Image: Tesla

Tesla has told lawmakers in Washington DC that it is developing a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle in Texas.

Speaking to the DC City Council, Tesla Senior Policy Advisor India Herdman said the company was building “a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle” though the name of the vehicle or a date of its arrival was not disclosed. 

Herdman said the vehicle was intended to address the difficulties many wheelchair users face accessing transport but offered no timeline, technical details or indication of when the vehicle could enter service.

“We know that paratransit can be very difficult and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas,” said Herdman.

The comments came as policymakers questioned robotaxi companies about accessibility, an issue that remains unresolved across the sector. No major US operator currently offers a fully driverless wheelchair-accessible service, with rival Waymo also telling the hearing it has yet to identify a suitable vehicle platform.

Source: Zag Daily

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Image: Zag Daily

Johannesburg has faced fresh calls to curb vehicle emissions after a new study has revealed the reality of the city’s road pollution landscape.

In 2024, the South African city was estimated to have one of the highest numbers of premature deaths attributed to road transport pollution amongst all African cities. Meanwhile, annual ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM2.5 ) pollution remains two to three times higher than limits set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Against this backdrop, a study from The Real Urban Emissions (TRUE) Initiative examined emissions data from more than 145,000 vehicles to determine which areas of the city are suffering the impact of road pollution the most and which vehicles are the greatest culprits.

Source: Zag Daily

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Parts of Manhattan to Sacrifice 10% of Street Parking As NYC Installs New Trash Bins

A draft environmental assessment published earlier this month shows the two neighborhoods hugging Central Park will each lose about 1,500 parking spaces to the city’s new “Empire Bins” — far more than any other area of the city.

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2nd Circuit Rejects Bid to End NYC's Congestion Pricing

A three-judge panel affirmed U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel's July 2025 decision granting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority's motion to dismiss a pair of lawsuits from Rockland County and its executive, Edwin J. Day, and Orange County and its executive, Steven M. Neuhaus, asserting equal protection, due process and other claims.

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Utilities Look More Creatively at Managing EV Electric Demand

Electric companies are developing more nimble grid management strategies related to electric vehicles, even tapping into their telematics. The aim is to balance a rise in power usage.

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Lululemon’s New Distribution Center to Bolster US, Canada Fulfillment

Lululemon has opened a new distribution center in Ontario, Canada, to strengthen the company’s e-commerce fulfillment capabilities in North America, the retailer announced last week. The 1-million-square-foot facility in Brampton broke ground in 2023 and became fully operational in June. The site will support e-commerce operations across the Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canada.

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PowerCo Sticks to 2027 Timeline for St. Thomas Battery Plant

PowerCo Canada Inc. says it is sticking to its plan to start production at its St. Thomas battery plant in 2027, a decision one auto sector analyst described as “significant” given the tough spot its parent company, Volkswagen AG, finds itself in.

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Port of Vancouver Takes Next Step Towards New $3.5 Billion Terminal

The Port of Vancouver has picked its preferred contractor to build the central part of the massive, $3 billion Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project that will expand the West Coast’s container capacity by 30 per cent.

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Taxi Stockholm Says App Disruptions Resolved after Outage since Monday Evening

The technical problems the company was experiencing were reported to have been resolved on Wednesday morning, and digital bookings via the app will function as usual. This follows an outage since Monday evening. According to the company, the problems were due to an operational disruption at the operator Vodafone in northern Italy.

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No Men, Please: Finland's Women-Only Taxis Gain Traction

Rides can be booked only by customers registered as female in official records. The service is arranged through the companies' apps, with passengers required to book at least half an hour before departure.

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Europe Robotaxi Market to Grow at a CAGR of 91.3% Through 2032

The Europe Robotaxi Market is projected to reach USD 12.19 billion by 2032, expanding at a CAGR of 91.3% during 2026-2032. Growth is driven by cross-border autonomous mobility frameworks, Level 4 vehicle deployment, platform partnerships, battery-electric robotaxi fleets, connected infrastructure development, and increasing adoption of autonomous passenger transport services across urban mobility networks.

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Asia Shippers Report Continued Volatility and Predict Demand Growth in H2

A survey of 180 Asia Pacific shippers carried out by freight forwarder Dimerco showed that 71% are expecting air and ocean cargo demand to increase in the coming six months, fuelled by underlying trade growth but also defensive behaviours in response to geopolitical volatility.

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China Turns to Electric Taxis to Soften Hormuz Oil Shock

China has an increasingly important buffer ⁠against ⁠oil price shocks: electric taxis.

Across Chinese cities, taxi ⁠usage and ridesharing are booming. In May, people took 3.05 billion trips, with government data showing trips have ​grown 6% since the Iran war began at the end of February, versus March to May last year.

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Soar, JR East’s New Shinkansen Inspection Train, to Debut in FY29

The successor to East i, the inspection train used to ensure safety of Shinkansen operations, will debut in fiscal 2029 under the name Soar, East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) said July 14. Soar, based on the latest model of the Akita Shinkansen bullet train Komachi, will be capable of conducting inspections at a maximum speed of 320 kph, the same top speed as the Hayabusa, Japan’s fastest Shinkansen.

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Image: Electrek

Germany is preparing to tighten the rules governing shared electric scooters, proposing new legislation that would make rental operators like Lime and Bolt directly liable for damages caused by their vehicles.

The proposed law aims to close what officials describe as a legal loophole that has often left accident victims without compensation. Under the current system, injured parties generally need to prove that the rider was at fault. That can be nearly impossible when the rider leaves the scene or cannot be identified.

Instead, the new legislation would place strict liability on rental operators as the registered owners of the scooters. Riders themselves would also be presumed at fault unless they can demonstrate otherwise. The proposal would even extend to incidents involving improperly parked scooters that block sidewalks and create hazards for pedestrians.

According to Germany’s Federal Ministry for Justice and Consumer Protection, the change reflects a simple principle: companies that profit from shared micromobility services should also bear the risks those services create.

Source: Electrek

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