Connect with us

Published

on

A Big Apple-based electric vehicle startup wants to plant a network of ultra-efficient curbside “trees” along the city’s busy streets that are capable of recharging a cars battery in at little as five minutes.

Google-backed Gravity Inc. developed the fast-charging technology already in use at its flagship station in a parking garage on West 42nd Street.

Now, Gravity CEO Moshe Cohen is hoping the city will approve his concept for the DEAP Trees short for Distributed Energy Access Points as it seeks to significantly enlarge its network.

The charging trees are meant to fit in seamlessly on metered streets — allowing drivers to pull in and park for a quick fill-up.

The constraint is we have to deliver a charge at a speed thats shorter than the dwell-time. So if you can only be there for 30 minutes, that car has to be charged in less than 30 minutes, Cohen told The Post.

The charging cables can provide 200 miles of range in 13 minutes for its 200kW mode and just five minutes for the 500kW model. Thats dramatically faster than the so-called level 2 charging ports currently in use, which provide just 20 miles of range per hour of charging, according to the city’s website.

Gravity developed the sleek, minimalist trees with the help of design firm Rangr Studio — which also designed the stylish charging hardware used at the West 42nd Street facility.

They feature a maneuverable hinged arm and mounted cable system designed to be compatible with all major EV manufacturers, including Tesla and Rivian.

The idea is to make it quiet, to make it seamless, to make it not stand out and also have the thing automatically put the cable back into its place, said Rangr Studio’s Jasmit Rangr. We anticipate that someones going to be in a hurry, hop in the car and just leave the cable hanging out there. We cant let that just happen.

Cohen said his firms long-term goal is to build a network larger than Teslas current Supercharger network.

The New York City Department of Transportation did not immediately return a request for comment.

Rangr said the trees were specifically designed to be resistant to vandalism and rough use on city streets.

The design team focused on ensuring the charging cable would never rest on the ground and would be capable of reaching any part of the car.

This notion of how do you serve all of these different locations is a critical one if youre going to make EV charging curbside or in any tight location, Rangr said. You just cant have cables dangling around and getting in the way of people.

Curbside charging stations for electric vehicles are still a burgeoning concept in New York City.

The city has partnered with Con Edison to install 100 level-2 charging stations across the five boroughs, as well as a much smaller number of fast-charging stations, according to its website.

The New York City Department of Transportation has set goals of installing 1,000 level 2 charging stations by 2025 and 10,000 stations by 2030. The department is expected to provide an update on guidelines for the expansion later this year.

Cohen argued it is crucial that the city turn to more advanced charging technology as soon as possible to ensure that the stations arent obsolete by the time the goal is reached.

Our goal in New York, if we do a few hundred out of the 1,000 and a few thousand out of the 10,000, which were ready to do, suddenly New York has more fast-chargingthan any other city in the country, Cohen said.

Gravity is currently in talks with various city agencies as it looks to install the devices in New York, according to Cohen who described the city as a crucial proving ground for the technology that could draw interest from other locales in the future, such as Boston and Los Angeles.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

Published

on

By

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

More on Snoop Dogg

Read more from Sky News:
One child dies after coach crashes on way back from school trip
Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

Continue Reading

Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Published

on

By

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

Politics Live: The Starmtroopers are coming for the Corbynites

It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

More from Politics

The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

abbott
Image:
Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

Read more from Sky News:
Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in next general election
Five reasons to be confused by Starmer’s MP suspensions

Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

Continue Reading

UK

Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

Published

on

By

Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
Image:
Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

Read more on Sky News:
Amber warning for thunderstorms for southeast England
No further action over Kneecap at Glastonbury, police say

“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

Continue Reading

Trending