problem

Tesla’s enormous problem in Germany has an alarming figure and a clear person responsible: Elon Musk

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Three out of four potential buyers of an electric car reject the idea of ​​buying a Tesla. The study points to the German market, which is the first electric car market in Europe by sales volume, and explains an important part of Tesla’s failure in Europe during 2025. Three out of four. 75% of potential buyers of an electric car in Germany do not value the idea of ​​buying a Tesla car, according to a study by the German Institute of Economics in collaboration with the Technical University of Dresden. The figure, which in itself is bad, has even more meaning. And that 75% is made up of potential customers who believe it is unlikely to buy a Tesla (15%) and those who completely reject buying a vehicle from this brand (60%). The reason, as we could imagine, is not a question of competition or price. The disaster. Last year, 545,142 electric cars were sold in Germany. It was, by far, the strongest electric car market in Europe. The growth was 43.2% compared to 2024, the year in which just over 380,000 electric cars were sold. Its market share reached 19.1%, above the European average, according to ACEA. For Tesla, however, it was not a great year. In Europe, 150,504 electric vehicles from Elon Musk’s company were sold, 37.9% less than the previous year when 242,436 registrations were registered. The most problematic thing is that the company had achieved a market share of 2.3% (a good bite to eat on the electric car pie, which in 2024 was only 13.6% in the European Union. That is, almost two out of every 10 electric cars sold in Europe were from Tesla. The drop was even more pronounced in Germany. There, the drop was 48.4%, as recorded Reuters at the beginning of the year. And, with everything, It has not been its strongest percentage drop in European countries but the damage in volume is more than evident. The politics. The decision by which the Germans seem to completely reject Tesla is evident to the creators of the study: Elon Musk’s political positioning. According to the authors, political positioning influences the purchase of a car more than sociodemographic characteristics. They point out that young people, those with a higher level of education and those who live in urban areas are more inclined to purchase an electric car. In political terms, Green supporters are the most open to acquiring this technology and AfD (German far-right) voters are the least enthusiastic. On average, they say, the potential customer for an electric car has grown by over 40% and those who reject it outright have also fallen. But the problem for Tesla is that it is not attractive to either group. Among the Greens, only 10.8% value the purchase of a Tesla as their first option and the percentage grows among AfD followers to 15.2% but it must be taken into account that these voters are also less in favor of buying a car of this type. Just lose. The study concludes with a statement: Elon Musk has lost support for buying cars among progressive groups (those who buy the most electric cars or are willing to buy) and has not attracted enough conservative groups to alleviate this disadvantage. The result is a direct consequence of a year 2025 that began with Elon Musk doing a Nazi salute during Donald Trump’s takeover of the United States and which continued with a explicit support of the company’s head for AfD and other far-right parties in Europe. It must be taken into account that this type of political positioning in Germany is much more delicate than in other countries. In Germany the Nazi salute is a crime punished with a fine in minor cases but which can be grounds for imprisonment in more serious cases. Study on preferences when buying an electric car in Germany segmented by political parties. Source: German Institute of Economics The worst option almost always. The image above shows the predisposition of Germans to the type of electric car they want to buy, segmented by their origin and the political parties that these potential customers vote for. According to this data, Tesla is the last option in four of the six political parties studied, even behind Chinese cars as the first option. The latter always surpass him except among CDU and SPD voters (although in both cases a greater percentage considers it possible to buy a Chinese car over a Tesla if we add the second level of predisposition). Tesla reaps the worst results among the Greens and Linke (The Left) and the absolute rejection is greater among the supporters of the latter political party. Chinese cars are, in all cases, the second option chosen when considering those who are willing to buy an electric car and those who value it as a possible purchase. The Germans are the ones who obtain the most support and the first option in all cases, with the greatest support among Green voters and with the AfD as the party with the greatest reluctance to buy it. Photo | Elon Musk in X and German Institute of Economics In Xataka | Tesla is discovering in real time that the most difficult thing was not to build a car brand from scratch: it was to maintain it

In 1986 a man parked on the wrong side of the gas station. That day he solved an embarrassing problem for all drivers

