found in the response from October 2022 which recognises that this issue should be tackled with urgency allowing for a solid and transparent monitoring system.”

The MEPs say they support the implementation of a monitoring period since producing performance data will incentivize “all the players in scope of the Recommendation” to act. What they cannot accept is that the suggested monitoring period, at least according to the leaked draft, is 36 months in duration.

“We took note from the press that a current draft of the Recommendation envisages a three-year review period. Such a lengthy timeframe will only benefit malicious actors to the detriment of our European creative and sports industries,” the MEPs warn.

“We strongly encourage the European Commission’s services under your authority to ensure that the final Recommendation – to be released in early May – includes a review period that is not longer than one year from publication.”

MEPs Ask EC President to Keep Promises

When the European Commission published its work program last October, it gave assurances that should the recommendation not generate “the desired effects in a timely manner,” further steps would be taken, “including by proposing new EU legislation addressing this significant problem.”

It’s unclear whether the leaked draft repeated or omitted that assurance but the MEPs insist that, for the avoidance of doubt, it needs to appear in the recommendation due for publication this week.

“Otherwise, our previous exchanges would be contradicted, Madam President, and the European Commission would demonstrate a lack of resolve in defending the rule of law in the European Union and delivering on the Commission’s commitment to ensure that what is illegal offline is illegal online,” the letter concludes.

The letter sent to EC President Ursula von der Leyen can be found here (pdf)

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Redfall im Solo-Test: Gepflegtes Ballern ohne Herzblut

Offene Stadt, Vampire und schwere Waffen: Eine explosive Mischung – aber Redfall bietet nur mäßig spannende Action (PC, Xbox Series X/S). Von Peter Steinlechner (Redfall, Spieletest)

Offene Stadt, Vampire und schwere Waffen: Eine explosive Mischung - aber Redfall bietet nur mäßig spannende Action (PC, Xbox Series X/S). Von Peter Steinlechner (Redfall, Spieletest)

Große Namen und obskure Titel: Zehn (fast) vergessene Science-Fiction-Serien der 1970er

In den 1970ern gab es viel weniger Science-Fiction-Serien als heute – namhaft waren sie aber allemal: Die Enterprise, Kampfstern Galactica, Planet der Affen, alles Serien aus dieser Zeit. Hier unsere zehn Favoriten. Von Peter Osteried (Science-Fiction,…

In den 1970ern gab es viel weniger Science-Fiction-Serien als heute - namhaft waren sie aber allemal: Die Enterprise, Kampfstern Galactica, Planet der Affen, alles Serien aus dieser Zeit. Hier unsere zehn Favoriten. Von Peter Osteried (Science-Fiction, Star Wars)