trucks

convert trucks and containers into a take-off runway for drones

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China is exploring an unusual idea even for a time when Drones have become protagonists of almost any military conversation: take some of the logic of an aviation catapult from the aircraft carrier and bring it to trucks and containers. We are not talking, at least with the information available, of a fully demonstrated operational capacity or a substitute for a conventional naval deck. What we have seen in open sources points rather to a modular concept: a removable take-off runway for drones where there is no runway. The last push to the issue has been given by a video spread on Chinese networks. The original post has been deleted, but can be traced back to uan archived post from the WeChat account associated with the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology. Additionally, the video comes after other tracks: previous photos of the systemits appearance in the vicinity of the Zhong Da 79 ship and a family of military modules in containers that point in the same direction. A catapult outside the aircraft carrier In the most recent images, the system appears to be made up of three trucks that can move separately and then join together to create a single launch line. The sequence shows the takeoff of a propeller drone, with a high wing, V-tail and tricycle landing gear, an aircraft much lighter than the possible models, with which this concept had been visually associated in previous images. There are also upper covers and four-wheel steering, which would allow the assembly to be oriented with more room for maneuver. Capture of the recently released video, which shows the launch of a drone from the mobile electromagnetic catapult made up of several trucks The catapult, in any case, is just one part of a broader family of containerized military systems. Material attributed to the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology includes modules with anti-ship missile launchers, land attack missiles, surface-to-air missiles, close-in defense, radars, electronic warfare, and command and control. Containers designed to transport a catapult truck and a disassembled drone also appear. According to that publication, the goal would be to produce 2,000 containerized systems per year. Capture of the recently released video It is no coincidence that the concept revolves around an electromagnetic catapult. China has already taken important steps in that technology with the Fujianthe aircraft carrier that marks its leap toward catapult operations and detained deck recovery. This context helps to understand why this mobile system is interesting: it was not born as an isolated technical oddity, but within a stronger commitment to expand ways to put aircraft in the air. Type 076 Sichuanan amphibious assault ship associated in open sources with drone operations, points in a similar direction. Capture of the recently released video The entire photo goes beyond visual weirdness. China is not only expanding its naval aviation, it has also been pushing advanced aviation programs for years such as the J-20, its fifth-generation stealth fighter, and the J-35, a design associated with the leap towards more modern ship-borne operations. The mobile catapult doesn’t play in the same league as those planes, but it fits the same question: how to deploy more air capacity from more places. One of the first known images of the complex, in which the catapult trucks can be seen together with possible models of unmanned aircraft If the system worked as the published material suggests, its usefulness would be in bringing assisted launches to places where a conventional runway is not available or is too vulnerable. We are talking about islands, remote areas, prepared roads, temporary bases or ships with sufficient deck space. It would not serve to deploy any aircraft or to replace a complete aerial infrastructure, but it could bring light drones closer to specific areas of operation. In scenarios like this, every kilometer that the drone does not have to travel from a distant base counts. The list of unknowns remains long. We do not know what electrical power the system needs, what logistical footprint it requires, how the drones are charged before each launch or what actual cadence it could sustain outside of a controlled demonstration. There are also doubts about their use at sea: one thing is to place the modules on the deck of a ship with enough space and another is to launch drones with stability while the ship moves. The difference between teaching a demonstrator and having a useful military capability is still enormous. Images | Beijing Institute of Technology/WeChat In Xataka | Every year a veterinarian, a jurist, a psychoanalyst and a gardener meet. They are the secret owners of rearmament in Europe

Ukraine has found Russia’s weak point in Crimea. And now there is a line of Russian trucks that cannot move forward