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The history of innovation It’s full of big names and epic breakupsbut also of silent advances born from minimal errors, from everyday mistakes that anyone could have made. Sometimes, a small mistake reveals a problem so common that no one had thought of it or knew how to formulate it, and it is enough to look at it differently to find a solution that ends up benefiting millions of people without it being barely noticed. In this case, one man saved millions of drivers from embarrassment. A universal problem. Maybe his name doesn’t sound familiar to you, but the story of Jim Moylan It is more important than it seems. The story begins with a scene as trivial as it is recognizable: a Ford engineer (Moylan) soaked by the rain, standing at a gas station, realizing that he has parked in the wrong side of the pump. Where anyone would have felt frustration or perhaps some embarrassment, he saw an everyday problem that could be solved elegantly, cheaply and definitively, and in a matter of minutes. wrote a memorandum proposing a small symbol on the instrument panel to indicate which side the tank was on, a simple idea born from personal experience and the conviction that eliminating that doubt would save time, inconvenience and, yes, small humiliations for millions of drivers. The path to a great idea. Moylan was not a media figure or a senior manager, but an engineer with a long and discreet career within the all-powerful Ford Motor Company, a man, yes, professionally obsessed. with instrument panels and with making them as clear and useful as possible. Thus, after sending his original proposal in 1986, the man did not think about it again, but the company did: the symbol he had scribbled on a page quickly went into development, it was approved without much resistance. and ended up integrating in the first models of the late eighties, demonstrating that in large organizations there was still room for a good idea, no matter how small and coming from whoever it was, to cross the hierarchy and become a reality. From Thunderbird to the entire world. Months passed until the first public appearance of the arrow came, an almost imperceptible moment, hidden in the instrument panel of a Ford Thunderbird 1989. It didn’t matter, its power lay precisely in that simplicity. It was so obvious and useful that the competition It didn’t take him long to copy itand in a very short time it went from being an internal Ford solution to becoming a de facto standard in the global automobile industry, and it did so to the point that today it appears in practically any car in the world, including electric ones, where it points to the side of the charging port with the same unbeatable logic. The inventor without a patent (or ego). Unlike other innovators, Moylan He never patented his idea nor did he ask for financial compensation or public recognition, content simply to see how his arrow worked and helped people. For decades, millions of drivers benefited from his invention without even knowing his name, while he silently watched as that little “walk of shame” at gas stations disappeared, getting closer sometimes to strangers to explain the usefulness of the symbol, but without ever mentioning that it had been his doing. Late recognition. I remembered a few weeks ago the wall street journal which was not until many years later, thanks to a chance investigation from a podcast and to the rescue of internal files, when Jim Moylan’s name came to light and he was publicly recognized as the author of one of the most discreet and universal innovations in the automobile. The man died without having sought famebut he left a legacy that lives on every time someone stops at a pump and, with a simple glance at the instrument panel, knows exactly where to stand, reminding us that sometimes true genius lies in solving the obvious in the simplest way possible. Image | Josh In Xataka | An engineer decided one day to put the BMW airplane engine in a car. The result was tremendous In Xataka | When an engineer wanted to cross Africa by car, he invented a wooden one. It would be the beginning of the end

If Spain wants to imitate China and be a “country of engineers”, this map reveals the extent to which it has a problem

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An essential requirement for an energy and digital transition to occur in Spain is that there are enough engineers to cover demand. While it is true that there are more and more degrees that have the last name of engineering, the reality is that there are fewer and fewer professionals with the legal capacity to execute the transformation of the state, such as collects the Third Report from the Institute of Graduates in Engineering and Technical Engineers of Spain. In addition, the offer is being concentrated in specific communities. And that is a problem. Why is it important. Enabling engineering is that which grants legal powers for infrastructure and safety, for example what is behind ensuring that a bridge does not fall. With classic branches such as Civil, Mining or Naval Engineering decimated, Spain would lose autonomy and competitiveness by having to resort to imports to sign its essential projects. Jose Antonio Galdón, president of INGITE, deepen on the consequences of this fact: “On the students, who access Degrees with an Engineering denomination without a clear professional exit, and on society, which needs engineers with powers and responsibility to guarantee the safety, quality and sustainability of infrastructures and services.” On the other hand, the lack of complete supply in certain communities forces talent to emigrate, emptying technical capacity to regions that need engineering professionals to develop and establish their industry. Engineers are going to be needed. Two decades ago, those studying engineering represented 24% of the total number of university students and today that weight has fallen to 17%. as detailed by the COIGT. The engineering They are the ones that have lost the most students and also this one concentrates around computer engineering and emerging technological branches. Although the global female quota in engineering is 23%, it is precisely in these branches where it is most concentrated. On the other hand, Engineering such as Mining and Energy, Topography, Civil or Naval continue to decline and in some Autonomous Communities they already have less than 10 graduates. Although there are thousands of graduates each year, it is estimated that in Spain will have a deficit of 200,000 engineers in the next decade to meet demand. More engineering but less enabling. The IGNITE report confirms a phenomenon that has been registering for a long time in previous analyzes: Non-qualifying degrees, that is, those that do not allow the exercise of the regulated profession, have increased massively and now reach 53% of the total. On the other side of the scale, those enabling them are stagnating and even decreasing in some autonomous communities. The decline has been especially serious in places such as Asturias (-28.56%), Castilla y León (-28.79%) or Extremadura (-34.02%). The report makes a special mention: La Rioja. The small upstate community takes the cake with explosive 190% growth in engineering. But in small print: the fault lies with the non-qualifying degrees, which have grown by 431%, going from 433 to 2,289 enrolled. At the opposite extreme is Extremadura, which has the greatest drop in students, with 20.25% less. Engineering students from CCAA in Spain. INGITE Spain at two speeds. According to the reportthe Autonomous Communities that concentrate the largest number of engineering students and graduates are in Andalusia, Catalonia, the Valencian Community and the Community of Madrid. In addition to obviously because its population is larger, also because only Andalusia, Madrid and Catalonia have all the branches of engineering, revealing a territorial inequality in access to studies. The gap between public and private. The phenomenon of non-qualifying degrees is especially important in private universities, a type of center that grows out of control in the statealthough unevenly. Thus, while in the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura there is no this type of center and Galicia opened the first in 2022-2023, in Madrid there are 13 according to data from the Community itself. Since the 2015 – 2016 academic year, the autonomous communities where the number of degrees in private entities has grown the most has been Andalusia (from two to nine), Aragón (from three to nine) and La Rioja (from two to seven). In Xataka | If the question is which countries have the most workers with higher education, the answer is not Spain In Xataka | The university degree with the most job opportunities in 2025 looks into a great abyss: that of a future conditioned by AI Cover | INGITE

