Speaking remotely at the B Word Conference today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric car company is ‘likely’ to resume accepting payment for its vehicles in the cryptocurrency, after pausing the option in May.

“I wanted a little bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50%, and that there is a trend towards increasing that number, and if so Tesla would resume accepting Bitcoin,” said Musk, echoing a statement he’d tweeted in June.

The BBC noted this caused the price of Bitcoin to surge past the $30,000 mark . At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is valued at $31,899 .

For those keeping score at home, here’s a brief timeline of events:

Tesla had started accepting payments in Bitcoin for its cars in March , a move that caused cryptocurrency‘s price to surge that day from just over US$39,000 to US$46,000 that day. The EV maker then paused Bitcoin payments in May , with Musk citing concerns about the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels” used in mining the cryptocurrency.

On June 13, Musk said the company would bring back the option to buy Tesla cars with Bitcoin when clean energy usage by cryptocurrency miners approached 50%.

The oft-outspoken CEO didn’t specify any sort of time frame for this. However, he did reveal that he owned Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, and that he is indeed a cryptocurrency optimist. “I might pump, but I don’t dump… I definitely do not believe in getting the price high and selling… I would like to see Bitcoin succeed,” he said.

This bizarre Japanese flying bike wants to bring air travel to the streets

Update March 29,2022: The company tested the flying motorbike in front of a live audience in Japan. You can watch footage of the trial below.

If you’re a fan of sci-fi futuristic movies such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars , you’re already familiar with hoverbikes , or simply flying bikes.

Well, seeing hoverbikes in movies presenting futuristic and semi-human societies is normal, I guess. But seeing them in real life can be mind-blowing, super weird, what-the-fuck — you name it.

So, I was extremely surprised when Japanese startup A.L.I. Technologies unveiled its Xturismo hoverbike last November at a race track near Tokyo.

And since an image (or video in this case) speaks a thousand words, take a look yourself below:

The hoverbike shakily flew a few meters off the ground for a little over a minute — which wasn’t so impressive.

On March 29, however, the company made a much more stirring demonstration, testing it in front of thousands at Sapporo Dome in Japan before a Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters game.

This time the bike managed to fly more steadily, going up significantly higher. Check it out below:

Basically, the Xturismo is what happens when you place a motorcycle on top of a drone platform. And this makes it an VTOL, meaning a vertical take-off and landing aircraft.

The hoverbike is also a hybrid, getting its power from a conventional engine and four electric motors. It’s capable of flying thanks to a set of propellers: two primary ones (where the wheels would have been) and four secondary propellers at each corner, which act as stabilizers.

The Xturismo qualifies as an ultralight aircraft , which means that you don’t need to be a certified pilot to fly it.

Well, I wouldn’t say so. But we might well be witnessing the seeds of a future (far, far-off future) model.

For starters, the Xturismo’s hardly offers a breathtaking performance. The driver (or should I say pilot? ) travels slowly for just a few minutes.

Nevertheless, the bike’s maximum speed is estimated to reach an ambitious 100km/h, with an expected flight time between 30 to 40 minutes.

That’s definitely great for an actual flying vehicle, but still not good enough to replace other modes of transportation. I mean, just imagine the range anxiety you would get if you had to stop every half hour?

And besides, it’s not even allowed on-road, raising the question of where you launch and land.

Certainly not. Not in Japan or anywhere in the world for that matter.

There’s simply no regulatory framework regarding this kind of vehicles because, well, we don’t really have them yet. And of course, it’s difficult to imagine that unless all vehicles were flying, we could see a hoverbike casually “riding” above normal traffic.

For now (and for many many years to come), the Xturismo can only be used on private properties and race tracks.

You might think that owing a large property to fly the hoverbike or renting a race track every time you’d like to fly with your motorcycle is a costly matter. And you’d be totally right.

But the Xturismo comes with a $680,000 price tag, which means that the startup is clearly addressing customers who don’t have to worry about going spending the extra mile.

The idea is that, once A.L.I. Technologies has sold and delivered the first Limited Edition 200 units, then it’d be able to offer a more affordable version.

In turn, this version could be used by rescue teams to reach locations otherwise inaccessible, according to the startup’s CEO.

As a matter of fact, the idea of a flying bike that can be used in emergency situations isn’t novel. In 2019, American company Jetpack Aviation announced the development of its military/commercial flying bike, the Speeder .

The Speeder is envisioned to offer emergency services in the military environment including the faster transportation of paramedics, patients, and supplies, especially in areas where it’d be inefficient to use a helicopter.

And for those of you who can’t wait to get your hands on a flying bike, the Speeder will come as a Recreational version too for personal travel. And it’s $300,000 cheaper in case you’re on a budget.

You can take a look at the video below:

Overall, my rough guess is that I’ll be long dead before flying bikes become commercial in real life, but at least I’m very excited that I’m alive to witness their preliminary testing.

HT – Reuters , Autoevolution

Now this is what an EV should sound like — inside and out

Designer and musician Yuri Suzuki has created an extraordinary soundscape for EVs as part of a research project, reported Dezeen . And it sounds… brilliant.

Suzuki aims for his vehicle acoustic environment to make “quiet” electric cars more audible to pedestrians, while promoting an emotive interactive driving experience. To accommodate that, the sounds change based on speed, location, time and the driver’s activities.

As a matter of fact, the well-known noise of the conventional internal combustion engine is what alerts us of a passing car. And as drivers we might even admit that we f eel a pang of leaving something behind when our EVs don’t roar like traditional combustion engines.

To address this, Suzuki has composed two different artificial sounds: the first is more skeuomorphic, imitating the rumble of the traditional engine, and the second runs on a more melodic higher frequency that focuses on alerting passersby to ensure their safety.

Both versions integrate a seamless rise and fall in pitch to indicate when a car is accelerating or slowing down. This is helpful not only for pedestrians, but also for the drivers themselves, as they get feedback on how fast they’re going.

The in-car sounds are adaptive to the driver, aiming at strengthening the relationship between human and vehicle, as they “allow for each journey to feel important,” Suzuki said.

Firstly, the sound changes according to the time of the day, as well as calendar-based information about the driver’s habits. For instance, the car would play a cheerful sound when you’re going to the gym and a more calming one when you’re coming home for work. Play the clip bellow to hear the in-car sounds.

The sound also varies based on GPS and satnav data about the vehicle’s location, and it can be personalized to the different nature of each journey: work, groceries, traveling, and so on. Check the following video out.

A similar vision has already been realized by BMW . The famous composer Hans Zimmer has designed sounds for the BMW i4 that will reflect how the car is being driven, and the driving mode selected.

What both projects show is that EV sound can be a unique tool for a personalized driving experience that also focuses on road user safety. Hopefully, we’ll hear more such innovative attempts at redefining the electric car experience soon!

Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up?

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