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If you’ve ever been in an escape room, you know how fast pace and intense it can be. Volkswagen is applying the same methodology to train its employees for the future of electric vehicles, but these are not your typical escape rooms.

When you bring your car in for a checkup, it’s not a toolbox anymore the mechanic brings out – it’s often a laptop they carry that can diagnose the issue without having to lift a finger.

As the auto industry rapidly shifts to electric vehicles, automakers are training employees to build and service the future of transportation. Electric vehicles are more sophisticated than their gas-powered predecessors, therefore requiring a different set of skills to work on.

Some automakers like Mercedes-Benz have launched employee training programs to leave employees feeling confident about explaining the benefits and technology of EVs.

Others, such as GM’s Cadillac, required engineers and specialists to inspect the Lyriq EV before dealers were allowed to deliver them to employees to ensure quality.

By using escape rooms, Volkswagen may have the most unique idea yet.

Volkswagen-escape-room-electric
2023 VW ID.4 (Source: Volkswagen)

Volkswagen preps for an electric future with escape rooms

In a bid to equip its workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an electric future, the German automaker has designed immersive, collaborative games to ease the transition.

According to Bloomberg, teams of four VW employees are tasked with solving riddles on electric and battery technology as they move through the “escape room” spaces. Teams move from an 1860s-themed living room to the modern era, answering questions and cracking codes to find EV clues to escape.

Gunnar Kilian, Volkswagen’s head of human resources, explains the escape rooms, saying:

This is one building block in the process of bringing the workers into the world of e-mobility.

The project is currently being used at VW’s Wolfsburg headquarters to help transition around 22,000 workers to build EVs.

Volkswagen’s electric ID.3 model will be the first to begin production during the second half of the year. Although the company’s revolutionary Trinity EV project has been put on hold due to software issues, VW is expected to fill the gap in 2026 with an electric version of its best-selling SUV, tipped to be called the ID.Tiguran.

Electrek’s Take

Whatever works, right? Volkswagen using escape rooms to teach employees about electric vehicles and prep them for the future may seem crazy, but it may just work.

First, it teaches them to work together in a fast-paced, demanding environment, and more importantly, employees learn the ins and outs of zero-emission EVs. We’ll see if it can help them build EVs faster.

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Trump’s latest offshore wind cancellation is a threat to the grid – ISO New England

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Trump's latest offshore wind cancellation is a threat to the grid – ISO New England

Trump’s Interior Department halted construction on 704 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind, the US’s first multi-state offshore wind project that’s already 80% complete. Grid operator ISO New England says the decision is a threat to the grid.

ISO New England released a statement responding to the stop-work order, warning that “delaying the project will increase risks to reliability.”:

As demand for electricity grows, New England must maintain and add to its energy infrastructure. Unpredictable risks and threats to resources – regardless of technology – that have made significant capital investments, secured necessary permits, and are close to completion will stifle future investments, increase costs to consumers, and undermine the power grid’s reliability and the region’s economy now and in the future.

Revolution Wind, a joint development between Ørsted and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, is a 65-turbine project capable of powering around 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut once it’s complete. It was expected to come online next year. The project has created more than 1,200 jobs.

On August 22, the director of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent a vague letter to Ørsted commanding it to halt all activities on the fully permitted Revolution Wind, citing “national security interests,” yet providing no details.

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BOEM’s Record of Decision for Revolution Wind, reported in 2023 in Section 4.6, page 185, states that the national security effects of the project would be “negligible and avoidable.”

This latest move echoes Trump’s cancellation in April of New York’s $5 billion Empire Wind 1 project, which was already under construction off New York’s coast. No viable reasons were given for that stop-work order either, and the cancellation was reversed in May.

Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), released the following statement in response to the Revolution Wind order:

The Trump administration’s war on the electricity needed to power the grid continues on all fronts. Halting Revolution Wind is a devastating attack on workers, on electricity customers, and on the investment climate in the US.

New England homeowners will feel this when they tear open their electricity bills and look at the surging costs of keeping the lights on.

This administration has it exactly backwards. It’s trying to prop up clunky, polluting coal plants while doing all it can to halt the fastest growing energy sources of the future – solar and wind power.