The problem with Marcus Aurelius’ most famous phrase is that it is surely not his

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Initially this article was going to be about what the emperor Marcus Aurelius said, not about what Marcus Aurelius never said and we have made him say. Let me explain. With half a polarized country and thousands of families still recovering from the fights political-ideological-religious that accompany Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve after-dinner meals, a few days ago I decided to consult good old Marco Aurelio Antonio. What can the philosopher emperor teach us about tension? The answer came to me like a fall from the sky (via Google): “Everything we hear is opinion, not fact. Everything we see is perspective, not truth.” Sage. Accurate. Poetic. A plea in favor of tolerance, respect and the ability to relativize without falling into relativism resigned. One of the many (many) aphorisms of Marcus Aurelius that invite us to listen, not give in to impulses and, definitely, flee from gratuitous quarrels. The problem is that it is quite likely that that phrase, replicated infinite times in networks, anthologies and newspapershas never left Marco’s lips (or pen). Yes, it has been attributed to specialized accounts of X with more than 600,000 followers, yes, we have seen it in top level newspapers; but there are serious doubts that the philosopher emperor uttered it. Even that he sympathized with her. Emperor’s word (or not) To clear up doubts, the first and simplest thing is to turn to the great philosophical legacy of Marcus Aurelius: ‘Meditations’the work that collects his philosophical reflections. There, in point 15 of the second book, we find a more or less similar statement, although much shorter and related to another author. In fact, Marcus Aurelius recognizes its value, but with some important nuance. “‘That everything is opinion’”. Evident is what is said referring to the cynic Mónimo. The usefulness of what is said is also evident, if the substance of the saying is accepted, to the extent that it is appropriate.” The phrase refers to the philosopher Mononym of Syracuse (4th century BC), member of the Cynic school, and also connects with another great name of antiquity, the Greek comediographer Meander. Now… Why does Marcus Aurelius share it? Throughout the work the philosopher returns on several occasions about that idea, although with a form (and especially a background) that does not quite coincide with that phrase we found on Google. In book His interpretation is rather another: If you are distressed or sad, it may not be so much because of the external factors but because of the way you face them. No trace of the famous original phrase. Click on the image to go to the tweet. What we did find (again on Google) are contemporary authors who warn of two things: not only is there no evidence that Marcus Aurelius ever uttered that aphorism, but that he probably would not support it. In Medium the thinker Gregory Sadler remember the mention of Monimos in the ‘Meditations’ (“everything is what you suppose it to be”), but insists on the importance of context: “Marcus Aurelius is not really endorsing that statement as unconditionally correct. He claims that those words are clear and that they are useful if one accepts their usefulness to the extent that they are true“. “As you read these passages, and even more so as you read and understand the Meditations Taken together, it is quite clear that Marcus Aurelius not only does not endorse any kind of relativism. It would be strange if he did, since that would contradict many other things he claims,” ​​insists Sadler. He is not the only one who thinks this way. On the Modern Stoicism website is pointed out He cites it as the most obvious (and famous) example of a phrase “erroneously attributed” to the Roman emperor. It is not just about putting words into the philosopher’s mouth that he never really said. The problem, remember its authorThomas Colligan, is that in this case the aphorism lends itself to interpretations that directly collide with what Marcus Aurelius did think. “It seems to deny the existence of an objective reality and instead endorses a subjective view of the world where anything goes,” he warns: “Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics would certainly not have endorsed this view.” The emperor’s alleged phrase has also not passed PolitiFact analysis (a project of the Poynter Institute), that considers her discredited. After seeing how it went viral on networks, PolitiFact investigated whether or not the happy quote can be attributed to Marcus Aurelius, for which it even contacted an expert from the University of Tasmania, Dirk Baltzly. Your conclusion? It turns out “vaguely possible” that the quote is a free paraphrase of a passage from ‘Meditations’. What does the passage in question that Baltzly points out say, a quote that we find at the end of a long reflection of the third section from book IV? As follows: “All those things that you are seeing will soon be transformed and will not exist. Also constantly think about how many transformations you have already witnessed by chance. ‘The world, alteration; life, opinion.’” In other words, there is a certain echo, but no trace of what is probably one of Marcus Aurelius’s most shared phrases on networks. It could remain an anecdote (and a frustrated article on polarization), but how they reveal Sadler or Colligan, the problem is that this is not the only phrase falsely attributed to Marcus Aurelius, nor is Marcus Aurelius the only thinker to whom false phrases are attributed. Not even the emperors and greatest thinkers in history are safe from fake news. On the contrary, they seem more vulnerable the greater their fame. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | “The greatest obstacle in life is the loss of today”: Seneca already went through your same existential crisis 2,000 years ago

