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Vietnamese EV maker VinFast has announced plans to build a second plant in Vietnam at a breakneck pace – its fifth globally – to double the production capacity of its VF 3 and VF 5 models.

A new $287.5 million factory in Ha Tinh province expects to ramp up production capacity in Vietnamese from 300,000 to 600,000 vehicles for both domestic sales and export, Reuters reports.

The pace of the project is at record speed, with the foundation stone already having been laid. Operations are set to begin in July 2025, a mere eight months after the project kicked off. The new plant should create nearly 6,000 new jobs for locals, which the company said could later increase to 15,000.

VinFast says it is ramping up construction due to the increase in demand for small and medium-size EVs in Vietnam and beyond. “Demand in international markets is also growing rapidly, so the construction of an additional electric car factory in Ha Tinh will create a solid foundation for an important and explosive development phase of VinFast in the coming time,” said Nguyen Viet Quang, deputy chairman and CEO of VinFast’s parent company Vingroup, at the ceremony, according to the report.

VinFast-VF-3-Philippines

Electrek’s Take

Of course, while this sounds good on paper, VinFast is still far off from fully utilizing it existing plant in Vietnam, with a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year. In the first nine months of 2024, VinFast delivered fewer than 44,773 cars worldwide according to Reuters. This year’s target is 80,000 vehicles.

VinFast, which launched five EVs in 2022, has had rather sluggish sales so far, with fewer than 35,000 EVs sold last year. Things this year have picked up, but it’s still unlikely to achieve its annual target, which has already been brought down from 100,000 vehicles, this year. Its announced US factory has been pushed back from 2025 to 2028, with VinFast focusing on new factories in India and Indonesia, both of which are slated to come into operation in 2025.

Photos: courtesy of VinFast


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ZeroAvia scores 45 fresh patents for hydrogen aviation engines

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ZeroAvia scores 45 fresh patents for hydrogen aviation engines

Aviation startup ZeroAvia says it’s been granted a “raft” of 45 new patents key to the development of practical large hydrogen aviation engines – and the company says it has 200 more H-related patents in the pipeline!

The news comes just weeks after ZeroAvia and Scottish regional airline Loganair announced a new, hydrogen-electric “turboprop” replacement motor capable of up to 5MW of shaft horsepower (~6,700 hp). United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) no. 12,341,225 covers an integrated hydrogen-electric engine design land is key to the development of a modular multi-MW hydrogen-electric engine for the ATR 42 and 72 model aircraft — which Loganair owns more than twenty of.

ATR isn’t the only potential customer ZerAvia is eyeballing, either. Despite hydrogen losing ground on utility-scale projects and more companies realizing that it’s “impossible” for hydrogen to compete as a transportation fuel, the fuel still seems to have some practical application in the aviation space. Both Airbus and Boeing have advanced plans and IP for hydrogen-ready airframes in recent weeks, as well, making the IP for large hydrogen-powered aviation engines that much more valuable.

“Recent patents filed and granted around hydrogen aviation give a window into an accelerating field of innovation,” explains Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO, ZeroAvia. “As we see the large airframe manufacturers beginning to compete on technologies for hydrogen aircraft, there is a big opportunity for companies pioneering hydrogen propulsion systems. These are the inventions that will deliver truly clean, more affordable and highly efficient commercial air travel.”

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What it’s all about


ZA2000 2-5MW modular hydrogen-electric powertrain for 40-80 seat regional turboprops
ZA2000 2-5MW aviation engine; via ZeroAvia.

Like many tech-based startups, securing IP has been an integral part of ZeroAvia’s strategy, with the value of its patents being, essentially, the value of the company. Just as – if not more important to airlines like Loganair, American, and EcoJet, however, are the potential cost-savings of hydrogen compared to conventional aviation fuels like kerosene.

Importantly, these novel engines promise cost reductions for airlines. The substantially lower maintenance needs of hydrogen-electric engines will mean a decrease in maintenance and downtime for an airline’s fleet, with hydrogen fuel also projected to be significantly more cost effective than kerosene over time.

ZEROAVIA

You can read more about the new ZA600 and ZA2000 hydrogen-electric av motors here, and let us know what you think of hydrogen’s chances against traditional, kerosense-based aviation fuels in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGES: ZeroAvia.


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100 MPH on a STANDING e-scooter?! Bo blows way past the limits

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100 MPH on a STANDING e-scooter?! Bo blows way past the limits

You might want to hold onto your handlebars for this one – literally. The fashion-forward British electric scooter maker Bo just unveiled what could be the most extreme electric scooter the world has ever seen. Named The Turbo, this standing e-scooter isn’t just playing around with speed – it’s aiming to smash right through it and find out what’s waiting on the other side.