It makes no sense to say we have an energy emergency and then make decisions like this. Unfortunately, every American is paying the price for these misguided actions.

Read more: Trump reversal revives Empire Wind, NY’s offshore energy giant


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Tesla teases new product release on Friday

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Tesla teases new product release on Friday

Tesla is teasing a new product release on Friday, August 29th, coming to Europe and the Middle East. It’s likely going to be the Model Y Performance.

On X today, Tesla has teased an upcoming product release coming this friday.

The post is cryptic. It only mentions ‘spoiler alert’ and the date August 29 with what looks like a close up of a vehicle with what appears to be a spoil – hence the “spoiler alert” reference:

There are main suspect is the Model Y Performance due to the spoiler reference.

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Since the Model Y refresh in January, Tesla stopped selling the Model Y Performance. It is due to launch the top performance version under the new design.

When Tesla released the Model 3 refresh in 2024, it took about 4 months for Tesla to launch the new performance version.

Electrek’s Take

The only thing that I find strange with this likely being the Model Y Performance is the fact that they tweeted this from the Europe and Middle East account.

It would be strange for the Model Y Performance to launch there first, but who knows. Maybe Tesla started production at Gigafactory Berlin first.

I don’t think this will have a major impact on Tesla’s business. The Model Y Performance is the least popular version of the best-selling Model Y.

We don’t have the full mix of sales, but I wouldn’t be suprised if it represents less than 10% of Tesla’s Model Y deliveries.

The Model 3 Performance is probably a more popular option within the Model 3 lineup as it is a lot more fun to drive.

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Genesis GV60 Magma EV sheds camo, revealing a radical new look [Video]

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Genesis GV60 Magma EV sheds camo, revealing a radical new look [Video]

The GV60 Magma will have a distinct look and feel compared to other Genesis vehicles. As the first EV from its new performance sub-brand, the Genesis GV60 Magma will debut with enhanced power, advanced suspension, a sporty new design, and more. For the first time, it was caught on video racing around the Nürburgring, giving us our closest look yet.

Genesis GV60 Magma EV flexes new style at Nürburgring

We got our first look at the new Magma models last March at the NY Auto Show alongside the full-size Neolun concept.

Magma is “the brand’s expansion into the realm of high-performance vehicles,” Genesis boasted. Among the first vehicles to earn a Magma upgrade is the GV60.

Genesis fine-tuned the electric crossover SUV, giving it a wider and lower stance for improved control. The larger lower air intake contributes to the aggressive new look, while also serving to cool the batteries and motor, both of which have been upgraded for enhanced performance.

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Earlier this year, we got a good look at the GV60 Magma during winter testing in Europe. Although you could see a few new design features, it was mostly covered in camo.

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Genesis GV60 Magma testing with other Magma vehicles (Source: Genesis)

After it was recently spotted with less camo at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, we are getting an even better idea of what to expect when it arrives.

The video from CarSpyMedia shows the Genesis GV60 Magma EV with a production body and minimal camouflage.

You can see the high-performance vehicle flexing its power and handling as it rips around the track. Like other Hyundai Motor performance EVs, including the new IONIQ 6 N, you can expect the Genesis GV60 Magma to deliver over 600 horsepower, if not closer to 700.

The current Genesis GV60 Performance delivers up to 429 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque, good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in 3.7 seconds.

Horsepower 0 to 60 mph
(seconds)
Starting Price
Genesis GV60 Performance 429 3.7 $69,900
Genesis GV60 Magma ? ? ?
Porsche Taycan 402 4.5 $99,400
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT
(with Weissach Package)
1,092 2.1 $230,000
Tesla Model S Plaid 1,020 1.99 $89,990
Genesis GV60 Magma vs Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S Plaid

Genesis will launch the GV60 Magma EV later this year in Korea, followed by the US, Europe, and other global markets. We will learn prices and final specs closer to launch, but given the Performance models start at $69,900, you can expect a higher starting price tag, likely closer to $75,000.

At that it would be significantly less than the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Tesla Model S Plaid. Will it match the performance?

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