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During World War II, General George S. Patton It stopped its advance not because of a lack of tanks or ammunition, but because of something much more basic: gasoline. Their armored columns consumed so much fuel that logistics could not keep up. Since then, armies learned a brutally simple lesson: sometimes war is decided not by who fires the most, but by who keeps the tank full. The real Achilles heel. For months, the war in Crimea had been told in terms of missiles, air bases and attacks on the Black Sea Fleet. But Ukraine seems to have identified something much more vulnerable, the same thing we just saw with the US agreement with Iran to end the war: the fuel. It is not just about destroying military objectives, but about attacking the “blood” that makes the entire Russian machine work. Without gasoline, trucks do not move, projectiles do not arrive, drones do not fly, nor an offensive is sustained. And that’s exactly what kyiv is cutting. Hit the artery. I was counting this morning the financial times that the Ukrainian campaign has concentrated on the land corridor connecting continental Russia with Crimea, especially the “Novorossiya” highwaythe great logistics work inaugurated in 2023 and presented by Vladimir Putin as one of the great strategic successes of the war. It we counted recently. That road connects Rostov with the peninsula through occupied Mariupol and Melitopol, and has now become a shooting gallery: more than 375 documented attacks against trucks and vehicles since May, many of them precisely on that road. The message is clear: there is no need to destroy Crimea, enough is enough with disconnecting it. A peninsula that lives off what it enters. The problem for Moscow It is structural. Crimea neither produces oil nor has enough refining capacity to sustain itself. It has always depended on external supplies, before from Ukraine and now from Russia. This dependency turns each destroyed convoy into an immediate problem. The images of kilometric queuesdigital coupons and rationing at gas stations in Sevastopol show how the logistical impact translates almost instantly into social pressure. What at the front is a supply interruption, in the rear already seems like a siege. The Kerch bridge is no longer enough. For a long time, the bridge was the great russian lifeguard. But since the 2022 attack that damaged its stretches and set a fuel train on fire, Moscow has greatly reduced its use for sensitive shipments. Transporting fuel by road is much less efficient than by train, because a single rail convoy is equivalent to dozens and dozens of tanker trucks. And therein lies the problem: Ukraine is hitting both systems at the same time, forcing Russia to improvise floating bridges and much slower and more vulnerable secondary routes. The intermediate drone war. The most interesting thing is that this campaign is not being led by either small front-line drones or large strategic drones, but rather a new intermediate category that we have been explaining. We talk about systems like the FP-2, Behemoth or the Hornet that allow you to attack at distances of up to 200 kilometers with enough charge to destroy trucks, warehouses and bridges. They are cheap devices, difficult to intercept and operate with networks like Starlink that complicate Russian electronic warfare. It’s a major change, as Ukraine is turning logistics into its own front. Crimea is an island again. If you like, the great effect of this strategy It is psychological and military both. Crimea was conquered by Russia as a platform to project power, and now it is beginning to look an isolated enclave which needs to be fed daily to survive. If Ukraine keeps up the pace through the summer, the pressure will not only be on the southern front, but at full capacity Russian to sustain operations in the region. And there is the central idea: Moscow still has missiles, bases and soldiers in Crimea, but Ukraine has understood that the weak point was not so much in destroying them directly, it was in simply leaving them without gasoline. Image | Britannia In Xataka | We have to start thinking about the Ukrainian war in terms greater than those of the First World War. In Xataka | The drone war has left a clear lesson for Ukraine: you can’t leave home without a 100-year-old machine gun

Festivals turned food trucks into a money-printing machine. Now they have a problem: Ozempic

