This week on the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy, including Tesla v11/holiday update, the price of the Tesla Roadster going away, Taiga starting production of its electric snowmobile, and more. Sponsored by Electrify America: Discover all the new and innovative ways that Electrify America is providing
Entertainment
As the year comes to an end, it is time to commemorate the stars and notable figures we have said goodbye to over the last 12 months. Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding, comedian Sean Lock, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, musical great Stephen Sondheim and of course Prince Philip are among those who sadly died
There are few things in life that would make me happier than being able to live out my fantasy of existing inside a late 80’s or early 90’s beachy television show. I nearly made my Baywatch dreams come true, and now it’s time to go all Miami Vice on my latest find from China’s weirdest
Arnold Schwarzenegger has donated $250,000 (£186,700) to provide 25 “tiny homes” for war veterans in California. The small room-sized housing units with beds and heating will help former military personnel get off the streets. “This is what Christmas is all about,” the Terminator actor wrote on Twitter. This is what Christmas is all about. All
You’ve strung the lights, trimmed the tree, and put in that order for that minced meat pie that only grandpa eats… but wait. In the flurry of turkey legs and way too much football, you missed the Black Friday sale from BLUETTI! Fear not friends, BLUETTI has extended its savings through the 2021 holiday season
LadBaby have made recording history by securing the Christmas number one for a fourth consecutive year, becoming the first act to do so in the 70 years of the official Christmas chart. LadBaby’s Sausage Rolls For Everyone ft Ed Sheeran and Elton John secured the festive top spot, the Official Charts Company has confirmed. The
Tesla has released a new software update that lets drivers use their Tesla vehicles as actual megaphones to communicate with their surroundings. Don’t be shocked if people start talking to you through their Tesla on the road. Earlier this week, we reported on Tesla starting to push its new “holiday update”, which is a bigger-than-usual
Australia is about to get its first offshore wind farms. The three projects will consist of two floating wind farms and one fixed-bottom wind farm, with a total installed capacity of 4.3 gigawatts. Australia’s Energy Estate and Spain-headquartered BlueFloat Energy, which are partnered to develop offshore wind projects in Australia and New Zealand, are developing
Ed Sheeran has raised £52,765 for a school in his hometown by raffling off one of his guitars. To mark his “coming of age” album Equals, the 30-year-old singer worked with Northern Ireland-based guitar-maker George Lowden to create a signature instrument. He donated a prototype of the Equals guitar to Suffolk-based charity GeeWizz, which auctioned
Another year of restrictions, lockdowns and limited live entertainment meant more heavy reliance on screens, and TV and film certainly delivered – despite productions having to adhere to new COVID protocols in order to keep cast and crews safe. Once again, the team behind Sky News’ film and TV podcast Backstage has whipped out the
Ola Electric became the darling of the Indian electric scooter market when it unveiled its S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters earlier this year. The high-performance scooters boasted speeds of over 70 mph (115 km/h) yet came affordably priced at between US $1,050-$1,300. The ambitious company built a sprawling mega-factory designed to meet the surging
Chris Martin has said his band Coldplay will release their last album in 2025. In a clip taken from BBC Radio 2 presenter Jo Wiley’s Christmas special show, which is set to be aired later on Thursday, Martin is heard saying that after 2025 the band will “only tour”. Wiley shared the clip on fellow
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. We will be out on Saturday, December 25th, reposting again on Monday, December 27th.
