stretch

A German driver set out to discover how much he could stretch the tank of his old diesel car. And he has done 2,400 kilometers

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Autonomy of 1,000 kilometers. It is the psychological barrier that seems to have been installed in the collective imagination when it comes to talking about electric or highly electrified cars. It doesn’t matter that it is a figure that is worthless because, obviously, it is totally inadvisable to sit in the car and put in 1,000 kilometers at a stretch between your chest and back. Right now, with a good part of the electric car market recharging 300 kilometers or more (real) in about 20 minutesthere are not many reasons to defend those ranges of more than 1,000 kilometers. And yet, such has been the insistence of those who do not trust the electric car that the manufacturers of plug-in hybrids themselves have focused their communication on selling us autonomies that exceed those 1,000 kilometers. And promise, among the electric ones, that we will see batteries that can withstand them. However, and although for everyday life it is something completely absurd, one always feels attracted to challenges like the one presented by the host and owner of the channel. Offroad adventure on YouTube. How many kilometers can your old diesel Volkswagen Passat travel? 2,300 kilometers with its little tricks He promised that he would repeat it if the video went viral. And he has done it. Elias is a German YouTuber specialized in car travel videos. His YouTube channel is full of incredible landscapes, challenges aboard his cars and videos in which he explains how he has transformed the vehicles. In one of them, he picked up an old Volkswagen Passat B5 diesel from 1998 and he decided to know how far he could go. He traveled more than 1,900 kilometers but did not manage to break the two-mile ceiling with a single tank. The promise seemed obvious: likes to the video and a new challenge ahead. No sooner said than done. More than 2,400 kilometers with just a tank? This is the title of the video in which Elias tells of his new experience with this familiar diesel with almost 30 years behind him. The car, at that time, approved an average consumption of 5.6 l/100 km (4.5 l/100 km in the extra-urban) and a 62-liter tank in Spain but in Germany, according to the data provided by the Youtuber, it reached 72 liters. That is, to cover 2,400 kilometers it was necessary to maintain a consumption of about 3 l/100 km. And with these tools, what seemed impossible was posed: how to get from Hildesheim (Germany) to the Arctic Circle with a single deposit of fuel? Let’s get to work. Elias swapped the original rims for closed hubcaps to improve aerodynamics on the wheels and reduce drag. It eliminated everything that could interfere with the exterior: goodbye to the roof bars and the antenna. He also points out that he changed some of the car’s filters to improve efficiency, as well as the lights, replaced by LEDs that consume less energy. Some air vents were covered to further improve efficiency. The YouTuber also points out that he installed a cruise control system, used low-friction oils and Michelin, which is one of the sponsors, gave him a set of low-friction tires that have been inflated to the maximum pressure allowed to reduce resistance. Searching for the sweet spot between driving at a constant speed high enough for the car to move at a low rev rate but without forcing it to downshift and increase consumption, the YouTuber manages to achieve his goal and shows how the car ends up stopping after 2,398.7 kilometers, registering an average speed of 74 km/h and a consumption of 3.0054 l/100 km. The car, in fact, at some point reaches a much lower figure, of about 2.5 l/100 km of consumption. However, in the last kilometers this figure “skyrockets” and leaves our protagonist on the verge of breaking the 2,400 kilometer barrier. Moment in which he removes the seal from the fuel tank to add a little more diesel and be able to get to a gas station. The test demonstrates how far diesels from a few decades ago were capable of reaching, but it also confirms that if the road is clear and used correctly, adaptive cruise control can save a lot of fuel by keeping the car at a sustained speed. Photo | offroadadventure In Xataka | Driving at 110 km/h instead of 120 km/h to save gas seems like a good idea. It’s just a patch

Navarra already has its longest stretch radar operational. It covers 30 kilometers, and yet it is not the longest in Spain