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During the marathon days of the past Coachellaone of the most important music festivals in the world where, paradoxically, music is the least important thing, an image caused a certain sensation on social networks: the total absence of lines at the food stalls. To the plethora of content generated by the festival, a showcase for social networks where only the show by Niece Carpenter and the revival by Justin Bieber caught some attention strictly musically, we had to add the “get ready with me” on Instagram and the usual parade of looks themed, generally quite unsuitable for the Californian desert. In the background a silent revolution was brewing. Because within this hyperaesthetic ecosystem there was a shadow. In the videos of many influencers and tiktokers We were able to observe a scene repeated day after day: non-existent queues to get food (even when it’s free), facing crowded lines to buy sunglasses or other accessories. For many, the reason was obvious: Ozempic. We can interpret it from irony or, on the contrary, as a clear cultural symptom that is deeper and difficult to ignore. Because, if something seems evident, it is that, in a festival where consuming aesthetics is much more important than consuming food, the Ozempic era has found its best showcase. Less hunger = less business Anyone who’s been to a festival, especially in recent times, knows what it’s like. Until recently we went with our eyes closed and our wallets open, assuming that, in addition to the increasing price of admission, we had to pay absurd amounts for a cold burger or a pad thai stale at Michelin star price. We got into the game and no one was surprised by the exorbitant prices, those 20 euros on average per plate were part of the ritual of the festival experience; but something has started to change at Coachella. To get an idea of ​​the importance of this change: the economic volume of its gastronomic industry covers more than 100 positions. Ozempic and derivatives are completely redefining the cultural codes of the last decade. Starting from the basis that each person does with their body what they consider, it is true that we were already noticing in red carpets and derivatives that curves are beginning to go out of fashion; with bloody examples because they are carried out by former standard-bearers of the movement curvy. Actresses and artists like Rebel Wilson, Barbie Ferreira either Meghan Trainor show a change in their figure that advances from photocall in photocall. Little by little this permeates society; and also leaves a side effect that someone may consider unexpected. It is not only transforming bodies but also habits and, among them, our relationship with food in spaces of mass leisure. This change in the psychological relationship that we establish with food and the hunger-suppressing effect means that this character is eliminated from the equation. hedonist and impulsive. If the desire for food ceases to exist, the key turn occurs. For years festivals were governed by a simple rule: the economic margin is not so much in the entrance, but rather in everything that happens inside. In this mechanism, food is a key element with these inflated prices, encouraging impulsive decisions in marathon days that invite consumption. This is where Ozempic has broken the model at Coachella, fully attacking that impulse. In this showcase where it seems that eating is “annoying,” a drug that controls hunger is not useful, but rather more than consistent with the environment. And yes, Coachella may not be the Cruilla or the Arenal Soundbut on a large scale what is at stake is not only what the companies can bill food trucks. What is relevant is something deeper: in an environment where excess was part of the festival attraction, a model is now beginning to prevail where control, especially of the body and image, redefines spaces designed for the opposite. Ozempic and the end of hunger The impact of this medication is such that we are no longer talking about a health phenomenon, but rather a cultural phenomenon. What began as a diabetes medication, later converted into a weight loss solution, is no longer the beauty secret of the celebrities. The pharmacological equivalent of “drinking a lot of water and sleeping eight hours” has spread with universal consumption, and with this it not only transforms bodies with their corresponding physical consequencesalso behaviors. What began as a resource for the elite is now heading towards a more affordable distribution and on a large scale. Because we are not talking about a diet, but about something much more radical, deactivating one of the most basic impulses of human behavior on a large scale, and the data begins to reflect that change. At a global level, about 46 million of people already use these medications. In the United States, the number of people without diabetes who start treatment with these drugs has grown more than 700% in just four years. Today, around 12% of adults use them, with annual growth close to 30%. This impact does not remain only in the body and, if we transfer it to the context at hand, we see that it is directly reflected in consumption; These users spend 31% less on food and drink, especially on everything associated with whim and impulse (snacks, chocolate, etc.). In Spain the trend points in the same direction, approximately 6% of households are already consumers of these treatments, thus representing an expense of 5.4 billion euros annually in food and beverages. And, again, the most relevant thing is not what you spend, but on what: this hedonistic consumption falls and basic and functional products increase. With these numbers it is logical that the conversation of “surely he has lost weight thanks to Ozempic” does not die, but it is no longer limited to celebrities like Oprah, Kelly Clarkson or the native Ibai Llanos. The same statement now slips and extends to much closer environments such as the office, the … Read more

the bizarre history of Toyota and its hydrogen trucks

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Toyota relies on hydrogen as a mobility solution. It is not news in itself. However, the agreement reached in the United States is. And the Japanese have partnered with Hyroad Energya mobility solutions company from the United States that will rent 40 trucks to the Japanese company for use in its support activities. That is to say, It is not Toyota that develops trucks. On the contrary, it is Toyota that pays to have these heavy vehicles available. And this North American company will be in charge of supplying the trucks, maintenance and software. Toyota, for its part, will have its own hydrogen charging network. The move is interesting for the company that has to demonstrate that hydrogen is a still alive formula. But it also needs to make profitable an infrastructure that has been dead in the United States practically since its birth. Everything to hydrogen! Toyota’s relationship with hydrogen seems like that of unrequited love. The Japanese have been ensuring for some time that hydrogen is as valid a solution (or even better) than the electric car. Along the way they have developed the Toyota Miraithe first car powered by a fuel cell. In this type of car, a battery inside the car carries out the hydrogen electrolysis process. With this process, electricity is obtained, which is stored in a battery and used by electric motors. The great advantage of the system is that the time spent on “recharge” the car It is the same as filling a gas tank. Furthermore, the car only expels water vapor through its exhaust pipe. Although some polluting substances can also be found in this water vapor, their presence is so low that it is not considered really harmful. The problem is that the use of hydrogen in light transport It is expensive and inefficient. Producing, transporting and storing hydrogen is very expensive given its volatility. For the Toyota Mirai to be able to use this hydrogen, it must have large tanks where it can be kept at a pressure of 600 bars. This leaves the car with almost no storage space because it takes a lot of space to carry a relatively small amount of “fuel.” The other solution they have found is designed for use on the track or with high-performance vehicles, as an alternative to maintain the sensations of a combustion engine but without emitting smoke from the exhaust pipe. This solution goes through burn hydrogen in liquid form but the high cost of storage and the system used continues to be a real problem. A final solution involves heavy transport. Some anticipate that this last option is the most logical since a truck has a lot of space to incorporate huge hydrogen tanks without sacrificing cargo space. Furthermore, if recharging is only carried out in the large industrial centers of the cities, the cost of transportation would be lower because it would not be necessary to distribute it to many small points in the geography of a country. With the aim of demonstrating that the use of hydrogen is reasonable and interesting for heavy transport, the company has reached an agreement with the aforementioned Hyroad Energy. This company is in charge of supplying 40 trucks to the company for its daily tasks. These heavy transport vehicles have a capacity 12 times greater than that of a Toyota Mirai, with a range of more than 800 kilometers. According to the company, refueling this truck only takes between 15 and 20 minutes. Curiously, these trucks with Nikola vehicles, a promising start-up that was betting on electric vehicles for heavy transportation. However, the company went bankrupt last year and was forced to sell its assets. It was at that time when Hyroad Energy acquired a fleet of more than 100 trucks, so those used by Toyota will be electric vehicles converted for use with hydrogen. It is an operation similar to that Stellantis was carrying out in Germany until terminated the project. The story is, if possible, even more bizarre. And it is that Toyota is immersed in a legal dispute with the American owners of some Toyota Mirai who They sued the company for false advertising. They maintain that when they obtained these vehicles, Toyota promised a deployment of its infrastructure that has never occurred. Without that support network, their cars can barely be used. Therefore, even if Toyota uses third-party vehicles, its bet makes some sense. If the company continues to invest in hydrogen, it needs to demonstrate that it is a viable alternative and wants to take advantage of its charging points in the United States to add value to an infrastructure that has been identified as insufficient. The movement also comes when more and more companies are beginning to think about purely electric heavy transport as the ideal solution for the future. Photo | Hyroad Energy In Xataka | Hyundai and Kia want to save combustion by burning hydrogen. And they have a very promising engine in their hands.