In 1968 a man had the idea to create the first tablet in history. The problem is that he was decades ahead of his time.

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If I tell you to think of the oldest tablet you remember, you may go back to the first iPad, which was released in 2010 (and, by the way, I turned seven last week). Or, if you’ve been following the world of technology since before the turn of the century, you might be familiar with the Microsoft Tablet PC from HP Compaq that was announced in 2001. In reality, there was someone who already tried to create one and it was much earlier, in 1968before the term “tablet” was even coined. At that time, Alan Kay was a young worker at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center who had been mulling over the concept of a personal computer for some time (in contrast to the military, business and professional use that reigned among manufacturers at the time). After speaking with other colleagues who were beginning their research on how the programming language Logo could help younger children advance in math, Kay came up with an idea: “This encounter finally made me see what the real destiny of personal computing was going to be. Not a personal dynamic ‘vehicle’, as Englebart’s metaphors had it as opposed to IBM’s ‘railway tracks’, but something much deeper: a dynamic personal ‘medium’. With a vehicle, one could wait until high school to take ‘driving lessons’. But if it was a medium, it had to extend into the world of childhood.” In 1968, Kay created the Dynabook conceptwhich he would spend several years profiling. in the book “Tracing the Dynabook: a study of technocultural transformations” They define it like this: “Kay called it the Dynabook, and the name suggests what it was going to be: a dynamic book. That is, a medium like a book, but one that was interactive and controlled by the reader. It would provide cognitive scaffolding in the same way that books and print media had done in recent centuries but, as Papert’s work with children and Logo had begun to demonstrate, it would take the advantages of the new computing medium and provide the means for new kinds of exploration and expression.” “A personal computer for children of all ages” With the idea of ​​its function clear, Kay then began to shape it into cardboard prototypes (as can be seen in the image at the top of the article). In 1972, the researcher presented his paper “A personal computer for children of all ages” in which he offered more details not only about his motivation and his vision of personal computing at the time, but about the own device that I had in mind. His idea was to get a kind of tablet-shaped personal computer aimed at education. This would have a reduced thickness, a liquid crystal touch screen and a keyboard. Like a regular notebook in size, with a graphical interface (a revolution for the time) that allowed the reproduction of graphics, music and text, and with internal storage for 500 pages. The keyboard would not be the only way to enter information: it could also be done via voice. In the image that Kay drew, the word “stylus” can also be seen, although he did not comment on it in his paper. Kay’s idea is that the Dynabook that could be connect to other systems to “copy” information to it (among them, the ARPA Network) and even predicted the existence of content “vending machines”, which could not be accessed until payment had been made. “The books can be installed instead of being bought or loaned,” he said. Regarding digital “ownership”, Kay said the following: “The ability to easily make copies and own the information yourself is not likely to weaken existing markets, as has happened with xerography, which has strengthened publishing; and just as tapes have not hurt the music industry but have provided a way to organize one’s own music. Most people are not interested in being a source or a smuggler, but rather like to trade and play with what they have.” According to Kay’s calculations, the components to manufacture it could cost $294, so it was not unreasonable to be able to sell it for $500, something expensive for the time. “The average annual amount spent per child on education is only $850,” he said, and that is why he even proposed a different financing model: “perhaps the device should be given away as if it were a notebook, and only sell the content (cassettes, files, etc.). “This would be quite similar to the way TV packages or music are now distributed.” “Let’s do it!” he said to finish his paper. Unfortunately for Kay, the Dynabook never materialized. Despite Kay’s enthusiasm, the Dynabook itself was never manufactured for lack of support at Xerox and due to the technological limitations of the time. Do you remember what computers were like then? Well, imagine what it would be like to build a tablet. Two Xerox PARC engineers, Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson, asked for permission to try to replicate a similar machine on their own, and so it came to light. Highwhich was also known as “Interim Dynabook”. It was not a tablet, far from it, but it maintained some of the ideas that Kay had raised in her publication. He Xerox Alto was one of the first personal computers of history and Steve Jobs and Apple engineers they were inspired in some of its innovations and concepts, such as the use of a graphical interface for its own computers. Starting at Minute 2:27, the Xerox Alto graphical interface in action Kay is not only remembered for the Dynabook itself, but for the educational vision he gave to the project, for his peculiar vision of the personal computing paradigm and for how he came to anticipate some of the problems (and even technologies) that would come later. Not only that: in 2001, Microsoft presented its Microsoft Tablet PC, a project that Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson had led. Yes, the same ones who once tried to implement … Read more