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Navarra has placed a medium speed radar on the AP-68 that controls more than 30 kilometers in a row between Cortes and Tudela. The device He is already monitoring this section and sanctioning. It is one of the longest in the country, but not the one that most. And the trend indicates that there will be more. The radar in question. The device is installed on the AP-68, in a descending direction, between kilometer points 115,027 and 84,483, that is, the route from Cortes to Tudela. In total, 30,544 kilometers under continuous surveillance. In addition, Navarra has launched a second section radar on the N-121-A, in an increasing direction, between kilometers 26.76 and 40.79, covering almost 14 kilometers in the area of ​​the Belate and Almandoz tunnels. Both devices are already operational and sanctioning. Why have they settled there? The Government of Navarra and the DGT justify the decision with the accident data. According to the information published about the installation, in the section of the AP-68 76 accidents were recorded between January 2022 and June 2025, of which 19 left victims, with one deceased, one seriously injured and 25 lightly injured. On N-121-A the balance in the same period was 56 accidents. How this type of radar works. It does not measure the speed at a specific point but rather calculate the average throughout the entire journey. One camera reads the license plate at the beginning of the section and another at the end. The system determines how long the vehicle has taken to travel it and, if that time is less than the minimum that fits with the established speed limit, the report is processed automatically. What it can cost you. The sanctions range from 100 euros without loss of points in the slightest excesses to 600 euros and six license points in the most serious cases. Prompt payment, paid within 20 calendar days following notification, allows the financial fine to be reduced by half, although the points are still lost. It is not the longest in Spain. The national record It is still maintained by a radar installed on the CL-615in Palencia, which controls 33 kilometers in an increasing direction, as we counted a while ago. The Navarrese rider on the AP-68 is less than three kilometers from that mark, which places him in second position among the longest. And he is not alone in that category: according to data from the DGT, There are 16 section radars in Spain that exceed 10 kilometers. Expansion. In 2024 there were 92 section radars on the roads managed by the DGT. In 2025 the figure rose to 110 and today there are 149, according to they count from Motor.es. In addition, the DGT has planned a new wave of installations for the second half of 2026, aimed mainly at secondary roads and conventional roads, which is precisely where the majority of fatal accidents are concentrated. Navarra takes charge. The entry into service of this radar makes more sense than it seems. Navarre He assumed official ownership on January 29 of this year. of the almost 40 kilometers of the AP-68 that run through its territory. And as of July 1, the regional community will also have the power to directly process, resolve and collect traffic fines, according to Navarra.com. That is to say, the provincial government installs a large radar on a road that it has just assumed as its own and does so just before it can also manage the income it generates. Cover image | DGT In Xataka | Death to the oldest “shadow toll” in Spain: Murcia is going to say goodbye at the end of the RM-15 system

A strangely calm hurricanes season approaches a final uncertain stretch

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September 10 is a date marked in the calendars of hurricane -expert meteorologists. It is the date on which the Atlantic hurricanes season usually achieves its peak of activity. But the decreasing trend in the average activity of Atlantic cyclones should not deceive us: there is still a season ahead. We enter the final stretch. According to Experts remember NHC (National Hurricane Center), the American center dedicated to the study of hurricanes, 60% of the activity of hurricanes occurs, generally, after this peak. That is, despite having already gone through the temporary Ecuador of the season (which begins on June 1 and ends on November 30), we could still have more than half of the cyclonic activity ahead. NHC meteorologists also remember that the activity in this part of the season tends to affect the western zone of the North Atlantic, the most vulnerable area to this type of storm because it is in North America and the Caribbean where they usually touch earth. A quiet season. When the Atlantic hurricane season began, there for June, experts predicted a relatively quiet season, but the data show an even greater meekness than expected. When measuring the intensity of a hurricane season, different measures can be used such as the number of storms named, hurricane number, sum of the days with active hurricanes, etc. Another useful measure is that of the index of accumulated cyclonic energy (ACE). According to The data of the Tropical Meteorology Project of the State University of Colorado (CSU), at this point in the hurricane season, the expected Ace based on the Atlantic weather would be 55.8, while the ACE observed is only 39. This implies that the observed data are 30.1% lower compared to those initially expected. Erin, the disruptive force. In addition, there is the circumstance that most of this energy is due to a single hurricane, Erin. Erin’s Ace was 32.2which represents about 82.6% of the total season. What’s happening. That this year’s season was less intense than the previous one was to wait: the temperature in the Atlantic, even though it has not reached the extreme levels seen in recent years and the oscillation of the child has remained in a kind of indecision. A Recent study Led by the meteorologist of the CSU Philip Klotzbach, he highlighted three reasons that could explain to a good extent what we are observing, starting with an “dry and stable” Atlantic. The second of the factors highlighted by the team is a channel pronounced in the high troposphere capable of increasing the vertical wind shear (one of the two determining factors, together with the oceanic temperature, in the formation of hurricanes). The third and last factor would be a descending movement over the African continent, which would be affecting rainfall in West Africa and with it the intensity of waves in the region. What can we expect. Klotzbach’s team coincides with NHC experts to emphasize the possibility that the season resume intensity from this month. “We anticipate that the resume season (intensity), since large -scale conditions seem more tropical and favorable to cyclones later in September,” explain in your text. Therefore they recommend not changing seasonal forecast. The initial estimate of the Tropical Meteorology project of the CSU indicated that the expected oil for the end of the year It is 122.5. On the other hand, if we take the last data (39) and apply the estimate that 60% of the activity occurs in these last months of the season, we would have an expected oil around 100. We will have to wait to see if the trend continues or if on the contrary we see if this season steps on the accelerator in its last months of activity. In Xataka | The walls against hurricanes no longer work and Darpa has the solution: a wall of oysters and corals Image | Hurricane Erin. NASA Earth Observatory by Michala Garrison, using NASA EOSDIS Lance, GIBS/WorldView, and Suomi National Polar-Footing Partnership.