30% of heavy trucks sold in China are already electric, in Europe only 4%

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China has been dominating with an iron fist for years the electric car race. Now it is opening a second front: heavy trucks. Just like they count Since Semafor, in 2025, almost three out of every ten heavy trucks sold in the country were electric or new energy. In Europe, the figure does not reach 5%. And the most striking thing is not the difference, but the speed at which that gap is closing. An unprecedented leap in a very short time. In 2021, new energy trucks barely accounted for 0.7% of heavy vehicle sales in China. In 2024, they were already 12.9%. Just like share the average, in 2025, almost 30%. That pace of adoption, according to Zhao Pei, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, “leaves the rest of the world in the dust.” In Europe the figure remains around 4%, and in California, which is supposed to be the region of the United States where there is the greatest adoption of electric trucks, annual sales are counted in hundreds of units, according to the analysis firm Rystad Energy. lTrucks are more difficult to electrify. Heavy vehicles are the backbone of any country’s domestic trade, but electrifying them is much more complex than doing the same with a car. Their energy needs are enormous and the size of the batteries can reduce the charging capacity. Furthermore, there is still a lot of distrust of technology in the freight transportation sector. “They are a completely different game from passenger cars when it comes to electrification,” counted Mao Shiyue, researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation. Politics and prices as catalysts. Since 2020, China’s central government forced factories in key sectors (steel, cement, energy) to incorporate a percentage of new energy trucks or face production restrictions on days of high pollution. Added to this were very generous subsidies to replace diesel trucks with electric ones. The result: a huge domestic market, highly integrated supply chains and fierce internal competition that has accelerated innovation. Today, the cost per kilometer of an electric truck in China is approximately one-third that of its diesel equivalent, they shared from the middle. Although the purchase price is double, the difference is amortized in about two years. The infrastructure that makes it possible. China has also deployed an entire network for its electric trucks to operate. To achieve this, they have been working for some time on what they call their “green corridors”, specific charging networks for heavy vehicles along highways. One of the largest, built by Qiyuan Green Power, connects Tianjin port with the Gansu industrial region across 2,200 kilometers and 27 stations. For its part, CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer for electric vehicles, it has developed a battery exchange technology that allows a dead battery to be replaced with a charged one in just five minutes, and already has more than 300 operational stations in the country. The weak point: long distance. Not everything is resolved. Trucks operating short, fixed routes have led the transition, but long-distance trucks, which can travel up to 1,000 kilometers a day, remain a challenge. The autonomy and capacity of current batteries are not always sufficient for these routes. And just as share From Semafor, a typical 49-ton heavy truck can travel between 200 and 300 kilometers on a load, enough to operate in ports and urban areas, but far from what long-distance interregional routes need. Now they arrive in Europe, and cheaper. More than half a dozen Chinese manufacturers plan to enter the European heavy truck market in 2026. According to account Reuters, among them stand out BYD, Farizon (Geely), Sany (which is currently the best-selling electric truck brand in China), Sinotruk and the startups Windrose and SuperPanther. The middle share that newly arrived manufacturers plan to set prices up to 30% below the European average, which is around 320,000 euros. Even so, that triples the cost of a conventional diesel truck, whose average in the EU is around 100,000 euros. Unstoppable speed. Phil Dunne, of the consultancy Grant Thornton Stax, counted Reuters that the European sector takes on average seven years to complete a development cycle for a new truck. Windrose, a startup founded in 2022, took three years to develop its Global E700 model, obtain approval to sell it in China, Europe and the United States, and prepare it to enter production. Its price in Europe will be 250,000 euros. “The speed at which the Chinese have come up with good products has surprised everyone,” Dunne said. Code red. Volvo, Daimler Trucks, Iveco, MAN and Scania dominate the European market and have the advantage of built-up trust among their customers. But they are aware of the risk. Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt described Chinese manufacturers as “fast, innovative, determined and committed”. In parallel, associations such as ACEA and E-Mobility Europe they press the European Commission to accelerate support measures with lower tolls for electric trucks, fleet electrification mandates and subsidies tied to European production. What is at stake. China is the world’s largest importer of fossil fuels, has the most extensive road network on the planet and road transport represents almost three quarters of its volume total merchandise. If the electrification of its trucks advances at the planned pace, Rystad Energy calculate that China’s demand for diesel could fall by 20% from current levels before 2030. “We have one or two years to get ahead of ourselves. Or the Chinese will eat our toast,” counted Chris Heron, Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe. Cover image | aboodi vesakaran and Sany Group In Xataka | China has been boasting about its driverless robotaxis for years. Until more than 100 have stood at once in Wuhan

