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New Zealand’s first solar-powered electric, stratospheric aircraft was launched using an Audi e-tron S Sportback. The “Kea Atmos Mk1” from Kea Aerospace is designed to collect high-resolution aerial data to monitor the weather, tree health, and pollution, among other agricultural uses.

Kea Aerospace has been building and flying electric-powered aircraft to collect insights and data to improve life on Earth.

Being solar-powered with zero emissions, the Kea Atmos is the perfect tool for climate change research. The company envisions its solar-powered Kea Atmos giving the complete picture needed to monitor the land, waterways, and coastline in order to protect it for the future.

The Kea Atmos Mk1 is an uncrewed aircraft with a 12.5-meter wingspan and can fly higher than most commercial airliners at up to 50,000 feet for up to 16 hours, weighing less than 90 lbs (40 kg).

Commercial aircraft generally operate at altitudes between 33,000 and 42,000 ft, whereas Kea’s solar-powered aircraft can operate above the weather and jet stream.

Meanwhile, with satellites typically operating at least 20 times further from the Earth, the Kea Atmos can take over 20 times better images with a similar camera.

Kea has been testing electric prototypes for several years. The first (X1) was in December 2021, flying for 14 non-stop hours. Then, in February 2022, the company achieved a 36-hour flight with its X10 prototype.

CEO of Kea Aerospace says it’s been an “exhilarating year,” taking on several flight tests and showcasing the technology to several NASA executives.

Last month, the company launched the Kea Atmos Mk1 solar and electric-powered aircraft using an Audi e-tron to get it off the ground. Check out the video of it below.

Kea Atmos Mk1 takeoff with an Audi e-tron (Source: Kea Aerospace)

The company says future versions of the solar-powered aircraft will unlock higher altitudes with continuous flight for months at a time.

Kea is developing the long-flight endurance Kea Atmos Mk2 with a wingspan of roughly 30 meters that can operate at an altitude of 65,000 feet. The company says it will use the data for several applications, including:

  • Detecting pollution on land and in the water
  • Monitoring vast forest areas and tree health
  • Enabling rapid response and preparation for extreme weather events
  • Developing smart cities with better traffic flow and green spaces
  • Reducing water and fertilizer with precise agricultural tools
  • Monitoring maritime areas to spot illegal fishing boats and vessels

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Environment

Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs, and more

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May 23, 2025

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Podcast: EV/Solar killing bill moves forward, Elon lies about Tesla's demand, cheaper EVs, and more

electrek podcast

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss the EV/Solar killing bill moving forward, Elon lying about Tesla’s demand, cheaper EVs coming, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET)

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Environment

Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

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4 hours ago

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May 23, 2025

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Circle K just opened a new spot exclusively for EV charging with no gas pumps in sight

Circle-K-EV-Charging

This is what the future of travel will look like. Circle K opened its first location exclusively for EV charging in Europe. The site features ten ultra-fast EV chargers and a convenience store while you wait.

Circle K opens first EV charging-only site in Europe

The new EV charging hub is located in Gårda, near Gothenburg, Sweden. It’s Circle K’s largest EV charging-only location with ten 400 kW chargers that can recharge from 0 to 80% in around 15 minutes.

Kempower supplied two 600 kW Power Units and ten Single Satellite chargers that can deliver up to 400 kW of power.

With an improved version of Kempower’s Autocharge feature, the system can store your information so that the next time you visit, all you have to do is plug in. The system will recognize your vehicle and bill you automatically.

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While you wait, there’s a 1,076 ft² (100 m²) convenience store that offers “a complete retail experience,” offering food, drinks, Wi-Fi, and plenty of seating.

The site expects heavy traffic on Sweden’s E6, with over 10,000 vehicles travelling on the motorway daily.

Circle-K-EV-Charging
Circle K opens its first EV charging-only site in Europe (Source: Kempower)

The new EV charging-only site comes after Circle K opened its largest EV charging hub in Sweden. Located just southwest of Stockholm, the flagship location has 26 fast chargers that can be used with light and heavy-duty vehicles.

