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Global Mobility news gathered by Explorineer every day, rewritten as plain-language explainers.
A columnist who has owned a Tesla Model 3 since September 2021 reports on its 5-year maintenance inspection, which found no major failures and a battery at 92.8% state of health. The writer notes that the brake pads wore only about 1mm thanks to regenerative braking.
Vietnamese engineers, once dependent on foreign experts, are increasingly operating TBM tunnel boring machines on metro projects. On Hanoi Metro Line 3 (Nhon–Hanoi Station), two TBMs completed about 4 km of twin tunnels passing four underground stations.
Audi is reportedly in talks with Huawei to develop a China-specific next-generation A8 using Huawei's vehicle architecture, according to Germany's Manager Magazin. The model would be built in China, with production targeted before the end of 2028, and no agreement has been finalized.
A heise+ commentary revisits the EU's 2022 agreement to cut the fleet CO₂ limit for new cars to zero grams by 2035. It says the deal, though framed as technology-neutral, effectively ends the combustion engine for new car registrations in the EU, and that the compromise has since been under pressure.
Police and traffic experts in south-western Germany are warning that tuning of pedelecs and e-scooters to exceed legal speed limits is becoming more widespread. Authorities say the modifications are often easy to make, sometimes through the scooter's app, and that tuned vehicles add to an already serious accident risk.
inDrive, the ride-hailing company known for letting passengers and drivers negotiate fares, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Pony.ai and Nvidia to explore robotaxi testing in Astana, Kazakhstan, starting in the first half of 2027. Testing will initially include a safety operator, with fully driverless rides as the eventual goal. Pony.ai would supply its Gen-7 robotaxis, while Nvidia would provide its Hyperion platform and Halos safety system.
Shenzhen-based LEQI Smart, founded in 2016, is expanding its range of personal mobility products, from electric scooters to a rideable Red Dot-recognized suitcase. A 2026 QYResearch report ranks its Megawheels brand fourth globally in two-wheeled self-balancing scooters, and the company reports 2 million Megawheels users and first place in Japan.
Elon Musk said on Tesla's earnings call that the company is aiming for 5 million vehicle deliveries a year by around 2030, a figure that is well above Tesla's recent sales. The article argues the goal would require a major reinvention of Tesla's business, given two straight years of delivery declines.
GM says it remains committed to electrification, autonomy, and improving vehicle quality while cutting development time, despite a tepid US EV environment. At its GM Forward event, the company said its hands-off, eyes-off Super Cruise will expand to nearly every vehicle, including pickups and crossovers. GM's head of product said the company is testing the system at 1 million miles a month.
heise+ has published a review of the Honda CB 1000 F, a retro-styled naked bike whose design closely follows the 1978 CB 900 F "Bol d'Or." The article is a paywalled preview, so the full test results are not available in the excerpt.
Gint, an agricultural autonomous driving startup, has been selected for the second year running as a beneficiary of the TSE Asia Startup Hub, a Tokyo Stock Exchange program supporting Asian startups. The program is backed by 58 partner institutions and retained 16 companies from the previous round while adding 7 new ones. TSE praised Gint's advanced agricultural technology and its expansion into off-road industries.
KG Mobility (KGM) signed an MOU with carbon management firm Husi Partners to build a carbon emissions management system across its supplier network in response to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The company plans to extend emissions calculation methods it piloted with key suppliers since July across the entire supply chain.
A new study led by Haiwei Zhou at the University of Melbourne examines the emissions produced when making lithium-ion batteries, which many parts of the energy transition rely on. The researchers estimate these emissions currently make up 0.18 percent of annual greenhouse gas releases, but they could grow tenfold or more by 2050.
Endurance Energy, a Seattle startup, tested the world's first subsea geothermal power plant near an active underwater volcano in the northeast Pacific. The three-week test produced less than 10 seconds of net-positive electricity, which showed the approach is technically feasible.
A London High Court judge dismissed two claims against Uber brought by around 13,000 black cab drivers and the former private hire firms Kabbee and Iride, ruling they were filed too late under the six-year time limit. The claims alleged Uber misled Transport for London to secure its operating licence, but the court did not decide whether Uber had done anything wrong. Uber denies the allegations, and the ruling does not clear it of them.
The Maeving RM2 is a retrofuturistic electric motorcycle that the reviewer found one of the quietest and smoothest they have ridden, since its rear hub motor produces no drivetrain noise. Its 15-horsepower motor struggled to reach the officially rated 70mph top speed, and the reviewer also noted rough suspension and a loose mirror. At $10,995, the reviewer felt the asking price was a bit extravagant given these rough edges.
Xiaomi has registered the “XIAOMI SU9 LUX” trademark for vehicles, adding to reports that it is developing a larger executive sedan. Chinese automotive reports link the name to a longer-wheelbase SU7 derivative previously called the SU7L, and road-test sightings show a longer body and signs of rear-wheel steering. Xiaomi has not formally announced the model name, specifications, or launch date.
At a press briefing during the 2026 ITS World Congress in Gangneung on the 19th, Lotte Innovate CEO Kim Kyung-yeop said the company aims to grow its mobility business by more than 300% by 2030. The company plans to become an integrated mobility solutions provider using AI to improve traffic safety and operational efficiency. It is also advancing smart tolling, C-ITS, and autonomous driving solutions and pursuing overseas expansion, with Malaysia and Mexico under discussion.