Skip to main content

Are Parts of the World Retreating on Electric Vehicles?

2 months 2 weeks ago
Canada's Prime Minister "paused an electric-vehicle sales mandate that was set to take effect next year," reports the Wall Street Journal, which argues a kind of retreat from electric-vehicle ambitions "is spreading around the globe." Even the U.K.'s Prime Minister "has allowed for a more flexible timetable to hit the country's EV targets." And demand is expected to drop in the U.S., where global consulting firm AlixPartners now predicts EVs will make up 18% of new-vehicle sales by 2030 — just half of what they'd predicted two years ago: j U.S. automaker GM will take a $1.6 billion charge "because of sinking EV sales," reports the Wall Street Journal, "a shift it blamed on recent moves by the U.S. government to end EV subsidies and regulatory mandates... That might just be the beginning of a financial reckoning from automakers that poured billions into new electric models — from sports cars and sedans to big pickups and sport-utility vehicles — to try to get ready for the government-backed EV mandates. Automakers have been saying that consumers aren't adopting EVs as quickly as expected, and government efforts to proliferate the technology are hammering their bottom lines. GM, in announcing its charge, said it is reassessing EV capacity and warned that more losses are possible...Carmakers argue the EV business model is an unprofitable proposition given still-high battery costs, spotty car-charging networks and dwindling government subsidies. Incentive programs have ended or have been pared back across Europe and in the U.S. and Canada. Volkswagen, burdened with massive electrification costs, helped spur the reckoning in Europe when it said it would cut 35,000 jobs as part of a deal with its union. The move sent shock waves through the region's political establishment. Weeks later, the EU launched a "strategic dialogue" with the automotive industry that led to a more flexible timetable for automakers to meet its emissions rules for 2025.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EditorDavid

Reddit Mod Warns 'Do Not Trust' AI-Powered 'Reddit Answers' After It Posts Dangerous Health Advice

2 months 2 weeks ago
In Reddit's "Family Medicine" subreddit, a moderator noticed earlier this week that the AI-powered "Reddit Answers" was automatically responding to posters, typically with "something related to what was posted." Unfortunately, that moderator says, Reddit Answers "has been spreading grossly dangerous misinformation."And yet Reddit's moderators "cannot disable this feature." Elsewhere a healthcare worker described what happened when they tested Reddit Answers: I made a post in r/familymedicine and a link appeared below it with information on treating chronic pain. The first post it cited urged people to stop their prescribed medications and take high-dose kratom which is an illegal (in some states) and unregulated substance. I absolutely do not endorse this... I also asked about the medical indications for heroin. One answer warned about addiction and linked to crisis and recovery resources. The other connects to a post where someone claims heroin saved their life and controls their chronic pain. The post was encouraging people to stop prescribed medications and use heroin instead. Heroin is a schedule I drug in the US which means there are no acceptable uses. It's incredibly addictive and dangerous. It is responsible for the loss of so many lives... The AI-generated answers could easily be mistaken as information endorsed by the sub it appears in. r/familymedicine absolutely does not endorse using heroin to treat chronic pain. This feature needs to be disabled in medical and mental health subs, or allow moderators of these subreddits to opt out. Better filters are also needed when users ask Reddit Answers health related questions. If this continues there will be adverse outcomes. People will be harmed. This needs to change. Two days ago an official Reddit "Admin" posted that "We've made some changes to where Answers appears based on this feedback," adding that beyond that Reddit "will continue to tweak based on what we're seeing and hearing." But the "Family Medicine" subreddit still has a top-of-page announcement warning every user there... "We do NOT and CANNOT endorse Reddit Answers at this time and urge every user of this sub to disregard anything it says."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

EditorDavid