This major European city is pushing out bikes to make room for cars
While Paris is expanding bike paths and shunning SUVs, it’s different in Berlin. Here, the car is king, at least for the city’s conservative government, which is unleashing a culture war against cyclists and drivers.
By contrast, German cities Hanover and Tübinger are planning to build more cycling infrastructure, with Hanover considered one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world with its vast bike lane network and no-car days. And other European cities are considering going the way of Paris by slapping hefty parking fees on SUVs, which are surging in popularity in Europe.
But Berlin’s government says that isn’t the way forward for the German capital: “We have no intention of increasing parking charges for SUVs. More generally, we have no plans to impose new rules on their owners,” said Kai Wegner, the city’s first right-wing governing mayor since 2001.
Putting a fine point on this isn’t, of course, surprising, since for the past year Berlin has been helmed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)’s Wegner. Le Monde writes that one of his campaign slogans was: “Berlin is for everyone, including car drivers.” Another poster read: “Berlin, don’t let the car be banned.”
After the party won the election, Wegner quickly set about undoing all the green transport projects set up by his left-leaning predecessors.
Some of the unraveling involved pulling the brakes on all bike infrastructure projects that “endanger” existing car lanes or parking spaces, writes Politico. The plan to add thousands of miles of cycling lanes was put on hold, as was the plan to pedestrianize the Friedrichstrasse, a roughly 2-mile thoroughfare of high-end shops, restaurants, and the former Checkpoint Charlie border crossing between East and West Berlin. A popular spot for Berliners and tourists alike, it was a natural testing ground for banning cars to make room for people. But some local business owners said they saw a drop in sales after the car ban, and the conservative government was more than eager to shut the project down and let the cars back in.
Part of the CDU’s rhetoric, too, is sounding awfully familiar these days in Europe, that bike networks and pedestrian zones exclude working-class people who need cars to commute to work in the city center each day, so removing parking lanes for bikes or shutting off roads to cars cut into their livelihoods. For Paris, the higher SUV parking fees exempt workers needing to commute, for example.
Still, all this tension, too, has resulted in Berlin cyclists reporting a rise in violence from drivers when out cycling or engaging in pro-bike protests, reports ExBerliner.
Already there are 1.23 million registered cars in Berlin, with each year some 10,000 more cars arriving in Berlin – with the city ranking as Germany’s most polluted city. Most people, however, prefer other forms of transit, with the last government survey from 2018 saying only 23% of daily journeys were made by private vehicle. Among other modes of transport: 27% by public transport, 31% by foot, and 18% by bicycle. Plus more people took to their bikes after the pandemic, with 17% more cyclists on roads now than in 2018.
Another major point of contention is the planned extension of the A100 highway through Berlin, which could see around 30 nightclubs and cultural venues being knocked down to build it – a move that is fiercely opposed by activists who want to protect this part of the city’s cultural heritage and prevent a flood of cars flowing into the city. And what is Berlin without an industrial club? While Berlin’s long-ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) opposed the extension, the CDU sees it differently and has the final word.
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Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
We recently reported that an early Tesla Semi customer, Ryder, stated that the electric truck program is experiencing more delays and a price increase described as “dramatic.”
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
Read more: Thomas Built Buses debuts its next-gen electric school bus
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