There are 30 centimeters left before the Montejaque ghost dam becomes a very real problem

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At the beginning of the 20th century, getting light to the most remote towns in the Serranía de Ronda and Grazalema was an impossible mission. Despite “being close”, they were areas that could only be accessed with a lot of effort and any infrastructure became a logistical problem. It was at that time when the Sevillian Electricity Company decided to make a clean break: build a dam on the Gudares River and produce the energy (up to 20,000 kW) right there. They commissioned the work to a Swiss company and built an 83-meter concrete structure near Montejaque, in Malaga. Then they realized that it was tremendously stupid: the limestone soil in the area turned the reservoir into a sieve and, in the more than a hundred years since its construction, it has never been in use. Until now. Although “use” isn’t exactly the word. Because, in reality, what has happened is that, given the enormous amount of water that has fallen in the area in recent weeks, the dam has filled. Of course, this filling is relative: from the first moment the water has been filtering through the cat’s cavevery close to there. But, thanks to it, it has been possible to ‘laminate’ Gudares Avenue and control the flows. The problem is that, right now and for the first time since we have data, Montejaque is about to overflow. 30 centimeters away from it, in fact. A ghost dam filled to the brim? And draining as if there were no tomorrow: at a rate of 200 cubic meters per second. The images are not only spectacularbut (also) are completely unheard of. There were no clear precedents, but the system (using siphons, as opposed to the usual spillways) has been put into operation before it overtopped the dam. And now what? In principle, monitoring and preparation. The town councils of Jimera de Líbar and Benaoján they have evacuated 150 people and monitor both the Guadiaro riverbed and the Hundidero-Gato cave system. This dam system stands between the reservoir and the closest towns, but no one is very clear about what could happen: it is expected to collapse the possible flood, but it has never happened and the UME continues to monitor the situation for what may happen. Calm. That is the message most repeated by the authorities and, from what we know so far, it is justified. However, it shows that too often we forget what is in the bush. The Montejaque concession has already declined, but it is still there, converted into a tourist attraction. From now on it will also be the constant reminder that we have to rethink all our water infrastructures. Image | Ronnie Macdonald In Xataka | Andalusia anticipates the storm and has already canceled in-person classes and activated the UME. The doubt is placed on the workers

We have a problem with AI. Those who were most enthusiastic at the beginning are starting to get tired of it.