After electrifying cars, China is targeting trucks. It is a slap in the face to global diesel consumption

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China is one of the oil monsters. Not so much in generation, where they want to start being a powerbut in consumption. It is the fuel of hundreds of millions of vehicles They hit the road every day, but things are changing. Although the Asian giant has become one of the powers in car electrification, diesel seemed to have a break thanks to trucks. Not even that anymore. Diesel down. China is second diesel consumeronly behind the United States. transportation concentrate between 70 and 80% of that final consumption, but in recent years, the market has been going down. It is estimated that, in June 2024, diesel consumption fell to 3.9 million barrels per day. It’s still stupid, but it was 11% less than during the same period the previous year. It was the biggest drop since mid-2021 (logical because of the pandemic and the world situation) and despite the industrialization of the country and the rise of both national and international trade, this consumption has remained at a “plateau” for more than a decade. That is to say: it should be much greater than 10 years ago, but that is not the case. Another fact: in August 2024, 8% of new trucks were electric, but in August 2025, the figure was 28%. electric trucks. He rise of electric cars could explain this negative trend in diesel consumption, but as we say, the boats and, above all, trucks continued to support the market. That is no longer so clear, especially with the recent involvement of the Government. In April this year, the Ministry of Transport published, with the support of other government departments, a program to encourage the majority of new truck sales to be new energy by 2035. To achieve this, there are objectives, such as that by 2027 the share of electrical energy in final transport consumption must be 10% and the proportion of new new energy vehicles must be increased each year. The heavy truck seemed to be the bastion of diesel, but now it is one of the central pieces of this decarbonization of transportation. Paradigm shift. To achieve this, in addition to direct aid for the purchase of heavy electric trucks, China has launched a specific action to eliminate and replace old diesel trucks, with subsidies for their removal and replacement with new energy units. In fact, there are advantages: freer access to restricted urban areasfewer time limitations and discounts on tolls. In a report by The Associated Press This paradigm shift is reflected: if in 2020 almost all new trucks in China were diesel, by 2025 electric trucks already represent 22% of new heavy truck sales. As our colleagues point out Motorpassionthe arrow is inverse to that of diesel consumption: in the same period of 2024, that percentage was 9.2%. And the load? It represents a paradigm shift and there are analysts who predict that, by 2026, diesel will only account for 40% of sales. The rest: electric and gas trucks. Is the charging infrastructure? Because we are seeing advances in the development of solid state batteries that will allow greater autonomy, but until they arrive, it is necessary that there be numerous charging points to support the electrification of transport. The National Energy Administration and the Ministry of Transportation have already affirmed that 98% of highway service areas already have charging points, with widespread installation of 120 kW chargers and, in some segments, 600 and 800 kW chargers. The intention is for there to be some 28 million charging points throughout the country by 2027, and one of the key pieces in that expansion is CATL. The company is one of those leads the battery sector worldwideand is currently tracing a “green corridor” that will cover the major freight hubs to facilitate loading, but also to implement its battery exchange system that speeds up the process. Green curve… and economic. This electrification of commercial transportation would add to the objectives of decarbonization of the countrybut obviously truckers and companies also see a benefit in their pockets, or so they esteem. Although electric trucks are between two and three times more expensive than diesel trucks and cost 18% more than LNGare more efficient, have less maintenance and can help save between 10% and 26% over their useful life. Horizon. This change to the electrification of trucks would already be reducing the demand for oil in the equivalent of more than a million barrels per day, and that a giant like China stops depending on crude oil for its trucks is something that can shake the market internationally. And that ambition is not going to stay within its borders. If in recent months we have seen that China has flooded Europe with his electric carswe can expect something similar for 2026, but with trucks. And, furthermore, it has torn off in Hungary the construction of a factory for electric trucks and buses. It is evident that this path started by cars will be followed by trucks, which in the end are a important source of emissions in a world with increasingly global trade. Specificallya third of all transport-related carbon emissions in 2019. Images | Volvo, Cheng Long In Xataka | China’s energy paradox: an ‘electrostate’ that continues to feed on coal

