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Ferrari's first electric car arrives next summer, reports Carscoops, with a top speed of 193 mph (310 km/h) and accelerating from 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) in just 2.5 seconds. "The Elettrica" will also have a large high-density battery for over 329 miles (530 km) of range, ultra-fast DC charging up to 350 kW, and a 122 kWh capacity and an energy density of 195 Wh/kg that Ferrari "claims is the highest among production EVs." But what's really interesting is its engine noises: Ferrari's approach to the Elettrica's sound moves away from artificial engine simulation. Instead, a sensor mounted on the inverter detects the powertrain's real mechanical vibrations, which are then amplified to create what the company describes as a natural, evolving tone that reflects how the car is being driven... a reactive soundtrack. Antonio Palermo [Ferrari's head of sound and vibration] calls it "language and connection," a way to keep drivers emotionally engaged with the car without resorting to synthetic gimmicks... Needless to say, how convincing this synthesized feedback will feel in practice remains to be seen, as much of Ferrari's allure has traditionally rested on the emotional impact of its combustion engines. "The Torque Shift Engagement system offers five selectable levels of power and torque using the right paddle, while the left paddle adjusts braking intensity," the article points out. But if the engine noises are well-executed, argues the EV news site Electrek, "I even think it might convince some petrolheads to give EVs a try," . Whether you like them or not, engine sounds are essential, especially in performance vehicles. They are part of the identity of certain cars — a sort of signature. They can be emotional. They can give a sense of power. But beyond that, they are information. The pitch, volume, and texture of the engine sound provide critical, real-time feedback to the driver about RPM, load, and the car's health. Some electric automakers are using curated soundscapes (like BMW with Hans Zimmer) or trying to mimic V8s (like Dodge with its "Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust")... Other automakers are simply letting the natural sounds of the electric motors exist. There's nothing wrong with that. However, considering that electric motors produce minimal sounds, which are then trapped inside a metal casing, you rarely hear anything significant, especially in modern vehicles with quiet cabins and even active noise cancellation. For most EVs, this is not a problem, but for a performance electric vehicle, it does feel like something is missing... Ferrari insists the sound will only be used when "functionally useful" to provide feedback to the driver and will be directly tied to torque requests... The entire system was reportedly developed in-house, giving Ferrari complete control over the vehicle's final acoustic signature... [T]hey are embracing the new technology rather than hiding it. They are making a confident statement that an electric powertrain can be emotionally engaging on its own terms, without having to pretend to be something it's not... If you prefer a completely silent drive, you can disable it. Electrek's conclusion? "The purists who were worried that Ferrari would lose its soul in the EV transition should be encouraged by this."

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The incident was first reported at around 5am

The singer, 51, and actress, 57, were joined on the sofa by Colin Farrell, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gloria Estefan.

Thomas Skinner's wife Sinead has sat down to discuss their 'horrendous' past few weeks since news of his affair broke.

It was a prison for decades before it closed in 2013

The Rivals author, who died last week aged 88 after a fall, kept diaries for much of her life and had long warned friends they were far saucier than her famous 'bonkbuster' novels.

The woman, who was only working in Blackpool that day because of staff shortages, had briefly stepped inside to pay for a delivery when Nicolette Goldrick struck.

Built from stone in 1320, it has outlived dozens of kings and queens of England and weathered the Great Fire of London and the Blitz .

The Duchess of Sussex , 43, posted the sweet image showing her holding hands with four-year-old Lilibet in the scenic grounds of their Montecito home.

The street sits very closely to a train station, making it a very attractive place for commuters

The average UK home has soared by £8,000 in a year, and in this Essex town, the average house prices have risen by more than £38,000.

Did you know Essex has been the location for several big film shoots? From Batman to Indiana Jones, Hollywood has been in the county several times.

From sprawling maize mazes to pick-your-own patches, the county offers several excellent destinations for a memorable day out.

Did you know Essex has been the location for several big film shoots? From Batman to Indiana Jones, Hollywood has been in the county several times.

The average UK home has soared by £8,000 in a year, and in this Essex town, the average house prices have risen by more than £38,000.

Essex Police is adopting a new approach to road safety considerations for elderly drivers.

From sprawling maize mazes to pick-your-own patches, the county offers several excellent destinations for a memorable day out.

Practices were rated as part of the national GP Patient Survey

The former girlfriend of paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, Joanne Mjadzelics, has said she is surprised it 'took so long' for the depraved frontman 'to be killed'. 

A demo of educational AI-powered tools by a Microsoft product manager (in March of 2024) showed "how AI has the possibility to transform various job sectors and the education system," according to one report. But that demo "includes a segment on Copilot in Excel that is likely to resonate with AI-wary software developers," writes long-time Slashdot theodp: The Copilot in Excel segment purports to show how even teachers who were too "afraid of" or "intimidated" to use Excel in the past can now just use natural language prompts to conduct Excel analysis. But Copilot advises the teacher there are no 'outliers' in the exam scores for their 17 students, whose test scores range from 27%-100%. (This is apparently due to Copilot's choice of an inappropriate outlier detection method for this size population and score range). Fittingly, the student whose 27% score is confidently-but-incorrectly deemed to be of no concern by Copilot is named after Michael Scott, the largely incompetent and unprofessional boss of The Office. (Microsoft also named the other exam takers after characters from The Office). The additional Copilot student score "analysis" touted by Microsoft in the demo is also less than impressive. It includes: 1. A vertical bar chart that fails to convey the test score distribution that a histogram would have (a rookie chart choice mistake), 2. A horizontal bar chart of student scores that only displays every other student's name and shows no score values (a rookie formatting error)... So, will teachers — like programmers — be spending a significant amount of time in the future reviewing, editing, and refining the outputs of their AI agent helpers? "Not only does it illustrate how the realities of AI assistants sometimes fall maddeningly short of the promises," argues the original submission. "The demo also shows how AI vendors and customers alike sometimes forget to review promotional AI content closely in all the AI excitement!"

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