Actor James Franco has admitted to sleeping with students from an acting school he previously ran – nearly four years after accusations of sexual misconduct were made against him. The Pineapple Express and Spider-Man star said he has been “doing a lot of work” on himself since the allegations surfaced and that he had been
James Bond actor Jack Hedley has died aged 92, according to a death notice in The Times. He also appeared in Only Fools And Horses, and Lawrence Of Arabia. The notice in The Times said he passed away on 11 December “after a short illness bravely borne”. It added: “At his request there will be
Electric motorcycle prices may be dropping slightly, but they still cost a premium over gas-powered motorcycles. That could be changing, though, at least at BMW. The German manufacturer has just announced that its partnership with Indian motorcycle maker TVS will expand to include work on electric motorcycles. BMW and TVS have worked together for years
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has revealed he is “absolutely devastated” after his West End production of Cinderella was forced to close until February next year. The theatre impresario described how his life has been “devoted to musical theatre”. But the decision has been made to postpone his latest theatre offering in a bid to “avoid
Ducati’s first electric motorcycle prototype was finally released yesterday, giving the world an initial look at the bike that is set to fill Energica’s shoes as the exclusive supplier of the FIM MotoE electric motorcycle racing series. Ducati V21L electric motorcycle prototype With Energica’s contract ending, Ducati stepped up as the new manufacturer of MotoE
The top 10 most complained about television shows of 2021 have been revealed. It has been a record year for Ofcom, with more than 150,000 complaints made about various television shows. The total figures do not include complaints about the BBC, which are handled by the corporation in the first instance. Adam Baxter, Ofcom’s director
The stars of Sex And The City have said they are “deeply saddened” by sexual assault allegations made against co-star Chris Noth. Two women have accused Noth, who played Mr Big in the hit series, of assaults in 2004 and 2015. The actor has called the claims “categorically false” and said the encounters were consensual.
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee
I recently had the chance to test out a new portable backup battery from a company I hadn’t heard of before: Joyzis. They sent me their BR300 model to test out for my daily use needs. While I never know what to expect the first time I test a product from a new (to me)
Countdown star Rachel Riley has been awarded £10,000 in damages after she sued Jeremy Corbyn’s former aide following an exchange on Twitter. The television presenter complained about a tweet that Laura Murray posted more than two years ago. The High Court heard in May that Ms Riley claimed Ms Murray’s post caused “serious harm” to
A live production of satirical comedy Spitting Image will hit the West End next year. The original series of the popular sketch show ran from 1984 to 1996 and it made its return to screens for the first time in 2020, on subscription platform Britbox. A second series in September saw sporting stars Gareth Southgate,
Tesla announced that is going to offer free Supercharging during off-peak hours for the holidays in order to help curb traffic at charging stations. The holidays have been tough stress tests for Tesla’s Supercharger network, and it has not always passed with flying colors. Especially in California, one of Tesla’s biggest markets per capita and
Spider-Man: No Way Home has had the third-biggest opening weekend of any Hollywood film in history. The much-hyped third solo outing for Tom Holland’s version of the Marvel icon took a huge $587.2m (£443.5m) at the global box office during its opening weekend. Only Avengers duo Endgame and Infinity War are ahead of it (both
Shipping times for just about everything have been stretched to new limits thanks to pandemic related supply chain constraints. While nearly every industry has been affected in some way, electric bicycles and other forms of personal mobility have been uniquely impacted. The pandemic has affected the e-bike industry in a myriad of ways. Commuters have
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee
Rose Ayling-Ellis has been crowned the winner of this year’s history-making Strictly Come Dancing. Ayling-Ellis, with professional Giovanni Pernice, beat former Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite to the coveted glitterball trophy, who was also making history as part of the first all-male partnership in the show’s history. Presenter AJ Odudu had also made
‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Micah clicking his keyboard and mouse. He was on the hunt for the latest Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week, but was utterly dismayed as his prospects looked so bleak. But then out of nowhere, what
Rock star Rod Stewart and his son have pleaded guilty to battery in an assault case following a New Year’s Eve incident with a security guard at an exclusive Florida hotel. Court records released on Friday show the singer and his son Sean Stewart entered guilty pleas to misdemeanour charges of simple battery. “No one
If you still use a gas-powered leaf blower, or just don’t have one at all yet, then Greenworks’ 40V model is a great buy all around. Delivering a cordless experience, you won’t need to drag an extension cable behind you while cleaning up. Right now, this cordless leaf blower is on sale for $103, making