China is intractable in the electric car race, and is on its way to repeating with load trucks

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The conquest of China in terms of electric cars has been noted over the last years, with A special thrust in Europe that has put the entire industry in suspense. But they are not the only type of vehicle with which it intends to conquer the globe. They also have a great presence their merchandise trucks. And is that Byd, manufacturer who has broken like nobody in the automobile sector, already sends electric charge trucks to Italy, Poland, Spain, and even Mexico, along with eight other Chinese companies that dominate the global market. Chinese brands monopolized 80% of the 90,000 world sales of electric charge trucks last year, according to The International Energy Agency. Why does this matter now. As they share from Rest of the WorldCO₂ emissions of heavy vehicles have grown almost 3% annually between 2000 and 2018, and trucks represent 80% of that increase. Its enormous environmental impact converts the electrification of merchandise transport into a key piece for global climatic objectives. And China has understood that there is a huge business opportunity. A domain with origin. China’s advantage does not arise from nothing. According to They share From the middle, it is born from a 15 -year government campaign in which commercial vehicles deal with as national priority, forcing manufacturers to produce electric vehicles as a percentage of their total production. Meanwhile, Western countries have limited themselves to offering tax credits to individual buyers. The result? In China, electric trucks They knead 22% of the heavy vehicle market In the first half of 2025. In Europe they represent only 1% of sales, and in India only 280 long -distance electrical trucks from a total of 834,578 commercial vehicles were sold. Profitability is no longer a promise. Chinese fleet operators report that their electric trucks cost between 10% and 26% less operate than diesel models, according to The commercial consultant Vehicle World. Catl, the largest worldwide electrical battery manufacturer, assures that its batteries reduce transport costs by 35% per ton-kilometer. These data have led to manufacturers such as Sany Group to predict That between 70% and 80% of the Chinese heavy truck market will be electric in a few years. The solution of the recharge problem. A typical load truck needs approximately a megavatio-hora of battery capacity, ten times what a Tesla Model 3. While in Europe truckers have mandatory breaks of 45 minutes every 4.5 hours (A time that can be used to load the truck), in markets such as Brazil or India commercial drivers usually drive between 10 and 18 hours in a row. China has resolved this dilemma through battery exchange technology, which they already use almost 40% of its heavy electric trucks. West goes far behind. Volvo, the main manufacturer in the West, barely has delivered 5,000 electric trucks In 50 countries. The case of South Africa illustrates its difficulties, because after two years in the market, Volvo has sold only Six unitstoo few to justify the local assembly. Importing them would have triggered prices in a country without buying subsidies. Meanwhile, Tesla promised Your semi truck In 2017, he delivered it in testimonial quantities to Pepsi in 2022 and practically It has disappeared for high component and cost failures. The global expansion is already underway. Byd It has facilities To produce electric load trucks throughout China and plan international assembly plants. Beiqi Foton already sends trucks to EU markets despite possible tariffs. In June, Chinese manufacturer Windrose announced plans to Establish a factory in GeorgiaUSA. “Chinese companies will adapt their entrance to the market strategies: supplying components where regulations require local manufacturing, establishing direct sales in other places,” Explain Ravi Gadepalli, founder of the Transit Intelligence consultant. The key is in capital. Commercial transport is dominated by small operators with very tight margins that lack capital for vehicles that cost twice as their diesel equivalents, although operating costs end up compensating. “Financing is the main obstacle in India, while in China the government invested significant capital to boost the sector,” Point out Gadepalli. However, the same expert warns that “it is very likely that Chinese electric truck manufacturers revolutionize the global cargo truck market. We have already seen it with cars and buses, and it is likely to continue.” He does not lack reason either as far as electric buses are concerned, because it is Another market in which China dominates. It still remains. The global heavy electric truck market will reach only 5,000 million dollars by 2030, a tiny fraction of the 6 billion electric vehicle market, according to The Grand View Research analysis firm. Most sales will be light commercial vehicles for urban cast, according to Share The medium, since long -distance trucks will continue to generate more emissions. Although seeing how unstoppable China is in the electric vehicle, the given estimates may underestimate the country’s growth rate in this sector. Cover image | Daniel Fikri In Xataka | China and Europe do not trust each other in electric car. And someone is taking advantage of it: Türkiye