And it all begs the question, “How much is too much?”

When we talk about fast electric scooters, we’re usually in the neighborhood of 50 mph (80 km/h). But the Bo Turbo doubles those numbers.

With 100 mph+ (160+ km/h) top speeds and claimed acceleration that’s faster than a Tesla, this scooter seems to use a design philosophy pulled straight from the playbook of Formula One. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the team behind The Turbo includes engineers with experience from Williams F1 and the Bloodhound Land Speed Record rocket car.

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Bo Turbo looks at home in the Bo-nnevile salt flats

The world’s fastest e-scooter?

Built on the same base chassis as the company’s sleek road-going Bo Model-M, The Turbo takes everything up a notch – actually, several notches. It features a 24,000 W dual-motor powertrain, 1,800 Wh battery, advanced traction control, and a power-to-weight ratio that reportedly beats a Bugatti Veyron.

At full power, the system is capable of propelling riders down a straightaway at three-digit speeds while standing upright. It’s absurd. It’s glorious. It’s gratuitous. It’s a dream. Or it’s a nightmare.

Bo says the machine is already delivering 85+ mph (137+ km/h) in early track testing at Goodwood Motor Circuit and is currently in development to push beyond the 100 mph barrier under Guinness World Record supervision.

And just in case you’re wondering if this is some experimental prototype cooked up in a lab – it’s not. The company is planning a limited run of built-to-order Turbo scooters, starting at a whopping $29,500. The first one is scheduled for delivery to a collector in Madrid during the 2026 Formula One race weekend.

The Bo Turbo shares the same chassis as the more mild-mannered Bo M scooter

From F1 brake ducts to street scooter DNA

Despite the headline-grabbing speed numbers, there’s a ton of serious engineering going on here. The Turbo uses ram-air intakes based on F1 brake cooling designs to keep the motors and controllers from overheating. The chassis – made from aerospace-grade aluminum and CNC-machined billet parts – is based on Bo’s proven Monocurve platform, the same structure that underpins the Bo Model-M. In fact, that might be the most impressive part of all, that the same chassis used underneath their everyday-ride-it-to-work Bo Model-M scooter is also holding together this 100 mph beast.

Bo’s team insists that despite the monster specs, The Turbo remains “surprisingly rideable.” Professional BMX rider Tre Whyte has piloted over 20 high-speed test runs, with the team now preparing to push the envelope even further.

A wild PR stunt – or something more?

It’s tempting to see The Turbo as just a headline machine (and hey, it works), but Bo says this project is about more than just chasing speed records. According to Bo CEO Oscar Morgan, “The Turbo is part of our mission to elevate these futuristic electric vehicles into the top tier of automotive performance.”

And honestly, they’ve got a point. E-scooters have exploded in popularity as low-speed urban vehicles, but the category rarely gets taken seriously in the performance world, despite the advent of racing leagues. Bo wants to change that – and they’re using motorsport technology to do it.

Electrek’s Take

Is this a practical daily rider? Absolutely not. But that’s not the point.

Bo is doing what so few e-scooter companies are willing to do – pushing boundaries, proving performance, and trying to make scooters feel exciting, not just functional. Whether The Turbo hits 100 mph or not, it’s already helped raise the bar for what electric micromobility can be. And if that means they develop safer and stable ways to build scooters along the way, then all the better.

The fact that they actually plan to sell these is a bit worrying, though the $30k pricetag means the local teens on your street aren’t going to be terrorizing the sidewalks with them. Well, not unless you’ve got an oil sheikh and his teenagers living on your street.

But hey, if you’ve got thirty grand and a need for painful death levels of speed – maybe this is your next toy.

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Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition

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Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition

Chevron prevails in mediation over Exxon in Guyana oil assets

Chevron has prevailed against Exxon Mobil in a dispute over Hess Corporation’s offshore oil assets in the South American nation of Guyana, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Friday.

The ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in favor of Chevron clears the way for the oil major to complete its $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation.

Chevron shares jumped about 3% in premarket trading.

“We disagree with the ICC panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process,” Exxon said in a statement Friday.

The dispute had created significant uncertainty over whether Chevron’s acquisition of Hess would close, weighing on the oil major’s stock performance. The transaction would have failed if Exxon had prevailed.

Exxon and China National Offshore Oil Corporation had filed an arbitration case with the ICC, claiming a right of first refusal over Hess’s assets in the Stabroek Block, an oil development off the coast of Guyana.

Hess has a 30% stake in an oil patch, while Exxon leads the project with a 45% stake and CNOOC maintains 25% stake.

“We welcome Chevron to the venture and look forward to continued industry-leading performance and value creation in Guyana for all parties involved,” Exxon said.

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