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The most promising promise surrounding AI at work today It’s not that it’s going to replace us.but it could free ourselves from part of the burden we carry every day. In recent years, much of the technological discourse has insisted on this idea, also driven by the arrival of assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini or the different co-pilots integrated into everyday software: fewer routine tasks, more time to think, create or decide calmly. However, as these tools begin to be truly used in real environments, a question arises that can no longer be ignored: what happens when that promise of relief is confronted with the daily practice of work. Depletion system. The narrative of relief begins to crack when academic research looks at what happens inside companies. A study published by Harvard Business Review describes that, in the observed case, the AI ​​did not decrease work, but rather tended to intensify it, even without explicit orders to produce more. These findings can be interpreted as a sign of an emerging problem, where increased capacity can push certain organizations towards dynamics close to structural exhaustion, more linked to constant acceleration than to the promised efficiency. Where does the data come from?. The aforementioned work was developed for eight months within an American technology company with about 200 employees, combining in-person observation two days a week, monitoring of internal communication channels and more than 40 in-depth interviews with engineering, product, design, research and operations profiles. The company did not mandate the use of AI or set new performance goals, although it did offer enterprise subscriptions to business tools, which allowed it to analyze what happened when adoption arose on the initiative of workers. The pattern behind the promise. Far from a sudden change, the intensification described by the researchers takes the form of a recognizable process. The magazine summarizes its findings in three mechanisms that, combined, transform the daily work experience: progressive expansion of responsibilities, increasingly blurred boundaries between activity and rest, and simultaneous management of multiple tasks supported by AI. The increased activity began, in many cases, with something that at first glance seemed positive: the feeling of being able to do more on one’s own. It was no secret that AI makes it possible to tackle tasks that previously required external support or specific knowledge, gradually expanding the perimeter of its role. However, this growth did not replace previous responsibilities, but rather added to them and triggered new demands for supervision and adjustment within the teams. When the pause is no longer a pause. The study also shows that this dynamic not only arises from doing more things, but from doing them at different times. By reducing the initial effort required to begin a task, AI made it easier for work to slide into spaces traditionally reserved for rest, such as meals, short intervals, or the end of the day. Over time, this barely perceptible continuity transformed the work experience into something more constant and less delimited, decreasing resilience even without formally increasing hours. Fragmentation of care. Harvard Business Review points out that the possibility of executing several actions at the same time, relying on systems that work in the background, pushed many professionals to maintain an increasing number of tasks open simultaneously. This multiplication of fronts generated a feeling of momentum and support, but also required frequently reviewing the results produced by the AI ​​and continuously changing context. As this behavior became habitual, expectations of speed tended to rise within the organization. A possible way out. The study suggests that the problem does not lie in the technology itself, but in the absence of frameworks that regulate its daily use. Therefore, it proposes developing an “AI practice” based on intentional pauses that allow decisions to be reconsidered, work sequencing that reduces fragmentation, and moments of human connection that counteract isolation. In this scenario, the challenge for companies stops being to adopt more AI and becomes integrating its capacity without eroding the balance of daily work. Images | Vitaly Gariev In Xataka | Google is going to borrow money to pay back in 100 years. You have to believe that in 100 years Google will still be there

Mazda has a plug-in hybrid perfect for Europe. The problem is that for Europe it is electric and pays tariffs like an electric

