There are hundreds of seated electric scooters out there these days, and many are hard to tell apart. But Barcelona-based Silence has made a name for itself with high-performance electric scooters that feature the company’s unique roll-along removable batteries. Now the company is teaming up with IRP Systems to upgrade the scooters for even better performance.
The scooters can reach highway speeds, which means they need big batteries to maintain decent range at higher speeds. The limiting factor for most electric scooter batteries is weight since riders often remove the batteries to carry indoors for charging. That’s especially true in cities where many riders live in apartments without a garage for charging.
A typical removable electric scooter battery will weigh up to 12 kg (26 lb), limiting them to between 1.5 to 2 kWh. But Silence has batteries with over 5 kWh of capacity. So how do they make such large batteries while still keeping them removable? By adding wheels so that riders can roll them inside without lifting them. The design includes an innovative latch that lets the wheels drop down like an ambulance gurney, meaning the rider never has to lift the weight of the battery.
As if that wasn’t innovative enough, Silence has now announced a new partnership with leading electric powertrain maker IRP Systems to further upgrade its vehicles.
Under the recently announced agreement, Silence will be incorporating IRP’s Dynamic 6 motor controllers into its scooters and other vehicles.
Eduardo Quesada, R&D Director in Silence, shared his thoughts on the partnership:
“The collaboration with IRP Systems has been very close for more than 3 years. Silence and IRP have jointly developed the new motor controller for our vehicles according to the highest safety and quality standards. Proof of the good results of the collaboration is the introduction of these controllers in our range of 4-wheel vehicles.”
Those four-wheeled vehicles Quesada is referring to are likely the new Silence S04, an electric quadricycle that takes the form of a microcar. It features a pair of offset seats, similar to a Citroën Ami, and uses two of Silence’s scooter batteries for power. Silence recently announced the start of the vehicle’s production.
The potential for inclusion of IRP’s motor controller in a variety of different platforms demonstrates the versatility of the design.
IRP Systems CEO Moran Price, shown below with the high-tech controller and a wide range of electric vehicle types powered by IRP’s technology, also spoke about the new partnership, adding that “IRP is very proud to join forces with Silence, Europe’s number 1 e-mobility provider. We are sure that together, the companies will deliver winning electric vehicles that will enable Silence to maintain and strengthen its dominance in the market”.
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China just laid out a plan to roll out over 100,000 ultra-fast EV charging stations by 2027 – and they’ll all be open to the public.
The National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) joint notice, issued on Monday, asks local authorities to put together construction plans for highway service areas and prioritize the ones that see 40% or more usage during holiday travel rushes.
The NDRC notes that China’s ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure needs upgrading as more 800V EVs hit the road. Those high-voltage platforms can handle super-fast charging in as little as 10 to 30 minutes, but only if the charging hardware is up to speed.
China had 31.4 million EVs on the road at the end of 2024 – nearly 9% of the country’s total vehicle fleet. But charging access is still catching up. As of May 2025, there were 14.4 million charging points, or roughly 1 for every 2.2 EVs.
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To keep the grid running smoothly, China wants new chargers to be smart, with dynamic pricing to incentivize off-peak charging and solar and storage to power the charging stations.
To make the business side work, the government is pushing for 10-year leases for charging station operators, and it’s backing the buildout with local government bonds.
The NDRC emphasized that the DC fast chargers built will be open to the public. This is a big deal because a lot of fast chargers in China aren’t. For example, BYD’s new megawatt chargers aren’t open to third-party vehicles.
As of September 2024, China had expanded its charging infrastructure to 11.4 million EV chargers, but only 3.3 million were public.
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A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as “Main Justice,” is seen behind the podium in the Department’s headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million.
The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading.
“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said the Internal Revenue Service’s Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. “OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin.”
From 2019 to 2023, Sims, Reynoso and their co-conspirators allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase “investment packages” using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said.
Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate.
A video posted to the company’s LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai.
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In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud.
When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform.
The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.
Tesla is starting to experience some consequences for misleading Full Self Driving customers – at least that’s the finding of one arbitration ruling that has Tesla refunding one customer $10,000 plus legal fees for failing to deliver on their promises. Find out more on today’s legally challenging episode of Quick Charge!
An arbitration “court” found that Tesla misled customers with its Full Self Driving product, and has now been forced to refund at least one person’s $10,000 payment (plus legal fees) for the not-quite autonomous driving software. France, too, is piling on claims of deceptive business practices – but there’s some good news for FSD fans! If you’re still willing to pay for it, Tesla will thrown in 0% financing on a brand new Cybertruck.
Check out the relevant links, below, to learn more.
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