Give a stretch to its underwater borders west of Galicia

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Spain is about to give A considerable stretch north. One, yes, that will only be appreciated under water or in the offices. After Years of workmeetings and oceanographic campaigns, Spain is about to ensure that its underwater borders west of Galicia are extended by 38,500 square kilometers, an extension that will be added to The already achieved A long time ago in the Cantabrian. This has just ratified the UN at a meeting with Spanish delegates. For the final seen we will still have to wait a few months. Maybe bureaucracy sounds, but extending underwater limits beyond 200 nautical miles (just over 300 km) is much more interesting than it seems. What happened? That Galicia prepares to give A small stretch. And with it the whole country. Of course, the border extension will not be visible, nor will Spain redraw the silhouette we usually see in the maps. The reason is simple. What will really be expanded is the continental platform, the underwater border located west of Galicia. There is still the final OK for change, which is expected for August, but for the moment the United Nations already It has ratified it. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Who has announced it? The news was advanced on the weekend Vigo lighthousewhich has echoed in turn of the information that He has been publishing In networks the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) and Luis Somozainvestigator of the institution and scientific coordinator of the expansion of the continental platform of Galicia. The reason? The Redibration of the underwater borders of Galicia It was these days In New York, where a Spanish delegation was transferred. There the UN It has ratified The expansion of the continental platform north of the Bank of Galicia. Of course, the newspaper specifies that the final approval will not arrive for a few months, in August. And how much will it be expanded? A good pinch, as Luis Somoza himself recognized Thursday after the meeting held in New York. “We have secured an extension of 38,000 km2 beyond 200 miles,” revealed in x. To better learn the geology of that huge plain, which exceeds 5,000 m deep, at the end of May a new scientific campaign will be undertaken with the Sarmiento de Gamboa ship. Click on the image to go to Tweet. Is it something new? The advances do. The background struggle to widen underwater borders no. In August 2006 Spain He already presented A proposal to expand the domain of the continental platform in the Cantabrian, an aspiration that achieved a key advance in March 2009, when the New York commission gave the green light to the extension of the legal title of Spain of some some 78,000 km2 in the area. In the case of Galicia, in 2009 Spain looked at the outer limits of the continental platform beyond 200 marine miles. On the surface, that would mean adding about 50,000 km2 under Spanish sovereignty. Apart from Galicia and Cantabria, Spain was interested in a third point: the Canary Islands, more specifically an extension of 206,000 km2 to the Oste of the Islands. If the three ambitioned regions (Cantabrian, Galicia and the Canary Islands are added) they would go from 330,000 km. And based on what? The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which includes the scientific criteria that allow the limits of the sovereignty of a country over the seabed to go beyond the 200 nautical miles. In 2010 Spain presented Before the UN precisely that, the scientific evidence that would endorse the aspirations of the underwater borders in Galicia. Spain is not the only one immersed in such a process. In 2010 The country I pointed That the attractiveness of the platforms, rich in gas and mineral deposits, among other resources, had aroused the interest of other tens of nations with coast. Specifically, he spoke of 51 countries that had moved to achieve their continental slopes. Why is it important? The area that is now in the focus, west of Galicia, has depths of between 800 and more than 5,000 my the objective of geologists is to achieve a more detailed cartography to know it better. The data will be presented at the UN with a view to the August appointment in which, As progress Lighthouseit is expected to put the final touch to more than a decade of work to expand underwater borders. The objective: “shield” its preservation and allow Spain to explore and exploit its resources. Images | Gregorio Puga Bailón (Flickr) In Xataka | Galician marshare have launched a ‘sos’ in the face of their great threat: the risk of collapse of the AruSo estuary

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