Circle K now has over 3,000 branded chargers across Europe and will continue adding to its network as demand for EV charging rises.

Circle-K-EV-charging
Circle K’s largest electric vehicle charging hub in Sweden (Source: Circle K)

With around 17,000 locations globally, the company said it’s “uniquely positioned” to support the transition to electric vehicles.

Will we see Circle K open a location exclusively for EVs in the US? As more electric cars hit the road, more charging options will be needed. A few convenience stores, including 7-Eleven, are already rolling out fast chargers. Through 7Charge, 7-Eleven aims to build “one of the largest and most compatible” EV fast charging networks of any retailer in North America.

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Environment

Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

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May 23, 2025

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Trump signs orders to overhaul Nuclear Regulatory Commission, speed reactor deployment

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speed the deployment of new nuclear power reactors in the U.S.

The NRC is a 50-year-old, independent agency that regulates the nation’s fleet of nuclear reactors. Trump’s orders call for a “total and complete reform” of the agency, a senior White House official told reporters in a briefing. Under the new rules, the commission will be forced to decide on nuclear reactor licenses within 18 months.

Trump said Friday the orders focus on small, advanced reactors that are viewed by many in the industry as the future. But the president also said his administration supports building large plants.

“We’re also talking about the big plants — the very, very big, the biggest,” Trump said. “We’re going to be doing them also.”

Nuclear executives joined Trump for the signing ceremony, including Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. Constellation is the largest operator of nuclear plants in the U.S. Nuclear stocks rallied Friday in response to the president’s actions.

NRC overhaul

When asked whether NRC reform will result in staff reductions, the White House official said “there will be turnover and changes in roles.”

“Total reduction in staff is undetermined at this point, but the executive orders do call for a substantial reorganization” of the agency, the official said. The orders, however, will not remove or replace any of the five commissioners who lead the body, according to the White House.

Any reduction in staff at the NRC would come at time when the commission faces a heavy workload. The agency is currently reviewing whether two mothballed nuclear plants, Palisades in Michigan and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, should restart operations, a historic and unprecedented process.

U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Joseph Dominguez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Constellation, speaks in the Oval Office on the day Trump is expected to sign executive orders, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2025.

Kent Nishimura | Reuters

Dominguez said the nuclear industry’s biggest problem has been regulatory delay. Constellation is aiming to bring the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island back online in 2028 after it closed for economic reasons. A separate reactor, Unit 2, was the site of a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979.

“We’re wasting too much time on permitting and we’re answering silly questions, not the important ones,” the Constellation CEO said.

Trump’s orders also create a regulatory framework for the Departments of Energy and Defense to build nuclear reactors on federal land, the administration official said.

“This allows for safe and reliable nuclear energy to power and operate critical defense facilities and AI data centers,” the official told reporters. The NRC will not have a direct role, as the departments will use separate authorities under their control to authorize reactor construction for national security purposes, the official said.

Boost uranium mining

The president’s orders also aim to jump start the mining of uranium in the U.S. and expand domestic uranium enrichment capacity, the official said. Trump’s actions also aim to speed up reactor testing at the Department of Energy’s national laboratories.

Investment in nuclear power is growing in the U.S. after a long period of financial turmoil for the industry, including the shutdown of a dozen reactors in recent years as the industry struggled to compete against cheap and abundant natural gas.

The cooling towers of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania, Oct. 30, 2024.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

Building new nuclear plants in the U.S. is notoriously slow and expensive. The two new reactors that recently came online at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia took seven years longer-than-planned to build, and came in $18 billion over budget.

But the computer technology industry is now driving the revival in nuclear as it races to meet growing electricity demand from data centers used to drive artificial intelligence. Three Mile Island is expected to return to service with financial support from Microsoft, for example, and Alphabet and Amazon are investing in small, advanced reactors.

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