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If I had to define this story with one word, I would have no doubt: bizarre. To get an idea of ​​the mess, let’s go with a few strokes that we will break down little by little: Mazda has a Chinese electric car that actually has a combustion engine The European Union has lifted tariffs on Chinese electric cars and Mazda has to pay 30% for each one it imports into Europe The European Union does not impose tariffs on Chinese cars with combustion engines. This exception is being used by Chinese brands to gain market share in Europe. Mazda does have to pay tariffs for that electric car that, in reality, has a combustion engine even though the European Union does not impose additional tariffs on Chinese cars with combustion engines. Yes, my head is spinning too. Let’s try to explain it. The history of tariffs To explain a story, Manolito Gafotas was clear: let’s go to the beginning of time. In October 2024after months warning and after some negotiations with China, the European Union raised some additional tariffs to Chinese electric cars that were already paying 10% per car sold in Europe. These tariffs take into account the alleged state aid that China has given to each brand and the willingness of each brand to collaborate. That is, not all pay the same. These taxes were placed on all electric cars that came from China, regardless of the brand that imported them. This is key because all the European brands that bring their cars from China they also have to pay given that, except Teslano foreign brand manufactures its cars in China without being linked to a local automaker. Changan, which is the brand that concerns us here, has to pay 20% additional tariffs that are added to the 10% basic tariffs. That is, for each car sold in Europe, it has to pay an extra cost of 30% on its value. This Chinese company is associated with Mazda, who uses the base of its Deepal cars to bring the Mazda 6e and the next Mazda CX-6e. The first of them we have already been able to drive it in Xataka And, as we told you, it is a car that carries some of the inconveniences of its Chinese origin but whose main attraction is the price. This association It has allowed Mazda a very important step. The company is a small company so investments have to be very well directed and, seeing the embrace that the electric car is receiving in Europe, they have done the math and were not interested in paying for the full development of their own car. But, yes, they have to comply with European emissions standards if they do not want to be fined heavily. One option is to pay the fine. The second is reduce its emissions level below 93.6 gr/k of CO2almost a chimera for a brand where electrification is the exception. The third, and most likely, is to be part of a pool with companies like Tesla to buy their emissions credits. The Mazda 6e and the Mazda CX-6e is very good news for the company since it puts two electric cars on the market at a very low cost for them and a very high profit. For each electric unit sold, the reduction in emissions is substantial and even if they remain above the limit they will have to pay less for those emissions credits. An electric that is not (at all) electric But, in addition to these two aces, Mazda had a third ace up its sleeve. Your saloon Also sold in China as Extended Range Electric (EREV). That is, we are talking about an electric car with 200 kilometers of electric range supported by a combustion engine. In this case, a 1.5 four-cylinder engine that acts as an electrical generator. He extended range electric It is a solution that Mazda itself uses in a car of its own development, the MX-30 REVand it is the option that is proposed to be able to carry out a new sports car replacing the legendary MX-5. The EREV has the advantage of being able to travel hundreds of kilometers in completely electric mode with the appropriate battery and, if necessary, draw on the combustion engine. Mazda’s intention is to improve it in its entirely models with a rotary engine. Thus, the motor hardly takes up any space and adds very little weight to an assembly that will inevitably be weighed down by the weight of the battery, what is happening within the Japanese company itself. But are we talking about a plug-in hybrid? In practice, yes. The car uses the combustion engine as an electrical generator. Thus, it operates at the most efficient rpm in most situations, providing electricity to the battery and that electricity is sent to the electric motors, which are what actually drive the wheels. The advantage is that you have an electric car for everyday lifewith a safety net on long trips and, despite everything, the immediate torque and smoothness of an electric vehicle. The solution in fact, seems like one of the most logical options with the tightening of the European Union’s emissions conditions. And most Chinese plug-in hybrid cars already work this way on most occasions to lower their consumption. But at Mazda they send a message: It will be difficult to see this version in Europe. And there is a technical detail that differentiates a plug-in hybrid from an extended-range electric car. The European Union makes a distinction between the two that does not focus on whether or not it has a gasoline engine, it focuses on what energy propels the wheels. That is, the Mazda 6e EREV is considered electric because its combustion engine never drives the wheels, always works as a series hybrid. Many Chinese cars prioritize this way of working but they are considered plug-in hybrids because, very specifically, their technology does allow the combustion engine to directly … Read more

We have so much water in Spain’s reservoirs right now that it has become a problem for someone: nuclear power.