A German Fire team was blindly trusted in its diesel trucks. They discovered that the electric were better

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“We cannot trust experiments in an emergency.” It was, without any doubt, the most repeated phrase in the fire department of the Garching Campus of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) when they considered replacing their diesel trucks with electric. At least, that’s what they assure from the University itself. The phrase was repeated to satiety by their own firefighters during internal surveys. The rejection was widespread for the delicate of the matter: to change the reliability of their diesel trucks for a technology with which many of them had not had contact. The most repeated doubts, collect the companions of Motorpasionwere their load times, the reliability of trucks and even safety during operations. All these concerns seem to have disappeared. And, for those who have not disappeared, there is an expected security network. No, autonomy is not a problem either A year later, everyone seems to be delighted with change. The Fire Park now uses a 66 kWh capacity battery, engines that generate 490 hp and, the small trick, an autonomy extensor that is put into a marking with a six online cylinders that generates another 301 hp diesel. Regarding your capacity techniqueIt has a 2,000 -liter water tank and another 125 liters of Igniphuga foam and, despite being electric, a half -meter Vadeo capacity. That is, at the technical level, there is no substantial difference between an electric truck and a traditional diesel. We said the little trick is in that diesel generator. And it is that the truck is, in reality, an electric of extended autonomy that allows it to have a safety network. This type of vehicles are designed to be used as almost always electric and the combustion engine is nothing more than an emergency solution. In fact, they are usually engines that are used as an electric generator, producing electricity to a battery that feeds the engines. The solution is very widespread in China And, in fact, brands like Hyundai either Mazda They have cars that apply this technology. In the case of an electric firefighter truck, the solution does not go so through the autonomy available to travel (in a city they should be short distances) but to “skip” the load of the truck in case of requiring several interventions in a short time. Because, at the level of interventions, according to your data only 3% They need to turn on the diesel engine to be able to supply energy to the water pump. This, obviously, needs to pull the vehicle’s energy but is not until after half an hour when the battery is exhausted and need to turn on the diesel propeller. “In more than 97% of operations it is not necessary”, They emphasize. Saved that first and important stumbling block, from the fire team seem to be delighted with the new vehicle. They point out that without engine noise they can communicate better between them, both to speak directly and to understand what is being said on the radio. In its article, the German University emphasizes that it is a clear improvement within the vehicle but also for those who work outside it. “This allows us to communicate much better among us, which is great. You can also understand the radio and your colleagues without any problem, so you do not have to continue asking questions, a great gain in safety and comfort.” From the Fire Department they say that “our experience shows that electric mobility works for the Fire Department. I hope that many more fire departments follow their example. In any case, there is a lot of interest: we regularly receive consultations about our experiences.” The next step, they say, will be to install solar panels to load the trucks. Photo | Technical University of Munich (Tum) and Jai Heike In Xataka | Turn off electric cars, according to firefighters: self -colombing, twice water and triggered temperatures

The US is not a country for trains. They want to fix it with one that cross the country carrying people and trucks

