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Electricity and gas company SP Group says it will build a network of 1,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers in Singapore by 2020 to meet public demand. Wong Kim Yin, SP group chief executive officer, says the initiative will enable greater adoption of EVs, help its customers go green and save energy and cost. The deployment will include 250 high-powered direct current (DC) chargers which are expected to offer power ratings up to 350kW to support EV models with bigger battery capacities and longer driv

Aurrigo has made 15 of its self-driving pods available to residents in the UK town of Milton Keynes as part of the Autodrive project. The three-year initiative, funded by Innovate UK, is part of an agreement with Milton Keynes Council to trial the pods as a first/last mile solution for citizens and visitors. The company says the Autodrive pods can travel up to 15mph for 60 miles on one charge – operating in the city centre from the central railway station. Brian Matthews, head of transport innov

Ride-hailing company Grab has launched a programme to make its service safer for drivers and passengers in south-east Asia. As part of the Safer Everyday Tech Roadmap initiative, Grab’s analytics tool works with the company’s app to help employees understand how to improve driving behaviour. Drivers also receive telematics reports on speeding, acceleration and breaking as well as reminders from a fatigue monitoring system on how long they have been travelling without taking a rest. Tan Hooi Ling, Gr

Redvision has released a wiper option for its Vega 2010 camera which it says removes dirt and water from the camera window. The PoE-driven wiper is concealed behind the front bezel of the camera when not in use. Stephen Lightfoot, technical director at Redvision explains: “Wiper power comes from the PoE-driven, CHAT interface board. This also provides camera, washer and built-in heater power to the Vega, along with audio communications. The Vega 2010 rugged housings are expected to allow installers to fit

Urbanova, telecommunications company Verizon and the city of Spokane, Washington, are collaborating on smart city solutions to tackle congestion and improve parking within the university district. Urbanova is a consortium of researchers and professionals whose stated aim is to make cities more sustainable through technological development. David Condon, mayor of Spokane, says Urbanova and Verizon will share resources around technology applications and data delivery to help achieve smarter infrastructure

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has appointed engineering firm Dar Al-Handasah to begin construction of a Hyperloop system in Abu Dhabi in the third quarter of 2019. The project also includes a Hyperloop commercial track and an centre for logistics which it calls XO Square. In April, HyperloopTT unveiled an XO square centre in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The facility houses the company’s logistic research division, a fabrication lab and what the company refers to as ‘an ecosystem’ of global companies, s

The row about the employment status of Uber drivers has flared up again, as a trade union alleges that each UK driver is owed approximately £18,000. This follows a refusal from the company to accept a two-year old court ruling, says the GMB, the union which looks after the interests of professional drivers. The Central London Employment Tribunal ruled in 2016 that Uber drivers are entitled to holiday pay, a guaranteed minimum wage and rest bre

Verra Mobility says its pay-as-you-go tolling service can be used on 95% of cashless toll roads and bridges throughout the US without additional hardware, transponders or multiple accounts. Called Peasy, the digital platform is expected to remove the need for drivers to pre-fund tolling accounts or to submit payments by post. Peasy is available for drivers who have an existing transponder or toll tag account as well as motorists who do not have an account with a toll authority. Users can add multiple

BYD has delivered five electric C6 buses to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation in Kathmandu to help improve air quality in Nepal. The buses will operate in Lumbini, a Buddhist pilgrimage and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) world heritage site. This deployment is part of a wider initiative from the Nepalese government to replace 1,000 taxis in Kathmandu Valley, as well as school buses, with electric vehicles. Last month, BYD also delivered 12

Navya’s self-driving electric shuttle will operate as a daily mobility service for a planned city project in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Autonom shuttle will link parking areas in Masdar City with its main podium. Navya and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport have customised the shuttle to mitigate the effects of extreme heat and humidity on battery performance. They also carried out health and safety tests to ensure the safety of passengers and pedestrians. Autonom can c

Australian Start-up Chargefox has secured AUS$15 million to build an ultra-rapid network of charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) in the south-eastern state of Victoria. The company says the chargers will allow drivers to travel between major cities. The EV chargers are expected to supply 400km of range in 15 minutes with a power output of up to 350kW. The fund was provided by grants from the Victorian government and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. It also includes an investment from

Uber will introduce a fee of 15p per mile for all trips booked via its app in London to help its drivers purchase an electric vehicle (EV). The surcharge will be introduced in early 2019. Uber says drivers working 40 hours per week for two years could receive around £3,000 of support towards the purchase of an EV. The initiative is part of Uber’s Clean Air Plan in which the company expects to raise more than £200 million in the next few years to support the switch to electric. Uber estimates tha

Kapsch TrafficCom and oil and gas company OMV will deploy a Europe-wide cashless tolling solution for trucks. The OMV Smart Europe will be available in Austria and Hungary from November. The toll box, designed by Kapsch, is expected to extend the OMV card’s capabilities by allowing users to pay for tolls without having to deal with local toll systems or different toll boxes. Benedikt Hans, head of card at OMV, says the solution will aid the European Commission’s ambition to harmonise toll systems in

Teledyne e2v says its Emerald 2M sensor helps to lower the cost of a full HD camera system as it is compatible with low-cost 1/3” optics. The CMOS image sensor is optimised for machine vision applications and includes 5° chief ray angle compensation, the company adds. According to Teledyne, Emerald 2M’s global shutter and MIPI CSI-2 interface allow it to utilise image signal processors available for mobile applications. The sensor comes with digital functionalities such as multi region of interest, subs