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What just a few months ago seemed like a chimera—seeing overflowing reservoirs in the middle of winter—has become an overwhelming reality after the passage of successive Atlantic fronts. But the water that has fallen on the peninsula has not only alleviated the drought; has generated such an excess of energy supply that the electrical system has had to do without its traditional “base load”: nuclear energy. The data confirms that, faced with the push of water and wind, the atom has lost its place in the market. A change of scenery. According to data from the Peninsular Hydrological Bulletinthe water reserve in Spain has skyrocketed to 77.3% of its total capacity, storing 43,341 hm³ of water. This represents an increase of 10.1% in a single week, a figure that illustrates the volume of rainfall. To understand the magnitude of this data, just look back: in this same week in 2025, the reserve was at 58.13%. Even more impressive is the comparison with the average of the last 10 years, which stands at 53.6%. That is, today we have 13,000 cubic hectometers more water than the historical average for the decade. The situation is such that the focus has shifted from scarcity to security. In Andalusia, where red notices have been activated, reservoirs are functioning as the last line of defense. The system has been doing “flood lamination” work (water retention to avoid floods), especially in the Guadalquivir and Genil basin, where dams such as Iznájar or El Tranco are crucial to contain the flow before it reaches cities like Seville. The great battery of Spain is full. The impact goes far beyond the visible. Reservoirs are not just liquid stores, they are giant batteries, and right now they are more charged than ever. As detailed in the Hydrological Bulletin in your energy sectionSpain currently stores 16,184 GWh of hydroelectric energy, the largest amount ever recorded at this time. If we compare this figure with the same week of the previous year (13,825 GWh), the jump is notable: today we have 117.1% of the energy we had a year ago. This massive injection of cheap electricity has saturated the seams of the Iberian market. The supply of renewable energy has been so high that interconnections have not been able to cope. According to expert Joaquín Coronado on your LinkedIn profilethe combination of rain and high wind production in Portugal caused the saturation of the interconnection between both countries. With electricity unable to flow freely, the market disengaged: while in Spain prices were sinking due to the sun and water, in Portugal they skyrocketed during peak hours due to technical restrictions. The physical network is suffering to manage such an avalanche of green electrons. The nuclear “no home”. The direct consequence of this renewable surplus is that nuclear energy is no longer competitive in this scenario. The thesis is clear: there is plenty of installed power when the weather is favorable. According to market datathe pressure from renewables has expelled 1.5 GW of nuclear power. On the one hand, Almaraz unit II had to reduce load. On the other hand, the Trillo Nuclear Power Plant was completely disconnected from the grid on Sunday, February 8. The confirmation comes from the headquarters itself. In his informative noteTrillo managers acknowledge that the plant stopped on a scheduled basis because “it was not compatible with the electricity market nor was it required by the System Operator.” Although they assure that the plant is technically perfect, they point to an economic reason: with prices sunk by storms and “high taxation”, operating the nuclear plant costs them. The underlying debate: why keep what is left over? This episode of “nuclear blackout” comes in the middle of the debate over the extension of the Almaraz plant, whose owners are requesting to extend its useful life beyond 2027. A new report from Greenpeaceprepared by the Rey Juan Carlos University and the UPC, warns that artificially keeping nuclear operational is a stopper for the ecological transition. What happened this week in Trillo reinforces his conclusions: Technical feasibility: The study ensures that in the period 2028-2029, Almaraz’s energy could be replaced by 96.4% by renewables. Economic cost: According to The Jumpextending Almaraz would cost consumers an additional 3,831 million euros and would stop green investments worth 26,129 million. Emissions: The report indicates that the extension would generate millions of tons of extra CO2 by discouraging the installation of new clean power. The market ruling. This episode is not a meteorological anecdote, it is confirmation of a change in structural cycle. The February storm has functioned as a stress test for the electrical system and the result is clear: in a marginalist market, water and wind physically displace nuclear power. The data supports that this is already a trend, not an exception. According to closing figures for 2025 published by Five Daysin Iberdrola’s generation mix in Spain, hydroelectric energy (33.3%) already surpassed nuclear energy (33.2%) in total production last year. What happened this week in Trillo is the real-time demonstration of that statistic. With Spain’s “battery” charged to 77% and the wind turbines spinning, the rigidity of the nuclear park becomes an economic barrier. The market’s conclusion is, today, unappealable: we have so much water that nuclear power is no longer essential. Image | freepik and freepik Xataka | When Spain embraced wind energy, it did not have a problem: it would be too windy.

Great white sharks are appearing off the Alicante coast. The problem is that we don’t know if it’s good news or bad news.

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On April 20, 2023, by pure chance, some fishermen caught a juvenile-sized white shark. No one would have been surprised if it weren’t for the fact that the fishermen were in Spanish waters, right in front of the Alicante Cape of La Nao. Two meters 10 centimeters of white shark in the middle of the Mediterranean, what was happening here? Do we have to worry? That is the question that was asked at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and, in collaboration with the University of Cádiz, has carried out a deep review of the presence of white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea. It is not something superficial: they have collected all the records (direct and indirect) from 1862 to 2023 and have reached a surprising conclusion. The presence of this type of specimen has been “persistent” (although “extremely rare”) in the Spanish Mediterranean. It is not something, a priori, worrying. As explained José Carlos Báezresearcher at the IEO-CSIC, “we have only found two attacks: one in 1862, in which a person died in Malaga who was swimming, and another in the eighties, when a shark bit a surfer’s board in Tarifa and caused serious injuries.” But the problem is not that. And, although “with the available data, it is not possible to affirm that the Mediterranean white shark population is recovering”, it is inevitable to think about what will happen in an increasingly warmer sea. In the end, “the presence of young individuals provides key information about the demographic structure of the species” and, one way or anotherthis leads us to seriously consider the risks of having breeding spaces in Spanish waters. However, everything seems to indicate that there is a relationship between the presence of the shark and the routes of the bluefin tuna. If so, it would be another symptom of the problems that sharks have to keep their populations healthy and robust. Should we worry? It doesn’t seem like it. Against the media angle about the “return of the monster”, international evidence tells us that attacks are extremely rare and the role of sharks in the conservation of aquatic ecosystems is very important. Be that as it may, monitoring and conservation programs must be developed. And it has to be done soon. Image | Oleksandr Sushko In Xataka | The white shark is an exceptional swimmer. Its secret is in its “teeth”

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