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The train It is the spine of many countries. In Europe, communications between countries and within them They would not be understood without the trainbut there are others Examples like Japan or a China that has built almost 50,000 kilometers of high speed in record time. If we look at the United States, the case is the opposite: high speed that shines for its absence, with projects that are a nightmare and an overwhelming domain of the plane and the car for passenger transport. Of course, they have proposed to change the situation with a mastodontic project: a train network that connects New York and California. They have baptized him as ‘Transcontinental Chief’, and they will not have anything easy. Figures. First of all, some context and the proper names of this story. Amtrakor National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger trains company in the United States. It was created as a commercial entity, but depended on federal and state subsidies for most of its routes. Its network covers more than 500 stations in 46 states and has a network of about 39,000 kilometers, including the NEC, the corridor between Boston and Washington DC Despite that huge network of roads and stations, in 2024 he transported about 32.4 million passengers. Much of the traffic corresponds to paths within the NEC and none of the paths exceeds 200 km/h. For comparing, in 2024, Renfe transported 35.2 million travelers in high -speed services and another 60 million in medium distance. We do not count the 442 million nearby, since they are short journeys. Chief Transcontinental. It is evident that the country needs a railway impulse, something that has been attempted on a small scale (even with trains that do not use fossil fuels), but the projects do not finish curdling. That is where Ameristarrail enters the scene, a private company dedicated to the proposal and development of long -distance interurban and high capacity interurban services. The project they are promoting is the one baptized as ‘Transcontinental Chief’ to connect New York and Los Angeles by train. He proposed itinerary He would connect the Hoboken station in New Jersey with Los Angeles, through cities such as Philadelphia, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and stop at the National Park of Grand Canyon. In this way, large urban and tourist poles would join. Recycling. He project From America has a couple of good ideas to get ahead. The first is to take advantage of what is already paid. That is, use the roads and stations that are already built to give new life to deficit infrastructure operated by other entities and by Amtrak itself (such as the Southwest Chief). Also use locomotives and wagons that already exist, such as beds beds and men’s restaurant cars because the full trip will be long, since the speed of those tracks is limited to 150 km/h. According to the company, if this plan is followed, a new legislation will not be necessary that would complicate and delay the project, but no additional public financing, since, in essence, the work is done and you only have to put the infrastructure up to date. Because although the United States does not have a solid passenger transport network by train, it does have a wide railway line focused on merchandise transport. Hybrid. The second good idea is to try to squeeze this train as much as possible. In addition to passengers, the idea of ​​America is to turn the train into a kind of ferry. This implies that private cars can be charged in platform cars so that a family, for example, can go from end of the country with their car, but without driving them. In addition, it has also been projected that there would be other cars capable of loading complex trucks, next to their drivers. Thus, truckers can get on the train, rest their mandatory time while the journey towards their destination does not stop. They have called it ‘Rolling Rest Stop’ would be a pioneer in the country, in addition to giving a boost to certain routes of merchandise trucks that cross the territory. MEH. Aim Football World Cup. Now, from Amtrak they don’t have it so clear. At the moment, the public company has release that they are not going to promote this proposal for America because they are not clear that public investment has to be made. It is not closed, eye, since the drivers maintain that there is enormous potential to convert long -distance services into profitable and sustainable lines, and that is something that Amertk needs. Images | Ameristarrail, Amtrak In Xataka | Renfe has a new and gigantic project in progress: a night train to connect Europe from this to west

endure the weight of 96 trucks at the same time

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China is the ideal place for the most adventurous engineers. To the country’s taste for huge constructions (as turbines), an extremely complex orography is added that leads engineers to devise extreme solutions to connect the territories. Thus arise infarction tunnels, impossible roadshe longest maritime bridge in the world either gigantic dams. One of its regions, Guizhou, is one that needs a very specific infrastructure to not be isolated, and that is where the New higher bridge in the world. And the fire test before its inauguration has consisted of filling it with trucks. The bridge. A few years ago we talked about Lege bridge over the Beipan River as the highest in the world. It was at that time when 565 meters above the waters. But another bridge was needed on the same river, and the decision was made to build it in the Huajiang cannon. The challenge was capital, due to characteristics that the new bridge should have: Two towers of 265 and 205 meters at the ends. Cables of 9,000 tons each. A total length of 2,890 meters. The vain has a length of 1,420 meters. And what interests us: the road is 625 meters from the ground, reaching the end of the towers at 776 meters. Record time. To visualize the height, Two Eiffel Tower would enterone on the other, under the hanging section, but also supposes the longest hanging segment of the world built in a mountainous area. The works They started In 2021 and in January of this year it was reported that 75% of the project had been completed. The rhythm in recent months has been agile and we are at a point where the main works have been completed. In total, it is estimated that 439,000 m³ of concrete and 49,000 tons of steel have been used these four years. Fire test. And the most curious thing is how those responsible for the work have decided Test infrastructure before the opening scheduled by the end of September. They have used 96 trucks, as if it were a parade, which have been placed online throughout the hanging section for five days. In total, 3,000 tons that add to the rest of the tests that have been carried out in the structure, since many of these constructions in China are executed in areas prone to earthquakes, and the area where the bridge of the Gran Canyon of Huajiang is located is no stranger to earth trembling. In Guizhou, 329 earthquakes have been registered, at least, magnitude four during the last ten years, and that is why the bridge is equipped with sensors that monitor vibrations and structural variables in real time. It is not a whim. In the end, the loading test of that hundred trucks is a more news around the new largest bridge in the world, which is an achievement not only for its height, but for the extreme topographic challenge they have faced. HE esteem that has cost about 280 million dollars and, once open, will cross the canyon In just a couple of minutes when before it took more than an hour. Everything for connect rural areasthis being one of the government’s objectives to improve communications between all regions of the country and that is not only being carried out on land: also in the rivers. The end? Improve all communications to consolidate the ‘New Silk Route‘. Image | CCTV In Xataka | China is moving whole buildings at the same time to build underneath. Because? Because it can

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